Nebraska Blasts to 48-10 Win

Maybe Nebraska Coach Frank Solich can sleep more soundly now.

The No. 10 Cornhuskers defeated Arizona State, 48-10, on Saturday in the Black Coaches Assn. Classic, showing Solich that his new starting quarterback can play well and that his defense has recovered from two embarrassing losses at the end of last season.

“I probably slept less before this game than any game in my coaching career,” Solich said. “There’s a lot of new faces.”

Nebraska is replacing half its starters and among those who made their debut was quarterback Jammal Lord, who was a pleasant surprise.

Lord threw his first career touchdown pass and ran for 103 yards and did not turn the ball over.

The Cornhuskers were trying to forget closing last season with blowout losses to Colorado (62-36) and Miami (37-14).

“It feels great,” said Chris Kelsay, who had one of four Nebraska sacks. “Tonight some of that got put behind us. We came out, busted our butts, got in their backfield and created havoc.”

Nebraska scored 38 points in the second half.

Arizona State’s Chad Christensen, a redshirt freshman who was starting his first college game, was six of 16 for 77 yards.

“I thought we started well and showed we can compete,” Christensen said.

Arizona State was held to 258 yards, 52 of which came on the final drive.