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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1988)
Sports Barrios boots Huskers past Texas A&M By Mark Derowitsch Senior Reporter EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — With one kick, Gregg Barrios sealed a Nebraska victory and started another controversy. Barrios drilled a48-yard field goal with 7:10 left in the game and converted two others as Nebraska rallied to a 23-14 win over Texas A&M Saturday in the sixth annual Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium. “I just looked down and hit it,” Barrios said of his 48- yarder. “It wasn’ta very good kick but it went through and that’s the main thing. There was definitely a lot of pressure on me, but I was just able to keep my concentration.” The field goal gave the Comhuskers a nine point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Barrios said the kick was the opportunity he . was looking for. “It really felt good to be put in a situation like that,” Barrios said. “I’ve been wailing for this for a long time and I’m glad I finally got a chance to kick in a game.” Texas A&M coach Jackie Sherrill said plays like Barrios’ fourth quarter field goal gave the Huskcrs a big boost. “Big plays won the game for Nebraska,” Sherrill said. “They made a lot of big plays.” Barrios, a redshirt sophomore from Omaha Creighton Prep, had a chance to give Nebraska an early lead, but his 35-yard attempt was wide i to the right “I was really nervous before that kick,” Barrios said. “Even though I missed it, I was relieved that I had already been out on the field. The second time, I was able to relax and I did what I had to do.” Barrios, who added field goals of 44 and 38 yards, got a chance to start the game because No. 1 kicker Chris Drennan injured his left leg, his kicking leg, during fall drills. Barrios said the opportunity to start will intensify the com petition between the two kickers. “I think the coaches have to make a decision now,” Barrios said. “Chris is capable of doing a good job and I can do a good job. If I’m not the starting kicker, I think I can live with the backup role. We both can do cither job.” Nebraska quarterback Steve Taylor said the whole offense can do the job as well. Taylor engineered two second-half touchdown drives and was named the game’s most valuable player. I-back Ken Clark capped a 24-yard scoring drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge to give Nebraska its first lead of the game, 12-7, with 4:32 left in the third quarter. The score was set up by defensive back Tim Jackson’s 19-yard interception return. Nine minutes later, Taylor tossed a 20-yard pass to tight end Todd Millikan, whe broke two tackles on his way to the touchdo vn. Clark’s two-point conversion run increased the Husk ers’ lead to 20-7. The Aggies took a 7-0 lead when fullback Matt Gurley plunged over from the one-yard line with 2:22 left in the first quarter. Taylor said he wasn’t worried about a Ne braska letdown after Gurley’s run. Taylor completed 11 of 22 passes for 125 yards and rushed for 34 yards on 18 carries. With the 34 yards, Taylor became Ne braska’s all-time leading rushing quarterback with 2,0333 yards, breaking Turner Gill’s old mark of 2,317 set between 1980 and 1983. “We knew we could protect our lead,” Taylor said. “We knew we could do it and we had to. We felt they were getting tired defen sively in the second half, but we had to be patient. My offensive line did a great job pro tecting me and the defense gave us all the breaks we needed.” And while the Husker offense was wearing down Texas A&M, Nebraska’s defense kept getting better, outside linebacker Broderick Thomas said. The Huskers allowed a two-yard touchdown run by Randy Simmons with 10:15 left in the game. The touchdown drive followed Dion Snow’s fumble recovery at the Nebraska 44 yard line. Six plays later, Simmons scored to cut the Huskers’ lead to 20-14. “Their defense got off to a quick start in the first half,” said Thomas, who finished the game with a team-high 11 tackles. “We thought it might get easier in the second half, and it did. “We showed what we can do and what our linebackers can do. I think our whole team is just going to get better and better every game.” Nebraska coach Tom Osborne agreed. “A&M had the edge early, I thought, but we started to catch them in the second quarter,” Osborne said. “I thought we controlled the game in the second half.” Nebraska held the Aggies to 227 yards of total offense. Aggies quarterback Bucky Richardson connected on 5 of 17 passes for 42 yards. Lorenzo Hicks, a senior comerback, said the Huskers’ new nickel defense took some pres sure off the rest of the defense. “In the nickel, I line up as a middle line backer,” Hicks said. “And today I found out something new: I have to watch out for the run. But we had pretty good coverage. He (Richardson) scrambled a lot, so we must have had pretty good coverage.” But inside linebacker LeRoy Etienne said everybody should take credit for the Huskers’ season-opening win. “We knew we had to keep the intensity up and we did,” said Etienne, who finished the game with 10 tackles. “Our offense played a great game, our linebackers and whole defense was good. A s far as I’m concerned, it was a total team effort.” -1 1988 College Football Staff Poll Jeff Apel Rich Cooper 1. Oklahoma 1. Nebraska 2. UCLA 2. Oklahoma 3. Florida State 3. Florida State 4. Michigan 4. Miami 5. Iowa 5. Penn State 6. LSU 6. Texas A&M 7. Miami 7. Notre Dame 8. Alabama 8. UCLA 9. Syracuse 9. Clem son 10. Auburn 10. LSU 11. Clemson 11. Michigan 12. Oklahoma St. 12. Arizona St. 13. South Carolina 13. Florida 14. Texas A&M 14.0hio State 15. USC 15. Auburn 16. Notre Dame 16. Auburn 17. Colorado 17. Michigan SL 18. Ohio Stale 18. Colorado 19. Arizona State 19. Oklahoma St 20. Nebraska 20. USC Chuck Green Tim Hartmann 1. Nebraska 1. Florida State 2. Florida State 2. Nebraska 3. Auburn . 3. USC 4. Oklahoma 4. Oklahoma 5. USC 5. Auburn 6. LSU 6. Notre Dame 7. USC 7. UCLA 8. Clem son 8. Miami 9. Miami 9. Michigan 10. UCLA 10. West Virginia 11. Michigan 11. Clemson 12. Oklahoma St. 12. Texas A&M 13. Notre Dame 13. Syracuse 14. Texas A&M 14. Iowa 15. Iowa 15. Penn State 16. Alabama 16. Georgia 17. Georgia 17. Oklahoma State 18. West Virginia 18. Alabama 19. Minnesota 19. Texas 20. Colorado 20. Colorado Mike Kluck Mike Reilley 1. Oklahoma 1. Florida State 2. Florida State 2. Oklahoma 3. Miami 3. Miami 4. Nebraska 4. UCLA 5. UCLA 5. Iowa ' 6. Notre Dame 6. Florida 7. Michigan 7. Nebraska 8. Florida 8. South Carolina 9. Arizona 9. Auburn 10. So. Carolina 10. Notre Dame 11. USC ll.Clemson 12. Auburn 12. Georgia 13. Penn State 13. Oklahoma St 14. Florida 14. Arkansas 15. Clemson 15. LSU 16. Michigan State 16. Michigan 17. Syracuse 17. Michigan State 18. Texas A&M 18.Tennessee 19. Oklahoma St. 19. Texas A& M 20. Tennessee 20. USC Steve Sipple Steve Thomas 1. Florida Stale 1. Florida State 2. Miami 2. Miami 3. Oklahoma 3. Oklahoma 4. Clem son 4. Nebraska 5. Iowa 5. UCLA 6. Notre Dame 6. Clemson 7. Nebraska 7. Alabama 8. Auburn 8. Iowa 9. Michigan 9. Auburn 10. Syracuse 10. USC 11. Alabama 11. Texas A&M 12. Texas A&M 12. So. Carolina 13. Penn Slate 13. W. Virginia 14. Tennessee 14. LSU 15. Colorado 15. Washington 16. North Carolina 16. Georgia 17. N. Carolina St. 17. Pittsburgh 18. Pittsburgh 18. Michigan 19. USC 19. Syracuse 20. Minnesota 20. Penn Stale Consensus 1. Florida State 2. Oklahoma 3. Miami 4. Nebraska 5. UCLA 6. Auburn 7. Clem son 8. Michigan 9. Notre Dame 10. 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