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Anna Mostek/Tribune
Nebraska's Roy Helo (10) rushes for a touchdown in the third quarter against Florida Atlantic on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
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Vince Kuppig
vkuppig@hastingstribune.com
LINCOLN — Year two of the Bo Pelini era opened with a hit.
Roy Helu Jr. dazzled, Zac Lee was solid and Ndamukong Suh was, well, Ndamukong Suh.
It all added up to a 49-3 Nebraska win over Florida Atlantic on Saturday night in the 298th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium.
"I saw some good things out there," said Pelini, NU's second-year head coach. "I'm disappointed with some things. It was a good start. Like I said going in, you play that first game and it gives you a bench mark, it gives you an idea of where you are."
Helu, Nebraska's junior running back, had three touchdowns runs, including a highlight-reel 44-yarder in the third quarter, en route to rushing for 152 yards on 16 carries.
Lee, making his first start at quarterback for NU, was 15-of-22 for 213 yards and two touchdowns with one interception as the Husker offense 490 yards.
Suh, NU's star defensive tackle, had seven tackles, including one for loss, and a pass breakup.
Nebraska's defense forced three turnovers, including two interceptions, one year after the Blackshirts gained just 17 turnovers in 13 games. The Huskers did give up 358 total yards but kept Florida Atlantic out of the end zone.
"We work on it every day," NU defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said about creating turnovers. "We try to coach it as much as we can. We talked about it right before we took the field for the first time. To me, the aggression for the ball was great, but the guys are in the right place coverage-wise. We're playing with effort and we're breaking on the ball. That's when you're going to have those turnover opportunities."
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