Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 42

Lincoln Journal Star Saturday, November 24, 2001 down the Game IDELINE 1 TWT No hot dogging necessary Not that Colorado's receivers needed the help, but CU was without possibly one of its best against Nebraska. Jeremy Bloom, a freshman whom Coach Gary Bamett said would be one of the Buffaloes' top three at the position, left Friday for France, where he is4rying to make the United States Olympic freestyle ski team. Bloom decided to sit out this year to chase his dream with no regrets while his teammates shocked the nation and claimed the Big 12 North Division title. pumping again in a nine-play, 93-yard drive that Brown capped with a 1-yard burst giving the Buffs a 49-30 lead with 1250 remaining in the game, Pesavento scrambled for 22 yards to spark the drive, and Brown added runs of 12 and 15 yards. Nebraska helped Colorado's cause with two pass-interference penalties, the first occurring on a third-and-8 play from the Huskers' 39.

With the scoring drive, Colorado was back in control Although Nebraska kept coming, trying valiantly to rally, the Buffs held firm down the stretch In the postgame press conference, Crouch and Co. tried to explain the unexplainable. Colorado, a team that rushed for a measly 170 yards in a 22-19 win against Oklahoma State only a month ago, had just ripped through Nebraska's vaunted Blackshirt defense. The Buffs scored 62 points. Yes, 62.

"It's a really big shock," Crouch said. "It's tough to talk about, because it never happens to us. They did it to us physically, by running the football." Brown finished it with runs of 15 and 12 yards. Nebraska defensive tackle Jeremy Slechta said Colorado did nothing scheme-wise to confuse the Huskers. The Buffaloes simply overpowered NU in the trenches.

They played great and we played like crap," Slechta said flat out beat us." Slechta spoke in soft tones. "It's a terrible feeling, knowing we played well for 11 games, and teams weren't scoring on us and then they put 62 up on us." Nebraska scored 20 second-quarter points to close to 42-23 at halftime. Colorado's point total at the break was the most the Huskers have ever allowed in the first half. After forcing Colorado to punt to start the second half, Nebraska drove 71 yards to the Colorado 1. As Diedrick tried to dive into the end zone, CU defensive back Donald Strickland hit him head-on, and Diedrick fumbled away the balL Time was of the essence, so the mistake was costly.

Nebraska, though, creeped within striking distance at 42-30 on Crouch's 7-yard TD run with 4:17 left in the third quarter. Colorado, though, got its ground attack on tailback Bobby Purifys 39-yard TD sprint Pesavento, starting for the third time in place of injured sophomore Craig Ochs, completed a 26-yard pass to Matt Brunson on third-and-7 to set up the score, Nebraska I-back Dahrran Diedrick then lost a fumble, and Pesavento lofted a 21 -yard touchdown pass to tight end Daniel Graham on the next play to give Colorado a 14-0 lead just 2:43 into the game. On a fourth-and-1 play, Crouch slipped on the grass for no gain, Pesavento then dumped a short pass to Graham, and he shook off safety Dion Booker's tackle attempt and rumbled 49 yards to the Nebraska 1-yard line. Two plays later, Pesavento sneaked into the end zone. With 52 minutes left in the first quarter, Colorado had three touchdowns before Nebraska even had a first down.

Soon it became evident that Colorado could batter Nebraska with its running game. The Buffaloes stormed 80 yards in five plays to go up 28-3 with 1:50 left in the first quarter. Purify, who finished with 154 rushing yards, started the march with a 44-yard run, and Continued From IF Crouch, whose Heisman Trophy hopes took a hit "We had huge hopes. But those are over. Now you move on.

It's tough. It'll take awhile to wear off." "The bottom line is, we had our chance, and we didn't get it done today," Nebraska Coach Frank So-lich said Colorado bolted to a 35-3 lead, then watched Nebraska close to 42-30 late in the third quarter. But Brown, who had no carries in the Buffs' previous game, followed with touchdown runs of 1, 13 and 8 yards to put away the Huskers. The last two TDs followed Crouch interceptions. Nebraska finished with 552 yards, including 354 on the ground.

Crouch rushed for 162 yards and two TDs, but the Huskers hurt themselves with two costly fumbles and a few critical penalties. "Not everything went wrong," Solich said. "But there were a bunch of things that went wrong." Colorado broke quickly from the gate, scoring on its first possession statistical TEAM STATISTICS INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS NEBRASKA Crouch joins elite QB list Nebraska senior Eric Crouch became the 13th quarterback in NCAA Division A history to both rush and pass for 1,000 yards in a season. With 162 yards rushing and 198 yards passing in Friday's loss to Colorado, Crouch now has 1,115 rushing yards and 1,510 passing yards this season. Crouch is the second Husker to accomplish the feat, joining Scott Frost, who in 1997 rushed for 1,095 yards and passed for 1,237.

MOVING FORWARD: Crouch, named the Huskers' player of the game by ABC-TV, said he anticipated no problem staying motivated despite the loss. "To tell you the truth, I'm going to enjoy every step I take," he said. "I have a month left in the program, and I'm going to enjdy it. I'm going to try to help this team rally. I'm going to believe in myself and the coaches that we can finish this thing out right" DAVIS' RECORD: With five kickoff returns for 158 yards, including a career-best 74-yard burst, NU sophomore Josh Davis set the school's single-season record for kickoff return yards.

Davis, the son of former Husker running back Tony Davis, now has 25 returns for 675 yards, easily passing Tyrone Hughes' 11-year-old record of 523 yards. Davis' long return led to a field goal. His previous career-long return was 43 yards against Notre Dame. Davis also broke the school record for kickoff returns in a season, surpassing Dana Brinson's 23 in 1988. NOW With its Big 12 and national championship hopes dashed, Nebraska must regroup.

No problem, Tracey Wistrom said. "Now we're playing for the love of football. Whatever bowl game we play in now, we'll be ready for it." HOLIDAY TALK: Holiday Bowl representative Bob Shumake said the Huskers would be a great guest for their game in San Diego, "Great fans, Super fans," Shumake said. "We ran into so many of them at the hotels here in Boulder, And we can honestly say this because we keep improving every year, our hospitality. We'll show them a better time this time than we had last time.

I know this is a terrible, terrible unexpected happening here today, but we can end the year on a happy note with them." LARSON HAS BIG GAME: One of the few bright spots for Nebraska was the punting of senior Kyle Larson. He hit four punts for an average of 45 yards. Deep snapper John Garrison, who struggled in the win against Kansas State two weeks ago. also handled his job without a problem. "As far as the punt team goes.

Garrison did a tremendous job of snapping here tonight, and the guys did a great job of getting down there and covering the punts," Larson said. Larson said the Rocky Mountain air did help. "I can tell the difference," he said. "Just yesterday, when we were going through our walk-through, you can definitely tell the difference in the flight of the ball. It goes a little bit farther.

It was an enjoyable atmosphere to be in." RECEIVING MARKS: Wlson Thomas' 78-yard reception was the longest non-scoring pass play in school history. Thomas had three receptions for a career-high 109 yards, the only lOOyard receiving game by a Husker this season. Wistrom had two catches for 33 yards. He has 58 career receptions, just three behind NU career tight-end leader Jerry List, who had 61 dunng 1970-72. Steven M.

Sippte and John Mabry Wilson 3 109 36.3 78 0 Tracey Wistrom 2 33 16.5 24 0 TACKLES Player UTATTT Sack Willie Amos i 6 3 9 00 Mark ,5 3 8 00 Dion, 5 3 8 00 Casey 4 3 7 00 Scott Shanle 3 3 6 00 Chris Kelsay 3 3 6 00. Ryon Bingham 2 '3 .5. ..00., KeyuoCraver 3 14 00 Jamie Burrow 2 2 4 00 Jeremy Slechta 2 2 4 00 Justin 2 2 4 00 DeJuan 3 0 3 00 Manaia Brown 0 3 3 00 NU CU FIRST 21 25 13 15 Passing 8 7 Penalty 0 3 TOTAL 552 582 Total 77 68 Average per 7.2 8.6 RUSHING YARDS 354 380 49 52. Yards gained 364 391 Yards 10 11 Average per rush 7.2 7.3 Touchdowns 5 8 PASSING YARDS 198 202 13-28 9-16 Had intercepted 2 0 Touchdowns 0 1 Average per 7.1 12.6 Average per comp. ,15.2 22.4 PUNTING 45.0 40.0 Punts-yards 4-180 6-240 Had blocked 0 0 PUNT RETURN 8.0 11.0 1-8 1-11 0 0 KICKOFF RETURN 31.6 17.5 5-158 2-35 0 0 2-2 1-0 TOTAL TURNOVERS 4 0 3RDO0WN CONV 5-15 6-13 Percentage .333 .462.

4TH-D0WN CONV, 1-2 1-1 Percentage .500 1.000 PENALTIES-YARDS 880 9-75 SACKS BY-YARDS 00 00 TIME OF POSSESSION 29:39 30:21 PatRicketts 1 1 2 00 Erwin Swiney 1 1 2 00 J.P. Wichmann 0 2 2 00 T.j. 1 0 1 00 Barrett Ruud 1 0 1,00 Ira Cooper 0 1 1 00 Jon 1, 0 1 00 Demoine 10 1 00 PUNTING Player No. Yds Avg. Lg Kyle Larson 4 180 45.0 56 PUNT RETURNS Player No.

Yds Avg. Lg TD DeJuan Groce 1 8 8.0 8 0 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Yds Avg. Lg TD Josh Davis. 5 158 31.6 74 0 Roderick Speed 2 0 2 00 Matt 1 1 2 00 Terence Wood 10 1 00 INTERCEPTION RETURNS Player No.

Yds TD Michael Lewis 1 26 0 Joey Johnson 1 10 0 PUNTING Player No. Yds Avg. Lg Mark Mariscal 5 208 41.6 52 Jeremy Rores 1 32 32.0 32 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Yds Avg. Lg TD Roman Hollowell 1 1111.0 11 0 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No.

Yds Avg. Lg TD Roman Hollowell 2 35 17.5 21 0 RUSHING Player No. Yds Avg. Lg TD Enc Crouch 18 162 9.0 70 2 Dahrran Diedrick 19 94 5.9 32 2 Thunder 11 61 5.5 22 0 Steve Kriewald 1 24 24.0 24 1 Judd Davies 2 9 4.5 5 0 Wilson Thomas 1 4 4.0 4 0 PASSING Player C-A-l Yds Lg TD Eric 13-28-2 198 78 0 RECEIVING Player No. Yds Avg.

Lg TD John Gibson 4 37 9.3 11 0 Thunder Collins 4 19 4.8 9 0 COLORADO RUSHING Player No. Yds Avg. Lg TD Chns 24 198 8.3 36 6 Bobby Purify 20 154 7.7 44 1 Bobby Pesavento 3 22 7.3 22 1 Marcus Houston 2 4 2.0 5 0 Cortlen Johnson .1 3 3.0 3 0 Brandon 1 0 0.0 0 0 1 -1 -1 0 PASSING Player C-A-l Yds Lg TD Bobby Pesavento 9160 202 49 1 RECEIVING Player No. Yds Avg. Lg TD Daniel Graham 4 112 28.0 49 1 Derek McCoy 1 34 34.0 34 0 Matt Brunson 1 26 26.0 26 0 Roman Hollowell 1 13 13.0 13 0 Gedric Cormier 1 10 10.0 10 0 Cortlen Johnson 1 7 7.0 7 0 TACKLES Player UTATTT Sack Michael Lewis 7 4 11 00 Sean Tufts .7 4 11 .00 Drew 4 6 10 00 Donald 5 .4 9 00 Joey Johnson 3 5 8 00 Robbie Robinson 5.

1 6 00 Justin Bannan 4 2 6 00 Tyler 4 2 6 00 DeAndre Ruellen 3 2 5 00 Aaron Killion 3 1 4 00 Medford Moorer 3 0 3 00 Marques Harris 2 1 3 00 pj COLORADO 42, NU 16 Chris Brown 36 run Time left: 3:19. Drive: 71 yards in 7 plays. Other key plays: Bobby Purify 3 run, Roman Hollowell 13 pass from Bobby Pesavento to CU 44 on 3rdano8, Daniel Graham 19 pass from Pesavento to NU 36 on 3rand-9. Conversion: Jeremy Rores kick. COLORADO 42, NU 23 Dahrran Diedrick 2 run Time left: 2:53.

Drive: 80 yards in 2 plays, Other play: Wilson Thomas 78 pass from Eric Crouch. Conversion: Josh Brown kick. THIRD QUARTER COLORADO 42. NU 30 Eric Crouch 6 run Time left: 4:17. Drive: 39 yards in 7 plays.

Other key plays: Thunder1 Collins 13 run, Judd Davies 4 run, Thunder Collins 3, 2 runs, Crouch 2 run to CU 6 on 4tland-l. Conversion: JOsh Brown kick. SCORING SUMMARY FIRST QUARTER COLORADO 7, NU 0 Bobby Purify 39 run Time left: 12:17. Drive: 68 yards in 4 plays. Other key plays: Cortlen Johnson 3 run, Matt Brunson 26 pass from Bobby Pesavento.

Conversion: Jeremy Rores kick. COLORADO 14, NU 0 Daniel Graham 21 pass from Bobby Pesavento Time left: 11:47. Drive: 21 yards in 1 play. Set up by Drew Wahlroos recovery of Dahrran Diedrick fumble. Conversion: Jeremy Rores kick.

COLORADO 21, NU 0 Bobby Pesavento 1 run Time left: 5:35 Drive: 50 yards in 3 plays. Other key plays: Daniel Graham 49 pass from Pesavento. Conversion: Jeremy Rores kick. COLORADO 21, NU 3 Josh Brown 27 field goal Time left: 3:23. Drive: 14 yards in 6 plays.

Set up by Josh Davis' 74 kickoff return to CU 25. Other key plays: Dahrran Diedrick 11 run. COLORADO 28, NU 3 Chris Brown 12 run Time left: 1:50. Drive: 80 yards in 5 plays. Other key plays: Bobby Purify 44 run, Chris Brown 2, 15 runs.

Conversion: Jeremy Rores kick. SECOND QUARTER COLORADO 35, NU 3 Chris Brown 1 run Time left: 12:21. Drive: 80 yards in 5 plays. Other key plays: Bobby Purify 5 run, Daniel Graham 23 pass from Bobby Pesavento, Purify 17 run, Derek McCoy 30 pass from Pesavento. Conversion: Jeremy Rores kick.

COLORADO 35, NU 10 Steve Kriewald 24 run Time left: 9:37. Drive: 80 yards in 6 plays. Other key plays: Wilson Thomas 25 pass from Eric Crouch to NU 49 on 3rd-and6, Tracey Wistrom 24 pass from Crouch, Dahrran Diedrick 3 run. Conversion: Josh Brown kick. COLORADO 35, NU 16 Dahrran Diedrick 32 run Time left: 5:56.

Drive: 58 yards in 5 plays. Other key plays: Eric Crouch 15 run, Wilson Thomas 6 pass from Eric Crouch to CU 32 on 3rctend-5. Conversion: kick failed. FOURTH QUARTER TED KIRKLincoln Journal Star As their signs may attest, perhaps the Colorado fans really did know something about the outcome of Friday's game. Buffaloes going back to Dallas Dunng Big 12 Media Days last July, CU Coach Gary Bamett took safety Michael Lewis and offensive lineman Andre Gurode to tour Texas Stadium, the site of next Saturday's Big 12 Championship game.

The Buffaloes ended up making a ceramic model of the stadium and each team CU beat got its logo pasted on the makeshift trophy. Bamett predicted his team would be back to Dallas to play as the Big 12 North champion. "Fortunately, I don't have to eat those words," he said. TOUGH TIGHT END: Colorado's Daniel Graham caught four passes for 112 yards and one touchdown Friday. Graham's first reception came with 11:47 left in the first quarter on a 21-yard TD, giving CU a 140 lead.

Graham nearly scored again two possessions later, hauling in a 49yard catch that set up Bobby Pesavento's 1-yard run two plays later. Colorado went on to score on all four drives during which Graham caught a pass. Graham's 731 yards is a CU single-season record, while his 50 receptions are one short of tying the record, which he can break in the Big 12 title game. DOWN GOES NO. 1: The win marked the first time Colorado has ever defeated a No.

1-ranked team, which Nebraska was in the BCS standings. WHO Colorado killed itself early with penalties and ended up with nine for 75 yards. "If we didn't hurt ourselves with penalties, who knows what the score would have been," Pesavento said. Two consecutive penalties, which included a holding call that nullified a 78-yard TD run by Bobby Purify, led to Colorado punting on its third possession. CU scored on four of its next six drives in the first half, and consequently, those four were penalty-free.

AMAZING TURNAROUND: Colorado, just 3-8 last year, is not only playing for its first Big 12 championship, but also the right to go to a BCS bowl, which looked miles away last season. "It's an amazing turnaround," Pesavento said. "We knew as soon as this game was over last year, thiSTear would be different." Joshua Buechler COLORADO 49, NU 30 Chris Brown 1 run Time left: 12:50. Drive: 93 yards in 9 plays. Other key plays: Bobby Pesavento 22 run, Chris Brown 12 run, Bobby Purify 18 run, Brown 2 run, NU 15 pass interference penalty to NU 24, Brown 15 run, Purify 4 run, NU 2 holding penalty to NU 2, Brown 1 run.

Conversion: Jeremy Rores kick. COLORADO 55, NU 30 Chris Brown 13 run Time left: 11:33. Set up by Michael Lewis 26 interception return to NU 8. Drive: 8 yards in 1 play. Other play: CU 5 false start penalty.

Conversion: pass failed. COLORADO 62, NU 30 Chris Brown 8 run Time left: 9:41. Drive: 17 yards in 2 plays. Set up by Joey Johnson 10 interception return to NU 32 and NU 15 personal foul penalty. Other play: Chris Brown 9 run.

Conversion: Jeremy Rores kick. COLORADO 62, NU 36 Eric Crouch 7 run Time left: 7:14 Drive: 89 yards in 5 plays. Other key play: Eric Crouch 70 run to CU 10. Conversion: run failed. Colorado offensive tackle Victor Rogers was surprised by Saturday's 'game, more by the margin but not by the outcome: "This is Ske the biggest paycff we've ever had here.

I cant tel you how good this feels. We expected it," Rogers said. "Wei, not the score. But everybody on this team befeved we could win. Everybody." BY TOE NUMBERS 260.4 Average yards of total offense allowed by the NU defense through first 11 games.

CU had 415 in the first half. 62 Colorado's points, most scored by a Husker opponent Previous record set by Minnesota in 61-7 victory in 1945. 1988 The last time a Husker opponent scored at least 28 points In the first quarter. UCLA beat Nebraska 41-28 in Pasadena, Calif. 30 Points allowed by the NU defense in the first quarter of the first 11 games of the season before CU scored 28 Friday.

3:32 Total minutes and seconds of possession for Colorado on its four first-quarter scoring drives, a total of 13 plays for 219 yards. Vm OSJl.