The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 12, 1981, Page page 8, Image 8

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    monday, October t2 1931
page 8
daily nebraskan
t i
it Vi yv !
, Av - X V 1 - Jar1
Gill proves ability in calling
plays at Buffaloes' slaughter
By Bob Asmussen
After Nebraska's 59-0 romp of the Colo
rado Buffaloes Saturday in Memorial Stad
ium, the Cornhusker quarterback question
seems to have been answered. Sophomore
Turner GUI stepped to the helm and
connected on four touchdown passes,
tying a school record held by Dave Humm
and Yince Ferragamo.
"I wanted to do well and I did, Gill
said. 4Tm very happy with my perfor
mance." "The first drive really helped," Gill said.
"It made things go easier for me.
The drive Gill referred to was the
Huskers opening drive which covered 37
yards and ended with a Mike Rozier touch
down. The drive was set up by Jeff Krejcfs
interception of CU quarterback Randy
Essington's first pass.
"1 just more or less played centerfield,"
Krejci said of the interception. "It was a
low throw but I was able to come up with
it.
Colorado's next drive stalled after a first
down and the Buffs were forced to punt. It
took the Huskers eight plays to cover 71
yards. Anthony Steels caught a Gill pass
for a 15-yard touchdown.
"The pass to Slick (Steels) was a delay
pattern and I just got the ball to him, Gill
said.
Mike Rozier added a 5-yard touchdown
on the first play of the second quarter.
Coach Tom Osborne said he was surprised
by the final score.
"I thought we'd win but I didn't think
we'd win it like this," Osborne said. "We
needed a game like this to get some people
some playing time."
After Roziet's touchdown it took the
Huskers until the two-minute mark to
score again. That touchdown came on
GUI's second touchdown pass, a 9-yarder to
fullback Phil Bates.
With 1:13 left in the half Krejci got his
second interception of the day.
"They had run the same pattern earlier
in the game and I was aware of it," Krejci
said. "It was supposed to go to the tight
end. When I saw it developing 1 knew the
ball was going to come my way."
Nebraska got on the board quickly with
a 45-yard pass from Gill to Todd Brown.
Then with :18 left, Nebraska got the ball
on the Colorado 27-yard line. The Huskers
lined up for a Kevin Seibel field goal with
:03 left. The 37-yarder was good and the
Huskers went to the locker room with a
38-0 lead.
The Huskers took the opening kickoff
of the second half and drove to the Colo
rado 38-yard line. Gill then connected with
Todd Brown for his fourth touchdown pass
of the game.
The pass was the final play of the day
for Gill. For the day, he went 9-14 on
passes for 178 yards. He also ran the ball
six times for 46 yards.
"G ill had a great game," Osborne said.
"Turner played well in practice Wednesday
and Thursday. He's the starter and he's
earned it."
Mark Mauer took the team on its next
touchdown drive which ended when Bates
ran in from the 9-yard line. The extra point
made it 52-0 and it started a parade of
players from the Nebraska bench. In all, 13
Huskers carried the ball and most of the
players suited up saw action. The Huskers
even used three different kickers.
The Huskers added one more touch
down in the third quarter on a 7-yard run
by Mark Mauer. Mark Hagerman kicked
Nebraska's final point of the game.
Early in the 4th quarter, the Buffs made
their only serious march on the Huskers.
They got down to the 4-yard line but lost
the ball on downs. Bruce Mathison took
over the Nebraska controls and directed
the team for the rest of the game.
Toward the end of the game the
Huskers found they had something to
shoot for: the NCAA record for first
downs. Paul Smith ran U yards to break
the old mark of 40. Nebraska finished with
42 first downs.
The Huskers had 719 yards. total offense
compared to 146 yards for Colorado.
Roger Craig was the leading rusher with 96
yards on 1 1 carries. Mike Rozier gained 95
yards on 1 1 carries.
For Colorado, Rich Johnson had 64
yards and Derek Singleton added 41 yards.
Essington was 4-15 passing for 39 yards
with two interceptions.
' Continued on Page 9
Photo by Mark Billingsley
I-back Mike Rozier (30) leaps over a pile of Colorado defenders but loses his grip on
the football. Rozier recovered his own fumble in the end zone to give Nebraska its
first touchdown of the day. The Huskers went on to a 59-0 win.
Colorado coach disappointed; applauds Huskers
By Larry Sparks
It didn't take Chuck Fairbanks long to learn he still has
some work to do on his rebuilding program. Earlier in the
week, the Colorado football coach said this looked like
the year the Buffaloes might be able to break Nebraska's
dominance of the series. After watching the Cornhuskers
run up a 59-0 win Saturday in Memorial Stadium, things
looked a little different.
"Nebraska dominated the game in every area of play,"
Fairbanks said. "They're a fine team."
"We had more football team than we could handle by
any stretch of the imagination today. I'll compliment
them (the Huskers) on everything they did out there " he
said.
Fairbanks had praise of Nebraska's offensive backfield,
but said he was disappointed in his own team's defensive
showing.
We did not tackle very well in the game. They (Nebra
ska 1-backs) broke a lot of tackles. Some of it to their
credit, some against us," he said.
Shoulder injury
Fairbanks said sophomore quarterback Randy Essing
ton has been bothered by a shoulder injury and that may
have contributed to his passing performance of 4-15 for
only 39 yards.
"Part of it may have been from a lack of practice
preparation," Fairbanks said. "He certainly wasn't in 100
percent physical health, but I don't believe that to be the
major source of our problems. We were just physically
outmanned."
Fairbanks said some of the off-target passes early in the
game were deliberately thrown away because of Nebra
ska's coverage. He was cautious in praising the Husker's
secondary however.
'They have a good secondary with good experience
but they had no test today " he said.
Fairbanks said he wasn't surprised by the performance
Conference Standings
Conf . All Games
Missouri. 1-0-0 5-0-0
Oklahoma State 1-0-0 3-1-0
Nebraska 1-0-0 3-2-0
Oklahoma 0-0-1 1-2-1
Iowa State 0-0-1 3-M
Kansas 0-14) 4-1-C
Colorado 0-1-0 14-0
Kansas State 0-1-0 14-0
Saturday Results
Missouri 58, Kansas State 13
Nebraska 59, Colorado 0
Oklahoma State 20, Kansas 7
San Diego State 52, Iowa State 13
Texas 34, Oklahoma 14
Games Oct. 17
Kansas at Oklahoma
Missouri .at Iowa State
Nebraska at Kansas State
Oklahoma State at Colorado
of the Husker offense, which many had considered to be
a disappointment in the first four games.
"Nebraska played four, very good defensive teams in
their first four ball games," Fairbanks said. "I understand,
around here, people got concerned about whether they
could move the football."
"Sooner or later, people have got to realize, that you're
not going to dominate everybody you play every day."
Quarterback Gill
Fairbanks and several players in the Colorado locker
room were impressed with Husker quarterback Turner
Gill's performance in his first start for UNL
"He played very well. He made some very fine athletic
plays today, Fairbanks said. "He looks like a bright,
promising player for Toms team."
"If they have a quarterback that's better than him that
started before, I don't think anyone could beat them. He's
definitely a good quarterback " nose tackle Sandy Arm
strong said.
Armstrong described the Husker offense as "much
better than UCLA and said it was difficult to play
against Nebraska center Dave Rimington.
Buffalo defensive end Pete Perry said CUs defense
wore down because of the large amount of time it was on
the field.
"The only break we got was their drive in the fourth
quarter. Otherwise, we were always trying to keep our
selves out of a hole. That's tough, Perry said.
Perry also questioned Nebraska Coach Tom Osbomes
decision to go for a field goal which gave the Huskers a
38-0 lead as time ran out in the first half.
Fairbanks said Saturday's defeat dealt a big set back to
his rebuilding program but added there are always things
to be learned from a loss.
"Im extremely disappointed for our playtrs. It's an
embarrassing defeat for them, Fairbanks said. "I wish
there was some way I could help them more than I can
right now.
"It's not any fun for these people to have to go
through this but if this is the worst thing that happens to
them in their lifetime, they'll be all right