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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1989)
McCartney sticks to tried and true methods By Chuck Green Senior Reporter It’s business as usual for Colorado (ootball coach Bill McCartney. Never mind that the No. 2-ranked Buffaloes are on the verge of the biggest game in Colorado history, a Saturday shoot-out with the third ranked Comhuskers at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo. The game is scheduled for 1:40 p.m., and will be nationally televised by CBS. “It’s just another game on our schedule,” McCartney said Thurs day. “We’re not changing anything. Our players know what they’re doing. “If they don’t after eight games, we’re in big trouble.” Those eight games, which in cluded matchups with top-25 teams such as Texas, Illinois, Washington and Oklahoma, have come without a loss. McCartney said before the season that Nebraska’s less difficult sched ule would be beneficial to the Husk ers, because the “easier” opponents would help them gain confidence and experience with their high scores. Now, McCartney said, Colorado has had the same kind of benefits from its schedule. “We’ve had a streak of good for tune, winning the games as easily as we have,” he said. “We’ve gotten to improve our depth against some qual ity teams, and that will certainly be to our advantage Saturday.” Colorado’s offense is led by quar terback Darian Hagan, a 5-fool-10, 185-pound sophomore from Los Angeles who has rushed for 708 yards and 11 touchdowns on 115 carries. Hagan also has completed 38 of 55 passes for 793 yards and three touch downs this season. He has been inter cepted three times. “He’s certainly been a team leader in a tough situation,” McCart ney said. “Darian has stepped in and done everything within his power to help us to get to where we are. He’s been a major factor in our success.” J.J. Flannigan is Hagan’s favorite pitch-man when McCartney calls an option. Flannigan, who stepped in for an injured-Eric Bienemy, has rushed for 702 yards and 11 touchdowns on 103 carries. “Their running backs arc good,” Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said. McCartney said that while his team is preparing for this game the same as they have for their other games, the Buffaloes are “excited and ready to tee up the football.” “Nebraska is the best team we’ve faced all season,” he said. ‘‘The coaches know it and the players know it, too. This is the game we’ve been aiming for all season long, and now that it’s finally here, we’re not going to change what has worked for us all season.” What has worked for the Buffa loes, McCartney said, is a solid work ethic and business-like approach at practice. He said the players have an extra emotional incentive for the game because of the death of former Colorado quarterback Sal Aunese, who died two months ago of stomach and lung cancer. ‘‘It’s hard to tell how much the emotion will affect the outcome of the game,” McCartney said. “We’ll know more on Saturday. But I know the players are dedicating this one to Sal, and people know it. “It should be an exciting atmos phere in the stadium Saturday.” McCartney said he isn’t con cerned that his team will lose inten sity after last week’s 20-3 win against Oklahoma. ‘‘When you’re winning, you build momentum,” he said. ‘‘For us, it’s been building all year.” McCartney’s greatest concern is ‘‘Nebraska’s excellence on both sides of the ball. ‘‘They’re big, strong and fast, just like every year,” he said. ‘‘We’ll have to play well Saturday in all as pects to be successful.” Osborne said his team also will have to play well in order to win. He said he has been pleased with the Huskers’ performance this season. ‘‘I think we have played up to our potential,” Osborne said. ‘T’ve been quite satisfied with the way we’ve played.” Coach Thorell says he’s confident entering today’s game By Cory (.olden Staff Reporter The Nebraska junior varsity will try to put everything together when it plays its final game of the season today. Nebraska junior varsity coach Shane Thorell said he is confident entering the contest even though the Comhuskers have not played up to their full potential. He said Nebraska might realize its full potential when it faces Waldorf Junior College of For est City, Iowa, at Memorial Stadium. The game, which is free to the public, begins at noon. The contest will be broadcast live by KRNU (90.3 FM), and will be shown on a tape delayed basis Saturday at 8:30 a.m. by NETV (Channel 12). Thorell said he has a good feeling about Nebraska’s game. “The offense and defense have been looking good in practice,” he said. ‘I think we’ll put it together this time.” Thorell said he never can be sure, though. ‘‘There are so many variables you have to lake into account, you can’t be sure,” Thorell said. Thorell said Nebraska cannot af ford to turn the ball over against Waldorf. The 2-1-1 Huskers have given up nine fumbles and eight interceptions this season. “If anything,” Thorell said, “I hope the offense will do a little belter job of keeping the ball.” Just what the Huskers do with the ball may be one of the most important factors in the game, Thorell said. “The key for both teams will be how much either team can move the ball,” Thorell said. “Waldorf’s a big, strong team, but I don’t think they have the speed we have on of fense. “They have a very talented de fense and ours has played very well so it could be a defensive football game. “It will be a very tough game for us.” • Nebraska has a 7-2 series lead against Waldorf. The Warriors’ last win against the Huskers was in 1987, when they posted a 42-25 win. That was Thorcll’s first year as the Husk ers’ coach. Thorell said the 1987 Waldorf team resembles this year’s team. He said it is difficult to compare squads from year to year because there are so many variables. “I don’t think we have the talent we had last year,” Thorell said. “TneyTe pretty close to my first team. Our schedule is tougher this year than last, but our schedule was even tougher that first year.” Thorell said he has been particu larly happiy with the development of a • few players. ‘ ‘Matt Penland, Kevin Racmakcrs and David Seizys have all done a real good job,” he said, “and our offen sive line... we have some really fine young linemen who’ve kept improv ing this season.” Penland, a walk-on linebacker from Jacksonville, Fla., leads the team in tackles while Racmakcrs, a defensive tackle, is third behind de fensive tackle Bruce Moore. Seizys, a 5-foot-8, 166-pound freshman from Seward, is the team’s leading receiver with eight catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. “David’s a really fine wing back,” Thorell said. Thorell said an obstacle in the Huskcrs’ way to putting another check in the win column is the team’s injury situation. Starting middle guard Jerry Irons, who was seventh on the team in tack les, lore a ligament in his knee in the win against Iowa Central. No. 1 I back Shane McClanahan, who was averaging seven yards a carry, in jured his knee in the first quarter of the same game. Nagging knee injuries have held linebacker Daren Williams and nose guard Ryan Berry out of practice, Thorell said. “It’s tough to practice when you’ve got a few guys on the side lines,’’ Thorell said. Thorell said the Huskersarc inter ested in some players on the Waldorf squad. “They do have a couple of guys we’ll look at,” he said. “Whether or not we’ll offer them scholarships depends entirely on what we need.” Thorell said Nebraska will be watching one player in particular. “He’s an outside linebacker,” Thorell said. “1 can’t mention his name, but we’ll take a good look at him.” Games not diffcult, ‘just different9 % Texas road matches a challenge, volleyball coach says By Darran Fowler Senior Reporter Nebraska volleyball coach Terry Pettit expects a strong challenge this weekend when his team travels south to play two non-conference matches in Texas. Pettit said the matches will be challenging because the third-ranked Comhuskers will be on the road fac ing defending national champion Texas at Austin tonight, then travel to College Station for a Saturday match against Texas A&M. Both matches start at 7:30 p.m. "Texas has always been a real competitive situation for us," Pettit said. "They’re similar to us and they’re always well prepared to play. "But the thing we have going for us is we’re a lot more experienced." Texas leads the series with Ne braska 7-2 after the teams split a pair of matches last season. The Long horns arc 18-6 overall and 6-0 in the Southwest Conference this season. Texas A&M, which has a 4-3 se ries edge, is 9-12 this season while posting a 1-4 mark in the Southwest. Pettit said the Lady Aggies are inexperienced, and after playing Texas Friday night, he hopes the Huskers arc ready. "They’re a younger team,” he said. "Their best talent is in their younger class. "The key there is coming off an intense match the night before and then going to College Station and being prepared to play.” Pettit said this will not be Ne braska’s stiffest road test this season because he is counting on the Huskers surviving regional play and reaching the Final Four in Hawaii in Decem ber. Also, in mid-September, the Huskers competed in the Reebok Classic in Minneapolis, Minn., against then 20th-rankcd Minnesota. The Huskers defeated the Golden Gophers 15-9, 15-6, 8-15, 15-7. Minnesota now has moved up to the No. 12 position in the NCAA National Volleyball rankings with a 14-5 rdcord. ‘‘It was a challenge at Minnesota and we were missing Virginia (Stahr) and at that point Cris (Hall) and Ei leen (Shannon) were still pretty banged up,” Pettit said. “I don’t know if this challenge will be any more difficult, just different. “It’ll just be a matter of executing. Whatever team executes is going to win.” Nebraska, which is 18-1 and leads the Big Eight with an 8-0 mark with three conference matches remaining, has compiled a .310 hitting percent age, while averaging a nation-lead ing 17.38 kills-per-game. Husker opponents have an attack percentage of .150 and arc averaging 12.21 kills per game. Shannon was named the Big Eight player of the week for her perform ances against Iowa Slate, Oklahoma and Missouri last week. The fresh man outside hitter collected 50 kills, three service aces, five blocks, 27 digs and posted a .450 hitting per centage. It marked the fifth time the Husk ers have received the award this sea son in the 10 times that a player has been chosen. Val Novak, Janet Kruse and Virginia Slahr also have been recipients of the award with Kruse being recognized twice. Kruse, a sophomore outside hitter, leads the Huskcrs in kills with 301 and a .359 hitting percentage. Shan non’s kill total is 294 while hitting .299. Slahr, who has 139 kills this sea son, is second nationally in hitting percentage with an average of .468. Her career total of 146 service aces is four short of establishing an all-time mark, which is held by former Huskcr Lori Endicotl. Novak, the Huskcrs’ junior setter, leads the nation with 13.90 set assists per game. She leads the team in serv ice aces with 38. Nebraska player remains loyal to NU despite original Colorado preference By Cory Golden Staff Reporter John Parella won’t make the trip to Boulder, Colo., this weekend with the Nebraska football team, but that doesn’t mean he lacks special feel ings for the Buffaloes. Parella, a redshirt sophomore de fensive end, signed a letter of intent to attend Colorado following his senior season at Grand Island Central Catholic High School. He was ready to become a Buffalo until Colorado coach Bill McCartney informed him that his grade point average' was not high enough. “They said I needed a 2.4 or 2.5 grade point average,’’ Parella said. “1 had a 2.4, but they said my GPA wasn’t high enough.’’ That’s when Parella turned to Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, who re-offered the dejected tight end a scholarship. He said he has been an Osborne tan ever since. “Coach Osborne is a winner,” Parella said. Parella said he originally chose Colorado over Nebraska and all the other Big Eight schools because he was ready for a change. ‘Bill McCartney’s inconsistent. They’re an up and-down team. That’s why they’re getting all the at tention this year.’ -Parella “I’ve lived in Nebraska all my life and I just wanted to try something different,” Parella said. “Nebraska was me oeuer icam, uui i wameu try something else.” Parella has made a different change this season, as he has moved from tight end to defensive end. He said he does not mind the change. “I like it,” said the 6-foot-4,250 pound Parella. “It was tough adjust ing at first, but it’s all right now.” Parella said he’s happy he ended up at Nebraska because the Huskers are traditionally a better team than Colorado. He declined to make a specific prediction about the show down between the two teams. ‘‘I’d rather not comment on that,” he said. ‘‘I think we’ll win. I hope we do.” Parella said play-calling and preparation might separate the two teams. He said Nebraska possesses a superior coaching staff. ‘‘Bill McCartney’s inconsistent,” Parella said. ‘‘They’re an up-and down team. That’s why they’re get ting all the attention this year.” Sig Ep A team tops ratings; playoff schedules available 1. SigEpA 3*0 2. Abel 7 6-0 3. ATO-A1 5-0 4. Brew Crew 5-0 5. Bellevue Crew 4*0 6. Fourths Goal 4-0 7. ATOB-1 5*0 8. Beta A 4*0 9. Beer Nuts 5-0 10. Harper4 5-0 Craig Christensen, relations director at the Office of Cam pus Recreation, said Thursday that playoff schedules for all University of Ncbraska-Lin coln flag football teams will be available at 3 p.m. today. Christensen said team repre sentatives need to pick up their playoff schedules as soon as possible in order to avoid con fusion. He said several softball teams forfeited their games because they did not pick up their schedules in time. Schedules arc available at the Office of Campus Recrea tion, which is located in Phase II of the Student Recreation . Center. The center is located behind the NU Coliseum at 14th and Vine streets.
