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Anna Mostek/Tribune
Nebraska's Derek Meyer, a Silver Lake graduate, runs off the field after a play against Florida Atlantic on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
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Vince Kuppig
vkuppig@hastingstribune.com
LINCOLN — Derek Meyer's dream story took another step Saturday. A big one.
More than one year after walking on at Nebraska and almost three years since last playing in a college football game, the senior offensive lineman finally stepped on the field for the Huskers.
Not only did he finally put a Husker uniform on in an actual game, Meyer started at left guard.
"It was just like I hoped it would be," said Meyer, a Silver Lake graduate who hadn't played in a game since Sept. 30, 2006, when he was at Kansas State. "It was one of those things you can't put words to. It was honestly one of the greatest feelings I've ever had in my life. ...
"It was the first time I've played in three years, and I get to start for my home state. That was something that I take great pride in. It's an honor. It was just a really special night."
Meyer had a solid debut for the Huskers, never hearing his number called after a penalty and not making any noticeable mistakes to the naked eye.
Meyer, who got the start in part because of an unknown injury to regular starter Keith Williams, helped pave the way for an offense that totaled 490 yards, 259 of which came on the ground. The Huskers also didn't allow a sack.
"Whenever you can have over 250 yards rushing, that's what Nebraska football is all about," Meyer said. "Anytime we can keep our quarterback clean, that's good too."
Meyer played all 30 offensive plays and didn't go out until an equipment problem in the third quarter. He then missed the final plays of the third quarter after injuring his hand.
"Just a little dislocated finger," he said. "No big deal. It's part of the game."
Meyer said he played far from perfect. But he was pleased with his Husker debut.
"I think I held my own," he said. "There's a lot of things I could have done a lot better. But being my first game and my first start, I think I did all right."
Offensively line coach Barney Cotton said he'd have to watch film before making a full assessment of Meyer's play. But Saturday night he didn't find anything to fault in Meyer's play.
"His pass protection looks like he held up over there," Cotton said. "And we were effective running the ball once we got things going. I didn't see any glaring mistakes out there."
Meyer had a coupe big blocks on the first two touchdown runs by Roy Helu Jr. On the first one, which put Nebraska up 21-3 late in the second quarter and came on a fourth-and-goal play from the one, Meyer stumbled but regained his balance in time to make a block that made sure Helu got into the end zone.
"I did trip up," Meyer said. "We ran the same three times in a row. All three times, the defensive line was submarining at us. That was something I had to adjust to, getting a little more depth on my pull — which I didn't do. But fortunately on that last time, I was able to bounce right up and the guy I was supposed to go for was right there. And I got. It wasn't pretty, but we got in there."
Meyer began the week in a battle with Andy Christensen to start at left guard with Keith Williams not practicing. At one time during the week, the NU coaches said Christensen would likely start if Williams wasn't able to play.
But Meyer did enough to impress the coaches during the week.
"The first thing I look for is effort," Cotton said. "And then you're looking for execution and mental assignments and all those things. That's what we looked at. That's how he won that competition."
Said Meyer: "It's just all about going out there and working hard every day. You can't take a play off. Like coaches say, if you mess up on technique, they can coach you on that. But it's effort that we as players need to control ourselves. We need to give great effort every time. That's the biggest thing, just going out there and just playing to the best of our ability every time."
Meyer found out Thursday after practice that he'd get the start.
"I thought I was going to be so nervous for this game," Meyer said. "But really, I felt good — all last night, this morning and even going out into the game. I felt confident. There weren't a whole lot of nerves there. ...
"It's been a long journey. It's had its ups and downs. But ever since I've been here, things have felt the way I was hoping they would. It's just a great feeling to go out there and play."
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