Huskers roll over Golden Bears 45-0

If someone would have told Nebraska quarterback Bobby Newcombe that his team's leading rusher would have exactly 29 yards by the end of its 45-0 dismantling of California ...

"I would have told you were full of it," Newcombe said.

But the scant 114 total rushing yards mattered little as Newcombe's quarterback partner, Eric Crouch, had enough fireworks for one quarter to propel No. 5 Nebraska to an easy win - a win that defied football logic - in front the largest crowd to ever watch a game at Memorial Stadium.

In an 11-minute, 37-second span in the second quarter, Crouch electrified the 77,617 fans in red with a rushing, passing and receiving touchdown, turning a 7-0 Husker lead into a 28-0 cushion by half-time, thus demoralizing a Cal team that controlled much of the first quarter.

Crouch's final touchdown of the quarter, a 60-yard "jailbreak" pass from Newcombe, put a record stamp on the sophomore's performance and made him the first player since Johnny Rodgers in 1973 to score in three different ways offensively.

"I didn't expect for this to happen," said Crouch, who had a hand in 183 of NU's 208 first-half yards. "But anytime I can get on the field and make a play or take advantage of every opportunity I'm given, I've got to go ahead and do that."

Crouch's display was matched by the Nebraska defense, which shut down a less-than-scintillating offense for the second week in a row. Cal managed only nine first downs for the game, and, after the first 15 minutes, made little-to-no meaningful yardage. Cal had 145 total yards for the game, 72 over the last three quarters.

Along with a strong performance from punter Dan Hadenfelt, the defense gave the offense good field position most of the day.

"They've done all we've asked them to do," said NU Coach Frank Solich of the Blackshirts, "and all that's been possible to do from a defensive point of view. But they will get tested."

The Huskers got tested slightly on Cal's opening two drives, as the Bears entered Nebraska territory but came away with no points. On the second drive, kicker Ignacio Brache hit the left upright with his 35-yard field goal attempt.

The Bears (1-1) threatened to score only once more in the entire game (Brache missed another field goal) and starting quarterback Samuel Clemons completed only 6 of 16 passes for 84 yards.

"There was some confusion out there early on," rover Mike Brown said. "But once we got settled down and got into a rhythm we were pretty much dominant."

Meanwhile, California's defense set in hard against the NU rushing attack. After stuffing the Huskers on the first two drives, Nebraska finally broke through with a 5-play, 51-yard touchdown drive, culminating with a Newcombe 12-yard option run.

Shortly afterward came Crouch's trio of scores.

At quarterback, he initially led NU (2-0) on a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive, which ended in his 1-yard touchdown run.

After Newcombe's next drive stalled, Crouch was on at quarterback again. On the series' second play, he popped back to pass and found tight end Tracey Wistrom wide open - no one was within 20 yards of him - and Wistrom hoofed it to the end zone for a 70-yard score. On the play, and several others during the game, Cal had committed 10 players to stopping the run.

That defense opened up the airwaves significantly. For the game, NU had 187 passing yards and averaged 37.4 yards per completion.

"(Cal's) style of defense, it makes you look bad and can get you for a lot of lost yardage, which I'm sure we had today," Solich said. "But it's also vulnerable for big plays."

Said NU center Dominic Raiola of the Cal defense: "I thought they were bunch of cream puffs up front. They brought nine guys up in the box, and that's what broke the big plays. If you look at the film, their guys are laying all over the ground."

Crouch scored again a few minutes later, lining up at split end, catching a short inside screen pass from Newcombe and weaving his way through the defense for the score. The play had been set up from last year's 24-3 win over California, and Solich said there was an opportunity for the play to break.

"In a game, I've never caught a pass before," Crouch said, including his time at Millard North High School. "Everybody was in the right place at the right time."

Aside from those big plays, Cal's defense gave up very little in the first half.

NU had 43 yards rushing. I-backs DeAngelo Evans and Dan Alexander were virtually nonexistent. But Crouch supplied enough juice for Nebraska to be comfortably ahead. He was 2-2 passing for 102 yards and had four touchdowns overall.

"I've found what my role is right now," Crouch said. "And I think it's good for me."

NU padded its lead in the second half with the aid of a Brian Shaw blocked punt and a Ralph Brown interception, which he returned to the Cal 4-yard line. Those turnovers led to 10 points.

Instead of progressing after the first quarter, the Bears' offense regressed in the second half, gaining only 33 yards. In the third quarter, Clemons gave way to true freshman Kyle Boller, who resorted to heaving the ball 40 yards down field to avoid oncoming rushes.

Nebraska also benefited from 14 California penalties, some of them personal fouls. Several times, the Bears didn't have the proper substitution methods or the required six men on the line of scrimmage, leading to more penalties. In all, Cal lost 110 yards in penalties and turned the ball over three times.

"They didn't get too many calls," said middle linebacker Carlos Polk, who had seven tackles and one sack. "As a defense, we try to go out there and cause mistakes - and we did."

For the game, Nebraska had 301 total yards - 242 less than last week, which Solich said was some cause for concern. The coach also deflected any questions to the ongoing quarterback controversy, which heated up again with Crouch's success and Newcombe's relatively slow start.

But, at this point, it's a win he will take. Even if, in some ways, the 45-point margin didn't necessarily fit the game on the field.

"It was a surprising game," Solich said. "Throughout the whole week, as we prepared, we thought it was going to be a lot closer game than it turned out to be score-wise.

"We did enough things to make it work. I think we contributed in all three areas."