Crouch to start at QB; Newcombe moves to wing
CHANGE from page 9
will practice some at the position,
Solich said. If Crouch stays healthy,
senior JeffPerino is No. 2 and true
freshman Jammal Lord is No. 3. Jay
Runty, the No. 3 quarterback last year,
transferred to the University of
Nebraska at Omaha two weeks ago.
The idea for the move originated
sometime in fall camp before any
game had been played, Solich and
Newcombe said. Both coaches and
quarterbacks had talked about it then,
but didn’t pull the trigger on the
switch until now, partly because the
current arrangement - of Newcombe
at quarterback and Crouch relieving
him - was working so well:
• Still, the temptation to play both
quarterbacks most of the time was too
great to resist, Crouch said.
“The best interest of our team is
why this decision was made,” Crouch
said. “I definitely feel the decision
that was made will really improve our
offense.
“It’s a major part of our offense
now. We’ve got a great wingback out
there. The main thing is we’re out
there practicing to win our game this
weekend.”
Newcombe accepted the decision,
which he said came solely from
Solich and Gill, adding his “heart was
still at quarterback.” But he did say he
will have fun playing wingback, and,
more importantly, helping the team
where they need him.
“I always left the door open for
them to make that decision anytime
they wanted to,” Newcombe said. “I
know it was real difficult on Coach
Solich to make a decision between me
and Eric in fall camp. Since my goal is
the team goal - to win a national
championship - I had to leave that
door open.”
The decision was predicted as
inevitable by some after the first two
games of this season, in which
Crouch jump-started the offense sev
eral times with his quick decision
making and strong presence running
the option.
Through two games, Crouch has
rushed 14 times for 113 yards while
Newcombe has rushed 27 times for
46 yards. Crouch completed 5-of-7
passes for 170 yards, while
Newcombe was 10-for-17 for 213
yards. Crouch also caught a 60-yard
touchdown pass from Newcombe in
last Saturday’s 45-0 win over
California.
Solich said Crouch’s play didn’t
really enter into the equation. Rather,
the overall plan of having both players
on the field was the major factor.
“We never arrived at that deci
sion,” Solich said of evaluating the
two players’ performances, “because
of coming to this decision first.
“Eric has played at a tremendous^
ly high level. The thing that I want
everybody to understand is that it is a
little more difficult to start. You saw
Eric making big plays, but don’t
expect Eric to be making big plays
every time he touches the ball. It just
doesn’t quite work that way. He’s
going to have plays, and he’s going to
have days where things don’t go as
smooth.”
While Solich said the idea of the
Crouch-Newcombe switch has been
bandied about for awhile, the decision
caught the sophomore from Millard
North High School off guard.
“It really did take me by surprise,”
Crouch said. “I thought things were
working out pretty well in how they
were going, and I really didn’t expect
this to happen. But it did, and you’ve
got to deal with it now.”
Crouch wasH t the only one.
“I was really dumbfounded by it,”
junior fullback Willie Miller said. “To
me, it looked like Bobby (would) start
doing the quarterback thing, and
Crouch was going to start doing the
thing Bobby used to do.
“And then yesterday I go out to
practice, and I see Bobby catching a
ball from Eric and I’m like, ‘I guess
Bobby’s going back to it.’ He’s always
been a great wingback.”
In 1997, Newcombe caught seven
passes for 173 yards and a touch
down, carried the ball 16 times for
156 yards and returned 12 punts for
244 yards and a touchdown. His hob
bling, one-handed catch helped keep a
key drive alive in a 38-31 win over
Missouri that season.
“Yesterday at practice, I had a lot
of fun,” Newcombe said. “Just catch
ing passes from Eric and blocking.”
Receivers Coach Ron Brown
views Newcombe as a unique talent
that adds a “tremendous dimension”
to the wingback corps.
“This is probably a little bit more
bold move to the public than it is to
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coaches,” Brown said. “But it’s some
thing we believe is the best interest of
the team right now.”
Solich said Newcombe will not
necessarily play every down, and the
Huskers will not “throw him into the
fire.” There are still plays to learn, he
said, and not all of the plays that
Newcombe ran two years ago are the
same today.
There’s one other order of busi
ness for Crouch and Newcombe to
attend to come Saturday.
“I still owe him a touchdown
pass,” Crouch said. “That’s something
I’ll try to get to him in the first game.”
Not only is he back,
Buckhalter is No. 2
By Brandon Schulte
Staffwriter
If the bizarre were ever to
become commonplace, it might do
so in the form of Nebraska pinning
back Correll Buckhalter.
Last week there was doubt if
Buckhalter would ever play for
Nebraska again after he missed three
consecutive practices. He was pon
dering leaving the Comhuskers after
receiving less playing time than he
thought he deserved against Iowa as
the No. 31-back.
Now, with the surprise exit of
DeAngelo Evans, he is apparently
going to see more action.
“I’m not happy about the fact
that DeAngelo left ” Buckhalter
said. “But now that the opportunity
is there, I have an opportunity to
show people what I have worked on
in the off-season to better myself.
“I’m happy now. Last week, I
was under a lot of frustration, and I
didn’t take the proper steps to go to
the coaches. I took some wrong steps
by not showing up or communicat
ing to anyone, which was bad on my
part because it caused a lot of confu
sion.”
Solich said Buckhalter’s early
season discouragement wasn’t that
unusual.
“The situation with Correll is
similar to a lot of players. This isn’t
an isolated case,” Solich said. “The
case with Correll is that of a player
stepping back and withdrawing a lit
tle bit to figure things out”
This isn’t the first time
Buckhalter has moved up die depth
chart by means other than good play.
As a true freshman he was pro
moted to the No. 2 spot after injuries
forced Evans and at-the-time No. 31
back James Sims out of die lineup.
Buckhalter took 54 carries for 311
yards that 1997 season.
His sophomore ydbr, the injury
bug befell members of the rushing
corps once again. Evans and current
No. 1 back Dan Alexander went
a
I think they should
let me and Dan
split time”
Correll Buckhalter
< NU I-back *
- t
down with injuries, allowing
Buckhalter to start seven games. He »
led the team in rushing (822) and
touchdowns (8) last year.
Whether or not he will split time
with Alexander, as Evans did, is yet
to be determined. Though the deci
sion isn’t his, Buckhalter thinks that
at some date, they will split time.
“I think they should let me and
Dan split time as well, as they (the
coaches) will see that we need to
split time,” Buckhalter said. “It’s not
up to me, it’s up to the coaches, and
we’ll see how it plays out on
Saturday.”
One of those decision makers,
Running Back Coach Dave
Gillespie, said personnel decisions
will be made on a situational basis.
“It just depends on how the game
evolves,” Gillespie said. “Right now,
I don’t have any plan or set plan to
bring anyone in at any time or take
anyone out at any time. We’ll see
how the guys hold up, how the game
goes. All I know for sure is that Dan
will start”
hi the thick of things once more,
Buckhalter’s sure he’ll be a better,
confident player this weekend.
“I’m 110 percent sure that I will
bring that to Nebraska,” Buckhalter
said.
Note:
The Huskers received their 11th
verbal commitment from Ross
Pilkington, a receiver from.
Loveland, Colo, according to the
National Recruiting Advisor.
A 6-foot-1, 175-pounder,
Pilkington may also play baseball at
Nebraska.
* ; . - f
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