Harris returned the ball 15 yards to the Nebraska 5-yard line in the first quarter, setting up a third-down touchdown run from the 1 by Darren Evans. It gave Virginia Tech a 9-0 lead, and the Hokies withstood a couple of late Nebraska rallies for a 35-30 victory Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

“It’s never good to spot a team nine points right off the bat like we did tonight,” said Nebraska receiver Nate Swift, who had only one reception until the final 3 minutes. “You just can’t do things like that against a good team like this. I think that definitely slowed us down a bit, took a little out of us.”

Ganz’s interception, his fourth of the season, was the game’s only turnover until Todd Peterson lost a fumble after catching a pass across midfield on what was essentially the game’s final play, with 5 seconds remaining.

“They’re a great team,” Ganz said of Virginia Tech. “They don’t have one of the most successful teams of the last 15 years for nothing.”

In between the turnovers, Nebraska struggled to move the football with any rhythm, with any flow.

Ganz did throw two touchdowns — one covered 32 yards to tight end Mike McNeill in the first quarter, the other covered 17 yards to Peterson with 1:32 to go.

Ganz also was sacked twice and pressured numerous other times. Virginia Tech was consistently forcing Ganz out of the pocket.

“There were times where it was coverage, times where the pocket just kind of collapsed,” Ganz said. “There were times when I could have gotten out of it and I didn’t. We just didn’t play well enough to win.” 

Virginia Tech blitzed effectively, like on a third-and-6 play early in the fourth quarter, when Ganz was forced into an incompletion as Nebraska, down 28-17, was trying to mount a comeback. The Huskers were approaching midfield on the drive.

Ganz finished 17-of-26 for 278 yards — 118 of those yards came in the final 2:28.

“They had a good defense, and it’s tough when things don’t click right away,” said McNeill, who had a career-high 66 receiving yards on three catches. “We started kind of slow, and that was a little disappointing.”

Nebraska’s running game did virtually nothing. The Huskers finished with 55 yards rushing on 25 carries. That’s an average of 2.2 per carry.

The highlight was Roy Helu’s tough 12-yard touchdown run to end the third quarter. He had 21 yards on four carries.

“I just happened to get in on plays where our offensive line had bigger holes and pushed the pile a little more,” Helu said of his 5.2 yard-per-carry average.

“(The Hokies) take good angles. There was one run where I thought I had a chance to get the corner, but they’re really quick. You’ve got to give them credit.”

Nebraska’s most success on the ground came from Ganz, who scrambled to gain 29 yards, but lost 11 yards for a net of 18.

Marlon Lucky carried eight times for 17 yards, and Quentin Castille’s three carries netted only 8 yards.

Nebraska didn’t get a first down until its third possession, and went three more series that covered the second and third quarters without producing a first down on its own; a Virginia Tech penalty gave the Huskers a new set of downs on the final drive of the second quarter.

“I don’t think it was nerves,” Ganz said. “They’re a good team. It’s not like we’re playing New Mexico State — nothing against them, but this is Virginia Tech, and they’re the big boys. They have a great defense, always have, always will.

“It’s hard to move the ball against a great defense like that. We just need to find our rhythm. I wish we would’ve found it a little quicker, but we didn’t. It’s just how things worked out. We didn’t make enough big plays tonight.”

Nebraska started first-half drives on its 6- and 11-yard lines.

“Even when we did have pretty good field position, we kind of stalled out a bit,” Swift said. “We had a lot of mistakes this game, but you have to give your hat to Virginia Tech for playing like they did.”

Next up: Missouri.

“We get another week to go out and fix it,” Ganz said. “We’ve got another big game coming up. Let’s forget Virginia Tech as soon as we can.”

Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.