LEFT: Husker l-back Dan Alexander
outruns Baylor's Kyle Staudt for a
touchdown. Alexander led Nebraska in
yards rushing with 104 yards on 14 car
ries and two touchdowns.
BELOW: Husker redshirt freshman full
back Judd Davies is brought down by
Baylor defenders Gary Baxter and
Daniel Wiltumer. Davies rushed for 61
yards on only two carries.
A Husker hit and run
NU coasts to win, turns eyes to Sooners
BY JAMIE SUHR _
Nebraska needed just one series of downs to sum up
its 59-0 white wash of Baylor - the game’s first.
After the Cornhuskers sniffed out a flea-flicker
attempt and stuffed two running plays, cornerback
Keyuo Craver blocked a punt at the 19-yard line and
recovered it in the end zone.
“We came out and really wanted to prove something
today,” said rush end Kyle Vanden Bosch, who broke up
the flea-flicker. "Those first couple of series really set the
tone for the game.”
Graver’s score opened the flood gates, to the tune of a
school-record 38-first quarter points, and Nebraska
coasted to the easy victory with little resistance from
Baylor.
NU Coach Frank Solich’s toughest decisions during
the game weren’t play calling, but how much playing
time he’d give the starters.
“It was a game where we were able to rest some play
ers,” Solich said. "It came at a really good time for us.
We’re fortunate to be where we’re at health wise, and I
think today probably helped us.”
Quarterback Eric Crouch led scoring drives in each of
his five series and exited the game playing just one quar
ter. The Heisman Trophy candidate rushed for 46 yards
on five carries and scored a touchdown.
Top-ranked NU (7-0 overall, 4-0 conference) was so
dominant in the opening quarter that Solich elected to
go on a fourth-and-13 at the Baylor 36. Crouch took the
snap, ran the option off the right side and pitched the ball
to Buckhalter who ran untouched to the end zone.
When the clock finally struck zero on the score board
at the end of the opening quarter, the Huskers already
held a 38-0 lead and had out-gained the Bears in yards
189-1. With such a safe lead, it was time to rest Crouch for
the trip to No. 3 Oklahoma next Saturday.
“We felt like we had the game out of reach by the time
I came out of the game,” Crouch said. “It was important
for me to stay healthy and probably the main reason I
came out so early was the injury risk.”
Jammal Lord relieved Crouch in the second quarter
and the Husker offense didn’t skip a beat.
The redshirt freshman marched NU down field on a
12-play 80-yard drive that he capped off with a two-yard
score.
On his next drive, he took the Huskers on a seven
play 87-yard drive that ended with a Buckhalter seven
yard jaunt to make the score 52-0 at the half.
In Lord’s most extensive playing time of the season,
the signal caller from Bayonne, NJ, ran 10 times for 39
yards and completed three of six passes for 26 yards.
"I feel real good right now,” Lord said. “I’m about to
take Eric Crouch’s space in the whirlpool.”
The Huskers played top I-backs Dan Alexander and
Buckhalter in just the first half of play. Alexander rushed
14 times for 104 yards and two scores, while Buckhalter
ended his day with six attempts for 76 yards and two trips
to pay dirt.
Most Husker starters were able to watch the rest of
the game, along with 77,959 loyal fans who stuck around
for nearly all of the dismantling. The first-team offensive
line was the only group of starters to play into the second
half.
In all, 15 different Huskers carried the ball for 459
yards. Thunder Collins had five carries for 27 yards - his
only carries since NU’s opening season win over San Jose
State. Dahrran Diedrick ran nine times for 75 yards and a
score.
The fourth quarter was devoted to getting as many
players snaps as possible.
Third-string quarterback Joe Chrisman and fourth
string QB Brett Lindstrom both found field time in the
final quarter.
“Any time you hold a team under 100
yards of total offense—any Division I
team — it’s gotta be a heck of a day for
any team.”
Jeremy Slechta
NU rush end
No matter who was in on defense, Baylor was getting
harassed. On the Bears’ third series, starting quarterback
Kerry Dixon misfired on two pass attempts, before losing
a fumble when sacked by Vanden Bosch.
Backup QB Guy Tomcheck, who soon relieved Dixon,
didn’t fare much better for the Bears (2-5,0-4). The fresh
man was sacked three times and completed just 7 of 26
passes for 79 yards.
The Blackshirts yielded just five yards on the ground
on 27 attempts and 84 yards of total offense.
“Any time you hold a team under 100 yards of total
offense - any Division I team - it’s gotta be a heck of a day
for any team,” rush end Jeremy Slechta said.
The 59-point blowout was NU's largest margin of vic
tory since it beat Oklahoma - next week's opponent - 69
7 in 1997.
While it didn’t appear as if Nebraska was looking
ahead to next week’s game against No. 3 Oklahoma, the
rekindling of the old rivalry was on a few players' minds
as soon as it became clear that the Huskers would have
no trouble with Baylor.
“I know a lot of people were thinking about OU before
this one was over, so I’m glad to get this one done so we
can focus our attention on Oklahoma,” center Dominic
Raiola said.
Bears doomed from the start
■Not executing lost the game
for BU,not NU's'superpowers/
team members said.
BY JOSHUA CAMENZIND
For Kevin Steele, Saturday
was a blast from his coaching
past.
Tommie Frazier was there,
and so was Charlie McBride -
and the game ended with a
Nebraska blowout victory over
an overmatched opponent.
Just like old times, right?
Wrong.
Steele was on the other side
of the field this time, and the
opponent was his Baylor team,
which lost 59-0 to the Huskers.
“I take the responsibility
today,” said Steele, who was an
assistant in Lincoln for five
years. "Don’t put it on those guys
in the room in there. They got a
good look in their eye - they are
trying hard.”
The Bears might have been
trying a bit too hard as they were
doomed right from the start
after falling behind big after less
than six minutes had ticked off
the clock.
NU blocked Baylor's first
punt and recovered it for a
touchdown, scored less than
two minutes later on its first
offensive possession and recov
ered starting quarterback Kerry
Dixon’s fumble on BU's 15-yard
line. Four plays later, Dan
Alexander had his second
touchdown and with 9:23
remaining, Steele found his
team down 21-0.
Baylor’s problems would
snowball from that point on as
NU hung a first quarter school
record 38 points on the board. It
was that first 15 minutes, which
actually took just under an hour,
that many from Baylor would
like to forget after gaining only a
total of one yard on offense.
“They kicked our butts
today,” said senior cornerback
Gary Baxter. “They beat us in
every aspect of the game. They
are the No. 1 team in the coun
try.”
Baxter, who led the Bears
with 12 tackles, eight of which
were unassisted, said NU didn’t
beat Baylor by talent, but in one
main area - execution.
“They are not supermen,"
Baxter said. “They put their
pants on the same way we do.”
The Baylor offense did not
execute as it failed to score for
the third straight week, also
hanging a donut up against
Texas A&M and Texas Tech in its
previous two games.
Dixon, a true freshman,
played only the first three series
and completed none of his three
passes, while taking one sack
and fumbling on his last drive.
Steele inserted fellow freshman
Guy Tomcheck and experienced
similar results.
Tomcheck completed his
first pass for 23 yards and
Baylor’s only first down of the
first quarter. From there, the
quarterback, who has been in
and out on the mend for Steele
this season, completed 6 of 28
passes for 56 yards and was
sacked twice.
“We had scheduled Guy to
go in after the fourth series,”
Steele said. “I think Guy went in
on the fourth series, and he just
looked like he had a little bit of
his old rhythm back. So I just
kept him in there because he has
played so little since his injury.”
But the Bear’s offensive woes
went farther than the quarter
back position as they completed
only three of 16 third-down con
versions and had a total of five
yards rushing on the day. BU
managed 84 total yards on the
day, compared with NU’s 508,
459 of which came on the
ground.
Baylor running back Darrell
Bush said he couldn’t have
dreamed of a worse perform
ance and frustration had set in
after he gained only 17 yards on
12 carries.
“You go into every ball game
‘having the attitude that you are
going to win," Bush said.
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