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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1997)
Dave Wilson Newcombe wins frosh QB battle When Bobby Newcombe and Eric Crouch committed to play foot ball for the Comhuskers last sum mer, the hype began. Two of the top high school pass-run quarterbacks in the nation would be playing for Nebraska. Both had earned all kinds of awards for their talent on the foot ball field and both were standout sprinters during track season. Their progress was followed through fall /-» n /-I f U *«» am treated as equals. Despite some “friendly competition” they got along fine. “We’re best friends,” Newcombe said Saturday at photo day. But in the end there was only room for one. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne announced Monday that Crouch would redshirt and Newcombe would play this season. In other words, Crouch was left to stand in Newcombe’s shadow. Newcombe earned his position as the third-string quarterback and will be used as a kick return man and possibly as a receiver. But Crouch doesn’t trail Newcombe ath letically. Tendonitis in his knee may be the only thing that will keep Crouch off the field as a true fresh man. “I think it has limited him just a little bit,” Osborne said. “Not much, but it’s a factor. Eric and Newcombe both learned the system about as fast as the quarterbacks we’ve had. They have excellent skills and there is very little to choose between them. The one thing is that Newcombe would probably be first team punt return and kickoff return guy. Eric - mainly because of his knee - would not be that high on the return team. So we felt it was smart maybe to play one and not the other.” But redshirting can be a good thing, right? Sure, Crouch will have an extra year to learn the system, but next spring, Crouch will likely start below Newcombe on the depth chart. And unless Newcombe really screws up, Crouch may find himself fighting an uphill battle until his fifth season as a Husker. Not that Crouch really had much choice in his decision to redshirt this season. “He seems to understand that under the circumstances his playing time would be very limited,” Osborne said. “We don’t ever make a player redshirt here, but I felt that it would be in his best interest to have five years at Nebraska.” For now, Crouch’s career will be put on hold and his equal will be given a chance to shine. Wilson is a junior news-editor ial major and a Daily Nebraskan senior reporter. Fall seasons kick off In spite of injuries, Weekend tourney I-backs confident provides first test By David Wilson Senior Reporter When 6-foot-5, 285-pound Jason Peter collided with 6-foot, 205 pound Ahman Green in last Friday’s scrimmage, something ugly was bound to happen. “I saw him coming and I know he saw me coming,” Green said. “I just dipped my shoulder, got into my nat ural running style and got prepared to go into contact.” Peter left with a mild concussion, and Green somehow avoided being the next sidelined Nebraska I-back. “That’s what you expect playing a game like football,” Green said. “I could have been the one with the concussion.” Injuries have left Nebraska thin at I-back. Sophomore DeAngelo Evans is out with a pelvic stress until Monday, senior Jay Sims suffered a knee strain earlier this fall, and red shirt freshman Dan Alexander tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the spring game. In Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. season opener against Akron, the Cornhuskers are left with I-backs UEH Green, true freshman Correll Buckhalter, and junior Josh Cobb. But the lack of depth at I-back does n’t concern senior quarterback Scott Frost. “We should have a great back field with all the talent we have back there,” Frost said. “Unfortunately, we just kind of got hit by the injury bug. Ahman is playing great, and if we can keep him healthy, I don’t see any problems.” Buckhalter, from Mt. Olive, Miss., rushed for 1,722 yards as a senior at Collins High School and averaged 7.3 yards per carry. The 6 foot-2, 210 pounder is a solid back up for Green, Frost said. “We will definitely feel comfort able with him coming in if some thing happens to Ahman,” Frost said. “Correll is laid back and kind of easy going. He kind of runs that way too. He runs really relaxed and smooth, yet he can be powerful when he wants to be, too. I think he’s a Please see I-BACKS on 8 By Shannon Heffelfinger Assignment Reporter Two weeks of intense practices revealed little to Nebraska volley ball coach Terry Pettit that he didn’t already know. His Cornhusker team is experi enced and deep with 15 players competing for playing time, an aspect that can both help and hurt early in the season. Angie Oxley is redshirting this season. “Individually, they all want to start,” Pettit said. “We have 16 peo ple so some of them are going to be disappointed, but you’d rather have 16 competitive people than four. And I like the competition we’re seeing. We’re going to be a real good volleyball team someday. Whether it’s this weekend, I’d be real surprised if things run all that smoothly, but we still should have great effort.” The Huskers will travel to Florida this weekend for the Suntrust Invitational. NU will battle Loyola (Chicago) and Miami of Ohio before facing national power house Florida, a 1996 Final Four team. Loyola returns four starters while Miami of Ohio boasts five players with starting experience from a team that finished 24-7 last season. But Florida coach Mary Wise said her team’s match with Nebraska will be the weekend’s main event. The Gators return four starters from last year’s 37-2 squad, includ ing senior setter Nikki Shade and top attackers Nina Foster and Aurymar Rodriguez. Despite the returning experience, Wise is con cerned about her team’s ability to defend Nebraska’s attack. “We just don’t have anyone that can match up with Lisa Reitsma’s talent,” Wise said. “We don’t have a two-time first-team All-American. We’re hoping the overall balance of our team will help. We can’t contain Lisa, but we need to keep the others Please see VOLLEY on 8 NU set for ’97 opener By Jay Saunders Assignment Reporter The Nebraska soccer team opens its fourth season of play this weekend against the DePaul Blue Demons and the University of Southern California. But this is no ordinary fourth sea son. NU is ranked No. 6, has an All American and a stellar returning squad. The Cornhuskers are brewing with excitement. “As we head into our first game we feel good,” Nebraska coach John Walker said. “We need to pick up where we left off last year and play good soccer.” DePaul, a second-year program which struggled in its opening sea son, will be the first roadblock for NU when the two teams face each other tonight at 7 at the Abbott Soccer Complex. Despite DePaul’s lack of recogni tion as a soccer power, Walker said the game is still big. “We can’t afford to slip up against DePaul,” Walker said. The Women of Troy face Nebraska at noon on Sunday at Abbott. USC should be a better matchup Matt Miller/DN JUNIOR TANYA WRIGHT fights to keep the ball from senior co-captain Tanya Franck during the NU intrasquad scrim mage last Friday. The Huskers hope to keep their agressiveness this weekend against DePaul and USC. for the Huskers. The Women of Troy are coming off of a 15-5 season and barely missed the NCAA Tournament. Erica DeVitis, who transferred from NU after last sea son, returns to Lincoln to try to help knock off her former team. USC will run a ball-control offense, moving the ball slowly up the field, Walker said. He compares USC to last year’s Husker squad. “They are this year where we were last year,” Walker said. “They are very hungry and will be an excit ing team to watch.” A rash of injuries have put a damper on the opener. Senior striker Becky Hogan has a crack in her tibia that could sideline her for up to four weeks; freshman Julie Greco will also be unavailable for four weeks with a knee injury. Please see SOCCER on 8