Newcombe
is Mr. Cameo
for Nebraska
We all now know this
much about Bobby
Newcombe’s football career at
Nebraska: It has turned out
very much different from
what anyone, especially
Newcombe, expected, and it
tjas mgnngnis - muugn uuiik- John
of-an-eye flashes - that will Pnelrinc
forever leave a memorable ^
legacy.
-No, he’s not the next Tommie Frazier. Eric
Crouch spoiled those plans. (Not that anyone,
including Newcombe, is complaining)
No, he’s not the next Johnny Rodgers, who peo
ple expected him to be after they
knew he wasn’t going to play QB aaBaHBHiaHHM
anymore and was instead
switched to the wingback/punt
returner role that made a
Heisman Trophy-winner out of
Johnny the Jet.
His memorable receptions
list so far is too short to put him
anywhere near Rodgers.
Instead, Newcombe has
become the first Bobby
Newcombe. And that’s not an
awful distinction to have.
The distinction is this: Just
when we’ve either forgotten
about him or wonder where the
hell he’s been, he sure knows how
to show up at the big parties and
become the life of them. And
none of us know when, or if, he’ll
show up again.
Instead of being the con
stantly attacking villain,
Newcombe is a sleeping giant.
Instead of being the lead charac
ter in this eternal Nebraska foot
ball soap opera, Newcombe is
the celebrity whose cameo
appearance makes the show.
Remember Tom Osborne’s
final-season 250th win, a 69-7
slaughtering of former nemesis
Oklahoma to end 70 consecutive
years of annual battles with the
arch-rival Sooners?
The highlights were two fire
works shows: the one in the night
sky after the game and the one on
the field before it That would be
true freshman Newcombe’s 57
yard punt return for a touch
down and a 40-yard touchdown
reception.
Remember the Fiesta Bowl
last year and the Huskers’ insur
mountable 17-0 lead that
allowed them to play their pun- _
ishing, time-gobbling ground
attack the rest of the night?
That was compliments of a 60-yard
Newcombe punt return touchdown that made it
17-0.
The
distinc
tion is
this: Just
when
we've
either
forgotten
about
him or
wonder
where
the hell
he’s been,
he sure
knows
howto
show up
at the
big
parties
and
become
the life of
them.
And none
of know
when, or
if, he’ll
show up
again.
Lest we iorget the infamous Kansas game last
year. The Huskers had dove straight into the toxic
waste/second-loss-in-a-row tank when
Newcombe fished them out with an 86-yard TD
return. NU won by- oh, looky here - a touchdown.
Add another highlight to the exciting reel:
Saturday night’s 94-yard punt return touchdown
in the second quarter.
Under bright night lights (which always seem
to make the best of him) and in front of a national
television audience watching the No. 1 Huskers
wet the bed again, all Newcombe did was break
the longest NU punt return ever.
It was a record held by - oh, looky here -
Johnny the Jet himself. Only the greatest playmak
er the school has ever seen. And it came right
before the entire stadium was about to honor
Rodgers, the game day magazine cover boy, for
being accepted into the College Football Hall of
Fame.
Not only that, but it came at a time when NU
needed him most. The special teams unit were the
whipping boys of the press and coaches in the sea
son’s first month and hadn’t done much in the
Mizzou game.
Hie Blackshirts were in the middle of allowing
a Tiger offense that mustered a zinging tally of 19
combined points against Clemson and Michigan
State to light die FieldTUrf on fire.
The offense was decent, but it wasn’t blowing
Mizzou away.
The previous offensive series fed the Tigers
with all kinds of confidence - a dud that including
two poorly thrown incomplete passes from
Crouch to Newcombe.
Three-and-a-half minutes remained until half
time. The score (14-7) was far closer than NU pre
ferred. NU needed a break, and they got quite a
monstrous one from Newcombe.
The sleeping giant awoke. Ninety-four yards,
down the sideline, stadium going bananas.
Welcome back Bobby. Care to show up again?
Where Newcombe goes from here is uncertain.
There are punt return records he could break.
Ditto for game-breaking plays at wingback. We’re
not sure if he'll get the ball more or if punt teams
will be foolish enough to kick to him.
However, one thing is almost guaranteed: We
should be hesitant to pencil in Newcombe to
arrive at every single gathering, but we can proba
bly pen in ljigi to be the life of another big party.
Middle linebacker Carlos
Polk watches while cor
nerbackKeyuo Craver
upends Missouri tight
end Dwayne Blakley late
in the game.The
Huskers had difficulties
stopping Missouri,
allowing 209 yards
rushing.
Scott McQurg/DN
Nebraska center Dominic Raiola looks to a referee to see if Correll Buckhatter's run was a touchdown in the second quarter.The touchdown put the Huskers ahead 14-7.
Huskers survive shaky defense
Offense rolls, Blackshirts falter vs. Mizzou
BY JOSHUA CAMENZIND
Nebraska’s Dan Alexander was a
little perplexed after the Huskers’ 42
24 win over Missouri on Saturday.
NU’s first-team I-back and the
offense rolled up 311 yards rushing
and 484 yards total in front of77,744 at
Memorial Stadium on their way to
winning by 18 against the Tigers.
While the offense will take those
stats any day, Alexander and others
were hesitant to give the No. 1 team in
the nation a passing grade after the
win improved its record to 4-0.
“It was quite a bit tougher than
expected,” said Alexander, who
rushed for 34 yards on 13 carries. “I
think opponents are playing up to our
level. I don’t think we have played a
complete game yet I think that we are
not on top of our game and are letting
ourselves down at times.
“Teams are out there giving us
their best shot and we are seeing stuff
from teams that when we watch them
on film, we can tell they are playing
harder against us than they were
against the opponents before us.”
Senior rush end Kyle Vanden
Bosch was very much in agreement
with his fellow captain after his
defense gave up 492 yards to a 1-3
Mizzou offense that came in averaging
only 291.7 per game - good for ll^in
the Big 12 Conference.
“We wanted to come out today
and send a statement that we still
ruled the roost in the Big 12
Conference, and I don’t knbw if we
sent that statement out today,” he said.
The Tigers, a 32-point underdog to
NU, were the second team in as many
weeks to keep the Husker faithful on
the edge of their seats late into the
game. Mizzou was only trailing 28-21
with 9:29 remaining in the third quar
ter and after a Brad Hammerich field
goal cut the Husker lead to 35-24, it
looked as if the Tigers were in striking
distance.
On that same drive, Mizzou lost
starting quarterback Kirk Farmer after
the sophomore scrambled for 33 yards
and a first down on the fifth play of the
drive - breaking his clavicle after being
hit by NU's Joe Walker.
Out went Farmer and the hopes of
a Tiger upset as Mizzou stalled on its
next three plays under redshirt fresh
man Darius Outlaw. The Tigers would
again go three-and-out on their next
drive and wouldn’t threaten NU’s
nine-game home winning streak
again.
Keeping the streak alive was the
Husker offense, which dominated the
Tiger defense at times, with quarter
back Eric Crouch leading the way. The
junior threw for 173 yards and two
touchdowns, while rushing for 110
yards on 24 carries.
Correll Buckhalter and Judd
Davies had 97 and 65 yards, respec
‘That is what being a Blackshirt is all about. We said
that we needed to start putting points on the board
and get some turnovers. That is where our focus was
all week.”
•Kyle Vanden Bosch
NU rush end
tively, on the ground, while Matt
Davison caught five passes for 66
yards.
Despite his defense’s inability to
stop Crouch and the NU offense,
Mizzou’s Larry Smith pointed to two
plays not involving the Husker offense
that doomed his team’s chances for
the upset.
The first was Bobby Newcombe’s
94-yard punt return with 3:34 remain
ing in the second quarter. The score
gave NU a 21-7 lead and broke a per
soriaFand special teams funk for
Newcombe in the process.
The punt return was the longest in
school history and also the longest
return Missouri had ever given up.
Newcombe’s TD return also came
in the presence of former Heisman
Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers, who
held the old record of 92 yards and was
honored during a pregame ceremony
honoring his future induction into the
College Football Hall of Fame.
The senior wingback said Rodger’s
presence made the score all that more
memorable.
“Any time you break a record, you
get a lot of excitement built up inside
of you,” he said. "But this one was
Johnny Rodger’s record and that
makes it even more special for me.”
Prior to Mizzou, Newcombe had
averaged 6.2 yards a return with a long
return of nine yards. Nebraska’s cover
age teams also showed improvement,
holding the Tigers to 49 yards total in
four returns, after giving up 521 yards
total in its first three games.
.Nebraska coach Frank Solich was
pleased with the progress his special
teams showed after a week of empha
sis in practice. But the coach still
acknowledged room for improve
ment.
“Kickoff coverage and returns is
still an area where we need to keep get
ting better at,” Solich said. “Punt
returns looked better today but we
were in situations where we were field
ing punts on the ten, the nine and the
eight-yard line but we were able to
Please see GAME on 11
