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Published Sunday, April 15, 2001

Diedrick receives high praise

LINCOLN -- Dahrran Diedrick received some high praise from Eric Crouch following the Nebraska football team's Red-White intrasquad game Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

"He reminds me a lot of Ahman Green," Crouch said of the junior I-back. "The way he runs, low to the ground, his movement and his body build are very, very similar."

But, Crouch was quick to add, "It's one thing to compare him to someone. Dahrran's his own person. Obviously he's going to have to prove that. And he's done a good job so far."

Although his Spring Game numbers might not have reflected that -- he carried 18 times for 52 yards and scored the afternoon's first touchdown for the winning Red team -- Diedrick obviously did a good job of convincing running backs coach Dave Gillespie that he's the man for the job.

He went into the spring atop the depth chart, and emerged from the spring in the same spot.

"Did he make dramatic changes and improvements in the spring? No," said Gillespie. "Guys like him aren't going to make dramatic improvement. They're already very good. I think Dahrran did nothing this spring that didn't indicate he's ready to be the No. 1 guy and do a great job at it."

Gillespie expected no less from Diedrick, which is why in three previous Saturday scrimmages, Diedrick carried a combined 19 times, gaining 71 yards. "I just felt like I wanted to get something sorted out behind him, and I felt very comfortable with him," Gillespie said.

"I didn't feel as though I needed to get him a lot of reps."

The sorting out has involved Thunder Collins, DeAntae Grixby and Robin Miller, who played fullback in the fall. Collins was the Spring Game's leading rusher, gaining 55 yards on 13 carries, as well as catching a pass for 22 yards. Grixby gained 14 yards on four carries. And Miller gained 49 yards on 11 carries and scored the White team's lone touchdown, on an 8-yard run.

The I-backs' numbers weren't impressive, and neither was the offensive production overall. The teams combined for 426 yards, an average game for the Cornhuskers in the fall.

There were "really not a lot of big plays from the I-back spot in the scrimmage, and I think that attests, a little bit, to our defense and the kind of speed that maybe we have on the defensive end of it," said Coach Frank Solich. "I thought they (the I-backs) all played fairly well.

"They made the most of their opportunities."

Solich didn't seem to be overly concerned that Diedrick averaged only 2.9 yards-per-carry.

"That, at times, does not really come back to the ball-carrier," Solich said. "It comes back an awful lot to what's happening up front and what's happening with the receivers also.

"All in all, I thought it was a decent showing by the backs."

Diedrick, who broke one run for 15 yards, credited the defensive effort. "They were moving real fast out there," he said. "They were swarming on a lot of the pitch plays we had.

"There were a lot of guys around the ball, making the tackles."

The defense's familiarity with the offense, as well as the fact that Red team quarterback Jammal Lord wore a green pullover jersey, contributed to unimpressive offensive numbers.

With Lord wearing the green pullover, to warn defenders not to tackle him, and the concern that he get through the scrimmage healthy, he wasn't likely to keep the ball on options. As a result, defenders could "just automatically run right to the running back," said Diedrick.

Diedrick will go into the fall as the starter. But after him, the order remains unclear.

"I'd say no, it probably isn't really completely sorted out," Gillespie said.

Grixby, who finished last season ahead of Collins on the depth chart, "stayed very steady" while "Thunder and Robin really made some strides through the spring," said Gillespie.

The result was "a really competitive situation there."

And the situation will become even more competitive in the fall, with the arrival of scholarship freshman I-backs Cory Ross and Marques Simmons, both of whom will get a look.

"I think you've got to give anybody a look," Gillespie said.

Gillespie likes what he sees of Diedrick.

And so does Crouch, who watched the Spring Game from the Red team's sideline. "He's a big, strong kid, natural physique, runner," said Crouch.

"He has a lot of talent and just natural ability to catch balls, passes, pitches, better than we've done in the past. I think the timing with Dahrran is something that he and I have got to work on over the summer. But I worked with him a lot last year, so I don't feel like there's anything I've lost.

"I've just got to get back on track as far as timing goes. I expect a lot more passes out of the backfield, things of that nature to where the running backs will get the ball more in the passing game."

That's another ability Diedrick apparently shares with Green. Not only did Green rush for 1,877 yards in his final season at Nebraska in 1997, but he also tied for the team lead in pass receptions.

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