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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 1989)
Coaches agree NU-OU game still important »y L.ory uoiaen Staff Reporter Team records and national rank ings have not claimed any of the luster surrounding the Nebraska Oklahoma game, Sooner coach Gary Gibbs and Comhusker coach Tom Osborne said Monday. Nebraska, which is ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press poll with a 9-1 record, will face the unranked, 7-3 Sooners in a battle that both coaches said is one of the best in college football. They said the contest re mains hot even though Oklahoma is in the first year of a two-year proba tion that will keep it out of the bowl games. “I don’t think it’s lost its luster,” Gibbs said. ‘‘Over the years, this has proven to be one of the great rivalries in college football. Our players are excited and up for the challenge. ‘ ‘There’s still a lot at stake - a lot of pride. It will be an excellent foot ball game.” Osborne agreed. ‘‘There’s still a lot of memories,” he said. ‘‘There’s more than a fair amount of history between these two teams. It’s going to be a tremendous ball game. Osborne said he has been im pressed by Oklahoma. ‘‘I think Oklahoma’s very good,” Osborne said. ‘‘After looking at the film, we’ve been very impressed. Defensively, they’re very good - they’ll probably be the best overall defense we’ll face. “At this stage in the season, they’re playing very well. They’re a top-10 team right now, I think. If they started their season over in these last few weeks they’d definitely be among the best teams in the coun try.” Gibbs said he is equally impressed with Nebraska. “Nebraska is a great football team,” he said. “They’recvery bitas good as Colorado is. (Gerry) Gdow ski and (Ken) Clark are playing very well for them and they have a defense with good speed and quickness. ‘ ‘They’re a typical Nebraska foot ball team and as good as any other team in the country.” Osborne said Oklahoma defensive tackle Scott Evans is as good as any player in the country. Evans, a 6-foot 3, 260-pound junior from Edmond, Okla., was an All-Big Eight selection last season and may earn higher hon ors this year, Gibbs said. Evans was the Big Eight Defen sive Player of the Week two weeks ago. ‘‘Scott Evans is as dominant a defensive player as there is,” Osborne said. ‘‘He’s as good as we’ve seen in a long time.” Gibbs said two other key players for Oklahoma are freshman quarter back Steve Collins and I-back Dewell Brewer. Brewer, a freshman who was re cruited heavily by Nebraska, re placed the injured Mike Gaddis and the suspended Ike Lewis in the Soon ers’ I-formation offense. He re sponded by earning the Big Eight’s Offensive Player of the Week honor after rushing for 187 yards against Kansas State Saturday. Collins took over Oklahoma’s vacant quarterback spot at the begin ning of the season, and relumed from a hand injury to lead the Sooners to two straight wins. “Collins is doing a real good job of controlling the offense right now,’ ’ Gibbs said. Volleyball team hosts Iowa State Players hope tonight’s home game isn’t the last By Darran Fowler Senior Reporter It may be an evening of goodbyes tonight at the NU Coliseum when the Nebraska volleyball team takes on Big Eight opponent Iowa Stale. Provided the Coliseum is not the site for any postseason play, the match will signify the end fora pair of Comhusker seniors as well as the building itself. With renovation of the Coliseum as part of Phase III of the Campus Recreation Center slated to begin in January, this could be the last athletic event ever staged in the Coliseum as it now stands. The first match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. University of Nebraska Lincoln students will be admitted free if they show their student IDs. The Coliseum was opened in 1926, and the Husker men’s basket ball team’s last game in the building was in 1975. Ironically, that game also was against Iowa State. The volleyball team moved into the Coliseum in 1977. In commemoration of the last regular-season event ever at the Coli seum, ticket prices for the match have been reduced to $1. “This building has a lot of his tory,” Nebraska coach Terry Pettit said. “Wilt Chamberlain’s played in this building.” Chamberlain played at the Coli seum in the 1957 and 1958 seasons, when he was a- starling center for Kansas. The match also is designated as senior recognition night for Huskcrs Virginia Stahr and Carla Baker. Stahr, who rcdshirtcd her fresh man year, said she has thought about the personal significance of this match. “It has crossed my mind,” she said. “In fact, I just talked to a friend of mine who mentioned it and I thought ‘Oh wow, it doesn’t seem possible.’ It seems I’ve been here forever. “The fans have been great and it’s getting better. I’m going to miss that . . . just all the spirit that goes on during matches.” Stahr said she is confident that this will not be her last match at the Coli seum. “I’m pretty sure we’ll have a first round match here,” she said. “We’ve had it every year here.” Baker said she hasn’t given much thought about this being her last match. “I guess it’ll be pretty exciting for us if it is the last one,” she said. “I just haven’t thought about it much because we’ve just been so busy. “But boy, now I’m getting all sentimental.” Baker said the team’s focus will be on Iowa State. Nebraska, which de feated the Cyclones earlier this year in Ames, Iowa, is 20-3 and 9-0 in conference matches. “We’ll just be thinking about the Big Eight,” she said. “It will be a good match with Iowa State because we went five games with them last time and they’re improving.” Nebraska is competing with Illi nois and Minnesota to stage a first round Mideast Regional game at home. Illinois beat Nebraska in five games last Saturday. “That’s the worst thing about the Illinois loss in that I don’t know how much that’s going to hurt us,” Stahr said. “The longer we play here the better.” Despite the loss, Nebraska is still in a good position to be selected as the tournament’s site, Baker said. “Coach Pettit told us there is a good chance for the regional to be here even though Illinois beat us,” she said. ‘The fans have been great and it’s getting better. I’m to miss just all the spirit that goes on during matches —Stahr Baker, who hails from Winona, Minn., naturally prefers having the regional in Lincoln, but she saic Minnesota would not be a bad selec tion either. “That would be great,” she said. “Illinois is kind of like Lincoln in that there’s a lot of people ... a huge iii ^ ^ crowd and a lot of noise. “I don’t want to go to Illinois because we’ve been there the last two years. I don’t want logo there at all.” The Huskcrs have suffered two losses in eight days. Nebraska also lost to Texas Nov. 3. Baker and Stahr said the team’s attitude is positive, and that the losses may prove beneficial. “Some teams go undefeated and then when it comes to crunch time in the (NCAA) tournament, they just choke,” Stahr said. “We just need to take a deep breath now and go on. “I think it’s good that w$ haven’t peaked yet. I think you’re going to see a situation where we just start getting better.” Stahr said an indicator of the Huskers avoiding a dubious attitude was displayed in the fifth and decid ing game against Illinois. ( Nebraska trailed Illinois 11-3, before battling back and tying the score at 11. Illinois went on to win that game 15-12. ‘ ‘It was really good for us to make that final run,” she said. “We totally came back and we were in a position to win that match.” New Zealand national team tirst Comhusker opponent By Paul Domeier Staff Rcportei The Nebraska women’s basket ball team will face a competitive opponent tonight when the Com huskers face the New Zealand na tional team. Nebraska coach Angela Beck said she knows the Aukland, New Zeal and, squad is competitive because she watched it drop a 69-55 decision to Kansas State Friday. “To be honest, K-State could have lost that game,” Beck said. “and they were picked to win the Big Eight.” • The New Zealanders then de feated Wichita State Saturday, and faced Kansas in a late game Monday night. They’ll get their third crack at a Big Eight opponent when they face Nebraska in a 7 p.m. game at the Bob Devancy Sports Center. All University of Nebraska-Lin coln students who present their stu dent IDs will be admitted for free. Beck said New Zealand’s impres sive start hasn’t caused her to worry much about her scouting trip to Manhattan, Kan. She said she over scouted last year, worrying loo much about what the opponchts did and not enough about what the Huskers were doing. Beck said that realization has forced her to concentrate on simplic ity when Nebraska plays its first scrimmage game of the year tonight. “That’s why you won’t see 15 or 20 defenses,” she said. After the exhibition against Aukland, the Huskers will face St. Louis Nov. 24 in the opening round of the Wimmcr’s Invitational. If the Huskers win that contest, they proba bly will play Georgia in the finals. Nebraska’s next game then will be against Iowa. Georgia and Iowa are preseason top-20 teams. To gel ready for the early chal lenges, Nebraska will play to win while also trying to improve, Beck said. Beck said she has three goals for tonight’s game: to play intense de fense, to rebound well and to not commit unforced turnovers. She said the defensive intensity is especially important. “If you don’t have that right now, you’re going to have problems,” she said. Beck said the Huskers will start 5 foot-6 Kim Yancey, 5-6 Kristi Dahn, 6-1 Carol Muller, 6-1 Kelly Hubert and 6-1 Ann Halsne. She said she will use at least 10 players against New Zealand. “I’m not going to hesitate to use the bench,” she said. “We’re going to have to do new things and gel new excitement into the games.” j-spqglh I lOOth-season items not selling well The 100th season of Nebraska The Comhuskers expect to lose football kicked off with the sale of $500,000 this year because NCAA a variety of merchandise, but it has sanctions will keep the Oklahoma yet to net many returns. and Oklahoma Slate football pro Gary Fouraker, the assistant grams and the Kansas men’s bas athletic director for business af* ketball program off the air. The fairs, said the sale of merchandise Sooners and Cowboys also are has been so bad that it was adver- barred from participating in any Used at reduced prices during Ne* postseason bowl. 4 braska’s game against Kansas on Fouraker said revenue isn’t Saturday. The items being sold playing a big role in Nebraska’s range from autographed footballs postseason bowl selection, to paintings. “They’re talking about three “I would say it hasn’t sold as different bowl games right now,’* wellas what was hoped,’’ Fouraker F'ourakcr said. “They’re looking at said. “Some things have gone real the Cotton Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl well. Some hasn’t gone so well.” and the Citrus Bowl. Fouraker said he has heard “Moneywisc, there really isn’ta grumblings that the merchandise is difference between the Cotton, priced too high. But, he said, lhat Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls, complaint is commonplace. Those are all about the same in Fouraker said Nebraska decided stature and money. . to market, the merchandise in hopes The Citrus Bowl, which is lo of raising enough money to build a cated in Orlando, Fla., pays each new trophy display area. participating team approximately Fouraker said Nebraska didn’t hS intend to market the merchandise in ^ hopes of making up for lost TV and payment ot ere y Coto Wrestling coach finds little to criticize By Chuck Green Senior Reporter__ University of Nebraska-Lincoln wrestling coach Tim Neumann tried to’ find things to criticize about his team’s season-opening performance, but it was a difficult search. Neumann said he was pleased with the effort turned in by the Corn* huskers, “but there’s still work to be dofle.” Nebraska, ranked No. 6 in the Amateur Wrestling News prescason poll, beat Wyoming, 28-8, in a dual Friday night, then won seven of the 10 weight divisions at the 22-team Wyoming Cowboy Open Saturday in Laramie, Wyo. “It’s hard to be super critical when you win seven of the 10 weights, but if you don’t be critical, you won’t improve,” Neumann said. But, Neumann said, the Huskers “didn’t wrestle particularly well” Friday night against the Cowboys. Mental errors were the main prob lem, “such as letting the opponent score in the last 10 seconds of the period,” he said. ‘ ‘We didn’t wrestle with what you would call Division I intensity in the first three weights,” Neumann said. “If we would have been wrestling better competition, we might have been in trouble.” Neumann said some of the Husk ers’ intensity may have been lost because they were so excited for the start of their first dual of the season. ‘‘In the first matches, they wrestled hard for about three min utes, then tired,” he said. ‘‘I think they were so pumped up before the match, it just look a lot out of them.” In the finals of the Cowboy Open, though, ‘‘we locked like we thought we should,” Neumann said. ‘‘I think it was just first-meet jit ters,” he said. ‘‘One good example is Jason Kelber (Nebraska’s 126-pound wrestler). He lost to Craig Walters Friday night, then beat him 6-0 the next night at the tournament.” Team results were not tallied at Saturday’s tournament to allow re dshirted wrestlers to compete. If team scores had been kept, they would not have been able to wrestle and main tain their redshirt status. The Huskers had a “great atti tude” during Sunday night’s prac tice, Neumann said. % “They wanted to learn and im proveon the mistakes they made,” he said. “Thatkind of attitude will show as the season goes along.” Friday night’s Huskcr winners included Jimmy Sanchez at 118 pounds; Layne Billings at 142; Paul Herrera at 150; Danny Harrison at 158; Scott Chcnowcth at 167; Corey Olson at 177; Chris Nelson at 190 and Joe Malccek at heavyweight. Saturday, Nebraska’s tournament champions were John Buxton at 118 pounds; Kclbcr at 126; Billings at 142; Herrera at 150; Chcnowcth at 167; Olson at 177; and Malecck at heavyweight. DaveDroegemeullcr, 134 pounds, finished third after losing his first match. Drocgcmeuller was pinned after he lost consciousness from a choke hold. Harrison, 158 pounds, finished fourth, and Nelson lost the 190 pound championship match, 4-3, to Arizona State’s Mike Davies, who was the NCAA runner-up two sea sons ago. Kelbcr was named the outstanding wrestler of the Wyoming Cowboy Open.