Nebraska post game notes vs UT-Chattanooga

Nebraska's 40-7 victory in today's game extended Nebraska's season-opening win streak to 26 straight years. The Huskers have won each season opener since a 1985 loss to Florida State. During the streak, Nebraska has won every game by at least 10 points. Nebraska has scored at least 40 points in 19 of the 26 games, including all four openers under Coach Bo Pelini. Nebraska improved to 91-26-5 all-time in season openers.

ƒ¤True freshman offensive tackle Tyler Moore became the true freshman offensive lineman ever to start a season opener for Nebraska. Moore is only the fourth true freshman offensive lineman to start a game at any point in a season, and only the 10th true freshman offensive lineman to play at Nebraska.

ƒ¤Nebraska's starting offensive line featured three underclassmen in Moore, sophomore Spencer Long at right guard and sophomore Andrew Rodriguez at left guard. Today's game marked the first the Huskers started three underclassmen on the offensive line in any game since 2008, and the first time ever in a season opener.

ƒ¤First-time starters in today's game included Moore, Long, Rodriguez, offensive tackle Yoshi Hardrick, receiver Quincy Enunwa on offense. On defense, the first-time starters included defensive end Jason Ankrah and cornerback Andrew Green, while Brett Maher earned his first career starts as punter and place-kicker.

ƒ¤In addition to Moore, other true freshmen to see action this afternoon included I-backs Ameer Abdullah, Aaron Green and Braylon Heard, receiver Jamal Turner and place-kicker Mauro Bondi who shared kickoff duties.

ƒ¤Other players seeing their first Nebraska action in today's game included defensive end Joseph Carter, receiver Kenny Bell, safety Daimion Stafford, safety Corey Cooper, linebacker Trevor Roach, safety Harvey Jackson, cornerback Josh Mitchell, receiver Stanley Jean-Baptiste, wide receiver Tyler Evans, defensive tackle Chase Rome, quarterback Brion Carnes, offensive lineman Jake Cotton, cornerback Josh Mitchell.

ƒ¤Junior Brett Maher connected on a 50-yard field goal on his first career attempt in the first quarter, then field goals of 48 and 34 yards in the second quarter, and a 21-yarder in the third quarter. Maher's four field goals tied for the third-most in school history. Nebraska has had seven games with four or more field goals in the past four seasons, including six by Alex Henery and today's effort by Maher. Maher also made all four of his PAT attempts this afternoon, and averaged 52 yards on four punts.

ƒ¤Sophomore quarterback Taylor Martinez rushed for 135 yards on 19 carries for his sixth career 100-yard rushing game. Martinez ran for touchdowns of 7 and 43 yards in the first half and 47 yards in the third quarter marking the fourth time in his career he has rushed for at least three touchdowns in a game, including three TD runs in the season opener each of the past two seasons. Martinez has seven career touchdown runs that have covered at least 30 yards, including two in today's game.

ƒ¤With his 135 rushing yards, Martinez pushed his career rushing total to 1,100 yards. Martinez became the 59th player and ninth quarterback in school history to record 1,000 career rushing yards.

ƒ¤Junior I-back Rex Burkhead had a career-long 52-yard run in the first quarter, bettering his previous long of 34 yards against Arizona in the 2009 Holiday Bowl. Burkhead finished the day with 75 yards on 11 carries, including a three-yard TD run in the third quarter.

ƒ¤Fullback Tyler Legate ran the ball on Nebraska's opening snap, marking the first carry by a Nebraska fullback since Steve Kriewald had a carry against Colorado in the 2004 season finale.

ƒ¤Nebraska finished the game with three penalties for 30 yards. Last season, Nebraska had at least six penalties in 13 of 14 games, and was penalized at least 45 yards in all but one game. NU had a season-low three penalties for 15 yards against Oklahoma last season.

ƒ¤Tight end Ben Cotton had a career-long 27-yard reception in the second quarter of today's game. His previous long catch was a 24-yard touchdown reception at Colorado in 2009.

ƒ¤Sophomore wide receiver Quincy Enunwa caught four passes for 58 yards. Enunwa had one reception for 10 yards last season.

ƒ¤Nebraska improved to 18-2 under Bo Pelini when rushing for at least 200 yards, including 11-0 the past two seasons.

ƒ¤The Nebraska defense recorded three sacks in today's game, including a career-high two for junior defensive end Cameron Meredith. The three sacks were the most by Nebraska since having five sacks in the win over Kansas last season.

ƒ¤Today's game captains were senior I-back Austin Jones, senior fullback Tyler Legate, senior linebacker Jim Ebke and senior defensive back Lance Thorell.

ƒ¤Nebraska returns to action next Saturday evening when it takes on Fresno State at 6 p.m. inside Memorial Stadium. The game will be televised live by the Big Ten Network.