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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1978)
Wednesday, november 15, 1978 page 14 daily nebraskan sports Osborne tells overflow crowd victory was long due By Buck Mahoney "I've been waiting for five years to come to one of these luncheons after we beat Oklahoma and I guess you were too," Nebraska Head Coach Tom Osborne said at the Extra Point Club luncheon Monday. The number of people at the luncheon was the highest of the year. One man said it was the largest crowd since the last time the Huskers beat Oklahoma. The luncheon usually draws an audience of about a hundred people, but more tables had to be brought into the room to accommodate an audience of more than 200 Monday. Th fifth floor banquet room at Brand eis downtown was overflowing and people were turned away at the door. The line for the luncheon stretched across the fifth floor lobby and down the stairs to the fourth floor. Good breaks Osborne said nothing was done differ ently this year than in years before, except this year Nebraska had some breaks and won the game. "Those of you that know me know I'm no smarter than I was last year or the year before that," he said. "Defensively we played the best game we've played against Oklahoma since they started running the wishbone," Osborne said. Nebraska held the Sooners to 14 points and collected six fumbles. "If they hadn't fumbled, they probably would have won the game," Osborne said. "But they run a high risk offense and they accept fumbles as a part of the game." Athletic Director Bob Devaney announced the Orange Bowl Committee's decision that Nebraska was going to get a bid to go to Miami. Oranges away A decision by the Orange Bowl Committee was necessary only if the Huskers lose to Missouri. If Nebraska wins, it will be the undisputed Big Eight champion. The Huskers have not held that title without shanng it since 1971. , Osborne said he didn't think the players needed a lot of motivation to win the Miss ouri game. "They've got a good attitude and good confidence and I think they want to win it all," he said. In the past few years, Osborne has said he thought the Huskers had to play a perfect football game to beat Oklahoma. This year he changed his mind and said before the game that the Huskers could make some mistakes and still win the game. Not so tight "The main concern we had last week was that they (Nebraska players) wanted to win too badly and they would leave part of the game on the practice field," said Osborne. Fortunately, the team was not so tight that they could not play a good game, he said. Osborne praised the defensive line for holding the Sooner rushing offense and he also praised linebacker Bruce Dunning. "Bruce Dunning had his best game ever as a linebacker." Safety Jeff Hansen, who has seldom started during his five-year career at Nebraska, recovered two fumbles and tackled Billy Sims forcing a fumble at the three-yardJine. The fumble ended Okla homa's last drive and assured the Huskers a win. Hansen said the victory over Oklahoma was the greatest thrill of his college career. Hit harder "I've never been connected with anything like that," he said. "From the standpoint of lack of mistakes, I think it was the best game I ever played." Hansen said he thought Oklahoma had an excellent backfield and Billy Sims had a good chance to win the Heisman Trophy. "He's an awfully good back." Hansen said. "I have nothing but respect for all their backs." Hansen added he thought Nebraska played with more intensity and hit harder than any game he has seen. Osborne said one of the keys to the game was for the Huskers to be more physical than the Sooners. He said he was sure the Oklahoma backs never had been hit as hard as Nebraska hit them. "The only way we were going to beat them was to out-hit them. We couldn't out -quick them," he said. Keep it simple Offensively, Osborne praised Andra Franklin, Richard Berns and Tom Sorley for having good games. He also praised the offensive line. "Our offensive line came off the ball well," he said. "We had great ball control. We knew that the more we had the ball, the better off we'd be." Osborne said there are many ways to win a football game but coaches often tend to add too many new plays for a big game. Nebraska's game plan Saturday was to keep things simple. "We wanted to make sure our players knew what we were going to do," he said. "We tried last year, and the year before that, and the year before that to run right at them. . .but pretty soon it was 21-7 and when it's 21-7 it's hard to run the ball right at them like we did Saturday. Bad calls Osborne said he thought a few calls by the officials could have changed the outcome of the game. He mentioned a possible clip on Andy Means during a 47 yard run by Kenny King; a possible motion penalty on Sims' second touchdown ; poss ible pass interference with Rick Berns in the first quarter; and possible fumbles by Thomas Lott on a fourth down before Sims' second touchdown, and by Kelly Phelps on the fourth quarter kickoff return. 'i really don't think the officials will get good grades," Osborne said. "On their second touchdown, there's no question that both backs moved about a foot before the snap," he said. About Phelps' fumble, he said, "The official admitted he blew it." Osborne said he thought that Nebraska had as many bad breaks from officials as Oklahoma had with fumbles. "I think it all evened out," he said. r T i o H, .. I Willi .HI II 1) JIIW. Wllllllllll... .1. - 11 1 .1.1.. mmm JHHU- tt III ilJIJULLJ. . Ill JPI ' Ml . f I; JT) o LJ ........ I Photo by Bob Pearson Rod Horn (55), Bruce Dunning (40) and Jim PiUen (29) sack OU quarterback Thomas Lott (6). Head Coach Tom Osbome credited a hard-hitting defense for causing many of the Oklahoma fumbles in UNL's 17-14 win. Berns, Huskers featured in next Sports Illustrated The Nov. 20 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine will feature UNL I-back Rick Berns on the cover. The caption reads: Nebraska Bursts Oklahoma's Bubble Rick Berns Shreds the Sooners. Sports Illustrated reporter Doug Looney covered the game. The following is an excerpt from his report, and concerns the chain of events following the contro versial "non-fumble play": "The ensuing kickoff runback was a nightmare for the officials and the riled up Husker fans. It was the dreadful kind of play that, had Nebraska lost, everyone would have looked at films of and cursed for years. "They would have been justified. The kick went to Oklahoma's Kelly Phelps, who was tackled hard by Nebraska's John Ruud. Phelps fumbled and Nebraska re covered on the Oklahoma 1 1 . Except it was wrongly ruled no fumble. Oklahoma's ball. "After protesting to no avail, (UNL coach Tom) Osbome immediately gathered his dismayed players and told them, 'They aren't going to take this game away from us. Now go out there and get that ball and we'll cram it down their throats.' "Thereupon ensued the two (Billy ) Sims fumbles, which to the biased rooters in the stands, only evened up matters. "Afterwards, Osborne was his usual, low-key self. He answered a few questions at a mass press conference, then slipped away, in almost unseemly haste, to his private dressing room. ". . . He reflected on what the win meant to him. 'I know of the grumbling that I can't win the big one and I can't heat Oklahoma." he said. 'But football players win games Regardless. I knew I'd better beat them pretty soon. And I also know that a bad ear around here is "4. and it that happened, there w..,jJ he j iot ,,t sentiment to get rid oi me." Ticket lottery scheduled soon Since the confirmation of UNL's trip to the Orange Bowl on Jan. I, 1979, the ticket office has been de luged with ticket requests. Jean Wolcott of the UNL ticket office said lottery applications for students will be available Nov. 27-29 from 9 a.m. to 4 pjn. at the ticket office in the South Stadium office building. One ticket per ID is al lowed and two tickets per ID for married couples. The lottery is open to full-time students onl . (roup must be limited to six. The tickets must be paid for when picked up and duplicate orders will be cancelled. The Daily hraskan will publish the winning numbers m the f riday. Dei l issue
