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Unger in opening meet
by Jim Johnston
Bob Unger took a serious look at
himself after the 1972 outdoor track
season.
Unger, Nebraska's leading long
distance runner, had recovered from a
"weak feeling" to record a 13:36
three-mile in a dual meet at Missouri
last spring before the Big Eight meet in
Colorado.
'That meet at Missouri did a lot for
me," Unger said. "I went into the Big
Eight meet confident. Before then I
had a weak feeling and had to work at
preparing myself mentally to run."
But Unger's hopes were quickly
shattered at Colorado. He slipped to a
14:37 showing in the conference meet
and didn't threaten the front runners.
"I don't like to think I get psyched
out," Unger Said, "but I've never been
able to run good at Colorado. I really
don't know what went wrong there
last spring."
Although Unger's previous times
had qualified him for the NCAA
outdoor meet, Nebraska track coach
Frank Sevigne elected not to take his
top distance runner to the meet
because of his poor showings late in
the season.
"It was naturally discouraging,"
Unger said. 'The NCAA is what you
shoot for. But I understand Coach
Sevigne's decision. I wasn't running
well. I don't think I could have done
much at the nationals."
Unger decided he needed rest. He
didn't do any running for the first two
weeks of the summer.
"It helped," he said. "Late during
the season last spring I didn't have that
mental desire to run. The rest brought
back that desire. It was no longer
Devaney
team needs
consistency
As the Cornhuskers head into their
third game of the season, Head Coach
Bob Devaney stressed the importance
of not "typing the offense.
"We were pleased with the balance
between running and passing our team
showed against Texas A & M,"
Devaney said. "You have to have that
three to two balance to have a good
football team.
"You can't be a consistent football
team if all you do is pass," Devaney
continued. "If we play the type of
game we want, we have to have good
balance."
Devaney said it is important to go
into a game thinking you can do what
you want against a certain defense.
"In the 1971 Orange Bowl they
said you couldn't run against the LSU
defense," Devaney said. "So we just
went into the game thinking we had to
have a rjood running game. You just
can't say you can't do certain things
against certain teams."
:: i
difficult to think about running 70 or
80 miles a week."
Unger now heads into his junior
year at Nebraska as the favorite to win
the Big Eight cross country title. He
finished second in last year's meet to
Kansas State's Jerome Howe, who
graduated last spring.
But winning the conference
championship will not be easy for
Unger. He will receive stiff
competition from John Halerstadt, an
Oklahoma State runner from South
Africa who was not eligible to run
during the first semester last year.
Unger claims he possibly is in better
shape now than he was last year at this
time. But the Nebraska junior has a
tougher obstacle facing him this
season.
"I feel I have to prove myself
again," Unger said. "I look at long
distance running just like any other
sport. An athlete is going to have his
ups and downs. I just have to come
back. I can't let what happened last
spring bother me."
Unger will have an early
opportunity to get back that
psychological edge. The Cornhuskers
open the cross country season a week
from Saturday at Colorado.
"If I run good at Colorado it will
mean a lot," he said. "I'm not letting
the fact that we're running at
Colorado bother me."
But what happens if Unger runs
poorly at Colorado? Will he still be
able to come back?
"I guess I'd just have to prove
myself some other time," Unger said.
'This isn't a sport where you can ever
be satisfied."
And right now Bob Unger isn't
satisfied.
In Nebraska's two games this
season, the Cornhuskers have
attempted 110 running plays and 42
passes.
The Cornhuskers split Wednesday's
practice between the Astro-Turf and
the indoor practice facilities in the
fieldhouse because of rain. The team
originally was scheduled to work on
the grass field to adjust to the playing
surface at West Point Saturday.
Devaney indicated that defensive
end Willie Harper, who did not play in
the Texas A & M game, has recovered
from an elbow injury and will start
against Army. I -back Dave Goeller,
who injured a shoulder last week also
will play Saturday.
Offensive tackle Al Austin still is
listed as doubtful, but Devaney said
Marvin Crenshaw now has earned the
No. 1 tackle position.
"Crenshaw has played some good
football for us," Devaney said. "We
have complete confidence in him."
The Huskers will leave Lincoln
Friday morning and work out at West
Point that afternoon.
jim johnston
follows the Huskers
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5
Flag refs no
by Kim Ball
A flag football official was once'
said to be a "blind-headed dummy
who didn't know what the hell he was
doing."
This is no longer true of the
unpublicized referees of the past few
years. All officials are required to
attend rules clinics.
Phil Sienna, mens intramural
coordinator, says an official "has to
have a working knowledge of the game
of football. He has to know how to
apply the rules. Someone might know
the rules, but maybe he can't apply
them."
A majority of the flag football
officials like their work. They like the
idea of running the show and earning a
little extra cash.
One official, Steve Timmons. says
"I enjoy it, (officiating). I have fun
doing it. That's the only reason I do
it."
Dave Sukup, an intramural
supervisor who has refereed the past
two years, thinks it's "one hel of a
good experience, coming in contact
with a great number of people.
Building pride in your work
(officiating) is a good education."
Another referee, Bruce Evans, has a
different viewpoint. "It's a lot of fun
really. I don't like playing though
because the rules are too restrictive for
me to have any fun."
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longer blind
Gary Rose, who officiates with his
roommate, comments on problems
officials have. 'There are teams that
don't know the rules. There are guys
with big mouths, not matter if you're
right or wrong.
"Being a former athlete, I've been
on both sides. I know how it is to get
screwed, that's why I try to do a good
job."
Thompson says 'There'll be some
guys that are always griping. I don't let
the guys that are griping bother me.
"You can't get to the point where
they are taking advantage of you. You
have to be firm and positive of all the
calls you make."
Timmons looks at it another way.
"If you get the respect of the
individuals, you don't have' any
problems. I 've never had any problems
last year and I haven't had any this
year."
"You take authority on the field,"
says Sukup. "You can't let the
consequences of a game or
consequences of the night get on you
or you don't do the best job you can."
Sukup adds, 'They're there to play
football and to keep their mouths
shut. They don't have to run the game.
They can either hate me or respect me
for the job I do."
"Phil (Sienna) backs you all the
way," says Rose. "It helps to know
you have somebody behind you."