Husker Varsity Reports Today
Nebraska ranked No. 4 in coaches' pre-season poll
by Ed Howard
August 03, 2001
The Husker varsity reports for practice today, and the first ESPN/USA Today coaches poll has Nebraska ranked No. 4.
It’s still a hot, muggy day in August, and there’s no way it can rank up there with, say, the first “game day” of the football season. But it’s still pretty good.
This is also media day at Memorial Stadium. That means that news venues of all sorts - online, on paper and on the air - will be full of pictures and quotes and quotes and quotes from NU players and coaches. Fodder for lots of weekend coffee talk and brewsky blabber in cafés and taverns.
Coach Frank Solich is as optimistic, publicly, as a head coach dares to be at this time of year.
The freshmen have been working out and, already, there are some injuries. More on that later. First, there is that ESPN/USA Today poll.
The Florida Gators (10-3 last season) rolled up 25 first-place votes. Miami of Florida was ranked second, with defending national champion Oklahoma, Nebraska and Florida State following. The poll’s top-10 was rounded out with Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, Virginia Tech and Michigan. Everyone one of the team’s in the top 10, except Virginia Tech, received at least one first-lace vote.
The second 10: Kansas State, Oregon State, Georgia Tech, Washington, UCLA, Notre Dame, LSU, Clemson, Mississippi State and Northwestern. The final five: Ohio State, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Colorado State and Alabama.
The full poll is attached to this story.
Shortly before the poll was released, Solich responded to questions from reporters about his thoughts about the coming polls.
"We certainly want to be within striking distance," Solich said. "If you take care of what you're doing, you're going to work your way up and see what happens from there."
Last year Nebraska started its gridiron campaign as the pre-season No. 1.
Concerning those injuries to freshmen:
Freshman defensive tackle, Le Kevin Smith, will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee tomorrow to repair a previously existing condition. Fellow defensive lineman Seppo Evwaraye also missed practice due to fatigue, but was expected to practice Saturday.
"Le Kevin Smith will undergo surgery [Friday]," said Solich. "The feeling is that there might be a little bit of cartilage damage. Originally, he hurt it playing a pickup basketball game back home. Then he aggravated it in the weight room about a week before he came. He thought he was feeling good when he got here but actually on the very first practice, when he was stretching, felt it catch a little bit."
This is also the day when Solich will announce the status of linebacker Randy Stella, suspended from the team earlier for unspecified violations of team rules.
Good health is as important as good breaks when it comes to staying in the running for a national title.
With barely a handful of returning starters, the health of Husker quarterback Eric Crouch will be watched more closely in Huskerland than Vice President Cheney’s pacemaker. Tough as nails and faster than anyone would expect a quarterback to be, Crouch has taken a lot of lumps en route to this senior season in which he is touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate.
The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
2000 Previous
Team (First-place Votes) Record Points Rank
------------------------ ------ ------ ----
1. Florida Gators (25) 10-3 1,401 11
2. Miami-Florida Hurricanes (15) 11-1 1,349 2
3. Oklahoma Sooners (8) 13-0 1,314 1
t4. Nebraska Cornhuskers (6) 10-2 1,292 7
t4. Florida State Seminoles (1) 11-2 1,292 4
6. Texas Longhorns (2) 9-3 1,164 12
7. Tennessee Volunteers (1) 8-4 1,042 25
8. Oregon Ducks (1) 10-2 1,038 9
9. Virginia Tech Hokies 11-1 899 6
10. Michigan Wolverines (1) 10-3 856 10
11. Kansas State Wildcats 11-3 844 8
12. Oregon State Beavers 11-1 796 5
13. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 9-3 706 19
14. Washington Huskies 11-1 652 3
15. U-C-L-A Bruins 6-6 547 NR
16. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9-3 534 16
17. L-S-U Tigers 8-4 515 NR
18. Clemson Tigers 9-3 503 14
19. Mississippi State Bulldogs 8-4 481 22
20. Northwestern Wildcats 8-4 366 NR
21. Ohio State Buckeyes 8-4 259 NR
22. South Carolina Gamecocks 8-4 258 21
23. Wisconsin Badgers 9-4 204 24
24. Colorado State Rams 10-2 168 15
25. Alabama Crimson Tide 3-8 131 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Purdue 120, Georgia 109, Auburn 93, Colorado 92, East Carolina 59, Louisville 51, Texas A&M 47, Pittsburgh 42, Southern California 41, North Carolina State 39, Penn State 31, T-C-U 27, Stanford 26, Marshall 23, Southern Mississippi 19, Fresno State 15, Brigham Young 14, Nevada-Las Vegas 12, Michigan State 11, Minnesota 9, Illinois 8, Arkansas 7, Iowa State 7, Ole Miss 7, Toledo 7, Texas-El Paso 4, Texas Tech 3, West Virginia 3, Western Michigan 2, Air Force 1, Duke 1, North Carolina 1, Syracuse 1.
Florida returns 18 starters from last year's SEC championship team and plays two of its biggest games -- Tennessee and Florida State -- in Gainesville.
Miami, 11-1 last year, has 16 starters back, including quarterback Ken Dorsey, and a new coach in Larry Coker.
Oklahoma surprised most with a 13-0 season last year, but quarterback Josh Heupel is gone and will be replaced by Nate Hybl.
Nebraska has Crouch back and tough games against Oklahoma, Kansas State and Notre Dame at home.
Florida State has lost Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Chris Weinke and has just 10 starters returning.
Six SEC teams are in the pre-season poll, including Alabama, which went just 3-8 last season. The Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-10 each placed four teams in the poll.
Husker Varsity Reports Today
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