page 10
daily nebraskan
monday, january 12, 1981
Anderson cites 'killer instinct' in football champs
By Bill Dunbar
Despite close finishes the last three
years, the Nebraska football team has not
won a national championship since 1971.
A 17-14 victory against Oklahoma in
1978 cleared the way for a possible nation
al title showdown with Penn State in the
Orange Bowl. An old nemesis-Missouri-had
to be disposed of first. Drained the
previous week in the victory over Okla
homa, the Cornhuskers lost 35-31 and had
The Nebraska swimming and diving
team defeated Drury College 80-33 Satur
day at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The
win pushed the Huskers to 2-0 in dual
meets.
Dave Achtemeier, Dave Goodwin and
Matt Rye all scored double wins to help
UNL capture nine of the 12 event titles.
Achtemeier won the 1000-meter free
style in 9:46.86 and the 500-meter free
style in 4:46.01, setting UNL dual meet
to wait until the following year to defeat
Penn State in Lincoln.
In 1979, Nebraska lost the last two
games of the season after winning its first
10. The Comhusker defense failed to stop
Oklahoma's Billy Sims as he rushed for 247
yards. The Houston Cougars scored in the
last 10 seconds of the Cotton Bowl to de
feat the Cornhuskers 17-14.
The Cornhuskers had at least two pivot
al moments in 1980. A potential winning
touchdown drive in the closing seconds of
records in both events.
Rye also set two new records by
winning the 200-meter individual medley
in 1:57.29 and the 200-meter breaststroke
with a time of 2: 10.48.
Goodwin scored 303.30 and 344.15
points to win the one- and three-meter
diving events.
Nebraska will host the Husker Invita
tional Friday and Saturday at the Sports
Center pool.
the Florida State game ended at the
Seminole three-yard line. They emerged
with Nebraska's scalp 18-14.
And in the 21-17 loss to Oklahoma, the
Sooners cruised 80 yards in eight plays
with only three minutes to go in the game
for the winning touchdown.
Sometimes the defense makes the big
play to win a game, and sometimes it's the
offense that delivers the knock-out punch.
Jim Anderson, a defensive back during the
national championship years of 1970 and
1971, said those teams possessed a quality
that made winning big games possible.
"We had a killer instinct," said Ander
son. "It's an intangible thing, but all great
teams have it. It carried us through a lot of
big games."
Anderson said the defense came up with
a big play in the 1970 game against Okla
homa which Nebraska won 28-21.
"Oklahoma was moving for a touch
down late in the game," he said. "Jack
Mildren (Oklahoma's quarterback) threw a
pass into the end one that bounced off a
receiver and high into the air. The defense
picked it off and won the game."
"In the 1971 Orange Bowl, LSU scored
a touchdown when the defender fell
down," he said. "The offense bailed us out
with a touchdown drive in the fourth
quarter. It got us a national title."
Anderson said the game against Okla
homa in 1971 was the biggest thrill of his
career. Nebraska prevailed 35-31.
"Late in the game it became apparent
that the team that got the ball last was
going to win," he said. "In that game, the
offense got the chance to win the game for
us. They had the kill in them."
Anderson said he feels football con
ditions have changed in the last ten years.
He cited economic conditions and more
stringent recruiting rules.
"There are so many more good teams
today," he said. "In 1971, Nebraska and
Oklahoma were unquestionably the best
two teams in the nation. Nobody else was
close except Colorado and we beat them
31-7."
"It's very difficult to win a national
title," he said. "Coaches and players have
really improved and there are so many
more good ones than in 1971."
"Limits on recruiting have forced Ne
braska to look closer to home for good
football players," he added. "I think only
four or five players on the 1970-71 teams
were from Nebraska."
Men swimmers win dual;
establish records in meet
Despite disappointing basketball losses
Iba encouraged by progress of Cornhuskers
By Scott Ahlstrand
The Nebraska men's basketball team
finished its non-conference season with a 6
6 mark. And although Coach Moe Iba is
disappointed with the Cornhuskers' record,
he is encouraged by the team's progress.
"I can't be happy with our record," Iba
said. "We've had some moments that I'm
note proud of, but I also feel that we've
played some very good basketball at
times."
Nebraska dropped its first three deci
sions of the year, as they sandwiched a 64
53 loss to Idaho between two overtime de
feats at the hands of Wyoming and Creigh
ton. A key factor in the three early season
losses was an ankle injury of senior center
Andre Smith. Smith, who was Nebraska's
leading scorer last year, was injured in the
first half of the Wyoming game, and did
not recover until the fourth game of the
season against Penn State.
"You plan just about every aspect of
basketball except injuries," Iba said.
"When Andre was hurt, it hampered our
whole game plan. He's one of the best
players in the Big Eight, and it hurts a lot
when he's out of the game."
With Smith fully recovered for Nebras
ka's game against the Nittney Lions, the
Huskers trounced the unbeaten Penn State
75-50 in front of a home crowd. The win
was especially satisfying for Iba.
Best game
"I think we probably played our best
ball of the year against Penn State." Iba
said. "We had everything going for us in
that game. Andre was healthy, we were
home, and we weren't expected to beat
them. That was definitely a very important
Nebraska pole vaulters Randy Raymond
and Mark Newton were the only Nebraska
athletes to place in the tcp four of the
Eastman Invitational track meet at John
son City, Tenn., Saturday. The two
Huskers tied for third place with vaults of
16-0.
The Nebraska ticket office still has
tickets for Wednesday's Big tight season
opener with Kansas State. Tickets will be
on sale during regular office hours Monday
through Wednesday. They will on sale at
6 p.m. Wednesday at the B b Devaney
Sports Center.
win for us."
After dumping the Nittney Lions, the
Huskers continued their winning ways by
defeating four of their next five opponents,
losing only to nationally ranked Utah,
57-55.
"Even though we lost to Utah, that
could have been our best basketball game
of the non-conference season," Iba said.
"You never like losing, but I think we gave
a fine account of ourselves against Utah."
Although Nebraska lost its next two
games on the road against Ball State and
Arkansas, they came home to defeat Cal
State-Sonoma, 84-49 in the non-conference
season finale. The win evened Nebraska's
record to 6-6, and it provided the Huskers
with some much-needed momentum for
the upcoming Big Eight season.
While Nebraska won eaily over Somona,
Iba believes that the fans have not seen the
real Husker team yet.
"We showed a lot of character by
coming back from those early season
losses. The kids have never quit working
and I'm sure we're going to improve," Iba
said. "We're not as far along as I had hoped
we would be. At one time in the season, I
thought we were on our way to having a
solid team, but we became too inconsis
tent." Inconsistent offense
Iba said that many of the team's incon
sistencies are in its offensive performance.
"For the most part we've played pretty
good defense," Iba said. "I think most of
our problems are a result of inconsistent
scoring. We've worked quite a bit on im
proving our shooting and recognizing our
shots, and I am sure the team will be ready
for the Big Eight season."
V:JM shorts
The UNL gymnastics team was ranked
first in this season's first national poll.
Iowa State was second, followed by
Oregon and Oklahoma.
The women's gymnastics team will be
on the road this weekend. The Huskers will
compete at Minnesota Saturday and at
Missouri Sunday.
Nebraska's wrestling team has two
meets coming up this week. UNL will
wrestle at Missouri Friday and at Central
Missouri Saturday.
Iba isn't sure how Nebraska will fare in
the Big Eight race, but he is sure that the
conference has established itself.
"It's been a very, very long time since
the Big Eight has had this many quality
basketball teams," Iba said.
"Right now just about every one of the
Big Eight schools is playing well. I don't
know how we'll fit into the race. It's
hard to say. It depends an awful lot on
how much our practices pay off. We're
just going to have to play each game one
at a time and see how well we do."
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Photo by Mitch Hrdlicka
Nebraska's Lance Berwald (54) takes a rebound away from Nick Lekas (41) of Cal
State-Sonoma. Nebraska won the game 8449.