This was supposed to be Sam Keller's coming out party with the Huskers. The quarterback that everyone said was perfect to run Bill Callahan's mid-west coast offense, but instead it was a lot of Lucky that dominated the first day of September in Memorial Stadium.

Junior Marlon Lucky rushed for a career high 233 yard and 3 touchdowns, he also caught a touchdown pass and had 33 receiving. Lucky's 266 all-purpose yards ties him for fifth best in the Husker record books and as far as this fan knows the most on opening day. Lucky made sure that the 84,016 fans, which were part of the NCAA continuing record 223 straight home sell-out went home happy. This was the Huskers 22 straight opening day victory, which is also the longest current streak in college football. The Huskers haven't lost their first game since Florida State came into Lincoln for a 17-13 win starting 1985. The last time the Huskers lost an opening game to an unranked opponent was back in 1977, when yours truly was still a teenager to Washington State.

The Nevada wolf pack were never really in this game, even though they lead briefly 10 to 7 after defensive back Jonathon Amaya intercepted a tipped Sam Keller pass and ran it back 80 yards for a go-ahead touchdown with 5 minutes gone in the second quarter. Other than that, the wolf pack only managed to muster a 36 yard field goal out of their offense, as the Blackshirts brought back memories of the Huskers mid 90's defense, allowing only 9 first downs and 185 total yards. But let's get back to Lucky.

After the Keller interception, Callahan called 16 straight running plays, which included 2 1-yard scoring runs. One by Lucky and the other by true freshmen sensation, Quentin Castille, who proved that he does belong on the field, even sharing the backfield during a couple of stretches of the third quarter with Lucky, as Castille played fullback and Lucky at tailback. Castille gained 78 yards rushing and scored 2 touchdowns himself. Castille looks like he is running downhill when carrying the ball and looks like the Husker Nation will be enjoying his talent for the next 3-4 years with pleasure.

Keller wound up with a so-so afternoon going 14 out of 25 for 193 yards the one interception and touchdown. It was a good thing that Lucky and Castille were so dominating to take the attention away from Keller. However besides Lucky and Castille, probably the biggest buzz from the crowd was about freshman kicker Adi Kunalic, who made a 46-yard field goal with the wind at his back. Besides making the longest field goal for a Husker since David Dyches hit a 46-yarder at Texas Tech in 2004, Kunalic was a star in his own right, earning several standing ovations from the crowd when six of his kickoffs, from the 30-yard-line, sailed out of the end zone, tying a Husker record for touchbacks.

So the Huskers open up the season with a resounding victory, displaying a solid ground attack and an impressive defensive showing. Next up is a road game in North Carolina against Wake Forrest, who lost their opener to Boston College 38-28, while giving up more than 400 yards passing. Stay tuned for a scouting report on the Demon Deacons later this week. Let's get a winning streak going here. GBR!!

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