Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 1989)
Hometown declares ‘Virginia StahrDay’ By Cory Golden Staff Reporter From start to Finish, Saturday was Virginia Stahr’s day. The All-American middle blocker served the Nebraska volleyball team’s first and last points in the team’s four game win against previously un beaten Hawaii. The win came on what her home town of Waco had declared “Virginia Stahr Day’’ and what Qtnhr the Comhusker 3,8 volleyball team had dubbed “Vir ginia Stahr Night.” Stahr was presented with a framed certificate during pregame warm-ups on behalf of her hometown. The ca pacity crowd at the NU Coliseum rose to give the graduate student and Husker captain a standing ovation. Stahr, who has been hampered by a shoulder injury, said she has been returning to form as of late. Going into the Hawaii match, Stahr had totaled 50 kills, seven serv ice aces, 17 blocks, 37 digs and a .5 56 hitting percentage in her last five matches. Stahr’s .503 hitting percentage led the nation and the Big Eight entering Friday night’s match against the Rainbow Wahines. Stahr, who last year earned GTE Academic All-America Volleyball Athlete-of-the-Year honors, was awarded the First Delta Female Scholar-Athlete Award two weeks ago and was Big Eight Player-of-the Week for the first time this season. Stahr said her recovery has been going “real well’’ but after seeing the team’s victory Saturday night she didn’t need to be in her best form for the team to win. “My shoulder’s not like it was last year,’ ’ she said, “but hey - it doesn’t need to be. This year you see Janet Kruse, you sec Cris Hall, Eileen (Shannon) - you see everybody. Everybody can play. “So I don’t need to be 100 percent with them.’’ Stahr topped the kill column for the Huskers in their Friday night loss to the Rainbow Wahines with 10 on 18 attacks for a .318 hilling percent age. Then, on Saturday, Stahr contrib uted nine kills in a Husker win that saw the entire starting lineup each add at least five kills. The All-Amer ica athlete led the team with nine total blocks to lead the defense atlhe net. Stahr contributed the win to a “whole team effort” but thought her own performance was still not her best. “I felt like I didn’t play as well as I could have,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter because everyone else did. “It felt great.” Nebraska coach Terry Pettit said Stahr, along with her teammates, played their individual roles very well. “I thought her intensity was more even tonight,” Pettit said. “In other words, I thought she was less emo tional but more consistently intense and that’s the kind of leadership she needs to provide. “She played real well.’’ The leadership role isn’t always easy, Stahr said. “I can’t be down. It’s a lot harder mentally,” she said. Once the 2 1/2 hour match was over Saturday night, Stahr didn’t struggle at all with her emotions. Stahr, who clowned with family and friends after the victory and mugged for pictures with the posters that decorated the NU Coliseum in her honor, was beaming about her hometown’s turnout. “I tried not to focus on it during the game, but it’s great,” she said. “It was a lot of fun to have the whole community come up here.” NUproves victorious against Cowboys in showdown oy v nucK ureen Senior Reporter STILLWATER, Okla. - As in most showdowns, one shot sealed the outcome here Saturday. The “shot’ ’ came with 5:45 left in the third quarter, with No. 4-ranked Nebraska leading Oklahoma State 20-16. The Cowboys, who had tried to lasso the Comhuskers throughout the game with heavy blitzes, faced a fourth-and-ons at their own 48-yard line. Oklahoma State quarterback Mike Gundy, who had passed to Cowboy split end Curtis Mayfield for a 65 yard touchdown in the second quar ter, dropped back to pass and looked to his left for an open receiver. What he didn’t see was Husker comerback Bruce Pickens sprinting in from the right side. As Pickens hit Gundy and slammed him to the AstroTurf, the football came tum bling out. Pickens scrambled to his feet and pounced on the ball at the Oklahoma State 27. Two plays later, Nebraska quar terback uerry Gdowski scampered in from one yard out to give Nebraska a 27-16 lead with 4:57 remaining in the third quarter. “It was exciting, rushing in there and making a big hit,” Pickens said. “It was a dream play for a defensive back, because you never see it. You always have a chance for an intercep tion, but you never see this. “It was kind of fun.” For the Cowboys, their fun was over for the day. Nebraska generated 511 yards of total offense - 316 rush ing — to beat Oklahoma State 48-23. It was the 16th consecutive win for Nebraska over the Cowboys, and the 28th game in a row without a loss. The comerback blitz - called the ‘‘comer fire” - was a new wrinkle Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride added for this game, Pickens said. McBride said the blitz depends on several factors, including the offen sive formation and situation. The blitz Pickens connected on was the second time the play was run Satur day. Pickens said he was surprised at the call. ‘‘I was set, getting ready to play technique,” he said. ‘‘Then I looked over and (free safety) Marvin Sanders called it. Then. I just reacted.” But blitzing was nothing new to the game by the third quarter. Ne braska coach Tom Osborne said Oklahoma State’s frequent blitzing neutralized ‘‘about 95 percent” of what the Husker offense had prepared for in practice during the week. ‘‘It made for an interesting day,” he said. ‘‘Oklahoma State played awfully hard and inspired football, although their coaches might think differently. 1 think Oklahoma State’s effort was as good as they’ve played all year.” The blitz also hurt the Cowboys, Osborne said. * The problem with the blitz is that if you don’t make the big plays on defense, the offense will make them,” he said. That was made evident by Husker quarterback Gerry Gdowski, who led all rushers with 125 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Gdowski added 170 yards and two touchdowns through the air on 10 completions. His offensive output against Okla homa State was the best of his career. ' * ‘We audibled on just about every play,” Gdowski said. ‘‘They blitzed like Missouri did last year. The coaches did a great job of sorting things out.” Gundy completed 13 of 23 passes for 191 yards.and a touchdown, but was held to minus-19 yards rushing. However, his passing output was enough to boost him to die top of the Big Eight charts for career offense, giving him a total of 6,559 yards. He overtook former Missouri quarter back Phil Bradley as the confei mce leader. The Huskers took a 3-0 lead on a 23-yard field goal by Gregg Barrios with 9:51 left in the first quarter, capping a 10-play first drive. But on Nebraska’s second posses sion, Cowboy free safety Rod Smith blocked Mark Stigge’s punt and re covered it at the Nebraska 17. Four plays later, the game was tied 3-3 on a 36-yard field goal by Cary Blan chard. Husker I-back Ken Clark added a 14-yard touchdown to give Nebraska a 10-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Clark, who rushed for 85 yards on 21 carries, added a 12-yard touch down in the second quarter. The teams traded field goals in the second quarter, and Mayfield’s touchdown reception cut Nebraska’s lead to 20-13 at halftime. Another Oklahoma State field goal cut the Huskers’ lead to 20-16 early in the third quarter, but it was as close as the Cowboys would get Split end Jon Bostick, a sopho more who was pulled out of his re dstart season earlier this fail, hauled in a 35-yard pass from Gdowski with 3:09 left in the third quarter. It was Bostick’s fourth touchdown recep tion of the season. Bostick caught another touch down pass from Gdowski, this time from 20 yards, in the fourth quarter. “He’sa great receiver,” Gdowski said. “That last catch he made was probably the best I’ve seen as a col lege player.” After Oklahoma State’s Jarrod Green caught a 12-yard pass from Earl Wheeler with 5:02 left, Husker I back Leodis Flowers scooted 52 yards down the sideline for the final score of the day with 3:36 left McBride said he was happy to have finally played a game against a team that “didn’t pass on every down.” “We played a football game against a football team, not a basket ball team,” he said. “We saw pass ing, but not on .every play of every series. It was refreshing.” Notes: * The only serious injury suffered by a Husker was to wingback Richard Bell, who severely pulled his ham string on Nebraska’s second offen sive possession. “He won’t play next week, and whether we get him back or not this season, 1 don’tknowOsborne said. With backup Nate Turner out with a quadricep injury,, “we’re really scrambling at the wingback posi tion,” Osborne said. Other Husker injuries included defensive tackle Joe Sims and tight end William Washington (sprained ankle); Clark (sore knees); and split end Morgan Gregory (sprained knee). OSU coach says team gambled with blitz and lost Nebraska quarterback Gerry Gdowski (left) rolls out to pass behind Bryan Carpenter. By Chris Hopfensperger Staff Reporter STILLWATER, Okla. - Okla homa State coach Pal Jones gambled against Nebraska - and lost “Number one, if you’re going to beat a good football team when you’re outmanncd you’ve got to play near flawless,’’ Jones said after his team dropped a 48-23 decision to Nebraska Saturday. “We did some things that enabled us to have a chance. Obviously we rolled the dice defensively.” The Cowboys4 rolled the dice” by blitzing almost continuously throughout the game. ' “I think roughly the first half (we blitzed) probably 98 percent of the time,” Jones said. “The two times we didn’t I got mad.’’ Oklahoma State blitzed “as much or more” in the second half, Jones said. “You’re rolling the dice when you blitz that much,” Jones said. “We gave them some bad plays and they gave us some bad ones. “It’s something you’ve got to live with.” Jones compared the defensive game plan to the one used in 1983, when Nebraska posted a 14-10 vic tory against the Cowboys. ‘41 remember going through this in ’83,” he said.44 You just kind of close your eyes and let it rip. 44It’s a heck of a lot better to make (hem sight adjust and gel into some intricate throwing games than it is just to turn around and pilch the ball on a sweep and run downhill.” Nebraska’s work at countering the blitz paid off against Oklahoma State. Jones said turnovers also played a big role in the game. The Cowboys turned the ball over three times in their own territory and once in the Nebraska end zone. “If we can keep from turning the ball over on our end of the field I think we have a real chance,” Jones said. “We can’t give them the ball on our end of the field and expect to do anything. They’re too good.” Jones said the game proved to him that his 2-5 Cowboys could win. “That kind of performance for any extended period of time against quality competition gives us the idea of what you’ve got to do to win a big ball game,” he said. “You got to make plays, you got to block punts, you got to cause turn overs, you got to make great catches. We did that.” Oklahoma State quarterback Mike Gundy, who finished the day with 172 yards, became the Big Eight’s all-time offense leader when he hurled a 65-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Mayfield midway through the second quarter. Gundy said he was pleased with his accomplishment. “That was the big one, to be able to accumulate more yards than any body who ever played in the Big Eight,” Gundy said. “It was a big record for me and for the team also.” One thing that Gundy hasn’t been able to do is beat Nebraska. “That’s not really that big a deal,” Gundy said. “I basically go out and do the best 1 can every game and so docs the team. “We try to beat every team we play, but if we can’t beat them, that’s just a part of it.”