Defense answers preseason doubts in Red-White Game

Coming into the spring, the Nebraska football team had significantly more questions than answers.

Anyone of the 30,414 fans who were at Saturday's annual Red-White Game could tell you the Husker defense did its best to answer as many of those questions as possible.

The Red team, which was made up of the No. 1 offense and the second- and third-team defenses, capitalized on an eye-popping 12 sacks in a 16-7 win against the White squad.

"It was difficult for the offense to establish a ground attack and a real good passing attack," NU Coach Frank Solich said. "I think for as much substituting that we did, (the defense) did a pretty good job. I thought they played pretty well."

Solich also said that the since he considered the spring game a final chance to evaluate players this spring, it allowed some potential defensive stars to catch his eye in capping off what he described as "a very good spring" for the team.

In the group mentioned by Solich were versatile linebacker T.J. Hollowell and converted defensive tackle Mania Brown. Hollowell, who has played all three linebacker positions this spring, tied for the White team lead in tackles with six, while Brown, sophomore rush end Bernard Thomas and junior rush end Justin Smith combined for nine of the Red unit's 12 sacks. Thomas led all defensive players with four.

On offense, No. 1 I-back Dharran Diedrick put the Red team up 7-0 with a six-yard touchdown run with 6:55 to go in the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, the White unit capitalized on the game's only turnover, an errant pitch by quarterback Jammal Lord, to even the score at seven on a Robin Miller touchdown. The sophomore I-back finished with 49 yards on 11 carries, good enough for second on the White team behind Thunder Collins, who led all backs with 55 yards on 13 carries.

The rest of the limited scoring came courtesy of the right leg of sophomore place-kicker Sandro DeAngelis. DeAngelis made a strong case for the top kicking spot going into the fall by converting on all three of his field goal attempts, two from 37 yards and a 48 yarder that gave the Red squad a 10-7 advantage with 23 seconds left in the first half.

Following the game, however, it was the Blackshirts who were the talk of the town.

"From a defensive standpoint, we feel like we made progress this spring," Defensive Coordinator Craig Bohl said. "I believe we're going to have a more aggressive, more physical defense."

Bohl also said that although most of the positions had set starters, competition for starts at rover and defensive end would continue into the fall.

Diedrick, who was the third string I-back last season, said he was most impressed by the defense's ability to continually make big plays by swarming to the football.

"They really took away the cutback lanes today," he said. "You just had nowhere to go but out of bounds."

Lord, who passed for 71 yards and rushed for 46, said that the 2001 Blackshirts had the potential to rank among NU's all-time greatest defenses.

"Dahrran Diedrick and I were talking about how we were going to be playing against an outstanding defense today," Lord said. "We prepared for an Oklahoma-type defense. Our defense just comes at you from everywhere."

Some of the most notable defensive performances on Saturday came from players who were asked to switch positions this spring.

Trevor Johnson, who recently made the conversion from tight end to rush end, sacked Lord twice and knocked down two passes for the White team. After starting the spring at rush end, Mania Brown continually made his presence felt at defensive tackle, recording seven stops. His total was second only to fellow Red defensive tackle Patrick Kabongo, who racked up a game-high 12 tackles.

"The position changes we made at the beginning of the spring seemed to play out," Solich said. "I think those players progressed very well, too."