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Jones, Cornhuskers stampede Colorado
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter
BOULDER, Colo. — Playing
before a sellout crowd in the first
“Folsom Bowl” against Colorado
proved to be a difficult task for
Nebraska’s football team on Satur
day.
Despite a 7-3 record coming into
the game, the Buffaloes weren’t
invited to a bowl game, so Colorado
coach Bill McCartney designated the
Buffaloes’ game against Nebraska as
their post-season bowl.
But Nebraska’soffenserushed for
Andrea Hoy/Daily Nebraskan
Nebraska quarterback Steve Taylor avoids Colorado’s Lee
Brunelti.
422 yards — including I-back Keith
Jones’ 248 yards — and spoiled the
upset-minded Buffaloes’ bowl game
24-7.
Defensive tackle Neil Smith, who
blocked a field goal, recovered a
fumble and recorded 12 tackles, said
the game was not like a real bowl.
“I look at it this way: It wasn’t a
bowl game,” Smith said. “It didn’t
mean nothing to me. Wc did just what
we wanted to do — make them feel
like wc did last week.”
The Cornhuskers were defeated
by Oklahoma 17-7 last Saturday in
Lincoln.
Jones said he was glad Nebraska
was able to spoil Colorado’s “bowl
game.”
“This was a game that Colorado
distinctively depicted as their bowl
game,” Jones said. “Wc had to rise to
the occasion. They were going to go
all out, and (Nebraska) coach (Tom)
Osborne told us to not leave this
football field wishing that wc played
a little harder.”
Osborne said the Huskcrs were
fortunate to win the game.
“I was really impressed because I
felt that it was a 50-50 chance at best
that we’d win the game,” Osborne
said. “And I could sec us coming out
here and get blown out if wc weren’t
right. The players did it. I’m really
pleased and proud of them.”
Nebraska quarterback Steve Tay
lor rushed for 54 yards, including a 5
yard touchdown run in the second
quarter for the game’s first score.
Taylor’s touchdown was set upon
a 13-yard run by Jones. The Huskcrs
were facing a fourth-and-2 at the
Colorado 22-yard line when Jones
ran up the middle, was stopped and
then bounced out around the left end
to give Nebraska a first down at the 9
yard line.
“We ran an isolation, and their
linebacker blitzed and stuffed the
fullback in the middle,” Jones said. “I
just spun out and gained some yards.”
Taylor, a junior from Fresno,
Calif., almost scored again before
halftime, hut time ran out with Ne
braska at the Colorado 1. A touch
down would have given the Huskers
a 17-0 lead following a 50-yard field
goal by sophomore Chris Drennan,
but Nebraska had to settle for a 10-0
halftime lead.
“Even though I was down, Dana
(Brinson) and some of the other play
ers were trying to call time out,”
Taylor said. “We either ran out of
time or the referee made a bad deci
sion.”
Taylor said he thought he scored
on the play.
“I think I got up and over the guy,”
Taylor said, “but they didn’t call it a
touchdown, so it’s hard to say.”
Nebraska used a trick play to set
up the drive. Taylor threw a bounce
pass to wingback Richard Bell, who
was supposed to pass down the field.
“The guy just came up on Rich,
and he was supposed to throw the
ball,” Taylor said. “He was supposed
to pass to the tight end w ho was wide
open, but he was pressured and had to
run the ball.”
Bell gained IS yards on the play.
In the second half, Nebraska took
its opening possession and drove 70
yards to lake a 17-0 lead.
With his 248-yard cttort, Jones
became the ninth Husker to rush for
more than 1,000 yards in a season. He
also ended his regular-season career
with 2,488 yards, No. 3 in Nebraska
history.
Jones said the game was the best in
his career.
“First of all, I’m very thankful to
God for the athletic ability he’s given
me,” said Jones, a senior from
Omaha. “Secondly, I’m thankful for
our offensive line. They did a great
job. They moved guys out of the way
and there was nothing but daylight to
run in.”
Colorado cut Nebraska's lead to
17-7 when it drove its next posses
sion 77 yards for a touchdown. Tight
end George Hemingway capped off
the drive by catching a 4-yard touch
down pass from Buffalo quarterback
Mark Hatcher.
“I think we won decisively,”
Osborne said. “Our defense played
great football with the exception of
one drive.”
Nebraska then closed out the scor
ing with 9:34 left in the game when
Jones scored on a 44-yard run.
Osborne said the Husker offense
controlled the game.
“Offensively, we only punted
twice all day and we had a great
ground game,” Osborne said. “The
offensive line played excellent foot
ball and, of course, Keith Jones had a
superior day.”
Salukis'coach sick, but team needs aspirin
By Tim Hartmann
Senior Reporter
and
Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
Because of illness, Southern Illi
nois volleyball coach Debbie Hunter
missed Saturday’s match against the
Cornhuskcrs. Her team, after a 15-3,
15-5, 15-11 loss, may be wishing
it had missed the game loo.
The Huskers recorded a season
high 55 kills against the Salukis,
including 17 by senior Kathi DeBoer.
Sophomore Virginia Stahr added 11
kills and increased her string of
matches with a service ace to 17.
Nebraska volleyball coach Tory
Pettit said Southern Illinois couldn’t
l---*
NCAA regional volleyball at UNL
Barb Hibncr, assistant athletic
director in charge of women’s
sports, announced Sunday that
Nebraska will face Northern Iowa
in the first round of the NCAA
Volleyball Regional Tournament
Thursday night at the NU Coli
scum.
Nebraska, 28-4 and ranked first
in the Midwest region, will face
Northern Iowa, ranked eighth in
the region, at 7:30 p.m. Admission
price for the match is $4 for adults
and S3 for students.
Hibner said she hopes a large
crowd attends the match.
“Wc would like to break the
attendance record and sec 1,5(X)
people there,” Hibner said.
Keep up with tne Huskers tempo
early in the match.
Nebraska jumped out to a 12-0
lead in the first game. After Southern
Illinois scored three consecutive
points, freshman Val Novak ended
the Salukis’ streak with a kill. Barbie
Young, a junior from Sidney, then
came ofl the bench and recorded two
ace serves. A hitting error by South
ern Illinois gave Nebraska a 15-3
win.
Young said the Huskers, who
were coming off a loss to Oklahoma
last week that broke their 61 -game
conference winning streak, played
.* 11 .
with intensity.
“Today we were mentally a little
sharper,” Young said. “We made a
lot of mental adjustments, but there
are a lot of mental adjustments that
we arc in the process of making.”
Nebraskajumpedouttoa5-01ead
in the second game and posted the 15
5 victory despite eight service errors.
Southern Illinois assistant coach
Sonya Locke, who filled in for
Hunter, said she thought the Salukis
were just beginning to play up to their
capabilities in the third game.
“We started out very slow in the
first game; we kind of stood around
and watched some things happen,”
Locke said. “In the second game we
picked up a little bit and started
blocking a few balls and digging a
few balls, and in the third game,
obviously, we kind of caught on to
what was going on and played a little
bit better.”
The win raised Nebraska’s record
to 28-4, while Southern Illinois
dropped to 15-19.
Osborne: Comhuskers rebounded well from OU loss
By Nick Hodge
. Surff Reporter
•—
Nebraska football coach Tom
Osborne said Sunday he was
pleased with the way his Coro
huskers responded in their victory
over Colorado Saturday in Boul
der.
Osborne said that even though
he thought Nebraska had good
character and would respond well,
he wasn’t sure how the Huskers
would react to last Saturday’s 17-7
loss to No. 1-ranked Oklahoma.
Osborne said practice was slow
last week because several players
were unable to participate Monday
" • and Tuesday because of minor in
juries suffered in the Oklahoma
game.
Osborne said he thought that
maybe the Buffaloes, who dropped
a 24-7 decision to Nebraska,
should have been favored going
into Saturday’s contest.
‘‘1 thought when we went out
there it was anybody’s game,”
Osborne said. “I think it would
have maybe favored Colorado in
some ways just because of the
psychological overtones of the
game.”
Osborne said thef Colorado
game was rate of the most psycho
logically difficult situations he had
been in during his 15 seasons as
coach at Nebraska.
Osborne said Nebraska was
unable to do some things it wanted
because players were slipping
because of the poor condition of
Folsom Field’s artificial turf. He
said the old, worn surface hurt both
teams because it sloped more to
ward the Buffalo bench.
“It was a difficult field to play
on. It was very slick,” Osborne
said. “The footing was very tough.
As a result, I called an awful lot of
plays toward our bench.”
Osborne said some of the slip
ping was apparent by watching the
quarterbacks and running backs.
He said the offensive and defensive
lines also slipped.
Osborne said Nebraska’s run
ning game was excellent. He said
the Huskers * objec rive was to con
trol the ball, which thuy did.
Nebraska amassed 422 total
yards of offense, 419 on the
ground. The Huskers also con
trotted the ball for 32 minutes of the
game.
Osborne said the poor field
condition made for a more north
south offense, or forward rushing
as opposed to lateral movement,
which the I-formalion is better
suited for. He said he called fewer
options and lateral plays than usual
because of the slippery surface.
Osborne said there were two
exceptional plays in the game. The
first, he said, came in the second
quarter when the Huskers were
faced with a fourth-and-2 situation
at the Colorado 22-yard line. I
back Keith Jones was stuffed be
hind the line of scrimmage, but
managed to pull away from a Buf
falo defender and run around the
left end for a 13-yard gain. Two
plays later, quarterback Steve
Taylor scored from 5 yards out to
make the score 7-0.
Osborne said die other key play
came in the fourth period when
Colorado was faced with a third
and-1 at the Husker Nebraska
defensive back Tim Jackson tack
led a Buffalo halfback for a loss of
2. On the next play, Buffalo
placekicker Ken Culbertson
missed a 50-yard field goal attempt
that would have cut Nebraska’s
lead to 17-10.
Osborne said another key play
occurred at the end of the first half
on an apparent Nebraska touch
down.
Following an offsides penally
that placed the bal I on the Colorado
1-yard line with 11 seconds left in
the first half, Taylor apparently
scored on a quarterback sneak, but
no touchdown signal was given by
any official. The clock ran out
before a Nebraska player was able
to call a timeout.
Osborne said he complained to
the officials because he thought the
clock started too soon. He said the
officials were correct in starting
the clock when the ball had been
set.
Osborne said he thought Taylor
had scored. He also said a Nebraska
player was signaling for a timeout
right in an official's face when
there was still four seconds left on
the clock.
“I fell badly because it (the
score of 17-0) is a huge difference
because of the way we were play
ing on defense,” Osborne said,
“whereas 10-0 is good, but two
touchdowns can beat you. As it
turned out it was a moot point.”
Osborne said he has been
pleased with the way Nebraska has
played all year.
“The thing that maybe is a little
inisleading aboutour Iootbal 1 team
is that I think generally they have
played pretty close to their poten
tial in every game,” Osborne said.
I hat was one thing that was mis
leading about the Oklahoma
game.
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