| | LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Correll Buckhalter
has a lot on his mind heading into Saturday's game against Southern
Mississippi.
The Collins, Miss., native says his final two college choices
were Nebraska and Southern Miss, and he went with the Cornhuskers
after praying over the decision the night before signing day.
|  | | Buckhalter is back with the Huskers after a one-game suspension. |
Buckhalter also is coming off a one-game suspension for a brief
hiatus he took from the team because he was frustrated over a lack
of playing time.
"I'm playing in front of a lot of people basically from the
same town or area that I'm from," Buckhalter said. "I basically
have to be on my P's and Q's on the field or they might show me
up."
It's been an interesting two weeks for Buckhalter, now the No. 2
I-back in the Cornhuskers' offense after the departure of starter
DeAngelo Evans. Evans abruptly quit the team just two games into
the season.
This was not how Buckhalter, who led Nebraska in rushing a year
ago, pictured moving back up the depth chart.
"I don't feel good about DeAngelo leaving the team (and) making
my role on this team better," Buckhalter said. "I hope DeAngelo
comes back and doesn't go out like the way it's going right now."
But Nebraska coach Frank Solich said it is unlikely Evans will
return to the team, leaving the Cornhuskers (No. 6 ESPN/USA Today, No. 4 AP) with new starter Dan Alexander and Buckhalter as the only experienced I-backs.
"It's something that can very easily happen," said Solich, who
had to do the I-back shuffle last year when Evans and Alexander
went down with injuries. Buckhalter ended up playing 12 games
despite an injured hamstring, a hip pointer and torn bursa sacs in
both elbows and finished with 799 rushing yards.
"What always looks like a deep position all of a sudden can
turn into one that's not too deep," Solich said.
Buckhalter didn't play in last week's 45-0 win over California.
Buckhalter, who said he was frustrated after getting just three
carries as the Cornhuskers blew out Iowa 42-7 in the season opener,
didn't come to practice until the following Thursday, and Solich
said he thought Buckhalter might have quit the team.
"I wasn't thinking about leaving. I was just under a lot of
frustration. I thought I should have played a lot more in the Iowa
game than I did," Buckhalter said. "I just took some wrong steps
by not showing up and not communicating with anybody. Which was bad
on my part because it caused a lot of confusion."
Solich and Buckhalter sorted out their issues, and Buckhalter
will be back in the lineup on Saturday.
Southern Mississippi is the school where Buckhalter's brother,
Chris, was a running back earlier this decade. Chris Buckhalter led
the Golden Eagles in rushing in 1994 and 1995 and finished with
1,533 career rushing yards. In August, he was sentenced to 20 years
in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of manslaughter in a
1997 slaying.
Correll Buckhalter wants to concentrate on football and not his
brother's troubles. He says he is looking forward to playing
against Southern Miss, the Conference USA champions in 1996 and
1997.
"They have a lot of great players down there. I think it's just
the conference that they're in that doesn't let them get the
recognition like other schools in the Big 12 or Big 10 or SEC," he
said.
Buckhalter, who grew up about 30 miles northwest of the USM
campus in Hattiesburg, Miss., is glad it's a home game for the
Cornhuskers.
"If the game was played in Hattiesburg, I don't think that I'd
have enough tickets," he said. "I'm kind of happy that we're
playing here in Lincoln and can show some of those guys the type of
atmosphere that I play in here in Nebraska."
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