monday, november 28, 1977
page 10
daily nebraskan
.
Kiss Miami goodbye -again, OU beats U N L 38-7
Norman, Okla.-Tom Osborne may be to college foot
ball what Sisyphus is to Greek legend.
According to legend, Sisyphus was condemned forever
to roll a huge stone up a hill only to have it roll down
again when nearing the top. Like Sisyphus, head coach
Osborne rolled his team near the top of the Big 8 Con
ference and the Orange Bowl Classic, this year as in
past years, only to be flattened in the last game by the
University of Oklahoma (OU). The legend lives on.
OU rolled to a 38-7 victory Friday in handing Osborne
the greatest loss of his five-year coaching career at UNL.
Costly mistakes and poor field position plagued UNL
early and forced the team from the game plan, according
to Osborne.
"They whipped us in every phase of the game,"
Osborne said after the loss. "When you get down 14-0
it's hard to stay with the basics. We had to throw more
and then we didn't have the ball that much. If you're
driven out of your basic approach, it's tough to come
back."
The Sooners, third in the nation in rushing offense, ran
for 417 yards against UNL. The Huskers had been fourth
in the nation going into the game but could manage only
190 yards on the ground against OU.
Offense control
"Their offensive line really blew us off the ball," Os
borne said. "They were making four and five yards a play.
Their offense physically controlled the line of scrim
mage so they controlled the ball."
OU quarterback Thomas Lott led the Sooner attack
with 143 yards rushing and one touchdown. Halfback
Elvis Peacock added 123 yards and two scores for OU.
Nebraska I-back I.M. Hipp, who had been averaging
126 yards per game rushing, could get only 33 yards
against the stiff Sooner defense. Backup Rick Berns ran
for 36 yards.
"A lot of the loss was due to personnel," Osborne
said. "Lott made some big plays and they have some fine
linebackers. And Zac Henderson (OU defensive back)
is a fine player."
Henderson intercepted two UNL pusses. Lott was
named offensive player-of-the-game by ABC-TV and the
defensive honor went to OU noseguard Reggie Kinlaw.
Osborne said he felt UNL would have to score "four
or five times to win. We couldn't afford to play with mis
takes. They didn't have any though, and we did."
UNL lost two fumbles and had three interceptions
against OU. But Osborne credited the Sooners for their
dominance of the game.
Good team
"They're an awfully good team," he said. "They're as
good as any team I've seen at Oklahoma. They have great
quickness on defense and in the latter part of the season
their offense has played real well. They have great people.
They just outplayed us."
The loss will send the Huskers to Memphis Dec. 19
to play the University of North Carolina in the Liberty
Bowl. The Sooners will play the University of Arkansas in
the Orange Bowl Jan. 2.
Osborne'said it was a tough way to end the season for
the Huskers but added he expected his team to bounce
back in the Liberty Bowl.
"This is not going to help much," he said, "but we've
come back before. I think we'll play real well down
there." " .
North Carolina finished on top of the Atlantic Coast
Conference this season with a 5-0-1 league record and
8-2-1 overall.
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Story by Jim Kay
Photos by Ted Kirk
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