Memorial Stadium, Lincoln — Nebraska's offense prepared itself to see an aggressive defense that took chances and blitzed relentlessly.

A week's worth of film study revealed a Louisiana-Lafayette unit that rushed linebackers and backs more than 50 percent of the time in some situations.

And the Huskers were ready.

Trying to Stop Run

But what they saw Saturday was a Ragin' Cajuns team so intent on stopping the run that as many eight defenders crowded the line. Sometimes an extra linebacker even subbed in to try to keep Nebraska from establishing the rush.

For ULL, it was somewhat of an unconventional look. But No. 25-ranked Nebraska had little trouble adjusting on the fly.

The Huskers (3-1) used their mismatches to attack the middle and on the sidelines, exactly where the Cajuns were weakest.

NU totaled 433 yards en route to a 55-0 win. And the Huskers did it by reacting to what they saw, senior center Jacob Hickman said.

“The defense really tried playing us tough on the run, putting eight or nine guys in the box,” Hickman said. “With the kind of athletes we have in the passing game, we kind of took advantage of that.”

When Lafayette did blitz, junior tight end Mike McNeill said, the Huskers were ready.

“They show their blitzes a lot. They show their hand a lot,” McNeill said. “We had a lot of plays to counter that.”

Shifting to the Pass

The Huskers weren't shy, either. They chose not to try to impose their will on the ground with Roy Helu, who had 79 rushing yards on his first 11 carries — 39 of those yards came on a play that might as well have gone down as a pass.

Helu caught that long lateral toward the sideline on the second NU drive, and before the defense could reach him, he had gained 39 yards. If it weren't for an unintentional collision between Helu and Niles Paul, the play might have resulted in a touchdown.

Quarterback Zac Lee recognized one-on-one coverage and threw a deep pass downfield in each of the first three drives. Two were incomplete. He connected with Curenski Gilleylen on the third, picking up 42 yards.

Good Protection

“If they want to cover all our guys, then we'll run the ball,” Hickman said. “If they're going to fill up the box like that, we'll let Zac run wild a bit.”

Lee didn't exactly turn in a record-setting performance, but he was 10 for 13 during the first half, distributing those passes to seven receivers as Nebraska built its lead. And most of the time, Lee operated in a neatly formed pocket, hardly in danger of running into defenders.

“They did it a little differently than we thought they were going to do it,” Lee said. “We were prepared for it and did pretty well against it.”

Red-Zone Success

Part of the success on offense was a result of fewer mental mistakes, though.

Against Virginia Tech, the Huskers hurt themselves with unforced errors, especially in the red zone. Those failures proved costly. They produced points on four of their five trips, but they never got into the end zone.

That was a touchy topic all week, one that offensive coordinator Shawn Watson reluctantly addressed when prompted.

But Nebraska must have figured something out, because Saturday it scored touchdowns on all four of its trips inside the 20-yard line.

Helu fumbled into the end zone in the first quarter, though Ben Cotton fell on the loose football for a touchdown. Helu made up for the mistake by running two other short-yardage attempts into the end zone. Lee also found Chris Brooks for a 4-yard touchdown.

Watson Remains Mum

Watson didn't speak to reporters after the game. But Gilleylen said the improved execution was a result of the productive week of practices.

“Our attention to detail was up,” Gilleylen said. “We were trying to focus on focusing during the game. I think we did a pretty good job of that.”