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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1997)
Redshirt decisions nearing for many Husker freshmen FRESHMEN from page 16 meters and the long jump. Since coming to Lincoln, his instincts have helped him, but learning a Division I offense is no simple task, Newcombe said “Learning the plays was just mostly repetition for me,” Newcombe said. “I’m still learning a lot now. I feel like I have a lot of learning to do, but if they want me to play, I’ll play.” Though they are both jockeying for playing time this season, the competi tion between Newcombe and Crouch does not leave the field “We’re best friends,” Newcombe said. “As a matter of fact, after practice, we’ll probably forget about the whole practice and go back and joke around.” Crouch agreed. “It’s like a friendly competition,” Crouch said. “We’ve become pretty good friends. You know there’s going to be some competition, but it’s a friendly competition. We’re going to stand by each other 100 percent.” Crouch, who has been bothered by a knee problem since last spring, said he is also starting to understand the offense. ‘I feel like in 2lA weeks, I’ve picked lot of things up and I’m starting to feel comfortable,” Crouch said. “Probably the biggest part of the offense is know ing what you can run against certain defenses.” Freshmen I-backs Correll Buckhalter and Dan White are also bat tling for playing time in the Comhusker offense. Buckhalter has proven to be one of the Huskers’ most effective rush ers in the team’s two preseason scrim mages. With I-backs DeAngelo Evans, Jay Sims, and Dan Alexander out with injuries, the freshmen may get a chance to play early this fall. Junior I-back Ahman Green has had problems with back spasms, but said he will likely not miss any games. Freshman split end Matt Davison also said he would like to suit up this fall. “I don’t want to (redshirt) because I want to play as soon as possible,” Nebraska Football Schedule Below is the 1997 Nebraska Football schedule. Date Opponent Time Aug. 30 Akron 12:30p.m. Sept. 13 Cental Florida 12:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at Washington 2:30 p.m. Oct. 4 Kansas St. 12:30 p.m. Oct. 11 at Baylor 6 p.m. Oct. 18 Texas Tech 12:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at Kansas 12:30 p.m. Nov. 1 Oklahoma 12:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at Missouri 1 p.m. Nov. 15 Iowa St. 12:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at Colorado 1:30 p.m. Dec. 6 Big 12 Championship 3:30 p.m. Davison said. “I can’t wait to run out of the tunnel for the first game. The fans here are so great.” Davison, who caught 63 passes for 1,314 yards last season for Tecumseh High School, said college ball has been a big adjustment for him. But the hard work, he said, is worth it. Freshman rush end Kyle Vanden Bosch also said he noticed a big differ ence between high school and college football. “In high school you just run for the ball,” Vanden Bosch said. “Here you have so many responsibilities.” But the older players, Vanden Bosch said, have been helpful. “When I screw up, Giant Wistrom and the upperclassmen help me out a lot,” Vanden Bosch said. Osborne said Vanden Bosch, along with junior-college transfer comerback Brandon Harrison and freshman cor nerback Joe Walker, have played well in fall camp. Syracuse romps Wisconsin 34-0 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — What better way to start the Kickoff Classic than to have the opening kickoff returned for a touchdown? The season got off to a rousing start for No. 17 Syracuse as Kevin Johnson ran back the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown and the Orangemen shut down tailback Ron Dayne in a 34-0 victory over No. 24 Wisconsin on Sunday. Syracuse, with Donovan McNabb running for one TD and passing for another, took a 24-0 halftime lead, while the 5-foot-10, 262-pound Dayne, com ing off an NCAA freshmen record breaking season, was never a factor. He carried nine times for 33 yards in the first 30 minutes, and the Badgers were unable to muster much offense all day. McNabb, meanwhile, had the Badgers’ defense off-balance all day, running 21 yards for a touchdown and completing passes of 33 and 26 yards to set up Rob Konrad’s 1-yard score in a 14-point second quarter. McNabb, who added an 8-yard TD pass to tight end Kaseem Sinceno in the third quarter, was sensational, going 11 of 14 for 211 yards and running for another 27 yards on five carries. Konrad, the Orangemen’s 6-3, 255 pound fullback, carried eight times for 76 yards, while Dayne finished with 46 yards on 13 carries. Dayne and McNabb have been tout ed as Heisman Trophy contenders, but Dayne’s stock fell with the least produc tive of his 10 career starts. Last season, he ran for 1,836 yards — fourth-best in the nation. His previous low as a starter was 62 yards against Iowa. With a Giants Stadium crowd of 51,185 settling into their seats, Johnson fielded Vitaly Pisetsky’s kickoff at the 11-yard line, cut to his left, received a key block from Roland Williams and ran untouched into the end zone 16 sec onds into the game. Linebacker Kevin O’Neil threw another block at the Wisconsin 20 to keep Johnson going. Syracuse, which opened last season . with losses to North Carolina and Minnesota before finishing strong at 9 3, took a 10-0 lead on Nate Trout’s 37 yard field goal with 54 seconds left in the first quarter. The shutout was the third in 15 Kickoff Classics, and marked the fifth straight time the losing offense has failed to score a touchdown. In 1993, Florida State beat Kansas 42-0 and Nebraska beat West Virginia 31-0 in 1994. Matt Miller/DN JENNY BENSON helps kicks off the new season during an intrasquad soccer scrimmage Saturday night at the Abbott Sports Complex. The Huskers open the regular season against DePaul Friday at 7 p.m. Scrimmage pleases Walker Newcomer strikes first in 3-1 white team victory By Jay Saunders Assignment Reporter The Nebraska soccer team may have faced its toughest competition of the season Saturday night before the season ever began. The players faced off against each other as a final tuneup before Friday’s season-opening game against DePaul at 7 p.m. at the Abbott Sports Complex. The white team, led by NU team captain Kari Uppinghouse and Isabelle Morneau, beat the black team 3-1. After several near misses by the white, junior Kim Engesser fooled Rebecca Hombacher, scoring mid way through the first half. Engesser, who transferred from Portland - where she was the Pilots’ fourth leading scorer as a freshman in 1995 - was involved in a lot of the action up front for the white team. Nebraska coach John Walker said Engesser is fitting in well in the Huskers’ offensive scheme. “The girl can play,” Walker said. “I think she is feeling more com fortable, and her confidence is get ting better.” Scoring picked up in the second half in an unusual way when assis tant coach Megan Bechtold put a shot past Hornbacher, and Tanya Wright added an insurance goal with 10 minutes left to seal the scrimmage win for the white. Jenny Benson scored the black team’s only goal. “Both sides played very well,” Walker said. “The biggest thing was the effort level and the competitive ness.” Even though the on-the-field play pleased Walker, he said he was still concerned about the players who did not play in the scrimmage. Junior striker Becky Hogan and freshman midfielder Julie Greco both watched from the sidelines on crutches after suffering injuries in practice last week. Hogan, who earned third-team NSCAA all-central region honors in 1996, is expected to miss about four weeks with a crack in the top of her right tibia. Greco is also expected to miss about four weeks after surgery on her tom meniscus, which should eliminate a recurring knee problem. The two injuries have forced Walker to deal with the loss of a returning offensive threat and a promising freshman for the begin ning of the season. “We have a deeper squad this year, so we can sustain a few injuries,” Walker said. “We don’t have to juggle people around. We just have other people that can play.” Hogan’s injury will put pressure on NU’s offense to pick up leader ship and scoring. One of those players expected to pick up the slack is sophomore Lindsay Eddleman, who was involved in a lot of the black team’s offensive threats. Eddleman said she has no prob lems with her new role. “John told me it was something I need to pursue,” Eddleman said. “(Hogan) did a lot. Now she is out and we need to step up our pres ence.” NU did get some good news from the injury front. Morneau was scheduled to play a controlled 50 minutes of the scrimmage after hav ing arthroscopic knee surgery earli er this summer. “She said she could have gone on,” Walker said. “She should be ready to go, but we are still a little on the cautious side.” After facing DePaul Friday, NU plays Southern California Sunday at noon. 1 I ]V 3TAN ~~ PARK 70th & O Streets Grisantis Norwest Bank Akin Natural Foods Friedmans Microwave Category One Techline Studio Country Sliced Ham Elegant Optics Purse Revue Omaha Steaks International Remax Central General Casualty Payless Optical ComCor Holding Inc. Metropolitan Life Murrays Big & Tall Moms, Inc. 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