friday, October 26,1979
pegs 12
daily nebraskan
mm
Fairbank
is hop
ingfdr a
4-foot snowfall
When the Colorado Buffaloes invade Nebraska's Me
morial Stadium, the stage will be set for another attempt
ed upset of the Buskers second-ranked football team.
When asked how he felt his team would do against the
Huskers, Colorado Head Coach Chuck Fairbanks respond
ed much the same way Iowa mentor Hayden Fry did be
fore the Nebraska-Iowa game in which the Huskers rallied
to win.
In a Daily Nebraskan interview before the Sept. 22
game, Fry said I already know were going to lose.
Fry said he hoped the weather was terrible so the game
would be called off.
Likewise, when Fairbanks was told that Lincoln re
ceived . its first snow fall of the year on Monday he re
sponded by saying, "The snow might be the best thing for
us. I hope there is four feet of snow on the ground this
Saturday.
"I'm kind of hoping it's blizzarding and we might have
a chance then, Fairbanks said.
Fry had said he wasn't worried about playing Nebrasr
ka.
"What I am worried about is getting my players' out
onto the field on Saturday, Fry said.
ON THE SAME note Fairbanks said, "We're not a very
good team. The only chance we have against Nebraska is if.
we play about 1,000 percent better than we have been
playing.
; "Nebraska is a far superior football team than we are
right now, Fairbanks said. "They are just too good.
Nebraska's Blackshirt defense has three shutouts in a
row and Colorado could be their fourth victim this year.
"It may be tough to score on Nebraska, he said.
"There have, been some pretty good teams who haven't
scored on them.
' Colorado, which had a respectable 6-5 record last year
under coach Bill Mallory, returned IS starters and 41
lettermen this year for Fairbanks. His return to college
football hasn't been pleasant because the Buffs are 1-5
and have been outscored 168-76 so far.
Before going to Colorado, Fairbanks was the head
coach for six years at Oklahoma and six more years as the
head coach of the NFL New England Patriots.
I At OU, Fairbanks was 52-15-1. His teams finished in
the nation's top ten four of six years and were 3-3 against
Nebraska.
AFTER FINISHING second in the nation behind USC
in 1972, Fairbanks tried his hand at coaching in the NFL
His pro career record was 4640 and two of his six
Patriot teams made the NFL playoffs.
So, Fairbanks last twelve years as a head coach, have
given him a combined record of 98-55-1 in both ranks.
Fairbanks said his move to Colorado probably hasn't
turned out to be the best thing he's done.
"Pm not used to losing, he said.
Comparing the two teams, the Huskers look awesome
compared to the Buffaloes, who will have a difficult time
trying to stampede over the Huskers defense or trying to
stop Osborne's nationally leading offense.
CU ranks sixth or below in six Big Eight categories:
total defense (7th), total offense (6th), rushing offense
(6th), rushing defense (last), scoring offense TJth) and
scoring defense (last).
On the other Mnd, the 6-0 Huskers are nationally
ranked in many of the same categories and lead the Big
Eight in all of them. Conference leading categories with
national ranking include: total offense (first), total
defense (fourth), rushing offense (second), rushing de
fense (second), scoring offense (third), and scoring de
fense (seventh). .
The figures do look pretty imposing, but remember
what Iowa did just five weeks ago.
Huskers aim to stampede the Buffs
By Ed McClymont
The second-rated Nebraska Cornhuskers will attempt
to continue their dominance over Colorado when the
Buffaloes come to Lincoln Saturday.
Nebraska has lost to Colorado only once in the last 17
years. The Buffs took a 21 -1 6 decision in Lincoln in 1967.
And if the first six games of the 1979 season are any
indication it appears that Colorado is going to be hard
pressed to endjhe losing string. The Nebraska Blackshirts
have posted three straight shutouts while the offense is
atop the nation's offensive charts.
"The offense has taken a lot of pressure off the
defense because they've been able to take a lot of time off
the clock, defensive coordinator Lance Van Zandt said.
Although the defense has posted the shutouts Van
Zandt said they've been doing nothing different in the last
three weeks.
"We played good the first three games, it's just that
everybody got upset when Utah State threw for 200 yards
and they turned out to be second in the nation in
passings
) . a:
.CO.-
SENIOR MONSTER BACK Mark Leroy felt the
Huskers first two games were good testers for the
Blackshirts. "
"Our first game we played a great passing team and
only gave up 14 points, and our second game we had a lot
of turnovers and were able to overcome them,' Leroy
said 'We just didn't know how good we could be .
Defens&shooting for fourth shutout
This columnist finally bounced back up above the 70
percent mark in predictions by hitting 24 of 32 games last
week for 75 percent. That makes the season tally 156-62-5
for 71 5 percent.
After eight weeks, the number of -undefeated teams in
NCAA Division I-A play has dwindled to 13 and that
number will shrink even more after this week's slate. But
Nebraska won't be among the victims,
i Colorado at Nebraska-The Husker defense will be
shooting for their fourth straight shutout and they might
get it if the Colorado offense is as bad as Chuck Fairbanks
says it is. Fairbanks was asked why his team
threw 37 times against Missouri last week. Chuck said:
we threw jv times because we can t run. uui mucn or
the Nebraska defensive success has come about because
the offense hasn't turned the ball over in the last two
games. The Huskers week-by-week improvement has been
astounding, but they can't afford to get sloppy and leave
. the ball lying around for a bunch of hungry Buffaloes to
gobble up. Having already played Oklahoma and being
1 -5, this is CUs bowl game," and it could be a bit closer
than one might expect. . . Nebraska 3 1 , Colorado 15.
IImtnn at A rlrancac ftno ruvnrrAn ttit
persisted through the first seven weeks of the football
season is when a Top 10 rated team plays highly ranked
opponents two weeks in a row; the Top 10 team wins the
first game and loses the second. As a pair of examples,
Notre Dame nipped Michigan 12-10, then lost to Purdue
28-22 the next week. And Texas beat Oklahoma 16-7,
then fell to Arkansas 17-14 the following Saturday. Now
Arkansas, ranked 4th in AP and 5th in UPI, must follow
up its emotional upset of the Longhorns by meeting
Houston, ranked 4th in UPI and 6th in AP. Part-time
magician and full-time Hog. football coach Lou Holtz
pulled one rabbit out of his hat last week, but it will
probably take a trick in the magnitude of a Houdini
escape to get his players emotionally prepared for this
one. Ask Tom Osborne how easy it was to prepare for
Missouri last year after the Huskers upset Oklahoma the
previous week. Look for this trend to continue . . .
Houston 20, Arkansas 17.
Auburn at Wake Forest-By entering the year with a
10-game losing streak and being a consensus choice to
finish last in the ACC, Wake Forest, with a 6-1 record,
may be the best kept secret in college football. With only
a field goal loss to North Carolina St. and wins over
Maryland,' North Carolina and Georgia, the Demon
Deacons are proving they can play something else in
college athletics than golf. Auburn is 5-1 this year, but 0-1
against the NCAA-the Tigers are on probation for"
recruiting violations. We say the Wake Forest Cinderella
story will go at least one more chapter . . . Wake Forest
19, Auburn 13.
Florida St. at LSU-It's "Upset Special" time. The
. seventh-ranked Seminoles are 6-0 and well-known for
being tough at home in their own "pit." But they haven't
seen anything until they ride into Baton Rouge on an
unbearably sultry Saturday night to play among the LSU
VChinese bandits." ... LSU 35, Florida St. 24.
Virginia Tech at Alabama-Another "bill paying game
for the Crimson Tide. The Bear brings in a group of slabs
for his boys to pound on, guarantees the opponents a set
fee and deposits the rest in the athletic department
coffers. This is the third time we've listed Alabama in the
"Wipeoutof the Week." No, that doesn't tell you how
good they are. But it might tell you what kind of schedule
they play . . . Alabama 53, Virginia Tech 7.
Other Games Saturday
Midwest-Oklahoma over Iowa St.; Missouri over
Kansas St.; Kansas over Oklahoma St.; Minnesota over
Illinois; Michigan over Indiana; Wisconsin over Iowa; Ohio
St. over Michigan St.; Purdue over Northwestern; Notre
Dame over South Carolina.
South-Georgia over Kentucky; North Carolina over
East Carolina; Tulane over Georgia Tech; Mississippi St.
' over So. Mississippi. ,
Southwest-Texas A&M over Rice; Texas over SMU;
Baylor over TCU.
East-Maryland over Duke; Penn St. over West
Virginia; Pittsburgh over Navy; Syracuse over Miami
(Fla.). . -
West-USC over California; Colorado St. over Air
Force; Washington over UCLA; Oregon over Washington
St.; Arizona St. over Utah St.; Stanford over Oregon St.;
BYU over New Mexico.
Middle guard, Kerry Weinmaster, said the defense
wasn't familiar with each other at the beginning of the
season. .
"It took a while for everyone to get used to each
other, Weinmaster said. "We're starting to jell together
now."
Van Zandt said the defense has a lot of pride in
themselves. The reason we play well is because we practice
well. It really takes a dedicated effort in practice, and I
also think our players prepare themselves well mentally ,
Van Zandt said. '..
'Y ou dont see a lot of our players around the Union
messing around. They re usually up here watching films. It
takes this kind of dedication to be a good football team.
Van Zandt said most of the defensive play is
recognition and the more times they watch the play on
firm the belter theyie going to be able to recognize it
Saturday.
THE LAST TIME a Chuck Fairbanks team came to
Lincoln was in 1972 when Oklahoma avenged its loss in
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over the Huskers. " .
Fairbanks return to the Big Eight hasn't been quite as
sweet as his departure, however. The Buffs will have to
win the rest of their games to equal last years 6-5 record,
one that got Bill Mallory fired. Colorado has improved
over the last three games, including a near upset of
Missouri a week ago. The Buffs had four chances to score
from the Missouri six-yard line, the last with 12 seconds
on the clock. ,
Individually, Colorado has decided on Bill Solomon as
the full-time quarterback, according to head Nebraska
coach Tom Osborne.
Earlier in the season the Buffaloes had been switching
Solomon and Charlie Davis.
THE STRONGEST AREA for Colorado this year is in
the defensive backfield where the four starters have a
combined total of 13 years experience.
"
Mark Haynes and Mike Davis are both in their fourth
year of starting, Jesse Johnson in his third year and Tim
Roberts in his second. They are currently second in the
Big Eight in pass defense. However in rushing defense the
Buffs find themselves in the cellar giving up 234 yards a
game.
Offensively, Colorado averages 267 yards a game. Van
Zandt is hoping the Buffs put up a lot of passes.
"I hope they have to pass a lot because that means
we've shut them down on their running game," Van Zandt
said.
Monster Mark LeRoy is also anticipating an aerial
- circus on the Buffs part .
"Colorado has been getting better, but we're not going
to change anything- for them," LeRoy said. "I'm
expecting them to pass a lot. They have a quick split end
(16-year-old Don Holmes).
Van Zandt said that even though Colorado is 1,5,
beating Nebraska would be a big, big victory for them.
M;.,f?oubtfultto Play fr the Huskers Saturday are Brent
Williams with a nagging ankle injury and Paul Letcher,
with a knee injury.
