With a boot following Nebr
aska's only touchdown of the game
Friday, senior kicker Kris Brown
broke the NCAA career record for
extra points. Brown bettered the
mark of 216 set by Fresno State’s
Derek Mahoney in 1993.
“I was just fortunate to be at the
right school,” Brown said. “It's an
honor for me, because 1 feel like I
represent all those guys that got in
the end zone."
Brown also kicked three field
goals Friday to finish with a team
high 89 points. The Carroll, Texas,
native led NU in points three of his
four seasons.
“His contribution has been
tremendous throughout the course
of his career here,” NU Coach
Frank Solich said. “He contributed
with record extra points, he con
tributed with field goals under
pressure, and he contributed on
kickoffs."
m
hmntinnc nn rlrui ri i n _
rung high in Nebraska's 21 seniors
as they played their final game at
Memorial Stadium on Friday.
Each senior was introduced
before the game and hugged NU
Solicit before running onto the
field.
"1 think everybody was on a
mission,” said junior linebacker
Eric Johnson. "You look into the
seniors' eyes, everybody was cry
ing. We had to win this game for the
seniors. They were crying before
the game, during the game - we
were doing it for them.''
m
True freshman defensive tack
les Jeremy Slechta and Jason Lohr
recorded two of Nebraska's six
sacks Friday. Lohr's sack marked
his career first, while Slechta
notched his second of the season.
Slechta also recovered a fumble.
“Everybody on the defense
played great,” senior rush end Chad
Kelsay said. “Everybody was mak
ing plays.”
■
Javon Green’s first-quarter
touchdown was the first for
Colorado in Lincoln since 1994 ...
Marlon Barnes, who has played in
just five games this season because
of injury, rushed for more than 100
yards for the third time this year ...
freshman Andy Peeke's touchdown
reception in the third quarter was
the first of his career.
■
Colorado tackle Shane Cook
said the Buffaloes’ game plan to
run right at the Huskers worked
only sporadically.
“We thought we’d come in here
and dominate the line of scrim
mage, which we did at times,”
Cook said. “But they came up with
more big plays. At the end, it
seemed like someone got through
every time. One guy would make
Moschetti step somewhere, and the
other guy would get him. It seemed
like every play, someone was com
ing free or someone didn’t get their
assignment.”
CU finished with 112 yards on
the ground.
Gameday notebook compiled
by senior staff writers Shannon
Heffelfinger and David Wilson
Gamedav: I
Scott McClurg/DN ■
NEBRASKA FREE SAFETY Clint Finley returns an interception from Colorado quarterback Mike I
Moschetti during the first quarter giving Nebraska its only touchdown of the game.
Defense rescues NU
in tight win over Buffs
By David Wilson
Senior staff writer
No one was going to let this one slip away.
Not Frank Solich, who already had lost more
games in his first head coaching season at Nebraska
than Tom Osborne lost in his final four.
Not the young Cornhusker players, who didn't
know what it was like to lose a regular-season confer
ence game until early this year.
And especially not the 21 NU seniors, who were
playing their final game at Memorial Stadium and had
never lost to Colorado.
They did, however, manage to keep things interest
ing.
ing heavy on them, and they were reminded of that
every time they turned on the TV or every time they
read the paper."
Nebraska jumped out to an early lead four minutes
into the contest when free safety Clint Finley intercept
ed a pass and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown.
The score marked the Huskers’ only touchdown of
the game as NU’s offense finished with three field
goals on four trips inside Colorado’s 20-yard line.
"It was frustrating for us to settle for field goals,”
I-back Correll Buckhalter said. “But we were thankful
for what we got. It wasn’t anything Colorado did. We
kept ourselves from sconng six points every time we
were inside the 20.”
Buckhalter finished with 92 yards on the ground,
highlighted by a 52-yard scamper in the third quarter,
irailing dv iwo wunjusi
under three minutes remain
ing, Colorado's final drive
was cut short as Nebraska
preserved a 16-14 victory
over the Buffaloes before
75,958 fans.
"We weren't going to
lose,” senior rush end Chad
Kelsay said. “You cannot go
out a loser.”
Kelsay sacked CU quar
terback Mike Moschetti on a
second-down play with one
minute and 53 seconds rem
aining, setting up two incom
plete passes on third and
fourth down, which gave the
u
Everybody kind of took it
upon themselves to get
ready to play in that
second half and not let
the fans, the state and the
Nebraska tradition down
Joel Makoyicka
NU fullback
wmcn sei up senior KicKer
Kris Brown’s second field
goal of the game.
The Husker rushing
attack was slowed from the
beginning as Nebraska was
held to -2 yards on the ground
in the first quarter. NU put up
19 yards rushing in the sec
ond quarter and entered the
locker room at halftime with a
10-7 lead.
Finding motivation for
the second half wasn’t diffi
cult, senior fullback Joel
Makovicka said.
“A lot of the guys stepped
up,” Makovicka said. “The
uan uacis. iu lNcuiasxa, scaling uic win.
“Being the last game m the big house, you always
want to go out w ith a ‘W,’” said senior rush end Mike
Rucker, who recorded IV2 sacks and seven tackles.
“Just knowing that you’re one play away from losing
the game, it felt great to get off the field and let the
offense go out there and run the clock down.”
While most of the seniors who weren't on the field
for NU’s final defensive stand watched anxiously,
senior center Josh Heskew could not.
“I don’t think I watched a single play,” Heskew said.
“I was sitting on the bench just hanging my head down.
If I heard a big roar, then I knew we did something
good. If I didn’t, I knew it wasn’t good.”
One minute after taking a seat, Heskew was back
on the field as NU wrapped up its ninth victory of the
season. The Huskers improved to 9-3 overall and 5-3 in
the Big 12 Conference, while the Buffaloes fell to 7^4
and 4A.
The nine-win monkey finally jumped off Solich s
back as this year’s Nebraska squad followed suit with
every other Husker team since 1968.
“It seems like every time they stepped on the field,
someone was talking about this string or that string that
was in jeopardy,” Solich said. “That never makes it easy
on anybody.
“Right now. 9-3, to me, sounds pretty good. You
have to go back quite a ways - back to my era, almost -
to find a team that didn’t get nine wins. That was weigh
senior class, we weien i going in go uui Rising un uui
field for the last game. 1 think the younger guys stepped
up and realized they didn’t want to send us out that way.
Everybody kind of took it upon themselves to get ready
to play in that second half and not let the fans, the state
and the Nebraska tradition down.”
Brown’s third-quarter field goal was matched by a
Moschetti touchdown pass with just over two minutes
left in the quarter. The score gave the Buffaloes a
1-point lead.
But two possessions later, redshirt freshman Eric
Crouch led the Huskers on a 10-play, 49-yard drive that
ate nearly five minutes off the clock, ending with a
25-yard Brown field goal. The boot gave NU its final
lead.
“It’s been some year,” Solich said. “(This game)
was similar to many of them. It came down to the end.
It was a tough one all the way through.”
Now the Huskers are left to prepare for a bowl game
- likely the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 30.
“One of our goals was definitely to win the nation
al championship, win the Big 12 Championship and
have an undefeated season,” said Crouch, who com
pleted 10 of 22 passes for 123 yards. “But as you know,
those things aren’t going to happen this year.
“One thing that we talked about as a team is, ’Let’s
try to go out on top this year.' We thought that just going
out and being the best team at the end of the year is a
way to show the Nebraska pride”