Senior DeJuan Groce almost single-handedly sparked the Nebraska Cornhuskers to a victory over Troy State that proved a bit harder to earn than many thought it would be.

Groce returned two punts for touchdowns and intercepted two passes to help the Huskers win 31-16.

"Great players make great coaches," exclaimed defensive coordinator Craig Bohl. "DeJuan Groce I thought tonight played great."

Quarterback Jammal Lord played well in leading the team with 92 yards rushing on 23 carries. He completed 8 of 15 passes for 114 yards. I-Back Dahrran Diedrick carried 15 times for 63 yards.

Nebraska seemed to be in control early in the game. With Troy State marching on their opening drive, Groce grabbed his first interception giving Nebraska the ball at their own 38. Nebraska's offense couldn't capitalize, going three and out.

Nebraska scored their first points on their next drive. Aided by a poor punt to start them off at the Trojan 25, Nebraska needed two plays to score with Lord running an 18 yard option play for touchdown.

From there things bogged down for the offense as they saw opportunity slip away. After recovering a fumble on their own 14, Lord completed the game's longest pass, a 62-yarder to tight end Jon Bowling. The drive ended when a Lord pass was intercepted in the end zone.

Groce's second interception failed to produce any Husker points so the senior from Garfield Heights, Ohio decided to take things into his own hands.

Troy State punted from their own 35. Groce fielded it at the NU 17 and raced untouched 83 yards for the touchdown to put Nebraska up 14-0.

"I was just thinking "Don't drop the ball, '" Groce said. "That thing was wide open. Everybody did their job The one person I had to beat was the kicker and he wasn't doing to good trying to tackle me."

"We needed something to uplift this team and keep it going."

Troy State was able to narrow it to 14-3 just before the half ended.

Nebraska seemed on the verge of self-destructing as the second half opened. A fumble by Lord deep in Nebraska territory coupled with a personal foul put Troy State at the NU 6 yard line. Jermaine Richardson took the ball in on the next play to raise the eyebrows of the fans with a 14-10 score.

Nebraska's offense finally got back on track with their longest drive of the night. The 16 play, 86 yard drive included two fourth down moments. The first was a converted fourth-and-one, the other was actually a Husker field goal that Nebraska took off the board following a roughing the kicker that moved the ball to the 12. Four plays later Diedrick took the ball in for a 21-10 lead.

Nebraska separated themselves from the Trojans later in the third period. With under two minutes left Groce fielded a punt at the 29 and once again raced almost untouched 71 yards for his second touchdown.

Nebraska added a fourth quarter 34 yard field goal by Josh Brown.

Troy State was able to make the score more respectable with a touchdown in the final seconds.

The Huskers finished the game with 313 yards of total offense, 199 of those on the ground. The Trojans finished with 247 yards total.