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Neljrafekan SOOftS *1?
Thursday, August 30,1990 ^
Coach, here’s how to beat the Buffaloes
Pay attention Tom Osborne, I’m about to
tell you how to win the Colorado game.
“The CU game?,” you’re probably asking.
“We have a tough non-conference schedule to
get through before we can think about Colo
rado. Why, we haven’t even taken care of
John
Payne
Baylor yet.”
True, except for that part about the Huskers’
non-conference schedule being tough. So why
start talking about the Colorado game 10 weeks
prior to its kickoff?
Simple. Because Nebraska’s biggest game
of the 1990 season will be won or lost not on
Nov. 3, but rather Saturday against Baylor -
and in the following games against perennial
heavyweights Northern Illinois, Minnesota and
Oregon State.
Those games will decide Nebraska’s fate
against the Buffaloes, and believe it or not, I
have a sure-fire way to ensure a victory. And
I’m about to share this wisdom with you, free of
charge. Ready? OK: PASS THE FOOTBALL.
It’s as simple as that. Pass.
Now I know, Tom, that you’ve heard this
advice every year for the past 17 seasons from
those who would have you abandon your tried
and-true run-orientated offense in favor of an
NFL-style aerial assault. But I propose nothing
of the sort
Clearly, Nebraska won’t have to put the ball
up even once in order to thrash most of the
weenies on this year’s schedule. In fact, the
Huskers could probably run to the same side of
the field on every play and still win. A serious
size and speed advantage would sec to that, so
there’s no need to pass right?
Throw it anyway, Tom. Because if Mike
Grant and Mickey Joeseph get used to passing
the football when the game isn’t on the line,
they will be better prepared to pass it when the
game is on the line. So pass it Tom, even when
you don’t have to.
If your quarterbacks are even halfway adept
at completing passes in game situations by the
time the CU game rolls around, they’ll be able
to pick the Buffalo secondary apart. That should
have been obvious to anyone watching the the
Buffs play Tennessee in the inaugural “Pig
skin Classic” last Sunday.
To say that Colorado’s pass defense was a
little suspect would be like saying that the
Titanic experienced a few navigational prob
lems on its maiden voyage. With just more than
seven minutes to play, and a 31 -17 lead looking
pretty safe, the Volunteers lore through Colo
rado’s defense like hungry mice through Swiss
cheese.
In less than five minutes, Tennessee quar
terback Andy Kelly took his team to the end
zone twice, with a short, precise passing attack.
He made it look pretty easy, throwing for 368
yards on 33 completions.
Three-hundred sixty-eight, and we re not
talking about Miami or Florida State here,
we’re talking about Tennessee. Let’stake noth
ing away from Kelly. He played well. He
certainly deserved a win rather than the 31-31
tie, but Colorado’s futile pass defense made
him look like Dan Marino.
There’s no reason why Grant or Joseph
shouldn’t be able to do the same thing come
Nov. 3 -- if they start now.
So remember Tom, the Baylor game may
not be on the line Saturday night, but a confer
ence championship will be. Now for bowl
game preparation.
Payne is a junior broadcasting major and Daily Nebras
kan arts and entertainment senior reporter.
NU lineman doesn’t want to set a trend of sitting out
By Paul Domeier
Senior Reporter
Despite the absence of “big
names,” the Comhuskcrs’ offensive
line is not facing a crisis, according to
one of its starters.
But All-American center Jake
Young and All-American tackle Doug
Glaser have used up their eligibility.
The vaunted Huskers arc short of
superstars from the front five and
some speculation says the team might
not dominate the line of scrimmage.
If that’s not a crisis, what is it?
“Another year,” said Terry Ey
man, a fifth-year senior left tackle.
“I’m not worried. Everyone tells us,
‘You don’t have the big names.’ What’s
the point of worrying?”
This year’s line, he said, should be
as good as last year’s.
“It’s just a matter of gelling right
now,” he said. “It will probably Lake
us a couple weeks to gell. But we
might gcll this week.”
Eyman’s fall practice has been less
gell than he would like, though. Viral
pneumonia he contracted during the
summer has taken some of his size
and endurance, he said. He finally
relumed to practice Saturday.
He’s already improving, he said,
working to get back to his form from
1989, when he was the primary back
up for left tackle Tom Punt. Coach
Tom Osborne has said Eyman may
even gel in for a few plays in Ne
braska’s opener against Baylor Satur
day night.
“I’ll sacrifice my body,’’ he said
with a grin, showing that he mighi be
speaking the literal truth.
However, the illness has left him
less body to sacrifice. The “before”
Terry Eyman packed 265 pounds on a
6-foot-6 frame. The “after” Terry
Eyman is down to about 250 pounds.
He said that at Wednesday’s practice,
he ran four consecutive plays, then
sal out two.
Doctors told him he caught the
illness like he would catch a cold. He
said he fell too tired to do anything.
“The worst part is a cough that
just takes your breath away,” he said.
“I was up for three straight nights,
gelling about two hours of sleep a
night.”
Eyman couldn’t run or lift weights
or do anything else while he wasn’t
practicing.
“I basically salon my butt for five
weeks,” he said.
Thai’s what he’ll do for most of
the ESPN-televised game versus
Baylor. The line’s depth problems
were eased Wednesday when guard
Will Shields relumed lo practice.
Eyman may be needed for a few
plays, though, since temperatures on
the Memorial Stadium field turf arc
expected to push 1(X) degrees lor the
6:30 p.m. kickoff.
Eyman thinks the no-name line
will be fine. His testimony will be
total yards, since that, he said, is as
much or more the doing of the line as
the skill positions.
“As an offensive line, when we
move the hall we think it’s our doing,’’
he said.
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Two freshman quarterbacks play waiting game
By Todd Cooper
Staff Reporter
With four junior quarterbacks
above them, Nebraska’s two 1990
freshman quarterback recruits will
have to play a waiting game during
the next two seasons.
“That’s kind of our plan right
now,’’ Turner Gill, junior varsity
graduate assistant coach, said.
“They’ll have a redshirt year and a
year of playing freshman ball. With
four juniors in front of them, they’re
not going to get a lot of repetitions
(with the varsity) for a while.
Instead, Matt Jones, a 6-foot-1,
187-pounder from Michigan City,
Ind., will get repetitions with the
junior varsity team this season. That
leaves 6-1,185-pound Todd Grag
nano from Fountain Valley, Calif.,
with a year on the scout team as a
redshirt.
“Matt will probably redshirt next
year, but by their third year, both
guys will have a legitimate chance
of starting,” Gill said. “It’ll be up
for grabs.”
Used mainly as passing quarter
backs in high school, Gragnano
and Jones will have to work on the
finer points of the option, Gill said.
“They’re both giving a good
effort,” he said “They throw pretty
well on the run and after dropping
straight back, but they both need to
work on the option and getting the
reads down.”
Learning to read defenses can
be a long process, said Gill, a for
mer three-lime All-Big Eightquar
terback at Nebraska.
“Each person is different,” he
said. “I’d say it’ll take at least a
year, this fall and next spring.
“Personally, it took me a full
two years of starting -- a lot of reps
- to gel to the point where 1 thought
1 had everything down.”
Gill has been sharing his knowl
edge and experience of how ihc
quarterback spot should be played
at Nebraska.
“He’s been giving lips on how
to read the defense; mainly how to
become a better option quarter
back, ’* Gragnano said. “I just have
to be patient, maybe get a couple of
breaks. Just being around this pro
gram with all the hype and success
makes it easier. . . You feel like
you’re part of the success, so 1
don’t think it’ll be hard.’’
Having Gill as a coach also helps,
both players said.
“He’s someone I watched as a
little kid,” Jones said. “I mean, I
never dreamed that one day he’d
be my coach.”
Gragnano said: “It’s great,
almost unbelievable. You watch a
guy on TV and now you’re stand
ing beside him.”
Being an effective option quar
terback requires work on individ
ual speed also, Gill said.
“They both lack a little in quick
ness and overall speed,” Gill said.
That may be one of the few
differences between Jones and
Gragnano and last year’s starting
quarterback Gerry Gdowski, Gill
said.
4 ‘Gdowski probably didn’t have
as strong of an arm as these guys
but he was a lot faster,” he said.
“It’s really hard to say, since I only
saw him on TV, but Gerry put it all
together his senior year.”
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Comparisons to Gdowski also
arc an honor for both quarterbacks.
“He had a lot of success last
year,” Gragnanosaid. “I think I’m
somewhat similar to him, I just
hope I can be as successful or bel
ter.”
Jones agreed.
Gdowski’s success in both run
ning and passing alleviated any
doubts about Nebraska’s passing
game when he signed his letter of
intent, Jones said.
“If I could be as good as him, it
would definitely be an honor,” he
said.
4 4 He threw for over 1,500 yards
last season. That only reinforces
the fact that I think I'll see plenty
of throwing. In a way, Nebraska’s
strong running game opens up more
opportunities for passing.”
in■ m t i —— ii i ..
Freshman quarterback Todd Gragnano eyes his target during junior varsity practice.
mm---..
Freshman quarterback Matt Jones gets instructions
from formerHusker quarterback and graduate assistant
coach Turner Gill.
