Blowout
showcases
Nebraska's
bright future
Not to be condemning, but to those of
you who were at the football game or saw it
on television Saturday and decided to bolt
to the bars, to bed or to dinner at halftime or
early in the second half: Shame on you.
Not because of any lack of support (it
wasn’t needed), but because you missed a
good show from
Nebraska’s second
team backfield.
It was one of the
more enticing late
blowout game shows
in a while. It gave any
one watching a nice ■llllllllllliMllliwnif
dose of what’s to come Inhn
in the future and told .
them that the future of GaskiflS
the proud NU ground
attack will probably be in very capable
hands.
I'm speaking mainly of quarterback
Jammal Lord, I-backs Dahrran Diedrick and
Thunder Collins and fullback Judd Davies.
Each had plenty of opportunity to showcase
themselves, and each delivered.
Such opportunities are rare nowadays.
We now live in this wonderful world of pari
ty, where former punching bags like Iowa
State and Kansas State all of a sudden give
NU a run for its money.
Aside from the Oklahoma and Colorado
game, the conference season used to be a
hibernation period for the Huskers. Scores
like 56-17 were commonplace.
Even at that, even with plenty of bud
ding talent on the field, we had Tom
Osborne calling the plays, which meant NU
went to a prevent offense, as in an offense
that prevents itself from running up the
score with nifty plays. Bor-ing.
But that happens rarely now. And when
it does, thanks to the fact that Frank Solich
has to run up the score to gain Bowl
Championship Series points, NU gets a big
ger green light to showcase talent
Thank God for that
The I-backs were especially promising.
It’s probably been since Lawrence Phillips
backed up Calvin Jones seven years ago that
we've gotten to see and feel so much poten
tial. Ahman Green busted right out of the
backup role as a freshman when the whole
Phillips ordeal went down.
Since then, it's been fun seeing how
much of a bulldozer Dan Alexander is, but
that’s about it. Alexander and Correll
Buckhalter have been very solid runners but
haven’t exactly been eye poppers that make
mouths water for the ftiture.
Quite simply, the star I-back glitter has
vanished from NU since Green went to the
NFL
aoucn iinauy Drougnt tne inunaer
Saturday, and it was loud (note for the
scrapbook: Thunder cliche No. 1).
The freshman from Compton, Calif.,
gained 48 yards on six carries and brought
the glitter. Pure speed. Good fakes. A little
razzle dazzle kept the interest, and some
harmless showboating got an even bigger
rise from those that were tired of waiting for
him. Judging by his enthusiasm, he was
tired of waiting, too.
The same could be said for Diedrick,
who we saw more of last yearn His confi
dence is well-documented and eaisily seen.
Its starting to work for him.
Davies could be the most athletic full
back NU has seen - and that’s quite a feat.
He's huge - 6 feet tall, 245 pounds - but agile.
He blocked on quite a few huge running
plays and touchdowns, showed moves
when he got the ball and caught a dandy 27
yard pass from Lord.
Speaking of Lord, remember when
Solich couldn’t figure out earlier this year
who the backup at quarterback would be
because none of the reserves distinguished
themselves? It’s not the case anymore.
NU won’t exactly stroll through the
motions if Crouch goes down, but it proba
bly won't be the end of the world. And when
Crouch is gone in a couple years? Watch out
(for the scrapbook: no Lord cliches).
So, thank you NU first-teamers and
Kansas for converging to produce a
blowout. For the first time in a long time,
there was reason to stick around.
I hope the beer and/or nap was enjoy
able for those of you who didn’t
Losers.
-—^—
" JoshWolfe/DN
Kansas wide receiver Harrison Hill fumbles the ball as DeJuan Groce tackles him during the first half. NU beat the Jayhawks for the 32nd time in a row.
Kansas falls victim to Huskers'revenge
nr——aiM r nr■ —wn—■——
JoshWolfe/DN
KU quarterback Dylen Smith gets sacked by Kyle Vanden Bosch and Scott Shanle. KU's first
three drives started with sacks.
* !
I]
BYJ1LLZEMAN
Call it revenge after last week’s bitter
defeat
Or it could be the "wrong place, wrong
time” syndrome.
Whatever you call it, members of the
Kansas football team found themselves in
a whirlwind of intensity and emotion from
a Husker team out to prove itself.
“We caught a very good football team
at a bad time,” said Kansas Coach Terry
Allen, whose Jayhawks fell to the Huskers
56-17 in Saturday's contest KU fell to 4-5
on the season and 2-4 in the Big 12 with,
the loss.
“I don’t know if revenge is the proper
term, but they stepped it up a notch from
last week,” Allen said.
Allen watched Nebraska quarterback
Eric Crouch visit the end zone three times
before Kansas put any points on the
board.
The Jayhawks were able to capitalize
on a botched Nebraska punt return at the
end of the first quarter.
When the ball started bouncing sifter
the punt, it bounced off backup running
back DeAnte Grixby’s foot
Kansas recovered the ball and scored
five plays later with a 45-yard field goal
fromsenior Joe Garcia with 13:40 left in the
second quarter.
KU did manage to score two touch
downs, but both came in the fourth quar
ter with Nebraska’s first-string defense
watching from the sideline.
While the Jayhawks led in passing
yards -169 to Nebraska’s 69 - they rushed
for only 97 yards, compared to NU’s 493
yards on the ground.
Kansas’ total of 266 offensive yards is
the team’s lowest since gaining 231 yards
in its 52-13 loss to Kansas State earlier this
season.
“They physically dominated us,” Allen
said. “The defense got after us early.”
A pair of freshmen were among the
7 don’t know if revenge is
the proper term, but they
stepped it up a notch from
last week.’’
Terry Allen
KU coach
few bright spots for Kansas against NU.
Wide receiver J.T. Thompson racked
up 70 yards on three receptions, and
Reggie Duncan rushed for 96 yards on 11
carries.
Smith, who passed for a career-high
327 yards last week against Texas Tech,
didn't enjoy anything close to the same
success on Saturday. The senior quarter
back completed just 14 of 29 passes for 129
yards.
Smith said it was Nebraska’s blitz that
hurt his team the most
Nebraska’s defense had three sacks for
18 yards, as well as 11 quarterback hurries.
"The receivers did a good job getting
open,” Smith said. “They just couldn’t get
the ball”
Senior middle linebacker Carlos Polk,
who led the Husker defense with eight
tackles, also wreaked havoc on the
Jayhawks, Allen said. “Carlos is an out
standing football player,” Allen said. “He’s
very disruptive, and we saw the effects of
that today.”
Polk wasn't the only Husker to cause
problems for KU. Junior cornerback
Keyuo Craverhad seven tackles and junior
linebacker Mark Vedral contributed five
tackles in his first career start
On the other side of the ball, the
Husker offensive line opened up massive
holes, paving the way for nearly 500 rush
ing yards.
Please see KANSAS on 12