Football Falls to No. 4 Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. - About all that's left on Eric Crouch's checklist is winning a national championship. The Nebraska senior has done just nearly everything else.

Crouch set an NCAA Division I-A record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback Saturday night, scoring four times to push his total to 51 as No. 4 Nebraska beat Iowa State 48-14.

"Some games I just see the end zone more than others," said Crouch, who heard in the second quarter he broke the mark of 49 set by Kareem Wilson of Ohio from 1995-98. "It was kind of a surprise to me. It was something I didn't expect to hear."

Crouch also set a Nebraska record for rushing touchdowns, passing 1983 Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier's 49, etching yet another spot in the Huskers' record book.

"Normally when I hear those things they go in one ear and out the other," Crouch said. "Somebody asked me if I knew how many records or how many touchdowns I had and my response was, 'I don't know.' That's not something I think about."

Crouch, already Nebraska's career leader in total yards, left the game at the end of the third quarter with Nebraska leading 41-14. He finished with 15 carries for 104 yards and needs 141 rushing yards to reach the 3,000-yard mark for his career.

It was Crouch's second straight 100-yard rushing game and the third time in a row he ran for two touchdowns or more.

"The way he's played all season long has been outstanding. Anybody can get caught up in is the hype that surrounds an individual player, but Eric has done a tremendous job dealing with it," coach Frank Solich said. "He's been excellent in not pressing to try to do too much."

Crouch also was 10-of-14 passing for 110 yards as the Cornhuskers (6-0, 2-0 Big 12) scored on five of their first six possessions.

"He is as good as there is in college football. He is a legitimate Heisman contender," Iowa State coach Dan McCarney said. "He is as complete a quarterback as I have seen the whole time I've coached college football."

Dahrran Diedrick had 15 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown and Keyuo Craver returned an interception for a TD.

Nebraska had 476 yards of offense to Iowa State's 336.

Seneca Wallace, who was averaging nearly 200 yards passing and 63 rushing, entering the game, was 13-for-29 for 214 yards with two interceptions. He had 14 carries for 45 yards.

The Cyclones (3-1, 1-1), who averaged 39 points in wins over Northern Iowa, Ohio and Baylor, were overwhelmed from the start Saturday in their ninth straight loss to the Huskers.

"It was just complete domination in the first half. We did not block. We did not tackle," said McCarney, who fell to 0-7 against Nebraska. "They are a championship caliber team. I hope there are not many more teams better than them out there."

Iowa State's first drive turned into a Nebraska touchdown when Craver intercepted a pass and took it 57 yards for a touchdown on the fifth play of the game.

"I think we've got a long way to if we want to win a national championship but we're showing a lot of ability and a lot of heart," Craver said.

Nebraska already had a 14-0 lead before Crouch took over the scoring with a 1-yard dive late in the first quarter, then tied Wilson with a 4-yard run around the right end 5{ minutes into the second.

Crouch broke the record with a 25-yard option keeper with 2:38 left in the second quarter. The sellout crowd of 78,002 was already on its feet cheering and roared even louder when the big-screen monitors at Memorial Stadium displayed a message that Crouch had set the record.

After a blocked punt, Crouch scored on another 1-yard run with 30 seconds left before halftime. It was his 13th carry and gave him 100 yards rushing in the half.

The Cyclones didn't score until Wallace took a broken pass play and ran it in for a 17-yard touchdown with 7:28 left in the third quarter. Nebraska had gone two games without allowing a touchdown.

Wallace added a 13-yard TD pass to Lance Young late in the third quarter.

Crouch set up the Huskers' first offensive touchdown with runs of 17 and 11 yards. Diedrick took over from there with an 18-yard option run that set up his TD from the 2, putting Nebraska up 14-0.

DeJuan Groce put Nebraska in position for its next score with an interception and return to the Iowa State 23 late in the first quarter. Nebraska needed just four plays to score on Crouch's dive with 1:20 left in the quarter. Josh Brown's extra-point attempt hit the right upright, leaving Nebraska's lead at 20-0.

Crouch's 4-yard TD run capped an eight-play, 87-yard drive that started with Thunder Collins 45-yard option run.

Robin Miller added a 1-yard touchdown run for Nebraska with 1:08 left to play.