Iowa State 14
I . lane Hickenbottom/DN
COUNTER CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: NU CORNERBACK Ralph Brawn breaks up a pass to Iowa State tight end Mike Banks late in the first quarter.
QUARTERBACK ERIC CROUCH and the rest of the Husker offense sent the Cyclones spinning, averaging 7.4 yards per play for a total of 524 yards.
AARON WILLS puts the brakes on Iowa State tailback Darren Davis. Davis, who entered Saturday’s game as the nation’s leading rusher, mustered just 40
yards though the third quarter.
Miipri WAPNIi’R/nN
NEBRASKA WINGBACK BOBBY NEWCOMBE celebrates with the crowd after catching a 24-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Eric Crouch in the third
quarter.
r
I-back Dan Alexander’s career
long run didn’t stand for very long.
His 44-yard dash on the first play of
the last half was his longest at
Nebraska. But on the first play of
the second half, he bettered that run
with a 54-yard blast to the ISU 26
yard line, where he was caught from
behind. Alexander joked that he had
a good excuse for being run down.
“I figure I weigh 250 pounds, and
those guys chasing me weigh 170.”
■
Matt Davison finally caught a
touchdown pass at home. His 47
yard touchdown catch from Eric
Crouch was only the third of his
career, his first at Memorial
Stadium and the first one he didn’t
score in Missouri.
■
If Dahrran Diedrick could have
rushed for just one more yard on
any of his 16 carries, NU would
have had three rushers top the 100
yard mark for only the second time
in school history.
Alexander rushed for 135 yards,
Correll Buckhalter finished with
127 yards and Diedrick fell just shy
of the century mark with 99 yards in
the second half. Apparently,
Diedrick took a bit of heat from his
teammates for the performance. “I
have given Dahrran a lot of flak for
only getting 99 yards,” Alexander
said.
■
Hats, oddly enough, were a
focus of the post-game press con
ference. When asked why he didn’t
wear a cap on the sidelines, Coach
Frank Solich responded, “Well, I
use it to block the sun, and I didn’t
need that tonight.”
Center Dominic Raiola and
tackle Adam Julch both donned
white caps with “Crouch” and the
number seven emblazoned on them.
“I asked Eric’s mom for it,” Raiola
said.
■
The NU defense held the
Cyclone’s rushing offense, the
nation’s best at 328.3 yards per
game coming into the contest, to
146 yards for the game. ISU had
only 59 rushing yards at the end of
the third quarter. Star tailback
Darren Davis was held to 107 yards,
69 under his season average of 176
yards per game.
■
Because of injuries to Willie
Miller and Ben Kingston,
Alexander lined up at fullback dur
ing parts of the game Saturday
night. What goes through defend
ers’ heads when they see a 250
pound train lined up in front of die
I-back? “I think they think they’re
going to have trouble,” Buckhalter
said.
■
NU has jumped up a spot to No.
3 in both the AP and USA
Today/ESPN polls. The Huskers
have a week off before traveling to
No. 19 Texas, which snapped
Nebraska’s 48-game home wining
streak last year.
Gameday notebook compiled
by staff writer David Diehl