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Sports
Brown disappointed with 175-yard day
By Todd Cooper
Senior Reporter
Blame it on the rain.
It might as well be the rain, since I
back Derek Brown couldn’t give a
reason for being disappointed with
his 175 yards on 23 carries Saturday.
The output was the third-best open
ing day performance in Husker foot
ball history.
“For some reason, I didn’t feel like
myself out there,” Brown said. “There’s
a lot of robm for improvement.”
Utah State defenders might find
that hard to believe, after Brown had
runs of 17, 13 (three times), nine, six
(twice) and five (twice) yards, all up
the middle.
But Brown, who said he’s used to
running outside, complimented the
offensive line for those bursts through
the middle.
“The offensive line blocked really
well today,” Brown said. “There were
a lot of holes for us.”
Brown did take some credit, though,
admitting that he had worked on run
ning inside, to match hisclusivc style.
“I feel stronger and more confi
dent running up the middle,” Brown
said. “I worked hard on my strength
this summer, and that made a differ
ence.
“In the past I didn’t like it as much,
but now I’m not too worried about
getting knocked back.”
Brown said he would have liked to
turn the corner just once Saturday.
“It would have been nice (to go
outside),” Brown said. “I was looking
to score every time, but I was just
going with what I got.”
Brown said he didn’t expect to
enter the game until “about three or
four scries later.” Starter Scott Bald
win sprained his ankle in the first
quarter after a 29-yard touchdown
romp, triggering the 59-28 win over
Utah State.
When fall camp began, Brown
thought he’d be entering games a lot
sooner. He lost his starting spot to
Baldwin after Nebraska’s first scrim
mage this fall.
“It was something you’ve got to
deal with,” Brown said. “I had a de
cent fall camp. I didn’t feel I played
all that great. Scotty played really
well.”
As did Calvin Jones, according to
Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne. The
redshirt freshman from Omaha Cen
tral gained 81 yards on 14 carries
Saturday.
And Jones may be able to blame
any extra nerves on the rain. A down
pour started when he entered the game
midway through the third quarter.
“I hadn’t been in a game situation
like this in a year and a half or so,”
Jones said. “I was a little scared. I
wanted to go in, but under those con
ditions I wasn’t loo anxious.”
“I was concentrating on taking care
of the ball with all that rain,” Jones
said. “But then I started getting into a
rhythm.”
That pattering noise wasn’t just
from the rain. After losing four yards,
Jones scampered for ruas of 11 (twice),
six, three and one yards. He accounted
for 32 of the Huskcrs’ 43 yards in the
drive before increasing Nebraska’s
lead to 40-20 on a 3-yard touchdown.
Jones scored again on a 2-yard
jaunt to cap Nebraska’s next posses
sion. He gained 34 of Nebraska’s 81
yards in that drive, all up the middle.
Jones said there weren’t too many
people in his way.
“The fans are going to look at
those stats and think we must have
had bulldozers in front of us,” Jones
said. “The offensive line deserves the
MVP of this game.”
Robin Trimarchi/Daiiy Nebraskan
j .... * ih t .»♦ « • v
Nebraska l-back Derek Brown looks for running room, pursued by Utah State tackle Jed
DeVries during Saturday’s game. Brown finished the game with 175 yards on 23 carries.
Cor nhusker football fans
may have seen new era
As I entered Memorial Stadium
on Saturday, I was expecting
to see the usual opening-game
performance from the football team
that I have become accustomed to
over the years.
For years now, I have come away
from the first game with my mind
dulled and my eyes glazed from watch
ing those boring 70-0 blowouts against
some team which wasn’t exactly threat
ening tirade the Top 10.
Nick
Hytrek
Everyone remembers those games:
The Comhuskers scoring on every
possession, every other touchdown
coming from at least 50 yards out,
and no sign of Nebraska’s punter. The
only time the other team got the ball
was when Nebraska was finished
stuffing it into the end zone.
So as kickoff neared, I was full of
anticipation. Not because I was ex
pecting to see a good game, but be
cause I was just ready to watch a
Nebraska football game.
But walking out of the stadium
after the game, my friends and I knew
we had seen something special.
Something out of the ordinary. In a
way, we had witnessed Nebraska
football history.
From the very start of the game, I
could sense that this was not going to
be a typical opener for many reasons.
First of all, Mickey Joseph threw
the ball on Nebraska’s first play,
“Was that a pass we just saw? On
the first play of the game?” I asked
my friend, who was equally as stunned
as I was.
Yes, it was going to be a different
game. Things had indeed changed.
Oh yeah, the pass was incomplete,
showing that some things slay the
same. ,
The game moved through the first
quarter, without anything really ex
citing happening. The Huskers racked
up 17 points, but there were no scor
ing plays of over 50 yards.
The second quarter brought a big
surprise. Coach Osborne actually
yanked Joseph out of the game and
pul in Keilhen McCant. Now here
was something I’d never seen before
— Osborne replacing an ineffective
quarterback with someone else be
fore it was loo late.
For once, I’d seen a quarterback
change in the opener while the game
was still undecided. And did the fans
ever like what they saw. McCant made
a statement with his play, showing he
deserved the starting job.
Once halftime came, my friends
and I were still silting there, ponder
ing what had been one of the most
unusual first halves we had ever wit
nessed.
Fifteen passes by Nebraska in the
first half alone, this had to be some
kind of record. Joseph wasn’t playing
quarterback anymore.
Could it be that Osborne was fi
nally buckling under fan pressure?
Only the second half would provide
that answer.
When the second half began,
McCant was still the man under cen
ter, much to everyone’s delight. You
could sense it in the air. There would
be more passing.
Unfortunately, there were also storm
clouds in the air and, soon after, rain,
lightning and a delayed game.
Once play resumed after 19 min
utes and many belly slides by the
students, Osborne had the perfect
excuse to quit the aerial assault.
Osborne said after the game that,
because of the wet field conditions,
he elected to just grind out the rest of
See SURPRISE on 8
McCant to start at quarterback
By Chuck Green
Senior Editor
f Kcithcn McCant did Saturday
what he couldn’t do in four years.
McCant, a senior quarterback
from Grand Prairie, Texas, came
into the game to replace flounder
ing Comhusker starter Mickey
Joseph and impressed himself, his
teammates and his coaches with
his performance.
Before halftime, McCant had
thrown his first varsity touchdown
pass and scored his first rushing
touchdown.
McCant will set another per
sonal first this Saturday when he
will be the Huskers’ starting quar
terback.
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne
said Monday after practice that
“barring something significant in
practice” McCant will stari against
Colorado State.
He will be backed up by Joseph.
Osborne said both players did well
in the game, but McCant graded
better in the Huskers’ 59-28 win.
“To some degree you’ve got to
go with performance,” he said.
McCant completed 6 of 10 passes
for 101 yards and a touchdown,
and had run for 87 yards on nine
carries. He also threw one inter
ception.
McCant, however, seemed the
least surprised of anyone by the
game.
“I felt like I prepared myself by
working out hard over the summer,
conditioning and lifting,” he said.
“The only thing that bothered me
was the interception I threw.
“I always envisioned that if I
got-a chance to come in, it was up
to me to play well and keep the
team going.”
Osborne said he was impressed
with McCant, since he had never
played in a varsity game in which
the score was still in doubt.
“He performed very well,”
Osborne said. “He made some good
decisions out there and showed that
he deserves to play.”
Nebraska I-back Derek Brown
agreed.
“I knew he could do it,” Brown
said. “It was just a matter of lime.
It was just like (former Nebraska
quarterback and current assistant
coach Gerry) Gdowski. You never
heard anything from him for three
years, and then in his senior year,
he was great.
The play McCant remembered
best from the game was his 27-yard
touchdown pass to tight end Johnny
Mitchell in the second quarter.
As McCant rolled to the right,
Utah State’s defense flowed with
him, leaving Mitchell covered by
two defenders. Mitchell reversed
his field, ran back to the left and
toward the end zone, waving his
arms.
McCant spotted him, stopped
and threw back across the field for
the score that put Nebraska ahead
24-7.
“I was just lucky I saw him,”
McCant said.
“Other than the interception, I
feel like I did pretty well (in the
first half),” he said. “I was really
excited (about starling the second
half). I just tried my best to keep
myself in the game and do things
right.” •
Men's basketball investigation complete
From Staff Reports
I
A stormy summer for the Nebraska
men’s basketball program came closer
to an end Monday as University of
Nebraska-Lincoln officials announced
that the school’s internal investiga
tion of the program is over and the
results have been forwarded to the
NCAA.
The completion of the investiga
tion came more than four months
after Tony Farmer and Jose Ramos,
both members of Nebraska’s 1990-91
team, were declared ineligible be
cause of violations of the NCAA’s
extra-benefit rule.
A1 Papik, the University’s assis
tant athletic director and director for
compliance, said a five-member panel
concluded Friday that the investiga
tion was complete.
“The investigation team found no
wrongdoing on the part of the coach
ing staff,” Papik said. “However, in
accordance with the principals of
institutional control, the university is
responsible for the conduct of its stu
dent athletes.”
Nebraska basketball coach Danny
Nee said Monday’s announcement
was welcome, but not unexpected.
“We knew that we had this thing
pul to bed a long time ago,” Nee said.
In April, the university declared
Ramos and Farmer ineligible because
of improper car loans received from
Raymond Pcery, the former execu
tive director of the Central Interstate
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Com
pact.
Papik said this summer’s investi
gation revealed more extra benefits
received by Ramos and Farmer, but
he would not specify what those
benefits were.
In addition to penalizing Ramos
and Farmer, UNL also leveled two
distinct penalties on the program it
self: A reduction of one basketball
Scholarship for the 1991 -92 academic
year, and a reduction of one official
See ACTIONS on 8