And the Hype BEGINS





Rod Williams
07/13/2000 11:15 AM
To: Phil Lowry/OTS/Enron@ENRON, Robert Jones/Corp/Enron@ENRON
cc:  

Subject: FOXSports.com's - Nebraska's Option Will Blast Through Attacking 
Defenses

Thought you might like to read this.
---------------------- Forwarded by Rod Williams/ET&S/Enron on 07/13/2000 
11:10 AM ---------------------------


Rich Holly
07/13/2000 11:04 AM
To: Chuck Wagner/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Ralph Forbes/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Ted 
Ritchey/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Rod Williams/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, jskrok@yahoo.com, 
bcomer@hntb.com, Kenneth Miller/ET&S/Enron@ENRON
cc:  

Subject: FOXSports.com's - Nebraska's Option Will Blast Through Attacking 
Defenses

Runs of steel
Nebraska's option will blast through attacking defenses

Jul 12, 2000 10:12 p.m. ET
BY DARRYL RICHARDS
FOXSports.com

The first national champion of the millennium will not be the product of a
space-age spread offense inspired by a mad scientist who calls himself an
offensive coordinator.

The best college football team in America this season will run the most basic
of offenses. Call the option many things: plain, boring, ancient, uninspired.
But when Nebraska runs it, it,s cruel and usual punishment for opposing
defenses.

Teams may be able to slow it down, but over the course of four quarters, they
will pay a price, slammed repeatedly by an offensive line that averages 303
pounds. Remember the limp noodles crawling out of Sun Devil Stadium in
January? That was Tennessee,s defense after the Cornhuskers drove 99 yards in
the fourth quarter of the Fiesta Bowl.

The beauty of the system is that it is the perfect offense for the current
rage of defenses using quick, blitzing attacks. Sure, you can send everybody
after the ball, but the option demands you stop and think and play an
assignment. How do you properly scout a team that runs an offense you see
only once a year? The answer is you don,t.

Arguably, the Cornhuskers, FOXSports.com's No. 1 team in its preseason Top
25, were playing the best football in the country by the end of the 1999
season. In their last five games, the Cornhuskers beat Texas A&M, Kansas
State, Colorado, Texas and Tennessee by a cumulative score of 164-72. The
scary thing about Nebraska is that 10 offensive starters return for a team
that finished 12-1 last season.

The Cornhuskers have an unquenchable desire to be the best again. It starts
in the off-season and continues through January. The running game took a
while to materialize last season because of injuries, but I-back Dan
Alexander and quarterback Eric Crouch have the ability to rush for 1,000
yards this season. Even if the oft-injured Alexander can,t hold up to the
pounding, the Cornhuskers have a replacement with great credentials and a
fitting name for this smashmouth football team: Thunder Collins.

Nebraska will not only push other teams around. The Cornhuskers will push
themselves. The school is touting guard Russ Hochstein and center Dominic
Raiola for the Outland Trophy, presented to the nation's outstanding interior
lineman. The beneficiary of this internal competition is the offense.

"This group has a great deal of confidence that always shows come August and
September," said Nebraska coach Frank Solich, who has his best team since
taking over for Tom Osborne three years ago. "We have a rich history and a
team coming off a good season that is not questioning things.

"We have high expectations. Some of it comes from how we finished last
season. A lot comes from playing in an excellent program and tradition."

The option and the 'Huskers are inextricably bound. It is their offense, and
they have been running it so long it is practically an open-book test for
defensive coordinators. Yet, only eight teams have passed the test over the
last seven years. Nebraska has won 81 games and three national titles in that
span.

"We try to keep up with what,s current and we use the spring to experiment,"
Solich said. "But our players and coaches like to line up and beat you. Our
players that are here love it. It is an aggressive style of play and that,s
how they want to play it. It,s what our players want to do on offense."

The Cornhuskers will not go through the season unchallenged. Crouch can put
his name up there with the Turner Gill, Tommie Frazier and Scott Frost for
the title of best Nebraska quarterback ever, but all bets are off for this
team if Crouch is hurt, because the Cornhuskers lack depth at quarterback.

The schedule has its pitfalls too. Notre Dame, looking for a win that can
restore luster and a reason to keep coach Bob Davie, gets Nebraska at home on
Sept. 9. A resurgent Oklahoma team and top rival Kansas State get Nebraska at
their places. Kansas State won the last time the teams met in Manhattan.

The Cornhuskers will probably play Texas or Oklahoma in the Big 12
championship game, which has had a tendency to produce a surprise finish.

The Cornhuskers also must shore up a secondary that loses Ralph and Mike
Brown. But Nebraska Carlos Polk back as the heart of the defense. Polk is
heralded by Nebraska insiders as the best linebacker in school history.

But come January 3, Nebraska will play Florida State for the national title.
And the Seminoles too will fall under the relentless attack.


Senior writer Darryl Richards covers college football for FOXSports.com. Send
your comments to Darryl Richards.