SportsLine wire reports
April 14, 1999

LINCOLN, Neb. -- In the southeast corner of Memorial Stadium, Bobby Newcombe suddenly appears to remove his mind from the conversation in mid-sentence.

"I visualize myself playing next season, it's ... " he pauses and slowly looks left toward an empty north end zone.

" ... Oh my God ... " he pauses again, still staring down field. "It looks like a completely different person."

Still recovering from surgery, which repaired a knee ligament the quarterback tore in Nebraska's season opener last fall, the majority of Newcombe's live action this spring will come in the form of mental reps.

THOUGH HE WON'T SEE FULL CONTACT until next fall, Newcombe said, he was making the most of practice, running some option drills, throwing, and, of course, working on his mental game.

"I've said, 'This sucks,' many times," Newcombe said. "But I've never said, 'I don't know if I'll be able to come back.'

"I tell myself, 'When I come back, I'm going to be 10 times more aggressive and more motivated.' I'm going to have a lot more drive."

With Newcombe out, sophomore Eric Crouch has taken the majority of the snaps with the Cornhuskers' No. 1 offense this spring. Crouch started five games under center in place of Newcombe last fall.

But lacking one of its top quarterbacks, the NU offense has struggled this spring. In a 124-play scrimmage last Saturday, the Husker offense scored just one touchdown.

"I guess it hurts everyone," NU Quarterbacks Coach Turner Gill said, "but that's something we can't control. You'd like to have him out there, but I feel like he's done a lot of good things mentally. He's not as far behind as people may think."

EVEN CROUCH SAID HE ISN'T EXPECTING to have an advantage over Newcombe in the fall when the coaches make a starting quarterback decision. Gill said he didn't want to comment on the situation until next fall.

Of course, that's nothing new for Crouch and Newcombe, who competed along with Frankie London for the starting spot last spring. Newcombe, who already had a year of playing experience, earned the job over London, a junior, and Crouch, who redshirted in 1997.

Both Crouch, from Millard North High School in Omaha and Newcombe, of Albuquerque, N.M., were members of NU's 1997 recruiting class.

"Unfortunately, the first time Crouch and I stepped on the field, it was automatic competition right away," Newcombe said. "We have tried many times to just become friends and kind of forget about the competition - and last season we started joking a lot more and having a good time.

"We don't hang out or anything - we're two different people - but we don't cause each other any problems. We don't hate each other."

IN SIX GAMES LAST SEASON - all of which he started - Newcombe completed 63 percent of his passes for 712 yards. He also ran for 195 yards, while Crouch completed 49 percent of his passes and scrambled for 459 yards on the ground.

"I think the competition between all the quarterbacks here makes me better as a person, as a quarterback and as a leader," Crouch said. "I'm always learning more and more and becoming a bigger competitor."

Newcombe can often be found standing behind the No. 1 offense's huddle during practice in his red mesh jersey and shorts.

He listens to Crouch call the play, but in his mind, Newcombe is often taking the snaps.

"While he's running the play, I'll watch the receivers running the routes or visualize myself in his shoes," Newcombe said.

The 6-foot, 195-pounder has also been lifting and jogging a "short mile" every other day.

AND THOUGH HE DOESN'T KNOW EXACTLY when he'll be back at full speed, Newcombe had no doubts that he would be ready when Nebraska opens its fall season. In fact, he expects to be stronger physically, as well as mentally, than he was before the injury.

"It's kind of an enhancement of wisdom - a humbling experience, but it also gave me confidence, too," Newcombe said. "Kind of a silent confidence that says you can go from having someone tell you that you probably won't be able to play to coming back and being much better than you were."

The support of his teammates, he said, was also helping him work through his rehabilitation process.

He's also received support from fans, though they're sometimes more concerned with his injury status than his well-being.

"Sometimes it gets irritating because some people don't know I've been asked it about 100 times right before they asked it," Newcombe said. "It kind of stinks when someone comes up to me and asks me how my knee is instead of saying, 'Hello, Bobby.'"

But it's something he's become accustomed to since last fall.

More than anything, Newcombe said, he has learned to deal with attention and criticism - from fans and the media.

"At first, I said, 'Aw crap, this really sucks," Newcombe said. "Now I evaluate the situation and the whole experience and I'm kind of glad I had to go through it.

"It still sucks, but it definitely toughened my skin and made me a lot more realistic. It gave me a lot more confidence in myself."