page 10
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, november 1, 1978
o
sports
Cornhusker kickers give team an advantage, to boot
By Buck Mahoney
The importance of the kicking game was
evident Saturday in Nebraska's 22-14 win
over Oklahoma State University and UNL
Head Coach Tom Osborne was stressing
that importance Monday.
"Kicking was the major difference in
the game," Osborne said.
The strength of the Husker kicking
game was shown in the final statistics. Billy
food had 10 of Nebraska's 22 points, Tim
Smith had a 42.6 yard punting average to
Oklahoma State's 33.5 and Nebraska had
83 return yards to the Cowboys eight,
thanks to two long punt returns by Frank
Lockett and Kenny Brown.
For the second week in a row, Todd
kicked three field goals in one game, one
short of the Husker record held by Paul
Rogers in the 1969 Sun Bowl.
Todd said the importance of the kicking
game varies from game to game.
Preparation different
"Sometimes it is very important," Todd
said. "It depends on the opponent and the
course of the game."
Todd said kickers prepare for a game
differently than other players.
"You have to treat every game as being
equally important, you can't rely on being
emotional. Every kick has to be the same,"
he said.
When Nebraska won national champion
ships in 1971 and 1972, part of the reason
was the kicking of record holders Paul
Rogers and Rich Sanger. Todd is approach
ing many of the records held by the former
Huskers.
"I try not to think about it (record
setting) during the year," he said. "I just
try to make every one I get a chance to
make."
Punter Smith said the most important
factor in the punting game is the field pos
ition that the opponent has after the punt.
"The important statistic is net yardage,"
he said. "A punt shouldn't work like an
offensive play for them."
Up, up and away
Smith also said that consistency is
important to a punter.
"If you can average 40 yards per punt
and be consistent, you can pin them down
deep," he said. "Not having one blocked or
shanked or giving up a long return is more
important than your average."
Smith has not had a punt blocked in
two years. He added that he thought an 18
yard shanked punt by Oklahoma State
punter Kris Lungaard was one of the key
plays in the game.
Although the kicking game was most
visible in the win, Osborne said the team
played better than the score may have
indicated.
Osborne credited Oklahoma State with
having played a big part in keeping the
game close.
"Jim Stanley (Oklahoma State head
coach) admitted to (UNL defensive coach)
Lance (Van Zandt) that they played heir
best game of the year," Osborne said. "But
you hate to get down to where you have to
count on their quarterback overthrowing
their receiver in the end zone."
Burk best
In spite of Cowboy quarterback Scott
Burk's bad pass on the last offensive play
by Oklahoma State, Osborne said Burk was
the most impressive player that Nebraska
has played against this year. He called Burk
an excellent runner and team leader.
"You have to give a lot of credit to
Oklahoma State, and they deserve it, but
we didn't tackle well and at times they
controlled the line of scrimmage offensive
ly," he said.
Injuries played an important part in
determining the outcome of the game,
according to Osborne.
"They lost John Corker, a great line
backer, and I think it hurt them," he said.
Injuries problem
The Huskers were also hurt by injuries.
Rick Berns, Tim Wurth and Andra Franklin
all left the game with injuries.
"When three out of our top four
running backs were out of there it hurt us
and we weren't moving the ball," he said.
"When Rick Berns was out, we weren't as
good."
Osborne said the first possessions of
each half were critical in determining the
outcome and momentum of the game.
"In the first half, we fumbled the bail
and gave them encouragement. Then they
marched down the field and scored and
there was no doubt they could play with
us," he said. "Then in the second half they
put together that 80-yard drive.
"It's the little things like momentum
that make the difference," he said.
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Wingback Kenny Brown (22) piles up yardage on punt returns, helping the Huskers beat Oklahoma State 22-4
Athlete divides his time between diving and gymnastics
By Mary Ryan
Perhaps in the next edition of the
Guiness Book of World Records, there will
be a listing that will look something like
this: Tumbling, Most difficult trick -a
double-back somersault with a triple twist
by Steve Elliott of Amarillo, Tex.
Elliott, 18, now a diver and occasional
gymnast at UNL, performed the trick last
year at a meet in Poland.
"It is the hardest trick ever done in
tumbling," Elliott said. "I learned it on the
trampoline last summer and within two
months, I did it on the floor."
Attending UNL on a diving scholarship,
Elliott will compete in the tumbling and
vaulting events in gymnastics meets when it
does not conflict with diving. He said he
probably won't perform the record trick at
any of the meets.
"As Francis (Allen, gymnastics coach)
said, "He is a diver and I get what is left
over,' " Elliott said.
Both sports competition
He had offers from several other schools
to compete in either diving or gymnastics
but chose Nebraska because he would be
allowed to compete in both sports as much
as possible.
"I had several diving offers and I was
real confused which way to go," Elliott
said. "I had always wanted to go into gym
nastics but since I hadn't had any gymnas
tic coaching, I felt like I would go ahead
and dive for a few years in college."
He also said the attention he got from
the coaches at UNL helped him make his
decision.
"When the coach called four or five
times I began to think they were really
interested and that inspired me also," he
said.
First year diving coach Jeff Huber said
he learned about Elliott from a friend of
his who is now coaching at the University
of Tennessee.
"I couldn't make the (AAU prequalify
ing) meet," Huber said. "It was before I
was hired. . .fortunately Steve had been
overlooked because he had not had a real
good state meet. We signed Steve without
ever having seen him dive."
An Ail-American the past two years in
both tumbling and diving, Elliott competes
in both the one and three meter dives.
He said he works out three hours in the
afternoon on diving and on Wednesday
and on Sundays he works out on
gymnastics.
Tumbling different
Tumbling is different from gymnastics
in that it mainly consists of hand balancing
routines. Tumbling is just one of the events
performed in acrobatic competition, Elliott
said.
A member of the United States Inter
national Tumbling Team the last three
years, Elliott has just returned from the
World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
He placed third in the competition with
athletes from nine other countries and
took bronze and silver medals in individual
routines.
This past July. Elliott won three golds
and a silver in the World Age Group
Championships in Honolulu.
Elliott began tumbling when he was six
years old and had also done a "little diving
on my own when I was a little younger."
"The main thing I like is just the active
maneuvering of myself in the air where it is
an individual effort," Elliott said of the
two sports. "Both diving and tumbling are
flipping and are not like golf where you hit
a ball, or football, which is a team sport -they
are individual."
Fans of the team sport of football have
seen Elliott performing gymnastics tricks
in the end zones with members of the gym
nastics team. Elliott said he plans to lead
the Cornhuskers out with a series tf back
handsprings down the length of the
field before the Oklahoma game.
Oklahoma game on TV
ABC-TV has announced that the
iNeoraska-Uklahoma football
Lincoln on Nov. 1 Wj be
nationally.
in
game
televised
The Sooners currently are ranked
numoer one in the nation bv the
wire
service polls and the Huskers are ranked
fourth.
The kickoff, however, has been
moved up from l Ju pjn. to noon to ac
commodate the coverage. ABC also an
nounced it will air a half hour pre -game
show.