LINCOLN - By a show of hands this week, Nebraska senior Mike Stuntz
It happened in a team meeting when coach Bill Callahan asked if any Huskers had been to Waco, Texas. A few hands raised.

OK, then, who has played football in Waco, where NU will meet Baylor Saturday night at 6:05?

Stuntz was the only one left. The free safety, converted from quarterback and wide receiver, saw mop-up time in 2001 as a true freshman during the Huskers' 48-7 waxing of the Bears. He redshirted in 2002, preserving a year of eligibility that allows him to return to Floyd Casey Stadium this week.

Asked if Stuntz had offered wisdom gained from his previous trip, QB Zac Taylor just shook his head and cracked a joke about Stuntz's age.

"He's like 40," Taylor said, "so he's played at a lot of places."

Stuntz found little humor in the comment.

"Maybe it's the beard," said the 22-year-old Council Bluffs St. Albert graduate. "I don't feel all that old or anything. It's just kind of weird when I'm talking about stuff that happened back in 2001, and some of these guys were like 14 years old.

"That's just the way it goes. I remember when I was that young and guys were talking about the '97 team that won a championship."

Stuntz said his 2001 experience in Waco means little today. He primarily watched from the sideline as NU set a school record with four 100-yard rushers. Eric Crouch, Thunder Collins, Dahrran Diedrick and Judd Davies topped triple figures. The game was delayed for 36 minutes because of lightning.

"The stadium was at least half red," Stuntz said. "And it was maybe half full. It was kind of humid, but I'm sure everybody knows that. A lot has changed since then."

Baylor finished 3-8 four years ago. The Bears are 4-1 this week and expecting one of the largest crowds ever in Waco for a game against a school from outside of Texas.

The Huskers of 2005 remind Stuntz a bit of that 2001 team, which finished 11-2 and lost to Miami in the Rose Bowl. Stuntz said he was impressed with Nebraska's resolve in coming back to lead Texas Tech in the fourth quarter last week after trailing 21-0 in the first half.

"It almost reminded me of when we got behind at Colorado (in 2001)," Stuntz said. "Nobody ever panicked. Nobody ever even doubted that we were going to come back. It was the same way last week. It was a good feeling, a good thing to be a part of.

"Instead of going into a mode of what went wrong, nobody seems to care about what went wrong. Everybody just wants to figure out how to fix it."

One man's memory of Waco...
Mitch Sherman - Omaha World Herald