Newcombe slow to improve

Nebraska option-specialist still hampered by knee injury

AP PHOTO Nebraska quarterback Bobby Newcombe has been slowed down by a partially torn ligament in his knee, limiting his playing time in the Cornhuskers' game against Texas A&M this Saturday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska starting quarterback Bobby Newcombe is "a little questionable" for Saturday's game at No. 18 Texas A&M and will see limited action in practice this week.

"He made excellent progress for a period of time and we thought he was over the hump," Nebraska coach Frank Solich said. "Now his progress has slowed down dramatically and is really at a stop."

Solich said Newcombe was not at 100 percent in the second-ranked Huskers' 24-17 squeaker over Oklahoma State on Saturday. The sophomore missed Nebraska's second and third games of the season after partially tearing a ligament in his knee, then came back Sept. 26 to lead the Huskers to a 55-7 victory over Washington.

Solich said Newcombe, who rushed for 22 yards on 13 carries, had some difficulty executing the option last Saturday, although he was 9-of-15 for 112 yards.

"Bobby wasn't in as good of shape as he was the week before against Washington," Solich said. "We had thought he was about 90 to 95 percent."

Split end Kenny Cheatam will be out for an "extended period of time" after separating his left shoulder against Oklahoma State, Solich said.

Cheatam's absence means the Huskers will be without the services of both starting receivers at Texas A&M, as starting wingback Lance Brown remains sidelined with a broken foot. Brown is at least a week away from returning to practice.

Newcombe did not practice Monday and the Huskers (5-0) planned to limit the number of repetitions he takes in practice this week, Solich said.

Second-string quarterback Eric Crouch, who had been bothered by a pulled hamstring, bruised a hip against Oklahoma State and would be hampered somewhat in practice, Solich said.

"Obviously, it's not a good situation when your top two quarterbacks are getting limited snaps in practice," he said. "But getting those guys healthy is going to be a necessity for us this week."

Third-string quarterback Monte Christo is set to take most of the snaps with the first-string offense throughout the week while No. 4 quarterback Jay Runty also will get some practice time with the top unit.

10-07-98