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It's Nebraska's offense against LSU's defense.
Or is it? Cornhusker defensive coach Monte Kif
fin (with headset) and head coach Bob Devaney
believe the Black Shirts face a similar challenge.
by JIM JOHNSTON
Orange Bowl 1971: Nebras
ka's overpowering offense
against Louisiana State's stingy
defense.
The No. 2 scoring team in the
nation with a 37.2 average
against a team yielding only 8.7
points per game the second
best scoring defense in the
land.
Nebraska does have the of
fense. "But to win you still
have to stop people," says Corn
husker defensive line coach
Monte Kiffin. And that's where
the Nebraska Black Shirts en
ter the picture .
The Orange Bowl is being
billed as a showdown between
a great offense and a great de
fense. "But the pressure is real
ly on Nebraska's defensive
unit," insists Kiffin. "We just
can't afford to give up any
points."
And the LSU offense isn't
really all that bad. It produced
61 points against Mississippi in
the season's finale. "That makes
it a challenge for us to stop
them" offers Kiffin.
The Bengals' offense can be
compared to Nebraska's offen
sive unit of 1969: The defense
carried the load at the begin
ning of the year, but as the sea
son progressed so did the of
fense. And getting to Nebraska's
"weaker" half, there's really no
need for criticism. The offense
did hold the Big Red spotlight .
this year, but that's because Ne
braskans just expect Cornhusk
er defensive squads to be great.
"We started with an inex
perienced defense and we've
come a long ways," says Kiffin.
"The defense has felt on several
occasions that they must come
up with the big game. And
they've always been able to
rise to the occasion."
The Black Shirts will be fac
ing an LSU offense that uses
more backfield performers than
the versatile Husker attack. The
Bayou Bengals switch their en
tire offensive backfield right in
the middle of the game.
"They try to wear you down,
says Kiffin.
Senior Buddy Lee will get
the starting nod at quarterback,
but sophomore Bert Jones sees
equal time. LSU coach Charlie
McClendon alternates his two
signal callers more than Ne
braska .
The Tigers' leading rusher is
junior tailback Arthur Can
trelle. He rushed for 799 yards
and carried the ball 222 times
more than twice the carries
of anybody else on the team.
The Tigers have three full
backs that have all logged
equal time. Although the full
back doesn't carry the ball
much, he serves as the lead
blocker as does Nebraska's Dan
Schneiss.
Del Walker or Jim Bengals
will get the call at fullback.
Wide receiver Andy Hamilton
has caught 36 passes for 722
yards and occasionaly is used
as a back and runs with the ball.
Louisiana State uses a sprint
option offense which does not
include the triple option that
has given the Black Shirts prob
lems. But that's not to say that the
LSU offense won't create any
problems.
"I'm not going to make any
predictions," says Kiffen. "Our
goal is to hold them scoreless
and the team's goal is to win
the game. But I do know one
thing, they're not going to score
61 points against us."
LSU admires its coach just as much
LSU coach Charlie McClendon's
success remarkably parallels that of
Nebraska coach Bob Devaney. Both
have been head coaches at their
respective schools for nine years.
And both coaches are involved in
their seventh bowl game. McClen
don's overall record at LSU (70-23-4)
does not match Devaney's 78-18-1
mark, but it obviously speaks for
itself.
Hie LSU boss has suffered one
major disappointment (if you could
call it that), however. It came after
one of his most successful
Southeastern Conference seasons.
Last year bis Tigers 'aevraged 35
points a game, had the nation's
Stingiest defense against the rush and
won nine of 10 regular season
games.
No major bowl bid, however, was
forthcoming. LSU was left on the
outside looking in after Notre Dame's
decision to ban the bowl ban. The
Tigers voted not to accept a minor
bowl bid.
McClendon was voted Southeastern
Conference coach of the year despite
the bowl shun. A three-point loss to
Mississippi had prevented a perfect
1969 LSU season.
Described as a "vigorous recruiter,
a thorough organizer, a superb tacti
cian, "a masterful manipulator of
strategy and a volatile and human
speaker," McClendon has beaten such
coaches as Alabama's "Bear"
Bryant, Ole Miss' John Vaught,
Syracuse's Ben Schwartzwalder,
Auburn's "Shug" Jordan, Texas'
Darrell Royal and Wyoming's Lloyd
Eatou (20-13 in the 1967 Sugar
Bowl).
McClendon's team also waged a
titanic defensive struggle against Ara
Parseghian's Irish late this season
before dropping a last-minute 3-0
decision.
McClendon was coach of the
American Bowl in Tampa, Fla., last
January and he also coached in the
all-America game in Lubbock, Tex.,
last June.
His own LSU teams have won five
of six bowl games and three times
in bowl games have beaten previously
undefeated teams. Those "upsets"
included a 13-0 win over Texas in
the 1962 Cotton Bowl, a 14-7 win over
Arkansas in the 1965 Cotton Bowl
and a 20-13 win over Wyoming ia
the 1967 Sugar Bowl.
Other bowl wins came against
Syracuse (13-10) in the 1964 Sugar
Bowl and against Florida State (31-27)
in the 1968 Peach Bowl. A 14-7 loss
to Baylor in the 1963 Bluebonnet Bowl
in his only post-season loss.
Like Devaney, McClendon has con-
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1970
THE NEBRASKAN
PAGE 7