Nebraska assistant coach Tim Beck said this week that the staff wasn't purposely saving Roy Helu for Virginia Tech by limiting him to 16 and 14 carries in the first two games.

But Helu was more than ready for the workload against the Hokies.

The junior established career highs with 28 carries and 169 rushing yards in the 16-15 loss to Virginia Tech. The 6-foot, 215-pounder carried 17 times in the second half.

Before Saturday, Helu had exceeded 16 carries once in his career, when he rushed 25 times for 166 yards last November against Colorado.

“Roy's just a great player,'' NU receiver Niles Paul said. “You've got to love Roy. He played his hardest. He played like a warrior out there.''

Helu averaged 6.0 yards.

“He ran hard,'' Husker coach Bo Pelini said. “There were some tough yards out there.''

Field goals instead of touchdowns

Nebraska rolled up 207 rushing yards Saturday after being limited to 55 yards by Virginia Tech last year in Lincoln.

As nice as that was, NU center Jacob Hickman said, it didn't mean a whole lot because of one other stat — four field goals to show for five trips inside the red zone.

“I would have taken like 1 rushing yard and four rushing touchdowns over that,'' Hickman said. “I'm definitely pleased with that much yardage, but it's just really frustrating that we couldn't close out drives today.''

Completion percentage drops for Huskers' Lee

Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee took a hit to his lofty completion percentage after his accuracy was sharp in the first two games.

Lee came to Blacksburg completing 73.7 percent of his throws (42 of 57). After going 11 for 30, it slipped to 60.9 percent.

“It was his first time on the road,'' Pelini said. “He did some things he'll have to fix.''

No second thoughts on decision to punt

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said the Huskers gave little thought to going for it on fourth and 1 from Hokies' 37-yard line with 1:51 to play.

Lee gained 4 yards on a third-and-5 draw play, which forced NU to punt.

Alex Henery pinned Tech at its 12-yard line, but QB Tyrod Taylor responded by hitting Danny Coale for 81 yards on second down to set up the winning touchdown.

The decision was up to coach Bo Pelini.

“No,” Watson said. “Bo didn't think about it at all. We were going to get the ball pinned down tight. You don't want to give them good field position. We felt like we had them defensively. We're playing for a win.”

The Huskers averaged 5.2 yards per rush in the second half and were stopped for less than the 1 yard necessary to ice the game on two of 24 rushing plays after halftime.

Watson expects to see improvement

According to Watson, Lee has no choice but to learn from his experience Saturday.

“He has to,” Watson said. “There's no ifs, ands, buts, maybes about it. He has to.”

Lee, the junior first-year starter who entered Saturday with a No. 7 national ranking in passing efficiency, completed 11 of 30 passes for 136 yards. He was not sacked and threw two interceptions, including a game-ending desperation pass and misfired on 10 straight pass attempts in the second and third quarters.

“He's playing against a great defense,” Watson said. “That's what happens sometimes. He fought his way back through it. He did some really good things. He didn't have his best game. But he'll get better from all this.''

Winning stats battle is no consolation

Bo Pelini had no interest in discussing the Huskers' statistical dominance over Virginia Tech. NU outgained the Hokies 343-278, a number skewed by Tech's 83 yards on the final drive.

“I don't measure it on yards or how you play,” Pelini said. “You've got to win the football game. We didn't win the football game, so we didn't play well enough in any area of the game. I measure it on results. That's how we measure things around here.”

Hokies' Roberts shines on returns

Virginia Tech reserve flanker Dyrell Roberts is off to a good start as kickoff returner.

Coming into Saturday's game, the sophomore was averaging 48.8 yards, which included a 98-yarder for a touchdown in the Hokies' season-opening loss to Alabama.

With the help of a 76-yard return to open Saturday's game, Roberts lowered his average to 48.3 yards.

Tough times in trenches

Virginia Tech's reputation of being run-proof has been taking a hit this fall.

Roy Helu's 169 yards marked the third straight game that an opposing running back rushed for 100 yards or more against the Hokies.That hadn't happened since 2002.

— Rich Kaipust, Mitch Sherman and Steven Hemphill