Sports
I
! Fullback’s season may be over
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said
Tuesday fullback Sam Schmidt might
miss the rest of the season because of
an injury.
Osborne said an injury to
Schmidt’s left ankle will sideline him
for at least five weeks.
“One of our main concerns right
now is at fullback,” he said. “Sam
Schmidt will apparently miss the
majority of the season, maybe the
whole season. He had a fracture in his
ankle and he had to have it pinned on
Sunday. That’s a blow to us because
he was probably our best blocking
fullback.”
Schmidt, a junior from Wood
River, injured his ankle during the 1 st
quarter in Nebraska’s 41-28 loss to
UCLA on Sept. 10 in Pasadena, Calif.
In Nebraska’s first three games,
Schmidt gained 38 yards on nine
carries, including one touchdown.
Nebraska athletic trainer George
Sullivan said Schmidt’s injury was
serious enough that it needed a pin to
heal properly.
“The doctors thought the fracture
was bad and opted to put a metal
implant in it,” Sullivan said. “They
put it in a solid cast for three weeks
and then he’ll need a walking cast, so
he’ll miss quite a bit of time.”
Because of the injury to Schmidt,
Osborne said, Tyreese Knox will al
ternate between fullback and I-back.
Knox, a 5-foot-10. 215-pound senior
from Daly City, Calif., is listed as 3rd
team fullback behind junior Bryan
Carpenter and freshman Lance Le
wis.
“We’ve played Knox (at fullback)
three quarters of the time the past two
weeks,” Osborne said. “Tyreese is
also playing I-back — he’s prepared
to go both places. But we are pretty
thin, and we’ll probably take a fresh
man fullback and start working with
him today, too.”
Osborne said Jerry Kleidosty will
be moved to varsity fullback in order
to strengthen depth at that position.
Klcidosly has rushed for 108 yards
and two touchdowns on 13 carries in
the Nebraska junior varsity team’s
first two games.
“We just want to take a look at
him,” Osborne said. “Lance Lewis is
also a good player, and I hope he’s
ready to play.”
Although Osborne is concerned
with the fullback situation, he said
Nebraska's I-backs are doing a good
job even though not one I-back has
rushed for 100 yards this season.
Ken Clark, the Huskers’ Ist-team
I-back, has rushed for 216 yards on 44
attempts and two touchdowns. Back
up Terry Rodgers, a sophomore from
National City, Calif., has gained 203
yards on 41 tries for an average of 5
yards per carry.
“Against Texas A&M, because of
their style of defense, we ended up
throwing quite a bit more,” Osborne
said. “When we’re in the spread, the I
back is not in the game. Against Utah
State, the 1 st team only played a half.
“They’ll be some games where an
I-back gains over 100 yards, I hope.”
NOTES:
• Osborne said he thinks the Husk
ers will respond well to the loss to
UCLA.
“We’re not the type of team that
goes into die tank every time we
lose,” he said.
• The Huskers won’t try anything
drastically different against the Sun
Devils on Saturday, Osborne said. He
said Nebraska will try to stick to its
basic offense. Kickoff for the game is
scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be na
tionally televised by ESPN (Cablevi
son channel 23).
“If you ask our fans, they think all
I know how todo is run,” Osborne said
of the Huskers offense. “I’ve kind of
become the Woody Hayes of the Big
Eight.”
Hayes coached at Ohio State from
1951 to 1978 and was know for his
predictable, run oriented offense.
Eric Gregcry/DsUy Nebraskan
Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne speaks to reporters
Tuesday at his weekly press luncheon at South Stadium.
Osborne announced that junior fullback Sam Schmidt will be
sidelined five to eight weeks because of a fractured ankle.
/I 41 ^
Cornhuskers help freshman adjust
By Kyle Schurman
Staff Reporter
High school and college football
are not really different to Nebraska
freshman Paul Van Housen — except
six more players are on the field now
than there were when he played in
high school.
Van Housen played eight-man
football at Polk-Hordville High
School. He said the adjustment to the
11-man college football game has not
been as difficult as one might expect.
As a high school senior, Van
Housen averaged more than 170
yards rushing per game on the 80
yard, eight-man football field. He
gained 2,142 yards rushing during his
sophomore year for Polk.
Van Housen, a walk ou 1-back, is
continuing to enjoy success running
the football and scoring touchdowns
at Nebraska. He gained 114 yards on
17 carries and scored two touchdowns
during the Nebraska junior varsity’s
68-0 win against Bethany (Kan.)
Junior College’s junior varsity Mon
day afternoon.
Van Housen and 1-back Scott
Baldwin tied to lead Nebraska in
rushing during Monday’s game.
During the Comhuskers' season
opening win against the St. Thomas
(Minn.) junior varsity Sept. 5, Van
Housen rushed for 56 yards and two
touchdowns on 10 carries. He said he
did not expect to have the success he
has had as a Huskcr.
"The first game was pretty good,"
he said, "but the second (game) 1
could hardly believe it. The linemen
helped a lot. You can’t have a good
game without the linemen.”
Van Housen attributes a lot of his
success to other people. He said
Polk's success as a team —- it posted
a 9-1 record in his senior season and
was 11-1 during his junior year —
prepared him for the success of the
Nebraska program.
“The success we had in high
school carries over,” Van Housen
said. “If you’ve had a lot of success in
high school you might as well go out
and have a lot of success in college.”
He has not let playing eight-man
football in high school hinder him at
Nebraska. Van Housen played in the
1988 Shrine Bowl, which he said
helped him adjust faster to the 11 -man
game.
“(The Shrine Bowl) got me ready
to go for here,” he said. “The plays are
almost all the same. I've had to gel
used to a liltie wider and bigger field.
The college game does have a little
bigger players, though,” he said.
Van Housen is one of those bigger
players. He stands 6-loot-1 and
weighs 200 pounds alter adding 12
pounds since he came to Nebraska
justl 1/2 months ago. He said the food
at the training table and the Huskcr
weight program have helped him gel
stronger.
Polk’s weight room may not have
been quite as extensive as
See VANHOUSEN on 8
Doug Carroli/Dally Nobraskan
Nebraska l-back Paul Van Housen looks for running from during the Cornhusker junior
varsity team’s 68-0 pounding of Bethany (Ksn.) College junior varsity Monday. Van Housen,
who played elghtHinsn football at Polk-Hordville High School, gained 114 yards on 17 carries
