Above: Nebraska quarterback Gerry Gdowski fires a
pass under the protection of offensive guard Jim Wanek.'
Above Right: Defensive tackle Kenny Walker pursues
Minnesota quarterback Scott Schaffner. Middle Right:
Nebraska running back Andre McDuffy shrugs off Min
nesota linebacker Joel Staats. Above Far Right: Ne
braska coach Tom Osborne and Minnesota coach John
Gutekunst leave the field together following the Huskers’
48-0 victory over the Golden Gophers Saturday evening
in the Metrodome. Right: Middle guard Pat Engelbert
Messure on Minnesota quarterback Scott Schaff
r Right: Wingback Richard Bell tries to brush off
Minnesota defensive back Fred Foggie.
jHuskers at home
in the Dome
IBy Chuck Green N
Senior Reporter
^ University of Minnesota football fan
shut lied past the press section Saturday night on his way out of the
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
Damn it, he muttered, shaking his head. His eyes were filled
witn tears.
^l>erC was more couId have said. He just had watched
No. 3-ranked Nebraska shutout his Golden Gophers 48-0, extend
ing the Cornhuskers’ win streak against Minnesota to 13.
lcars could be found in Nebraska’s locker room after the
game. The defensive players were especially cheerful.
So was Nebraska coach Tom Osborne.
“Our defense played tremendous football,” he said. “We
played defense like I thought we could play defense. We were able
to get wound up and zero in on them a little better than on Utah, and
that helped.”
ii Nebraska’s first two games, against Northern Illinois and
Utah, the Huskers surrendered 47 points in their first two games --
the most points given up by a Nebraska team in the first two games
since 1957.
But Saturday, Nebraska’s defense held Minnesota to 163 total
yards and did not allow the Gophers into Nebraska territory until
the fourth quarter, with 12:53 remaining.
While Nebraska’s players celebrated, Minnesota coach John
Gutekunst tried to salvage optimism.
“To say I’m disappointed is an understatement,” he said. “We
didn’t give ourselves a chance to see if we can play with Ne
braska.”
Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride said the de
fense “had something to prove” against Minnesota.
* ‘There were some things said about our defense that our players
didn’t appreciate,” he said. “Our kids weren’t really mad. But
they felt like they had to play harder to do a good job.”
McBride said Nebraska’s first two games didn’t allow the
Huskers to employ their usual defensive sets because of the
unusual offenses they faced.
“But tonight we were able to play stuff we worked on all
spring,” McBride said.
Gutekunst said he was impressed with Nebraska’s defense.
“I have to give their defense credit,” Gutekunst said. “When
you get a shutout in today’s football, it’s an accomplishment.”
Offensively, the Huskers rolled up 530 yards - 295 rushing and
235 passing.
* This was by far the most complete football game of the season
for us,” Osborne said. “I felt we would probably go for four
quarters, that this might be a one touchdown or 10-point game.”
Osborne’s concern was^credible only until the second quarter.
After a first-quarter, 6-yard touchdown run by I-back Ken Clark,
placekicker Gregg Barrios booted a 38-yard field goal with 11:3()
left in the half to extend Nebraska’s lead to 10-0.
After trading possessions, the Huskers faced a sccond-and-11
situation at the Minnesota 26-yard line. Quarterback Gerry Gdow
ski rolled right and drilled a pass to wide-open wingback Richard
Bell for a touchdown. The extra point by Barrios increased Ne
braska’s lead to 17-0.
Gdowski completed 10 of 15 passes tor 180 yards.
Clark added a 14-yard touchdown run with one minute left in the
second quarter to give the Huskers a 24-0 lead at halftime.
Clark’s 104 yards on 18 carries put the senior I-back at seventh
on Nebraska’s all-time career rushing yardage list. He now has
2,239 yards.
Chris Drennan added a 42-yard field goal and I-back Leodis
Flowers scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter to increase
Nebraska’s lead to 34-0.
Flowers added a 37-yard run in the fourth quarter, and finished
the night with 49 yards on eight carries.
Sophomore wingback Mark Dowse closed out the scoring with
a 7-yard run with 2:02 left in the game.
Midway through the fourth quarter, many of the 58,368 fans on
hand — almost half of whom wore red — groaned as Husker
quarterback Mike Grant took the field with the offense. Grant, a 6
foot-2,200-pound sophomore from Valrico, Fla., had not played in
Nebraska’s first two games under the assumption that he would be
redshirted.
But it was not to be.
“We talked last week about the possibility of him playing
tonight,’ ’ Osborne said.'' I just don’t think right now .with tnc style
of offense we’ve been running, that we can afford not to play him.
“The odds of us getting through the season with Gdowski
staying healthy and playing well the rest of l/jc way is maybe not
that good.”
Osborne said his concern was heightened when Gdowski left the
game in the third quarter with a bruised elbow.
Plus, “I don’t particularly want to go into next year starling over
in experience at quarterback,” Osborne said.
Grant completed 2 of 3 passes for 34 yards and rushed four times
for 32. He was listed as the No. 3 quarterback on last week’s Husker
depth chart.
Grant said he would rather redshirt this season, “but it’s
something I had to do, I thought, for the betterment of our team.”
“I thought that maybe since I’ll be going into the No. 1 spot next
year, I didn’t want to go into spring with no experience at all,” he
said. “I feel all rightabout it.
“It’s whatever is best for the team.”
Photos by Dave Hansen and Eric Gregory