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GAME NOTES: The 25th-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers dropped a tough one last weekend and they will look to take out their frustrations on the UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns this Saturday at Memorial Stadium .

In a battle of Top 25 teams, the Huskers had Virginia Tech all but put away, but instead allowed a long drive and late touchdown in a heart-breaking 16-15 loss to the Hokies in Blacksburg last weekend.

"It was a hard-fought football game," said head coach Bo Pelini. "In the end, we had plenty of opportunities to put that football game away and we didn't do it. And, they made the play at the end. I take my hat off to them. End of story."

It was the first setback in three games for Nebraska, which was trying to avenge a 35-30, loss to Virginia Tech last season in Lincoln. The good news though, is the Huskers now face their third Sun Belt Conference member after opening the season with a pair of blowout wins over Florida Atlantic (49-3) and Arkansas State (38-9).

For ULL, it has already knocked off one Big 12 team this season, notching a 17-15 victory over Kansas State on September 12th. A contender for the SBC title, the Cajuns were most recently in action this past weekend, suffering their first loss, a 31-3 setback at nationally-ranked LSU.

"We are going to find the positives in this game and build on those," said head coach Rickey Bustle. "We are going to look at the negative things we did and the plays we didn't make and make them next time."

This weekend's game represents the first-ever meeting between ULL and Nebraska on the gridiron.

Facing one of the nation's stiffest defenses, ULL managed only 272 total yards and turned the ball over three times in a 31-3 loss to LSU last weekend. Quarterback Chris Masson did a nice job of avoiding any sacks in the loss, but he completed just 16-of-36 tosses for 169 yards and two picks.

"He was off a little bit," coach Bustle said about his quarterback. "He got hit on the arm and a ball floated up in the air, and one, he just flat overthrew," he added about the two picks.

It was clearly the worst performance of the year for Masson, as he entered last weekend with three touchdowns against just one pick. Masson hasn't favored any one receiver too much either and last weekend his top target was Ladarius Green, who snared six balls for 64 yards.

Undrea Sails paced the ground attack, which amassed 109 yards, with just 48 yards on 17 carries. Behind Sails' 240 rushing yards, ULL has been able to average 139.7 ypg on the ground thus far, a number that figures to grow once SBC play begins.

Considering their opponents, the Cajuns did a rather decent job on defense last weekend, holding LSU to 330 total yards. The unit gave up 164 of those yards on the ground however, and that is slightly more than the 158.3 rushing ypg they are surrendering on the season. The defense did record its fifth interception and first sack of the season, so those were certainly positives for a unit that held its own against a Top 10 program.

"The biggest thing is that we played great defense for most of the game." said Bustle.

Gerren Blount was the star for ULL with nine stops, a forced fumble and an interception. Antwyn Zanders added seven stops and he continues to pace the Cajuns with 31 tackles on the year.

After racking up 12 touchdowns through the first two games, Nebraska's offense had to settle for five Alex Henery field goals last weekend and that wasn't enough in a 16-15 loss to Virginia Tech. The Huskers did roll up 343 total yards, including 207 on the ground, against the Hokies' vaunted defense, but committed a pair of turnovers. Both turnovers came on interceptions by Zac Lee, who completed just 11-of-30 tosses for 136 yards. It was a complete fall off for Lee, as he had hit on 73.7 percent of his pass attempts with six touchdowns and just one pick through the first two games.

"I thought Zac did some good things," said coach Pelini. "It was his first time on the road. He did some things he'll have to fix."

With Lee struggling, the Huskers turned to tailback Roy Helu Jr. to carry the burden and he did so by rushing for a a career-high 169 yards on 28 carries. Helu Jr., who also led the team with four receptions for 33 yards, has now rushed for 381 yards through the first three games. As a team, the Huskers are managing around 200 ypg on the ground and that is certainly a big positive for this unit.

Defensively, the Huskers were outstanding until the last series of the game, when they allowed Virginia Tech to drive 88 yards in 1:23 to win the game on an 11-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds left. The score was set up by an 81- yard pass by Hokie quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who a few moments later scrambled for several seconds and threw the game-winning touchdown pass on third-and- goal.

"You have got to go make the sack," said coach Pelini. "You have got to go get them. We didn't do it. The guy (VT quarterback Tyrod Taylor) was scrambling and he got them to stop and hesitate. The guy made a play. Good job by them."

It was certainly a disappointing finish for the defense, which held Virginia Tech to just 278 total yards, including only 86 rushing. The unit recorded four sacks and really kept the Hokies' offense in check until the final moments of the game.

Ndamukong Suh guided the unit in defeat with eight tackles, 0.5 sacks and four PBUs. He now has 2.0 sacks on the year, to go with 20 tackles and four TFLs.

Nebraska is coming off a tough loss, but can use the game to rebound and gear up for the approaching Big 12 season. Expect the Huskers to run wild and dominate on defense en route to the victory.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Nebraska 41, UL-Lafayette 13