The Best of Eric Crouch

Alright, I'll come clean right away. I'm stealing this idea straight from Brian Christopherson's great 'life in the red' blog at the Lincoln Journal Star website. Since he doesn't have the liberty that I have, I thought I'd give him a hand with his 'Top 5 Eric Crouch Highlights.' I'll keep his 'Top 5' in the same order and I'll add a 6th - enjoy...


#6 Paddle Ball Wiz

Jeffie Husker first broke this story in May of '08 right here at DXP.

Said Jeffie:

"As if winning the Heisman Trophy and busting out of the NFL wasn't enough. Eric Crouch has now turned his attention to the little-known sport of paddle ball. You know that paddle with a ball connected to it by a thin piece of elastic. Anyway, the guys at Secret Penguin, a design boutique in the NoDo district of Omaha, Nebraska, are taking on all-comers in their Paddle Battle. Their first contestent? You guessed it, Nebraska's own Eric Crouch."

You'll have to - click here - to watch Eric dominate Secret Penguin. Awesome.


#5 Kansas State Beheading

In 1998, #11 Nebraska travelled to the Little Apple to take on #2 Kansas State and Michael Bishop. The Huskers would lose the game 30 -40. If you remember, this Kansas State team was defeated in two overtimes in the Big 12 Championship game vs. Texas A&M, which would cost them a shot at undefeated and eventual national champion Tennessee (who defeated Florida State 23 - 16 in the Fiesta Bowl.) Nebraska had two losses before this game - @ Texas A&M 28-21 and Texas 20 - 16. Crouch became the starting QB this season after Bobby Newcombe's injury in the first game.




#4 Game Winning TD vs. Notre Dame

In 2000 at South Bend, #1 Nebraska squared off against #23 Notre Dame, who had QB Arnaz Battle and RB Tony Fisher. The Huskers would win 27 -24 in an OT thriller. Crouch had 80 yards rushing with 3 TDs and threw for 103 yards. For the complete game highlights, click here. Gotta love the ball spin at the end.




#3 Forearm Shiver vs. Iowa

In 1999, #5 Nebraska travelled to Iowa in the first game of the season and would win 42-7. Crouch would have 92 yards rushing on 5 attempts and was 3 for 5 passing for 68 yards - while splitting time with Bobby Newcombe. The Iowa player that is abused here is Mikkel Brown and I could not reach him for a comment.




#2 95 Yard TD Run vs. Missouri

In 2001, #4 Nebraska travelled to Columbia and defeated the Tigers 36-3. Crouch would rush 17 times for 191 yards and was 8 for 14 with 120 yards passing. His 95 yard TD run would go down as one of the greatest runs ever...



It's better with sound...

@ the 3:59 mark, you'll see the Iowa shoulder play.

@ the 4:05 mark, you'll see the Mizzou play and hear the play-by-play guy say - "See you later. That may be one of the most unreal runs I have ever seen." Awesome.




#1 TD Catch vs. Oklahoma

The play known as 'Black 41 Flash Reverse' is no doubt the very best of Eric Crouch's highlight reel. On October 27, 2001, #3 Nebraska would defeat #2 Oklahoma 20-10 in a game where Crouch had only 21 yards rushing on 13 attempts to go along with 102 yards passing. However, Crouch caught a 63-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Mike Stuntz with 6:17 remaining that would end Oklahoma's 20 game winning streak. This game would also be the last time Nebraska defeated a Top 10 team. Could November 7th, 2009 vs. Oklahoma be the next?

New Kids On The Block Featuring Eric Crouch

When he's not dominating the Paddle Ball circuit in North O, Eric Crouch can be found indulging in hardcore rock music. Here he is Hangin' Tough at the New Kids on the Block concert last Wednesday at the Qwest Center in downtown Omaha.



Wow. Donnie's so not my favorite.
(thanks to The Ralphie Report)

Greatest Huskers By Number Continued

#6 – Keith “End Zone” Jones. Another addition to the prolific running backs from Omaha Central, Keith Jones ran his way into the record books in 1986 when Doug DuBose tore his knee in a pre-season scrimmage. That year as a junior, he lead the Big 8 in rushing and scored the only rushing TD that Oklahoma allowed all year. In 1987, Jones reached 2,488 yards in his career and became Nebraska’s 3rd leading rusher of all time behind Mike Rozier and I.M. Hipp. Jones’ nickname definitely comes from the fact that he liked to score. He ended his career at Nebraska with 31 touchdowns and averaged over 123 yards/game when he started. Also, if you need any of Keith's BBQ sauce, you can go here.

#7 – Eric Crouch. We have spent much more time ripping Eric Crouch here than giving him any credit besides his paddle ball accomplishments. But, the fact of the matter is that his statistics were almost unbelievable.
These are his records (via huskerpedia):
• NCAA record for career rushing TD's by a QB (59)
• 13th player in NCAA history to rush and pass for 1,000 yards in a season (1,115 rushing, 1,510 passing)
• One of three quarterbacks in NCAA Division 1-A history to rush for 3,000 yards and pass for 4,000 yards in a career
• Tied an NCAA scoring record by scoring a TD via run, pass, reception in the same game (vs. Cal, 1999)
• Longest run in NU history (95 yards) at Missouri, Sept. 29, 2001
• Owns Nebraska career record for total-offense yards with 7,915, including a school and Big 12 record for most rushing yards by a quarterback (3,434), while ranking third in career passing (4,481)
• School record holder with 88 total-offense touchdowns
• Regular-season school record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a game (191 yards) at Missouri, Sept. 29, 2001
• Tied school records for most TD passes in a game (5 vs. Iowa, 2000); most rushing TD's in a game by a quarterback (4 vs. Kansas and Iowa State, 2001); and set a QB record for most rushing TDs in a season (20, 2000)
• Set school records for most rushing attempts in a season for a QB (203, 2001); most total-offense yards by a sophomore (2,158); tied school record for most rushing attempts in a game for a quarterback (27 vs. KSU, 1999)
Crouch won the Heisman Trophy in 2001.

#8 – Tyrone Williams. In his 3 years when he started, Nebraska was 36-1 with Tyrone. Without doubt, he is one of the best lock-down cornerbacks we have ever had. With him, we won two national championships and three Big 8 championships. Tyrone was also a two-time first-team All Big 8 selection. He has a Super Bowl ring that he won with Green Bay where he played for 7 seasons before retiring in 2004 with the Dallas Cowboys.

#9- Steve Taylor. Taylor became a First-Team All-American in 1987 and all Big 8 in 1987 and 1988. He will forever be best remembered as the quarterback who broke Oklahoma’s 31 Big 8 game winning streak in 1988 and got Nebraska back to the Orange Bowl for the first time in 5 years. Although his career was played out in the Canadian Football League with virtually every team imaginable, Taylor is now a Real Estate Professional in Lincoln and quite successful. Check out his website.

#10 – Mike Minter. Even if he was terrible, Minter might have still made this list based on his website alone. If you ever want to a create a website about yourself, that is what you make it look like. Minter was surrounded by All-American talent everywhere which made him a little underappreciated at the time. He tore his ACL two games into his sophomore season which cut his college career a little short. He would win two national championships in 1994 and 1995. He earned All-Big 12 first-team honors his senior year. Interestingly, he played his final two games at Nebraska at linebacker after playing all the previous at strong safety. He was drafted in the second round by the Carolina Panthers and along with helping them to Super Bowl XXXVIII, Minter retired as the team’s all time leading tackler with 700 stops in 132 games.

For Numbers 1-5 you can go here.

#1-#5:
1-Dale Klein/Lawrence Phillips
2-Von Sheppard
3-Eric Warfield
4-Dengelo Evans
5-Dejuan Groce

Eric Crouch Paddle Ball Wiz

As if winning the Heisman Trophy and busting out of the NFL wasn't enough. Eric Crouch has now turned his attention to the little-known sport of paddle ball. You know that paddle with a ball connected to it by a thin piece of elastic. Anyway, the guys at Secret Penguin, a design boutique in the NoDo district of Omaha, Nebraska, are taking on all-comers in their Paddle Battle. Their first contestent? You guessed it, Nebraska's own Eric Crouch.

Click here to watch the battle.

Off camera, Eric's opponent could be heard saying "This friggin thing is warped! Why do I always get a warped one!?"