Lubbock,Texas -- The No. 1/1 (AP/Coaches) Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the Red Raiders 56-3 in
Big 12 action Saturday.The real Huskers finally showed up for this match up and put the wood
to Tech from the start.Nebraska has won each of the last six  contests with Texas Tech,
including 3 Big 12 Conference contests, winning 24-10 in Lubbock in 1996, 29-0 in Lincoln in 1997,
and 56-3 in Lubbock in 2000.Nebraska finished with 442 yards rushing and 98 passing against a
defense rated 2nd against  the run and tops in scoring defense in the nation.The difference was a
much faster start,with the line firing off the ball from the start of the game, Texas Tech was left
wondering if they had prepared for the wrong team.The offense put up huge numbers in this game
but the stars of this game were on the other side of the ball.The blackshirts held Tech to 19 yards
rushing and 200 total offensive yards.
    After all the hoopla about the Red Raiders Pro-spread run and gun offense ,and the test they would
provide the  Huskers,one had to wonder how dominate can these Blackshirts become.They also came
out of the gate at full speed intercepting the ball on Techs first two possesions,with Walker returning the
second one for a touchdown and a 7-0 Nebraska lead.Nebraska headed to the locker room with a 28-0
lead and the game well in hand.Knowing you can't let up against anyone as learned during the Colorado
game a year ago Nebraska picked up where they left of in the second half.Under the direction of Crouch
and his replacement Jamel Lord the big red scored on thier first five possesions or the second half.The
reserves were inserted early in this one and many gained valuable game experience.
      Buckhalter and Alexander both rushed for over 100 yard's,and Crouch finished with 56.Not heisman
numbers but he had to like getting some help on offense and not having to subject his body to the vicious
pounding he has sustained in past weeks.All in all 7 Husker's found the end zone including back up's Lord
,Buckhalter,Diedrick,and Gibson. Also one should mention Kyle VandenBosch played excellent and is
fast becoming a viable force that teams must recon with or feel his wrath,and that is no pretty site.Will the
real Big Red please stand up? They did in a big way Saturday,playing with an intensity unseen previously
this season,finall looking like the Number One team in the country.Nebraska most likely will recieve every #1
vote in both polls this week or my name is not Hector Mc Farland the 3rd....................(It's Not)
What they said before the game:
TECH SMOTHERING FOES: Texas Tech ranks second nationally in total defense (232.5 yards per game) and is allowing just 9.8 points per game to rank fourth nationally. That's come against six teams that are a combined 10-23. Last week's 28-0 win against Baylor was Tech's first-ever shutout of a Big 12 opponent. Earlier in the year, the Red Raiders blanked Louisiana-Lafayette 26-0 for their first shutout at home since 1983. "I think they've really played well over there. The biggest thing is energy and enthusiasm in running to the ball," Tech Coach Mike Leach said. "I think it definitely boosts the offense and the whole team to get turnovers (and) stops. The other thing, I think it really helps the tempo of the game." Tech's opponents have run an average of 60 offensive plays per game, 17 fewer than the Red Raiders. "They've always played pretty good defense around here," said Leach, whose unique passing offense receives far more publicity, "and I think Greg McMackin's the best defensive coordinator in the country." ** QB ON ROLL: Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury completed 33 of 50 passes against Baylor, including a school-record 14 straight in the first half. That tied the Big 12 mark set by Colorado's Koy Detmer. Kingsbury also rushed for a career-best 42 yards, which pushed his season total back to positive yardage at 16 on 34 carries.

SCORING SUMMARY

                 1  2  3  4   F 
                 -  -  -  -  -- 
Nebraska        14 14  7 21  56 
Texas Tech       0  0  3  0   3 

Individual Scoring
Nebr - J Walker 19 interception return
   (Brown kick)
Nebr - Crouch 3 run (Brown kick)
Nebr - Gibson 8 pass from Crouch
   (Brown kick)
Nebr - Crouch 1 run (Brown kick)
TTU - FG Birkholz 41
Nebr - W Miller 4 run (Brown kick)
Nebr - Buckhalter 3 run (Brown kick)
Nebr - Diedrick 4 run (Brown kick)
Nebr - Lord 9 run (Brown kick)

                       Nebr         TTU
First downs              30          11 
Rushed-yards         77-442       12-19 
Passing yards            98         181 
Sacked-yards lost       0-0        2-15 
Return yards             55           9 
Passes               7-14-1     22-48-2 
Punts                2-45.5      8-34.0 
Fumbles-lost            2-1         0-0 
Penalties-yards        9-68       12-83 
Time of possession    37:48       22:12 

RUSHING: Nebr-Alexander 20-120, Buckhalter
13-113, Diedrick 7-53, Crouch 12-52, Grixby
7-47, Lord 7-33, W Miller 5-18, Chrisman 1-8, 
Newcombe 2-8, Kastl 2-4, Ju Davies 1-1. 
TTU-Symons 1-15, S Williams 4-8, 
R Williams 2-5, Kingsbury 5-(-9).

PASSING: Nebr-Crouch 6-12-1-86, Lord 1-2-0-12. 
TTU-Kingsbury 20-37-2-165, Symons 2-11-0-16.

RECEIVING: Nebr-M Davison 2-37, Newcombe 2-32,
Alexander 1-14, Gibson 1-8, Ju Davies 1-7.
TTU-Dorris 4-39, R Williams 4-13, Welker 3-56,
Baker 3-40, S Williams 3-11, Jones 3-11, 
Francis 1-12, Easterling 1-(1).

Articles and pictures around the web.

Game Pictures from the Grande Island Independent paper
.
Back at No. 1 after several tight games dropped them to second, Nebraska 
looked very worthy of the role this time. Eric Crouch ran...
ESPN
 
"Crunkjuice" is thy name, havoc is thy game. Benard Thomas got his first 
taste of HuskerMania as a true freshman against Iowa...
Big Red Central
Nebraska is 6-0 after this game

Week 8- Baylor wasn't much more than a tune up,as the Huskers prepare for the Oklahoma Sooners next weekend.The first BCS poll is out .Nebraska is  a solid number 1 with Oklahoma at number 2.
October 21
#1/1 Nebraska    59
N/R   Baylor          0

 Lincoln - Cakewalk at Memorial stadium,but who in their right mind really thought it would be anything but.The Huskers scored on their first 9 possesions,scoring a record 38 points in the first quarter.This game was nothing more than a tune up for Oklahoma,and Nebraska got in a good day's practice finishing with a 59-0 victory.

Keyuo Craver, top left, and Terrell Butler celebrate Saturday as Craver recovered his blocked first-quarter punt for a touchdown.

The Big Red crowd of 77,959, was the 237th straight sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium,an ongoing NCAA record.

"We wanted to come in with a knockout blow right from the get-go," Husker Defensive Coordinator Craig Bohl said. "We wanted to make a statement and knock them out of the boat. Our guys had that mentality, they bought into it and we accomplished that."

Baylor was never in this game as the Husker's dominated from the first click of the clock.The blackshirts held Baylor to 84 total yards,with just 5 of it on the ground.

Keyuo Craver blocked Baylor's first punt and recovered the football in the end zone to give Nebraska a 7-0 lead with only 2 minutes and 48 seconds of the game gone.Baylor's second punt off yeilded likewise results on the score board. Nebraska relied on runs by Dan Alexander of 30 and 15 yards to make it 14-0 with 11:24 to play. The Bears then fumbled the  next possession at their 15-yard line. Nebraska used just four plays to extend it  to 21-0 on another Alexander run of 2 yards.

Nebraska held Kansas to 48 yards in a 35-0 win in 1997 keeping the Bears from earning that record. The Bears never got closer than 44 yards from Nebraska's goal line as the Huskers recorded their first shutout of the season and fourth since Frank Solich took over as head coach in 1998. "It was vintage Nebraska defense," said Baylor Coach Kevin Steele, who spent six seasons as the Huskers' linebackers coach. "There are no points on the board. There are very little rushing yards and very little passing yards. That is pretty typical for them."

Nebraska's  offense produced 508 total yards, with 459 of them rushing.15 different ballcarriers contributed to that total as plenty of reserves saw extended play in this one.QB Eric Crouch played only 1 quarter before handing the reins to redshirt freshman Jammel Lord.Nebraska unofficially used 115 of the 132 players who suited up for the game.A much needed opportunity to get experience and depth in a game situation.

Before leaving, Crouch directed Nebraska on scoring drives on its first five possessions of the game. Combined with Craver's punt block, that left the Huskers with a 38-0 lead that broke the school record of 35 points in a quarter that was set against Oklahoma State in 1988 and equaled against Arizona State in 1995 and Iowa State in 1997.

Lord helped unbeaten Nebraska finish off its fourth Big 12 Conference win of the season, its seventh overall and its nation's-leading 13th in a row over the past two seasons. The win also assured Nebraska of its 39th straight winning season, which is second all-time behind Alabama's 42 in a row (1889-1932).

The Huskers will find their bid for their eighth win of 2000 more of a challenge against an Oklahoma team that is 6-0 and ranked third and fourth in the national ratings,and number 1 in the first BCS poll just released."It will be no small feat to go down there and try to get it done on their home field," Solich said.

But rush end Kyle Vanden Bosch said back-to-back victories over Texas Tech and Baylor, by a combined score of 115-3, leaves Nebraska much better prepared than it was two or three weeks ago. The Huskers have held their past three opponents to 61 rushing yards on 64 carries. "Starting the season at No. 1, we took a lot of things for granted," said Vanden Bosch, whose team-leading six tackles against Baylor included three for losses. "We kind of had a gut-check these last couple of games. We really wanted to come out and prove something. Our offense, our defense, our special teams - everybody's hungry right now."

The Huskers tore into Baylor with ferocity, holding the Bears to 1 total yard in the first 15 minutes. Nebraska, which ran the same number of offensive plays in the period (20), had 189 yards. Crouch rushed for 46 yards on five carries, and completed 2 of his 6 passes for 23 yards. Not heisman like numbers but efficient.

Alexander finished with a game-high 104 yards on 14 carries, while Correll Buckhalter had 76 yards, Dahrran Diedrick 69 and Judd Davies 61 (on two carries). Overall, Nebraska averaged 6.9 yards on its 67 rushing attempts, pushing its nation's-leading rushing average to 379.7 yards per game.

Nebraska's total yardage output marked the fourth time this season that the Huskers have had 500 or more total yards. Three of those performance have come in succession - Iowa State (500), Texas Tech (540) and Baylor (508).

"We had that feeling today that we probably could have run anything we wanted to," Crouch said. "That's the way that we like it. Our offensive line has shown throughout the whole year that it can dominate a game. "This game is won in the trenches, and I can't praise our line enough."

Nebraska followed its quick opening burst with a 33-yard field goal by Josh Brown, a 14-yard touchdown run by Crouch and Buckhalter's nifty 36-yard scoring run with 40 seconds in the quarter to take its 38-0 lead.

When Nebraska took possession for the first time in the second period, Crouch was on the bench and Lord was at the controls of the offense. "It wasn't easy on our guys today to play just a quarter or to get as few snaps as they got," Solich said. "This is a very energized group, and they want to show what they can do on every snap. "But if you look at the rest of our schedule, it will be a very demanding stretch. I think it probably a good game for us in terms of trying to get some guys healed up."

Lord directed the Huskers on an 80-yard drive, scoring on a 2-yard run on the 12th play to make it 45-0. Nebraska hiked its lead to 52-0 when Buckhalter scored his second touchdown on a 7-yard run 2:04 before halftime.

Diedrick scored the only touchdown of a second half that left parents of countless Nebraska reserves overjoyed.

"We have not been in one of these type of ballgames this season," said Solich, who substituted in waves in the final two quarters. "There's a lot that goes into this kind of game. You always want to try to make sure that you have momentum throughout the game and you're doing the right thing for your players in terms of trying to get everybody some playing time."

The parade of reserves saw seven I-backs, seven fullbacks and seven tight ends see action for the Huskers. The Huskers used 22 different players in the secondary.

"It was good to see some of those young guys get a chance to get in there and play," Husker linebacker Carlos Polk said. "I think today shows just how much depth this team has."

The Huskers now will turn their attention to getting ready for Oklahoma. The players maintained after Saturday's game, as they did in the days leading up to it, that Baylor had their undivided attention.

"This whole week, we focused on Baylor," Polk said. "We knew that if we overlooked Baylor that Oklahoma week wouldn't be as special as it's going to be now."

Taking care of business assured that this indeed will be a special week for the Huskers and the Sooners. After not playing each other for the past two seasons because of the Big 12 scheduling format, Nebraska and Oklahoma renew a rivalry that once was as intense as any in college football.

"The coaches made sure we did a good job of not overlooking anybody," Vanden Bosch said. "But Oklahoma is a game that was looming over us. There has been a lot of talk in the media, a lot of talk by the fans. "We did a good job of focusing in on this game, and I think it showed on the field today."

Nebraska is 7-0 after this game
Up Next the Oklahoma Sooners

Articles about the game:
Game re-cap and article from the Independent.Story

Next Page NU vs OU.