Sat Sep 29 19:19:46 2007

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Nebraska feeling Lucky in win over Iowa State

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Lincoln, NE (Sports Network) - Marlon Lucky gained 107 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns on the ground, and threw for another score as the 24th- ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers downed the Iowa State Cyclones, 35-17, in the Big 12 opener for both clubs.

Sam Keller completed 18-of-28 passes for 219 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception for Nebraska (4-1, 1-0 Big 12). Bo Ruud had a 93-yard interception return for a score for the Huskers, and Cortney Grixby set up two touchdowns, one with his 51-yard kickoff return, and another with his 41-yard interception return. Thomas Lawson had two touchdown catches for the Huskers.

Bret Meyer had a rough day for Iowa State (1-4, 0-1), throwing three interceptions on 26-of-51 passing for 281 yards. Jason Scales gained 115 yards on 31 carries with two scores, and Todd Blythe had five catches for 84 yards for the Cyclones.

The Huskers took control in the second half, in which they outscored Iowa State 21-7 after taking only a 14-10 lead into halftime.

Two big plays accounted for Nebraska's 14 points in the third quarter. First Lucky broke through for a 41-yard scoring run barely a minute into the second half, giving Nebraska a 21-10 edge.

Iowa State responded with a nice drive towards the end of the third quarter, threatening to cut into the Huskers's 11-point edge. But Ruud came up with a big play, picking off Meyer's pass at the Nebraska seven and racing it back 93 yards, pushing the Huskers ahead 28-10.

Scales did score again for the Cyclones, a six-yard run with 6:57 left that made it a 28-17 game, but another Meyer interception, this one by Grixby on a desperation fourth-and-three from the ISU 36, sealed the game. Grixby ran the pick all the way back to the ISU 3, a 41-yard return that set up Keller's four-yard TD toss to Lawson that made it a an 18-point game with 2:25 left.

The Cyclones drove deep into Nebraska territory late in the first quarter, aided by a Huskers offsides on a fourth-and-four that negated an Iowa State punt from it's own 41. Iowa State took advantage of the miscue, but their drive stalled at the Nebraska 13, where Bret Culbertson came on to bang through a 30-yard field goal with 2:50 left in the quarter.

The Cyclones, thanks to a bad punt by Nebraska's Dan Titchener, took over at the Husker 48 midway through the second quarter. The big play was a 28-yard catch by Blythe that pushed Iowa State inside the Nebraska 10, and Scales capped the drive with a three-yard push over the right end to give Iowa State a 10-0 lead with 7:47 left in the half.

The Huskers finally broke through on their next drive, thanks in large part to Grixby's 51-yard kickoff return to the ISU 47, and 20-yard toss-pass by Lucky to Sean Hill resulted in a score, getting the Huskers on the board with 4:34 left in the half.

The Huskers marched 82 yards on 10 plays on their next drive, with a six-yard Keller TD pass to Lawson giving Nebraska a 14-10 lead with just over a minute left in the half.

Game Notes

The Huskers have won 11 of their 12 Big 12 openers since the inception of the conference in 1996...Nebraska holds a commanding 84-16-2 advantage in the all-time series. Nebraska is 39-4 all-time versus ISU in Lincoln, including wins in the last 15 meetings at Memorial Stadium. The last time the Cyclones won in Lincoln was a 24-21 triumph in 1977.