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Huskers’ or arget passin
By Jay Saunders
Staff writer
..- ■ ....—...
The majority of the attention in the
Nebraska football team’s 56-27 win over
Louisiana Tech went to the Bulldogs’ passing
game.
Most of that came
from Tech receiver Troy
Edwards, who set an
NCAA record for
receiving yards in a sin
gle game with 405 on 21
receptions.
On the other side of
the ball, the
Cornhuskers had their
- Gill best passing percentage
game since 1993, when
NU completed 14 of 17 passes against
North Texas.
No. 3 NU may not have thrown the ball as
many times as Louisiana Tech, but the pass
ing game had the right effect.
“Even though we only threw 13 passes,”
NU Coach Frank Solich said, “we completed
10 of those. I think we showed an offense
that moved the ball on the ground and
through the air.”
The 10 of 13 passing, nearly 77 percent,
is better than any performance the Huskers
had last year. The closest NU came last sea
son was a 75 percent (9 of 12 passing) per
formance against Iowa State.
Sophomore Bobby Newcombe started his
first game as a quarterback, and completed
nine passes in just 10 attempts. His only
incomplete pass: a throwaway under pressure
from the Bulldog defense. Newcombe threw
for 168 yards.
Freshman Eric Crouch replaced
Newcombe in the fourth quarter and tossed
three passes, completing one of them.
“We know no one is perfect,”
Quarterbacks Coach Turner Gill said, “but
we couldn’t have done any better.”
Because of an injury to Newcombe,
Crouch may see a lot more playing time
this weekend against Alabama
Birmingham.
Gill said whichever signal caller plays on
Saturday, the Huskers’ offense will run with
out a hitch.
“Eric is very capable of running, throw
ing and reading defenses,” Gill said.
Crouch and Newcombe are not the only
factors in the passing offense.
Both Gill and Solich said the receivers
and tight ends are aiding the offensive attack.
Nebraska returns nine players who
caught at least two passes last season. Six of
those players caught passes against
Louisiana Tech.Only Lance Brown won’t
play Saturday because of an ankle injury suf
fered on Monday.
Sophomore Matt Davison, who caught
two passes for 11 yards, said the seasoned
group of receivers helps the offense’s pass
ing game.
“I think it all has to do with how confi
dent we are,” Davison said. “We have a very
experienced receiving corps.”
Saturday, Louisiana Tech played what
Gill called a “three-deep” defense.The
Bulldogs played nine defenders close to the
line of scrimmage to defend the run. That left
only three defensive backs to cover Husker
receivers.
The result: big cushions for the NU
receivers on quick out patterns toward the
sidelines and long, play-action passes over
the middle.
Twice, Newcombe hit tight end Sheldon
Jackson with long passes in the middle of
the field. Newcombe also had success with
short passes right in front of Tech defensive
backs.
Both Davison and senior split end
Kenny Cheatham, who led all receivers
with three catches against Tech, said the
Huskers' ability to pass should help the
running game, forcing the defense to
respect play fakes from Newcombe and
passes out of the option play.
“With us passing well, teams may have to
change up the way they play defense a little
bit,” Cheatham said. “That is when we go
right up the gut at them.”
Is it possible to think that if NU could keep
throwing the ball efficiently, the Huskers could
change their offense to look somewhat like
Louisiana Tech, with four wide receivers and 60
passes a game?
Not likely.
Cheatham said he doesn’t think Husker
fans need to worry about seeing a change in
the offensive attack.Expect the option again
vs. UAB.
“We could have thrown the ball all day,”
Cheatham said, “but I don’t think we are
going to go to that extreme.”
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CU musters six points;
no match for Huskers
JAYS from page 9L
“But he said that they have to try
to schedule top 10 teams to stay com
petitive, and I understood that. I just
told Terry I’d call him back in a few
years when we are a top 10 team.”
Wallace was only half-joking.
The second-year CU coach has
pushed the Bluejays into the Missouri
Valley spotlight.
Creighton just reinstated its volley
ball program in 1994 after a brief hia
tus but has been able to build a solid
team with strong recruiting. Wallace
expects the eight-member l998 class
to have a positive impact on the pro
gram during the next four years.
Melissa Walsh, a freshman middle
blocker, said Tuesday’s match against
Nebraska will only help her teammates.
“This is something that none of us
have ever experienced before,” Walsh
said. “But we know we could have
done better out there.”
Walsh, who led the Bluejays with
eight kills and 29 attacks, said she felt
frustrated at times during the match.
In the first game, NU setter Fiona
Nepo reeled off 10 straight points
before Creighton earned possession.
Walsh scored CU’s only two points in
a
This is something
that none of us
have ever
experienced
before.”
Melissa Walsh
CU freshman middle blocker
r I
game one.
“We started real tense,” Walsh
said. “But after the first game, we
gelled a little better. We started play
ing our game.”
Pettit credited both Wallace and
the Bluejays for their persistence dur
ing the match. But he offered little
hope for a future meeting between the
two in-state schools other than a
scrimmage in the spring.
“We’re switching to a
Wednesday-Saturday schedule next
year, and we don’t have any midweek
dates available,” Pettit said. “It will be
difficult to continue next year.”
Tyson finds trouble in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Mike Tyson
picked the wffrag time to get into a
fight.
Tyson’s boxing future became
even cloudier Tuesday after police
in a Washington, D.C., suburb said
he punched one man in the chest
and kicked another in the groin
after a minor traffic accident a day
earlier.
The incident came less than three
weeks before Nevada boxing authori
ties meet to decide whether Tyson has
learned to behave himself enough to
be licensed again to resume his career
as a heavyweight fighter.
“This complicates matters,” a
source close to the Nevada commis
sion said.
There were no serious injuries in
Monday’s altercation - though Tyson
later complained of chest pains and
was treated at a hospital emergency
room - and no arrests were made.
Police classified it as a “misde
meanor assault” and said it would be
up to die other drivers if they wanted
to seek charges.
L_
