Two games. Two first-time starting quarterbacks. That’s how Frank Solich’s time as Nebraska football’s head coach began. Oh yes, and two wins.
Redshirt freshman Eric Crouch started the second game of the 1998 season at quarterback because sophomore Bobby Newcombe, the opening starter, was sidelined with a knee injury. Crouch responded by leading the Huskers to a 38-7 victory against Alabama-Birmingham at Memorial Stadium.
Crouch completed 11-of-17 passes for 127 yards and a 15-yard touchdown, to tight end Sheldon Jackson, and carried seven times for 69 yards and two touchdowns, the second late in the fourth quarter, accounting for 59 of the yards. Crouch returned after leaving midway through the third quarter because of cramping. That meant senior Monte Christo got an opportunity.
“We knew that Monte has been a guy who could run our offense very well,” Solich said.
Christo was 4-for-4 passing for 80 yards, the fourth a 63-yard touchdown to freshman tight end Tracey Wistrom with 2:19 remaining in the game. “We have had three quarterbacks thrown into the fire, and all three have responded,” said Solich. “It’s obvious we have some depth there.”
Crouch got the most attention on a warm, humid afternoon. Solich had “nothing but praise” for him.
Crouch’s touchdown pass to Jackson, early in the second quarter, was a signature moment. The Huskers faced fourth-and-1 at the UAB 15-yard line. Instead of sending in Kris Brown to kick a field goal or trying to grind out the yard for a first down, Solich opted to pass.
“I thought about the call and wanted to go forward with it,” he said. “It seemed like they were very strong up front. It was not a deal where you just count on getting 2 or 3 yards in short yardage. We had run an iso off that same action, but we had not used the pass.”
As for rushing, Nebraska ran the ball 43 times for 238 yards, led by sophomore I-back Correll Buckhalter, who carried 19 times for 96 yards.
Senior fullback Joel Makovicka scored the first touchdown on a 3-yard run.
Brown kicked a 27-yard field goal with 10:13 remaining in the game. That and the first three extra-point kicks gave him 313 career points, breaking the Husker record by Mike Rozier (1981-83), 312.
Brown had added two more extra-point kicks by game’s end.
After Nebraska took a 14-0 lead, UAB scored its lone touchdown. The Blazers finished with 210 yards of offense, the Huskers 444. Both teams ran 64 plays from scrimmage.
“We had a little bit of an advantage on them in that we had one game under our belt,” Solich said. “But I thought they executed well on both sides of the ball.”
Nebraska defeated Louisiana Tech in the Eddie Robinson Classic the week before.
Strong side linebacker Brian Shaw led the Huskers with 10 tackles. Free safety Mike Brown had eight. The Blackshirts had three quarterback sacks.
Nebraska went into Solich’s first season following a national championship in Tom Osborne’s final season, his third in the previous four seasons — considerable pressure, right? The Huskers went into the Alabama-Birmingham game ranked fourth nationally by the Associated Press, third in the Coaches Poll. Solich was asked if they were a top-five team given some injury issues, including Newcombe’s.
“I don’t know what happened to everybody else today. All I know is that our players have responded well to these two ball games,” said Solich. “We are 2-0 and I’m hoping that we have a good football team in terms of how people look at us … Where we should be ranked, I don’t know.
“We’ll know more after about four or five games.”
