Page 10 Daily Nebraskan Wednesday. October 30, 1985
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By Mike Reilley
Senior Reporter
A depleted defensive end corps has
led to the possibility of a freshman
starting at that position against Kan
sas State Saturday, Nebraska football
coach Tom Osborne said Tuesday.
Broderick Thomas, a freshman from
Houston, has a "fair chance" of starting
at defensive end opposite senior right
end Scott Tucker, Osborne said at his
weekly press conference in the South
Stadium lounge. He also listed junior
Brad Tyrer and sophomore Jeff Jamrog
as possible starters.
Injuries to the top three defensive
ends have forced the lineup shift,
Osborne said. Gregg Reeves, one of the
Rebounds from slow start
original starters, injured his toe and is
questionable for Saturday's game,
Osborne said. Brad Smith, the other
starter, broke his hand earlier in the
year and contracted an infection under
neath the cast. Osborne said the infec
tion requires surgery, and Smith will
miss Saturday's game.
Tony Holloway, a part-time starter, is
still recovering from a knee injury and
won't play either.
"It's a tough situation," Osborne
said. "But we have confidence that the
guys who are going to play can play."
Osborne said Thomas is "a very
aggressive player."
"He has remarkable quickness for
somebody that weighs 225," he said.
"But he has a lot to learn, which some
times worries you a little bit."
Thomas played defensive tackle dur
ing his high school days in Houston. He
made the switch to defensive end when
he came to Nebraska in August,
Osborne said Thomas has made a lot of
mistakes, but they are "usually pretty
aggressive."
"He'll rusli the passer sometimes
when he's supposed to be covering the
flat or he's supposed to be covering
someone man-to-man and he'll go
tackle the quarterback."
"He's one of those guys who may play
the wrong defense and tackle the quar
terback for a 1 2-yard loss or he may give
up a touchdown. He makes the game
more interesting to watch."
But, Osborne said, Thomas doesn't
make mistakes on every play. He said
Thomas has become "much more con
sistent." "Defensive end is kind of like offen
sive line, where it seems to take longer
to develop a player," he said. "It's
remarkable for a freshman to be in his
position now. If he didn't have excep
tional physical skills he wouldn't be
there."
Kansas State, the Huskers' next
opponent, has "played quite well" at
times this year, Osborne said. The
Wildcats won their first game of the
year last week when they beat Missouri
21-17.
"I'm not saying that Kansas State is
m at JiCU
a top 10 football team or a national
power, but they do have some good
players," Osborne said.
He said the team's strength is in its
defensive line. Kansas State's offense
has been "sporadic" this year, Osborne
said. The Wildcats run a variety of
offensive formations, he said.
"It's hard to know what to prepare
for," Osborne said.
Osborne said Kansas State will enter
Saturday's game with confidence since
it is coming off a win. He said the
Wildcats will be emotionally ready to
play.
"Kansas State isn't going to be play
ing for the Big Eight championship, but
they'll be playing a game that is very
important to their programs," he said.
NU's Spachman strives to maintain consistency
By Chuck Green
Staff Reported
Chris Spachman isn't one to look too far
ahead.
Spachman, a 6-5, 250-pound junior from Kansas
City, Mo., is an all-Big Eight and all-American
candidate at his defensive tackle position,
according to Nebraska coaches.
But Spachman prefers to dwell only on tlu
present.
"I can't look down the road too much," he
said. 'There's too much that can happen right
now as far as injuries and younger players
coming up and maybe beating me out.
"I'm not as concerned with the future as much
as I am with the present," he said. "It's next
week and the week after that that counts forme."
'It's been taking us a
couple of series to get
into the groove each
week.'
Danny Noonan. Spachman was named to the
Football News sophomore all-American team
(second team) that season.
Spachman credits his sucess at Nebraska to
the Husker football program in general.
"The entire program here has allowed me to
play up to the best of my ability," he said. "The
coaches and the facilities allow the players to do
their very best. I had some pretty rough times as
a freshman here. There were times when things
didn't go as planned, but I overcame it all. I
guess that's the objective of the whole thing
to overcome the hard times and wait for your
turn to come up."
Spachman said his goal for the rest of his time
at Nebraska is to "give a good performance week
after week."
"I thought I started off pretty slow this
season," he said, "but I feel like I've picked up a
little the last couple weeks. I want to play well
every week, because consistency is the name of
the game here."
The Husker defense, Spachman said,
coming on pretty well."
is
Spachman was recruited by the Cornhuskers
in 1982 while he was at Bishop Miege High'
School in Kansas City. He earned all-conference,
all-metro and all-state honors as a senior at
Miege under coach Bob Tavanaro.
Spachman started at left defensive tackle for
the 5-0 Husker freshman team in the fall of 1982,
then was redshirted in 1983. The next year,
Spachman started every game for Nebraska as a
sophomore except Oklahoma State, when he had
a sprained ankle. But he did see limited action
against the Cowboys, alternating with starter
"We're getting a little better every week at
what we have to do," he said. "We're coming out
and seeing different (offensive) formations and
plays other teams use to try to get us off balance.
It's been taking us a couple of series to get into
the groove each week. In the game Saturday
(against Colorado), they scored on us about the
second drive of the game, but they couldn't move
the ball after that.
"I think the team overall is improving each
week. We're a young team with lots of players
coming back next year, but no one should look
past the possibilities for this year. We can win
the Big Eight and go to the Orange Bowl, and we
can contend for the national championship."
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Dan DulaneyDaily Nebraskan
Chris Spachman, 76, stands head and shoulders above the rest during third
quarter action against the Colorado Buffaloes Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Huskers need 'great effort y to win Big Eight title
Iowa State continues cross country dominance
By Steve Thomas
Staff Reporter
If the Nebraska men's cross country
team is to claim an upper division fin
ish Saturday at the Big Eight Cham
pionships in Columbia, Mo., it will take
the team's finest effort, said coach Jay
Dirksen.
Dirksen said the Big Eight is among
the top cross country conferences in
the nation, and his team has the poten
tial to make a good showing.
"I don't feel like we've really per
formed up to our potential this year,
and that makes it kind of tough,"
Dirksen said.
Dirksen described his team's per
formance this year as inconsistent.
This can be blamed on problems with
not having the entire team together for
major meets, Dirksen said.
"We have only been together for two
meets this year, and that makes it kind
of tough," Dirksen said.
Despite the problem with fielding a
healthy team, Nebraska was able to
capture first place at the Illinois Invi
tational earlier in the year.
Dirksen said his team isn't blessed
with great depth and relies heavily on
three runners. Sophomore Bryan Clark
has been Nebraska's top runner this
year, with Gerard O'Callaghan and Jan
Verster rounding out the other two
spots.
"We're going to need a super per
formance out of our top three runners,"
Dirksen said. 'Two of our remaining
three will need to run well, but the
burden is on the top three."
Dirksen said he would like to place
three runners in the top 15 and two in
the top 10.
He didn't hesitate in stressing the
importance of Saturday's champion
ships in comparison with previous
meets.
"Our whole training program is
geared toward this meet and the dis
trict meet," he said. "We've looked to
this meet all year. The other meets are
pretty insignificant."
Dirksen said upsets were not out of
the question, but named Iowa State as
the solid favorite in the meet. Colorado,
Oklahoma State and Kansas State
should scrap for second place, he said.
"We could sneak in also,, but it's
going to take a great effort out of eve
ryone," Dirksen said.
Iowa State
Iowa State will look to continue its
dominance in the Big Eight for the
third consecutive team and individual
title.
Iowa State boasts five strong run
ners, according to coach Bill Bergan,
but depth is a concern.
"We have a good solid team," Bergan
said. "We just need to stay healthy this
week because our talent really drops
off after our top five."
Bergan said Yobes Ondieki of Kenya
will have a good shot at his third
straight individual title.
Bergan said he expects a stiff chal
lenge from Oklahoma State and
Colorado.
"Oklahoma State has four runners
that ran excellent in Arkansas last
week," Bergan said.
Colorado
Team championships at the Mis
souri Invitational and the Marquette
Invitational marked Colorado's season,
but the chances of a championship on
Saturday aren't good, said Colorado
coach Jerry Quiller.
"Our number two runner (Mick Ban
nister) won't be running." Quiller said.
"We felt like we could have snuck in
second had everyone been able to run."
Quiller said his team is semi-solid,
but not championship caliber.
"Iowa State is definitely the team to
beat," Quiller said. "After that, it's
pretty wide open."
Colorado's top runner, Danny Reese,
should battle for individual honors,
Quiller said.
Kansas State
After high expectations before the
season, Kansas State coach Steve
Miller said his team has struggled
through the season.
"We've been horrendous. We haven't
met any of our goals," Miller said. "We
had a good feeling about our program
before the season."
Miller said he relies on good balance .
with his top five runners. All five have
experience and good track skills, he
said.
"We can't win the meet Saturday,
but we would like to finish in the top
four,"- Miller said. "It's a big meet for
us."