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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
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