Football '00:
vs Missouri, September 30, 2000

(1) NEBRASKA 42, MISSOURI 24

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Eric Crouch needed a little help this time. Crouch threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, but No. 1 Nebraska needed scoring returns by Bobby Newcombe and Jamie Burrow to hold off Missouri 42-24 on Saturday night.

"Make no mistake, we feel very, very good about winning this football game," Nebraska coach Frank Solich said. "Bobby's punt return was huge."

Newcombe's return put Nebraska up 21-7 and broke Johnny Rodgers' school record of 92 yards set against Oklahoma State in 1971. Newcombe caught the ball at the Nebraska 5, ran through one tackle right after the catch and went up the middle untouched. Andre Roberson nearly caught Newcombe at the 5, but he was just out of reach and Newcombe had his fourth career punt return TD.

"I just wanted to stand under it and catch the ball and run with it. Our guys did a great job blocking and we got a touchdown out of it," Newcombe said. "Any time you get a record it's pretty exciting. But this was Johnny Rodgers' record so that makes it even more special."

Rodgers, the 1972 Heisman Trophy winner who will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December, was honored in a pregame ceremony.

Nebraska (4-0) never trailed after the first quarter, but the game was a lot closer that Solich would have liked. The Huskers won despite their worst defensive performance of the season. The Huskers allowed a season-high 492 yards to the Tigers (1-3), who scored their most points in Lincoln since winning 35-31 in 1978 -- Missouri's last victory in the series.

Crouch has passed for eight TDs and run for seven this season. He rushed for 110 yards on 24 carries and was 11-for-23 for 173 yards with TD passes to Correll Buckhalter and Jon Bowling. Crouch added an 8-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that was the Huskers' only offensive score of the second half.

Crouch hoped his performance proved he wasn't seriously injured last week against Iowa when he passed for five TDs. Crouch missed practie Monday and Tuesday.

"Yeah, I missed a couple of days of practice. But it was a physical game last week," Crouch said. "The rumors that I had broken my leg and things like that, I can't control that."

Dan Alexander had a 2-yard touchdown run in the first half for the Huskers, who needed Newcombe's return late in the second quarter and a fumble recovery that linebacker Burrow ran 28 yards for a touchdown in the third.

"The big difference came down to two plays. The punt return and the fumble return. Those were the difference and we were never able to make that up," Missouri coach Larry Smith said.

The Tigers were able to move the ball behind Kirk Farmer, but the sophomore quarterback broke his collarbone on a 33-yard run late in the third and Missouri never recovered. Farmer was 13-for-25 for 214 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 83 yards before leaving the game with about six minutes left in the third.

"We are just coming together as a team. It's not like we saw something special on their defense," Farmer said. "We are getting much better at working out system."

(1) NEBRASKA 42, Missouri 24

1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL
--- --- --- --- -----
Missouri 7 7 10 0 24
Nebraska 7 21 7 7 42


First Quarter
Mis-Farmer 1 run (Hammerich kick), 7:56
Neb-Alexander 2 run (Brown kick), 2:06
Second Quarter
Neb-Buckhalter 34 pass from Crouch (Brown kick), 11:15
Neb-Newcombe 94 punt return (Brown kick), 3:34
Mis-Gage 48 pass from Farmer (Hammerich kick), 2:00
Neb-Bowling 13 pass from Crouch (Brown kick), 1:05
Third Quarter
Mis-Abron 13 run (Hammerich kick) 9:29
Neb-Burrow 28 fumble recovery (Brown kick) 8:14
Mis-FG Hammerich 27, 4:59
Fourth Quarter
Neb-Crouch 8 run (Brown kick) 5:31


Mis Neb
--- ---
First downs 22 27
Rushes-yards 31-209 53-311
Passing 283 173
Comp-Att-Int 19-39-1 11-23-0
Return Yards 49 170
Punts-Avg. 8-40.2 5-43.4
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 10-95 7-53
Time of Possession 26:15 33:45


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Missouri, Farmer 9-83, Abron 12-62, Gilmore 8-36, Outlaw
2-28. Nebraska, Crouch 24-110, Buckhalter 7-94, Davies 3-65,
Alexander 13-34, Diedrick 1-6, W. Miller 2-5, R. Miller 1-1,
Newcombe 2-(minus 4).

PASSING-Missouri, Farmer 13-25-1-214, Outlaw 5-11-0-34, Gage
1-3-0-35. Nebraska, Crouch 11-23-2-173.

RECEIVING-Missouri, Gage 5-125, Blakely 5-45, Spencer 3-47,
Gilmore 3-17, Dausman 2-14, Farmer 1-35. Nebraska, Davison 5-66,
Wistrom 2-27, Buckhalter 1-34, Newcombe 1-18, Davies 1-15,
Bowling 1-13.

A-77,744.