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.
Sophomore I-back Correll Buckhalter led the way with 133 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries in a 41-0 victory. Buckhalter got the start because DeAngelo Evans was dealing with a tailbone injury.
Seven games into the season, Buckhalter was the team’s leading rusher, with 74 carries for 477 yards (6.4 yards per attempt) and seven touchdowns.
In any case, by running the ball, Nebraska controlled time of possession 39:47 to 20:13 and finished with 88 plays from scrimmage, including the 79 runs. The Jayhawks ran 56 plays.
Husker center and co-captain Josh Heskew described it as “Nebraska football.”
“It was really good to see our linemen coming off the ball, see our backs running hard, see the receivers getting down the field (and blocking),” Coach Frank Solich said.
Nebraska attempted only nine passes, 5-of-8 by Bobby Newcombe, 0-for-1 by back-up Monte Christo, who carried seven times for 62 yards, third most on team.
“We’re capable of getting on people and getting people moved around up front,” said Solich. “I thought we stayed with blocks a bit longer. I thought the offensive line played very well.”
Heskew anchored a group that included guards Ben Gessford and James Sherman and tackles Jason Schwab and Adam Julch. Ten back-up linemen also saw action. Nebraska used 92 players.
When Kansas did have the ball, the Husker defense stifled it. The Jayhawks managed 220 total yards, including 99 rushing. Quarterback Zac Wegner completed 8-of-25 passes for 121 yards with one interception, by back-up rover Joe Walker, who also recovered a fumble. So did middle linebacker Jay Forman. Weak side linebacker Eric Johnson was the leading tackler with seven.
Twenty-six other Huskers had at least one tackle.
Buckhalter scored his first touchdown on a 32-yard run on the sixth play of Nebraska’s first possession, 4:15 into the game. Kris Brown added a 27-yard field for a 10-0 first quarter lead.
The Huskers drove to the Kansas 15-yard line on their first possession of the second quarter, a 14-play, 81-yard drive, but Buckhalter lost a fumble on third down. On its only other second-quarter possession, Nebraska drove to the Jayhawk 1, 72 yards on 11 plays. On fourth-and-goal, Newcombe fumbled and Kansas recovered, but a Jayhawk offside penalty nullified the play. Newcombe took advantage of the second chance and scored with 13 seconds left in the half.
Brown’s extra-point kick made the score 17-0.
Buckhalter scored twice in the third quarter, on runs of 6 and 3 yards. Brown kicked a 28-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, and reserve fullback Billy Legate ran 6 yards for the final touchdown.
Despite the domination, Solich said he didn’t think the victory would give the Huskers a “false sense of security” moving forward. They would move up one place in the AP rankings, to seventh.
“We played pretty well against Washington and then we struggle the next two weeks,” he said. “We’ve got to be hitting on all cylinders in the league. I think our team understands that. In some ways we’re improving on some things. But you don’t want to get to where you’re feeling comfortable.”
And for the record, Kansas went into the game with a 2-4 record.
“Given what had happened the previous two weeks, however, such intensity was welcome,” Solich said. “You kind of get a feel for how you team’s going to react by the way it practices.”
The Huskers practiced well leading up to the Kansas game.
I think everybody took it (the A&M loss), to some degree, personal,” said Solich.
