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Wednesday, September 8,1999 ^ Page 9
1-back Buckhalter might transfer
■ Coach Frank Solich is
unsure of the third-stringer’s
whereabouts. >
By Matthew Hansen
Staff writer
Absent from practice Monday and
Tuesday, junior I-Back Correll
Buckhalter may transfer to another
school, Nebraska Head Coach Frank
Solich said.
Buckhalter, who started seven
games and led die Comhuskers with
822 rushing yards last season, is cur
rently listed as the No. 3 I-back.
According to Solich, this move down
the depth chart may be a factor in
Buckhalter’s absence.
“I assume that Correll is dissatis
fied with his playing time,” Solich
said. “His frustration is understand
able - it has been difficult to get him
playing time this year.”
Solich said he had been trying
unsuccessfully to get in touch with his
missing running back for the last two
days. Ruth Buckhalter, Correll’s
mother, was also unaware of her son’s
plans.
“I have no idea what is going on,”
Ruth Buckhalter told the Daily
Nebraskan Tuesday night. “I’ve been
trying to find out myself. I heard
about it an hour ago, and that was the
first thing I heard.”
The healthy return of juniors
De Angelo Evans and Dan Alexander
from injury-plagued 1998 seasons
may have hastened Buckhalter’s depth
chart slide. Last season Buckhalter
began fall camp as the backup but
ended up starting for much of the year
after incumbent Evans and then
Alexander went down with injuries.
This season, all three running
backs entered fall camp as co-starters,
but Evans won the starting job, and
Alexander was selected as his backup.
«—^
I have no idea whgt is going on. I’ve been
tryingt<$find out myself.
fiuTH BUCKHALTER
I-back’s mother
Solich said redshirt freshman
Dahrran Diedrick will move up to
become the third-string I-back if
Buckhalter does not return.
“Pahrannjs a very tough football
player,” SpHch said. “He had a good
fall camp, so we feel comfortable with
him stepping in there. However, we
would love to have Correll. He’s a
good player with a lot of experience.
He gives us everything he has out
there on the field.”
Solich also said Josh Davis and
Keyou Craver are the leading candi
dates to fill in at kick returner if
Buckhalter does transfer.
Kansas State aims
for conference title
By Jay Saunders
Staff writer
Editors note: This is the ninth stot^f
of an 11-part series exploring
Nebraska s opporibits in the Big 12
Conference.
With only 15 minutes to play in the
1998 Big 12 Championship game,
Kansas State had its eyes on the prize.
The Wildcats were out of the
Nebraska shadow and appeared to be
headed to die Fiesta Bowl for a shot at
winning the national championship
And then the bottom fell out
Texas A&M scored 15 points in the
fourth quarter to tie the game and then
won in double overtime.
There was to be no Fiesta Bowl -
but the less-prestigious Alamo Bowl,
which they lost to Purdue.
“It was difficult to deal with, but it is
behind us,” KSU Coach Bill Snyder
said. “But that doesn’t mean it will dis
appear. I see it as a motivational factor.”
As Kansas State tries to motivate
and rebuild its confidence from the end
of last season, it is forced to do it with
out quarterback Michael Bishop.
Filling Bishop’s shoes is junior
Jonathan Beasley.
Snyder said Beasley does not have
the scrambling ability that Bishop
brought to the table, but that does not
mean full-scale changes for the offense.
“There are no intended changes,”
Snyder said. “We have a broad-based
66
It was difficult to
deal with, but it is
behind us... That
doesn’t mean it will
disappear.”
Bill Snyder
KSU head coach
offense, and we can just shift what’s on
our plate.”
That plate includes only three
returning starters on offense.
Sophomore Aaron Lockett anchors the
receiving corps, and two offensive line
men also return.
But none of last year’s backfield; -
which accounted for 42 rushing touch
downs, returns this season.
The running back duo of juniors
Frank Murphy and David Allen are
expected to carry a lot of the load.
Although Allen did not have many rush
ing attempts a year ago, he was on the
All-Big 12 first team as a punt returner.
The flip side of K-State’s experi
ence coin is seven returning starters on
defense. The Wildcats had the No. 1
total defense in die conference last sea
son.
Please see CATS on 10
Two quarterbacks lead
inexperienced Bears
By Samuel McKewon
Senior staff writer
In the most basic sense, California’s
quarterback situation mirrors
Nebraska’s in that both are using two to
do the job of (me.
The comparisons end right after
hat
While NU boasts two experienced,
talented players schooled in the option
offense, the Golden Bears have two -
and only two - quarterbacks who have
just 29 pass attempts between them.
One of them is true freshman Kyle
Boiler. The other, sophomore Samuel
Clemons.
“It’s not the greatest situation to get
into,” Cal Head Coach Tom Hotfepe
said Tuesday. “But realty, that’s what we
have to deal with.”
Holmoe and the Bears will enter
Memorial Stadium on Saturday having
won 21-7 last week over Rutgers, a
lightly regarded team that actually out
gained California 287 yards to 265
yards. Cal’s defense, considered one of
the best m the Pacific 10 Conference,
broke the game open when comerback
Deltfaa O’Neal returned an interception
75 yards for a touchdown.
It was not a pretty performance,
Hohnoe said, and much of that reflects
back on the offense, which was the
worst in its conference last season, and,
if the gdfcne against die Scarlet Knights
is any indication, hasn’t improved
much.
“I think it’s a litde better,” Holmoe
said. “We’re young on offense. I think
we can be better somewhere in the sea
son if we continue to improve.”
Cal has its most inexperience at the
Please see CAL on 10
Matt Miller/DN
NU QUARTERBACK ERIC CROUCH spoke Tuesday to the media for the first time since Coach Frank Solich
announced that Bobhy Newcombe would be the Huskers’ starter.
Crouch breaks silence
By Samuel McKewon
Senior staff writer
Eric Crouch cleared the air
Tuesday about his situation at quar
terback by saying there wasn’t
much to clear up.
The backup, who propelled
Nebraska to a 42-7 win over Iowa
on Saturday, set a few things
straight at the Comhuskers’ weekly
press conference, touching on sev
eral issues in more than 20 minutes.
The key point, Crouch said, was
that contrary to popular rumor, he
never quit the team after Bobby
Newcombe was named the starter
last week.
“I think a lot people have asked
me that - if I’ve considered quitting
or if 1 talked to Coach (Frank)
Solich at any time about quitting,”
Crouch said. “I never did.
“there was never a time when I
went up to Coach Solich or gave
him a call or a message or left any
type of notification with anyone
that I was leaving this team.”
But Crouch did go home and
-----v
did visit his old high school,
Nfillard North, after Solich
announced the decision Aug. 27 -
something he does pretty much
every weekend, Crouch said, both
to “feel good about myself” and
relax.
“I was a little disappointed,”
Crouch said. “I think I have the
right to be. I worked very hard. I
worked in the summer, the spring
and the winter.
“I tried my best. I tried to better
Please see CROUCH on 10
