Pelini era begins with win

LINCOLN -- 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 Cornhuskers’ head 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 unraveling 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 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 ’90s.

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 TD passes came in the first half, when the Huskers built a 34-10 lead.

The defense, as expected, is a work in progress.

Western Michigan dented the Huskers for two 80-yard scoring drives in the third quarter to pull within 20 points, unnerving a crowd that feared a reprise of one of the nation’s worst defenses last year.

“I’m not taking anything away from Western Michigan, but most of what they got we gave them because there were mistakes,” Pelini said. “That’s good and bad. Good because if we executed the way we’re supposed to, we’re pretty hard to move the football on. It’s bad that we made some mistakes.”

Ganz provided more than enough offense to beat the visitors from the Mid-American Conference. The fifth-year senior completed 20 of 36 passes for 345 yards. He threw two touchdown passes to Nate Swift, who had 121 yards in receptions, and one each to Mike McNeill and Marlon Lucky.

Alex Henery kicked four career-long 44-yard field goals.

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.

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“We got better as the game went along,” WMU coach Bill Cubit said. “The kids stuck together. There was nothing on the sidelines that was negative. We just kept plugging along. We kept playing. Hey, we lost, but the kids have a lot to build on.”

Tim Hiller was 30-of-49 for 342 yards and two scores for Western Michigan. Tight end Branden Ledbetter caught nine balls for 123 yards and a touchdown.

Western Michigan, which was looking for a win over a BCS opponent for the third straight year, couldn’t recapture the magic of last season’s 28-19 road win over Iowa.

Nebraska’s defense, fueled by the crowd of 84,485 on a sultry 87-degree night, held the Broncos to 8 yards on nine plays over three series.

“We didn’t start fast,” Hiller said. “We needed to get started at the get-go an get a little storm of emotion. We failed to do that. Once we got going there were a lot of positive things.”

The Huskers scored on three straight possessions to go up 17-0 early in the second quarter, with Lucky running in from 14 yards, McNeill catching a 3-yard TD pass and Henery kicking the first of his 44-yarders.

Helped by 30 yards in penalties against Nebraska cornerback Anthony West �” pass interference and a personal foul �” the Broncos moved 80 yards in 10 plays to pull to 17-7. Hiller finished the series with a 3-yard pass to Ledbetter.

The Huskers came right back, scoring less than a minute later when Ganz found Swift for a 61-yard touchdown pass.

WMU, held to 102 yards in the first half, dinged the Huskers for 194 yards in the third quarter and finished with 350. The Broncos rushed for just 8 yards.

“Western Michigan didn’t give up the second half, but it did take a little momentum away from them when we scored right after they did in the first half,” Ganz said. “That’s what a good teams do. They answer.”