Gameday: Nebraska 38,
Husker kicker Kris Brown became
Nebraska’s all-time leading scorer on
Saturday with a 27-yard field goal in
the third quarter.
Brown eclipsed former NU I-back
Mike Rozier’s mark of 312. Brown will
go into the California game with 315
points and counting.
“It was really an honor for me to be
able to break the record, but I really
wasn’t focused on it at all,” Brown said.
H
Among the inductees to the
Nebraska Football Hall of Fame at the
halftime ceremony on Saturday was Pat
Donohoe, who played defensive tackle
for Wayne State from 1973-76.
Donohoe now is the defensive line
coach for Alabama-Birmingham.
Another Hall-of-Famer, ex
Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne, received
a cordial roar from the Memorial
Stadium crowd as his name was
announced.
Osborne missed last week’s game
with Louisiana Tech but was back for his
homecoming with a seat in the press box.
B
Grant Wistrom and Aaron Taylor
also netted Hall of Fame status on
Saturday. 1997’s Lombardi and
Outland Trophy winners, respectively,
and the members of the storied Husker
senior class of 1997 that won three
national championships in four years,
were on hand to be recognized.
B
Joy Berquist, Husker left guard
from 1921-23, joined Osborne,
Wistrom and Taylor as the Nebraska
Football Hall of Fame’s Board of
Directors selections for 1998.
B
Eight other Nebraska football
greats were chosen for induction by
their peers in the Hall of Fame’s general
membership. The new inductees
include Dale Bradley (NU fullback,
1940-42), John Sedlacek (NU tackle,
1945-48), Mike Kennedy (NU line
backer, 1963-65), Fred Davis (Doane
offensive tackle, 1966-67), Paul Rogers
(NU kicker, 1968-70), Derrie Nelson
(NU defensive end, 1978-80) and Neil -
Smith (NU defensive tackle, 1985-87).
B
Blazer fullback Ortavious Miles,
who scored UAB’s only touchdown,
made a partial plea to the pollsters after
the game. “They’re probably the No. 1
team in the nation right now,” Miles said
■
UAB may be a team to watch in
weeks to come. The Blazers will be tak
ing on Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Virginia
Tech and Tennessee this season.
UAB linebacker Brian Smith said
he hopes the NU game will just be a
building block toward success for the
rest of the year.
■
Blazer Head Coach Watson Brown
is no stranger to playing defending
national champions. In 1983, as the
head coach at Cincinnati, Brown
coached the Bearcats to a 14-3 win over
1982 National Champion Penn State.
Notebook compiled by staff
writer Adam Klinker.
tough loss for Blazers
UAB coach ‘proud’ of team’s effort
By Adam Klinker
Staff writer
It’s the little things that usually
factor big.
For Alabama-Birmingham,
Saturday’s game against Nebraska
was no exception.
The Blazers, facing the
Comhuskers in their first contest of
the year, ran an NU-like offense
and got away with it - but not well
enough to gain a victory as they fell
to the Huskers 38-7.
“I was proud of them,” Blazer
Coach Watson Brown said after the
game. “They tried to execute the
game plan that we had. We just ran
out of gas.”
Brown said his team gave its all
for VA quarters before fatigue set
in, and small mistakes and missed
assignments did the Blazers in.
Just the same, Brown said UAB
fought hard to the finish.
“They didn’t come in here and
back down,” Brown said. “They
came in here and kept their poise.
They didn’t give the game away”
In a crucial drive late in the
third quarter, the Blazer offense,
trailing 21 -7 and guided down field
by sophomore quarterback/punter
Daniel Dixon, was penalized four
times, including three flags in a
row inside NU’s 25-yard line.
“The heat’s on them at that
point,” Brown said. “I thought if we
could get that one in, we would
have had ourselves a dogfight, but
it got loud, and we didn’t have it.”
Another big play occurred in
the second quarter as NU, with a 7
0 lead, was driving deep within
Blazer territory.
On third down and 11, NU
quarterback Eric Crouch, operating
out of the shotgun, threw a screen
pass to I-back Correll Buckhalter.
UAB strong safety Wes Foss was
unable to judge the receiver’s direc
tion in time, and Buckhalter slid by
him for a 10-yard gain.
Though the Huskers faced
fourth and one, they elected to go,
and Crouch threw a 15-yard pass to
a wide open Sheldon Jackson in the
end zone for NU’s second score.
“We just made little mistakes
like that,” said Blazer linebacker
Brian Smith, who finished the
game with seven tackles. “We’ve
got to be on point with everything
if we’re going to beat a team like
Nebraska.” v
Smith, who has played against
other premier offensive lines in the
nation including Tennessee and
Auburn, said NU’s front line was
by far the best he had ever seen.
On the other side of the ball, the
UAB offense was running at the
Huskers with a little of its own
medicine in options and draws,
keeping the NU defense on its toes
for most of the first half.
“That surprised me a little,”
Dixon said. “But I kn^w Nebraska
would react to it and change, and
they did.”
Dixon finished the game with
50 yards rushing on 16 carries and
Turning Point ^
In the third quarter, UAB was driving for another
touchdown when several penalties pushed
them back to the Nebrask 40-yard line. Instead
of a sure three points or a possible touchdown.
UAB had to punt. Game over.
was 8-15 passing for 56 yards. He
a|$o punted the ball sdvfcn times for *.
Sri average of 39. byards.
► The Blazers’ lone touchdown of
the afternoon^came on a 2-yard .
draw play by fullback Ortavious
Miles in die second quarter.
“I’ll remember that forever,”
Miles said. “Scoring against
Nebraska -1 couldn’t ask for a bet
ter feeling than that.”
While the feeling in the Blazer
locker room after the game was one
of accomplishment, Brown made
certain that it was certainly not a
victory atmosphere.
“This is not a victory speech by
any means,” Brown said. “We just
weren’t good enough. We fought
them, but they didn’t make mis
takes.”
Brown said he gave his players
a lot of credit for their composure,
toughness and effort, but in the end,
UAB’s errors were too much.
“They didn’t get knocked down
and beat,” Brown said. “They made
mistakes and got beat.”
As UAB walked off the field at
the end of the game, a cheer from
Husker fans erupted from the
northwest stadium.
“That was great,” Dixon said.
“These are great people, and this is
a great place to play, and I think we
can feel proud of what we’ve done.”
Photos by Mike Warren/DN
(TOP) UAB QUARTERBACK DANIEL DIXON watches as his helmet, torn off by Nebraska defensive lineman Aaron Wills, flies
toward the turf at Memorial Stadium. Dixon had 66 yards on 16 carries and 56 yards passing.
(ABOVE) SENIOR TIGHT END SHELDON JACKSON leaps for pass from quarterback Eric Crouch on a fourth down play that led
to Nebraska’s second touchdown. It was Jackson’s second touchdown reception of the season.
(RIGHT) FRESHMAN QUARTEBACK ERIC CROUCH celebrates after his first touchdown in Nebraska’s 38-7 win over Alabama
Birmingham. Crouch scored two touchdowns,including this 11-yard score.
