Mike Babcock is in his 47th season covering Nebraska football. Babcock also covered most other Husker sports at some point in his journalism career. Mike earned his undergraduate degree in English from Cal State-Chico and Masters in English (teacher preparation) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Babcock spent seven years teaching English and Introductory Literature at Parkland Community College. Mike wrote sports part-time at the Champaign-Urbana Courier as well as for Lincoln Journal and Star for 17 years for the sports department covering Nebraska as a sports columnist. Babcock then wrote for Huskers Illustrated before Hail Varsity and Hurrdat Sports.
Nebraska football took charge of the line of scrimmage against Kansas in mid-October of 1998, meeting the expectations of a night-time Memorial Stadium crowd of 76,174. After two games under 200 yards rushing, the Huskers ran for a season-high 466 yards on 79 carries....
Vincent Genatone spent the week leading up to the Michigan State game on the Nebraska football scout team. He “played Cam Edwards,” Coach Matt Rhule said following the 31-13 victory. Cam Edwards is Michigan State’s top running back, by far. But he didn’t play the...
Excuse the language, but there’s a reason for beginning with it in this Nebraska football preview. “I’m pissed. I’m pissed,” Michigan State Coach Pat Fitzgerald said following the Spartans’ 27-10 loss at Notre Dame Saturday. Fourth-ranked (now third) Notre Dame, it...
Frank Solich’s five-game winning streak to open his first season as Husker head coach ended, as did Nebraska football’s 19-game winning streak, as did its 40-game regular-season conference winning streak on Oct. 10, 1998. Texas A&M snapped the streaks, 28-21, in...
Anthony Colandrea — “Ant” to teammates — carried four times for 19 yards in Nebraska football’s 34-7 victory against North Dakota at Memorial Stadium Saturday night. He capped the game’s first series with a 10-yard touchdown run. But his first carry, on the fourth...
Let’s begin with a story I’ve told before, with good reason. When Tom Osborne got on the elevator to go to the coaching offices on the second floor of the South Stadium — now gone — he was met by three or four players, all but one veterans. He acknowledged each by...
Matt Rhule was extremely complimentary of Nebraska football’s next opponent, North Dakota, during his weekly news conference Monday. No surprise there. The same could be said of the Huskers’ first two opponents, Ohio and Bowling Green, and was beforehand. Still, “I...
With 5 seconds remaining and the ball inside the Huskers' 1-yard line, the No. 2 Nebraska football led Oklahoma State 24-17 in the 1998 Big 12 opener at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium. The Cowboys had the ball. “When the ball’s on the 1-inch line, you’ve got to get...
What to type? The keyboard is intimidating right now. Nebraska football’s 56-7 victory against Bowling Green at Memorial Stadium Saturday night was no surprise. So what insight can be offered here? Maybe Husker defensive back Donovan Jones’ metaphor for the third...