Missouri coach: Extra effort cost us
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By Jeff Apel
Senior Reporter
An extra effort that has been lack
ing all season hurt Missouri during its
26-18 loss to Nebraska Saturday at
Memorial Stadium.
Missouri coach Woody Widen
hofer said he couldn’t fault the Ti
gers’ five fumbles because they were
the result of extra effort. He said his
team’s backfield was trying for addi
tional yardage after appearing to be
stopped when the fumbles occurred.
llie fumbles didn’t take anything
away from his team’s effort, Widen
hofcr said. The Tigers, who dropped
to 2-5-1 overall and 1-3 in the Big
Eight, gave 5th-ranked Nebraska
everything it could handle, he said.
“I didn’t know if we would get this
kind of effort but I thought we played
Nebraska tough,” Widenhofer said.
Clockwise from above -
Nebraska’s Bryan Carpenter is
tackled by Missouri’s Adrian
Jones and Ron Walters.
Nebraska’s Chris Caiiendo
tackles Tiger halfback Michael
Jones as LeRoy Etienne and
Lawrence Pete help out.
Nebraska players try to keep
warm on the sideline as over
cast skies and a brisk wind
combined to make conditions
chilly throughout most of the
game.
Charles Fryer signals touch
down after recovering a fumble
In midair and running it in for an
apparent touchdown. A per
sonal foul nullified the touch
down.
Missouri quarterback Corey
Welch looks desperately for a
reciever as Caiiendo brings him
down.
Photos by Doug Carroll
and Eric Gregory
“We weren ’c in awe of Nebraska. We
weren’t intimidated by them.”
Widenhofer said Missouri used
several new defensive alignments to
hold Nebraska scoreless in the first
half. He said the alignments involved
blitzing strong safety Oiis Smith and
stunting linebackers A.J. Miller,
Darren MacDonald and Brian
Reeves.
Widenhofer said the strategy
worked early as Missouri took a 6-0
lead while holding Nebraska to 15
yards of total offense in the first half.
But the Tigers’ stunting defense
got burned in the second half, Widen
hofer said. Nebraska quarterback
Steve Taylor set up the Huskers’ sec
ond touchdown with a 24-yard run
midway through the third quarter, and
fullback Bryan Carpenter rambled 49
yards for a touchdown that gave the
Huskers a 23-18 lead with 8:24 re
maining in the game.
“We were blitzing on both of those
plays,” Widenhofer said. “Our defen
sive staff did a good job of coming up
with a scheme. We were really ag
gressive.”
Widenhofer and Missouri quarter
back Corey Welch said the loss would
build the teams confidence, even
though it was difficult to accept.
“We needed to win one like that,”
Widenhofer said. “I just thought our
kids played as hard as they could
play.”
Welch, a redshirt freshman who
made his first start during Missouri’s
21-3 loss to Iowa State on Oct. 15,
said the game would serve as a confi
dence builder for him. He said he felt
good even though he and Taylor both
had problems.
rYcicii lumpicicu o or 14 passes
for 97 yards while Taylor completed
3 of 9 for 153 yards. Taylor also
fumbled three times.
“(Taylor) had his problems”
Welch said. “I had mine, too. That’s a
credit to both defenses.”
Welch said the game was frustrat
ing because of all the turnovers. Mis
souri and Nebraska combined to
commit 12 turnovers, six of which
were lost. “That was very frustrat
ing,” Welch said. “I didn’t know what
we had to do.”
Missouri comerback Adrian Jones
said Nebraska’s fumbles were the
result of a tough Tiger defense that
confused Taylor. He said the game
showed that Missouri can play with
any team in the country.
“I think we had them on the ring
ropes,” Jones said. “That was no big
surprise.”