The Nebraska Cornhuskers will have a dramatically different look offensively on Saturday when they take the field against Southern Mississippi after their number one I-Back quit the team and their number one quarterback moves over to the wingback position.

I-Back DeAngelo Evans has quit the team, apparently unhappy with his role on the team, according to Husker head coach Frank Solich.

"It's disappointing and difficult for everyone involved." Solich said. " You never want to see a player not be able to finish out his career at your school. That's the way it is and we will need to move forward as a football unit."

Solich said Evans remains on the Nebraska campus and there were no plans of him leaving the school. "He indicated to me that he was not interested in transferring. He was just going to continue to get his degree and continue from there."

Evans battled through injuries the past two years at the University of Nebraska, He was picked as the team's first team I-Back for the 1999 season but saw limited action in the season opener against Iowa after suffering a slight hamstring injury. Against California the following week he made 6 rushes for 5 net yards due in part to a strong defensive focus on the I-Backs.

"I know that was disappointing to him in terms of how it all played out in the first two games." Solich said. "If you could design it differently you would but that was not how it turned out and he just decided not to continue to play football."

No decisions have been made regarding Evans' scholarship status.

With Evans' departure, Dan Alexander is expected to assume the starter role with Correll Buckhalter and Dahrran Diedrick serving as backups. True freshman Josh Davis, who was moved to I-Back last week may also see playing time this year.

The other big change for the Huskers came at the quarterback position. Starting quarterback Bobby Newcombe has been moved to the wingback position setting Eric Crouch as the team's number one signal caller.

"Myself and coach Gill have been in direct contact with those players on numerous occasions and we visited with both of them on this aspect of it and they both feel very comfortable about moving into the roles we have asked them to." Solich said.

Newcombe, a junior from Albuquerque, had played quarterback for the Huskers for the past two years, last season was abbreviated by injuries. Now Newcombe will become the team's second string wingback behind Sean Applegate.

Newcombe struggled at times this season as a quarterback. In his first two games Newcombe rushed for a combined 46 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns.

In 1997 the Huskers placed Newcombe at wingback in order to get him some playing time on the field while Scott Frost finished his senior year. Newcombe caught 7 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown that season.

The move will set Eric Crouch as the team's new starting quarterback. Newcombe and Crouch were tangled in a battle for the starting nod throughout the fall with Newcombe emerging as the starter. Crouch saw substantial action as a quarterback in both games this year and also lined up as a wingback on four plays. In last week's game against California Crouch caught a Newcombe screen pass and dashed through the defense 60 yards for a touchdown.

The position move will also make Newcombe more available for punt returns. Solich has called Newcombe one of the most talented punt returners on the team. In 1997 Newcombe returned 12 punts for 244 yards (20.3 yard average) and one touchdown.