Eric Crouch

Eric Eugene Crouch (born November 16, 1978) is an American former college football player who was a quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Crouch attended Millard North High School in Omaha, Nebraska graduating in 1997.

As a senior, Crouch ran for 1,277 yards and 15 touchdowns adding 543 passing yards and 5 touchdowns.

Crouch was named Gatorade High School Player of the Year for the state of Nebraska.

He finished his high school career with 5,134 yards of total offense.

Crouch also ran Track & Field focusing on the sprints.

Ankle surgery forced Crouch to redshirt for the 1997 co-national championship-winning season.

In 1998, Bobby Newcombe began the season as the starting quarterback, but he was sidelined by a knee injury after the first game and Crouch took over the starting duties.

Against UAB, Crouch rushed for two touchdowns and completed 11 of 17 passes in his first career start.

1998 proved to be a chaotic season for the Cornhuskers.

Crouch made another start before being replaced by a healthy Bobby Newcombe.

Newcombe started the next five games, but was pulled in the middle of a game because of a PCL strain.

Senior walk-on, Monte Christo, took over for Newcombe, and started the following week against Texas.

With Texas leading 10-0 in the middle of the second quarter, Christo was pulled and replaced by Crouch.

Crouch remained the starter for the rest of the season, which ended with a 23-20 loss to Arizona in the Holiday Bowl.

The next fall Newcombe was named the starting quarterback, and it was rumored that Crouch might leave the team.

Crouch, however, was given significant playing time in the first and second games.

He started the third game against Southern Mississippi, and Newcombe moved to wingback.

Crouch led Nebraska in a season that saw NU avenge its only loss of the season in a rematch against Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game.

The Cornhuskers finished the season with a 12-1 record and ranked No. 3 after defeating Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl.

Crouch started every game in the 2000 season, which ended with a 66-17 trouncing of Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl.

Nebraska's only losses during the 10-2 season were to eventual national champion, Oklahoma Sooners, and the Kansas State Wildcats.

He won both the Heisman Trophy and the Davey O'Brien Award in 2001.

Running Nebraska's option offense that year, he completed 105 of 189 passes for 1,510 yards and seven touchdowns, while also rushing for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns.

He had brief stints playing professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and United Football League (UFL).

Crouch appeared on the cover of the video game NCAA College Football 2K3.

He also is a TV sports analyst and recreational equipment vendor.

In 2001 Crouch had his best year, breaking school or NCAA records almost weekly and appearing to be a serious contender for the Heisman Trophy.

In the first game of the 2001 season, a 21-7 defeat of TCU, Crouch surpassed Tommie Frazier as Nebraska's all-time total offense leader.

He became the Big 12 all-time career rushing quarterback in the emotionally charged game against Rice.

The next week, against Missouri, Crouch was backed up near the goal line when he scrambled to escape from defenders and pulled off a 95-yard touchdown run, the longest in school history.

Against Iowa State the following week, Crouch broke the record for career touchdowns by a quarterback.

Crouch became only the fourth player in Division 1 history to both pass and rush for 3,000 yards in a career with his performance against Texas Tech.

Next, in a hard-fought game against defending national champion Oklahoma, Crouch again showed off his speed and playmaking abilities, this time serving as quarterback and receiver in a single play, the famous "Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass" in which Crouch made a 63-yard touchdown reception.

By mid-November Crouch had set a school record for most career wins as a starter and became only the ninth quarterback in D-1A history to have won 35 games as a starter.

The Cornhuskers were 11-0 going into the annual contest with Colorado the day after Thanksgiving.

Crouch had a career day, setting the school record for offense yards in a single game with 360 yards.

The Nebraska defense was dominated by the Buffaloes, however, and gave up a then-record 62 points to Colorado.

He placed 2nd and 4th in the State Championships in the 100 meter and 200 meter races, respectively.

His 10.4 second 100 meter mark, ranks him tied for 5th all time in Nebraska.