Huskers lose bowl, not chance to return to Fiesta
By Jeff Apel
Senior Editor
TEMPE, Ariz. - A blowout has
not dimmed the chances of future
Nebraska-Florida State matchups in
the Fiesta Bowl.
Brent DeRaad, the Fiesta Bowl’s
assistant director of communications,
said his organization would take
Nebraska and Florida State every year
if they were the two highest-rated
teams. He said the Seminolcs’ 41-17
victory against Nebraska did not dim
the Fiesta Bowl’s attitude toward ci
ther squad.
“We wouldn’t be at all hesitant to
take them,’’ DeRaad said. “In fact,
we would be very excited to take
Nebraska and Florida State again.”
DeRaad said the Fiesta Bowl was
surprised by the lopsided outcome of
the contest. Nebraska held a 7-0 lead
after the first quarter, but was shelled
41-3 in the second and third periods.
“It was a situation where Nebraska
came out and looked strong early,”
DeRaad said. “Then they fumbled a
couple times, and that hurt them pretty
good.”
Nebraska finished the contest with
five fumbles, and lost three of them.
DeRaad said this year’s contest
was a success even though the Fiesta
Bowl was operating with a lot of new
faces. He said the bowl overcame its
lack of experience by using careful
planning,
“A lot of times when you have a
lot of new faces, there’s a tendency to
drop the ball on something and have a
few foul ups,’ ’ DcRaad said. “ But we
were very pleased with the way eve
rything went.”
DeRaad said the Fiesta Bowl’s
success was evident by the television
ratings it received. He said the bowl
received an overnight rating of an
eight share, meaning 16,000,000
families watched the contest.
DcRaad said that figure is strong
because the 30 cities that the share
was derived from included Los Ange
les and Detroit. He said those cities
provided stiff competition because
they were prime markets for the Rose
Bowl, which staged a head-to-head
competition with the Fiesta Bowl for
viewers.
Southern Cal defeated Michigan
17-10 in the Rose Bowl, which was
televised by ABC. The Fiesta Bowl
was televised by NBC.
DeRaad said the Fiesta Bowl was
not disappointed even though thou
sands of people in the Sun Devil Sta
dium crowd of 73,953 left before the
game was over. He said the Fiesta
Bowl has grown accustomed to early
leaving crowds.
“It’s pretty common for people in
Arizona,” DcRaad said. “It’s kind of
like a California crowd. They arrive
late and leave early.”
Fiesta
Continued from Page 7 ___
cciver Terry Anthony and tight end
Reggie Johnson before completing
his scoring strike to Carter.
Florida State began the second half
by increasing its lead to 27-10 when
fullback Paul Moore scored on a 1
yard run. The extra point by kicker
Richie Andrews was blocked.
The Scminolcs then tallied their
final two scores when Willis threw 8
and 24-yard touchdown passes to
Johnson and Anthony, and Nebraska
scored its final touchdown when
backup quarterback Mickey Joseph
scampered in from two yards out.
Bowden said he didn’t know what
to attribute the game’s lopsided score
to.
“They were either out of sync or
we’re awfully good,” he said. ”1
ain’t sure which.”
Osborne said the Scminolcs arc
good.
“Florida Stale may be the best
team in America,” Osborne said. “I
can’t argue with that after we were
beaten so badly.
‘‘I think they’re awfully good.”
Osborne said he fell frustrated
because the Nebraska team that showed
up for the Sunkist-Ficsta Bowl was
not the same one he saw all season.
‘‘We sure didn’t appear to be the
same foolbal 1 team, ” he said. “ 1 don' t
know what to do.”
Nebraska outside linebacker Jeff
Mills said it was obvious that the
Huskers were not prepared to face
Florida State.
‘‘We didn’t get the job done,”
Mills said. ‘‘It was obvious.”
Byrd said the lopsided score docs
not mean Nebraska would shy away
from facing Florida State in a bowl
matchup next season. He said the
Huskers would love to face the Semi
nolcs in a national championship
contest on Jan. 1, 1991.
‘ ‘ Hopeful ly, we’ll get another shot
at Florida Stale in the Orange Bowl,”
Byrd said.
Clockwise from top left: Ne
braska’s Marvin Sanders (26)
and Pat Tyrance (40) bring
down Florida State’s Amp
Lee (42) early in the third
quarter. Tyrance stripped the
ball from Sanders seconds
later.
Bruce Pickens (38) breaks
up a pass from Seminoles’
quarterback Peter Tom Wil
lis intended for Terry Anthony
(8) in the end zone during
the third quarter.
Florida State team mem
bers gather around Reggie
Johnson, celebrating his
third quarter TD catch as Ne
braska’s Tahaun Lewis
watches.
Nebraska’s Kenny Walker
(57) tackles Willis as he gets
a pass off midway through
the second quarter.
The fourth-quarter deficit
leaves Nebraska’s Joe Sims
(56) on the bench with his
own thoughts.
Photos by A! Schaben
