Section B · Page 14
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, August 16, 1999
Big 12 Football
'Huskers look to rebound from disappointing season
By Michael T. Rigg sportswriter@kansan.com Konsan sportswriter
The year was 1968
Richard Nixon was just elected to the White House, the Beatles were headed towards popularity, and, until last season, it was the last time the Nebraska football team suffered a four-loss season.
If you traveled further back in time, to 1961, you would find the last time that Nebraska finished a season with more than four losses.
So what will the Cornhuskers and coach Frank Solich do to avoid a blast from the past?
"I try not to dwell on the four
losses
Solich said.
"I to
dwell on the
things this
football
team did
well, like
having nine
victories
and having a chance to win them all. We lost to some great teams last year."
The 28-21 loss at Texas A&M that ended the Cornhuskers' 26-game winning streak and a 40-30 loss at Kansas State that effectively ended on a controversial no-call on an obvious face mask penalty.
The close and controversial losses made Solich quick to defend his team's effort last season.
"It was an enjoyable season," he said. "The reason for that was the attitude of our players and the work ethic they showed throughout the course of the season, especially given the hand they were dealt. We had a lot of injuries and were forced to
CORNHUSKERS QUICK FACTS
1998 Record: 9-4, lost to Arizona in Holiday Bowl.
**Coach:** Frank Solich (2nd season)
Coach Frank Solich (2nd season)
Key Lays FB Joel Wakamicka. C
Jay Lassies: BF Joi Makovicka, C
Josh Heskew, PK Krit Brown, TE
Josh Heskey, PK Kris Brown, TE
Sheldon Jackson, DE Chad Kelsay
Key newborns are baby Newcombe, QB Eric Crouch, RB
DeAngelo Evans, RB Correll
Buckhalter, DB Mike Brown, DB
Ralph Brown, LB Eric Johnson
Outlook: It's been 31 years since the Cornhuskers last had back-to-back four loss campaigns. With so much returning talent, don't expect Nebraska to repeat last season.
play three quarterbacks. They also had to go through a coaching change. I feel good about how they responded."
Solich continues to defend his team and compares the 1998 'Huskers to past Nebraska teams.
"Nebraska has had some great teams in the past, but some of those things that happened to us last year didn't happen to them," he said. "I don't see it as trying to prove anything, we just need to go out and play good football."
Playing good football should come naturally to a team that returns 20 starters from last season's team, including preseason All-Big 12 Conference defensive back Mike Brown, quarterbacks Bobby Newcombe and Eric Crouch, and running back DeAngelo Evans. The number of returning players, coupled with Nebraska's ability to bounce back from off years, has expectations soaring in Lincoln. Those expectations are just fine with Brown.
"We worked so hard last year, but I was disappointed with the record," Brown said. "I think we're going to come on strong this season. We're going to come back and show everyone in the country we're the same Nebraska team."
The strength of the this year's team lies on the defensive side
of the ball. Along with Mike Brown, another Brown, Ralph Brown, joins him in the defensive backfield that many outsiders call the best in the nation. Nebraska also returns 1998 Academic All-America linebacker Brian Shaw and linebacker Eric Johnson to a unit that finished seventh in the Big 12 in 1998.
While the defense should be the least of the Cornhuskers' concerns this season, the offense is a different story. Nebraska enters the season with an unsettled quarterback situation. Solich hasn't said whether Crouch or Newcombe will be the starter, plus an injury-prone Evans and an inexperienced offensive line.
Offensive lapses were blamed for last season's Texas A&M loss and the 20-16 home loss to Texas.
"I think we'll be a better offensive team overall this season because of the game experience we gained last year," Solich said. "Certainly, the offensive line was an area of inexperience last year, and it showed at times. We did, however, move the ball well enough to score points in nine games last season. It was not like they fell off the end of the earth."
Hopefully for Solich, Nebraska football hasn't either.
- Edited by Melody Ard
Tigers fill gaps left by seniors hope to repeat bowl victory
By Michael T. Rigg
sportswriter@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
By Michael T. Riaa
The cover of the 1999 Missouri football media guide proclaims, "It's a great time to be a Tiger."
Unfortunately for Missouri, it may not be the best time to be a Tiger fan.
The Tigers must replace quarterback Corby Jones, running back Devin West and nine other starters from last season's 8-4 team, and their best players for 1999 are both linemen.
The kicking game, a glaring weakness for Missouri in 1998 which helped cost the Tigers three victories, remains unchanged.
To keep up with the changing times, the Tigers' stadium,
Far out
Field, will
be a construction
zone all
season
while
Missouri
adds a new
press box.
"This year is a big challenge after coming off two winning seasons and a bowl victory," coach Larry Smith said. "We lost two great players in Devin West and Corby Jones, but that is a part of college football."
TIGERS QUICK FACTS
On the bright side, the Tigers return arguably the top receiver corps in the Big 12 Conference. But there may not be anyone who can get them the ball. Missouri will use an inexperienced two-quarter-back system to replace Jones. Sophomore Jim Dougherty
1998 Record: 8-4, beat West Virginia in Insight.com Bowl
Coach: Larry Smith (6th season)
Kay Lessee: OB Cody: Jones, PB
Key Losses: GB Corby Jones,RB Devin West, OT Chris Meredith,OT Todd Neimeyer, DB Harold Pinsey
Key Returnees: WR Kent Layman, C Rob Riti, DE Justin Smith, CB Carlos Posey
Outlook: A weak non-conference schedule will help the Tigers' inexperience, but replacing Corby Jones and Devin West is no easy task.
and redshirt freshman Kirk Farmer will share the position.
Smith's team also will sport a two-headed monster at tailback to replace West with senior DeVaughn Black and sophomore Zain Gilmore to split the workload. Smith said this platooning system wouldn't be a problem for the Tigers in 1999.
"We plan on going with a two-quarterback system. We don't have a No.1 and a No.2 guy, right now it is 1A and 1B," Smith said. "We'll also go with a tailback tandem to replace West. They are both good backs who are very similar and fit into what we want to do offensively."
Missouri has the Big 12's easiest non-conference schedule with games against University of Alabama-Birmingham, Western Michigan and Memphis, which should help the inexperienced team.
Although the backfield remains unsettled, the line remains a point of offensive strength. Preseason All-Big 12
center Rob Riti will be the centerpiece of a line that will be relied on more than ever in the upcoming season. Riti said all the off-season changes didn't mean changes in Missouri's run-oriented offense.
"I don't see the personality of our offense changing," Rifi said. "We're a run-oriented team, but we we're going to find a little more balance. We have some good receivers that don't get the credit they deserve and a pair of young quarterbacks that can throw the ball for us. So I don't see things changing, just some more balance."
Balance is lacking on defense, as the Tigers' front seven tip the action towards the line of scrimmage. Sophomores Justin Smith, last season's Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year, and nose tackle Jeff Marriott, Insight.com Bowl defensive MVP, return for their second season. The only upperclassman returning is senior cornerback Carlos Posey, whose experience will be relied on heavily to shore up a backfield that will boast four new starters, including a sophomore and a redshirt freshman.
"We've got a solid defense and an offense that has a lot of young talent," Posey said. "The defense just needs to keep doing what we've been doing over the past couple of seasons in order to be successful."
In the Big 12, however, success starts with experience. And Missouri may not have enough of that to make it a great time for the Tigers.
—Edited by Darrin Peschka
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