Snorts
Blakeman glad to help;
first home start a treat
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
Nebraska quarterback Clete
Blakeman hopes someday to be a
defender of the law, but on Saturday'
he will defend the Comhuskcrs’ right
to an undefeated season when he
starts against Kansas,
Blakeman, who plans to enter law
school next fall, will make his second
career start when the Jayhawks travel
to Memorial Stadium to face the 4-0
Huskers. The game begins at 1:30
p.m.
Blakeman said the starting assign
ment is rare because he has started
only two varsity
games during his
four-year Ne
braska career. He
will replace Steve
Taylor, who suf
fered a bruised
left shoulder and
asevere headache
during the Husk
ers’ 30-21 victory
over South Caro
lina.
Blakeman said he is looking for
ward to his first varsity start in Lin
coln. Hisonly other varsity start came
last season, when he led Nebraska to
a 70-0 victory over Kansas in Law
rence, Kan.
“I’m just happy to be starting,”
Blakeman said. It doesn’t matter
against who, but I’m excited about
this coming weekend. It does mean a
lot to be starling at Memorial Sta
dium. I have friends and family here,
and the first start is something I have
always looked forward to.”
Blakeman said his preparation for
the game is no different than usual.
“I don’t put any extra added pres
sure on myself this week when I go
about it,” Blakeman said. “Mentally,
it is still the same. The only thing
different is the amount of snaps I’m
taking with the number-one offense
this week as compared to others.”
Blakeman entered the South Caro
lina game on the last play of the third
quarter and led the Huskers to a 17
point fourth-quarter rally. He said
that experience will help him handle
any pressure he may feel against
Kansas.
“At the time I came into the game,
I was just hoping that I could come in
and add a little bit to the team and
maybe pump them up and gel going.
Looking back at it, it’s exactly what
happened,” Blakcman said. “I think
the team sparkled a little bit and we
decided what we really needed to get
done.”
Blakeman fumbled during his first
drive against South Carolina. He said
he didn’t lei the turnover bother him
so he would be ready tor his second
drive.
“When I came in the second time
I was really keyed up, and I tried to
concentrate on the offense and take
one play at a time,” Blakeman said.
“When I came in, I thought it was a
feeling where the team needed some
thing and I could supply it. It was a
tremendous confidence builder for
me and I think for the other 10 guys in
the offense.
“Being down we had to come
back, and we did.”
Blakeman said Nebraska’s atti
tude changed after the South Carolina
game.
“Saturday showed that certainly
Steve is a great player and we’re a
great team with him, but I think it
brought us all together last weekend,”
Blakcman said. “We realized that we
lost our big play offensive man so us
II would have to join together and get
the job done.”
Blakcman said it wasn’t his per
formance alone that enabled the
Huskers to post the come-firom-be
hind victory over South Carolina. He
said the entire Nebraska offense de
serves equal credit for the win.
Blakcman said he thought
Nebraska’s offense controlled South
Carolina’s defense in the fourth quar
_See BLAKEMAN on U
Kansas coach expresses
respect for Husker team
By Tim Hartmann
Senior Reporter
When Kansas football coach Bob
Valescntc says Nebraska is one of the
best teams in the country, he means it.
“I’d rather play one of those NFL
replacement teams than have to play
Nebraska,” Valescntc said. “They’re
solid.”
Kansas, 1-3, broke a 10-game los
ing streak Saturday by defeating
Southern Illinois 16-15 in l^awrcncc,
Kan. I'he win
snapped the Jay
hawks’ second
longest losing
streak in their 97
ycar football his
tory.
“Any lime you
win you are happy,
especially when
you break a losing Valesente
streak like the one
we had," Valesente said. “I’m not
pleased with everything, but it’s nice
to win.”
Kansas offensive tackle Bryan
Howard agreed.
“I feel like somebody took an anvil
off my head,” Howard said.
Valesente said the win will give his
team some confidence going into this
week’s game with the Comhuskcrs,
but that won’t be enough.
“When you play a team like Ne
braska, you have got to have a lot more
than momentum,” he said. “They
have 20 years of redshirting and tradi
tion behind them.”
Valesente said he hopes to build a
program at Kansas like the one at
Nebraska.
“They have what I think is a com
plete program,” he said. “They arc
very far ahead of us in regards to the
redshirt program. They have been
doing it for 20 years and wc have only
been doing it for one. It shows on the
field in their experience, execution
and the way they can dominate an
opponent
“Wc are in the process of building
a program like that. 1 only redshirted
16 players last year and 18 players th is
season, but hopefully some day wc
will have a program like that.”
Valcscntc said Kansas will not
only be playing the likes of Keith
Jones, Broderick Thomas and Neil
Smith, but also will be facing
Nebraska’s tradition.
“Wc arc not only playing this
year’s team, we’re playing 20 years of
tradition,” he said.
The Jayhawks return their top two
quarterbacks, senior Mike Orth and
sophomore Kelly Donohoe. But
Valcscntc said Kevin Verdugo, a 6
foot-4,200-pound freshman, will start
against Nebraska.
Verdugo directed a late scoring
drive while throwing for 128 yards to
lead Kansas past Southern Illinois.
The Southern Illinois game was his
first start, Valcscntc said, “and he got
the win, so that says something.”
But Valcscntc knows that Southern
Illinois is not Nebraska, and he said it
will take a big effort from his team to
beat the Huskcrs.
“It would take a lot of prayers and
a lot of turnovers by Nebraska,” he
said. “It’s areal credit to Tom Osborne
and his staff that they keep this kind of
program in operation.”
Andrea Hoy/Daily Nebraskan
Williams
Varsity debut is sweet revenge
for freshman fullback Randy Williams
By Kent Endacott
Staff Reporter _
Revenge is all the motivation
Nebraska fullback Randy Wil
liams needs.
Williams, a 6-foot-3, 225
pound freshman from Broken Ar
row, Okla., is expected to make his
varsity debut against Kansas Satur
day. Williams said he wants to
make it big at Nebraska to show his
high-school football coach he was
worth recruiting.
He claims his coach, Gary
Harper, didn’t like him and encour
aged recruiters to stay away.
"My head coach back in high
school went to the University of
Oklahoma and played football for
Oklahoma,” he said. "The way he
feels is if you ’re not good enough to
go to Oklahoma, then you’re not
good enough to go anywhere. They
were recruiting me, but he told
them I wasn’t worth their time. He
told a lot of schools I wasn’t worth
their time.
"So a lot of schools started to
back off. I was recruited by Ala
bama, Notre Dame, Penn State,
Georgia and all of the Southwest
Conference teams and all the teams
in the Big Eight.”
Harper denied that he had dis
couraged recruiters from pursuing
Williams. He also refused to dis
cuss the nature of his conflict with
Williams.
“That is a lie,” Harper said. “I
did not discourage recruiters. The
only thing I’m going to tell you is
Randy Williams is a fine athlete.
And dial’s it... If you want to know
that truth, talk to the Nebraska
coaches, they know the truth.”
Nebraska on-campus recruiter
Dave Gillespie said he never heard
any stories to indicate Williams
“was anything other than a good
person.”
Williams said his problems with
Harper began in his junior year
when he transferred to.Tulsa
County Alternative School after
the Broken Arrow Senior High
administration threatened to sus
pend him for skipping school. He
relumed to Broken Arrow for his
senior season, led the team in rush
ing and was named the Frontier
Conference’s Most Valuable
Player.
He also was included on several
blue-chip lists.
By then, however, most schools
had stopped recruiting him.
“He (Harper) told a whole
bunch of coaches I was just a troub
lemaker, not worth their time, and
I was uncoachable,” Williams
said. “I really don’t feel like that
was true. All my assistant coaches
really liked me.”
Oklahoma State Director of
Athletic Recruiting Gordon
Whitcner said the Cowboys had
lost interest in Williams because
Oklahoma stopped recruiting him.
But Oklahoma State started re
cruiting him again after school
officials were contacted by his
mother, Kathy Williams.
“His coach didn’t like him and
apparently didn’t recommend
him,” Whitener said.
In August, Oklahoma State re
leased Williams from his national
letter of intent because he didn’t
meet the college’s academic ad
mission standards. Williams, how
ever, met the minimum 2.0 grade
point average in core curriculum
classes established by Proposition
48, which sets academic entry
requirements for athletes.
"He was a very good player,”
Whitener said. "Two times he
scored four touchdowns in one
game from the tailback position.
There was never any doubt about
his athletic abilities.”
Williams said he contacted
schools to let them know he was
available after receiving his re
lease from Oklahoma State. He
said he had to decide quickly be
cause football practice was about
to start.
He narrowed his choices to
Nebraska and Texas.
Williams said he chose Ne
braska because of its winning tradi
tion and disciplined environment.
He said his assistant high-school
football coach, Phil Angieri, con
vinced the coaches he was worth a
scholarship.
“The coaches were calling him
up, asking him for references, say
ing, How is Randy? Is he really
pretty good? Coach told them, ‘If
he’s got the right environment, the
coaches work with him and make
sure he goes to school and cvery
See WILLIAMS on 15
