Sports: Husker Football

NU's Win Over K-State Shows Its Balance of Power

by Ed Howard

November 10, 2001

LINCOLN - When coaches start to go through the "balanced game" aspect of their news conference repertoire it usually gives reporters a chance to take a break.

After all, when coaches say things like: "The offense needs to produce, but we need a reaaaal good effort from our defense, too. Some takeaways, some big plays. Of course, your special teams can kill you if you aren't on the ball, yada yada yada, yeah, yeah yeah "

Of course, a clich� has to earn its nomenclature. Often, a clich� is something that is so true that it's obvious, and you don't want to hear about it. Like how important a balanced effort can be in a football game.

Nebraska's offense scored two touchdowns Saturday against Kansas State. Quarterback Eric Crouch tallied on a 14-yard run in the second quarter, and I-Back Dahrran Diedrick scored on a two-yard run in the third quarter. KSU's offense scored three touchdowns. By itself, that would have added up to a K-State win, 21-14.

As it turned out, NU kept its unbeaten streak going with a 31-21 victory.

Free safety Willie Amos, from Sweetwater, Texas, snagged an Ell Roberson pass in the second period and returned it 20 yards for a Husker touchdown. So, put a TD in the Blackshirt defenders' column. It was one of two interceptions for Amos on the day.

And cornerback DeJuan Groce returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. Groce plays defense but put this touchdown in the special teams category. And Josh Brown booted a 28-yard field goal, another special teams score. That means the NU defense and special teams scored 15 points. Add the successful extra point tries (including one for two points, to compensate for a failed ET kick) and NU comes out on top, 31-21.

"I was in the right place at the right time," Amos said of his score. "It was a combination of technique and play calling by the coaches that allowed me to be in the right spot."

NU Coach Frank Solich was more generous toward Amos.

"It was obvious the interceptions were outstanding," he said. "He has the ability to cover the field and has got great speed. Willie had come off a hamstring injury that bothered him and kept him out of a few games -- but it was great to see him come back and have this kind of a game. This should give him a great deal of confidence."

Solich also got into the element of balance when he talked about the mood of the Huskers when they went into the locker room at halftime, down 14-13.

"I they think they were a little quieter than normal," he said. "They felt that they let a good lead slip away, and that's not generally how this team has been. Certainly the determination and the effort was there. We knew that if we just played good ball, we had shown the ability to move the ball . . . (We) had shown the ability to make plays on defense and make plays on special teams. If we were going to be a great football team, we needed to come out and do that in the second half. They were certainly challenged, and I think they responded very well."

The offense responded by opening the third period with a 77-yard drive; the one Diedrick completed with this TD run.

Solich gave a lot of credit to Crouch, and Crouch gave credit to his defensive teammates.

"You have to credit the defense for playing the way they did, and putting us into position to score and put points on the board," he said.

"It wasn't pretty, but that is part of football," Crouch said of the Husker victory. "You are going to get stopped once in a while, and you have to make adjustments. It's just part of the game. We did exactly that. We made our adjustments, came back in the second half and drove down the field and scored."

K-State Coach Bill Snyder also had some thoughts about balance -- and the lack of it.

"Nobody can just run the ball against Nebraska and beat them," he said. "I didn't come in here and expect to throw the ball 40 times and have the chance to beat them, either; but I thought you have to have some balance in your offense. To a certain degree, to take a little bit of pressure off the running game. I thought we could run the ball okay, and we ran the ball perhaps okay. We ran better than okay at times, but you just got to have some other facets to your game."