Hail Varsity Historical’s next subject is the 1998 Nebraska football season, game-by-game, the first for Frank Solich as head coach.
When Frank Solich ran onto the field before Nebraska’s 1998 opener against Louisiana Tech in the Nebraska Genuine Eddie Robinson Classic, it was “probably the fastest I’ve ever run,” he said.
He wanted to release at least some of the pressure of succeeding Tom Osborne as head coach.
“I feel relieved that we’ve got one down,” Solich said. “I don’t know what to tell you. It was difficult, but the players handled it tremendously well, and it made it easier for me to handle. I certainly tried to downplay the media attention on me, but it was a big moment for me.”
A sold-out Memorial Stadium crowd of 76,021 was on hand on the 90-degree afternoon in late August. “I just wanted to get that kickoff going. I was glad to run onto the field, in fact,” said Solich.
Nebraska received the opening kickoff and three plays from scrimmage scored on a 46-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bobby Newcombe to tight end Sheldon Jackson.
The Huskers would score on their five first-half possessions, the fourth a 99-yard kickoff return by Joe Walker to take a 35-6 halftime lead. But Louisiana Tech didn’t quit, tying Nebraska in second-half points with 21. You can do the math. Final score: Nebraska 56, Bulldogs 27.
Louisiana Tech quarterback Tim Rattay finished with eye-popping passing numbers, going 46-of-68 for 590 yards and four touchdowns, three of them to Troy Edwards, who caught 21 passes total for an NCAA record 405 yards. That’s right, 405 of the 590 yards.
“Who had 590 yards? I’ve not looked at the stats yet,” Solich said. “The only thing I was interested in was the win. That’s a tremendous amount of yards, but that’s the way it goes in a first game.”
Nebraska defensive tackle Jason Wiltz had the interception and Rattay took three sacks, once each by rush ends Kyle Vanden Bosch and Chad Kelsay and defensive tackle Loran Kaiser. Linebacker Eric Johnson led the Blackshirts with nine tackles, free safety Mike Brown with eight.
On the positive side for the defense, Louisiana Tech finished with a net of minus-21 yards rushing.
Nebraska ran 13 fewer plays than the Bulldogs, finishing with 462 yards of offense, including 289 rushing. I-back Correll Buckhalter carried 19 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
Newcombe, a sophomore who played wingback and returned kicks as a freshman on Osborne’s third national-title team, also scored two touchdowns before leaving the game late in the third quarter with a knee injury. Eric Crouch, a medical redshirt in 1997, replaced him..
Fullbacks Dan Alexander and Willie Miller scored the other touchdowns.
“It’s not an easy game to prepare for, but I thought the kids did a great job of handling all the fuss and attention that was given to them and this program leading up to this game,” said Solich, who was on Osborne’s staff for 19 seasons. “I thought it was a very good football game, especially in the first half in terms of well-played. The game got a little sloppy in the second half.”
Maybe for both teams, but “certainly that was for us,” he said.
He was 1-0 as Nebraska’s head coach.
“All in all, it was a win, and we are delighted by that,” Solich said.
The Huskers were preseason-ranked fourth in the Associated Press poll. The first Coaches poll would be released the next week.
