Quarterback Cornwell is at full strength
By Kelly Anders
Staff Reporter
After a year of redshirting and
rehabilitation, Nebraska freshman
quarterback Joel Cornwell’s shoulder
is as good as new.
Cornwell sat out last season after
injuring his right shoulder. He said he
injured his shoulder while throwing
in practice.
“I was throwing the ball and it
started to bother me,” he said. “The
more I practiced, the worse it got.
Then it was thrown altogether.”
Cornwell said it “seemed to take
forever” for the strain to heal. He
said he received treatments for the
injury on a near-daily basis for almost
six months.
“It took awhile to get it back to
full strength. It nagged me,” he said.
“It seemed like it’d never get better,
but it came around.”
As his shoulder improved,
Cornwell said, he felt “a little nerv
ous” about throwing again. He said
the reason for his fear was pain.
But Cornwell said the pain never
returned. He said the injury has not
affected him this season, as he threw
for 71 yards and one touchdown dur
ing the Huskers’ season-opening 23
23 lie against Snow (Utah) Junior
College.
“(The injury) hasn’t affected this
year’s play,” Cornwell said. “I have
to prove every day that I can play, but
that’s always the case.”
Cornwell said he was surprised to
be named Nebraska’s starting quar
terback against Snow. Nebraska
coach Shane Thorell chose Cornwell
over Marvin Callies, a scholarship
player who spent much of the game at
I-back.
Callies assumed the quarterback
duties in the fourth quarter.
‘‘I didn’t expect (to start),”
Cornwell said. ‘‘I’d heard a lot about
(Callies), and he’s a great athlete. I
think being here before and my
knowledge of how our offense works
helped me.”
Thorell said neither Cornwell nor
Callies played up to their capabilities
during Nebraska’s first game. He said
both quarterbacks need to improve
before the Huskers face the Bethany
(Kan.) junior varsity on Sept. 18.
Thorell said Cornwell needs to
leant to pick out his receivers better.
He said Callies needs to be more
consistent and also needs to leant
where to line up during pitch plays.
Thorell said both quarterbacks
possess similar qualities.
“They’re quite a bit alike,”
Thorell said. “They both have good
speed and they both throw the ball
well. It’s just a matter of experi
ence.”
Thorell said he would like to have
one of the quarterbacks step forward
and claim the starting job.
“You would always like to have
one settled,” he said.
Cornwell said he is looking for
ward to his Nebraska career. He said
he plans on playing as long as his
health permits.
Future playing time for Comwell
might be limited, as he will run into
quarterbacks Mike Grant, Mickey
Joseph and Tom Haase on the Husker
varsity. He also will be challenged byt
Keithen McCant and Callies, who has
indicated that he prefers to play quar
terback.
“I like being part of the team,”
Cornwell said. ‘Til take it one year at
a time, and barring injury, I’ll still
play.”
Sooner surge ends slump speculation
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
Despite the national attention paid
to the Oklahoma football program
during the past several months, first
year Sooner coach Gary Gibbs hopes
his team doesn’t fall out of sight
If the Sooners’ first two games of
the season are any indication, he can
rest assured they won’t
Oklahoma opened its season two
weeks ago with a 73-3 pounding of
New Mexico State, then came back to
post a 33-7 victory over Baylor.
The wins ended speculation that
Oklahoma’s woes of the past several
months — including NCAA proba
tion, injuries, starting quarterback
Charles Thompson being arrested for
alleged cocaine sales, and various
other problems that led to the resigna
tion of Coach Barry Switzer — would
deplete the Sooners’ status as one of
the nation’s winnitigest football pro
» ■ i ■■ I. ■
grams.
“Obviously, we have problems,”
Gibbs said. “But so does everyone
else. If we can solve a couple of
problem areas and stay relatively in
jury free, we have some fine athletes
who already have proven themselves
and some others who are ready to do
the same thing.”
The main area of concern for
Sooner coaches is at quarterback.
Oklahoma lost the aforementioned
Thompson last spring. Heading into
fall drills, the top three quarterbacks
were inexperienced — two had never
taken a collegiate snap - and the third
had only taken a few.
Steve Collins, a 6-foot-2, 196
pound freshman from Ennis, Texas,
won the starting job, and led the
Sooners to their first two victories.
But last week, he injured the thumb
on his throwing hand and was taken
out of the game in the first half. He is
expected to miss four to six weeks
after undergoing surgery earlier this
week.
The problems just keep coming.
At running back, however, Okla
homa continues to dip into its endless
bag of runners. Halfback Mike Gad
dis returns, as does Ike Lewis, who sat
out last season as a victim of Proposi
tion 48. Dewell Brewer, a highly
touted recruit, also is in the picture.
At fullback, Leon Perry returns for
his final season. Perry, a 6-1, 230
pound player, rushed for 546 yards
and seven touchdowns last season.
Kenyon Rasheed and Mike McKin
ley also have a chance to see playing
time at that position this season.
Gibbs expressed concern during
the summer about being able to throw
more effectively, and more often.
“We will still run from the wish
bone,” he said. “But the I-formation
will allow us to take some of the heat,
both physically and mentally, off our
quarterbacks, and we believe we
have the running backs to make us
go.”
Oklahoma offensive coordinator
Jim Donnan said the offense is better
this season because of the experience
reluming.
“We did not have the injury prob
lems last spring, which was a big
plus,” he said. ‘‘We were able to
develop individually and collec
tively. All in all, 1 couldn’t have
hoped for a whole lot more than we
accomplished in April.”
At the Z back, a position that alter
nates between wingback and half
back in the revamped Sooner offense,
sophomore Ted Long and walk-ons
Wade Auld and Chris Cabbiness will
compete for playing time.
At light end, Adrian Cooper is
back, and Eric Brass returns at split
end. Brass was Oklahoma’s leading
receiver last season.
All five starters from last season
return to the Sooner offensive line.
Defensively, Gibbs said, the
Sooners will compare admirably to
last year’s unit, which ranked No. 2 in
the nation in total defense and rush
ing defense, and led the Big Eight in
scoring defense.
“I think we’ll be better,” Gibbs
said. ‘‘We have the capability of
being so. If we stay healthy, we nave
the promise of making a few more big
plays than we did a year ago.”
Scott Evans and Tom Backes re
turn to their defensive tackle spots,
and middle guard Dante Williams is
back after recovering from a tom
muscle he suffered in Oklahoma’s
1989 Florida Citrus Bowl loss to
Clemson.
Stacy Dillard, Brian Brauninger,
Mike Filson and Darrell Kirby are the
top backups.
At end, James Goode, who didn’t
practice in the spring, is back, while
Tracy Gordon and Wayne Dickson
probably will split playing time at the
onset on the other side.
Last season, Oklahoma was weak
ened at linebacker after Richard Dil
lon went down with a knee injury.
This season, Gibbs said, the Sooners
will be much improved.
Frank Blevins and Chris Wilson
are the starters for now, but will re
ceive heavy competition from re
dshirt freshman Reggie Barnes, and
Joe Bowden and Corey Mayfield,
who were Prop 48 casualties last
season.
The secondary is another question
mark for Oklahoma. The Sooners’
first two games were against teams
not noted for their passing ability, so
the defensive backs still are untested.
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The name-exclusion forms may be completed in the
Office of University Information, 208 Administration
Building. Forms must be completed in person before
Sept. 15,1989. Proof of registration or identity
is required for completion.
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