It only took 50 seconds to calm any concern another sellout crowd in Nebraska had about close games. Maybe even 12 seconds.

The first play set the tone of the night against Northwestern, the first of several big plays in the first half that set up first-and-goals the Huskers cashed in on.

Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez hit Samori Toure for 70 yards, then finished the 3-play drive 38 seconds later with a 2-yard touchdown run.

“He went up and got the ball,” Nebraska coach Scott Frost said after the game. “When you’ve got good players, they make things happen. Some of those things started showing up tonight.”

It looked easy, but it was the Huskers’ first opening-drive touchdown all season. And they were off and running.

Literally.

“If we can generate some run game, everything works,” Frost said. “That’s just the key to football.”

On their next possession, Jaquez Yant got 64 of his 127 yards on one run, setting up Martinez for another 2-yard touchdown run.

“Really talented kid. … Let’s not make him Mike Rozier just yet,” Frost said. “He had one good game.”

Later, Martinez faked an option pitch for a 25-yard touchdown run (his third of the night) and the Huskers were up 21 points after just more than 10 minutes of play.

“Man did we run it better,” Frost said.

“Better,” indeed: 434 of the Huskers’ 664 yards were on the ground. Eleven players had carries, including Ramir Johnson with 2 touchdowns.

At one point, they had a 324 to -2 rushing advantage. At another, they’d scored 49 points on 48 snaps.

It got even better in the second half, with those long plays not just setting up touchdowns, but scoring them.

Martinez found Toure again for a 38-yard TD, while Xavier Betts delivered Nebraska’s longest play of the year, taking an option pitch 83 yards to the house.

“It helps when you score from far out. We’ve needed some more explosive plays,” Frost said.

Even punter Will Przystup got in on the fun with an 84-yard punt.

“We’re a lot better team than we have been,” Frost said. “We still have a lot of work to do. We can still get better.”

Hard to improve on a 56-7 victory, especially considering how close games have been this year — and with the Wildcats in recent years.

“We haven’t scored many points on them in a couple years,” Frost said. “It was our night, not theirs.”

Eight of their past 10 matchups with Northwestern were separated by one score, losing 4 of the past 6.

Despite that, Frost said “this is the most confident I’ve been going into a game since I’ve been at Nebraska.”

His faith was rewarded with the Huskers’ largest margin of victory and highest point total in a conference game since joining the Big Ten, eclipsing the 54 scored previously against Maryland and Illinois.

Early on, the BTN broadcast crew said Frost told them he’s “not sleeping well, not eating well” — and he still wasn’t happy with a 35-7 halftime lead. But maybe he still hasn’t shaken off that Illinois loss.

“I was really down after the first game,” Frost said. “We’ve been consistently better.”

In his postgame press conference, he still seemed … surly. But maybe Frost can finally get some rest. Huskers fans certainly should.