Huskers
steal
Cyclone
wind
-
We thought, ‘Hey, we’re going to get
upset unless we start playing foot
ball.’
Sims
NU defensive tackle
-99 ~
By Paul Domeier
Senior Reporter
AMES, Iowa — The wind
was whistling, but Ne
braska’s running game
was humming.
With that harmony, the
Nebraska Cornhuskcrs gained 557
yards rushing and passed only four
times Saturday as they beat the Iowa
State Cyclones, 45-13.
I-back Lcodis Flowers rushed for
208 yards and quarterback Mickey
Joseph rushed for 123 yards, both
career-highs, as the Huskcrs ran op
tions, traps, pitches, reverses, double
reverses and just about everything
else in the team’s rushing arsenal.
“The wind obviously was a fac
tor,” Nebraska coach Tom Osborne
said.
By throwing only four passes, the
Huskcrs were able to avoid the 15
mph wind that gusled up to 30 mph.
The four passes that Joseph did throw
were complete, two for touchdowns
to tight end Johnny Mitchell.
But it was the runs that helped
Nebraska, 8-0, recover from a 10-3
first quarter deficit.
Particularly effective were the
options in the second half. Twice the
Huskcrs broke third-quarter options
for 70-yard gains, once on a Joseph
keeper and once on a pitch to Flow
ers.
Joseph said the running success
didn’t come from tricks or magic.
“We just had good blocks on the
perimeter and good blocks on the
offensive line,” he said.
The victory for the Huskcrs, the
13th straight over Iowa State, gave
the 3-4-1 Cyclones a splash of reality
after their upset win at Oklahoma last
weekend.
A raspy-voiced Joseph said Iowa
State’s fans, welcoming their team
home, were very loud, adding to the
noise of the wind.
“I basically had to scream the whole
ball game,” he said.
A Cyclone Stadium-record 54,475
spectators watched the home team
score on the game’s first scries.
Nebraska won the toss and de
ferred to the second half.
But Osborne’s ideas of getting good
field-position and scoring a couple of
quick, first-quarter touchdowns with
the wind at the Huskcrs’ backs were
wiped out by a big play.
Cyclone quarterback Chris Ped
ersen lofted a pass into the wind for
Brandon Hughes. Hughes slowed down
to catch the ball, then out-raced Husk
crs Tyrone Byrd and Bruce Pickens
for a 64-yard touchdown.
“That put us in a heck of a hole,”
Osborne said.
Score by ip.zii 7igj
quarters n 3| o| 3 IB
Iowa St. Hughes 64 pass from Pedersen
(Shudak kick)
Nebraska FG Barrios 37
Iowa St. FG Shudak 26
Nebraska Flowers 1 run (Barrios kick)
Nebraska Mitchell 22 pass from Joseph
(Barrios kick)
Nebraska Flowers 70 run (Barrios kick)
Nebraska Flowers 5 run (kick blocked)
Nebraska Mitchell 33 pass from Joseph
(Joseph run)
Iowa St. FG Shudak 36
Nebraska Achola 1 run (Barrios kick)
A 54,475
«n First downs 25 13
? Rushes-yards 70-557 39-126
% Passing 67 191
| Return Yards 20 16
X Comp-Att-Int 4-4-0 8-18-1
« Punts 3-34 5-47
a Fumbles-Lost 3-2 2-2
y Penaltles-Yards 6-57 7-75
<2 I Time of Possession I 31:55 28:05
Nebraska came back with a field
goal, but the Cyclones responded with
a field goal of their own. The second
Iowa State drive was more consistent,
going 68 yards in 11 plays, helped out
by a Husker pass interference pen
alty.
Nebraska defensive lacklc Joe Sims
said the Huskers thought the long
pass was a fluke play, but that they
knew they needed to get going after
the second drive.
“We thought, ‘Hey, we’re going to
get upset unless we start playing foot
ball, he said.
The Husker offense came back
with a 63-yard touchdown drive. On
the second play of the scries, Joseph
scrambled for 28 yards around the left
end.
“A couple times the passes were
n’t there,” Joseph said. “You have to
pull it down and find the open field.”
I-back Derek Brown ran 20 yards
on a double reverse to put the ball on
the Iowa State 1-yard line.
On the play, though, Brown was
spear-tackled by Cyclone linebacker
Jim Doran. Brown separated his shoul
der and, though the severity of the
injury was unknown after the game,
is doubtful for the Colorado contest.
Doran lay on the turf for a few min
utes and had to be taken for X-rays on
his neck.
Brown’s injury was the only seri
statistics
Rushing
Nebraska
Flowers 25-208
Joseph 8-123
Baldwin 10-76
Turner 4-51
Achola 5-29
Lewis 6-24
Brown 2-20
Johnk 4-15
Grant 5-14
Hughes 1-(minus 3)
Iowa St.
J. Williams 5-81
S. Williams 16-54
Pedersen 11-18
Utter 7-(minus 27)
Passing
Nebraska
Joseph 4-4-0-67
Iowa St.
Pedersen 7-15-1-174
Utter 1-3-0-17
Receiving
Nebraska
Mitchell 2-25
Bostick 1 -9
_ Iowa St.
Spencer 5-106
Hughes 1-64
Glotfelty 1-17
S. Williams 1 -4
John Bruc«/Daily Nebraskan
ous blow lo the Huskcrs, though tight
end William Washington did not play
because of an injured foot and tackle
Steve Engstrom did not make the trip
because of a turf toe.
Nebraska look a 17-10 halftime
lead thanks to a 61-yard touchdown
drive in the last two minutes of the
first half. Joseph threw a 22-yard
touchdown pass to Mitchell for the
score.
On the first scries of the second
half, Flowers sprang his 70-yard run
for a touchdown, faking out All-Big
Eight corner back Marcus Robertson.
Flowers gained more than 100 yards
for the sixth straight game, tied for
the third longest streak in Husker
history. Flowers has 884 yards for the
season.
Joseph took his turn with the long
run on the next drive, being tackled
by Cyclone free safely Shawn Walker
at the Iowa State 18.
“The worst thing about that is I got
caught — from the back,” he said.
The Husker defense, after allow
ing 132 yards on the first two Cyclone
possessions, gave up only 185 yards
the rest of the way. Nebraska sacked
Pedersen and back-up Bob Uttercight
limes.
The Nebraska offense totaled a
season-high 624 yards. The 557 yards
on the ground is the seventh best in
Nebraska history.
“44 -
We were really con
scious of (the draw)
today. We feit that was
one of their biggest
plays against Okla
homa.
Engelbert
NU middle guard
--
Photos by Michelle Paulman
Nebraska erases
quarterback draw
By Paul Domeier
Senior Reporter
AMES, Iowa — The quarterback draw was supposed to be
both an Iowa State strength and a Nebraska weakness, but
the combination didn’t add up to anything Saturday.
The Comhusker defense kept Iowa Stale quarterback
Chris Pedersen contained, allowing Pedersen 18 yards on
11 carries. Ignoring the 24 yards lost in sacks, Pedersen still had only
42 positive yards.
“We were really conscious of it (the draw) today,” Husker middle
guard Pat Engelbert said. “We felt that was one of their biggest plays
against Oklahoma.”
Pedereen had earned Big Eight offensive player of the week honors
the previous Saturday by gaining 148 yards on 29 carries as Iowa
State defeated Oklahoma.
And Nebraska appeared vulnerable to the quarterback draw. For
Baylor, the draw was its most successful play against Nebraska.
Oklahoma State set up its one field goal with a long draw play.
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said the Huskers shut down the play
with the dime defense.
“That was as much for running purposes as for pass purposes,” he
said.
Four linemen rush in the Nebraska dime, one more than in the
usual Husker defense. Oklahoma, however, rushed three players and
dropped the linebackers deeper, Osborne said, giving Pedersen room
to run.
Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride said Engelbert
and tackle Joe Sims, the two inside players in the dime defensive line,
stopped the Cyclones.
Engelbert, who had five tackles, said he and Sims concentrated on
staying in the middle and watching for the scramble once they pushed
a few yards upficld.
i ne empnasis on stopping me araw aciayca me success oi Ne
braska’s pass rush. The Huskcrs had two sacks in the first half. In the
third quarter, though, Nebraska recorded two more sacks.
“I think we started to wear them down,” Engelbert said.
In the fourth quarter, Nebraska sacked reserve quarterback Bob
Utter four times — twice in the game’s final four plays. Freshman
Trey Alberts, Kenny Walker’s back-up in the dime, had three sacks,
giving him a total of four this season.
McBride said the Nebraska secondary helped with a /one defense,
possibly flustering an Iowa State offense prepared for man-to-man
coverage.
“I don’t know whether that was a factor or not, but I had that
feeling,” McBride said.
Nebraska was in man-to-man coverage and blitzing when Pedersen
threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Hughes on the third play
of the game.
“They’re going to get big plays against whoever they play,”
McBride said.
The Cyclones worked their way downficld for a field goal on their
next possession. That scries, McBride said, was the last series on
which Nebraska blitzed. The basic four-man dime rush, backed up by
zone coverage, then kept Iowa State at bay, except for one fourth
quarter field goal.
“We weren’t flustered,” Engelbert said. “We stayed cool and
relaxed and kept things going.”
Clock w i se*f rorrMople "
Nebraska wingback Nate Turner coughs up the ball after being
tackled In the fourth quarter.
Iowa State quarterback Bob Utter is smothered by Nebraska’s
Mike Anderson, Kenny Walker and Joe Sims in the fourth
quarter.
Nebraska linebacker Dan Svehla grabs Iowa State wide re
ceiver Lamont Hill's ankle after a catching a first-quarter pass
while Travis Hill rushes in to assist.
Nebraska cornerback Tyrone Legette shows that he knows
who recovered an Iowa State fumble in the third quarter.