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. Iowa
11. use
12. Texas A&M
13. South Carolina
14. LSU
15. Alabama
16. Florida
17. Penn State
18. Syracuse
19. Oklahoma State
20. Arizona Stale
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