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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 1986)
Wednesday, September 3, 1986 Daily Nebraskan Page 9 5 porta Osborne says NU line, backfield solid; Jones to replace iiywred DiaBose By Jim Ballard Senior Reporter Despite the loss of senior I-back Doug DuBose, Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne said preparations for Saturday's game against Florida State have gone well. "At this point of the season," Osborne said, "we're tired of talking about play ing and anxious to find out what kind of team we have." DuBose suffered a season-ending knee injury during a scrimmage two weeks ago. Osborne said junior Keith Jones will start in place of DuBose and Jon Kelly will back him up. "Overall, we have a good backfield," Osborne said. According to Osborne, Nebraska's offensive line is also in good shape. Osborne said he hopes the Huskers will improve on defense. Iowa State Analysis by Tim Hartmann Staff Reporter Iowa State football coach Jim Criner hopes to make something positive out of a negative situation. The NCAA is investigating 34 alleged violations by the ISU football program, but Criner and his team are not going to let the investigation affect their season. "We don't even concern ourselves with that (the investigation)," Criner said. "We're concentrating on playing football." In fact Criner, who is 11-20-2 in his three seasons as ISU's football coach, is very optimistic about this year. . "We have our best football team since I've been here," he said. It's also his most experienced team. Iowa State returns 18 starters nine on offense, eight on defense and kick erpunter Rick Frank from last year's 5-6 squad. Only a three-point loss to Drake and a one-point loss to Mis souri kept the 1985 Cyclones from going 7-4. If this year's Iowa State team hopes to improve last year's record, Criner said, they'll have to show consistency, something the '85 squad lacked. At times, last season's team looked im pressive, such as their 15-10 upset of Gator Bowl-bound Oklahoma State or their 22-21 victory over Kansas. At other times they looked poor, espe cially in losing to 1-10 Missouri. Another area the Cyclones will have to improve on is offense, where they finished 102nd out of 105 Division I teams in total yards gained a year ago. This year's offense will be led by senior quarterback Alex Espinoza, a two-year starter. In 1985 Espinoza passed for 1,704 yards, which moved him into third place on ISU's all-time passing chart. As Espinoza goes, so go the Cyclones. "We need for Alex to have a good year," Criner said. Espinoza will have a much improved group of receivers to throw to. Robbie Minor, who caught 37 passes his first two years, returns for his senior season after missing last year with discipli nary problems. Returning starters Dennis Ross and Hughes Suffren will be joined by junior college transfers SF 49ers will rip NFC West title from Rams Analysis by Rob White Staff Reporter The tale of how the west was won was told in seven weeks in 1985. While the defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers struggled to a 3-4 record, their National Football Conference Western Division rival Los Angeles Rams went 7-0. By the time the 'Niners recovered, the Rams had all but locked up the division title. This year, look for San Francisco coach Bill Walsh's crew to get off to a little more respectable start before ripping through a, soft mid-season schedule on the way to the Western "We want to play a little better right off the bat than what we did last year," Osborne said. . Last season, Nebraska opened against a Florida State team that already had played a game. The result was a 1713 loss. The Huskers committed four turnovers. "I don't want to overplay that and say that's why we lost last year. I think t hey just beat us," Osborne said. Osborne said the Seminoles' victory against Toledo last Saturday would help them this weekend. "You always like to have a bit of a shakedown," Osborne said, "and they've had theirs, and we haven't had one. We're hoping our players are mature enough and have played enough foot ball that they can gd out and play at midseason form right off the bat, and sometimes you do, and sometimes you don't." hopeful despite inquiry Eddie Brown and Tom Schulting. Brown, who will also be used on kickoff returns, runs a 4.4-second 40-yard dash, while Schulting set a junior college record with 93 catches a year ago. Omaha Central High School product Tom Stawniak will start at tight end and will be backed up by redshirt freshman Marcus Lester. In 1985, Iowa State finished 94th in rushing offense. The Cyclones hope to get more offensive production out of their backs this year. "We have four young men that can do a very good job," Criner said of the running back situation. The leading rusher of a year ago, tailback Andrew Jackson, returns after gaining 415 yards last year. He will be backed by JC transfer Curtis Warren. Sophomore Joe Henderson and fresh man Sylvester Nickerson should also see time at fullback. The backs will have an experienced line to run behind, as all five starters from last year return. - '. : Espinoza Division crown. San Francisco and Los Angeles are head and shoulders above division doormats Atlanta and New Orleans, but San Francisco has the upper hand at the quarterback position. SAN FRANCISCO: Joe Montana is coming back from shoulder surgery and back spasms, but the 49er quar terback should be in top form for the season opener at Tampa Bay. Roger Craig, the first back ever to rush and receive for over 1,000 yards in the same season, is one of the best. Ex-Buffalo and USFL star Joe Cribbs will fill in more than adequately for the injured Wendell Tyler to round out the backfield. Wideouts Jerry Rice and Dwight at-. rvjs; The nationally televised game is the first night game ever at Memorial Sta dium. Osborne said that he doesn't think the lights will affect Nebraska's play. "It shouldn't create any problem," he said. "Most players have played at night; it just depends on how they play." Osborne said he has a lot of respect for the Seminoles, especially their passing game. "I assume they'll throw a great deal," he said, "but you can't defend against that with just the four deep people. We feel the rush will be the most important part in stopping them. "We think we have some talent on both sides of the ball, I guess we'll just have to play to find out. We're obviously going to be playing a team that will give us a lot of information about ourselves, and we hope we're not disappointed." "Those five started as a group from the fifth game on and showed tremend ous improvement," Criner said. The linemen will be led by honorable mention All Big Eight pick Vince Jasper, who is from Omaha Burke. All the talk of Iowa State's defense must begin with their linebackers. "That's the strong point of our team," Criner said. Weak-side linebacker Dennis Gib son and middle linebacker Jeff Bras well, the Cyclones' two leading tacklers in 1985, both return.. The strong-side' linebacker will be returning starter Randy Richards, unless he is unable to play due to a back injury. In that case, sophomore Tim Niggeling will draw the start. ; v The defensive line will be strong at the tackle positions with seniors Greg Liter and Bill Berthusen returning, but the defensive ends lack experience. "That's our biggest area of concern," Criner said. Sophomore John Cinefro, freshman Don Edwards and junior Scott Benson will fight for playing time at the end spots. In contrast to the defensive line, the secondary is very experienced. Ter rence Anthony, the team leader in interceptions and passes broken up last year, returns at right cornerback, and senior Mike Pitts returns on the left side. The free safety will be Brian Reffner, who had 28 tackles against Nebraska in 1985, while seniors Kevin Colon and Terry Sheffey will share time at strong safety. Punting and place kicking duties will be handled by Rick Frank, another returning starter. Frank averaged 40.4 yards per punt last season, hit 11 of 16 field goals and led the Cyclones in scor ing with 47 points. However, Frank is being challenged for the place-kicking job by Jeff Shudak, a freshman from Council Bluffs. "He gets the ball quicker off the tee than anybody I've seen," Criner said. With a relatively easy pre-Big Eight schedule, Criner is hoping for a good season. However, he's still not sure if the Cyclones can defeat teams like Nebraska and Oklahoma. "I don't know that personnel-wise we're as good as those two, but we are better (than last year)," he said. Clark give the 49ers the big play and the possession reception, respectively, though Clark can go for six as well. This is the conference's best receiver tan dem. The 49ers did lose hurdler-receiver Renaldo Nehemiah to the track circuit, however. Without Howard Cosell around to praise him as "All-World," Russ Francis very quietly snared a career-high 44 receptions from his tight end post last season. San Francisco's long-time of fensive line of Bubba Paris, John Ayers, Fred Quillan, Randy Cross and Keith Fahnhorst returns intact. See NFC WEST on 10 . " ' Nebraska's DeLisa DeBolt sets a ball during the Nebraska volleyball team's match with UNO Tuesday night. UNO won the match in five sets. NU .volleyball team ppset m 5 by UN By Jim Ballard Senior Reporter The fourth-ranked Nebraska vol leyball team got off on the wrong foot Tuesday as they were upset by the University of Nebraska at Omaha Lady Mavs, 15-13, 8-15, 8-15, 16-14, and 15-13. The first game got off to a slow start before Nebraska reeled off seven straight points behind the serving of senior captain Karen Dahlgren to take an 8-1 lead. From there, UNO chopped away, and with the score 13-7, the Lady Mavs scored eight points to come from behind for the win. In the second game, again the Huskers jumped to to a quick 12-3 lead. UNO climbed right back, but Nebraska was too strong and held on for a 15-8 win. In the third game Nebraska struggled, but still held on for another 15-8 win. But, from there on out it was all Lady Mavs. Eighth-year UNO coach Janice Kruger said she knew the Mavs would have to give an all out effort. "We knew we had to play with all our intensity, and we just didn't quit," Kruger said. In the fourth game, Nebraska had several opportunities to put the game away with a 14-10 lead. Again UNO T puftn 0fa. Q fict h t By the Associated Press KANSAS CITY, MO. Bo Jackson of the Kansas City Royals beat out an infield single in his first major-league at-bat Tuesday night after hitting a towering foul shot that missed being a home run by inches. In two other plate appearances, both against Carlton, Jackson grounded out to shortstop in the fourth inning and barely missed hitting into a triple play in the seventh. His hot smash was fielded by Dave Cochrane, who stepped on third and threw to second for the N Andrea HoyDaily Nebraskan played tough and came back to win, 16-14. In the final game, it was the Huskers who had to come back. Nebraska trailed the whole game before taking the lead at 13-12. But it just couldn't hold on as again UNO finished out the scoring to win thegame 15-13, and the match three games to two. It was the first time ever that the NCAA Division II school has beaten Nebraska, and it was possibly their most important win ever. "This is possibly the biggest (win) ever," Kruger said. "It feels real good to come out and play that strong." However, Nebraska was playing without the services of their number one server, Tisha Delaney. She has to sit out the first three matches of the year due to an infraction of NCAA policy, when she posed for a calendar last year. "It gave us a shot not having Tisha in there," Kruger said. "It was tough for them having her out, because she's the leader out on the floor." Nebraska will try to even out their record tonight at the Coliseum as they tangle with Missouri Valley conference foe Wichita State. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30. It will be the last home game for the Huskers until the Husker Invite on September 12 through 13. second out Jackson barely best Tim Hulett's relay throw to first to avoid the triple play. In his first at-bat, Jackson, the 19S5 Heisman Trophy winner who spumed professional football for baseball, hit a 2-1 pitch from Carlton 25 rows up in the left field bleachers that third-base um pire John Hirschbeck ruled fouL The Royals estimated that the drive went 425 feet. Jackson hit the next pitch to the right side of the infield. It was fielded by Hulett, but Jackson outran the 41-year-old Carlton to the bag.