By Dennis Dodd
CBS SportsLine Senior Writer
Sept. 1, 1998

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Questions about yet another national championship will have to wait. Nebraska is worried about getting through tomorrow.

Starting quarterback Bobby Newcombe

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is questionable for this week's game against Alabama-Birmingham with a knee injury. Starting I-back DeAngelo Evans is out for another game or two with a sore knee of his own. The defense must pick up the pieces from an opponent-record 590-yard passing day by Louisiana Tech on Saturday.

Given those tidbits of doom, one game into the Frank Solich era there seem to be serious doubts surrounding the program. But there is one big difference. For the first time in a quarter century the doubts are not being addressed by stone-faced Tom Osborne.

"I'm kind of looking for plusses," Solich said while singing in the rain.

That's easy to do when your team is 61-3 in the last five seasons including three national championships in the last four years.

HOW THE TEAM IS HANDLED off the field might be the biggest difference between the legend and his coaching progeny. Osborne would not change expressions whether up by 30 -- or 60. The 5-foot, 8-inch Solich popped out onto the Memorial Stadium turf Saturday and was immediately swallowed up by his larger players. Louisiana Tech alum Terry Bradshaw yucked it up with Solich, who he jokingly mistook for an equipment manger. Solich actually celebrated good plays by pumping his fist in the air and -- hold onto your Huskerburgers, Nebraskans -- smiling.

"Coach Osborne would always sit us down and tell us what we needed to get done that day," rush end Chad Kelsay said recounting Solich's pregame ritual. "Coach Solich is a lot more upbeat. You could tell that. He was excited for his first game and ready to get it started."

Watching game tape, you

The Frank Solich era looks to have more fist-pumping and exposed emotions than his predecessor. (AP)

wouldn't have been able to distinguish between the coaching styles of Osborne and his former assistant head coach. The first play of the Solich era Saturday was fullback Joel Makovicka up the middle. It was fitting because Solich himself was a star fullback at Nebraska as Bob Devaney's first recruit.

There wasn't much razzle-dazzle but there did not have to be. Why open up the playbook for Texas A&M, Washington and Kansas State to see down the line? Besides, not much has changed. There were 289 rushing yards from the Huskers. The first possessions went for touchdowns. Solich has adopted the Nebraska bible, er, playbook as his own. A few niggling things like injuries and defensive lapses will not drive him to the point it did Osborne and his peers.

"We might all go out and hang ourselves," Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said.

NO, IT IS A KINDER AND GENTLER sideline demeanor for the Huskers. That much is evident. Whether Solich can answer the big question is up for debate. To win it all again, the season basically comes down to a Nov. 14 game at Kansas State. The Huskers have won that matchup 29 consecutive years.

The focus, though, is on the here and now. Newcombe will be replaced by redshirt freshman Eric Crouch who saw mop-up duty on Saturday. The game itself is not of immediate concern. UAB should put up a fight for as long as it takes the Blazers to see 76,000 crazies rooting for another human sacrifice.

The larger story is how long Newcombe will be impaired by the slight tear of his posterior cruciate ligament. Solich said Monday that the sophomore starter with one career start under his belt will wear a brace when he returns.

The Huskers probably will not need Newcombe until the Sept. 26 game against Washington. They can get by against UAB and Cal with the talented Crouch.

Evans is a similar concern. After sitting last season with a painful abdominal strain, he was expected to return healthy and become the Huskers next great I-back. Instead, he hurt the knee in an Aug. 14 scrimmage. Sophomores Correll Buckhalter (143 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Dan Alexander (24 yards, 1 touchdown) can handle the job until Evans returns later in September.

SURPRISINGLY, THE DEFENSIVE MELTDOWN is the least of Nebraska's worries. The program has been through these anomalies before. The 562 total yards given up were the fifth-most in program history and came against the remnants of the nation's No. 5 defense in 1997. Don't expect Solich to wring his hands over the subject. In fact, he might be just as likely to shrug it off.

"I doubt we'll face anyone who throws it any better," Solich said. "If we ended up getting 562 total yards and we only scored 27 points, people would look at our offense and say, 'What's wrong with it?' "I think we're going to be a very good defensive football team. I'm not overly concerned at this point. We won a couple of national championships when people threw the ball against us early in the year."

If that is an indicator, Solich might be pumping his fist all the way to Tempe.

Dennis Dodd is a senior writer in CBS SportsLine's Kansas City bureau.