2000

SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl | Saturday, December 30, 2000
Nebraska 66 vs. Northwestern 17

Attendance: 60,028
TV Rating: 3.8
Team Payout: $2,856,845 combined

Offensive MVP: Dan Alexander, RB, Nebraska
Defensive MVP: Kyle Vanden Bosch, DE, Nebraska
Sportsmanship Winner: Zak Kustok, QB, Northwestern

Head Coaches: Frank Solich (Nebraska), Randy Walker (Northwestern)
Final Records: Nebraska 10-2, Northwestern 8-4

Game Recap

No. 8 Nebraska shatters Alamo Bowl record book against No. 19 Northwestern

On paper, the 2000 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl was one of the most intriguing matchups of the bowl season as the power running of No. 8 Nebraska lined up against the high-scoring spread offense of Big Ten co-champion No. 19 Northwestern.

On the field, it was a different story as the Cornhuskers showed why they had the nation’s best rushing offense, overpowering Northwestern in a 66–17 victory.

After Northwestern took a 10–7 lead on a Zak Kustok touchdown pass, Nebraska answered back as quarterback Eric Crouch scampered for a 50-yard touchdown. The Huskers increased their lead to 21–10 on their next drive with a Dan Alexander TD run.

Northwestern got back in the game when Damien Anderson broke free for an Alamo Bowl-then-record 69-yard touchdown run, but two plays later, Nebraska wingback Bobby Newcombe took a screen pass from Crouch and ran 58 yards for a touchdown.

In the second half, Nebraska scored four unanswered touchdowns. The Husker offense broke 11 Alamo Bowl records at the time — including most points in a game (66), most yards of total offense (636), most rushing yards (476), and most first downs (28). The 66 points also set an NCAA bowl record at the time.

Alexander, who was named Offensive MVP, ran for 240 yards on 20 carries. Crouch, who won the Heisman Trophy the following season, finished the day with four touchdowns (two rushing, two passing), and kicker Josh Brown set a bowl record with nine PATs.

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter
NEB: Alexander 15-yd run (Brown kick)
NW: Long 44-yd FG

2nd Quarter
NW: Johnson 10-yd pass from Kustok (Long kick)
NEB: Crouch 50-yd run (Brown kick)
NEB: Alexander 2-yd run (Brown kick)
NEB: Buckhalter 2-yd run (Brown kick)
NEB: Brown 51-yd FG
NW: Anderson 69-yd run (Long kick)
NEB: Newcombe 58-yd pass from Crouch (Brown kick)

3rd Quarter
NEB: Davison 11-yd pass from Crouch (Brown kick)
NEB: Crouch 2-yd run (Brown kick)
NEB: Davison 69-yd pass from Newcombe (Brown kick)

4th Quarter
NEB: Diedrick 9-yd run (Brown kick)

Final Score

Team	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	Total
Nebraska	7	31	21	7	66
Northwestern	3	14	0	0	17

Team Stats

Category	Nebraska	Northwestern
First Downs	28	14
Net Yards Rushing/Att.	476/69	232/38
Net Yards Passing	160	151
Comp-Att-Int	6-14-1	17-43-1
Total Offense (Plays)	83	81
Total Net Yards	636	383
Avg. Gain Per Play	7.6	4.7
Possession Time	33:37	26:23

Individual Stats

Rushing (Att–Yds)
NEB: Alexander 20–240; Crouch 15–118; Buckhalter 12–58; Diedrick 4–28; Davies 3–17; Lord 4–16; W. Miller 3–10
NW: Anderson 18–158; Kustok 14–83; Simmons 2–14; Lawrence 3–13; Danielson 1–1

Passing (Comp–Att–Int, Yds)
NEB: Crouch 5–13–1, 91; Newcombe 1–1–0, 69
NW: Kustok 15–35–0, 138; Danielson 2–8–1, 13

Receiving (Rec–Yds)
NEB: Davison 3–85; Newcombe 1–58; Bowling 1–9; Hassebroek 1–8
NW: Johnson 4–53; Anderson 4–12; Simmons 3–24; Foster 2–41; Patrick 2–6; Schweighardt 1–9; Wright 1–6