Cornhuskers Arrive Ready to Silence Critics

Nebraska’s football team arrived in Southern California on Monday morning and wasted no time preparing for the Jan. 3 Rose Bowl game against Miami.

The Cornhuskers’ charter flight left Lincoln, Neb., and its 20-degree temperatures with 311 passengers, including 151 players. The plane landed about 11:30 a.m. at LAX and the players were whisked by police escort to the Beverly Hilton Hotel before shuttling to USC for a two-hour practice in full pads.

“They’re a little tired, but that’s from, one, the traveling and, two, working pretty hard at home,” Coach Frank Solich said about the players after practice. “Their effort has been good.”

Nebraska will visit Disneyland and participate in other activities this week that are part of the Rose Bowl tradition. This, however, is no vacation for a team that has been derided as the symbol for all that is wrong with the bowl championship series system.

Nebraska gave up a school-record 62 points in a 26-point Big 12 Conference loss to Colorado on Nov. 23, seemingly ending the Cornhuskers’ hopes for a spot in the Rose Bowl.

But several potential participants lost in the final week and others, most notably Oregon and Colorado, were passed over, leaving Nebraska to be heavily criticized. Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch, the Heisman Trophy winner, said the Cornhuskers’ mood remains upbeat and confident.

“We have heard a lot of things, a lot of criticism about whether we’re deserving or not to be here, but everyone on this team feels that we are here for a reason,” Crouch said. “We believe we’re the best and now we have a chance to prove it. This is our opportunity and we have to take advantage of it.”

Solich said he does not expect his team to be affected by questions about the Cornhuskers playing for the national championship.

“It’s no longer an issue with the coaches or the team,” Solich said. “We don’t see it as being a distraction in terms of preparing for the game or playing in the game. I sympathize with teams that are not in the national championship game.

“Certainly, every one that has one loss can, to some degree, point and say, ‘Hey, it could have been us.’ We understand that. All we know is, it’s us . And we plan on playing well.”

Miami will not arrive until Wednesday. Solich said Nebraska decided to travel the day before Christmas partly to leave the cold weather and acclimate to the bowl-game environment.

He also wants the players to get used to a grass field. Solich said he consulted with Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez to learn how the Badgers prepared for their Rose Bowl victories in 1999 and 2000.

“He sent me their itineraries and we talked about what they did when they were here and how it all worked for them,” Solich said. “We built on a couple of things. What we’ve done in the past at bowl games and we listened to his thoughts as far as what went well.

“Hopefully, we’re combining the right things for our players to have a great experience and prepare well to play a great game.”