Nebraska rebounds to bury Arizona State
I Good night turns sour for ASU
3
By Kyle Schurman
M Suff Reporter
What started out as a good eve
ning for quarterback Danny Ford,
split end Chris Garrett, and the rest
of the Arizona State players, turned
sour during Nebraska’s 47-16 win
against Arizona State in Memorial
Stadium Saturday.
Ford and Garrett, both seniors,
Jpg connected on a 54-yard pass for
Arizona State’s 1st touchdown,
cutting Nebraska’s lead to 9-7.
On Arizona State’s next posses
sion. Ford hit split end Leland
Adams with a 46-yard pass to the
Husker 3-yard line. Two plays
later, Bruce Perkins went around
the lellendforatouchdown.giving
the Sun Devils a 13-9 lead with 16
seconds left in the 1st quarter.
But the fun ended in the 2nd
quarter. On a 3rd-dk>wn play early
in the period, Ford missed Garrett
with a sideline pass. Garrett suf
fcred a broken fool on ihe play, and
he said he will miss four to six
weeks.
Garrett said he was not exactly
sure what happened on the play,
but that he thought a Nebraska
defensive back accidently rolled
on his foot while he was falling
down. Garrett’s touchdown re
ception was his only catch of the
night On that play, Arizona Stale
ran a receiver down the middle at
the safety and another receiver
down the sideline. Garrett said the
play is designed to force the safety
to make a quick decision.
Nebraska’s safety chose to
covet the inside man, leaving Gar
rett free to beat Huskcr comcrbat k
Lorenzo Hicks. Hicks was cover
ing the flat, but when he saw the
safely had taken the inside man, he
tried to cover Garrett, but it was too
late.
“(Hicks) stayed in his area at
first, and by the time he started to
run with me, 1 had already gotten
past him,’’Garrett said. “There was
nothing he could do. The play is
designed to put (the safety) in a
bind....I’m not saying he made the
wrong decision. It’s just a tough
play.
Ford completed eight of 18
passes for 176 yards with two inter
ceptions. However, he threw for
only 33 yards after halftime.
Ford figured in two prominent
Sun Devil turnovers in the 3rd
quarter. On the Sun Devils’ 1st
possession of the 2nd half, Ford
ran a quarterback draw 40 yards
into Nebraska territory. But Hicks
knocked the ball loose and Huskcr
safely Reggie Cooper recovered it
at the Huskers’ 43-yard line.
Ford and Sun Devil coach Larry
Mannic both said they thought
Arizona State’s next turnover was
controversial.
The play itself, where Ford’s
pass was intercepted by Husker
safely Tim Jackson, was not con- ■
troversial. The play before it was,
Marmie said.
Arizona State, trailing 30-16, E
was facing second-down-and-17
at the Husker 33-yard line late in
the 3rd quarter, the crowd was
getting loud on the play, Ford said,
and he was trying to audible to a
new play. But the 25-second clock
ran out. Ford took the snap from the
center anyway, and, as the officials
blew the play dead, Husker outside
linebacker Mike Croel hit Ford.
“1 felt like it was a vicious hit on
the quarterback,” Marmie said.
“The official said (Croel) didn’t
hear the whistle. I heard the
whistle on the sidelines; other
players on the field heard the
whistle. We threw an interception
on the next play, so it was a big
play.”
Clockwise from upper left: Nebraska quar
terback Steve Tay lor rounds the corner on
member of the Nebraska Flag Corps per
forms during halftime; Arizona State's Jeff
Joseph contemplates ASU's loss.
Photos bv Butch Ireland
Layout by Steve Sipple