Nebraskan
Monday, January 16,1989
Miami bombs Huskers in Orange Bowl
By Jeff A pel
Senior Editor
MIAMI - The pain and agony felt
by Notre Dame 16 years ago was
relived by Nebraska during this
year’s Orange Bowl Classic.
Nebraska, which finished with a 9
2-1 record in 1973 by taking a 20-0
halftime lead enroutc to defeating the
Fighting Irish 40-6 in the Orange
Bowl, trailed Miami by that same
halftime margin en route to losing 23
3 to the Hurricanes.
Miami coach Jimmy Johnson said
the Hurricanes dominated Nebraska
by controlling the offensive and de
fensive lines. He said Miami also
relied on a blitzing defense that
helped the Hurricanes hold Nebraska
to 135 yards of total offense.
“Defensively, we pretty well had
them zeroed in on everything they
did,’’ Johnson said. “I felt like we
were a better team, but I felt like they
would move the ball a little better.”
Johnson said Miami’s 20-point
victory proves the Hurricanes are the
best team in the country. He said
Miami, which lost its national cham
pionship bid when it dropped a 31 -30
game to top-ranked Notre Dame, was
on a mission against Nebraska.
“More than anything else, we
wanted to prove we were the very
best,” Johnson said. “We’re veiy
happy to be the Orange Bowl champi
ons. It’s great to win this ballgame.”
Miami quarterback Steve Walsh,
who along with Nebraska comerback
Charles Fryar was named the game’s
most valuable player, said the Hurri
canes were ready for Nebraska. But
he said he never imagined Miami’s
defense would shut down the Husk
ers’ offense.
“It’s just unbelievable what they
did to the Nebraska, offense,” Walsh
said.
Miami defensive end Greg Mark
said the Hurricanes’ defense domi
nated Nebraska by shutting down the
Huskers’ vaunted running attack.
Nebraska gained only 80 yards rush
ing against Miami, 31 of which came
in the first half.
Mark said Miami also controlled
the Huskers’ offense by confusing
them with many different blitzes.
“We did everything we wanted to
do,” Mark said. “We went out there
and played flawlessly. It was just a
great game.”
Miami cornerback Bubba
McDowell said the performance left
him feeling good because the Hurri
canes' defense was not getting the
respect it deserved. He said Miami
knew it was playing well defensively
when it forced Nebraska quarter
backs Steve Taylor and Gerry Gdow
ski to pass. Taylor and Gdowski
completed 8 of 22 passes and threw
three interceptions.
“We wanted them to pass because
we knew we had a good secondary,”
McDowell said. “We knew we had a
good chance of dominating them if
they had to pass. It wasn’t easy, but it
See AGONY ON 11
Nebraska quarterback Steve Taylor is upended by Miami
defensive tackle Jimmie Jones (63) and outside linebacker
Randy Shannon.
Comhuskers agree: The best team won the Orange Bowl
By Nick Hodge
Senior Reporter
MIAMI— Following Nebraska’s
23-3 Orange Bowl loss to Miami Jan,
2, the overwhelming consensus in the
Comhusker locker room was that the
best team won.
Husker coach Tom Osborne didn’t
hesitate to explain the outcome.
“We just got beat by a better foot
ball team tonight,” Osborne said.
Nebraska, which finished its sea
son 11-2 and ranked 10th in The
Associated Press and United Press
International postseason polls,
gained 135 yards of total offense -- 80
yards rushing and 55 yards passing -
against the faster defense of the Hur
ricanes.
Miami’s swarming, blit/ing de
fense harassed Husker quarterback
Steve Taylor throughout the game.
As a result, Taylor completed only 8
I
of 21 passes, was intercepted twice
and sacked six times.
By halftime, Nebraska’s offense
had been limited to 29 total yards and
two first downs. Meanwhile, the
Hurricanes racked up 212 total yards
and 11 first downs to bu ild a 20-0 lead
at halftime.
Nebraska entered the Orange
Bowl with the nation’s most prolific
ground attack. For the fifth lime in the
1980s, the Huskers led the country’s
Division I-A teams in rushing, with a
382.3 yards-per-game average.
Husker I-back Ken Clark, who
gained 1,497 yards during the season
and averaged 124.8 yards a game,
was held to 36 yards on 14 carries by
Miami’s defense.
Osborne said Miami’s ability to
shut down Nebraska’s rushing attack
forced him out of the initial game
plan.
“We wanted to run the ball at
them,” Osborne said. “I guess we
should have done more of it, but once
you get down by 14-0 and 20-0, it
makes it really hard to just run it up
the middle. We had to get some big
ger chunks of yardage.”
Osborne said the strength of the
Hurricanes is their defense, not of
fense.
”1 think Miami has a great defen
sive team - they run awfully well,”
Osborne said. “We just couldn’t
generate enough of a running game to
keep pressure off our defense. Their
defense played very, very well.”
Miami, which finished 2nd in the
AP and UPI polls behind national
champion Notre Dame, gained 354
total yards against Nebraska. Passing
accounted for 285 of the Hurricanes’
offensive output.
Osborne said Nebraska’s defense
kept the Huskers in the game.
“Our defense probably played
well enough to keep us - to win a lot
of games, but they have a fine of
fense,” Osborne said.
Nebraska’s three points were set
up when comcrback Tahaun Lewis
intercepted a pass thrown by Miami
quarterback Steve Walsh. Lewis re
lurried the interception 31 yards to the
Hurricane 37-yard line.
Four plays later, Nebraska’s
Gregg Barrios kicked a 50-yard field
goal to cut Miami’s lead to 20-3 with
9:06 remaining in the third quarter.
Huskcr A11-America center Jake
Young said it wasn’t a case of one
phase of Nebraska’s team not doing
its job, but every part of the team.
‘‘The biggest failing was that we
didn’t win the game,” Young said.
‘‘That was it. That’s the biggest fail
ing. There’s no one factor that con
tributed to it. It was all the factors that
contributed to it. We scored three
points - you can’t win scoring three
points.”
Nebraska offensive guards Andy
Keeler and John Nelson said they
were prepared for Miami’s quick
defense, but the Hurricane defensive
line ran stunts that the Huskers hadn’t
seen on film prior to the game.
“They probably did a little bit
more slanting and looping than we
expected,” Keeler said. “We ex
pected them to do a little bit, but not
to that extent. When they did, they
came hard.”
Keeler, an All-Big Eight selec
tion, said Miami’s speed and blit/es
were difficult to handle. But he said
that’s still no excuse for losing.
“They were all over the place,”
Keeler said. “They brought a few of
their safety men in for blitzes. We just
really didn’t protect Steve that well,
didn’t give him a shot. I’m going to
Huskers dominated by
OSU in Stillwater
By Darran Fowler
Staff Reporter
Nebraska coach Danny Nee
was the first to admit that his team
was manhandled Saturday night
# after the Comhuskers lost to Okla
homa State 82-69 at Gallagher-Iba
Arena in Stillwater, Okla.
Nee said no team this season
has physically dominated Ne
braska like Oklahoma State did.
He said that includes Ohio State,
which walloped the Huskers 103
76 earlier this season in Colum
bus, Ohio.
‘ ‘They (Ohio State) beat us by a
large score, but they didn't domi
nate us physically,’ ’ Nee said dur
ing his postgame radio show. ‘ ‘We
made mistakes by throwing the
ball away.”
Nebraska committed a team
record 30 turnovers against Ohio
State, and added 21 against Okla
homa Stale. The Cowboys fin
ished with 12 turnovers.
“I thought they outworked
us,” Nee said. ‘‘They were more
ready. They were very domineer
^ ing and I told the kids that they
really took it to us.”
Nebraska was outworked to the
po<nt that sophomore Beau Reid
failed to score in the game. Reid
came into the game as the Huskers
leading scorer at just over 12
points per game.
Two freshmen -- Corey Wil
liams and Byron Houston -
helped lead Oklahoma State past
Nebraska. Williams scored a
team-high 16 points while hitting
3 of 6 shots from the three point
range, while Houston added 14.
The Cowboys connected on
seven three-point shots, while
Nebraska hit two.
Nee said the Huskers need to
develop some "mental maturity."
He said he knows his team can
play belter.
"We have got to grow up,"
Nee said.
Nebraska trailed Oklahoma
State by as many as nine points in
the first hall. The Huskers cut the
Cowboys’ lead to 40-35 at
halftime despite giving up a
buzzer-beating basket by reserve
guard Darwyn Alexander.
Nee said Nebraska was just
trying to survive in the first half.
*Tthought they dominated us
from start to finish," he said.
"They completely had us on our
heels, even m the first half.
"They took us out of our game
plan. We didn’t execute and it was
because of Ok lahoma S late ’ s pres
sure. They outplayed us.”
Oklahoma State outscored
Nebraska 25-10 to start the second
half and led by as many as 24
points in the game’s final 20 min
utes.
Nee said things may have bec|ft
different if the Huskers woula
have given a belter effort, changed
their altitudes and been more
motivated.
"If we changed it around and
we had the psychological edge,
and played as hard as they did
Oklahoma’s Tony Martin battles Nebraska’s Eric
Johnson and Pete Manning for a rebound.
lonigni, a nngni nave oeen a uu
ferent story, he said, ‘‘h was
their night. They made things
happen with their energy, their
enthusiasm, their coach getting
j^them ready to play.”
Nee said the lone bright spot for
Nebraska was guard Eric Johnson,
who scored a team-high 16 points
and pulled down 10 rebounds.
”1 though E.J. was accountable
all night,’ ’Nee said.* * I thought he
was die one guy who showed up
anu piayea well.
Nebraska guard Clifford Scales
also turned in a strong perform
ance, scoring 14 points. Also,
Husker center Rich King tied the
single-season record for blocked
shots with 30 when he rejected a
shot by the Cowbuys’ Johnny
Pittman. Nebraska’s next game is
on Tuesday, when the Huskers
face Maryland-Baiiimorc County.
The game begins at 7:35 p.m. at
the sports center.
See BLOWOUT on 14
NU men’s team
wins experience
on Hawaii trip
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
Experience earned during a
trip to Hawaii over winter break
almost lead to an upset of Okla
homa.
Nebraska participated in the
Chaminade New Year’s Tour
nament on Dec. 28 through 30
in Chaminade, Hawaii. The
Comhuskers defeated Chamin
ade 86-85 and Morehead State
81-77 but lost to Louisiana
State 90-87.
Nebraska then faced the 3rd
ranked Sooner? last Monday at
the Bob Devaney Sports Cen
ter. The Kuskers led 78-75 but
were outscored 14-3 in the final
three minutes to lose the contest
89-81.
Nebraska sophomore Beau
Reid, who tallied a career-high
12 rebounds against the Soon
ers, said the Chaminade Tour
nament helped the Huskers.
‘‘We played pretty well in
Hawaii and came together as a
team,’* Reid said. “We’re get
ting more and more close knit.’ ’
“In Hawaii, we won two
really close games. You hear
the names of the teams and you
think we should have killed
them,” Reid said. “But it’s not
the case when you’re playing
Hawaii-Chaminade and there’s
three Hawaiian (refarces). We
overcame a lot of adversity to
win the two games we did/’
See HAWAII on 11
