Gameday: Nebraska 24,
The injury-plagued Corn
huskers will enjoy a much-needed
week off before they play host to
No. 10 Washington on Sept. 26.
Five NU starters did not play
against California, including quar
terback Bobby Newcombe (knee),
1-back DeAngelo Evans (groin),
wingback Lance Brown (foot),
free safety Clint Finley (ankle) and
defensive tackle Jason Wiltz
(ankle).
Several Huskers who played in
Saturday's game were at less than
100 percent. No. 2 I-back Correll
Buckhalter re-injured his elbow
and No. 2 quarterback Eric Crouch
re-injured his hamstring and did
not play most of the second half.
No. 1 right rush end Mike Rucker
(groin) started the game but did
not return after the first series.
■
NU quarterbacks Crouch and
Monte Christo combined to com
plete 15 of 28 passes for 180 yards,
marking the third consecutive
game Nebraska has topped 150
yards through the air.
Wingback Shevin Wiggins and
split end Matt Davison have both
benefited from the Huskers bal
anced attack. Against Cal,
Wiggins caught seven passes for
83 yards, both career highs.
Wiggins’ 5-yard touchdown recep
tion was the first of his career; he
has one rushing touchdown and
another off a punt return. Davison
caught a career-high five passes
for 44 yards
The Huskers produced another
solid performance in the kicking
game. NU punter Bill Lafleur
passed his first true test of the sea
son with flying colors, punting a
career-high seven times for 293
yards, good for a 42-yard average.
Kris Brown extended his school
record of consecutive point after
touchdowns to 95 but ended his
school record streak of 17 consecu
tive field goals made when he
missed a 40-yard attempt with
11:03 remaining in the third quarter.
■
Cal fans booed the Huskers
when NU Coach Frank Solich
called for a field goal with 19 sec
onds left in the game. NU faced
fourth-and-twenty at the Cal 23
yard line when Brown kicked a 41 -
yard field goal to increase the
Huskers victory margin to 24-3.
“If I had to decide again, I
wouldn’t have done it,” Solich said
of the call. “It was a decision I
made at that point and I wish I
would have gone the other way.”
■
For the third-straight week,
NU played in front of a Memorial
Stadium crowd. This week, how
ever, the game was in Berkeley, but
the more than 25,000 NU fans
made it seem like Lincoln. At one
point, Cal quarterback Justin
Vedder had to ask the referee to
stop the game because he couldn't
hear. The 67,397 fans were the sec
ond largest non-conference crowd
in Cal history .
Gameday notebook com
piled by senior staff writer
Shannon Heffelfinger and staff
writer Darren Ivy
Cal defense slows NU;
Bears expected more
By Darren Ivy
Staff writer
BERKELEY, Calif. - Even after being beaten 24-3
Saturday by Nebraska, California players were less
than impressed with the No. 3 Comhuskers.
“They didn’t out-muscle us,” said Cal safety
Marquis Smith. “I thought they were going to play a lot
harder. It wasn’t something that I expected from a
defending national championship team, but they beat
us.”
Senior inside linebacker Albert Dorsey also had
some comments about the Huskers.
“We were wearing them down,” Dorsey said. “You
could see it in their eyes that they were afraid of us.”
Nebraska players might have been wearing down,
but California Coach Tom Holmoe said it was his Bear
defense who wore down the most m the fourth quarter.
It’s no wonder the Cal defense wore out. They were on
the field for 35:42 and had to face 88 offensive plays.
But Holmoe was still proud of his defense.
“The defense fought very courageously,” Holmoe
said. “They were on the field for a long time. Our
offense was cramping and fatigued, and we were
switching guys in and out.
“They wore down, but they didn’t give up, they did
n’t break. A great indication of that was at the end of the
game when Nebraska had two chances to score and
didn’t. Our guys had a strong will.”
The defensive scheme drawn up by defensive coor
dinator Lyle Setencich - who was the defensive coordi
nator at Arizona State when the Sun Devils beat NU 19
0 in 1996 - had the Husker offense slowed down the
entire game. %i... •>
The Bears crowded the li|e of scrimmage with an
eight-man front, daring Nebraska to throw on them.
This plan put tackling responsibilities on safety Peter
Destafano, who responded with 1-^tackles, and line
backers Sekou Sanyika and QorseyWho had 11 and 12
tackles respectively. 4
But the Bear scheme also left them vulnerable to
the long pass and that hurt Cal, Smith said.
“Our execution at times just broke dowr^” Smith
said. “They caught us right when we madef our little
mistakes, but they didn’t do anything we didn’t expect.”
Cal’s West Coast offense must not have done any?
thina thp Rlarkchirtc HiHn’t pynprt ft
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managed just nine first downs.
However, the Bears did have a couple of scoring
opportunities. In the second quarter, they had the ball
on the Nebraska 11 -yard line, but had to settle for a
field goal attempt, which ended up missing. That series
frustrated Holmoe.
“When you play a team like Nebraska, who exe
cutes very well and who makes few mistakes, and
you get the ball first-and-10 anywhere inside the 20,
you’ve got to score. Period.” Holmoe said. “... It’s
hard to win games when you don’t score on those
opportunities.”
w: MikeWarren/DN
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NU SENIOR FULLBACK JOEL MAKOVICKA plows through the
California defensive line during NU’s 24-3 victory gear the
Golden Bears. Makovicka led all rushers in the game with 72
yards.
CALIFORNIA DEFENSIVE BACK DELTHA O’NEAL steals the
ball away from NU receiver Matt Davis late in the first half.
Cal had one interception, while Nebraska had two, both in
the last three minutes of the game.
LINEBACKER ERIC JOHNSON of Nebraska sacks Justin Vedder
in the third quarter of the NU/Cal game Saturday. Johnson
had two sacks total for a loss of 7 yards.
NEBRASKA TIGHT END SHELDON JACKSON tries to avoid
defenders after making his only catch of the day, a 31-yard
reception from third-string quarterback Monte Christo.
