Sports
Cowboys defense
fails to lasso NU
By Chris Hopfensperger
Senior Reporter
Oklahoma Slate’s blitzing defense has been
playing “cat and mouse” with Nebraska’s of
fense since 1983, Coach Pat Jones said Satur
day.
Unfortunately for the Cowboys, they have
been the mouse. Nebraska’s 31 -3 win Saturday
was Jones’ seventh straight loss to the Corn
huskers since taking the helm in 1984.
“This has been an interesting little scenario
with x’s and o’s and when and how we blitz and
how they are going to try and handle it,” Jones
said. “I think it’s really bothered them over the
years.”
It hasn’t bothered them enough. The Husk
ers rolled up 317 yards of total offense Satur
day, including a 39-yard touchdown run down
the left sideline by quarterback Mickey Joseph.
After the game Jones said that he was happy
with how his team played against the No. 4
Huskcrs after the Cowboys lost to Kansas State
23-17 last weekend.
“We had no false illusions about what we
could do with them,” Jones said. “The game
plan on this thing was to try and milk the clock,
play one quarter at a time and obviously not
turn the ball over.
“In most areas we did what we thought we
needed to do to win the ball game.”
That is, everything except not turn the ball
over. The Cowboys coughed it up four limes,
including a fumbled kickoff early in the fourth
quarter that Robert Hicks recovered in the end
zone for the final score.
“That broke it wide open,” Jones said. “Other
than that flurry there of us fumbling the punt
and that mishandled kickoff this was a heck of
a football game. Anybody that thinks this was
anything but an extremely hard-fought football
game, they didn’t see the same ball game that
I saw.”
Quarterback Kenny Ford, the Cowboys’ third
different starting quarterback this year, said he
was pleased with the team’s performance.
“We don’t have anything to hang our heads
about,” Ford said. “We competed with them.”
Huskers dominate Sooners
By John Adkisson
Staff Reporter_
Oklahoma volleyball coach Miles Pabst had
seen better days against Nebraska.
Pabst, who has more wins over the Corn
huskers than any other Big Eight coach, saw his
Sooncrs get swept 15-0, 15-9 and 15-7 Satur
day at the NU Coliseum.
The loss was Oklahoma’s fourth straight to
Nebraska since 1988.
“1 think the rivalry’s there,” Pabst said. “But
it’s just down because our team’s down.”
Pabst said this year’s Nebraska team is the
strongest Huskcr coach Terry Pettit has ever
had.
“Experience and leadership are the keys for
them,” Pabst said. “They’re just loaded.”
For Nebraska to win a national champion
ship, Pabst said, the Huskers need good play
from junior Cris Hall and sophomore Stepha
nie Thaler.
“They arc key, key people in their lineup,”
Pabst said.
Nebraska has won 14 consecutive Big Eight
championships since 1976, and Pabst said that
he sees no signs of the Husker dominance
slowing down.
“I’m a realist,” Pabst said. ‘‘I know that
unless three or four of Nebraska’s starters break
an ankle in the first match of the year, they’re
going to win the conference.”
Pabst said that the lack of league competi
tion could hurt Nebraska in the long run.
“I think it would be better for Nebraska if we
got a couple other teams that could vie for the
title,” Pabsl said. ‘‘That way, they could be
pushed during the year.”
Pabsl, who is in his 12th season at Okla
homa, said he and Pettit are good friends, and
that the two root for each other.
‘‘I want him to do well, and I’m sure it’s the
same the other way,” Pabst said.
Nebraska’s biggest match of the year could
come Nov. 3 when fourth-ranked Texas comes
to town for the Run/a Invitational. Pabst’s
Sooncrs have been beaten by both teams, and
the coach said a Ncbraska-Texas matchup has
the potential to be a classic.
“Your fan s are in for a lot of fun,” Pabst said.
“I’d like to come up and watch.”
A prediction?
“I hope Nebraska wins, and I’d have to go
with them at home,” Pabst said. ‘‘But just
barely.”
Defense, wind factors in JV win
By Todd Cooper
Staff Reporter_
Defense, big plays and 40-mph winds look
the sail oul of ihe Iowa Central Community
College Tritons in a 31-0 loss to the Nebraska
junior varsity football team Friday at Memorial
Stadium.
“The defense played well,” Nebraska coach
Bill Weber said. “The wind was quite a factor,
too . . . but our kids played well on defense,
played hard, and really prevented them (the
Tritons) from doing much of anything.”
Nebraska’s defense limited the Tritons to 7 3
yards of total offense, for an average of 1.3 a
play.
The key deterrents were Cornhuskcr outside
linebackers Torry Garland and Steve Grove,
according to Iowa Central coach Dennis Heiman.
“They had two good defensive ends,” he
said. “Those kids played hard. We couldn’t gel
them blocked.”
Weber said Nebraska emphasized the out
side rush while preparing for Iowa Central's
sprint-out runs.
“We got good pressure from the outside,”
Weber said. “That makes it tough, contains the
play and if it’s not blocked correctly, they’ll
come free and maicc the play.”
Middle guard Bill Humphrey also found
plenty of freedom Friday. The freshman from
Liberty ville. III., led the defense with six total
tackles, including two for losses.
“Bill’s an aggressive guy, really works hard
all the time,” Weber said. “In a touch football
game in the back yard, Bill Humphrey would
be scrapping all over the field. He loves to play
football."
See HUSKERS on 11
Oklahoma’s Susan Musgrove watches as Nebraska’s Val Novak (1) and
Stephanie Thater go for the block. Nebraska won 15-0, 15-9, 15-7
Saturday at the NU Coliseum.
Mistakes in game
disappoint coach
By Cory Golden
Staff Reporter
Sure, it’s nice when the volleyball team
wins 15-0,15-9 and 15-7 as the Cornhuskcrs
did Saturday over Oklahoma.
It’s good, too, that the Huskers moved to
5-0 in the Big Eight and 18-2 overall.
But when the team neglects, at times, a
very important detail — getting the ball in
play — it can make NU volleyball coach
Terry Pettit quick with the negatives during
post-game interviews.
“I was disappointed in some of our er
rors,” said Pettit, coach of the third-ranked
Huskers. “We missed 15 serves, our ball
handling was not particularly good and I
thought we lost our concentration.
”1 reali/.c sometimes it’s difficult to
maintain it when a team comes out and you
beat them 15-0, but when you’re playing in
a match like this, you have to get out of it
what you can.”
A season-high NU Coliseum crowd of
3,944 saw Nebraska have no trouble in the
first game, posting a .737 hitting percentage
while holding the Sooners, to a -.200.
It was the first time in team history
Nebraska has blanked Oklahoma, now 10
14, but Pettit wasn’t bragging about that,
cither.
“We have had several shut-outs this year,"
he said. “Thai’s usually an indication of
their play as much as it is yours. I’m just
concerned that we start playing good vol
Icyball.”
Pcitit probably will not point to the sec
ond game as an example of what the Husk
ers arc capable of. The serving problems
continued and the Sooners out hit Nebraska
.25010.189.
Three consecutive Linda Barsness kills
broke a 7-7 deadlock and Nebraska eventu
ally found a way to win, 15-9.
Barsness finished the night with 10 kills,
as did Cris Hall. All-American Janet Kruse
led the team with 16 kills on 24 attacks.
All-American Val Novak turned in 39 set
assists on the night.
Kruse pounded live kills in the opening
moments of game, three as the Huskers
pulled out to a 6-1 lead.
Pettit then brought in reserves Sara Hesch,
Laura Luther, Nikki Strieker and Valeric
Vcrmuclcn with starters Hall and Kruse to
finish off the Sooners 15-7.
The methodical, deliberate Sooner pace
may have been partially responsible for
breaking the Huskers’ concentration, Pettit
said.
“We had a real good week of practice,”
he said. “The Oklahoma tempo is just .. .
very slow. It didn’t allow us to rally, some of
those types of things. But their tempo cer
tainly didn’t have any effect on our serving
— which was horrendous.”
But it wasn’t all bad.
“Some things 1 thought we improved
on,” Pettit said, “but we still have a lot to do
before we’re where we want to be.”
Getting better every week
Tight end gives NU shot, catches second touchdown pass
By Sara Bauder Schott
Senior Reporter
For one Cornhuskcr freshman, the
second touchdown catch was sweeter.
Freshman tight end Malt Shaw
caught the second touchdown pass of
his career at Nebraska against Iowa
Central Junior College Friday. His
first touchdown catch was in the jun
ior varsity’s Sept. 7 game against
Snow Junior College.
“This one was better than the first,”
Shaw said. “That one, I just caught it
and a yard laicr 1 was in ihc end /.one.
This one I got to run with it a little bit.
It lasted longer.”
The 47-yard touchdown pass from
quarterback John McMillcn came with
12 minutes left in the fourth quarter
and put Nebraska ahead of Iowa Central
24-0. The Huskers won 31-0, after
leading 7-0 at halftime.
The Huskers “dragged quite a bit”
and made a lot of mental mistakes in
the game, Shaw said. He said it was a
good sign that the team put it together
in the second half.
“Wc have two weeks to practice
for each game, and it’s hard to keep
your concentration for that long,” he
said. “The scrimmages wc have are
just not the same as a game situation.”
Shaw,a walkon from Lincoln, said
he was not sure if he would be able to
play at Nebraska.
“1 wanted to give a a shot at the
Division I level,” he said. “It’s been
my dream for a long time. I can al
ways take a step down ”
Neither stepping down to a smaller
school nor moving up to the varsity
and Laking a starting job is not in
Shaw’s immediate plans. He said that
because of Nebraska’s talent at tight
end, he will have to work up the
ladder gradually.
“I just have to keep working and
try to move my way up,” he said.
“There arc a lot of good tight ends,
but you lose some to graduation and
hopefully I’ll keep progressing.”
In high school, Shaw said, he did
not play tight end much because he
was not very big. He was a defensive
back and wide receiver. Only some
limes was he a light end.
But after gaining some weight —
he is now 6-foot-3 and 204 pounds —
over the summer, Shaw became a
full-time tight end at Nebraska.
Although Shaw said he had always
wanted to play for Nebraska, it did
present him with some challenges.
“This is a lot more challenging
because I'm playing with betlcrplay
ers and learning so many new thmgs,”
he said. “Every week, you can see
yourself getting better.”'
