Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1973)
com Rushing milestone of 1 ,000 yards within reach for l-back Tony Davis By Bill Bennett Many milestones exist in the field of sports. To the baseball player it's hitting 60 homeruns, and to the trackster it's running a sub-four-minute mile, but to Husker l-back Tony Davis, running for 1,000 yards is the greatest milestone of them all. "At the beginning of the season I set three goals," he said. "To beat UCLA, to win the natii nal championship and to run for 1000 yards." Davis' first goal became a reality when the Huskers defeated UCLA in a grudge match 40-13. However, the second goal will have to be tried next year. But the third goal, the 1,000 yards, conceivably can be reached Saturday when Nebraska clashes with Kansas State in Manhattan. After nine games, Davis has rushed for 856 yards in 218 carries for an average of 3.9 yards per carry. Davis needs only 144 yards during the next two games to surpass the 1,000 yard mark. "I'd like to do it this game. There's always a possibility," he said. If he does go over 1,000 yards, he will be only the third Nebraska runner in recent times to reach that goal. In 1971 Jeff Kinney ran for 1,136 yards in 13 games, and in 1950 Bobby Reynolds ran for 1,342 in nine games. Running with the football is nothing new for the sophomore l-back. In 1970 he was an All-State and Ail-American high school running back at Tecumseh. He led the 1971 unbeaten Husker freshman team in rushing with 302 yards despite a right knee injury. But it was an injury to his left knee that redshirted him in 1972. "I had a good spring and was listed as the No. 2 l-back," he said. "But eight days before fall camp I hurt my knee playing paddleball, and I had to have it operated on." After his redshirt year, Davis reported to 1973 spring football sessions with healthy knees and after two weeks of practice was the Huskers' No. 1 l-back. He compared the Huskers' 7-1-1 record to his own 1973 performance. "I've had my ups and downs, just as the team has," he said. "Our first game with UCLA felt like it was at the end of the season instead of the beginning," he said. "We hit an emotional and mental peak against UCLA." Because of the early emotional summit, Davis said the Cornhuskers weren't keyed up to play North Carolina State, Wisconsin and Minnesota. "We got the job done," he said. "We just weren't fired up." "But against Missouri it was different. Everybody was ready to play," he said. "They were a good team, but they also got the breaks. We really should have beaten them." Even though the games against Kansas f 1 0-9) and Oklahoma State (17-17) had similar close scores, Davis described them as being quite different. "Kansas defensed our offense very well and played tough overall," he said. "But at Oklahoma State, we should have beat the hell out of them. We just blew it j it 1 l-back Tony Davis "Against Colorado (Nebraska's next opponent), we finally got it all together, and we really blew it out against Iowa State. We've got our momentum back." Davis said one of his "downs" is his fumbling problem. "It's something I've got to solve myself. I've got to concentrate on it and beat it," he said. "I think now I've got it beat." Matmen hope to gamer trophies in 1st meet By Dave McBride Coach Orval Borgialli's wrestler; get their first taste of action Saturday when they travel to Fargo, N.D., for the Bison Open. Borgialli said he will take 28 or 29 wrestlers to the season ope'ning tourney, which he indicated will be a yardstick for measuring the practice performances of his squad. "They're giving a team trophy for the first time this year," he said, "so we'll have something to battle for in addition to the individual trophies. "We're going up there with the idea of winning one of those team trophies, and they only give one for first or second place." The Huskers have done well in the Bison Open the past two years, he said. Although no official team points were awarded, Borgialli said Nebraska "probably would have finished third in the tourney last year and possibly first or second the year before." Although he lost four of the six Husker wrestlers who qualified for last year's national meet, this year's squad is Borgialli's biggest in his 10 years at Nebraska. The team is bolstered by 11 returning lettcrmen, led by seniors Ralph Manning, Jeff Class and Len Dickinson and sophomore Cliff Myles. Class and Myles were Big 8 place winners last year. Borgialli said several freshmen could see extensive varsity duty this year. A freshman almost will certainly be wrestling at the heavyweight spot, he said, where 300-pound Bruce Conger and 245-pound frosh football player Lawrence Humphrey are battling for the berth. Other freshmen who apparently will see varsity action, according to Borgialli, are Marshall Oliver (150 pounds), Denny Zuk (118 pounds) and Paul Median (126 pounds). The Huskers have two more tournament appearances after this weekend before their dual season begins Dec. 7. "We'll have a better idea of who will be doing what after that," Borgialli said. "We've got a lot of enthusiasm, and the kids are working real hard," he said, "but you can never really tell whether some of these guys will do better or worse in meets than they do in the wrestling room in practice." The Huskers, 5-8 in dual meets last season and fourth in the Big 8, will wrestle against schools from North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa in the Fargo meet, he said. Ross lauds Husker frosh Though the UNL freshman football team saw its 15-game winning streak snapped this year, 24-22 by Missouri, it may be one of Nebraska's finest squads, according to Head Coach Jim Ross. Previous to the Missouri setback, the UNL freshmen were defeated last by McCook Junior College, 21-13, in 1969. "I think we've played a tougher schedule this past season than in other years," Ross said. "Years past we've won all our games, but we never played against Colorado or Oklahoma as we did this year." The freihmen concluded their five-game season with a 24-14 victory over the Iowa State junior varsity last Friday. The win raised the Huskers' tea ion record to 4-1. Other victories came over Kansas State, 10-7, Oklahoma, 13-3, and Colorado, 28-15. "Although several fine players we on my squad this season, I don't think we have anyone who can move right in to a starting varsity position nex year," Ross said. He said he did feel many individuals would see a considerable amount of varsity action, however. It is extremely hard for a sophomore to start on a team such as Nebraska's. Rich Glover didn't play regularly as a sophomore, for example," he said. Ed Burns and Randy Garcia split the quarterbacking chores for the freshmen. Burns completed 16 of 40 passes for 198 yards and one touchdown, while Garcia completed 27 of 42 aerials for 302 yards and two touchdowns. "Both are good prospects," Ross said. Rocke Loken broke Jeff Kinney's five-year-old pass reception record of 16 by three. King Block set one individual record and tied another. He made 100 per cent of his point-after-touchdowns to equal John Starkebaum's 1970 effort He established a new field goal record of four, bettering Daryl White's 1 969 record of three. The Huskers set a new fumbles lost record of 14, which bested their 1971 performance by two. "Records such as losing 14 fumbles in, a season I can do without," Ross said. "However, one must remember that as freshmen they are going to make mistakes-1 just wish it wasn't to such an excess." as,- tL -J4-". i 9mm , ' l-back Dave Gillespie (41), in action here against the Colorado frosh, ieu tne iyo nusKer iresnmen team in rushing with 292 yards. page 14 daily nebraskan thursdiy, novembor 15, 1973 t
