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 Friday, August 24, 2001
Lincoln a great place to start the season
By Mike Tirico
Special to ABC Sports Online
LINCOLN, Neb. -- What a thrill. After years of sitting at home watching with great anticipation on that first Saturday of the season, this weekend I have the privilege to welcome everyone to our 36th year of one of the great enduring traditions in sports, college football on ABC.
Covering games for ESPN and ABC this season will bring many of us across the country to some of our favorite cities. After arriving in the city where the game is, the first thing you always want to do is hear what the hot topic of conversation is among the fans.
|  | | Since 1983, Frank Solich has helped the Huskers lead the nation in rushing 10 times. |
As the rental car emerged from the concrete of the airport garage in Omaha, it takes but 20 seconds to find Nebraska football talk on the other end of the AM radio seek button. The talk is typical in serious college football country. Does the offensive coordinator take enough risks? Is the defensive coordinator the right fit? Can the replacements step in for the players who have graduated? Welcome back to college football season, no games played; second guessing has begun.
Frank Solich stepped into an impossible situation four years ago, following two all-time legends: Bob Devaney who defined Cornhusker football and led the school to back-to-back national titles in 1970 and 1971; and Tom Osborne, the coach who couldn't get it done, who on the way out won three national titles and was popular enough to successfully run for Congress, representing many of the fans who fill Memorial Stadium.
Solich starts season four on Saturday in the Principal Financial Group Pigskin Classic against TCU (ABC, 1 p.m. ET). The former running backs coach and assistant head coach has won 31 of his 38 Nebraska games and two of his three bowl games. Why the heat? Just look at the record and the expectations Solich must follow. In his final seven seasons, Osborne lost just eight games; Solich's next loss is eight in four years.
This year, the buildup is intense. The preseason ranking is fourth in the nation, with a wide-open national championship race and the Huskers leaving Lincoln just four times this regular season, with visits from the schedule's toughest opponents (Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Kansas State). Plus, Eric Crouch (a Heisman candidate senior QB) makes the Big Red hype legit.
But there are problems. Nebraska's offense must get production from an unproven I-back. As the season goes on that will likely be Dahrran Diedrick, but the Canadian was suspended this week after becoming the fourth Nebraska player arrested since June. All-America candidate kicker Josh Brown is also suspended for the opening game. But Diedrick will be back and should be. His arrest was for disturbing the peace when he did not leave a bar in town when he was asked to by police. The story has not been completely told nationally as Diedrick was not drinking and just put himself in a bad situation by not leaving when he should have. Solich, truly putting his imprint on this program and trying to draw a red line on these continuing off-the-field problems, left little doubt in this case by the suspension.
Diedrick's replacement, Thunder Collins, has carried just 13 times at Nebraska, so more pressure will be on Crouch. The senior is a legitimate Heisman candidate and leader, and his rushing ability is unrivaled by current college quarterbacks. The difference is in the passing game. Last season, Crouch completed less than 50 percent of his passes because of a second straight year of playing with a shoulder that needed offseason surgery. This preseason, the shoulder has worked just fine, and there is promise of a more accurate quarterback. He is one of only two players (along with Clemson's Woodrow Dantlzer) this season capable of running and passing for 1,000 yards.
Is the first game a walkover against TCU? Hard to tell. The Horned Frogs were a 10-win team last year, ranked ninth at one point, before sliding and falling out of the polls after a bowl loss to Southern Mississippi. TCU has a lot new going for it this season. Head coach Dennis Franchione is off to Alabama, 2,000-yard rusher LaDainian Tomlinson is a very rich San Diego Charger and 27 other seniors left with LT last season.
New coach Gary Patterson was the mastermind of the defense that led the nation last year, including my favorite stat from last season: allowing just three third quarter points all year. Patterson is not a showman, but a solid leader who has energized Fort Worth's football community as he looks to continue with a program that banked on its recent success by keeping very good Texas high school players in the state.
The Horned Frogs quarterback, Casey Printers, has an 18-4 record in his first two seasons and the junior will be asked to do more this year in the passing game. LaTarence Dunbar is the nation's top kickoff returner from a season ago and should be more of an offensive factor as the season goes on. The replacement for Tomlinson will be sophomore Ricky Madison, who like
Nebraska's Collins, has all the preseason ability but has carried just 20 times in his college career.
Can TCU win? Most doubt they have a chance, but I think they will hang in there because of the uncertainty and injuries Nebraska has faced this offseason.
Either way, there is no better place to start the college football season then Lincoln, where as the hour drive to Omaha was ending, with Memorial Stadium in sight, the radio talk show topic turned to who will replace Milt Tenopir when the 28-year veteran offensive line coach retires.
It's great to be back in the towns where college football is king.
Mike Tirico will do the play-by-play of Saturday's Pigskin Classic on ABC with Tim Brant and Todd Harris. He is a regular contributor to ABC Sports Online.
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