Sports
v
Wednesday, April 14,1999
Page 9
wa
game
Nlfs Newcombe takes on mental
rehabilitation, QBs wait for fall
By David Wilson
Staff writer
In the southeast corner of Memorial
Stadium, Bobby Newcombe suddenly appears
to remove his mind from the conversation in
mid-sentence.
“I visualize myself playing next season, it’s
... ” he pauses and slowly looks left toward an
empty north end zone.
“ ... Oh my God ...” he pauses again, still
staring down field. “It looks like a completely
different person.”
Still recovering from surgery, which
repaired a knee ligament the quarterback tore in
Nebraska’s season opener last fall, the majority
of Newcombe’s live action this spring will come
in the form of mental reps.
Though he won’t see full contact until next
fall, Newcombe said, he was making the most
of practice, running some option drills, throw
ing, and, of course, working on his mental
game.
“I’ve said, ‘This sucks,’ many times,”
Newcombe said. “But I’ve never said, ‘I don’t
know if I’ll be able to come back.’
“I tell myself, ‘When I come back, I’m
going to be 10 times more aggressive and more
motivated.’ I’m going to have a lot more drive.”
With Newcombe out, sophomore Eric
Crouch has taken the majority of the snaps with
the Comhuskers’ No. 1 offense this spring.
Crouch started five games under center in place
of Newcombe last fall.
66
I tell myself, ‘ When I
come back, I'm going to
be 10 times more
aggressive.
Bobby Newcombe
NU quarterback
But lacking one of its top quarterbacks, the
NU offense has struggled this spring. In a 124
play scrimmage last Saturday, the Husker
offense scored just one touchdown.
“I guess it hurts everyone,” NU
Quarterbacks Coach Turner Gill said, “but that’s
something we can’t control. You’d like to have
him out there, but I feel like he’s done a lot of
good things mentally. He’s not as far behind as
people may think.”
Even Crouch said he isn’t expecting to have
an advantage over Newcombe in the fall when
the coaches make a starting quarterback deci
sion. Gill said he didn’t want to comment on the
situation until next fall.
Of course, that’s nothing new for Crouch
and Newcombe, who competed along with
Frankie London for the starting spot last spring.
Newcombe, who already had a year of playing
experience^fiarned the job over London, a
DN file photos/Mike Warren
NEBRASKA QUARTERBACK Bobby Newcombe during summer practice before his sopho
more season. Newcombe has suffered an injured knee and was not in spring practices this
year. He will be back in the fall to compete for the No. 1 spot with sophomore Eric Crouch.
ABOVE LEFT: Crouch celebrates after scoring a touchdown against UAB in Memorial
Stadium.
junior, and Crouch, who redshirted in 1997.
Both Crouch, from Millard North High
School in Omaha, and Newcombe, of
Albuquerque, N.M., were members of NU’s
1997 recruiting class.
“Unfortunately, the first time Crouch and I
stepped on the field, it was automatic competi
tion right away,” Newcombe said. “We have
tried many times to just become friends and
kind of forget about die competition - and last
season we started joking a lot more and having
a good time.
“We don’t hang out or anything - we’re two
different people - but we don’t cause each other
any problems. We don’t hate each other.”
In six games last season - all of which he
started - Newcombe completed 63 percent of
his passes for 712 yards. He also ran for 195
yards, while Crouch completed 49 percent of
his passes and scrambled for 459 yards on the
ground.
“I think the competition between all the
quarterbacks here makes me better as a person,
as a quarterback and as a leader,” Crouch said.
“I’m always learning more and more and
becoming a bigger competitor.”
Newcombe can often be found standing
behind the No. 1 offense’s huddle during prac
tice in his red mesh jersey and shorts.
He listens to Crouch call the play, but in his
mind, Newcombe is often taking the snaps.
“While he’s running the play, I’ll watch the
receivers running the routes or visualize myself
in his shoes,” Newcombe said.
The 6-foot, 195-pounder has also been lift
ing and jogging a “short mile” every other day.
And though he doesn’t know exactly when
Please see NEWCOMBE on 10
Team leader focuses on javelin after injury
■ NU’s Scott Warren is
called one of the premiere
track and field athletes in
the country.
By Josh Camenzind
Staff writer
Scott Warren was itching to com
pete all winter long during the indoor
track and field season.
And he took out his frustrations
during hard workouts that are now
paying dividends during the outdoor
season.
The senior
broke his own
school record in
the javelin throw
in the first two
outdoor meets of
the year and has
been dominating
the competition
Warren tilus tar‘ UesPlte
his success in the
past, he said, he was still surprised at
his recent feats.
“I was a little surprised in the first
two weeks to open up that big,”
Warren said. “But I put quite a lot of
time into working out during the
indoor season, and I think that helped
me a lot.”
This season has been a blossom
ing time for Warren as he has concen
trated solely on the javelin, compared
to the past, when he competed in all
throwing events. Warren used up his
eligibility for indoor competition in
1998.
While Warren is surprised at his
success, javelin Coach Mark Kostek
is not.
“I knew that he had the talent all
along,” Kostek said. “It was just a
matter of putting all the forces in the
right direction in order for the javelin
to fly.
Throwing Coach Mark Colligan
said he agreed with Kostek.
“He has always been a guy that
has worn so many hats, and now he
has been given the green light to
focus on the javelin,” Colligan said. “I
would attribute his success to a singu
lar focus.”
Previously, Warren’s contribution
to the team had always been felt
through his ability to gain points for
the team score.
The inaugural Big 12
Championships were a fine example
of his abilities. He scored in
every event he competed in
and won the title in the hammer
throw.
Warren’s role on the team has now
changed as he tries to recover from a
wrist injury that has limited him to
strictly the javelin throw. Colligan
hopes to have him back throwing the
discus and the shot put in time to help
the team in the conference meet.
“As the conference championship
approaches, he will be throwing those
two other events more and more,”
Colligan said.
Warren also gives praise to his
teammates, especially junior college
Please see WARREN on 10