The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 20, 1982, Page Page 10, Image 10
Paga 10 Wednesday, October 20, 1982 Daily Nebraskan Missouri fans not too confident about NU game By Tim Woods To followers of Missouri football, the annual Tigers-Nebraska game has long meant evenly matched, hard-hitting action, often with a season's worth of highlights mixed in. But not this year, according to some Mizzou fans. Missouri, now in its fifth season under Coach Warren Powers, has struggled all season long, including consecutive ties with Big Eight foes Kansas State and Iowa State. Saturday, Missouri looked as though it would run away from the Cyclones in Columbia, scoring two touchdowns within the game's first 10 minutes. "We were in the driver's seat," offensive guard Bernard Laster said, "and that play put them back in the game." In "that play," Mizzou punt returner James Caver was ruled to have touched a Cyclone punt deep within Tiger territory in the first half s final minute. Despite Caver's vehement protests -television replays showed that he was cor rect - the officals awarded the ball to Iowa State. Two plays later, the Cyclones scored on a 4-yard swing pass and Missouri's momentum "went down th tubes," Caver said. "That play was jus like them," said Ed Reed, a cook at a Columbia motel and a Tiger fan since his days at the university during the early 1970s. "Why the hell did Powers even have Caver back there in the first place? "I guarantee you that Nebraska wouldn't pull a boner like that," Reed said. Powers admits that things aren't going so well for his Tigers. "We don't have a lot of confidence right now," he said Monday. "It's like we're just waiting out there for something to go wrong." But can Missouri turn things around when it meets No. 5 Nebraska Saturday? "Well, we'd better," Powers said. "It's getting late in the season to keep struggl ing. Other Mizzou fans, many of whom in the past couldn't wait to play David against the Goliath-like Huskers, are as wary as Powers. "In past years, we had a better chance against Nebraska when we weren't too good," said Bob Dorman, a retired U.S. Army captain and an instructor at the Miss- souri Military Academy in nearby Mexico. "Now that Powers has brought the program up to a higher level, it just seems tougher. "Maybe (Husker Coach Tom) Osborne knows something Powers doesn't," he said. "Because even while the games the past few years have been close, Nebraska always seems to find a way to bet us." A look at the Mizzou-Husker series since Powers arrived at Columbia after the 1977 season shows just that. In 1978, sky-high Nebraska, fresh off its first win over Oklahoma in six years and with a national championship show down with No. 1 Penn State all but guaran teed in the Orange Bowl, fell to bruising James Wilder and Mizzouri, 35-31. But in 1979, when Missouri was picked to finish in the Top 10 in several polls, the Tigers stumbled and fell to a 7-5 record, including a 23-20 loss to then undefeated Nebraska. That game came down to the final play when Powers decided not to try a potential tying field goal and went for the win from the Nebraska 7-yard line. Husker defensive end Derrie Nelson, sacked Mizzou quarterback Phil Bradley, though knocking the Tigers further into the "not-good-enough" category. The 1980 contest featured two 5-1 clubs and promised to be another titanic Tiger-Husker struggle. But early Missouri turnovers dug a deep hole for the Tigers. Husker linebacker Kim Baker's 77-yard interception return of a Bradley aerial applied the finishing touches of a 28 point first half for Nebraska, en route to a 38-16 NU triumph. "We were a little beat up going in there," Powers said. "But you don't beat Nebraska by making turnovers deep in your own end. You may as well slit your own throats. Last year's clash in Columbia matched two defensive powerhouses. Perhaps ap propriately, the regionally televised contest came down to the final 23 seconds, when Husker fullback Phil Bates barreled over from the Mizzou 3 to give the Huskers the win, 6-0. And Missouri seems to have regressed this year, Dorman said. "We didn't play anyone well, and domi nated at Texas," he said. "And we just looked so unenthused in the ties. "In most cases, playing Nebraska would really get my blood running," said Dick Feld, a senior at Missouri. "Now, I hope there won't be too much of our own blood flowing by the time the game ends." . 1 v a Staff Photo by Dava Bant Nebraska wingback Shane Swanson takes a break at Saturday's Kansas State-Nebraska football game in Memorial Stadium. Swanson is on the second-string but has seen extensive playing time because of Irving Fryar's ankle in jury. Swanson adjusts to first-string duty By Tad Stryker Two years after he starred for a small western Ne braska high school, Shane Swanson found himself starting on college football's most potent offensive team, just hoping that he wouldn't make many mistakes. Swanson, playing in place of the injured Irving Fryar, said he was nervous before taking the field at Boulder, Colo., two weeks ago. "The coaches just told me to concentrate on my assignments," he said. "I did, and I was all right. I made a few mistakes, but that's part of the game. You can't keep looking back and worrying about them, or it's going to offset the rest of your game. Besides, youU hear about it Monday, anyway." Swanson, a sophomore from Hershey, also started last Saturday against Kansas State, but returns to the second team this week with Fryar healthy. At the beginning of the season, there were some worries about who would back up Fryar at wingback, but Swanson said he, Jim Thompson and Tom Vergith have provided adequate depth. "Irving' in a class by himself as far as talent goes," Swanson said, "but I feel that the guys behind him complement him well.' Although he has made the jump from Class C-2 to Division I-A football, Swanson said he now feels less pressure - in some ways - than he did in high school. At Hershey, Swanson gained 1,175 yards as a senior I-back, even though he was a marked man each time he stepped on the field. He also played strong safety. "I was expected to do more things then,' 'Now, I feel freer to be more specialized. he said. A little pressure is off. "Now, it's a thrill just to be a part of a great team. I can just concentrate on what I'm doing." Concentration has been important, Swanson acknow ledged, ever since Coach Tom Osborne asked him to switch to wingback on the third day of freshman prac tice last year. Learning to block and to catch the football have been his biggest adjustments, he said. "I didn't do much of either in high school," he said "I mostly just ran the ball." He said the Husker coaching staff has helped him to mature. Fryar, as well, has "always been there to help me," he said. "I learn as much from watching him as anything else," Swanson said. Concentrating on football has taken away time for other activities, Swanson said. That includes rodeo, another sport he enjoys. Swanson used to be a steer wrestler and calf roper during the summer. He competed in rodeos across the state and made it to the national high school finals. "I was the only kid in my school that rodeoed," he said. Swanson said he will decide about rodeo after he's through with football. "I'll probably go back to it after that," he said. "I can do it for the rest of my life if I choose, but playing for Nebraska is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Volleyball team faces rematch with Sooners Nebraska's volleyball team will face an improved Oklahoma team this weekend at the Coliseum, Husker Coach Terry Pettit said Tuesday. "They have a lot of physical talent," Pettit said. "It's just a matter of them trying to fit it together. They should give us a good match." The Sooners, who are M in the Big Eight, are led by Marcy Crabtree. V''g "She's probably their best player," Pettit said. "She played for the South in the (UJS.) Sports Festival this summer." Pettit said the Sooners also return two other starters, plus Jan Flood who was an all-Big Eight selection two years ago when she played at Oklahoma State. Nebraska has defeated the Sooners once already this season, beating them two weeks ago at Norman in the Oklahoma Invitational. "They played us well down there," Pettit said. "It went four games. Their coach seems to think it was one of their better matches." Pettit said he was satisfied with the progress of the team so far this season. "We're the top ranked team east of the Rockies," Pettit said, (Nebraska is currently ranked 11th in the country.) "I didn't think we would be so highly ranked this early in the season. On the other hand, I thought we'd beat Missouri too, and we didn't." Pettit said the Huskers still are unsettled at some positions. "We're a relatively young team," Pettit said, "but we have a lot of experience, too. We've had a lot of our young players come on and press for starting positions." "We have to make adjustments better than we have," Pettit said. "Mentally, we need to handle problems better than we have. I think we're working through it but we'll know a little better after the next two week ends." Pettit said the team's most important matches are ahead. "The next few games will determine who wins the Big Eight, who wins the Big Eight championships and who goes to the national championships." Saturday's game against Oklahoma starts at 6 pjn. in the Coliseum. People having football ticket stubs to Saturday's game will be admitted free. Students with season football tickets also will be admitted free. KETV to air pre-game show Omaha television station KETV has announced plans to have its own pre-game programming Saturday in con nection with the Nebraska-Missouri football game. Channel 7 will b:gin its football programming at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with the Bob Devaney Prediction Show. At 2 p.m., the station will broadcast its own pre game show that will include interviews with coaches of both teams, UNL Athletic Director Bob Devaney and Ralston native Randy Jostes, a defensive tackle for Missouri. The show also will include the pre-game activities of UNL students and other Husker fans. That part of the show will be shot at about 11 ajn. Saturday at Chester fields. Channel 7 will switch to the ABC network at 2:30 p.m for its pre-game show. Kickoff for the game is set for 2:50 pjn.