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Cornhuskers rout Iowa State
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Cornhuskers rout Iowa State

By BLAIR KERKHOFF - The Kansas City Star
Date: 10/10/99 02:00

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Another Saturday, another week when public opinion should smile on Nebraska.

For the third straight week, the Cornhuskers devoured a Big 12 opponent. And for the third time in four weeks a team ranked ahead of them lost. The Cornhuskers beat Iowa State 49-14 on Saturday, while No. 3 Michigan lost earlier in the day to No. 11 Michigan State.

The victory allows fourth-ranked Nebraska to keep stride with Kansas State atop the Big 12 North standings, and should push the Cornhuskers, 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference, into the No. 3 spot in the polls that come out later today.

In the last three weeks, Nebraska has outscored three league opponents 127-38.

"We seem to be gathering some momentum," Huskers coach Frank Solich said.

Nebraska looked nothing like the team that struggled in beating Southern Mississippi and fought through player defections and threats a month ago. Since then, quarterback Eric Crouch has settled in, the I-backs are moving forward and the program seems to have found peace and prosperity.

Especially prosperity. Good things happened early and often for Nebraska against the Cyclones. The Cornhuskers scored the first two times they had the ball on a 7-yard run by Dan Alexander and a 47-yard pass from Crouch to Matt Davison.

Between those scores, the Cornhuskers squeezed in another touchdown when linebacker Randy Stella blocked a punt into the end zone and cornerback Ralph Brown scooped it up for the touchdown.

"Overall, this was probably our best day offensively," Crouch said. "We didn't have to run much option. We won with power football. These past three weeks our timing, consistency and unity are coming together. It seems like a lot of things are flowing for us."

The opening shots stood in sharp contrast to Iowa State's previous game. Two weeks earlier against Kansas State, the Cyclones took advantage of mistakes and forged a 21-point halftime lead. On Saturday, Iowa State trailed by 21 with 2 minutes left in the first quarter.

Iowa State's reclamation project hit a major snag. The Cyclones had won their first three games and played the Wildcats tough for a half. If they hadn't turned the corner on their non-competitive status, they at least seemed to be approaching the intersection.

But things were so bad for the Cyclones that coach Dan McCarney yanked starting quarterback Sage Rosenfels for Derrick Walker after two series and shuffled them the rest of the game.

"We came in knowing we'd rotate them," McCarney said. "Derrick had a great week of practice."

Tailback Darren Davis, who entered the game leading the nation in rushing with 176.7 yards per game, had only 42 yards in 16 carries early in the fourth quarter before his 35-yard touchdown run got Iowa State on the board.

Davis finished with 107 yards in 22 carries, and became the first player to surpass 100 yards against the Cornhuskers this season. Most came against Nebraska's reserves.

The Cyclones entered the game as the nation's top rushing team at 328.3 yards per game but were held to less than half of that at 146 yards.

"We're going to have to pick up the pieces and move forward," McCarney said. "We've played two top-10 teams in a row, and that's not an easy task for anybody, much less someone who is trying to turn a program around."

Perhaps most encouraging for Nebraska was the running of I-back Alexander. On the final play of the first half he rumbled 44 yards, and on the first play of the second half motored 54 yards. The second run set up Crouch's 24-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Newcombe.

Alexander finished with 135 yards, his first 100-yard game this season. Correll Buckhalter added 127 yards and Dahrran Diedrick picked up 99 yards, all in the second half.

To reach Blair Kerkhoff, college sports reporter for The Star, call (816) 234-4730 or send e-mail to bkerkhoff@kcstar.com


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