Football '98:
vs Louisiana Tech, August 29, 1998

(4) NEBRASKA 56, LOUISIANA TECH 27

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - As far as coaching debuts go, Nebraska's Frank Solich chose to look at the bottom line.

"The only thing I was interested in was the win," the relieved Solich said Saturday after No. 4 Nebraska outmuscled Louisiana Tech 56-27 in the Eddie Robinson Classic despite an NCAA-record 405 yards receiving by the Bulldogs' Troy Edwards.

"That was a tremendous amount of yards, but that's the way it goes," Solich said. "There's no question we've got work to do, but for a first ballgame, it's OK. We'll take it the way it came."

Winning came easy for the Cornhuskers, who extended their home win streak to 43 straight and the nation's longest major-college winning streak to 15 games.

"It wasn't the prettiest," fullback Joel Makovicka said, "but a win is a win."

Behind the efficient quarterbacking of Bobby Newcombe, making a debut of his own, the Huskers rolled to a 35-6 lead as the sophomore passed for one touchdown and ran for two.

Then the Tim Rattay-to-Edwards show took over, establishing numerous records against Nebraska, which won or shared national titles in three of the last four years of Tom Osborne's 25-year reign. Edwards caught TD passes of 94, 80 and 52 yards and had 21 catches -- three short of Jerry Rice's NCAA mark of 24 (1983).

The previous all-divisions record for receiving yards was 370, shared by Michael Lerch of Princeton (1991, vs. Brown) and Barry Wagner of Alabama A&M (1989, vs. Clark). The major-college record of 363 was set by UNLV's Randy Gatewood against Idaho in 1994.

Rattay rocked the Huskers by completing 46-of-68 passes for 590 yards -- all record numbers against Nebraska. He tied a Nebraska opponent record with four TD passes.

"They pretty much tried to play me one-on-one," said Edwards, who led the nation in '97 in receiving yards while Rattay led in total offense. "I'm not a trash talker but I've worked hard all summer and I don't believe any defensive back in the country can go one-on-one with me."

Newcombe finished 9-of-10 for 168 yards and carried 12 times for 12 yards. The teams combined for 1,031 yards, with Louisiana Tech outgaining Nebraska 569-462. The Bulldogs ran for minus-21 yards.

"It was my first game and it's an experience I'll never forget," Newcombe said. "I will treasure it and won't be as nervous the next game."

After Louisiana Tech cut the lead to 35-21, Dan Alexander and Correll Buckhalter each ran 4 yards for scores. And when Rattay hit Edwards on an 80-yard scoring play to make it 49-27 with 12:55 left, Buckhalter ran 43 yards for a TD with 1:24 left. Buckhalter finished with 143 yards on 19 carries. The Huskers Joe Walker returned a kickoff 99 yards for a TD. Osborne did not attend the game.

(4) NEBRASKA 56, Louisiana Tech 27
(Recap)


               1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
               --- --- --- ---  -----
La Tech         0   6  15   6    27
Nebraska       14  21   7  14    56

First Quarter
      Neb-Jackson 46 pass from Newcombe (K.Brown kick), 14:12.
      Neb-Newcombe 1 run (K.Brown kick), 5:49.
Second Quarter
      Neb-Miller 8 run (K.Brown kick), 13:05.
      LT-Cangelosi 1 pass from Rattay (kick failed), 7:14.
      Neb-Walker 99 kickoff return (K.Brown kick), 6:57.
      Neb-Newcombe 1 run (K.Brown kick), 2:41.
Third Quarter
      LT-Edwards 52 pass from Rattay (Cangelosi pass from
         Rattay), 2:58.
      LT-Edwards 94 pass from Rattay (Pond kick), 7:06.
      Neb-Alexander 4 run (K.Brown kick), 2:59.
Fourth Quarter
      Neb-Buckhalter 4 run (K.Brown kick), 13:02.
      LT-Edwards 80 pass from Rattay (kick failed), 12:45.
      Neb-Buckhalter 43 run (K.Brown kick), 1:24.


                         LT      Neb
                        ---      ---
First downs              25       29
Rushes-yards       14-(-21)   56-289
Passing                 590      173
Return Yards              0       37
Comp-Att-Int        46-68-1  10-13-0
Punts                3-36.7   2-39.5
Fumbles-Lost            3-0      3-1
Penalties-Yards       12-88     5-49
Time of Possession    27:56    32:04


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Louisiana Tech, Johnson 2-9, Edwards 1-6, Tell 4-5,
Rattay 6-(minus 22). Nebraska, Buckhalter 19-143, Makovicka
10-47, Alexander 8-24, Miller 3-24, Wiggins 2-20, L.Brown 1-13,
Newcombe 12-12, Crouch 1-6.

PASSING-Louisiana Tech, Rattay 46-68-1-590. Nebraska, Newcombe
9-10-0-168, Crouch 1-3-0-5.

RECEIVING-Louisiana Tech, Edwards 21-405, Jordan 8-45, Cangelosi
5-57, Daigre 5-25, Simon 3-36, Newman 1-8, Jenkins 1-7, Hampton
1-4, Williams 1-3. Nebraska, Cheatam 3-19, Jackson 2-94, Davison
2-21, DeBates 1-16, Buckhalter 1-12, L.Brown 1-11.

A-76,021.