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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 1988)
Sports Missouri coach says NU ‘good as anybody’ By Jeff Ape! Senior Reporter A victory that Nebraska fans criticized drew nothing but praise from Missouri coach Woody Widenhofer. Widenhofer said Nebraska’s 63-42 victory against Oklahoma State earlier this season in Lincoln convinced him that the Com huskers are the best team in the country. He said a 21 -point victory against the 12th-ranked Cowboys is “incredible.” 7 think Missouri is capable of giving every body in the country a very difficult assign ment.' — Osborne “That’s devastating,” Widen hofer said. "Right now I haven’t seen anybody as good as Nebraska Nebraska is as good as anybody in the country.” Widenhofer said Nebraska has made great strides of improvement since the beginning of the season. He said he doesn’t know if the Tigers, who are 2-4-1 overall and 1-2 in the Big Eight, can stop the Huskers when they meet Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. “They’re tough to stop,” Widenhofer said. “They’re big and strong.” Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said he is equally concerned about Missouri. He said the Tigers are a good team that has lost some tough games. Missouri opened its season by defeating Utah State 35-21 and then dropped a 31-7 decision to Houston. 'Hie Tigers tied Indiana 28-28 and suffered a 55-0 setback to Miami prior to defeating Kansas State 52-21 and losing to Iowa State 21 -3 and Oklahoma State 49 21. “I think Missouri is capable of giving everybody in the country a very difficult assignment,” Osborne said. “Missouri is a team that has the same kind of players we have. They have good personnel and a good football team.” Nebraska senior outside line backers Broderick Thomas and Jon Marco said they are confident the Huskers’ defense can contain Mis souri. They said the Nebraska de fense has improved since it surren dered 28 first-quarter points in a 41-28 loss to UCLA earlier this season in Los Angeles. Osborne said Nebraska’s Big Eight statistics prove it can play defense. The Huskers lead the conference in total defense while allowing opponents an average of 284.5 yards a game. The Huskers are second to Oklahoma in rushing and scoring defense. “Hopefully, that will alleviate some of the anxieties of some of our faithful fans who don’t think we can play a lick of defense,” Osborne said. Marco said the key to the im provement has been the play of the defensive line. He said the defen sive line has been improving all season long. “As long as we continue to do that, we’ll be all right,” Marco said. Marco said the Nebraska de fense needs to stop the run in order to contain Missouri. He said the Huskers are confident that Mis souri won’t hurt them with its pass ing. See TIGERS on 9 Douj^5non/u5»yN«bra8ki<n Nebraska outside linebacker Broderick Thomas chases Kansas quarterback Kelly Donohoe during the Cornhuskors1 Oct. 8,63-10 win. Ex-Husker to help NU volleyball By Jeff Apel Senior Reporter Nebraska volleyball coach Terry Pettit will receive help from an old friend while the Comhuskers prepare for their matches against Notre Dame and Western Michigan this weekend. Pettit said Cathy Noth, a former Nebraska All-American who just re turned from the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, will spend the next two weeks in Lincoln relaxing and acting as a consultant for the Nebraska vol leyball team. Noth was the starting setter on this year’s U.S. Olympic Team. Pettit said he welcomed Noth’s addition. “Anytime we have one of our for mer players here we welcome them with open arms,” he said. “Everyone really looks up to her.” Pettit said Noth’stutelagecouldbe a key this weekend because the Husk ers, who are now 18-3 overall and 7 1 in the Big Eight, are an untested road team. Nebraska will face Notre Dame Friday in South Bend, Ind., then will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face Western Michigan on Satur day. The Huskers’ match against Notre Dame will begin at 7:30 p.m. and the Western Michigan match will start at 6:30 p.m. Pettit said the Notre Dame and Western Michigan matches will tell him how well Nebraska can play on the road. He said he can’t tell now because the Huskers have played too many of their road matches on neutrfl courts. Nebraska is 5-1 in matches played on such courts this season, with its only loss coming against San Diego State in the championship match of the Cal State-Fullerton Titan Invita tional earlier this season in Fullerton, Calif. The Huskers are 3-2 in road matches, with wins against Kansas, Missouri and Iowa State and losses to Oklahoma and Illinois. ‘It’s a challenge to play two very good teams on me road. They’re both real tough.’ “It’s a challenge to play two very good teams on the road,” Pettit said. “They’re both real tough.” Notre Dame volleyball ccach Art Lambert said he doesn’t know if the homecourt advantage will help his squad. He said the Irish have played too inconsistently to benefit from any advantages this season. “We*re kind of a Jekyll and Hyde team,” Lambert said. “If you ask me how my team has been playing, it depends on the week you’re talking to me.” Lambert said Notre Dame is look ing forward to facing the Huskers, who are ranked sixth in the latest NCAA and American Volleyball Coaches Association polls. He said die 11-8 Fighting Irish are anxious to see if they improved since they dropped a 15-3,15-1,15-9 decision to Nebraska last season in Lincoln. “The Nebraska program has been around a long time and Terry has done a good job,’' Lambert said, “but we think it’s going to be a good match.” NUswim teams to open season today By Lori Griffin Staff Reporter After eight weeks of practice, the Nebraska men’s and women’s swim ming and diving teams will begin their seasons this weekend at Uhe Big Eight Invitational today and Saturday at Ames, Iowa. The meet will be at Beyer Hall on the Iowa State campus and will begin at 5 p.m today and 9 a.m. Saturday. Nebraska women’s swimming coach Ray Huppcrt said he is looking forward to getting his team’s season started. “We have been practicing since the first of September and are getting anxious to swim,” Huppert said. “We are ready to work and build off of that.” Huppert said he is hoping a major ity of the members of his team will bfc able to compete this weekend. “We hope to swim a lot of people in a lot of events,” Huppert said. “But our main goal is to sec what our depth is like in every event “We need to know what athletes to pul in what events. We arc going to make sure we swim everybody in every event, not just their l>est ones. We arc doing this so we have a chance to sec what we are capable of doing in a meet environment.” Huppert said Kansas should pro vide the biggest challenge for the Comhusker women. Kansas is the defending Big Eight champion. “Year in and year out, the race is between Kansas and Nebraska,” Huppert said. “Iowa State is im proved this year and Missouri is working hard and becoming better, but Nebraska and Kansas should be the favorites coming in.” Huppert said the Huskers will be looking for leadership from their team captains. This year’s team cap tains will be senior diver Julie May, junior Carole Johnson and sopho more Kristen Neucnfeldt, he said. “We are looking lor the captains to help show the leadership,” Huppert said. “We have a lot of great leader ship in our program, but we are defi nitely looking for the leadership from our three captains.” Nebraska men’s swimming coach Ca! Bent/ said he is looking for his team to perform like it has been dur ing practice. “We want them to perform at the level that they have been working for the past eight weeks to get to,” he said. Bent/ said he is more interested in See OPENER onlO Reed returns to Lincoln as Nets’ coach Willis Reed will make his first appearance in the Bob Devaney Sports Center arena since the 1983-84 season Friday night when he leads the New Jersey Nets against the Chicago Bulls in a National Basketball Association exhibition game. But Reed will have to share the spotlight with the Bulls’ all star Michael Jordan. Tipoff for the game is set for 7:30 p.m. Reed is a former coach at Creighton, which lost to Ne braska 63-56 in Lincoln during the 1983-84 season. Creighton, led by Los Angeles Clippers center Benoit Benjamin, also lost to the Comhuskers 56-54 in the National Invitational Tour nament at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. Reed is in his first full year as the Nets’ coach. He also spent time as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings and the Atlanta Hawks. But Reed’s appearance will likely be overshadowed by Jor dan, a 6-foot-6 guard, who was named the leagues' most valu able player during the 1987-88 season. He averaged 35 points a game for the Bulls, who fin ished with a 50-32 record. The Bulls advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1980-81, but lost to the eventual Eastern Conference-champion Detroit Pistons.