Shannon Heffelfinger
NU’s Evans
finally back
after injury
Seven months ago. as he lay on
the mats in the Bob Devaney Sports
Center gymnastics room, Nebraska
1-back DeAngelo Evans said he
always thought he'd go through
something like this. Something that
would test his drive and ambition
and the reality of w ho he had always
thought he was. Something that
would make him a better person for
surviving.
1 asked him questions between
his exercises that day. DN photogra
pher Matt Miller shot a few rolls of
film. We watched for two hours as
Evans struggled through his work
out. Both of us knew we had a good
story on our hands - DeAngelo
Evans, a rising star as a freshman,
could hardly complete an average
workout after injuring the muscles
in his pelv ic area at the end of the
1996 season.
But the whole time, I felt guilty .
1 felt like we were taking advantage
of Evans' fight to return to the foot
ball field. Yeah, it was a good story -
but only if Evans made it back.
And I didn't think he'd ever play
again.
But against all odds, Evans will
return after an 18-month absence as
the No. 1 I-back Saturday against
No. 8 Washington. He has worked
longer and fought harder than most
people know'.
When Matt and I decided to do
that story last January, Evans had hit
a low point. He hadn't played in a
game in over a year. He had endured
two surgeries and a misdiagnosis.
He had lost most of his strength.
And as a last resort, NU trainer
Doak Ostergard and Husker
Gymnastics Coach Francis Allen
had devised a rehabilitation plan for
Evans that included various gym
nastic exercises and no weight lift
ing.
As Matt and I watched that day,
Evans struggled to climb a rope sus
pended from the ceiling. He could
n’t do much more than five consecu
tive pull-ups. Ostergard asked him
to kick his feet up against the wall
and stand on his hands for a minute.
He made it for 45 seconds.
Evans did not resemble the foot
ball player who ran for 776 yards
and a team-leading 14 touchdowns
as a freshman m January of 1996.
But two injuries and seven
months later, Evans is ready to be
that player again. He is an example
of what determination and hard
work can do. And it’s turned out to
be a pretty good story.
“Lou Holtz (former Notre Dame
Coach) says that 10 percent of life is
what happens to you,"
Evans said. “The other 90 percent is
how you react to it.”
Obviously, Evans has reacted
well.
Heffelfinger is a junior news
editorial major and a Daily
Nebraska senior staff writer.
Buckhalter takes the ‘right path’
By Darren Ivy
Staff writer
It's hard to know where to begin
when telling Correll Buckhalter's
story.
That's because there are so many
stories to tell.
There's the story of the current
Nebraska I-back w;ho found his path
to the Cornhuskers by evoking
images of Walter Payton in high
school.
There’s his hometown of Collins,
Miss., a town consumed by drugs and
poverty. A town where everybody
w'orks hard, but few escape.
There’s the church next to his
house, which guided Correll in the
right direction.
There’s his father, James, who
balanced driving a big rig and raising
three kids alone for three years.
There’s his stepmother, Ruth, who
raised Correll like he was one of her
own.
There’s his brother, Chris, who
Correll truly loves but never sees.
But if Correll’s story has to start
somewhere, it might as well be with
his right arm.
It's the story of the mother he never
knew, and the angel that Correll
believes watches over him.
Tattoo
Gracing Correll’s right arm is a
tattoo of his mother's face - a face
he's only seen in family photo
albums.
Just 19 months after Correll was
born, his mother, Ruth Buckhalter,
died after a valve in her heart burst.
Correll was too young to remem
ber his mother before she died but it
left him wondering what his mother
was like. He sees pictures and hears
stories about her from his father, but
nothing can really fill the void.
“Every day I think what it would
be like to see her in real life,” Correll
said.
After each college football game.
Lorrell dedicates
his performance to
his mother. Last
year, he made his
ultimate dedication
to her, having the
tattoo of her face
put on his right
shoulder.
“That way I
could see her when
ever I wanted,”
Correll said as he
looked down at her
face. “She could
u
Cor veil never
had anything
handed to him.
He grew up
working
Roy Foster
Collins High School coach
much time to
mourn because he
had a family to
raise.
James had
plenty of experi
ence. After his
father had left, he
raised his own
brother and sister.
A truck driver
for 26 years,
James said the
family survived,
but the children
aeon ivie\yLUKG/jJiN
NEBRASKA l-back Correll Buckhalter shows a picture of his late mother, Ruth, who died when Correll was 19
months old. Buckhalter feels that religion, as well as respect for his family, guided him along the right directions.
always be on my side. I know God has
her watching over me as an angel."
And after hearing Correll's story,
most would probably agree.
Growing up
When Ruth Buckhalter died in
1980, it was “like murder,” James
Buckhalter said.
But the Collins native didn't have
missed their mother.
Chris, Correll's older brother, was
6 years old when his mother died and
the only one old enough to remember
his mother.
“Correll accepted it and said there
was nothing he could do about it,”
James said. “It’s been rough on Chris
and Lakeisha (his sister). They
missed her more than he did”
When Correll was five. James
married another woman. Her name:
Ruth.
“He was raised up just like he was
one of mine,” Ruth said. "I just didn't
birth him.
“Correll was respectful. You
asked him to do something, and he
always would.”
Correll also was a hard worker,
said Roy Foster, his Collins High
School football coach.
He credits Ruth and James for
instilling that work ethic in him.
“Correll never had anything
handed to him,” Foster said. "He
grew up working."
Hometown
Correll was a product of the two
communities he grew up in.
He lived in Lilly Valley, but w'ent
to school in Collins, 10 miles away.
Foster said hardworking people are
common in Lilly Valley and Collins,
with a population of 2,541.
But the hard work doesn't seem to
get most of them anywhere. Located
in south-central Mississippi, Collins'
socioeconomic status is toward the
bottom in the state, Foster said. The
population consists of an equal num
ber of whites and blacks.
“It's a typical rural, south-central
Mississippi town,” Foster said. “It’s
very blue-collar and you don't have to
lock your doors when you go to bed.”
James, who has lived in Collins
Please see PATH on 11
UW coach: Scales tip in NU’s favor
By Shannon Hfffelfingfr
Senior staff writer
Most coaches admit that preparing
to play the Nebraska football team pre
sents problems for their defenses. Most
Lambright
agree it s dinlcult
to study the intri
cacies of the
option and even
harder to duplicate
it in practice.
For Washing
ton Coach Jim
Lambright, the
assignment is
more perplexing
than normal. That's
because tapes of
Nebraska's first three games reveal little
about its biggest option threats - quar
terback Bobby Newcombe and running
back DeAngelo Evans.
Newcombe and Evans will play
together for the first time m their careers
this Saturday when the Comhuskers (3
0) play host to Washington (2-0) at 2:30
p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
And neither Lambright nor the UW
defense knows what to expect.
“The fact that they’re putting two
athletes so very productive and that we
have not had a chance to look at them on
video definitely tips the scales in their
favor,” Lambright said. “It makes it that
much harder for us to prepare.”
Evans, a junior who had his left knee
scoped on Aug. 22, will start against the
Huskies for the first time since his fresh
man season. An injury to his pelvic
muscles sidelined Evans last year.
Newcombe will also start after
missing two games because of a slight
tear in his postenor cruciate ligament.
But Lambnght is confident in the
Washington defense. After a shaky start
against Arizona State, the Huskies held
BYU to 204 yards of total offense. And
UW has sacked opposing quarterbacks
10 times in two games.
Offensively, Lambnght thinks UW
has an edge with its passmg game. He
admitted the Washington coaches have
paid extra attention to the Nebraska
Louisiana Tech game video closely.
Tech quarterback Tim Rattay passed for
590 against NU on Aug. 29.
“It was sure a great video to watch.
I'd love to have that wide receiver (Troy
Edwards). It does give you some clues.
It also gave Nebraska a whole lot to
work on immediately after that. You can
definitely see their improvement in pass
coverage over the last couple of games,”
he said.
Nebraska
vs.
Washington
Quarterback Brock Huard, who has
connected on 43 of 80 passes for 496
yards and five touchdowns, will be
instrumental in UW's edge over NU.
But Washington’s offense stalled
last week in a 20-10 loss to BYU. The
Huskies gained just 100 rushing yards
and scored 8 points.
UW tight end Reggie Davis said the
Huskies realize they can’t defeat
Nebraska without a running attack.
"You can't beat a team by being one
dimensional,” Reggie Davis said. “We
definitely need to have a running game
m order to beat Nebraska