Huskers Start Strong Through Defense

Nebraska’s defense provided a lot of offense for the top-ranked Cornhuskers in their season opener Saturday.

Safety Mike Minter and defensive end Grant Wistrom scored on interception returns, and cornerback Mike Fullman scored on a 62-yard punt return as Nebraska began its bid for a third consecutive national championship with a 55-14 victory over Michigan State.

“We like to be a big play defense,” said Wistrom, who made a one-handed interception in the third period and returned it nine yards for a touchdown. “The last couple of years we’ve been scoring a lot of points. That can break a team.”

Wistrom said he and Nebraska’s other defensive end, All-American Jared Tomich, have been working on catching passes.

“Maybe it’s starting to pay off,” Wistrom said. “I’ll keep doing it if this is the result.”

Minter scored on an 84-yard interception return after picking off a pass by backup Gus Ornstein in the second quarter. He also set up Nebraska’s first touchdown by picking off a pass from Michigan State starter Todd Schultz, who strained his left knee in the first period and didn’t return.

Nebraska’s defense didn’t appear to miss star linebacker Terrell Farley, who was suspended after being charged with drunken driving.

Michigan State’s only scores came on a Ornstein’s 1-yard pass to Josh Keur in the third quarter and Sedrick Irvin’s 3-yard run with a few minutes left in the game.

“Obviously Nebraska has another very, very, very good football team,” Spartans coach Nick Saban said. “I think the most impressive part of their team today was their defensive team, which is probably as good as I’ve ever seen.”

Scott Frost, making his first start at quarterback for Nebraska (1-0), completed 5 of 11 passes for 74 yards, including a 35-yard TD to Brendan Holbein. Frost also ran 10 times for 58 yards and one touchdown.

“The coach’s play-calling was very conservative and the reason for that is because I am a new quarterback,” Frost said.

The Spartans (1-1) lost their opener to the Huskers last season 50-10 at East Lansing.