Tech hopes Huskers’ trend of road losses continues

BLACKSBURG — Once upon a time, Nebraska’s football team could walk into any football stadium in the country and expect to win.

That’s no longer the case.

The Cornhuskers have lost six of their last eight true road games and haven’t beaten a ranked foe on the road since Nov. 11, 2006. In fact, they’ve lost nine straight games, home and away, against teams ranked in the Associated Press poll.

That’s a trend that certainly bodes well for No. 13 Virginia Tech, which hosts No. 19 Nebraska today at Lane Stadium.

But while recent history is in the Hokies’ favor, they know the Cornhuskers are working their way back to prominence and that they would love nothing more than to announce their return with a win on national television against a ranked opponent.

“It’s going to be a challenge for our team to beat this crowd here,” Tech coach Frank Beamer said. “You turn that video on of these guys, and you want to turn it off.”

There’s no question what a road win over a ranked opponent could do for Nebraska, but Tech has a lot at stake as well. It still has hopes of playing for a national championship this season, and this is the kind of game that could elevate it higher in the consciousness of national voters.

“We need this win to help us out,” Hokies senior left guard Sergio Render said. “Nebraska is a hell of a team. If we get a win over them, it’ll boost us up there a little bit.”

After scuffling its way to only two winning seasons in Bill Callahan’s four years as coach from 2004-07, Nebraska seems to have turned things around under second-year coach Bo Pelini.

The Huskers, who have won five national championships in their history, went 9-4 last season and beat Clemson in the Gator Bowl, and they’re currently in the midst of a six-game winning streak, their longest since the 2001.

That Nebraska Blackshirt defensive reputation that Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne popularized is making its way back under Pelini, who masterminded some great defenses at Oklahoma and LSU before taking over the Huskers.

Nebraska held its first two opponents — Florida Atlantic and Arkansas State, both from the Sun Belt Conference — to a combined 12 points in blowout wins to open the season.

Leading the way up front for the Cornhuskers is 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, a projected top 10 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. He has 12 tackles, four tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks so far this season.

Suh reminds Render of Alabama All-American Terrence Cody. In fact, Suh might be better.

“Cody is a run stopper,” Render said. “This guy can run stop and rush the passer. … He’s got stamina, he can move and he’s got a lot of speed.”

Quarterback Tyrod Taylor rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown and was virtually mistake-free passing the ball in Tech’s 35-30 win at Nebraska last season.

Containing him will be especially important to the Huskers today.

“We got to him last year (for two sacks) so I don’t see why we can’t again,” Suh said. “It really all depends on us and how well we play. As far as I’m concerned, it’s up to us on the front four to control him and keep him inside the pocket, and when he does try and get out, make sure he doesn’t.”

Offensively, this isn’t the Nebraska team people became accustomed to when it was dominating college football in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.

The Cornhuskers used to pound the ball on the ground almost every down. They’re much more balanced now.

Junior quarterback Zac Lee has completed 73.7 percent of his passes for 553 yards, six touchdowns and one interception, and Nebraska has totaled 395 rushing yards and six scores on the ground as well.

The Huskers offense has shown a quick-strike ability (13 plays of 20 yards or more), which will certainly challenge a Tech defense that has yielded seven plays of 30 or more yards in two games.

Moreover, the Hokies could be without their best cornerback, senior Stephan Virgil, who is questionable with a knee sprain.

As usual, Tech’s No. 1 defensive priority is to stop the run, so the onus will be on Lee, a first-year starter, to beat the Hokies.

“I think Zac is doing what we thought he was capable of doing,” Pelini said. “I said all along, I have a tremendous amount of confidence in him. I think if you asked anybody associated with our team; they feel the same way.”