page 18
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, September 20, 1tf o
sports
Osborne stresses need for defense to score points
By Buck Mahoney
The importance of a defense that can score points has
been stressed again by Nebraska a Head Coach Tom
Osborne.
Osborne said that when Nebraska had good teams in
the early 1970s that scored a lot of points, seven to 14 of
those points were either scored or set up by the defense
usually on a long punt return or interception return.
The llusker defense has scored two touchdowns in the
last two games. L.C. Cole recovered a fumble against Cali
fornia for a touchdown, and Kenny Brown had a 52 yard
punt return against Hawaii.
Brown has a 30.3 yard average on four punt returns
this year. He may be ranked near the top in national
standings for punt returns.
Brown a threat
"If he (Brown) can get past one or two men and we
can get him some blocks," Osborne said, Brown is a threat
to go all the way."
Brown said that getting past the first one or two men is
the most important part of the punt return because no
body blocks the first one or two men.
"Once you get past them, then you have a wall in front
of you," he said.
The main reason that the punt return game has improv
ed is because the return men are fielding more punts,
Brown said. They did not field any punts against Ala
bama. "This game, coach Osborne told us to field more punts
in a crowd," Brown said.
His 52 yard touchdown return came on a low, line
drive punt, he said.
"It was a line drive kick and they weren't coming up
fast so I fielded it on the run," he said. "It was a return
right, so I just followed my blocking" down the right side."
Fine football team
Osborne reiterated this week that he thought Hawaii
was a fine football team.
"I kept trying to say good things about them and
everyone made fun of me," he said. "I still think they
have a good football team."
He attributed most of Hawaii's difficulties to "some
bad errors in the second quarter."
Osborne said that before the game he was worried that
all the confidence everyone had would make the team
overconfident. He said he thought that showing the team
films of Hawaii kept the game in perspective.
"Our players really did have respect for Hawaii," he
said.
The Huskers played well on defense Saturday he said.
"The defensive secondary, though shaky at times, was
better," he said. "But it is still our major concern."
Bad call
Osborne said that he thought the referees made a bad
call by ejecting Dan Pensick when he was involved in a
scramble to recover a fumble in a second quarter kickoff.
"As near as I can tell, Dan Pensick did nothing to get
ejected," Osborne said. "I was not able to see anything
that would cause a 15 yard penalty, let alone ejection."
On offense, Osborne said that his top three quarter
backs played well.
"(Tom) Sorley played almost flawless football," he
said. "He played well mentally."
Osborne said that what a quarterback does at the line
of scrimmage is just as important as how well he can pass.
In the battle for second string quarterback, Osborne
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UNL head coach Tom Osborne credited all of his quarterbacks, including Tim Hager (10), with good games
against Hawaii.
said it was difficult to judge the performances of Tim
Hager and Jeff Quinn because they played with different
units.
Advantage for Hager
"Tim (Hager) was at an advantage because he was with
the first and second teams," Osborne said.
"Quinn had the third and t fourth units and some
players haven't played before."
Many of the players that saw action in the fourth
quarter have not been running Nebraska's offense, but
have been running opposing teams' offenses, he said.
Osborne said that although Tim McCrady and Dave
Rimington were listed on the third team, losing them is
definitely a blow to the team.
Rimington, who had surgery for torn cartilage in his
knee, was developing into a fine football player, according
to Osborne. He is a 240 pound freshman center from
Omaha.
Rimington may be out
Rimington may be out for the rest of the season and
Osborne said that every effort will be made to get him a
hardship case so he will not lose a year of eligibility.
McCrady, who had surgery for a separated shoulder, is
not eligible for a hardship case because he was redshirted
last year.
McCrady will be out for at least eight weeks.
Osborne also said the kickoff team has shown a lot of
improvement over the last couple of years on covering
kick returns.
Osborne and all of the llusker assistant coaches are out
of town recruiting this week.
He said he was going to do some recruiting in Lincoln
on Monday and in the Omaha area on Tuesday before
practice begins again on a full scale today.
Football still fun after 15 years Andrews
By Mary Ryan
Fifteen years experience is a lot in any field. Especially
in football and especially if you are only 22 years old.
In his first year of graduate school, Nebraska defensive
end George Andrews has been playing football since he
was in the second grade when he joined a YMCA team.
"My dad was a coach," Andrews said. "He didn't push
me, I was interested. I grew up playing football, baseball,
basketball and track.
"I played football just for fun, it was something to do
after school is how I looked at it."
Anderews is still playing because football is fun to him.
"You enjoy what you do and have the talent to do,"
he said. "I feel you are supposed to use the talents you
have. And the games are fun."
No fun for foes
They may not be as much fun for Husker opponents
though. The 6-foot-4, 220 pound Andrews has a career
total of 164 tackles including 31 so far this year. He has
been named the ABC -Chevrolet Defensive Player of the
Game twice, against North Carolina in the Liberty Bowl
(19 tackles) and in this year's opening game to Alabama
(17 tackles).
The loss put a damper on the award, Andrews said
because "the team takes precedence over yourself."
The game Andrews most remembers is last year's 31-24
victory over Alabama.
"The crowd, because we had lost the week before, and
their high rank made it an exciting game to play in,"
Andrews said.
Andrews does not set season goals for himself he said,
but he does set a number of tackles he would like to reach
in each game. He reached his goal against Alabama.
Against Hawaii, he did not play as much because of the
lopsided score.
Best is goal
"I would rather see every body get a chance to play,"
Andrews said. "To play my best is the main goal."
Since the business college changed its requirements 2
years ago, Andrews is taking three undergraduate courses
along with his graduate studies. He said he doesn't feel the
"full scope" of being a graduate student on the football
team but that it "takes a lot of pressure off knowing you
have your diploma."
He said it will take two years to get his masters, but if
he is drafted in 1979 by a professional team, he will "see
how that goes."
"If I have a chance to play pro football, I will give it a
try and work on my masters." Andrews said. "If football
is not around, I would like to work for a company that
would let me go to school.
Leave town
An Omaha native, Andrews said he would like to go
somewhere else after he leaves school because "living in a
different town would be good experience."
Andrews has been involved in the Fellowship of
Christian Athletes for the past two years.
"I became interested through my freshman roommate
Tom Sorley," Andrews said. "It just took awhile to sink
in."
A third year starter, Andrews was red-shirted in the fall
of 1975 and he found that difficult to adjust to.
"At first, it was tough being red-shirted and not
playing," he said. "But as 1 look back on it, I can see that
it helped me."
