A final look
atNo.12's
NU legacy
You can love football. But
football won’t love you back.
In five years covering
Nebraska, I’ve seen three pri
mary players cross paths with
that prophecy: Scott Frost,
Frankie London and DeAngelo
Evans.
A few
were better
for their
clash with
The Truth,
which lurks
just beyond
tne Kea bea
roar, free ath
letic gear,
opposite-sex
attraction
and training
Samuel
McKewon
table T-bones for dinner - that
what you've been given can be
taken away. It'll put you in a
place where, eventually, the
cameras shrink away, and
you’re left with you - what you
are, what you’ve done and how
that isn’t good enough for any
body.
Frost managed to escape
that fate by capturing a national
title. Evans walked away; he’ll
need a fine NFL career to wash
himself clean. And London,
well, the rules just kept chang
ing on him, like that spring
when being the best-graded
quarterback was only good
enough for third string.
And somewhere in the mid
dle of those three, on an island
all his own: Bobby Newcombe.
A key catalyst to Frost’s
national title in the 1997 season.
The sophomore who swiped the
starting quarterback job from
London in 1998 thanks to a 91
yard run in the spring game.
The player who because of his
ongoing quarterback battle
with Eric Crouch one year later,
ultimately shifted the team
focus from the I-back - then
Evans - to the quarterback,
where it remains today.
Newcombe ended his regu
lar-season career at Nebraska
two weeks ago with two recep
tions on the Comhuskers’ final
drive in a 34-32 win over
Colorado.
He was on the receiving end
of Crouch’s final completion,
clinching a realistic field-goal
opportunity. It was a clutch
sideline grab - a hop, catch, hop
that you replay five years down
the road when close NU wins
grow in our appreciation.
In those same five years,
Newcombe will grow as an
interesting enigma; one look at
that catch, and it’ll seem
strange he practically disap
peared his senior season. *
The casual fans look at NU’s
2000 season in retrospect, and
some will offer that Newcombe
should have stayed at quarter
back with Crouch, the runner,
at wingback and returner.
They’ll tell you Crouch’s one
gear - go - plays much better at
receiver than Newcombe’s con
stantly shifting motor.
Ana tney 11 oner it
Newcombe had just been
allowed to pass, like Tbrner Gill
used to, it may have all turned
out differently. If Billy Haafke
had turned this way instead of
that... If the knee injury hadn't
occurred ... If Frank Solich
would have just let him grow
into the offense...
There's enough ifs out there
to wager Newcombe got dealt a
rotten hand and then drew an
even worse hand at wingback,
where he spent play after play
being pointed at, shadowed,
followed, and yet, more often
than not, completely unused -
window dressing.
His sporadic success over
the past two years was almost a
burden as stories were written
and whispers of greatness were
again shared with every good
play. Newcombe's reputation
traveled far past what his num
bers suggest.
And there’s a reason: We
never really left Bobby
Newcombe alone, even when
we left him alone. At first it was
hype, then controversy, then an
extension of goodwill toward a
successful career.
In the post-Tommie Frazier
era, we see NU quarterbacks as
icons, and the 91-yard run back
in the spring of 1998 was iconic
- the beginning of the next big
Please see BOBBY on 9
✓
Battle of opposites at the Alamo
DN file Photo
The Northwestern defense may have a tough time stopping Nebraska l-back Dan Alexander and the Husker rushing attack. NU
rushes for 349yards per game, first in the country, while the Wildcats rank 89th nationally in total defense.
BY DAVID DIEHL
One team has won at least
nine games a season for 32
straight years. The other team
won 15 games from 1987 to 1994.
Nebraska, college football’s
definition of consistency, and
Northwestern, which found a
football resurgence in the mid
’90s, square off in the 2000 Alamo
Bowl in a meeting of teams with
contrasting histories but similar
strengths on the field.
The Dec. 30 game matches
two of the nation’s most potent
offenses led by two of college foot
ball's most talented players.
Northwestern running back
Damien Anderson and Nebraska
quarterback Eric Crouch, who
were both considered Heisman
'Ilophy candidates during the sea
son, lead their respective offenses
into the 7 p.m. game.
Nebraska Coach Frank Solich
doesn’t overlook the quality of the
Northwestern program, a team
once in ruins but now with a new
life.
"They're a very fine football
team,” Solich said. “Their year
came down to who was going to
win the Big Ten conference race,
and they were right in it to the
end.”
Northwestern tied Purdue (as
well as Michigan) for the confer
ence title, but the Boilermakers
went to the Rose Bowl because
they beat the Wildcats.
Much of Northwestern’s suc
cess in posting its 8-3 record came
on the heels of its offense, led by
Anderson, who finished the sea
son as the country’s second lead
ing rusher, averaging 174 yards a
game. Anderson and quarterback
Zak Kustok, who has thrown for 18
touchdowns, are the major cogs in
the Wildcats offensive package
that ranks third in the country.
“They have an offense that has
been able to move the ball against
everyone they’ve played," Solich
said. “It’ll be no small task to try
and slow them down.”
Nebraska may have the
answers to the Wildcats’ rushing
attack, as it allows just 113 yards
per game on the ground.
As the possibilities of a barn
burning offensive explosion
loom, the game may come down
to which defense stops the last
drive, which is OK with rush end
Kyle Vanden Bosch.
"That’s what we want,” said
Vanden Bosch, whose 5Vi sacks tie
for the Nebraska team lead. “We
want the pressure to be on the
defense.”
That may not be the best of
circumstances for the Wildcats,
however. Northwestern has
allowed more than 40 points four
times in 2000 and are allowing
opponents 408 yards a game, 89“
in the country.
Northwestern will be making
its first bowl appearance since the
1997 Citrus Bowl, a 48-28 loss to
Tennessee. Nebraska will be mak
ing its NCAA-record 32nd-con
secutive bowl appearance.
Neither team has been to the
Alamo Bowl.
Despite going just 5-15 in the
two years before this season, the
Wildcats have flourished under
second-year coach Randy Walken
He was named the conference’s
Coach of the Year and rewarded
with a contract extension through
2007. Solich said he likes the
matchup that Walker’s squad
poses.
“Northwestern is a great foot
ball team, and they've shown that
with the teams they've beaten in
the Big Ten,” Solich said. “It’ll be a
challenge.”
Seven Big 12 teams
to play one more game
BY SAMUEL MCKEWON
Two days after finishing
his second season as
Oklahoma coach without a
blemish, Bob Stoops hadn’t
yet directed his attention to
the national-title game
against Florida State.
Sowing the seeds for
future Sooners on a recruit
ing road'trip took prece
dence.
But it took one ques
tion during Monday’s final
weekly Big 12 teleconfer
ence to get his mind on the
Orange Bowl immediately
- the early Las Vegas line,
which put No. 1OU as a 11
point underdog, the largest
margin of any of the seven
Big 12 teams in bowl games
this season.
Suddenly stoops, who
spent much of the season
drinking in the praise of
national media and offer
ing the same for his own
troops, had to defend his
team for the first of what
will be many occasions
before the Jan. 3 game.
And the fiery side of the
Steve Spurrier disciple
reared its head.
“We've been an under
dog before this season,”
Stoops said. “We were an
underdog against Texas; we
were a nine-point under
dog to Kansas State, and we
went up there and won by
10.
“(Being an underdog)
hasn’t effected a whole lot
to this point; why would it
now? I don’t pay attention
to the oddsmakers; they’ve
been wrong most of the
season.”
Then Stoops tossed a
slight jab at FSU (11-1),
which nudged out Miami
for the No. 2 spot in the
Bowl Championship Series
ratings, despite the
Hurricanes’ handing
Florida State its one loss of
the season.
“We haven't had to
answer one question about
being in that game,” he
said. “We’ve got respect.”
Still, OU's perceived
disadvantage in Miami,
coupled with the Big 12's
missing out on sending
t
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texas vs
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Alamo
Nebraska vs.
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two teams to the BCS
games had a grumbling
effect for the conference. A
win for the Sooners could
equal a win for the Big 12;
without it, relying on a
number of well-matched
contests among the other
six teams will mark the
conference’s success in
bowl season.
And after the Sooners'
so-so performance in the
last month of the season
(Saturday’s 27-24 win over
Kansas State in the Big 12
title game likely represent
ed their best performance
in four games.) and FSU’s
bulldozer act through two
top 10 opponents - Florida
and Clemson - pundits
have the Seminoles’ speed
being too much for OU to
handle, especially their
fleet of speedy defenders.
And then there’s the
experience factor. While
HeismanlYophy candidate
Josh Heupel quarter
backed Oklahoma in the
obscure Independence
Bowl, his main Heisman
rival, Chris Weinke, won
the national champi
onship in the Sugar Bowl.
Translate that to a whole
team and its staff of codch
ueian lohowski/un
es, and FSU has the distinct
advantage.
“I imagine (the point
spread) has something to
do with the quality of the
Florida State team,” Kansas
, State Coach Bill Snyder
said. “And they’ve been in
this position a countless
number of times.”
Snyder drew upon his
experience of two years ago
- when his Wildcats lost a
shot at the national title in
the Big 12 championship
game then dropped the
Alamo Bowl to Purdue - as
a sour memory he had no
intention of repeating.
Citing that his 1998
team “didn’t even want to
play” after losing to Texas
A&M in the title game,
Snyder held an impromptu
meeting directly after the
Big 12 loss to OU Saturday
to discuss KSU’s bowl
future. He gave his players
two options: Commit right
now regardless ofbowl des
tination or call it a season.
Had K-State not shown
proper enthusiasm, Snyder
said he “probably would
have” pulled the trigger on
staying home from the
Please see BOWLS on 9
Oklahoma quar
terback Josh
Heupelhasled
theSoonersto
an undefeated
regular season
and a No. 1 rank
ing and now is
one of four
finalists for the
Heisman Trophy.
DN File Photo
OU's Heupel finalist for Heisman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - Three quarterbacks -
Drew Brees of Purdue, Josh Heupel of
Oklahoma and Chris Weinke of Florida
Heupel led Oklahoma to the No. 1 rank
ing in the country, completing 280 of 433
passes for 3,392 yards with 20 touchdowns
and 14 interceptions.
He has at least one TD pass in all 24 of
State - and running back LaDainian
Tomlinson of Texas Christian were
announced Monday as finalists for the
Heisman Trophy.
The award to the nation’s best college
football player will be presented by the
Downtown Athletic Club on Saturday night.
The four finalists are the leading vote
getters in month-long balloting by 922
sportswriters, broadcasters and former
Heisman winners. Balloting continues
through Friday, but the finalists are well
ahead of other contenders.
Brees, a finalist last year, is the Big Ten’s
career passing leader with 11,517 yards and
led Purdue to the Rose Bowl for the first time
since 1966. He threw for 3,393 yards this
season with 24 touchdowns and 12 inter
ceptions, and he also ran for 516 yards and
five more touchdowns.
J
his career games at Oklahoma and has
passed for more than 300 yards in 14 of
them.
Weinke led the nation with 4,167 pass
ing yards with 33 TD passes and 11 inter
ceptions. He is 32-2 as a starter at Florida
State with a streak of 25 consecutive victo
ries.
He holds Atlantic Coast Conference
records for passing yardage at 9,789 and
touchdown passes with 79. At 28, he would
be the oldest Heisman winner.
Tomlinson led the nation in rushing for
the second consecutive year and became
only the seventh back in NCAA history to
run for 2,000 yards in a season.
He carried 369 times for 2,158 yards,
fourth highest in NCAA history, and 22
touchdowns. His 5.263 career yards is sixth
highest in NCAA history.
e
