2016 Nebraska-Fresno State football postgame notes
Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics
Nebraska vs. Fresno State, Sept. 3, 2016, Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Neb.
100 — Tonight’s victory marked the 100th career college coaching victory for Head Coach Mike Riley. Riley was the all-time winningest coach in Oregon State history with 93 wins and has seven victories at Nebraska. Riley is one of 10 active coaches with at least 100 victories at a Power 5 Conference School.
30 — Nebraska won for the 30th consecutive time against an opponent from the Mountain West Conference and improved to 35-2 all-time against Mountain West foes. The Huskers are 3-0 all-time against Fresno State. Nebraska plays host to Wyoming of the Mountain West next Saturday.
18 — Nebraska won its 18th consecutive night home game at Memorial Stadium and improved to 44-5 all-time in home night games. Tonight marked the 33rd time in 44 home victories the Huskers’ victory margin was at least 13 points.
103 — Sophomore I-back Devine Ozigbo rushed 17 times for a career-high 103 yards and a career-best two touchdowns. His yardage total bettered his 80 rushing yards against UCLA in the Foster Farms Bowl. Ozigbo had one rushing touchdown last season as a true freshman.
57 — Senior receiver Alonzo Moore had a 57-yard touchdown reception on the first play of the fourth quarter, marking the longest reception of his career. His previous long was a 44-yard touchdown catch at Rutgers last season. Each of Moore’s past four touchdown catches have covered at least 32 yards. Moore finished with a team-high three catches for a career-high 92 receiving yards, bettering his 84 yards at Minnesota last season. Moore also had a career-long 24-yard rush and had two carries for 34 yards.
292 — Nebraska rushed for 292 yards, marking the second straight game the Huskers have topped 200 rushing yards after NU rushed for 326 yards in a bowl victory over UCLA.
Nebraska rushed the ball on 20 of its first 21 offensive plays, including 15 of 16 first-quarter snaps.
8,000 — Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. became the second player in school history to surpass 8,000 career total offense yards, joining Taylor Martinez. Armstrong now has 8,148 yards of total offense in his career, second at Nebraska behind Martinez’s 10,233 career total offensive yards. Armstrong accounted for 150 yards of total offense tonight, including 108 passing yards and 42 rushing yards. Armstrong accounted for three touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 passing).
31 — Nebraska limited Fresno State to just 31 rushing yards, marking the third time in four games dating back to last season Nebraska has held its opponent to less than 100 rushing yards. Nebraska finished ninth in the nation in rushing defense.
Other Notes…
• True freshmen making their Husker debuts tonight included punter Caleb Lightbourn, defensive backs Lamar Jackson and JoJo Domann and I-back Tre Bryant.
• Huskers making their first career starts included offensive tackle David Knevel, offensive guards Sam Hahn and Tanner Farmer, defensive tackle Mick Stoltenberg, safety Kieron Williams and punter Caleb Lightbourn.
• Junior safety Kieron Williams had a career-high 10 tackles and an interception. His interception was the first of his career. His previous high in tackles was two in two games and he entered the game with 16 career tackles.
• Senior defensive end Ross Dzuris had a career-high two sacks. Dzuris had 2.5 sacks as a junior in 2015.
• Junior defensive back Joshua Kalu had a six-yard sack in the second quarter, marking his second career sack. His previous sack came against Southern Miss in 2015.
• Senior wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp had one reception for six yards, marking his 27th straight game with a catch, the fourth-longest streak in NU history.
• Junior defensive back Chris Jones had an interception in the endzone in the fourth quarter, his third career interception. His first two both came last season.
• Nebraska’s 80-yard scoring drive in the first quarter was the Huskers’ longest in terms of yards since a 91-yard game-winning drive against Michigan State last season. The drive consumed 6:25. Last season Nebraska had just three scoring drives of 6:25 or longer and just five scoring drives that took at least 6:00.
• Nebraska did not commit a turnover, the first time the Huskers did not turn the ball over since a win at Minnesota last season.
• Nebraska has won 30 of its past 31 season openers and owns a 47-7-1 record in season openers since 1962.