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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1998)
California 3 Blackshirts shine at Cal By Shannon Heffelfinger Senior staff writer BERKELEY, Calif. - A Nebraska defense that promoted itself as one of the best in the nation during the pre season finally revealed the substance behind the hype Saturday. The Blackshirts produced their best performance of the season in a 24-3 win over California at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, responding to critics who labeled the defense over rated after it allowed Louisiana Tech 590 yards passing in the season open er. No. 4 NU sacked Cal quarterback Justin Vedder a season-high six times. And the much-maligned sec ondary grabbed two interceptions - one each by Mike Brown and Carlos Polk - during the last three minutes of the game. “When you put the responsibility on your shoulder of being one of the best defenses in the country, that’s a lot of hype,” NU left rush end Chad Kelsay said. “We have a lot of new guys on offense and people were expecting us to carry the team through the first few games. So when you start giving up a few too many yards here or there, people will freak out.” The Huskers (3-0) provoked many of the 67,397 fans - including over 25,000 red-clad spectators - to “freak out” with the game in doubt much of the second half. The defense’s defining moment came in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Nebraska held a 14-3 lead, but with Cal thrfedi^fiiftg to score on nearly every drive in fee sec Football Game Review!» ” Nebraska L*Jk gattrraa Rushing ^-§1' Rushing Qf Name Car Yds Avg TD Name Car Yds Avg TD Joel Makovicka 13 79 5.9 0 Marcus Fields 9 31 3.2 0 Correll Buckhalter 12 75 5.9 0 Joshua White 7 18 2.3 0 Eric Crouch 16 78 3.7 2 Receiving Receiving Name Rec Yds Long TD Name Rec Yds Long TD Shevin Wiggins 7 97 36 1 Demeane Douglas 5 124 40 0 Matt Davison 5 44 20 0 Joshua White 4 15 10 0 Sheldon Jackson 1 31 31 0 Ronnie Davenport 1 22 22 0 Passing Passing Name Comp Att Yds TD Name Comp Att Yds TD Eric Crouch 6 16 74 0 Justin Vedder 14 32 224 0 Monte Christo 9 12 106 1 Game StatS Rents^ m Vefcrasfca m First downs 24 9 Fumbles lost 0 0 Rushing attempts 60 25 Interceptions 2 1 Rushing yards 254 12 Penalties / yards 4 / 29 9 / 53 Passing attempts 28 32 Punt returns / yards 7/41.9 9/38.2 Passing completions 15 14 Kickoff returns / yards 2/48 3/84 Passing yards 180 224 Time of possession 35:42 24:18 Total yards 434 236 Sacks/yards 6/36 3/21 Scoring Summary Nebraska 7 7 0 10 24 California 0 0 3 0 3 Team Qtr Scoring play Plays-yards Score Nebraska CAL NU 1 E. Crouch 1 yd run 7-67 7 0 NU 2 E. Crouch 3 yd run 5-64 14 0 CAL 3 T. Wolleck 38 yd field goal 6-47 14 3 NU 4 S. Wiggins 5 yd pass from M. Christo 9 - 70 21 3 NU 4 K. Brown 41 yd field goal 4 - -10 24 3 ond half, Kelsay said, the Huskers needed to gain some momentum. And the Bears (1-1) presented an opportunity. Cal regaini^pSssession after I Jon Frank/DN Kris Brown missed a 40-yard field goal attempt with 11 minutes and three seconds remaining in the fourth Please see DEFENSE on 11