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 Wednesday, October 31, 2001
No-Namers rule the day for OU
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
LINCOLN, Neb. -- "The Game of the New Century" was the official title of this year's Oklahoma-Nebraska brawl if you believe T-shirt slogans and game programs.
But after listening to endless pregame hype over this No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup (in BCS terms) for a full week throughout the Heartland, one might have easily subtitled something along the lines of pitting Eric Crouch and The Pips versus an unmovable defense that was so dominant and elite that it was actually permissible to mention the names of two players along with the word "Heisman".
|  | | Mark Vedral and Jamie Burrow combine to smother Oklahoma's Trent Smith. |
That defense, of course, belonged to the Sooners, led by All-Americans Rocky Calmus and Roy Williams. Unfortunately for those in Oklahoma, it was Nebraska's "No-Name Defense" that proved to be an indomitable force of nature and the reason why the Cornhuskers pulled off a 20-10 victory over the defending national champions on a glorious Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
"A lot of people doubted us," said cornerback Keyuo Craver, who snagged an interception on Oklahoma's first offensive play and finished with with six tackles. "We just always believed in ourselves and turned it into a positive."
Oklahoma, which suffered its first loss in 21 games dating back to 1999, actually had more total yards on offense (339) compared to Nebraska (329), but all the Huskers cared about was the score. After Trent Smith hauled in a four-yard pass in the second quarter to give OU a 7-0 lead, the Huskers made sure the Sooners would not reach the end zone again.
The Nebraska secondary negated the Oklahoma receiving corps that defensive backs coach George Darlington calls "as fine of a group I've ever seen." But while the secondary was dominating, it was the pass rush that keyed this victory.
"We watched a lot of film from the Baylor game, when they sacked (Oklahoma) eight times," said senior defensive end Chris Kelsay, who had seven tackles and countless near sacks and hurries. "We ran a four-man rush and simply beat our guys one-on-one. We threw in some stunts, some blitzes, but it was beating our guys at the line.
"And we were flat-out beating them."
The D-line totaled only three sacks on the day, but what their pressure at the line of scrimmage did was completely take away any confidence the Sooners had in the run, as Quentin Griffin only rushed the pigskin six times in the second half and 15 total (63 yards) for the day. It also confused both Jason White, who started but left early with a sprained knee, and Nate Hybl, who came in relief.
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After a few blitzes, the QBs really weren't sure what to do. I could see their inexperience, and that they couldn't read defenses. ” |
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— Nebraska safety Dion Booker |
"After a few blitzes, the QBs really weren't sure what to do," said free safety Dion Booker, who was a menace in the middle of the field all day. "I could see their inexperience, and that they couldn't read defenses."
One play in particular where this was apparent was on a crucial third-and-goal at the Nebraska 3-yard line right before halftime, where a touchdown would have given the Sooners a 14-10 lead to take into the locker room. After Griffin was stuffed at the line on back-to-back plays, Hybl drifted back to pass, looking for Mark Clayton, but the junior QB threw it wide when Booker came busting up the gut on a safety blitz.
"I was so open, I almost stumbled," joked Booker, who went after Hybl whenever he noticed Griffin roaming to the right or left immediately after the snap.
"(Defensive coordinator) Craig Bohl got real excited about that," said Jamie Burrow, who led all tacklers with 16, including one sack. "He said it might be the turning point of the game."
The constant pressure on both QBs seemed to take Oklahoma off of its game. Fades down the sideline disappeared, draws up the middle were ineffective. In fact, the entire vaunted spread offense designed to move the ball quickly down the field became stagnant in the second half when Hybl completed only 11-of-23 passes for a mere 94 yards and no points.
"He was looking around," said Booker. "Both QBs weren't comfortable, actually. It made for a lot of quick slants, which usually shows a QB is a little nervous. It actually made us look that much better."
They looked like, well, Oklahoma. Just without the high-profile standouts. But that's been, and will continue to be, this team's mantra on the defensive side of the ball.
"We don't have any real all-stars on our defense, but we have an all-star defense," said Kelsay. "We work well as a unit, we gel together, we love each other, we hug each other and we hold each other accountable.
"We're gonna get on you if you make a mistake, and we expect you to get on us if we make a mistake … We have the utmost potential."
"We pride ourselves as one of the best defenses in the country," added Craver, "and we're relentless."
They no longer need the whole "No Name Defense" nickname to rile them up or make them feel that they lack respect (even in their own conference) that they're so used to dominating.
"We might have used it as a rallying cry in the beginning of the season, but we now recognize ourselves as one of the best defenses in the nation," said Burrow, a first-year starter after playing behind All-American Carlos Polk the past few seasons. "Even if the media doesn't."
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online. He can be reached at marc.connolly@abc.com.
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Oklahoma can't catch up to the double reverse as Mike Stuntz airs it out to Eric Crouch for a 63-yard TD.
Frank Solich talks to ABC's Jack Arute about the win over the Sooners.