The Michig,1 Daily - Wednesday, October 7, 1998
Neweombe low d i epry
Nebraska option-specialist still hampered by knee injury

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) --
Nebraska starting quarterback
Bobby Newcombe is "a little ques-
tionable" for Saturday's game at No.
18 Texas A&M and will see limited
action in practice this week.
"He made excellent progress for a
period of time and we thought he
was over the hump," Nebraska coach
Frank Solich said. "Now his progress
has slowed down dramatically and is
really at a stop."
Solich said Newcombe was not at
100 percent in the second-ranked
Huskers' 24-17 squeaker over
Oklahoma State on Saturday. The
sophomore missed Nebraska's sec-
and and third games of the season
after partially tearing a ligament in
his knee, then came back Sept. 26 to
lead the Huskers to a 55-7 victory
over Washington.
Solich said Newcombe, who
rushed for 22 yards on 13 carries,
had some difficulty executing the
option last Saturday, although he was
9-of-15 for 112 yards.

"His progress has
really slowed
down dramatically
and is really at a
stop"f
-- Frank Solich
Nebraska football coach, on
quarterback Bobby Newcombe's
status
"Bobby wasn't in as good of
shape as he was the week before
against Washington," Solich said.
"We had thought he was about 90 to
95 percent."
Split end Kenny Cheatam will be
out for an "extended period of time"
after separating his left shoulder
against Oklahoma State, Solich said.
Cheatam's absence means the
Huskers will be without the services
of both starting receivers at Texas

A&M, as starting wingback Lance
Brown remains sidelined with a bro-
ken foot. Brown is at least a week
away from returning to practice.
Newcombe did not practice
Monday and the Huskers (5-0)
planned to limit the number of repe-
titions he takes in practice this week,
Solich said.
Second-string quarterback Eric
Crouch, who had been bothered by a
pulled hamstring, bruised a hip
against Oklahoma State and would
be hampered somewhat in practice,
Solich said.
"Obviously, it's not a good situa-
tion when your top two quarterbacks
are getting limited snaps in practice,"
he said. "But getting those guys
healthy is going to be a necessity for
us this week."
Third-string quarterback Monte
Christo is set to take most of the
snaps with the first-string offense
throughout the week while No. 4
quarterback Jay Runty also will get
some practice time with the top unit.

AP PHOTO
Nebraska quarterback Bobby Newcombe has been slowed down by a partially torn ligament in his knee, limiting his playing
time in the Comhuskers' game against Texas A&M this Saturday.


Gator QBs to battle
for full-time position

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -
Florida's two-headed quarterback
monster has been slain. Steve
Spurrier saw enough red-zone
mishaps in the sixth-ranked Gators'
16-10 win over Alabama Saturday to
sack his two-quarterback system.
The Florida coach said he will let
junior Doug Johnson and sophomore
Jesse Palmer fight it out for the full-
time job in practice.-
"Coach said he was sick and tired
of this rotation thing and that next
week we're going to go with one
quarterback," said Palmer, who came
in as the nation's seventh-rated pass-
er.
The Gators (2-1 SEC, 4-1 over-
all)" need to get it squared away
before playing No. 11 LSU next
week.
They had no problems moving
the ball against the Crimson Tide (1-
2, 2-2), racking up 467 yards on 81
plays. But the Gators' inept play
inside, the Alabama 20 netted just
one touchdown against a defense
that gave up 42 points to Arkansas
and 31 to Brigham Young. It was
Florida's lowest-scoring game since
a 30-6 loss to Mississippi State in
1992.
Florida lost two fumbles and an
interception inside the Tide 5-yard
line and had to settle for three short
Jeff Chandler field goals on its other
drives inside Alabama's 12. The
Gators have lost 12 fumbles this sea-
son.
"We tried to throw it in, and we

couldn't throw it in," Spurrier said.
"We tried to run it in, and we could-
n't run it in.
"They don't play like the coaches
want. They're a very undisciplined
bunch. We're a very average football
team right now."
Both quarterbacks had average
days against Alabama, posting simi-
lar numbers. Johnson was 10-for-20
for 187 yards while Palmer was 10-
for-19 for 169 yards.
The difference was Johnson lost
fumble at Alabama's two-yard Im
and threw an interception to
Fernando Bryant in the end zone,
breaking his string of 90 consecutive
passes without a pickoff.
Palmer, meanwhile, threw a 32-
yard touchdown to Travis McGriff,
who caught nine passes for 213
yards.
The 213 yards was the second-
best receiving performance in
Florida history, behind Carl*
Alvarez's 237 yards.
Johnson hit McGriff on a career-
long 67-yard pass to set up a score
on his first throw. He was in for 43
plays to Palmer's 38.
"Regardless of who's in there, we
should be doing a better job," Palmer
said.
The players will be happy to have
the same guy leading the hudd
from series to series and play to pla
"Sometimes we run our routes
and when we get back in the huddle,
we don't even know who the quarter-
back is," McGriff said.

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