Peg 8
Daily Nebraskan
Monday, October 11, 1082
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Huskers halt Buffs' charge,
win Big Eight opener 40-14
Clockwise, starting at top left: Husker running back Roger
Craig (21) tries to work his way around a Colorado
defender in Saturday's 40-14 Nebraska win at Folsom
Field in Boulder, Colo.; Nebraska's Toby Williams
(97) attempts to stop a Randy Essington (16) pass. Essing
ton passed for a CU school record 361 yards against the
Cornhuskers; Nebraska linebacker Steve Damkroger (35)
heads down the sideline after picking off the first of two
interceptions he got in the fourth quarter. Damkroger
returned the ball to the CU 1 1, setting up the touchdown
that put the Huskers ahead 33-14; I-back Mike Rozier
(30) gets stopped by a Buffalo defender. Rozier rushed
for 212 yards Saturday, the fourth best one-game perfor
mance in Nebraska history. The Nebraska fans offer vocal
support for the Cornhuskers after CU game back to within
six points in the third period. Nebraska fans were
estimated to number more than 20,000 in the sell-out
crowd of 53,022.
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BOULDER, Colo. - All season, Colo
rado football Coach Bill McCartney had
primed his team for an upset of Nebras
ka. And for a while Saturday afternoon,
it appeared he might succeed. But Ne
braska survived a shaky third quarter
and went back to what they do best -running
the football - to fight off the
Buffaloes and earn a 40-14 victory at
Folsom Field.
After trailing 20-0 at the half, the
Buffs came out and scored two touch
downs in the third quarter to narrow
the gap to 20-14.
Nebraska appeared to be in a deep
hole after 1-back Mike Rozier hobbled
the ensuing kickoff and fell on the ball
at the Husker 9-yard line.
But the Huskers went back to their
ground game led by Rozier, and moved
91 yards down the field in a drive that
lasted almost seven minutes.
"We kind of relaxed," Husker run
ning back Roger Craig said. "We had to
regroup. With a winning program, you're
used to regrouping. We have the poise to
do it. We've been there before so we
know what it takes to come back."
After Husker quarterback Turner Gill
Husker-Buffalo Statistics
STAT BOX PAGE 8
Nebraska 7 13 0
Colorado 0 0 14
NU - Wilkenina 3 run (Seibel kick)
NU - Craig 1 run (Seibel kick)
NU - FG Seibel 26
NU - FG Seibel 31
CU - Johnson 37 pass from Essington (Field kick)
CU - Johnson 24 run ( Field kick)
NU - Rozier 6 pass from Gill (run failed)
NU - Rozier 11 run (Seibel kick)
NU - Smith 1 run (Seibel kick)
Attendance - 53,022
20-40
0-14
First downs
Rushes-yards
Passing yards
Return yards
Passes
Punts
Fumbtes-lost
Penalties-yards
Time of Possession
NU
31
73446
68
39
6-15-1
441
4-0
4-30
36:34
CU
21
23- 81
361
19
24- 51-2
543
3-1
445
23.26
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Nebraska, Rozier 32-212. Gill 13-69. Craig
13-67. Colorado, Rouson 841, Johnson 2-31, Egging 2-11.
PASSING - Nebraska, Gill 61 58-1. Colorado, Essing
ton 24-51-361-2.
RECEIVING - Nebraska, Brown 1-20, Krenk 11 2,
Simmons 1-12. Colorado, Holmes 7-107, Hestera 6-105,
Johnson 3-76.
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hit Rozier with a 6-yard scoring pass to
make it 26-14, the Huskers went for the
two-point conversion. Gill was sacked
while trying to pass, and the attempt
failed.
Whatever hopes the Buffs had of coming
back were killed on the next series when
Colorado quarterback Randy Essington
was intercepted on the first play from
scrimmage.
Essington's pass was tipped by Husker
linebacker Mike Knox into the hands
of Steve Damkroger. Damkroger returned
the ball 25 yards to the Colorado 11
yard line. When Rozier scored on the
next play, it was all over for the Buffs.
"The interception was a significant
play," McCartney said. "When we gave
it (the ball) back to them then, it sealed
our doom."
Nebraska tacked on another touch
down a few minutes later when linebacker
Damkroger intercepted another pass and
returned it to the Colorado 48.
From there, Nate Mason directed the
Huskers to another score, which came
when Jeff Smith plunged over the goal
line from the 1.
Continued on Page 9
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Photos by
Craig Andresen
Story by
Jeff Goodwin