Sports
Injuries devastate Husker l-back corps
Once a deep position filled with promising talent
is left with one experienced hack for spring drills
~ u
Dl /YUAM IYL1INKEK
Senior staff writer
The “I” in I-back on the Nebraska
football team has taken on a whole new
meaning.
‘T* is for injury.
Once again, the big question mark in
the Comhusker backfield is the one in
regards to the injury bug, which has
continued to strike at the heart of the NU
I-back corps since last season.
Of the three returning I-backs who
shared time and starting positions last
season, only one, Correll Buckhalter, will
be practicing this spring. Dan Alexander
and DeAngelo Evans are both on the side
lines until fall after knee surgeries in the
off-season.
“It’s been a problem for us,”
Buckhalter said. “You want the regular
guys at their regular spots, but the injuries
are just plaguing us, making the depth
shorter.
“Usually we don’t have third and
fourth stringers working out with the first
squad in the spring, but we can’t avoid it
now.”
In addition to the absencebf the veter
ans, new members of the Husker I-back
corps have also taken a few hits that could
prove costly to the strength of the running
game.
Freshmen DeAntae Grixby and
Dahrran Diedrick both sustained injuries
in practice last week. Grixby’s injury, a
tom anterior cmciate ligament, required
surgery that will keep him off the field for
four to six months.
Diedrick, who suffered a collarbone
injury, is optimistically expected to return
before the end of spring drills.
Usually we don’t have third and fourth
stringers working out with the first squad
in the spring, but we can’t avoid it.”
Frank Solich
NU head football coach
“Obviously, it’s a big concern for us
right now,” Nebraska Head Coach Frank
Solich said. “But it’s nothing new to us,
we’ll find the personnel and we expect
everybody to heal and be ready to go for
the season.”
Along with Buckhalter, who shoul
ders most of the load with the first-team
offense, freshmen Chris Butler and Alik
Tillery have also had to step up to the
challenge of filling many pairs of shoes.
And the problems don’t end at the I
back position. Injuries have also been
unwelcome guests in the NU fullback
camp as well.
Willie Miller, the only returning full
back to see substantial playing time last
year, has been sitting out after abdominal
surgery that may keep him on the side
lines until fall.
Buckhalter said his hope right now is
that the injured running backs will be
back for fall practice and the 1999 season.
“If the Lord’s willing, they’ll be back
in the fall, and that’s what really counts,”
Buckhalter said.
For the time being, Buckhalter,
Butler, Tillery and Travis Soucie are hold
ing up for the I-backs while Ben Kingston
is the spring fullback corps.
Last seasoir,
Buckhalter started
seven games at I
back for the
Huskers and was
the leading rusher
with 799 yards on
142 carries. He also
had eight touch
downs.
Evans started
three games (the only
three games he
played in) and ran for
219 yards and four
TDs.
Alexander started
two games, had 347
yards rushing and four
TDs.
Miller, who played last season behind
departed seniors Joel Makovicka and
Billy Legate, gained 96 yards on 19
attempts with two touchdowns. He is list
ed as the No. 1 fullback.
“We really want to see those guys out
here for the fall,” Solich said. “With very,
very few people (in the running back
positions), it’s pretty tough right now to
even hold a scrimmage.”
Jon Frank/DN
Devaney Center may join
list of improved facilities
ByAdamKlinker
Senior staff writer
Almost as prominent as the
sound of crunching pads at
Memorial Stadium, another sound
fills the ears far above the turf.
It is the whine of a power saw. Or
the buzz of a welder echoing high
from the iron rafters which holds the
facade of Memorial Stadium’s much
anticipated skybox project - almost
near completion.
The skyboxes, part of a larger
scheme of athletic facility renova
tions at NU, should be completed by
the middle of summer. It is the last
phase of the Memorial Stadium ren
ovations that have also included con
crete waterproofing and a restruc
tured east concourse
But the refurbishing continues
around campus.
At Ed Weir Track, the old
polyurethane track surface was
ripped up and is in the process of
being replaced by a Mondo-rubber
surface, Director of Athletic
Facilities John Ingram said.
Ingram said the new substance, a
sheet rubber, is the same track sur
face that has been used in the last five
Olympic Games. __
Ingram said the track renovations
should be completed by Oct. 1.
Along with the upgrade at
Memorial Stadium and Ed Weir
44
We re very concerned with
bringing the Devaney into
compliance with ADA rules”
Bill Byrne
NU athletic director
Track, the Bob Devaney Sports
Center is also scheduled for some
tune-ups, pending approval by the
University of Nebraska Board of
Regents.
The Regents will vote May 1
concerning a proposed plan of action
for the Devaney Center that will
include the installment of new score
boards, HuskerVision screens and a
new basketball floor-seating plan.
NU Athletic Director Bill Byrne
said the seating renovations are
specifically important in helping the
Devaney Center meet the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
“We’re very concerned with
bringing the Devaney into compli
ance with ADA rules,” Byrne said.
Byrne said that after a lengthy
look around the nation, Nebraska
decided to pattern a floor-seating
plan resembling that of the MCI
Center in Washington, D.C., home of
the NBA’s Washington Wizards.
The Nebraska plan will see the
removal of the current bleachers on
the floor of the basketball court. The
bleachers will be replaced with fold
ing chairs in platform rows.
Byrne said student seating will
remain on the floor, in the new seats.
Aisles will also run from the
floor to Section C, the highest sec
tion at the Devaney Center, Byrne
said.
Until the vote, Ingram said, much
of the Devaney Center renovation is
being kept confidential, until all the
stages are analyzed and known by the
Board of Regents. There is also a
proposed renovation to Buck Beltzer
Field, though Ingram said he could
not comment on it until more was
known by the regents.
“It’s really all in the planning
stages right now,” Ingram said. “But I
anticipate that we will be moving
towards improvement following the
board’s vote. We’re just holding onto
the information until we can be sure
that the board is fully informed.”
Tough, speedy Demps
bolsters rover position
J5y Darren Ivy
Senior staff writer
Coming into the spring season, the
depth chart at rover behind senior
Mike Brown consisted of senior Gregg
List, junior Joe Walker and several
other upperclassmen.
So Defensive Coordinator Charlie
McBride knew this spring that he
would need to convert at least one of
his young comerbacks to the rover
position.
Freshman Michael Demps saw
some action at rover in the April 2
scrimmage, and he will be moved to
rover permanently. McBride con
firmed it after that scrimmage.
“I think he may be more productive
inside than he is at the corner,”
McBride said. “He’s gotten so much
bigger since he’s gotten here. He’s
more physical. He’s the kind of kid you
want in there in terms of his stature.”
When Demps enrolled at NU in the
fall, he didn’t envision himself playing
at the rover position. At 5-foot-10 and
188 pounds, his size lent him well to
the-comerback position. His speed,
although sRJWed by a leg injury, also
made him a good comer.
But 15 pounds later and still pos
sessing the same speed, Demps
seemed to be the best guy to switch,
McBride said.
Demps said he was more than will
ing to change positions.
“I saw the rover position was pretty
thin,” Demps said. “We have a lot of
great comers. We have a lot of great
rovers also.
“Since I have pretty good size and
pretty good speed, I thought this would
be a place I could play quicker on the
field. ”
Now it’s just a matter of learning
the mental aspects of rover.
“I’m trying to get everything men
tally - learning all the plays and
responsibilities,” Demps said. “Ability
can only take you so far.”
McBride said rover is harder than
comerback because there are more
reads and adjustments to make. But
he’s confident Demps will succeed,
because, he said, he is a smart kid.
Demps also will succeed because
he is persistent and tough. Demps has
battled and played through a leg injury
all spring.
He has been slowed by the injury in
his left leg since high school. He had
surgery to remove his meniscus in his
left knee his junior year and never fully
rehabilitated from the injury. Then dur
ing his senior track season, he pulled
his left hamstring.
Before pulling his hamstring in a
Texas high school regional meet,
Demps ran 10.3 seconds in the 100
meter dash, 21.3 in the 200-meter dash
and was part of a 4x100 relay team that
held the high school national record for
one week.
During the winter, Demps partici
pated with the NU track team. J
“I did track as a tryout to Jest my
Please see DEMPS on 8