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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 1998)
_Gameday: Nebraska 55,1 Nebraska's 48-point win Saturday over Washington marked the biggest margin of victory ever against an Associated Press top 10 team. "It's one thing to lose, its another thing to get blown out." I W senior linebacker Todd Johnson said. "It's pretty embar rassing" The second-ranked Corn huskers" 55-7 win over the No. 8 Huskies bettered NT's 45-point \ ictor> over Colorado in 1992. "You just want to crawl in a hole." Washington quarterback Brock Huard said. "You can t beliece this happened on national TV" m Making his second career start at quarterback Saturday. NU sophomore Bobby Newcombe scored a career-high three touch downs. The 6-foot. 190-pound signal caller rushed 14 times for 79 yards also career highs. m Through its first four games, the Nebraska defense has not allowed its opponent to score in the first quarter. Washington was driving as the first quarter came to a close Saturday, but the Huskies' momen tum ended with a fumble on the Huskers' 9-yard line minutes into the second quarter. m Huard laughed when asked if the Nebraska fans were gracious. Washington Coach Jim Lambright said the Huskers didn't need a home-field advantage. Johnson was just surprised to see so many NU fans stick around so long. "You look in the fourth quarter, and they re killing us and almost all their fans are still in the crowd." Johnson said. "They 're definitely loud and they support their team " ■ DeAngeio E\an^ w ho missed all of last season w ith a groin nqury and the first three games of tins season with a knee injure had a game-high 146 yards rushing on I ' carries and tied his career best with three rushing touch downs 1 wans scored the Huskers' third, fourth and fifth touchdown> and recorded the fifth 100-yard : game of his career ■ Nebraska reported only one injury after Saturday 's game. Junior Will linebacker Eric Johnson suffered a hip pointer and may miss today's practice. ■ Senior defensive tackle Jason W iltz broke the NU defensive line man season record for intercep tions when he grabbed his second of the year in the second quarter Saturday. Wiltz intercepted a Huard pass at the Washington 27 yard line. Gameday notebook compiled by senior staff writers Shannon Heffelfmger and David Wilson Nebraska rolls UW with Evans’ return By Shannon Heffelfinger Senior staff writer The Nebraska football team wasted no time Saturday. pro\ mg to themselves. Washington and the college football world that their sometimes shaky play over the first few weeks of the season meant little. Rejuvenated by the return of four starters. No. 2 Nl smashed eighth ranked Washington 55-7 in front of 76.372 fans at Memorial Stadium. "We came out wanting to show that we can still dominate people." NU center Josh Heskew said. “We've been criti cized. whether it's the offensive line or the running backs or whatever. Today, against the eighth-ranked team, we came out and played some good ball. I hope this game answers some of the questions that peo ple hav e about our team." The answers came quickly Saturday. Almost nothing could go wrong for the Huskers. Quarterback Bobby Newcombe admitted he felt less than 100 percent after a three-week absence caused by a knee injury, but rushed 14 times for 79 yards and three touchdowns against UW. 1-back DeAngelo Evans, sidelined since 1996 with multiple injuries, didn't miss a beat and rushed for 146 yards and scored on runs of 60, 14, and 19 yards. And the defense, cnticized all season for its pass coverage, totaled three inter ceptions and sacked UW quarterback Brock Huard three times. “You can see the difference in us today when we hav e key players back and people playing w ithout worrying about pain." NL cornerback Erw in Sw inev said. "I'm not a predictor, but this kind of surprised all of us. 1 think." Neither the Huskers nor the Washington defense knew quite what to expect from the Huskers' offense Saturday But the return of Nl 's big-play makers. New combe and Evans, became apparent quickly. New combe led an 82-yard. 11 -play scoring drive on the Huskers" first series of the game to give Nl a 7-0 advantage. The following series. Evans ran up the right side of the field 60 yards for the first of his career-high three touchdowns. "1 knew 1 was going to score." Evans said. "I saw the end zone, and they weren't going to stop me. They were giv - ing us the option game." Evans increased NU's adv antage to 35-7 with scoring runs of 14 and 19 yards and a three-vard touchdown run by Correll Buckhalter with five minutes, 12 seconds remaining in the second half. Nebraska rushed 29 times for 261 yards in the first half. "We moved the ball better than what you might think against a quality' oppo nent like Washington,” Nebraska Coach Frank Solich said. "The option game went well and the power game fell in lme as well. It was our intention to build some confidence in our running game.” NU fullback Joel Makovicka credited Newcombe and Evans for domg just that. “Washington was kind of keying on the fullback, so those guys (Newcombe and Evans) just tore things up,” Turning Point ^ Washington threatens to score in the second quarter, but a Willie Hurst fumble thwarts the chance. Nebraska then drives for a back breaking touchdown \lako\ icka said. Washington's offense, on the other hand, saw little of the open field that Makov icka described. LAV running back Willie Hurst fumbled on the 2-yard line, putting a halt to a promising scoring driv e in the first half The Huskies scored their only touchdown w hen Huard hit halfback Joe Jarznyka in the end zone with a tlrree yard pass with 1:07 remaining in the first half. Washington was nev er in scoring position again. U W failed to adv ance past the Nebraska 43-yard line in the second half. Huard who said he wanted to "‘craw l into a hole" most of the game, spent most of his time on the ground. "He (Huard) said "Stop hitting me,'” Kelsay said. “He was starting to whine a little bit. But his offensive line wasn't giv - ing him much protection, and it had to get old time after time having guys in his face. “In our first couple of games, we sputtered a little bit and people started questioning us. But that just made us pull together a little tighter. We know what we can get done.” Evans echoed Kelsay s thoughts. “It was really kind of a fairy tale today,” Evans said. “I thought things real ly worked out well.” Matt Miller/DN NU l-BACK DEANGELO EVANS runs for 26 yards in the third quarter of the Huskers’ 55-7 win. Evans racked up 146 yards on 13 carries and scored three touchdowns. Saturday was Evans’ first game since he was injured in December 1996. Football Game Review Washington 7 Nebraska Washington jGfc Rushing jfRushing Name Car Yds Avg TD Name Car Yds Avg TD DeAngelo Evans 13 150 11.2 3 Willie Hurst 10 44 3.6 0 Bobby Newcombe 14 82 5.6 3 Maurice Shaw 7 27 3.6 0 Joel Mackovicka 11 65 5.9 0 Marques Tuiasosopo 1 19 19.0 0 Receiving Receiving Name Rec Yds Long TD Name Rec Yds Long TD Shevin Wiggins 2 45 42 0 Dane Looker 7 77 25 0 Matt Davison 1 12 12 0 Gerald Hams 3 24 11 0 Sheldon Jackson 1 18 18 0 Andre DeSuassure 2 36 28 0 Passing Passing Name Comp Att Yds TD Name Comp Att Yds TD Bobby Newcombe 5 8 84 0 Brock Huard 18 32 160 1 Marques Tuiasosopo 2 8 16 0 Game StatS Nebraska Wash Nebraska Wash First downs 29 16 Fumbles lost 2 3 Rushing attempts 68 31 Interceptions 3 0 Rushing yards 434 97 Penalties / yards 7/59 12/114 Passing attempts 9 41 Punt returns / yards 3/40 1/10 Passing completions 6 20 Kickoff returns / yards 1/14 4/122 Passing yards 93 176 Time of possession 30:45 29:15 Total yards 527 273 Sacks /yards 3/17 0/0 Scoring Summary Nebraska 21 14 20 0 55 Washington 0 7 0 0 7 Team Qtr Scoring play Plays-yards Score Nebraska Wash NU 1 B. Newcombe 3 yard run 11- 82 7 0 NU 1 D. Evans 60 yard run 1-60 14 0 NU 1 D. Evans 14 yard run 2-22 21 0 NU 2 D. Evans 19 yard run 7 - 90 28 0 NU 2 C. Buckhalter 3 yard run 6-60 35 0 Wash 2 J. Jarzynka 6 yard pass from Huard 10 -65 35 NU 3 B. Newcombe 2 yard run 2 -4 42 7 NU 3 B. Newcombe 2 yard run 6-19 49 7 NU 3 W. Miller 1 yard run 10-56 55 7 Jon Frank/DN