Published: October 29, 2006 12:36 am            

Defense does its part

• Huskers manage just six second half points

In the second half, the heavily criticized Oklahoma State defense outscored Nebraska’s offense, ranked 10th nationally in scoring, 7-6.

That was the type of effort defensive coordinator Vance Bedford’s group put forth in the Cowboys’ 41-29 upset of No. 20 Nebraska on Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium.

The defense wasn’t perfect. It gave up 16 points in the first 19:17 and allowed the Huskers to amass 452 yards of offense.

But it was good enough to hold Nebraska (6-3, 3-2) to seven points during a 40:43 stretch that went from Brandon Jackson’s 24-yard TD run at the 10:43 mark in the second quarter to Maurice Purify’s 5-yard scoring reception from Zac Taylor with seven seconds left in the contest.

In that time, the Cowboys (5-3, 2-2) went from a 16-0 deficit to a 41-23 advantage that effectively secured their second straight win over NU in Stillwater.

“All we had to do was get a couple of stops and our offense would outscore them,” Bedford said. “That’s exactly what we did. Our defense got a few stops and the offense kept rolling. They did what we needed to have a chance to win the ballgame.”

Bedford was being modest. His defense did more than come up with a few stops. It probably made some Cowboy alumni proud.

With the Jim Stanley Era reunion in town this weekend, former defensive standouts such as John Corker and James “Duck” White were recognized at halftime.

They watched as Bedford’s defense came together and finished seven seconds shy of shutting out Nebraska in the second half.

“We just take this as showing people that we know what we’re doing,” said cornerback Jacob Lacey.

The defense was led by linebacker Patrick Lavine, who finished with a game-high 11 tackles, including a sack and also forced a fumble.

But it was defensive end Nathan Peterson who had a 19-yard fumble return for OSU’s final touchdown. That gave the Cowboys a 41-23 advantage with 3:16 left in the game.

“I saw the ball come bouncing and it seemed like it was jumping right toward me,” Peterson said. “I should have laid on it, but I saw the endzone right there. D-linemen can’t really turn that down.”

Bedford made the decision to free his defensive linemen and linebackers. After Nebraska averaged 6.9 yards per run in the first half, he told his defense they were going to play straight man the entire second half.

“I told the corners, ‘You’re on an island, on you’re own, because we’re going to get this quarterback,’” Bedford said.

It made a difference. The Huskers averaged only 3.1 yards per carry in the final 30 minutes. The Cowboys also finished with five sacks.

“Late in the game we put a lot of pressure on a very good quarterback,” said Coach Mike Gundy. “We did a good job late this week of getting push in the ‘A’ gaps and not giving him the opportunity to see what’s going on down the field.”

Bedford and his defense were criticized after the Cowboys surrendered a 10-point lead in the final four minutes at Kansas State and a seven-point lead in final minute against No. 23 Texas A&M. Both led to heartbreaking losses for OSU.

“To see him take criticism for our poor play, that makes you furious,” Peterson said. “He is not the one out there missing tackles or giving up deep balls or not getting to the quarterback. He is on the sideline coaching us well.”

The defensive coordinator admitted he kept it simple, using “probably three” defensive plays in the game.

It worked, and it resulted in the type of win the Cowboys hope can propel them to a bowl game and even greater things in the seasons to come.

“I’m excited about it for the guys,” Bedford said. “They have worked so hard and we’ve been so close. We had found ways not to finish the game.”

        

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