Evans, who quit the team after a frustrating start, had a change of heart last week and went to Solich asking for a second chance with the Cornhuskers, Evans said Tuesday from his parents' home in Wichita, Kan.

Solich spoke to his coaching staff and players, and concluded Evans' initial choice to leave the team should stand. He would not say why.

"I don't think you can ever not take into consideration certainly the team's feelings, so you try to get a pulse on where everything is," Solich said. "I'm not saying anything about the matter in terms of a decision other than when it came down to a final decision, as to who was going to make that decision, it was going to be me."

Solich said he wanted to concentrate on the sixth-ranked Cornhuskers' Big 12 opener Saturday at Missouri.

Evans, who had a promising freshman season in 1996 but missed all of the following season and much of last year with injuries, said he was frustrated after having just 19 carries in blowout wins over Iowa and California. He gained 74 yards before abruptly quitting after the Cal game.

"I left the team because I didn't feel like I was being used in the offense way I should have been," Evans said. "It was a heat of the moment kind of decision. I felt like I made a mistake and wanted to come back."

Evans said he met with Solich on Monday and was informed his Nebraska career was finished.

"Basically, I wasn't able to come back because he didn't want me to come back. He said the team didn't want me to come back," Evans said.

Solich has refused to get into the specifics regarding conversations he has held with Evans after he quit the team. He said Tuesday that the Evans situation caused some distraction last week as the Huskers' prepared for Southern Mississippi, which they held off 20-13 on Saturday.

"It was difficult to prepare the way you wanted to prepare last week," Solich said. "I am ready to move forward. I know our football team has told me and our staff that they were ready to move forward and that's what we're going to do."

Solich did not want to comment further on Evans.

Evans said he was somewhat relieved to get away from Solich, in his second year since taking over as coach for Tom Osborne, but still wanted to finish his college career at Nebraska.

"The program I was playing for and the program I signed with were different," he said.

Evans had Nebraska fans feeling optimistic as a recruit out of Collegiate High School, where the 5-foot-10 215-pounder topped many of fellow Wichita native Barry Sanders' rushing records.

As a freshman Evans rushed for 776 yards. In 1997 a pelvic injury sidelined him for the season and last year he played in just three games after having preseason knee surgery. He finished with 227 yards on 38 carries.

Evans' former teammates said there were mixed feelings among the Huskers on whether or not Evans should be allowed back on the team.

Quarterback Eric Crouch, who was rumored to have quit the team when Bobby Newcombe was named the starter before the season opener, said the only similarity between his situation and Evans' was frustration over his role in the offense. Crouch has maintained he never quit.

"I never needed a second chance. With DeAngelo, I think he quit and decided that maybe that's not what he wanted to do so he wanted to come back," Crouch said. "It's a tough situation with DeAngelo, but the team's going to try to put it behind us and move on. That's about the only thing we can do right now."