Daily
Nebraskan
Monday, October 31,1988
Tigers’ trick becomes Cornhuskers’ treat
Tim Hartmann
Staff Reporter
Halloween was still two days away, but that
didn’t stop Missouri from pulling out an old
trick.
It was 76,316 Nebraska football fans,
though, that were treated to a 26-18 Comhusker
victory against the Tigers Saturday afternoon at
Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne estimated
that Missouri blitzed 60 to 70 percent of the
time, a trick the Tigers last used in 1981, when
Nebraska defeated Missouri 6-0 in Columbia,
Mo.
Osborne said Missouri had not blitzed that
much in any of its previous games this season,
so Nebraska was not expecting the blitz.
He said Missouri’s gambling defense was
the reason the Huskers trailed 6-0 at halftime
and had only 15 yards of total offense.
“It’s a Russian Roulette type of deal,” he
said. “Through the first half, they won. We had
some opportunities for some big plays, and it’s
a deal where you’re going to have big plays or
you’re going to have nothing.”
In the second half, Nebraska’s adjustments
led to some big plays. Husker quarterback
Steve Taylor threw an 82-yard touchdown pass
to Todd Millikan, Taylor threw a 59-yard pass
to Nate Turner to set up a Chris Drennan field
goal, and Bryan Carpenter ran 49 yards for the
eventual winning touchdown.
Husker fans may have been disappointed
with the close score, but outside linebacker
Broderick Thomas said he enjoyed the game.
“Just going out and blowing people out,
that’s no fun,’ Thomas said. “It came down to
gut-check time today, and we found out what
we had.”
Nebraska was having anything but fun in the
first half.
With 4:09 left in the first quarter, Missouri
took over at its own 48-yard line after a 38-yard
punt by John Kroeker. On first down, freshman
quarterback Corey Welch hit fullback Tommie
Stowers with a 31 -yard pass. The Tigers drove
down to the Nebraska 3 before safety Reggie
Cooper tackled Welch for a five-yard loss on
third down. Missouri settled on Jeff Jacke’s 25
yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Tiger defensive back
Otis Smith sacked Taylor, forced a fumble and
recovered the ball at the Nebraska 23. The
Huskers fumbled seven times Saturday, losing
three of them. Missouri fumbled five times and
also lost three.
‘We had our student
section booing us, which
shows a lot of class. ’
—Osborne
Taylor’s fumble led to another Jacke field
goal, and Missouri went into the halftime with
a 6-0 lead. Nebraska was greeted by boos from
some people in the crowd as they left the field.
“We had our student section booing us,
which shows a lot of class,” Osborne said. “I
guess they booed the governor and the chancel
lor a couple weeks ago, so apparently they’ve
got things all figured out over there.”
When the Huskers made it to the locker
room at the half, the lights didn’t work.
“We thought they (the fans) were really mad
at us and pulled the cord,” defensive coordina
tor Charlie McBride said.
Nebraska’s troubles continued into the third
quarter. On the Huskers’ first possession, Tay
lor fumbled when he ran left and bumped into
offensive lineman John Nelson. The ball was
recovered by Missouri’s Lee Johnson at the
Nebraska 4,
Missouri ran three plays, but only gained
two yards, and had to settle for a 19-yard Jacke
field goal and a 9-0 lead.
Dana Brinson returned the following kick
off to the Nebraska 30. Taylor was hit for losses
on both first and second downs, resulting in a
third down and 22 from the Husker 18. Taylor
dropped back to pass, was forced out of the
pocket, and then hit Millikan with the 82-yard
scoring pass.
See TIGERS on 10
Michael Jordan
propells Bulls
past the Nets
By Nick Hodge
Stiff Reporter
Crowd favorite Michael Jordan
propelled the Chicago Bulls to a
117-87 win against the New Jersey
Nets in a National Basketball As
sociation exhibition game Friday
night at the Bob Devaney Sports
Center.
Jordan, the NBA’s most valu
able player last season, played half
the game but scored 20 points and
picked up five steals as the Bulls
defeated former Creighton coach
Willis Reed's squad.
Jordan established himself as
the favorite for most of the crowd
of 14,846 before the game even
started. He received thunderous
applause for pregame slam dunks
as well as routine layups.
After making his first steal, the
arena erupted as Jordan scored his
first points of the game on a Jordan
special slam dunk with 9:45 re
maining in the ODcning Quarter
The dunk ignited a 17-point scor
ing spurt for Chicago as the Bulls
jumped out to a 23-6 lead with 4:55
left in the first period.
The Bulls increased their lead to
as much as 41 points early in the
third quarter.
Jordan connected on 8 of 14
field goals and 4 of 5 free throws.
He also pulled down three re
bounds and contributed four as
sists.
Jordan said the crowd sal back
and watched the action more than
most crowds.
“I think they were more obser
vant and pretty quiet," Jordan said.
Jordan said he understood the
fans' reaction.
"It’s also the first time they got
to see myself play, so they were
more or less just sitting back and
watching," he said. "It wasn’t as
enthusiastic as if it would have
been a college game."
Chicago’s Michael Jordan (23) finishes a slam dunk as
New Jersey’s Lorenzo Romar (10) looks on Friday night
during the Bulls’ 117-87 NBA exhibition victory at tne Bob
Devaney Sports Center.
Osborne blasts boo birds
prior to praising defense
By Nick Hodge
Staff Reporter
A chorus of bods that echoed
through Memorial Stadium on Satur
day upset Nebraska coach Tom
Osborne.
Osborne said Sunday he was dis
pleased with several things that hap
pened during the Comhuskers’ 26-18
victory against Missouri, including
the crowd’s reaction at halftime.
Nebraska was greeted with boos
after mustering 15 yards of total of
fense and picking up two first downs
enroute to trailing the Tigers 6-0 at
halftime.
Osborne said most of the booing
was coming from the student section
located directly behind the Nebraska
bench.
we an noucea it, usoome said.
“Fans have been treated to many
years of real good football. If they
can’t tolerate one half of sub-par
performance—that’s the way life is.”
Osborne said he joined the boo
birds in not being pleased with the
execution of the Nebraska offense.
“Obviously, I thought we could
play better too and I wasn’t real
thrilled with our performance,”
Osbcme said. “But I give the players
credit for how they handled their situ
ation.”
Osborne said he wasn’t down on
the fans because a limited amount of
booing occurred. He said he wished
the fans that did boo would appreciate
the 27-consecutive years that the
Nebraska football program has
posted winning records.
Osborne said that Nebraska fans’
expectations may have been influ
enced by the Las Vegas oddsmakers.
The oddsmakers made Nebraska 34
point favorites against the 2-5-1 Ti
gers.
Osborne said too many fans pay
too much attention to the odds.
“The point spreads seem to condi
tion the fans expectations of the
game’s outcome,” he said. “Fans tend
to become complacent.”
Osborne said point spreads cause
fans to twist their perspectives.
“It doesn’t matter what I say the
week of the game,” he said. “Fans
seem to think gamblers are the only
honest people left and that coaches
lie.”
Osborne said the problems
Nebraska’s offense had throughout
the first half were directly related to
an outstanding performance by the
Missouri defense.
“I’d like to congratulate Mis
souri,” Osborne said. “They have
very strong, physical people. We
could sec it wouldn’t be easy.”
us Dome said ne was unnappy wun
the number of fumbles and turnovers
Nebraska had against the Tigers. The
Huskers fumbled seven times and lost
three.
“Fumbles were almost conta
gious,” he said. “They really hurt us.”
Osborne said Nebraska’s defense
played well against Missouri. He said
linebacker Chris Caliendo, middle
guard Lawrence Pete, tackle Willie
Griffin, cornerback Charles Fryar and
autsidc lir.cbackcr Broderick Tho
mas all played well.
The Husker defense forced five
Missouri turnovers — three fumbles
and two interceptions.
Osborne said Nebraska’s kicking
game was also good. He said place
kicker Chris Drcnnan’s two field
goals and punter John Kroeker’s
kicks helped the defense. Kroeker had
seven punts for a 41 -yard average.
Osborne said the Missouri game
could prove to be beneficial.
“If the players react properly, they
could gain from it more than if it
wouldn’t have been close,” Osborne
said. “The unnerving part is that it
happened.”
Big 8 coaches hope to repeat last season
By Mike KJuck
Stiff Reporter
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—With less
than a month remaining until Big
Eight basketball teams begin their
seasons, conference coaches took
time Sunday to reflect on last season
and look ahead to the 1988-89 season.
The coaches, who gathered at Big
Eight basketball media day at the
Kansas City International Airport.
Marriott Hotel, said the success Big
Eight basketball enjoyed last season
was something to remember and
something to build on.
Last season the Big Eight sent two
teams to the National Collegiate
Athletic Association championship
game at Kemper Arena in Kansas
City, Mo. Kansas beat Oklahoma 73
69 in that game. Kansas State made it
to the semifinal round before falling
to Kansas 71-58.
“We don’t have to defend the Big
Eight anymore,” Iowa State coach
Johnny Orr said. “We never have to
do that anymore because everybody
now knows we’re good, thanks to
Kansas and Oklahoma.
But not all the conference coaches
shared Orr’s optimism. Kansas State
coach Lon Kruger said it’s unfair to
expect the Big Eight to repeat last
season's showing. He said the confer
ence needs to work on solidifying
what it gained from last season.
“If we can follow that year up with
a very solid year," Kruger said, “it.
would be a great way of solidifying
our position on a national basis.
“I think we can do it and we have
teams in the conference that will have
great seasons. Last year, we had such
a great representation in the NCAA
tournament. If we can come any
where close to matching that this
year, I think we can finally get over
that hump and people will give the
Big Eight respect.”
The conference qualified five
teams for last year’s NCAA tourna
ment field of 64. Missouri and Iowa
State qualified but lost in the opening
round.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said
that sending five teams to the NCAA
tournament showed the nation Big
Eight basketball is competitive.
<4I think the year we had last season
was very special and may only hap
pen once in a lifetime or once a dec
ade,” Nee said. ‘‘I think Big Eight
basketball is bigger, tougher, and on a
national level, we’re going to com
pete. We have good coaches, good
teams and good schools. I think the
Big Eight is going to have some fine
quality basketball teams in the
postseason tournament.”
Most coaches agreed that Okla
homa and Missouri will finish as the
conference’s top two teams.
V
