Picks, pick-sixes and speed

LINCOLN, Neb. - A big, athlete line.

A speedy, crafty secondary.

And underneath coverage that clogged the short passing lanes were more than the Idaho Vandals could overcome Saturday afternoon.

The end result? A turnover-filled 38-17 loss to No. 6 Nebraska before 85,732 mostly red-clad fans at Memorial Stadium - Nebraska's 306th consecutive sellout.

What will haunt the Vandals (1-1) are the six turnovers - five interceptions and one lost fumble. The worst are the back-to-back second-quarter interceptions-returned for touchdowns that fueled a 28-point Husker period.

"It was rough," said Idaho quarterback Nathan Enderle, a Nebraska native. "You don't like to have a game go that way, but when it does, you've got to move past it and go to the next play. You can't fix stuff that already happened. Then you over-exert yourself and end up making more mistakes."

Enderle was 16 of 31 for 141 yards intercepted five times - two for scores by DeJon Gomes and Rickey Thenarse that made it 31-0 Nebraska - and was the victim of five of seven sacks by Nebraska (2-0).

"That's going against some pretty good players," Idaho coach Robb Akey said. "There's a number of reasons for interceptions."

Safety P.J. Smith, who had the first pickoff, said Enderle never took his eyes off his intended receiver.

"A couple of us on the sideline were saying that he's throwing presents to us," Smith said. "It was Christmas to us, basically. We should have had a couple more. But we got five, so that's good enough."

Idaho's total offense output was just 279 yards. The rushing net was 60 yards but that includes 70 yards in quarterback sacks and tackles for loss.

"It was very frustrating," Vandal running back Deonte Jackson said. "They're a great outfit. They play man for a reason - they have great athletes."

Idaho was forced to punt on its first possession but the Vandal defense was able to limit the Huskers to a 24-yard Alex Henery field goal.

Another punt ended Idaho's second possession and Nebraska was on the march when Robert Siavii caught Husker quarterback Taylor Martinez on the blindside to force a fumble. Jonah Sataraka recovered the ball to thwart the drive and return possession to Idaho.

That drive stalled with a sack, and Nebraska redshirt freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez did what he does best - broke free for a 67-yard TD run. With 12:15 left in the first half, Nebraska took a 10-0 lead. Martinez finished with 157 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

An Enderle pass bounced off of Eric Greenwood and wind up in the hands of Nebraska's P.J. Smith who returned it 17 yards to the Nebraska 42. On the next play, Roy Helu found room outside and romped 58 yards to score with 8:22 left before halftime to make it 17-0.

On the Vandals' next possession Gomes stepped in front of Maurice Shaw, grabbed Enderle's pass and ran 40 yards to score with 6:07 left in the second quarter.

On Idaho's next possession, Thenarse stepped in front of Shaw and took it 47 yards to score with 4 minutes left in the half.

Idaho managed to score as time ran out in the second quarter when Trey Farquhar connected on a 34-yard field goal.

The second half started with Idaho's Aaron Lavarias recovering a fumble at the Nebraska 16. But Farquhar missed a 30-yard field goal attempt wide left.

Shiloh Keo, with his 10th career interception, gave Idaho another shot - this time the Vandals capitalized with a 2-yard Enderle to Michael LaGrone TD pass with 5:23 left in the third.

On Nebraska's next possession, Martinez was stripped of the ball by Kenny Patten as he headed for the end zone. The ball bounced out of his hands around the 8 and hopped into the end zone where Martinez pounced on it for the score. With 1:22 left in the third, Nebraska led 38-10.

Idaho's final score was a 19-yard pass from Brian Reader to Armauni Johnson with 2:31 left in the game.