Message-ID: <20940332.1075844061994.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 04:59:00 -0700 (PDT) From: kevin.hyatt@enron.com To: l.foust@enron.com, jeffery.fawcett@enron.com, michelle.lokay@enron.com, krejcir@kindermorgan.com Subject: Read it and WEEP Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ANSI_X3.4-1968 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-From: Kevin Hyatt X-To: L Michelle Foust, Jeffery Fawcett, Michelle Lokay, "Krejci, Richard J." X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Michelle_Lokay_Dec2000_June2001_1\Notes Folders\Discussion threads X-Origin: LOKAY-M X-FileName: mlokay.nsf And the Hype BEGINS Rod Williams 07/13/2000 11:15 AM To: Phil Lowry/OTS/Enron@ENRON, Robert Jones/Corp/Enron@ENRON cc: =20 Subject: FOXSports.com's - Nebraska's Option Will Blast Through Attacking= =20 Defenses Thought you might like to read this. ---------------------- Forwarded by Rod Williams/ET&S/Enron on 07/13/2000= =20 11:10 AM --------------------------- Rich Holly 07/13/2000 11:04 AM To: Chuck Wagner/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Ralph Forbes/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Ted=20 Ritchey/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Rod Williams/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, jskrok@yahoo.com,= =20 bcomer@hntb.com, Kenneth Miller/ET&S/Enron@ENRON cc: =20 Subject: FOXSports.com's - Nebraska's Option Will Blast Through Attacking= =20 Defenses Runs of steel Nebraska's option will blast through attacking defenses Jul 12, 2000 10:12 p.m. ET BY DARRYL RICHARDS FOXSports.com The first national champion of the millennium will not be the product of a space-age spread offense inspired by a mad scientist who calls himself an offensive coordinator. The best college football team in America this season will run the most bas= ic of offenses. Call the option many things: plain, boring, ancient, uninspire= d. But when Nebraska runs it, it=01,s cruel and usual punishment for opposing defenses. Teams may be able to slow it down, but over the course of four quarters, th= ey will pay a price, slammed repeatedly by an offensive line that averages 303 pounds. Remember the limp noodles crawling out of Sun Devil Stadium in January? That was Tennessee=01,s defense after the Cornhuskers drove 99 yar= ds in the fourth quarter of the Fiesta Bowl. The beauty of the system is that it is the perfect offense for the current rage of defenses using quick, blitzing attacks. Sure, you can send everybod= y after the ball, but the option demands you stop and think and play an assignment. How do you properly scout a team that runs an offense you see only once a year? The answer is you don=01,t. Arguably, the Cornhuskers, FOXSports.com's No. 1 team in its preseason Top 25, were playing the best football in the country by the end of the 1999 season. In their last five games, the Cornhuskers beat Texas A&M, Kansas State, Colorado, Texas and Tennessee by a cumulative score of 164-72. The scary thing about Nebraska is that 10 offensive starters return for a team that finished 12-1 last season. The Cornhuskers have an unquenchable desire to be the best again. It starts in the off-season and continues through January. The running game took a while to materialize last season because of injuries, but I-back Dan Alexander and quarterback Eric Crouch have the ability to rush for 1,000 yards this season. Even if the oft-injured Alexander can=01,t hold up to th= e pounding, the Cornhuskers have a replacement with great credentials and a fitting name for this smashmouth football team: Thunder Collins. Nebraska will not only push other teams around. The Cornhuskers will push themselves. The school is touting guard Russ Hochstein and center Dominic Raiola for the Outland Trophy, presented to the nation's outstanding interi= or lineman. The beneficiary of this internal competition is the offense. "This group has a great deal of confidence that always shows come August an= d September," said Nebraska coach Frank Solich, who has his best team since taking over for Tom Osborne three years ago. "We have a rich history and a team coming off a good season that is not questioning things. "We have high expectations. Some of it comes from how we finished last season. A lot comes from playing in an excellent program and tradition." The option and the 'Huskers are inextricably bound. It is their offense, an= d they have been running it so long it is practically an open-book test for defensive coordinators. Yet, only eight teams have passed the test over the last seven years. Nebraska has won 81 games and three national titles in th= at span. "We try to keep up with what=01,s current and we use the spring to experime= nt," Solich said. "But our players and coaches like to line up and beat you. Our players that are here love it. It is an aggressive style of play and that= =01,s how they want to play it. It=01,s what our players want to do on offense." The Cornhuskers will not go through the season unchallenged. Crouch can put his name up there with the Turner Gill, Tommie Frazier and Scott Frost for the title of best Nebraska quarterback ever, but all bets are off for this team if Crouch is hurt, because the Cornhuskers lack depth at quarterback. The schedule has its pitfalls too. Notre Dame, looking for a win that can restore luster and a reason to keep coach Bob Davie, gets Nebraska at home = on Sept. 9. A resurgent Oklahoma team and top rival Kansas State get Nebraska = at their places. Kansas State won the last time the teams met in Manhattan. The Cornhuskers will probably play Texas or Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game, which has had a tendency to produce a surprise finish. The Cornhuskers also must shore up a secondary that loses Ralph and Mike Brown. But Nebraska Carlos Polk back as the heart of the defense. Polk is heralded by Nebraska insiders as the best linebacker in school history. But come January 3, Nebraska will play Florida State for the national title= . And the Seminoles too will fall under the relentless attack. Senior writer Darryl Richards covers college football for FOXSports.com. Se= nd your comments to Darryl Richards.