qb Confidential: Starter still not known
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Senior staff writer
Eight games into the season, quar
terback questions still linger for the
Nebraska football team.
A career day
Saturday for No. 2
quarterback
Monte Christo,
increased injury
concerns sur
rounding starter
Bobby Newcombe
and a fresh and
recovered Eric
Crouch all pomt to
a potential contro
NewCOmbe versy for the
Cornhuskers as they prepare for a
rematch of the 1996 Big 12
Championship.
Seventh-ranked NU will play host
to Texas on Saturday at 2:35 p.m., and
coaches may not determine a starting
quarterback before that day.
Does NU Coach Frank Solich:
■ Continue to start Newcombe,
whose knee injury has prevented him
from showing the big-play ability that
won him the job in the spring?
■ Pick Monte Christo, the fifth
year senior who took advantage of his
most important chance to contribute by
guiding the Huskers to a 21-13 come
ffom-behind victory over Missouri?
■ Or turn to Crouch, a redshirt
scout-team quarterback in 1997 who
came within one big play of nabbing
the starting job last spring?
A different quarterback has provid
ed an answer every week thus far. But
as Nebraska enters a crucial month that
includes games against Texas, No. 3
Kansas State and No. 24 Colorado, the
need for stability grows more impor
tant.
Solich and NU Quarterbacks
Coach Turner Gill plan to take a day
by-day approach to the question.
Crouch said the quarterbacks will
accept any resolution.
“There’s no tension between the
quarterbacks right now," said Crouch,
who has started two games. “It was
there during the spring and even in fall
camp a little bit, but we are at the point
in our season where the team can’t real
ly afford a big quarterback controver
sy.”
Newcombe hinted Tuesday that he
may eliminate himself from the mix.
The sophomore, who tore his posterior
cruciate ligament against Louisiana
Tech on Aug. 29, will continue to dis
cuss his options with his father, Robert
Newcombe, and his doctors.
“My father is concerned because
it’s been eight weeks and it’s still keep
ing me from running full speed” said
Newcombe, who has passed for 647
yards this season. “He’s worried about
the long term - how it would affect my
future. I'm taking that into considera
tion. These last few games, I've been
taking chances being out there.”
The oft-injured Christo sympa
thizes with Newcombe.
“You have to give Bobby credit for
the courage he has shown,” Christo
said. “He has a lot of heart, but he's
been limited and it’s frustrating for
him, and it’s frustrating for the offense.
It’s a tough situation for him. He’s a
great player, but he’s not the same play
er he was during the spring.”
Injury also has limited Crouch this
season. He missed NU’s last three
games with a hip pointer, but returned
to practice full speed Monday.
Ironically, Christo, who has under
gone four surgeries during the past four
years at Nebraska, has remained unaf
fected by injury this fall. He owns the
highest pass completion percentage of
the three quarterbacks at 65.2 percent.
Christo maintains that his goal is
winning games, not earning the start
ing job. And Newcombe and Crouch
agreed they don't want the situation to
hurt the team.
“It's a little overwhelming,’’ Crouch
said. “At the beginning of the season
you don't expect things to be unsettled
at this point. But 1 think the coaches
have done a good job of handling the
situation and doing what’s best for the
team. It's tough, but we’re going to get
through it.”
count
on
NITs Christo steps into quarterback spotlight
By David Wilson
Senior staff writer
Don't think Monte Christo hasn't
pondered throwing in the towel a time or
two since he walked on the Nebraska
football team five years ago.
A senior quarterback, Christo has
spent more time with the trainers than
he has on the field running the offense
on Saturdays.
He hadn't even attempted a pass
until this season.
But Christo wouldn't let himself
quit.
Not after suffering a ligament tear in
his right thumb (twice). Not after crack
mg a vertebra. And not after undergoing
lower-back disc surgery or suffering a
season-ending knee injury.
His persistence is finally paying off.
The 6-foot, 195-pounder from
Kearney relieved an injury-slowed
Bobby Newcombe off and on in the first
quarter against Missouri last Saturday
before playing the entire second half.
His two-touchdown effort helped
NU to a 20-13 victory.
“That's the reason why I came here,”
Christo said. “For something like this.”
Suddenly, Christo has been thrown
into the quarterback mix.
Nebraska Coach Frank Solich said a
decision will be made later this week as
to whether Christo, Newcombe or Eric
Crouch will start under center Saturday
against Texas.
“Personally, 1 feel like I can go out
there and lead this team,” Christo said,
“whether it be starting or just coming
into whatever role it is.”
And Christo has always known his
role, NU Quarterbacks Coach Turner
Gill said.
“Going into this season, I talked to
him and told him that he probably
wouldn't be getting a lot of snaps
because of Bobby and Eric,” Gill said.
“Tie said 'Hey, Coach, I started some
thing, and 1 want to finish it.’
"1 admire that”
But it wasn’t that easy, said Christo,
who tore a ligament in his right thumb
midway through spring ball.
The injury, which required surgery,
pushed Christo as close to calling it
quits as he had ever been.
“It was tough to accept because that
was really my last chance to make a
move on the depth chart and put myself
in position to play,” Christo said. “But if
you can get used to something like that,
I guess I'm the one person that’s gotten
used to it.”
Injuries forced Christo to miss the
entire 1995 season and take a redshirt
year. After playing in five games as a
Matt Miller/DN
THOUGH HE HAS SUFFERED numerous injuries throughout his five-year career, NU senior quarterback Monte
Christo has finally been given an opportunity to show his talent on the field.
sophomore, Christo suffered a cracked
vertebra early last fall before returning
for minimal action in five games.
Against Missouri, Christo rushed
20 times for 67 yards, both career highs.
He scored the first two touchdowns of
his career. He also completed one pass
for 7 yards.
“I think it’s tremendous that Monte
has been given the opportunity to show
his talent,” Solich said.
He hasn’t seen this much action
since he ran the option at Kearney High
in 1993.
“It seems like it has kind of been a
roller-coaster ride for me,” Christo said.
“With all the injuries I’ve had, it’s been
kind of gloomy at times, but I'm just
glad that I was able to persevere and get
through the tough times. Fortunately,
things turned ouPgood for me.”
Kearney High Coach Riley Harris
never had any doubts.
“It would have been easy not to con
tinue,” Harris said, “but with his atti
tude, I knew that was never going to
happen.”
Christo turned down Division II
offers to walk on at Nebraska after for
mer Husker Coach Tom Osborne
showed up at his door to tell him he
could eventually earn a scholarship.
Playing behind quarterbacks
Tommie Frazier, Brook Berringer and
Matt Turman in 1994, Christo was
thrown right mto the fire for a few plays
as a true freshman against Missouri.
Frazier had blood clots, Berringer
had cracked ribs and a deflated lung,
and when Turman went out, Christo was
the only quarterback left on the 60-man
travel roster.
“It's kind of ironic,” Christo said.T
“There’s some scary similarities to this
year with all the injuries at quarter
back.”
So in steps Christo.
“He’s been through an awful lot as a
young person,” Gill said. “He’s been
beat up. But the thing I like about him is
that he’s stuck with it.”
Train Hill at Pioneers a challenge for cross country runners
By Christopher Heine
Staff writer
Nebraska cross country runners
refer to hills, turns and rough footing as
“interrupters.”
One can sense the annoyance when
the runners talk of the obstacles that
break their paces.
However, when tljey speak of
“Train Hill,” their voices are tinted
with agony.
Train Hill is the last climb of the
hilly and jerky 8-kilometer course the
Cornhuskers call home at Pioneers
Park.
It is long. It is steep. It is mean. NU
runner Marcus Witter said Tram Hill is
a painful stretch.
Saturday morning the Huskers will
have company in their pain as they play
host to the Big 12 Championships.
Witter said the entire course is
tough. But he said Train Hill, which
must be climbed twice in the race, is on
a level of its own.
“You turn the corner and see this
hill and you’re like ‘Oh man,'” he said.
Husker sophomore Amie Finkner
said the fact the hill is the tallest on the
run doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Just when you think you’re done,
it goes up another notch,” she said. “A
lot of people give up mentally at that
point.”
Nebraska sophomore Todd Tripple
said the final climb of the Train Hill
can affect every runner’s finish.
“Everybody hurts on the hill,” he
said. “I know if I keep mentally strong
1 will catch some people in front of
me.”
Finkner said NU’s experience with
the hill should help this weekend.
“I think it intimidates a lot of
teams,” she said. “I don’t think it will
be a big issue for us, though.”
Train Hill is far from the only hard
ship runners will experience at
Pioneers this weekend.
Competitors will have to adjust to a
series of smaller hills and sharp turns -
as well as rough footing because of
seasonal erosion.
Husker Amy Wiseman, who fin
ished sixth at last year’s Big 12 meet,
said her team has a big advantage.
“We know where the turns,
grooves, bad spots and holes are,” she
said. “People who haven’t run here
before will be just following the crowd.
Pretty soon they’ll step in a hole or
miss a turn and lose spots.”
Witter said the course, which is
located on the north side of the park, is
the second toughest run in the Big 12.
He said Kansas has the most difficult
one.
This sophomore from Kearney
said it's hard to manage the number of
hills at Pioneers.
“People seem to die more on hilly
courses,” he said. “You don't want to
start out too hard - the hills will take it
out on your legs.”