Washington Huskies	Nebraska Cornhuskers ©
Played September 26, 1998 at Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska

  

 

Teams' Belt Records

 

Team	Belt Reigns	Overall Record				Home Record				Away Record				Neutral Record
		W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT
Washington	10	27	12	0	.692	16	5	0	.762	11	6	0	.647	0	1	0	.000
Nebraska ©	2	14	2	0	.875	6	0	0	1.000	6	2	0	.750	2	0	0	1.000

 

The 9^th ranked, 2-0 Washington Huskies of coach Jim Lambright traveled to Lincoln to meet the 3^rd ranked, 3-0 Nebraska Cornhuskers of first-year coach Frank Solich.  Nebraska had taken The Belt from the Huskies the previous season in Seattle & planned to extend their reign to 14 games in the rematch.  Nebraska's RB DeAngelo Evans returned from injuries to rush for 146 yards with 3 touchdowns as the Cornhuskers dominated the Huskies in a 55-7 victory.  Nebraska's QB Bobby Newcombe added 3 rushing touchdowns as the Cornhuskers rushed for 434 yards & 8 touchdowns.  Nebraska made it clear from their opening drive they were going to dominate on the ground as they attempted only 1 pass on their 11-play, 82-yard scoring drive.  Newcombe finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run around right end for a 7-0 lead.  Nebraska's Blackshirts defense forced a quick punt from the Huskies & on the next play, Evans raced 60 yards giving the Cornhuskers a 14-0 lead midway through the 1^st quarter.  Late in the quarter, Nebraska's DT Jason Wiltz intercepted Washington's QB Brock Huard & returned the pick to the Huskies 22-yard line.  Evans scored two plays later as he carried around the left side for a 14-yard touchdown & a 21-0 lead.  Washington righted their offense, moving to the Nebraska 2-yard line before RB Willie Hurst fumbled & Cornhuskers' CB Erwin Swiney recovered the ball at the Nebraska 10-yard line to end the threat.  The Cornhuskers drove the 90 yards in 7 plays highlighted by a 42-yard pass from Newcombe to WR Shevin Wiggins.  Evans finished the drive with a 19-yard touchdown running pushing the Nebraska lead to 28-0 with 10:53 left in the 2^nd quarter.  The Cornhuskers finished their half scoring with a 6-play, 60-yard drive with all 60 yards coming on the ground as RB Correll Buckhalter scored on a 3-yard run for a 35-0 lead.  Just before halftime, Huard connected with All-Pac 10 WR Joe Jarzynka on a 6-yard touchdown pass to end the Blackshirts shutout plans.  The teams fumbled 3 times on the first 5 plays of the 2^nd half with Nebraska ending up with the ball at the Washington 5-yard line.  Newcombe held on to the ball long enough to carry 2 yards for another Cornhuskers' touchdown that pushed the Nebraska lead to 42-7.  Newcombe's third touchdown came on a 2-yard run midway through the 3^rd quarter giving the Cornhuskers a 49-7 lead.  The final points of the game came just before the end of the 3^rd quarter when RB Willie Miller scored on a 1-yard run.  The final Nebraska touchdown was set-up with an interception of Huskies' QB Marques Tuiasosopo by the Cornhuskers' DE Chad Kelsay at the Nebraska 44-yard line.  Both teams substituted liberally  in the final quarter but neither team mounted a scoring challenge.  Newcombe finished with just 84 yards passing but 79 yards rushing to go with his 3 scores while Huard threw for 160 yards with a touchdown in 2 interceptions as well as being sacked 3 times in the loss.  The 6 turnovers by the Huskies prevented them from creating any real offense against the Blackshirts.  Nebraska finished the season 9-4; ranked 19^th nationally while the Huskies finished 6-6.  Washington would play for The Belt again in 2001.