A solid offensive and defensive showing left the Nebraska football team with a happy coach and 42,018 fans with an exciting finish Saturday in the Red-White Game at Memorial Stadium. Despite completing just 3 of 16 passes before halftime, quarterback Scott Frost led the Red Team (No. 1 offense and No. 2 defense) to a pair of long first-half scoring drives and a 31-7 lead at the break. The White Team (No. 2 offense and No. 1 defense) stormed back in the second half but fell just short when a last-minute drive stalled, sealing the Red Team's 34-28 victory. "Overall I thought everybody tried hard," said NU Coach Tom Osborne, who watched the 49th annual Red-White Game from his traditional perch in the press box. "Scott Frost didn't complete a whole lot of passes, but he had most of them close and he was under a whole lot of heat." Frost finished the day 7 of 27 for 109 yards, and five NU quarterbacks completed just 16 of 47 passes. But Osborne left the final practice of his 25th spring as NU's head man pleased with the offensive and defensive improvement this month. "We shouldn't see a whole lot better people on both sides of the ball than we saw today," he said. "We were anxious to see how they reacted under those circumstances." Shevin Wiggins delighted the crowd less than three minutes into the game when he returned a Jesse Kosch punt 79 yards to put the White Team up 7-0. I-back Ahman Green -- who led all rushers with 96 yards on 12 attempts -- answered two plays later, taking a Frost pitch 67 yards down the east sideline. "I just blinked my eye and he was by us," rush end Grant Wistrom said of Green's run, which set up a 2-yard Frost dive that tied the game at seven. The Red Team moved ahead for good with 14:14 to play in the first half on an 11-play, 64-yard drive capped by a 5-yard Frost run. Quarterback Monte Christo then added a 4-yard touchdown run, and reserve fullback Jeremy Stanislav scored from six yards out midway through the second quarter. Kris Brown hit a 33-yard field goal in the last minute of the first half to give the Red Team a 31-7 lead. "I was really happy today compared to the first three scrimmages," Frost said. "We really took the challenge today and stepped and competed with the defense. "I think if you went back and looked at the tape of last year's spring game, this year would be a lot more impressive on both sides of the ball." The Red Team gained 252 yards in the first half and held the White Team to minus-1 yards in the first two quarters, but Frankie London and Dan Alexander ignited a third-quarter rally that nearly led the White Team back. The sophomore duo directed a 6-minute, 54-second, 16-play, 80-yard drive shortly after halftime. A 29-yard Alexander rumble through five defenders highlighted the possession, and the 6-foot-1, 240-pound speedster then scored on a 1-yard plunge. London completed a pass to Billy Haafke in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion to cut the Red Team's lead to 31-15. On the next White Team possession, London hit Travis Antholz for 23 yards, and Alexander scored from 27 yards out, chopping the lead to 31-21. London finished 4 of 6 for 46 yards, and Alexander carried the ball nine times for 89 yards and two touchdowns. After a 24-yard Brown field goal, reserve quarterback Jay Runty scored on a 1-yard run with 5:32 to play, but the White Team couldn't capitalize on its final possession, giving the ball up on downs near midfield with less than one minute remaining in the game. Grant Wistrom suffered a dislocation and compound fracture of his right pinky finger; Jay Foreman strained his knee; Kenny Cheatham suffered a hip pointer and Joel Makovicka sprained an ankle, but none of the injuries were considered serious. "I told them that this was going to be just like we're going out and playing Colorado, or just like we're playing Washington," Osborne said. "And it went about as well as I could have hoped."
Back to Sports page
