?Jeff really wanted to prove something in the fall,? NU Coach Dave Van Horn said. ?After hurting his wrist in May, he never really was 100 percent healthy. He let his wrist heal over the summer, put on 15 pounds of muscle, and it showed before his back flared up at the end of fall.?

He began the fall on a tear, batting .333 over the first three weeks of the fall before back pain led to a 1-for-17 performance at the Red-White Series. His 11 RBIs during the fall trailed only All-American Matt Hopper.

?If he is healthy, he has the ability to drive in runs in the middle of the order,? Van Horn said.

2001 - Junior
Blevins was one of the league?s top newcomers in 2001, earning honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors in his first spring at NU. The Sand Springs, Okla., product took only one game to earn the starting nod at third and made 56 starts at the hot corner. He ranked among the league?s top hitters for much of the year before finishing with a .313 average. Blevins? switch-hitting prowess helped him rank among team leaders in doubles (10, sixth) and RBIs (44, sixth), while also stealing nine bases in 13 tries.

After a successful regular season, Blevins? season took a downward turn on May 11, when he suffered a sprained right wrist in NU?s Big 12-clinching win over Iowa State. He missed two games, but returned in time to help the Huskers in the postseason. The effects of the wrist injury hindered him, as he hit just .211 with three RBIs, while committing eight errors in 11 contests. During the NCAA Tournament, Blevins batted .167, including a 1-for-8 effort at the CWS. He performed well in the Super Regional, going 2-for-6 with two runs scored and a pair of steals. Although he had only one hit at the regional, it was an eighth-inning RBI single that provided the decisive margin in NU?s 5-4 win over Rutgers on May 27. In his return following the injury, Blevins hit .235 in the Big 12 tournament, including a 2-for-3 performance against Texas A&M in the title game.

Blevins, who hit .297 with a homer and 16 RBIs in 26 conference games, needed only one start to secure a spot in the lineup, going 2-for-5 with a career-best five RBIs in a 10-4 win over Lamar on Feb. 10. He carried NU?s offense early on, going 7-for-13 with nine RBIs in his first three starts and hitting safely in his first nine contests, batting .471, highlighted by a four-hit effort in a 15-7 win at New Mexico on Feb. 16. While Blevins carried a sizzling stick, he was also smooth in the field, committing just one error from Feb. 16 to March 20. Blevins, who finished with 15 multiple-hit games, helped NU to its first sweep of Oklahoma in Norman since 1962, driving in four runs, including a three-run triple in the Huskers? 10-5 win on March 31. Following his outburst against the Sooners, he hit just .270 with six RBIs and one extra-base hit over the next 12 games. He broke out of the slump at Texas A&M, going 5-for-11 in a three-game series. In his final nine games before the injury, he hit .444 (12-for-27) with a home run, nine RBIs and 11 runs scored in the nine games before the injury.

Texarkana College
Blevins was an all-conference infielder for Coach Matt Deggs at Texarkana College in Texarkana, Texas. As a freshman, he earned first-team All-Region 14 East Conference honors, batting .417 with 11 homers and 50 RBIs, while stealing 11 bases. During his sophomore campaign, Blevins hit .353 with five homers and 60 RBIs, highlighted by a school-record 26-game hitting streak. He selected Nebraska over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Charles Page High School
Blevins was a four-year starter for coaches Richie Schuler and Bill Hudson at Charles Page High School in Sand Springs, Okla. He earned all-conference and all-metro honors at CPHS in each of his last three seasons, batting .380 or better and driving in 35 or more runs. As a senior in 1998, he was the runner-up for state player-of-the-year honors, batting .477 with eight homers and 50 RBIs.

Career Statistics