Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 37

NEBRASKA 56, LOUISIANA TECH 27 I rnadlo: KLIN 1400, KKAR 1290, KZFX 101.9, KFGE 98.1, KRNU 90.3 j' j. i st 4h r. Journal Star 1 Sunday August 30, 1998 Page design: Karl Vogel V-'-' NEXT SATURDAY NU vs. Alabama-Birmingham Kickoff: 12:30 p.m., Memorial Stadium 1 1 nrnwi nn Bulldogs' record-setting effort not enough to spoil opener BY KEN HAM BUTTON UfKdn Journal Star I 2v Hey, was that a cloud? i -i For much of the afternoon, it ed like a pure, blue sky over Memo-" rial Stadium for Frank Solich's first game as Nebraska head football coach. 'Well, maybe it was just a mirage In the blast furnace heat Saturday.

3 Solich's team was solid, even spec- tacular at times, in rolling to a 56-27 victory against Louisiana Tech Sat 3 urday before 76,021 fans baking in the sun for the first Eddie Robinson Classic. J' The defending national champion Cornhuskers, winners of 61 of their last 64 games and three national ti- ties in the last four years, frolicked to.a 35 lead in the first half. Sopho- 1 more quarterback Bobby New- combe was! sparkling in his debutlJ He bit tight end Sheldon Jackson on a 46-yard touchdown pass 48 seconds into the 1998 "Sheldon knew he better get open or I'd tuck the ball in and run up the middle," Newcombe said of the leg pass. Tit was a great way to start; I and it showed right away, we can pass." 4 Newcombe ran for two touch-, downs and completed all but one of 10 passes for 168 Even though the shadow of Tom Osborne, coach of the Cornhuskers- -the last 25 years, was nowhere near" Lincoln, his presence was obvious in the run-option first and pass second presentation by Solich in his play' calling debut1 1 Running behind a new offensive line, sophomore I-back Buckhalter and the slammerss -t 255-pound I-back Dan 240-pound fullback Joel Makovicka -Z and 230-pound Willie Miller NU pounded Louisiana Tech's defense; for 256 yards in the first half. i "We pushed them around and they were sagging on, their knees and' sucking in a lot of wind by the end of the second quarter," said Nebraska Solich on Hot day Osborne was nowhere to be found.

And you know what? It was OK. The Huskers won Saturday. And they won with Frank Solich as their head coach. AH along, Solich has said things Wouldn't be changing much with him in charge. Wrong.

I don't think Osborne ever raced (jut of the tunnel the way Solich came tearing out of there Saturday. The former Husker fullback looked like a running back again, carrying the hopes of a state. i- That might be the fastest I've hui in a long time;" Solich said. Jo call his first game as NUs head coach a masterpiece would be a bit of an overstatement, though it did have the look of a Picasso i-strangely appealing to the eye without all of the pieces in the right place, i Still, after 3V4 hours of dizzying offense, the Huskers came away with a 56-27 victory over Louisiana Tch and a 1-0 record. Shortly before kickoff, just after the final walk-through, NU's assistant coaches Came up to Solich one by one and offered their support There were handshakes and hugs all around.

"It was not as traumatic as the last game of Tom's career," secondary coach George Darlington said, "but it was certainly traumatic from the standpoint that we didn't want Frank to get off on a bad foot "The last thing you wanted to do was start off with a loss in his first gjsme." Receivers coach Ron Brown was bylSolich's side for much of the game and was extremely impressed with his leadership. ZI told him as we closed the game tEat I thought he did a great job. I really thought he had a great handle -on the game. He really seemed to be -iaa groove. His play-calling was very crisp, timely.

'Ji "I thought he called a great game and was very well-prepared." 1 Brown said everyone on the staff realized what kind of heat was on the new boss to succeed right from the start 1- "Here's a guy who's under tremendous pressure, filling some great shoes," Brown said. "I mean this was the biggest (opener) we've bad in 25 years; I thought he responded well to the pressure and futore on MABRY, Page SD JUr.lBERS of points needed by kicker Kris Brown to tie Hazier for Nil's scoring title with 312 poir.ts Cdsrterback Cctby pass ccistlosi percsstase 'ttuhtst jwf g3ven tp ll'J ta Troy Edwards, record fcr a cool i i -I r. V. More on NU, Page 6D 'iMf-i'IJiiMiV Louisiana Tech 0 6 15 6 27 Nebraska 14 21 7 14 56 -1 NU Sheldon Jackson 46 pass from Bobby Newcombe (Kris Brown kick) NU Newcombe 1 run (tC. Brown kick) NU Willie Miller 8 run (K.

Brown tT Sean Cangelosl pass from Tim? Rattay (kick failed) vvt NU Joe Walker 98 kickoff return 0C Brown kick) NU Newcombe 1 run (K. Brown kfck)n4 LT.t Troy Edwards 52 pass from RaWi tay (Cangetosi pass from Rattay) LT Edwards 94 pass from Rattay (Kevin Pond kick) i NU Dan Alexander 4 run (K. Brown NU I Corral Buckhalter 4 run ftCV Brown kick) CK LT Edwards. 80 pass from Rattavv I' J' Buck doesn't stop here: Nebraska I-back Correll Buckhalter (36) breaks through a tackle for more of his 143 rushing yards Saturday and r' 1 kk)U Bucker K-scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. 1 A 76,021.

Tech's 'Looney Times' offensive attack lives up to Edwards' pregame talk if with the individual attention he's receiving. He brought it about this week because of the confidence he has in his abilities. "I work hard in the summer, and I just don't think there's any DB out there who can hold me one-on-one," Edwards said "I know I'm going to have a big game if they cover me one-on-one." Most teams don't have the kind of athletes Darlington does to bother trying. And believe It or not Nebraska's Ralph Brown fared well most of the day against Edwards. But even Brown, a first-team All-Big 12 Conference cornerback, got beat on the 94-yarder that allowed Tech to pull to 35-21 with 7 :06 left in the third quarter.

Nebraska answered with a nine-play, 77-yard drive to go up by three touchdowns, and after Edwards had to take a 19-yard loss when his Mickey Mouse center snapped the ball over his head, the Cornhuskers went 42 yards for a TD that significantly lowered the Bnxiety More on McKEEVER, Poga 5D Curt appropriate considering the guy had said before the game the Huskers defensive backs hadn't seen anything like he and Rattay. "One thing I know about Troy, when he starts giving bulletin-board information, when Troy starts talking, that's when he plays his best," said Tech Coach Gary Crowton. "I'm always trying to calm him down." Let him talk, Coach. If this is the result every time, your kid's gonna have a Heisman Trophy to collect at the end of the season. "If we had won, I probably would have (flashed the Heisman pose)," said Edwards, who is uncomfortable Nebraska secondary coach George DarUngton was talking about Louisiana Tech's wide-open passing offense when he used the term "Daffy Duck formations." While Fox Sports Net might have had the rights for Saturday's Eddie Robinson Classic, this one was far i more suited for the Cartoon Network.

You know as in Looney Tunes. As Tweety Bird would say, "Bad ol' putty tat Bad." After playing like defending national champions should in the first half, Nebraska looked like Sylvester the Cat lazily trying to keep up with a couple of mice disguised as Techquarterback Tim Rattay and wide receiver Troy Edwards. The two preseason All-Americans cooked up a cajun feast in the second half, connecting 12 times for 308 yards and touchdowns of 52, 84 and 80 yards. At the conclusion, the 5-foot-10 Edwards walked off the field with more receptions (21) in one game than any Nebraska receiver managed all last season. His 405 yards were ao NCAA record Now you sea him Nebraska free safety Mike Brown (21) closes in on Louisiana Tech's record setting wide receiver Troy Edwards, who caught an NCAA-record 405 yards worth of passes Saturday.

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