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Nov. 14, 1999 By Dennis Dodd SportsLine Senior Writer |
LINCOLN, Neb. -- It was a lonely ride back from Manhattan, Kan., that dreary
night a year ago for Nebraska. The Huskers had lost to Kansas State for the
first time in 30 years. Change was in the air. Maybe the Wildcats
were becoming the dominant Big 12 team for the new millennium.
Just when the beaten, bloodied Huskers were ready to sleep it off on the
bus, the Marysville, Kan., exit loomed in the distance. Some genius
had posted a hand-lettered addendum to the exit sign.
Related Links:
Huskers hand Kansas State first loss T O P N E W S
"It said 'Losers Turn Right,'" Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride said. "All the players saw it. That never left (us) that night. I appreciate those fans doing that that night. It's something our guys thought about all year."
From that final insult sprang the germ of revenge Saturday at Memorial Stadium. At the end of a 41-15 thrashing of No. 5 Kansas State, No. 7 Nebraska found out it was more than that. Tennessee lost. Penn State lost -- again. The season has more meaning than just a berth in the Big 12 championship which Nebraska (9-1, 6-1 in the Big 12) all but clinched with the victory.
The Huskers proved last year's 40-30 Kansas State victory was a hiccup, a spike in the graph, an anomaly. The Wildcats are still the Wildcats, still not having won here since 1968. Meanwhile, college football's version of the Yankees have a renewed chance to add a fourth national championship trophy this decade.
Talk about ominous signs. On the warmest November day ever in Lincoln (84 degrees at kickoff) the Huskers are just heating up.
"It's definitely a landmark day," Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch said. "You think about all the things that happened today. It was a great opportunity to go out and prove ourselves to the country."
Prove Nebraska football to the country? Actually, the country probably needs a remedial course in Huskerball right about now. Nebraska is more than national championship background noise. It is a contender -- though not with its conventional methods. Nebraska won despite fumbling a school-record 10 times. Ten. The 39 fumbles this season are the most here in 15 years.
"It was 10 times?" asked an incredulous Frank Solich, the Nebraska coach. "That's rough right there."
No worries, though. Without a difference-making I-back, most of the offense flows directly through Crouch, a sophomore. No one will call him one of Nebraska's best just yet, but Solich does call his name often. Crouch carried 27 times, a school record for quarterbacks. Those carries produced 158 yards and two touchdowns.
Not that that should have been a revelation to Kansas State. Crouch played bravely in last year's loss and was the main reason Nebraska almost rallied back for victory. This year the Kansas State defense must have been watching Pokemon trailers because it obviously wasn't watching Nebraska game film this week. Crouch came in as the second-leading rusher and for the Huskers.
On his second carry of the game, he became the seventh quarterback in school history to rush for 1,000 career yards. It was unbelievable, but the nation's No. 2 defense forgot to cover the quarterback. Crouch passed or ran on 44 of Nebraska's 78 snaps. The Wildcats never did catch on.
"He's a pretty elusive guy," Kansas State linebacker Ben Leber said. "He's extremely fast. His knees can be a quarter-inch from the ground and he can still pitch it. He's toughest quarterback we've faced."
Solich put the game in Crouch's hands when fumblitis struck early. Nebraska's leading rusher, Dan Alexander, fumbled on the first play and didn't see the field the rest of the day. When backup Correll Buckhalter also fumbled, Solich called on third-string I-back Dahrran Diedrick. Bingo. Diedrick, a freshman, ran for a career-high 93 yards, but not without a couple of fumbles himself.
"Yeah, we did fumble a lot," Crouch said. "Anytime you're an option team, look up in the books. I'm sure there's been more than that."
The reaction wasn't panic. In fact, only at Nebraska can the program be 3-0 when fumbling nine times or more. It lost only three of the 10 fumbles on Saturday. Kansas State lost all four of its fumbles and also threw an interception.
The Huskers could have fumbled five more times and the nation's No. 4 defense would have probably bailed them out. The Blackshirts blocked two punts, a field goal and harassed Jonathan Beasley into a horrible 3-for-19 passing day.
Bill Snyder later revealed Beasley had been taking injections for pain in a sore throwing shoulder the past two weeks. But that doesn't explain why a fired-up Beasley threw his first four passes over the heads of open receivers.
Just like last week against Colorado, Beasley stunk. And for the second consecutive week, he got yanked in favor of Adam Helm. Helm was sacked five times.
"When we're healthy it's probably the best defense depth wise we've ever had," said McBride, in his 23rd year at Nebraska. "We're sitting around with six linebackers we're not afraid to play, and eight defensive linemen we're not afraid to play. The secondary is probably as good as we've had."
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| Eric Crouch runs the option almost to perfection.(AP) |
Mike Brown intercepted a pass, caused one fumble and recovered another, and made six tackles. Cornerback Ralph Brown, a Jim Thorpe candidate, returned a fumble 26 yards. Defensive tackle Steve Warren had a sack. All three are legitimate All-American candidates.
The last time Nebraska had that many All-Americans, it split the national title with Michigan in 1997. See a pattern developing here?
All that stands between Nebraska's third Big 12 title game berth in four years is another K-State loss or a Husker victory at Colorado on Nov. 26. Then a BCS-boosting meeting with Texas looms in the championship game.
"You can just feel that we're starting to click," said Mike Brown.
It has happened that fast. The season looked like it was crumbling around the Huskers on Oct. 23 at Texas. The Longhorns rallied late and beat Nebraska for the third consecutive time. For perhaps the first time in history, a Nebraska coach complained about officiating. Solich looked like he was unraveling and was reprimanded by the Big 12 office.
At halftime the next week at Kansas, the Huskers were down 9-0, but rallied to win a messy 24-17 game. Last week was a get-well 37-0 beating of Texas A&M.
Now Nebraska's possibilities are endless, no doubt just like Kansas State's trip back to Manhattan.
"That was something that was brought up all week, 'Remember that sign,'" said Brown. "We're going to make them see that sign on the way back. Same spot."