Nebraskan SpOftS P2i
Thursday, August 22,1991
Quarterback
race is on
By Todd Cooper
Senior Reporter
The battle is on ... again.
It’s at the same place as last year.
At least one of the participants is in
the same position as last season.
And for the coach, picking from
the candidates at this position is a
good position to be in.
At Nebraska’s annual photo day,
Coach Tom Osborne said at least three,
possibly four of his sguior quarter
backs are all in the hunt for the start
ing job in the season-opener against
Utah State on Sept. 7.
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backing is still a
little bit up in the
air and a little bit
of a concern,”
Osborne said. “We
have athletic tal
ent and experience
there. We just
don’t have one guy
who clearly is the
guy.”
Tom Haase entered fall camp at
the top of the depth chart, edging out
Mickey Joseph, who started 10 games
at quarterback last year.
Haase, who completed 14 of 21
passes for 209 yards in the Florida
Citrus Bowl last year, said he’s com
fortable at the top, although no lead is
comfortable in this quarterback race.
“Coach Osborne evaluates every
practice, and we grade out on every
one, so that keeps you on your toes,”
Haase said.
Joseph, who suffered a severe leg
cut in the Oklahoma last season, finds
himself in a similar race as last fall.
Joseph was a slight second to Mike
Grant for last season’s opener against
Baylor.
But just as last fall, one thing will
motivate Joseph. ,
“I’m not here to sit on the bench,”
he said. “I’m going to go out and try
my best to win the job.”
Both Joseph and Haase agree that
whoever wins the job will have one
crucial asset:
“Consistency,” Haase said. “Coach
Osborne wants a quarterback who
runs ihc ol tense the mostefficiently.
And that will include handling all
the new wrinkles added to the offense
this spring.
“It’s nice, because it’s dump-off
passes and bootlegs,” Joseph said.
“We’re going to open up things this
year.”
Haase agreed.
‘‘You’ve got to respect us from
sideline to sideline now if you’re a
defense,” Haase said. “That makes it
easier for us quarterbacks.”
And it should create openings for a
talented receiving corps, Haase said.
“We’ve got great receivers,” he
said. “If we gel them the ball, they’re
going to get the job done.”
Third-string quarterback Keilhen
McCantsaid he, too, wants the chance
to get the job done.
Y‘My arm’s always been there,”
McCant said. “I’ve gotten a little
stronger, added a couple more pounds.
I’ll just have to put it together men
tally because the physical (talent) has
always been there.”
Grant, who started in last year’s
season opener against Baylor and in
the Citrus Bowl against Georgia Tech,
will redshirt this year, “barring some
thing unforeseen,” Osborne said.
“I feel like it will be a plus for me
to redshirt,” Grant said. “The only
thing that it would hurt me, as far as
redshirting, would be my pride.
“But it would give me a chance to
build up physically and maybe take
over next year.”
Although he’s thought of platoon
ing quarterbacks, Osborne said some
one probably will take over this year.
“It’s a little more comforting to
have two or three you can rely on if
somebody goes down,”Osborne said.
“But I think eventually somebody
will win out. It almost always hap
pens.’’
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Tight end Johnny Mitchell is surrounded by autograph seekers at Nebraska’s annual photo day.
Osborne looking for major improvements
By Todd Cooper
Senior Reporter _
Nebraska’s annual football photo
day gave Coach Tom Osborne a chance
to air some things out.
First off, he’s not necessarily going
to air out the football this year.
In fact, he plans
to knock the air out
of opposing teams
with a beefed-up
line, and then go
to the air.
“I promised I
would throw more,
but I didn’t say how
much,” Osborne
said. “It may be one Q ^
more pass.” OSOOrne
Osborne said he hopes that pass
will be well directed.
“I want to get the ball to the people
we’ve got,” he said. “We have some
good receivers. I want to throw more
because I want to get them the ball.”
Above all, Osborne wants to be
efficient with passing.
“We have worked very, very hard
on our passing game,” he said. “Our
philosophy has been to establish the
run. When you do that, you often
times open up touchdown passing
possibilities.
“(But) we’re not going to become
a BYU.”
Osborne would settle for a New
York Giants prototype offense.
“The Giants have gotten as many
big old offensive linemen as they can,
and they’re going to haul it at you 40
or 50 times, and they’re going to
throw it 20 to 25 times.”
Nebraska’s top seven or eight line
men have gained an average of 20 to
30 pounds in weight and 40 to 50
pounds on the bench press, Osborne
said.
“You still have to have the right
technique, but we feel like, for what
we were trying to do, that was impor
tant,” Osborne said.
As was making a simpler, stronger
defense, he said.
“Our (defensive) lineman are gen
erally bigger. I think our linebackers
arc a little bit bigger,” Osborne said.
“(But) we’ll probably lose a little bit
of speed in the defensive line.”
The defense, which lost seven start
ers from last year’s team, won’t be as
complex, Osborne said.
“We tried to simplify the defense
as much as we could from a technical
standpoint because we will have quite
a few new players playing there.”
Above all, Osborne said, he wants
those players to be unified and confi
dent.
“When you don’t do well at the
end of the season and I think a lot of
hard things were said about it,” Osborne
said. “It tends to raise some doubts.”
A major objective was making sure
those doubts weren’t directed at other
teammates, he said. Representatives
from each position met once a week
this summer to air out any concerns
from last season.
“It’s not that wc had a lack of unity
last year,” Osborne said. “Wc just felt
that it was something we could im
prove.”
Osborne said he hopes the work on
unity pays off in confidence.
“Of course the thing that will
enhance your confidence the most is
to go out and play well and win some
games,” he said.
“But I think being bigger and
stronger and having worked hard in
the summer and having paid a price
will enhance your confidence level to
some degree.”
Quarterback Tom Haase said he
already secs the difference.
“Just over the summer you can
notice it easily,” Haase said. “From
academics to the weightroom to any
little thing you have to complain about,
we’re trying to iron out all the kinks.
“We’re trying to unify for one
common goal, and that’s to gel to the
Orange Bowl.”
NU football schedule loses patsy lineup
A year ago, Nebraska football crit
ics were feasting on a diet of cream
puffs.
Remember the non-conference
schedule? ~
Baylor was supposedly bad, North
ern Illinois was more like Nobody
Important, Minnesota was a pack of
lame-duck Gophers, and Oregon
State’s Beavers were predicted to be
the worst team in college football.
Never mind that every one of those
teams went on to do well later in the
year. Baylor was in the Cotton Bowl
chase right up until the end, and
Minnesota humbled Big Ten Cham
piqn Iowa in their Final regular season
game.
Never mind that. The Comhuskers
played patsies, and the supposedly
weak early schedule was considered
a major factor in the team’s late
scason nose dive.
Well, a year later, the Nebraska
football program has left behind the
embarrassment forced on them last
year by their schedule bashers, which
included national publications like
Sports Illustrated.
This season, Husker fans won’t
have to put up with strains of “Play a
real team!” or “Pick on somebody
your own size!” from Colorado and
Oklahoma.
Instead, Nebraska fans can shout
back at their Big Eight rivals — with
good reason.
First of all, the Huskers have noth
ing to be embarrassed about. They
will kickoff the season Sept. 7 against
Utah State, an all right excuse for an
opener. Next is wide-open Colorado
State, a bowl team last year that has
an outstanding coach in Earl Bruce.
Then comes the matchup that can
earn back respectability for the foot
ball program: A Sept. 21 televised
home date against Pac-Tcn champion
Washington, which has been on or
near the lop of every prcscason poll.
Top that off with a trip the follow
ing week to Arizona State, Nebraska’s
first road game of the season. Arizona
State is not projected to contend for
the Pacific Ten conference title, but
figure in Nebraska’s 24 lifetime record
on the beaten sod of Sun Devil Sta
dium, and the game could be interest
ing.
Four Western teams, and at least
(Wo major tests early for Nebraska.
Not bad, by anybody's standards.
And Oklahoma?
Well, if last season was full of
cream puffs for Nebraska, the Soon
ers have found their way to the bakery
this year.
Oklahoma opens with three home
games and will blow out each oppo
nent, guaranteed. In order, Sooners
fans will get treated to romps over
weak sisters North Texas State, Utah
Stale and Virginia Tech.
In early October, the Sooners play
Texas in Dallas, their only real test on
the road to an Oct. 19 showdown with
Colorado in Norman. In all, Okla
homa has only three true road games
all season, the finale against Nebraska
included.
And Colorado?
Certainly you remember Buffalo
coach Bill Cartney last year, standing
in the Orange Bowl locker room claim
ing his team deserved a national cham
pionship on the basis of their strong
schedule.
Mac had a point, however weak,
then. But this year he'll have to con
struct something new, because Colo
rado’s 1991 schedule is duller than
McCartney himself.
In fact, the Buffs have Baylor and
Minnesota—palsies a year ago—on
their list for this season. Colorado’s
Set? PUFFS on 22