Nebraska 48

Rice 3

Sep. 20, 2001 • 7:30 p.m. Central

Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	F
Rice	0	0	0	3	3
Nebraska	21	7	20	0	48

Tracey Wistrom lunges for Nebraska’s first touchdown. Pensacola News Journal · Newspapers.com

First quarter
Nebr: Wistrom 37 pass from Crouch (DeAngelis kick) 12:12
Nebr: J Davies 3 run (DeAngelis kick) 8:34
Nebr: Thomas 42 pass from Crouch (DeAngelis kick) 2:35
Second quarter
Nebr: Crouch 6 run (DeAngelis kick) 1:09
Third quarter
Nebr: Crouch 25 run (DeAngelis kick) 12:08
Nebr: Wistrom 11 pass from Crouch (J Brown kick) 8:43
Nebr: T Collins 17 run (run failed) 3:06
Fourth quarter
Rice: Skeen 25 field goal, 7:49

                      Rice      Nebr
First downs             17        24
  Rushing               10        16
  Passing                6         8
  Penalty                1         0
Rushed-yards        47-196    53-292
Passing yards          169       205
  Comp-Att-Int      8-25-2   12-15-0
Total offense       72-365    68-497
Sacked-yards lost     3-18      1-10
Return yards            11        89
Punts               6-38.0    4-38.5
Fumbles-lost           3-0       3-0
Penalties-yards       7-34      4-46
Time of possession   29:32     30:28

RUSHING
Rice: Beck 4-67, Henderson 9-41, Herm 14-25, Hawkins 5-20, S White 5-20, Tyler 5-19, Bailey 4-16, Team 1-minus 12.

Nebr: Crouch 12-97, Diedrick 13-74, T Collins 6-43, Stuntz 1-25, J Davies 5-14, Lord 5-10, Kastl 1-7, J Davies 2-6, Lindstrom 1-6, Wingender 1-5, T Reese 1-4, R Miller 1-4, Gragert 1-3, Kriewald 1-0, Cornelson 1-minus 3, Chrisman 1-minus 3.

PASSING
Rice: Henderson 5-13-2-108, Herm 3-12-0-61.

Nebr: Crouch 9-11-0-165, Lord 3-4-0-40.

RECEIVING
Rice: Okoronkwo 4-68, Boothe 2-47, Gary 1-36, Bailey 1-18.
 
Nebr: W Thomas 4-76, Wistrom 4-67, Gibson 3-53, Klem 1-9.

Att: 77,344

Eric Crouch makes a leaping attempt to avoid Jason Hebert’s tackle. · Des Moines Register · Newspapers.com

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Crouch leads Huskers to convincing win over Owls

Eric Crouch threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores as No. 4 Nebraska beat Rice 48-3 on Thursday night.

The game had been scheduled for last Saturday but was postponed because of the terrorist attacks that shut down all major sports in the country.

Crouch, who had just two rushing touchdowns and one passing in the first three games, looked more like the player who carried the Huskers’ offense the past two seasons.

“I felt very comfortable out there. I knew this was going to happen,” said Crouch, who ran for 97 yards on 12 carries and passed for 165 yards — going 9-of-11 in less than three quarters.

After an emotional pregame ceremony that included a videotaped message from former Huskers coach and current U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne, Nebraska came out with its most dominating game of the season.

“Obviously what happened in the last week and a half has affected everybody,” Crouch said. “We came out and honored America in a way everybody could be proud of and the state of Nebraska could be proud.”

Nebraska (4-0) nearly topped the 500-yard mark for the first time this season, finishing with 497 after losing 3 yards on the final play.

“I thought they had a lot more offense than we did. I know they rolled a lot,” Rice coach Ken Hatfield said.

Nebraska’s defense allowed more than 200 yards for the first time this year, but nearly got its first shutout.

Rice (2-1) didn’t score until Brandon Skeen kicked a 25-yard field goal with 7:49 left in the game. Greg Henderson was 5-for-13 for 108 yards and two interceptions for the Owls, who finished with 365 yards of offense.

Henderson relieved starter Kyle Herm, who was 3-for-12 for 61 yards.

“I want full responsibility for that. I’m the quarterback. It’s my job to keep everybody calm,” Herm said. “We came out jittery and Nebraska’s fans made us nervous.”

Crouch’s best game of the season had been the opener against TCU, when he ran for 69 yards and a touchdown and passed for 151. He had the flu the next week and missed a few days of practice and had mediocre totals against Troy State and Notre Dame, although against the Irish the Huskers held back on offense with the game in hand in the second half.

Crouch broke loose Thursday. He threw two touchdown passes to Tracey Wistrom, including an 11-yarder that put Nebraska up 42-0 midway through the third quarter on Crouch’s last play of the game.

“Eric I thought just had a great day — throwing and running the football and just directing the football team,” coach Frank Solich said. “I don’t think you can get much more done than what he got done tonight. I think he kind of wished he could play a little bit more.”

Wistrom and Crouch also connected for Nebraska’s first score, a 37-yard pass over the middle less than three minutes into the game.

“He’s accurate. He’s putting zip on the ball when he needs it. He’s got touch,” Wistrom said. “All we’ve got to do is catch it and run.”

Crouch’s other TD throw was to Wilson Thomas, who caught the 42-yard pass in stride as he crossed the goal line for a 21-0 lead with 2:35 still left in the first quarter.

Crouch made it 35-0 on Nebraska’s opening drive of the second half with a 25-yard draw for his second rushing TD of the game. He also scored on a 6-yard run around the right end in the second quarter.

Judd Davies scored Nebraska’s only other touchdown of the half on a 3-yard run. Crouch had 43 yards on two carries during the four-play, 71-yard drive.

Thunder Collins had a 17-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.

Recap source: Huskers.com

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Inspired Crouch comes up big in Husker rout

Rice Athletics

No. 4 Nebraska Rips Rice

Associated Press

Nebraska steams past Rice

USA Today

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Pregame & team info

2001 schedule

04/14	Reds 16, Whites 7
08/25	TCU	W 21-7
09/01	Troy St.	W 42-14
09/08	Notre Dame	W 27-10
09/20	Rice	W 48-3
09/29	@ Missouri	W 36-3
10/06	Iowa St.	W 48-14
10/13	@ Baylor	W 48-7
10/20	Texas Tech	W 41-31
10/27	Oklahoma	W 20-10
11/03	@ Kansas	W 51-7
11/10	Kansas St.	W 31-21
11/23	@ Colorado	L 36-62
01/03	Miami	L 14-37

Commentary

Colonel Mustard

The team has bounce in its step, and 7 is healthy and throwing better than I have ever seen him.

Colonel Mustard

HuskerMax

Shatel

After the breathtaking pre-game ceremony, any football game was rendered secondary.

Tom Shatel

Omaha World-Herald

Marks

The Rice game ... was obviously the Cornhuskers’ most complete effort to date.

Bill Marks

HuskerMax

Red Clad Loon

This good, old-fashioned, 1984-style whuppin’ is just what the Ph.D. ordered.

Red Clad Loon

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2026 Husker Football
03/28	Nebraska 22, Huskers 17
09/05	Ohio	11:00 AM
09/12	Bowling Green	6:00 PM
09/19	North Dakota	6:15 PM
09/26	@ Michigan St.	TBA
10/03	Maryland	TBA
10/10	Indiana	TBA
10/17	@ Oregon	TBA
10/31	Washington	TBA
11/06	@ Illinois	7:00 PM
11/14	@ Rutgers	TBA
11/21	Ohio St.	TBA
11/27	@ Iowa	11:00 AM

Nebraska 48 Rice 3

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Crouch leads Huskers to convincing win over Owls

Omaha World-Herald

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Pregame & team info

2001 schedule

Commentary

Colonel Mustard

Shatel

Marks

Red Clad Loon

Nebraska 48

Rice 3