Nothing personal in battle of Rose Bowl QBs

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2002 | 10:26 a.m.

PASADENA, Calif. -- Even though he finished a close third to Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch in the Heisman Trophy voting last month, Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey said it would be a mistake to make Thursday night's national championship matchup between the Cornhuskers and Hurricanes a personal battle between him and Crouch.

"That means nothing," Dorsey said of a chance to try to prove Heisman voters wrong. "The fact that we're both playing for a national championship is what means something. The chance to be the best team in college football, that's what means something.

"I'm not going to try and go out and beat Eric Crouch, because our two styles are completely different. He runs the ball mostly, and I throw the ball mostly. It's not even fair to say that we're competing against each other because we have two completely different styles."

Instead of possibly upstaging Crouch, Dorsey, who completed 184 of 318 passes for 2,652 yards and 23 touchdowns while leading the Hurricanes to an 11-0 record, said his goal is to join Bernie Kosar, Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson and Gino Toretta as Miami quarterbacks to have directed teams to national championships.

"The biggest prize is the national championship," Dorsey said. "I'm sure Eric would tell you that he'll give up the Heisman to win the national championship. I know I would."

Still, an impressive performance on Thursday night could make the 6-foot-5, 200-pound Dorsey the front-runner for the Heisman in 2002.

Between 50,000 and 70,000 of the 90,000 seats in the Rose Bowl are expected to be occupied by loyal Nebraska fans who made the trip from the Midwest.

"We'd like to think that would give us a little edge," Nebraska coach Frank Solich said. "It (the large turnout) wouldn't be surprising, because they have shown up (at other road games), and they always find ways to get in games. Along with all that, of course, those are 70,000 people who expect Nebraska to win the national championship. ... It may be that there's no other place like it in the country, in terms of willingness to follow their football team."

Nebraska attended the Lakers' game against Toronto last Friday and received three rounds of boos from fans at the Staples Center who evidently felt the fourth-ranked Cornhuskers didn't deserve to be invited to play for the national title after their 62-36 thrashing by Colorado on Nov. 23.

"Pac-10 fans, I guess," Nebraska left tackle Dave Volk said. "That's the only thing I can figure."

"They booed us man, but who cares," Cornhusker corner Keyuo Craver said. "You can't please everyone."

Robinson, who will also attend Thursday night's game, may also tape an "Unscripted" show for ESPN on Friday morning at Disneyland if the logistics can be worked out before his flight home.

Robinson was 4-0 as a head coach in the Rose Bowl during his USC head coaching days.