Opportunity of a lifetime

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2002 | 9:49 a.m.

PASADENA, Calif. -- It's been quite a month for Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch.

He became just the third player in Cornhusker history to win the Heisman Trophy. He graduated from college. He took home another truckload of awards, including the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, Sporting News Player of the Year and Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year. He even had a billboard put up near Memorial Stadiumlisting his accomplishments.

But the 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior from Omaha said the biggest honor of his career will take place on Thursday night at the Rose Bowl here when he gets to quarterback the fourth-ranked Cornhuskers (11-1) against No. 1 Miami (11-0) for at least a share of the national championship.

"This is a big opportunity for this program, not just myself," Crouch, who has compiled a 35-6 record as a starter, said. "Obviously it is my last football game here as a player, and I think it means that much more to me to go out and finish off this career with a national championship.

"That's always what I looked at as being the biggest goal that I could achieve here at Nebraska. My focus is not on the Heisman Trophy. ... Obviously, I've had a great time with these experiences, and these awards, but the opportunity to play in a national championhip is the most important honor of my career."

Winning a national title would be the perfect ending to a stellar college career for Crouch, who rushed for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns this season and passed for another 1,510 yards and seven touchdowns.

"Of what I haven't experienced yet, I'm going to seize every moment," Crouch said. "I've got to make the most out of my last time doing everything."

Crouch no doubt is aware that no matter how many awards or school records he has set, he needs to win a national championship to attain the status of Tommie Frazier or Jerry Tagge or Scott Frost in Lincoln. Frazier helped lead the Cornhuskers to national titles in 1994 and 1995 and Tagge was the quarterback on Nebraska's 1970 and 1971 national championship squads. Frost quarterbacked Nebraska to a share of the 1997 national title while Crouch observed from the sidelines as a redshirt.

Miami head coach Larry Coker said this week he believes that regardless of Thursday night's outcome, Crouch gets his vote as the best quarterback in Nebraska history.

"I coached in the Big Eight when (current Cornhuskers QB coach) Turner Gill was Nebraska's quarterback, and he was a phenomenal player," Coker, a former assistant at both Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, said. "They've had some good ones since, but I don't know if they've had anyone who has meant as much to the program at quarterback as Eric Crouch has. Crouch is maybe the best-ever to play the position there."

Coker said a big key for Miami to win the game will be defending Crouch.

"We have to find a way to stop Eric Crouch and keep them from controlling the ball," Coker said. "He is their team, from the standpoint he's an exceptional option quarterback. He's a running back who can throw the football, run the option and make big plays."

"He's not so much a quarterback as he is a running back who throws the ball," Miami linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "He's a very mature player who knows exactly what he wants to do. You don't unnerve a player like that. The one thing that we have to be sure to do is to keep pounding away at him."

Crouch, who ranks fifth in NCAA history in rushing touchdowns with 59, two better than Marshall Faulk, knows he'll have his work cut out for him. Miami leads the nation in scoring defense (9.36 points per game), is second in pass defense (138.2 yards per game) and is sixth in total defense (270.9 yards per game). The Hurricanes also lead the nation in turnover margin at plus-2.36 per game, forcing an NCAA-high 45 turnovers (27 interceptions, 18 fumble recoveries).

"On tape you see all the plays that they make, and I consider their defense one of the best in the country, if not the best," Crouch said. "So to be faced up against a defense like that is a huge challenge. Being the competitor that I am, I obviously want to make big plays against this challenge."

The Cornhuskers have the nation's best rushing attack, averaging 314.7 yards per game. And Nebraska defeated a team with a defense in the same category as Miami's in defending national champion Oklahoma, 20-10, on Oct. 27 in Lincoln.

"Our offense is based on running the football, and every team that we face understands that," Crouch said. "They are going to try to find a way to stop the run, and we're going to find ways to try to make it work.."

And finding a way to win his final college game is Crouch's No. 1 goal now.

"This is something that will obviously remain with me for a lifetime," he said. "That's why it is so important that I play the best I can possibly play in this next game. This is something that if we win, it will stick with us for a long time. I just have to go out and take advantage of this opportunity."