Rare eight home games pleasing I
BY JOSHUA CAMENZ1ND
Keyuo Craver was all for play
ing Texas Christian in this year’s
Pigskin Classic.
In fact, if Craver had his way,
Nebraska would be scheduling
another home game on a slate
that already includes eight con
tests at Memorial Stadium for die
first time since 1905 and only the
fourth time of all-time.
“I'm all for it,” Craver said. "I
love football, and if we could take
another game, I would play that
too.”
Craver joked NU still may be
looking to add another home
game after playing only six during
last season's 10-2 campaign.
The home slate features the
likes ofTCU to open the season on
Aug. 25, perennial power Notre
Dame on Sept. 8, defending
national champion Oklahoma on
Oct 27 and Big 12 North rival K
StateonNov. 10.
Only four road contests await
to rhaltongp the Huskers. Oamfts
at Missouri, Baylor, Kansas and
Colorado -all of whom finished
with losing records last season -
pale in comparison to the mon
ster home schedule compiled for
those lucky enough to gain admit
tance to Memorial Stadium on
Saturdays.
“There’s no better place to
play in the country than Memorial
Stadium, so that is going to give us
a little bit of an advantage," Craver
said
But not so fast, said NU Coach
Frank Solich. While he is also
excited about the prospects of
Nebraska's most challenging
opponents having to travel to
Lincoln, Solich reminded the two
teams stQl must take the field and
pound it out for the all-important
win.
“It can certainly help, but that
won't be the determining factor of
who wins the conference,” Solich
said
But Solich doesn’t deny over
flow crowds of around 78,000
won’t give his teamaboost against
the likes of Notre Dame, OU and
K-State.
NU won 27-24 in an overtime
scare when it visited the Irish last
season and saw its national title
hopes go down the drain with
losses to both the Sooners and
Wildcats on the road.
Those three teams, combined
withTCU and Iowa State, finished
52-11 overall and were all ranked
among the top 25 when the final
polls were released.
One has to look no further
than a ticket stub to understand
the magnitude of the three big
matchups. A seat at the Notre
Dame, Oklahoma and K-State
games will cost $50, as opposed to
the $38 charged for the other five
contests.
In announcing NU’s intent to
play in the Pigskin Classic,
Athletics Director Bill Byrne was
obviously pleased to round out
the home slate.
"With the addition of Texas
Christian University, we believe
we hawthe most attractive home
football schedule in the country,"
Byrne said.
Byrne's opinion will certainly
be debated next season around
the country, but Solich said he
knows the importance of mar
quee games for both his players
and die fans.
“The media and the fans will
pick those games out,” he said.
“The atmosphere sometimes gets
hyped a little bit, and the players
always enjoy that”
And that all starts again when
the Huskers and the Homed Frogs
take the field. Solich, like Craver,
said the game will be advanta
geous for a young team looking for
game experience
“We are replacing a number of
people on both sides of die ball,”
Solkii said. *We want to try to get
those guys as much experience as
we can.”
“The way to do that is to prac
tice more, which is what you do
when you have a preseason game
because you have more practices
and then another game”
Solich said the fear of injuries
is always looming in his mind, but
Craver said that will be the farthest
thing from his mind on that hot,
August afternoon.
“Most people who look far the
negatives end up finding diem,”
Craver said.
Deadly 1-2 punch may return with Diedrick
CROUCH from page 10
pitch, have not. And as time wore
on, attempts at going to the pitch
were limited.
That, essentially, limited the
option game to Crouch keepers
most of the time, making the
option attack virtually one
dimensional.
Some speculate that may
have been because of I-backs Dan
Alexander and Correll
Buckhaher's inability to run to the
outside or catch pitches, things
Phillips and Green did remark
ably in the option heyday of the
mid-1990s.
"That wasn’t necessarily by
design,* quarterbacks Coach
Tlimer Gill said. "For the last two
or three years, maybe there’s been
alittte bit more of the quarterback
handling the ball, but that’s what
the defenses have been giving us,
and we've been fairly successful
“It depends on the defense.
You've only got so much real
estate to deed with (on the out
side) before you get out of
bounds. And with (Crouch's)
speed and quickness, we want
him to turn up as fast as he can as
it presents itself.’
Solich agreed that Crouch's
decision mating depended great
ly on defensive fronts, and teams
that play the Huskers every year
have stopped the outside game
more effectively.
Solich also refused to admit
the lack of confidence in
Alexander's and Buckhaher's ball
handling abilities, despite the feyt
the Huskers led the nation in fum
bles in 1999. He pointed to the
fact NU had a much-improved
turnover ratio in2000.
But that may have been
because the ball was kept in
Crouch's hands. Now, with
Alexander and Buckhalter gone,
NU may get back its outside
game, provided having a qualified
running back.
Enter Dahrran Diedrick, die
Huskers' No. 1 running back on
the spring charts. His speed and
explosiveness have always been
heavily anticipated since he
arrived from Ontario three years
ago.
Diedrick said his high-school
team didn’t run any option; he
hadatough time with it when he
arrived at NU. But after three
years in the system, he said he
believes he’s ready.
“I’m very confident now,"
Diedrick said. Tve just learned to
keep focused on the ball - keep
my eyes on the ball - not act like
I'm going to catch it before I'm
going to catch it”
“That’s why I came to school
here. The running back gets the
ball in a lot of different ways,
handoffs and option.”
Whether Diedrick wiD pan out
to be a more effective catcher and
outside runner than his predeces
sors remains to be seen. Whether
Crouch will go more to the out
side and pitch will still have plen
ty to do with the defensive fronts,
too.
But Solich said if the opportu
nity presented itself, Diedrick
cotdd-help bring bade the explo
sive outside option game and give
Crouch a partner in crime like
Frazier and Frost had
“We expect he’ll do well,"
Solich said. “I think he’s die kind
of back that can do well in all
phases of our offense.’’
“He’s got great feet, and hefc a
strong kid, so it’s a good combina
tion in that he has the ability to be
an inside runner and make the
power yards, and he’s got enough
speed to get things done on the
outside. Our offense should fit
him wed’
NU in strong shape at tight end
RECEIVERS from page 10
nit earned a reputation for catch
ing balls. Although he competed
in each game last season,
Hassebroek is still looking for his
first collegiate reception.
The Nebraska coaching staff is
also experimenting with kicker
Josh Brown at the wideout posi
tion.
“He has good quickness and
good speed, catches the ball well,”
Ron Brown said. “He needs expe
l rience. He just needs to go out
there and play football.”
The experience at the tight
end position should relieve some
pressure on the wideouts.
The senior-to-be Wistrom, an
All-Big 12 selection last year,
returns from 2000 when he was
second leading receiver behind
Davison. Through the course of
the season, Wistrom amassed 19
receptions for 314 yards and five
touchdowns.
Nebraska also returns two
more letter winners at the posi
tion in junior-to-be Aaron
Golliday and Jon Bowling. Hevor
Johnson moved from the position
to rush end, and former defensive
lineman Phil Peetz has taken on
tight end duties.
Golliday and Bowling com
bined for five catches for 53 yards
last season.
Despite the uncertainties with
the passing attack, the
Comhuskers will use this spring
to get the basics down and famil
iarize themselves with their new
roles.
“For the most part everybody
has been working hard and trying
to get die plays down," Wistrom
said.
IPBKiUNL I
"SSUi,.l
Recycle your
Daily
Nebraskan
James blanks Bluejays
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Nebraska (22-9) extended its
winning streak to 12 games after
its 4-0 win over Creighton (7-14)
on Wednesday, riding the over
bearing presence of freshman
Peaches James on the mound.
James, a Papillion-LaVista
graduate, threw a complete
game shutout, scattering just two
hits and striking out seven
Bluejays. The win improved
James' record to 5-4 and left NU
with a head of steam entering
conference play.
James' shutout is just die lat
est of many recent dominating
performances by the Nebraska
staff. The Huskers have given up
only four runs during the 12
game winning streak, including
nine shutouts. Nebraska hasn't
been scored on in 30 consecutive
innings dating back to its 2-1 win
Kappa Delta
Chilliest!!
At Kappa Delta Sorority
(16th & ‘R’ St.)
Sunday, March 25
4:00-8:00 p.m.
$4.00 at door $5.00 day of
ALL YOU CAN EAT
♦Orih
♦Chicken Noodle Soup
♦Cinnamon Rolls
Featuring: Live Bands
-Man Down
-8th Wave
1
-ChadKebsy
against Florida Atlantic Mac 16.
To lead NU offensively, sec
ond baseman Leigh Suhr, short
stop Amanda Bucholz and right
fielder Danelle Arnold each col
lected two hits against
Creighton’s ace Jenny Hunt.
Bucholz also notched two RBIs.
The offense, which sputtered
at times early in the season, has
perked up recently, averaging
nearly five runs over the last six
games.
The improved offensive play
is just in time for the lS^ranked
Huskers conference opener on
Saturday against Missouri (18
15).
TOUCING LIVES
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AcademicContest:
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Now forming a service
organization on campus.
Students & Faculty
welcome.
Formation meeting March
22,2001 6:30 PM
Please RSVP to:
488-6711
Hosted by
Lincoln South
Optomist Club
«ke art, 8 ~
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Ochs CU's man at QB
COLORADO from page 10
right now.”
Colorado is still left with a
young team, however. Forty-one
of the 93 players listed on the
Buff’s 2001 roster are freshmen
and sophomores.
In a couple of cases, that gives
Barnett and CU fans a reason to
be smiling for the next fewyears
namely in the case of quarter
back Craig Ochs and running
back Marcus Houston, if he can
become healthy. '
Ochs, a true freshman in
2000, showed signs of young bril
liance and a prosperous future
after starting the season behind
junior-college transfers Zac
Colvin and Bobby Fesavento.
Playing for his hometown
Buffaloes, Ochs threw for 1,778
yards while completing 59 per
cent of his passes in 2000. He did
it all without seeing die field in
CU’s first three games.
The quarterback job, Barnett
said, is Ochs’ to lose, and that
makes things a lot easier on
Barnett than last spring when
Ochs, Colvin and Pesavento were
all vying for the spot
“It’s a big change knowing
who your quarterback is going to
be and having a veteran backup
quarterback,” Barnett said.
You could even qualify Ochs,
just a sophomore, as a veteran
Barnett said. In 2000, just a year
removed from high-school ball,
Ochs took the Buffs into the teeth
of NU’s Memorial Stadium and
led CU to within a minute of a
last-drive, comeback victory that
its defense couldn’t hold onto.
In the backfield with Ochs,
who was 17-27 for 197 yards in
CU’s first spring scrimmage on
Monday, should be the highly
touted Houston, who played in
Colorado’s first three games of
2000 but missed the rest of the
season with a tom hip flexor.
Houston's availability for
spring workouts is in doubt,
Barnett said, as the injury still
lingers. One of the most celebrat
ed recruits in Colorado history,
the Denver native carried for
more than 100 yards in two of the
three games that he appeared in,
showing flashiness not seen in a
Colorado backfield since the
days of Heisman Ttophy winner
Rashaan Salaam
Colorado went through its
Monday scrimmage also without
backup Bobby Purify in the back
field. Last year’s starter, Corden
Johnson, rushed 14 times for 59
yards in the 105-play scrimmage.
Ochs and Houston, if healthy
for Colorado’s Aug. 25 opener
against Fresno State, will see con
siderably more time than they
did at the opening of last year.
The limited time was due in
part, at least in Ochs’ case
Barnett has admitted, to CUfc rig
orous opening schedule and
Ochs’ inexperience. The Buff’s
opened against Colorado State,
Southern California, Washington
and started conference play
against Kansas State, Tfexas A&M
and Tfexas-only USC didn't make
a bowl game. The Buffs took it on
the nose during that stretch
going 1-5.
CU’s slate looks a little friend
lier this year as CU’s nonconfer
ence schedule includes Fresno
State, San Jose State and
Washington State along with
annual rival Colorado State.
“On paper, it’s not like last
year’s (schedule),” Barnett said,
"but you never know how games
and teams are going to turn out”
I Lj
I Saturday
March 24
Saturday
March 24
9th 8l 'O' St. Lincoln, NE
with special guest...
the
matt banta band
doors at 8 show at 9 95 cover 18 8l over
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340 W. Cornhuster Hwy. Uncohv NE 474-2332
