LINCOLN, Neb. — Bo Pelini waited five years for this. But when Nebraska’s 47-24 victory over Western Michigan was over, he wasn’t about to go overboard celebrating his first win as the Huskers’ official coach.
“You know, it’s a win,” he said. “I appreciate the effort of the coaches and what they’ve done up to this point, but we’re just getting started. We have a long ways to go.”
Nebraska won its season opener for the 23rd straight year, the longest streak in the nation, but this victory marked a new beginning for a program in rebuilding mode after un-raveling under Bill Callahan.
Pelini is back at Nebraska after spending one season in Lincoln as defensive coordinator in 2003. He was interim coach for the Huskers’ Alamo Bowl win over Michigan State that season, but he was passed over for the permanent job and went on his way to coordinator jobs Oklahoma and LSU.
Now he’s back, after being asked by athletic director Tom Osborne to rebuild the program in the image of, well, the program of the Osborne era from the 1970s to 1990s.
The win over Western Michigan showed that Nebraska’s offense, one of the nation’s most productive last season, hasn’t missed a beat with Joe Ganz at quarterback. Ganz threw four touchdown passes while becoming the first Nebraska quarterback to have four 300-yard passing games in his career. Three of his touchdown passes came in the first half, when the Huskers built a 34-10 lead.
Western Michigan dented the Huskers for two 80-yard scoring drives in the third quarter to pull within 20 points.
Ganz, who threw seven interceptions as the starter in the last three games in 2007, was turnover-free until getting picked off twice in two series in the fourth quarter as the Broncos were trying to come back. But Nebraska held each time.
“We got better as the game went along,” Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit said. “The kids stuck together. There was nothing on the sidelines that was negative. We just kept plugging along, kept playing.”
Western Michigan, held to 102 yards in the first half, dinged the Huskers for 194 yards in the third quarter and finished with 350. But the Broncos rushed for just 8 yards.
