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Saturday, October 27, 2001
Notebook: Painting Dallas red?
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
LINCOLN, Neb. -- The best part for any college football fan who was glued to the tube for an old school Oklahoma-Nebraska brawl between two top five-ranked juggernauts on Saturday ? This is the same matchup that will most likely be seen again in the Big 12 Championship game on December 1 at Texas Stadium in Dallas.
That'll give Oklahoma a chance to avenge Saturday's 20-10 loss to the Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium, and most likely serve as the game that could put Nebraska back into a national championship game for the first time since the 1997 season. All Oklahoma has to do is run the table against Tulsa, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. Easier said than done, yes, but nothing a team that beat Texas and Kansas State in back-to-back weeks can't handle.
|  | | Nebraska's Dahrran Diedrick is congratulated after his touchdown run. |
"We're not out of anything," said Oklahoma tight end Trent Smith, who caught seven balls for 62 yards and the team's only touchdown. "We could wind up playing these guys. We have Tulsa next week. We have to focus on that, and then try to get to Dallas for the Big 12 Championship game. You never know what might happen. We have to get there first.
"That's out main focus."
With Stanford's upset of UCLA, all of sudden there is a group of one loss teams -- including the Bruins, Florida, Oregon and the Sooners -- who could reach the Rose Bowl presented by AT&T on January 3.
"We realize that we still have a great season ahead of us, with four more games, one out of conference and three Big 12 South games ahead of us," said Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops. "We have got a lot to play for and to look forward to, and we realize that. So our players are still strong in the locker room and upbeat and understand that we will live to fight another day."
If that day does happen to be on Championship Saturday, it is fine with Nebraska.
"We'll gladly go through them, if need be," said free safety Dion Booker, who will not root against Oklahoma down the stretch. "We never like to play against the slouch teams. We'd rather compete against the best."
Jamie Burrow, who made his impact throughout the game with 16 tackles, said he realizes the old cliché on how it is tough to beat a team twice in one season. He already has a play in his mind that he'll be looking for should that happen.
"They ran an option at the end of the game, and I knew it was coming," he said. "The tackle came up and got just enough of me so that Quentin Griffin scooted by. If we play them again, I can't let that happen."
What the Huskers can't have is a letdown. Not with the schedule they have left. Frank Solich's squad will be favored in every game down the stretch, but victories won't come easy against Kansas State -- a team that had OU on the ropes a few weeks ago -- and Colorado, who they'll face on the road the Friday after Thanksgiving in Boulder. They must also face Kansas next week, something that was mentioned ad nauseum in the locker room after the game.
"That's the way you are successful," said quarterback Eric Crouch, after throwing for 102 yards on 10-for-18 passing.
But at the same time, the subject of playing OU again wasn't taboo, either. Defensive backs coach George Darlington even opened his press conference saying how both coaching staffs were talking before the game about how they both sincerely hope to "see each other down the line."
It's that type of mutual respect that has made this game such a spectacle, and something players look forward to be a part of -- even if it does happen twice in the same fall.
"We have such a great rivalry with so much history," said Nebraska rush end Chris Kelsay. "You can't help but appreciate it. But there's a good chance we'll see them again."
Stopping Trent
The Sooners didn't have a lot of success on offense against the feisty Nebraska defense. The one place where they did find a soft spot in the D was anywhere they decided to send junior Trent Smith.
The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder is a walking matchup problem, and had the Blackshirts taking turns on covering him throughout the day since he was often set out wide or far enough away from the line to be considered a split end.
In catching seven balls for 62 yards and a touchdown to lead the Sooner attack, Smith drew coverage from lineman, linebackers, corners and safeties at one time or another. By game's end, Nebraska's top cover man, Keyuo Craver, was isolated man-to-man on him.
"Trent Smith is a playmaker," said Burrow, who shaded back from his middle linebacker position at times to cover Smith's forays across the middle. "Against Kansas, he had four touchdowns. We were worried about that. He presents a lot of difficulties to match up with. If we put our Sam (strongside) linebacker, Scott Shanle, who matches up size-wise better, he's not quite as fast as him, even though he has exceptional speed for as big as he is. Or do we want to cover him with one of our smaller corners or nickel backs?
"So we just changed it up all game. We had a lot of people helping out on him, so it became effective as the game wore on."
Smith now has six TD receptions on the season to bring him just one within the school record, which Curtis Fagan set last year. His 37 receptions for 295 yards place him as one of the main candidates for the John Mackey Award that goes to the top tight end in the nation. Should the two rivals meet again, Smith will undoubtedly be a key player to monitor closely, particularly in the red zone.
No change in OU offense, no matter the signal-caller
Bob Stoops said that having Nate Hybl in the game instead of starter Jason White didn't change anything in the game plan.
"I think that it is fairly obvious that our offense doesn't change no matter who is in there," he said. "We run the same plays, regardless of one guy being a hair more elusive than the other. We run the same offense and Nate is capable of running as well. We don't change anything. I think that it was fairly evident that it doesn't throw us off."
One touchdown and 10 points. Clearly something was off.
Son of a what?
Eric Crouch's 63-yard touchdown reception from true freshman quarterback/wide receiver Mike Stuntz on a play the Huskers call black-41-flash-reverse-pass was the main topic of conversation in the Nebraska locker room after the game. The best line about the trick play that featured Thunder Collins running a reverse to Stuntz before the frosh perfectly hit the Heisman Trophy candidate in stride down the left sideline to give the game its final score, came from Burrow.
"Coach Solich was standing there, congratulating all of us as we came off the field," said the senior middle linebacker. "I saw him and said, 'You crazy son-of-a-gun.' I've seen the offense run that play in practice, and I've just been waiting to see it on the field. I think I was running down the sidelines when I realized that Coach Solich had called it. We weren't expecting it, and the Oklahoma defense wasn't expecting it, either.
"It was a great call."
Crouch-ing Huskers, Streaking Nebraska
Quarterback Eric Crouch moved to 33-5 as a starter for the Cornhuskers with the victory over Oklahoma. In doing so, he becomes the 12th quarterback in Division I-A to record 33 victories over a career. Tommie Frazier (92-95) also had 33 wins to his credit, along with just three losses.
Crouch's TD reception was his third career catch, and his second for a touchdown. His other one came in 1999 against California when he tied an NCAA record by scoring via pass, rush and reception
Frank Solich got a monkey off his back by gaining his first win against a top-three team. He is now 1-3 against three teams.
Nebraska now holds the nation's longest winning streak at home with 20 straight at Memorial Stadium. It's a record that has now been held by three different teams this month since both Florida State and Oregon lost at home. Nebraska has won 11 straight overall.
Bob Stoops lost his first game ever to a Top 10 team. His Sooners are now 8-1 since he took over in Norman in '99.
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online. He can be reached at marc.connolly@abc.com.
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 Oklahoma can't catch up to the double reverse as Mike Stuntz airs it out to Eric Crouch for a 63-yard TD.
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Nate Hybl comes off the bench for the Sooners and hits Trent Smith in the end zone.
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Nate Hybl's pass bounces off Antwone Savage's helmet to Nebraska's Erwin Swiney for an interception.
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The Sooners go for a double reverse of their own, but can't convert when Nate Hybl slips.
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 Frank Solich talks to ABC's Jack Arute about the win over the Sooners.
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Eric Crouch is glad to be on the receiving end of a touchdown pass.
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