Nebraskan SpOF iS P15
Thursday, October 27,1988 JL
NU-MU game
an eye-opener
Growing up in Lincoln as a
Comhusker football fan, three
memories stick out in my mind
more than any others.
The first is that Nebraska will
play Oklahoma at the end of
every season for the Big Eight
Conference championship and
an Orange Bowl berth. The sec
ond, of course, is that more
times than not, the Sooners will
beat Nebraska for the postsea
son prizes.
But it’s the third memory that
has always made my heart race
a little fasten The Huskers’ ri
valry with Missouri.
Next to Oklahoma, the Ti
gers have been a bigger thorn in
the sides of Nebraska football
fans and coaches more than any
other team the Huskers have
faced since the Bob Devaney
era.
It’s flaming rivalry has been
fanned with accusations of
cheap shots, name-calling by
various coaches and players in
the media and upsets by Mis
souri galore. It’s been better
than any soap opera on network
television.
It’s Midwest football at its
best, the kind Ivy League fans
dream of.
The past few years — since
1984, when Missouri coach
Warren Powers resigned —
have been pretty much free of
serious controversy. But before
then ... whoa!
1973— Nebraska, under the
leadership of Tom Osborne for
the first season, was 4-0 and
ranked No. 2 in the nation. The
Tigers beat the Huskers 13-12 in
Columbia, Mo., and ecstatic
Missouri students and fans
charged the field, trampling
Nebraska’s players and
coaches.
1974 — Usoorne s record
against the Tigers falls to 0-2
after a 21-10 Missouri win at
Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
Unranked Wisconsin had
handed the Tigers a59-20defeat
the week before the Nebraska
shootout
1975— The Huskers use the
now-famous “Bumerooski”
fake punt play to blow open the
game in the second quarter.
Nebraska went on to beat Mis
souri 30-7 on national TV, and
were undefeated until the Okla
homagame at the season’s end.
1976— For the second year
in a row, the Nebraska-Missouri
game is remembered for one
play. But this time, it wasn’t in
the Huskers’ favor. Missouri’s
Pete Wood’s threw a 98-yard
touchdown pass to Joe Stewart
and Missouri goes on to win the
game 34-24.
1978 — One week after
Osborne’s first win against
Oklahoma, Missouri upset the
2nd-ranked Huskers 35-31 in
Lincoln. Powers, a former Ne
braska assistant coach under
Devaney, is 2-0 against his for
mer team — his Washington
State team defeated the Huskers
one year earlier in one of
Osborne’s most inexcusable
losses of his career.
1979 — The real trouble
starts. Nebraska 1-back Jarvis
Redwine is injured on a cheap
shot by a Tiger defensive line
man. As Redwine blocked for
an extra point after a touch
s«€ GREEN on 18
Performance doesn’t earn 2nd start
By Mike kluck
Staff Reporter
One great game won’t earn Ne
braska comerback Bruce Pickens a
starting position this weekend.
Pickens, a 5-foot-ll, 185-pound
junior from Kansas
City, Mo., said his
performance in the
Comhuskers’ 48-3
victory against
Kansas State
doesn’t mean he
will start when the
Huskers face Mis
souri Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Memo
rial Stadium.
Pickens played starting position
for the first time for the Huskers last
weekend. He replaced senior Lorenzo
Hicks, who missed the game because
of a hand injury.
“I learned a lot Saturday, but
Lorenzo still has the confidence and
still is the most relaxed (at the posi
tion),” Pickens said. “I’m still learn
• „ »*
mg.
Hicks said he’s not surprised at
how well Pickens has done already.
Pickens transferred to Nebraska from
Coffeyville (Kan.) Community Col
! _
lege and has practiced just this fall
with the Huskers.
Hicks said he isn’t as confident as
Pickens is about retaining his posi
tion.
“He could be playing my position
pretty soon,” Hicks said. “He has all
the natural talent in the world. He just
needs to develop it.”
Pickens said his starting job in last
Saturday’s game helped him to feel
better about himself.
“The start made me feel like I was
really a part of the team,” Pickens
said.
He said a third-quarter intercep
tion especially helped boost his confi
dence. Pickens said he saw the ball
coming and knew from catching balls
in practice that he would catch it. He
did and returned it 18 yards to set up
Nebraska’s final touchdown — a 26
yard run by senior I-back Tyreese
Knox.
Although Pickens’ return was only
18 yards, he said he fell like he ran a
mile.
“After I intercepted the ball, I fell
like I was out there for quite a while,’
Pickens said. “When I came back tc
the bench some of the guys told me 1
ran for 150 yards.”
Pickens’ interception return con
cemed Nebraska defensive coordina
tor Charlie McBride, though. At
Monday’s Extra Point Club luncheon
at Dillard’s, McBride said he thought
the Husker offense might want to
convert Pickens to running back.
Pickens promised he wouldn’t
make the switch, although he is used
to change. He played for Westport
High School in Kansas City — a
school that broke a 48-game losing
streak during his sophomore year.
Now Pickens plays for Nebraska—a
team that hasn’t suffered a losing
season during Tom Osborne’s 16
years as coach.
Hicks said the coaching Pickens’
received in high school didn’t help
him make the transition to college
football. He said Westport played a
type of football that amounted to
“street ball”.
“Pickens’ development may have
been hindered by poor coaching in
high school,” Hicks said. “He didn’t
have the coaching in high school.
Now that’s he’s here, he’s adopting
well. He was really fast. He’s proba
bly the fastest defensive back we’ve
got. He was easy to remember (in high
school).”
Pickens started one year for Cof
feyville coach Dick Foster. Foster
said Pickens’ high school background
was the reason he started for just one
season. He became a second-team
All-Conference selection last year for
the Red Ravens and recorded five
See PICKENS on 16
Pickens at Nebraska•
Total tackles 12 ||||p^-^llglSg l"7 Quarterback
Unassisted 8 llllr KI \ipll sacks
assisted 4 §§1 IMr^lJf 1 Passcibroken
Tackles for loss §I!;$L UP
' 2 for 8 yards llllll*^ 1 Interceptions
John BrucWDoMy N»htask«n
Coach says beware of the Tigers
By Mark Derow itsch
Senior Reporter
Despite Missouri’s 2-4-1 record,
Nebraska can’t afford to let up on the
Tigers, Nebraska graduate assistant
Tony Davis said.
Davis, a former Comhusker full
back now in his second year of coach
ing at Nebraska, scouted Missouri’s
fame against Oklahoma State last
aturday in Stillwater, Okla. The
Cowboys defeated Missouri 49-21.
“Missouri,rightnow.regardlessof
their record, is a very dangerous foot
ball team,” Davis said. “They are very
large and strong, and very dominat
ing. The thing that I was more con
cerned about was the size and the
strength of their up front people.”
Davis said the Huskers should
expect to play hard every minute
against Missouri. He said the Tigers
have the type of team that concerns
most coaches.
Davis said the Tigers’ offensive
line is strong and could give Nebraska
some difficulties.
He said the Huskers, 7-1 overall
and 3-0 in the Big Eight, must also
worry about the Tigers’ offense.
The Tigers are averaging 246.1
yards of rushing each game this sea
son and have scored 146 total points
— an average of nearly 21 per game.
Missouri also is averaging 121.6
yards passing each game.
“They played Oklahoma State
very tough,” Davis said. “Atone point
of the game, they got into a certain
offensive set and were dominating
Oklahoma State.”
Davis declined to say what offen
sive formation the Tigers used effec
tively against Oklahoma State.
The Tigers are led by freshman
quarterback Corey Welch. Welch, a
6 foot-2,192-pound native of Kansas
City, Kan .redshirtedin 1987 after he
threw for 1,997 yards during his sen
ior year at Wyandotte High School.
Welch has rushed 55 times for 241
yards this season and four touch
downs. He’s completed 11 of 19
passes for 295 yards and one touch
down. He’s tossed one interception in
five games.
Davis said Welch is a good athlete
with a lot of ability.
“He shows some inexperience but
he’s very talented,” he said.
Welch will start for the Tigers in
place of John Stollenwerck, who
sprained his right ankle in Saturday’s
game against Oklahoma State. Stol
lenwerck has thrown for 368 yards on
31 completions.
Stollenwerck, a transfer from
Southern Methodist, rushed for 44
yards and one touchdown this season
before his injury.
Davis said Missouri has a good
fullback in Tommie Stowers. Stow
ers, a 6-3, 216-pound junior from
Kansas City, Mo., has rushed for 417
yards on 89 carries this year. He’s also
caught two passes for 13 yards.
Last year, Stowers rushed for 707
yards on 151 carries and one touch
down. He also had five receptions for
80 yards.
When Missouri throws, its pri
mary target is Tim Bruton, a 6-4 tight
end from Houston. He’s hauled in 17
receptions for 264 yards and one
touchdown.
Bruton, a sophomore, had 13 re
ceptions last season for 174 yards and
three touchdowns. He was listed as
the nation’s top collegiate tight end
by The Sporting News this summer.
Ronnie Cameron, a senior split
end from East St. Louis, 111., is an
other Tiger threat. He has caught nine
passes for 101 yards this season.
Cameron started at quarterback
the first four games last season before
losing his starting job to Stol
lenwerck.
Davis said the Tigers’ defense is
just as strong as their offense. The
Tigers limited Utah State to 13 yards
of rushing and Houston to 75 yards
rushing.
Middle linebacker Darren
MacDonald leads the Tiger defense
with 63 total tackles this season. He’s
made 22 unassisted tackles and he’s
recorded four tackles behind the line
of scrimmage.
Outside linebacker A.J. Miller is
second with 58 total tackles. Miller
also has three quarterback sacks for
16 yards in losses, and he’s broken up
five passes.
Defensive end Lee Johnson has
recorded 39 tackles, including a
team-leading five quarterback sacks.
Leinen says work
is key to success
By Jeff Apel
Senior Reporter
A new pitch prompted by a life
long dream will await batters who
face Nebraska pitcher Pat Leinen
during the spring baseball season.
Leinen said he is using Nebraska’s
fall exhibition baseball season to
develop a forkball and maintain the
same type of devoted work ethic that
helped him earn a 10-4 record last
season. He said he needs to develop a
forkball to go along with the fastball,
curveball and straight change he al
ready throws, and he said a devoted
work ethic is the key to continued
success.
Leinen, who was drafted in the
ninth round of last June’s major
league draft by the New York Mets,
said a fourth pitch will make him a
more attractive professional pros
pect. He said it also will help him
fulfill his boyhood dream of playing
major-league baseball.
“Ever since 1 was little, I’ve
wanted to play in the major leagues,”
Leinen said. "It has always been a
dream of mine.”
.. .8eetEINENorr t6 '’
Nebraska pitcher Part Leinen appears to be missing a leg as he delivers a pitch during a recent
practice at Buck Bettzer Field. Actually, Leinen has two legs and will probably be the
» Cortlhu^kers, No. 1 pitcher when they begin their seaaon thts spring.