Sports
Husky talent, NU blunders decide game
Nebraska-Washington
scoring summary
-I I-1
BWash.— Safety, T. Jones
sacked Grant in end zone
Wash.— Bryant 1 run
(Hanson Kick)
NU— C. Jones 73 run
(Bennett kick)
Wash.— Kaufman 1 run
(Hanson Kick)
Wash.— Kralik 29 pass from
Hobert (Hanson Kick)
NU— Grant 1 run (Bennett
Kick)
Wash.— FG Hanson 42
Wash.— FG Hanson 32
Daily Nebraskan
By Drake Witham
Special to the Daily Nebraskan
SEATTLE — A solid defensive
effort and occasional flashes of a bril
liant offense were not enough for No.
12 Nebraska Saturday night.
For the second consecutive year,
the Cornhuskers'dropped a Septem
ber game to Washington, losing 29
14 before a raucous crowd of 73,333
fans at Husky Stadium.
Despite the loss, Nebraska coach
Tom Osborne said he was pleased
with his team’s effort.
“I’m not down on this team,”
Osborne said. “For the most part we
played well. I think we could have a
great team.”
Turnovers were the difference, as
three Husker miscucs led to 17 Wash
ington points. Nebraska also hurl it
self with penalties, amassing 11 for 76
yards.
“We played great,” said Nebraska
I-back Calvin Jones, who rushed for
79 yards. “We just had a lot of break
downs here and there.”
Washington jumped to a 2-0 lead
in the first quarter when Husky safely
Tommie Smith blindsided Nebraska
quarterback Mike Grant in the end
zone.
With the Cornhuskers driving in
the second quarter, Grant was sacked
Hideki Tomeoka/Special to the Daily Nebraskan
Washington fullback Darius Turner is tackled by Nebraska safety Barron Miles in the third quarter of the Huskies’ on Saturday night.
again and apparently fumbled before
hitting the ground.
Husky linebacker James Clifford
pounced on the ball and Washington
took overamid Nebraska protests that
Grant’s knee had touched the ground
before the fumble.
“I didn’t even go after the ball,”
Grant said. “I thought I was down.”
Washington wasted no lime in con-’
verting, as a one-yard plunge by
tailback Beno Bryant capped a 39
yard drive and pul the Huskies up 9-0.
Nebraska then rallied for its most
explosive play of the night. Grant ran
an option to the right side then pitched
to Jones, who galloped 73 yards past
a bunched-up Washington defense and
into the end /one lo pull the Huskers
within 9-7.
“(Nebraska) has a lot of great ath
letes back there,” said Washington
linebacker Dave Hoflman. “They have
a great line, great backs and they just
keep coming at you.”
Washington ihen exploded, scor
ing two touchdowns in a a 42-sccond
span just before halftime lo push its
lead to 23-7.
Tailback Napoleon Kaufman
scored the first touchdown from a
yard out, and on Ncbraska’sncxtdrive,
Grant threw an interception on the
first play.
Husky quarterback Bi lly Joe Hobert
then hit flanker Joe Kralik in the back
of the end zone on a 29-yard pass to
give Washington a 16-point edge.
“The score before the half really
hurl,” Osborne said. “At the start of
the second half, I thought we had a
shot.”
The Huskers did come out with
momentum, scoring on an 80-yard
drive to open the second half. I-back
Derek Brown had runs of 32 and 10
yards before Grant look it in from one
yard out to cut Washington’s lead to
23-14.
But turnovers again doomed Ne
braska. On the Huskers’ next series,
Brown fumbled a pitch and Washing
ton recovered deep in Nebraska terri
tory. The Huskies converted when
kicker Travis Hanson booled a 42
yard field goal to make the score 26
14.
Hanson’s Iasi field goal — a 32
yardcr ai ihc beginning of the fourth
quarter — put the game out of reach
for the Huskers and ensured their
eighth straight loss to teams ranked in
the Associated Press Top 10.
The Huskers’ inability to throw
effectively againslaswarming Husky
defcnsealsohuri.GranicompIcicd 11
of 21 passes for 133 yards, but also
threw two interceptions.
Brown, who rushed for 84 yards
and caught three passes for 30 yards,
said the Huskers must regroup for this
Saturday’s game
1 hater racks up statistics
as Huskers sweep Cowgirls
By Jeff Singer
Senior Reporter
If there were any questions as to
whether Nebraska middle blocker
Stephanie Thaler would be able to
repeat as the Big Eight’s volleyball
player of the year, she answered them
Saturday night.
Thaler had 14 kills in 20 attacks for
a .700 hitting percentage Saturday in
leading the Comhuskcrs to a three
game sweep of Wyoming at the NU
Coliseum.
Nebraska beat the Cowgirls 15-13,
15-8 and 15-8 in winning for the
second straight night against Wyo
ming. The Huskcrs were victorious
against the Cowgirls on Friday 10-15,
15-7,15-10,5-15 and 15-10 in North
Platte.
Thaler’s performance was an all
time best for the All-American, as the
Union, Mo., native bettered her ca
reer mark of a .654 hilling percentage
set against Colorado in 1990.
The top hitter for Wyoming was
outside hitter Anna Bradlcy-Houscr,
who hit .194.
Thaler said her teammates should
receive credit for her play against the
Cowgirls.
“I attribute that toour whole team,”
Thaler said. “A lot of my slats reflect
_ 44
The people around her
made it possible for
herio get the ball. But
when Steph gets in a
rhythm, nobody can
stop her — women or
men.
Noth
NU assistant volleyball coach
-99 "
on other people on the court.”
Nebraska assistant coach Cathy
Noth agreed that a lot of Thaler’s
success was due to her fellow Husk
crs.
“The people around her made it
possible for her to get the ball," Noth
said. “But when Steph gets in a rhythm,
nobody can stop her — women or
men.” .
As for the scries, the Huskcrs were
able to handle Wyoming on Saturday
in one hour and nine minutes before a
crowd of 2,168 fans at the Coliseum.
This followed Nebraska’s five-game
victory Friday over the Cowgirls be
fore a sellout crowd of nearly 2,(XX)
fans at Mid-Plains Community Col
lege.
Nebraska volleyball coach Terry
Pcilil said the Huskers were able lo
execute belter against Wyoming on
Saturday.
“I thought we were more consis
tent,” Pcilil said. “We were more alert
and played a lot belter.”
Wyoming volleyball coach Mike
English agreed with his counterpart.
“They adjusted well from last night;
their game plan worked well and they
came out hungry to win," English
said.
In Saturday’s match, Nebraska and
Wyoming exchanged the lead numcr
ous.timcs in the first game before the
Huskers won by two points, then the
Huskers corralled the Cowgirls with
identical 15-8 scores in the following
two games.
The third game was highlighted by
junior Laura Luther, as the outside
hitter from Grand Island served con
secutive aces to lift Nebraska from an
early 3-1 deficit cn route to the seven
point win. Luther is currently lied
with Thater for service aces in the
season, as each has 13 this year.
The series sweep improved the
sixth-ranked Huskers" lo 5-2 for the
season.
But Pettit is still looking for a
starling lineup that can help improve
Nebraska’s record, as the coach used
11 of his 13 players in numerous
situations Saturday night.
Runner ten Bensel
sets course record
By Tim Pearson
Staff Reporter
As Iasi year’s Big Eight cham
pion, big results wcrccxpccted from
Huskcr cross country runner Fran
ten Bcnscl.
But for ten Bcnscl to set a Pio
neers Park course record at the
Woody Grccno/Ncbraska Cross
Country Invitational was beyond
Coach Jay Dirksen’s expectations.
“Fran ran amazingly well for
the first meet,’’ Dirksen said. “She
was — I don’t know how to say it
— but just awesome. She is an
outstanding runner.’’
Ten Bcnscl set a course record
with a lime of 16:59.0.
“Susan Bliss, the woman who
had the previous record, set it when
the course was in really good shape
toward the end of the season,”
Dirksen said. “This was our first
meet."
Ten Bcnscl and junior Theresa
Sidling led the Huskers to a first
place finish at Saturday’s meet.
“We had a couple of setbacks,
but for the first meet, we did well,”
Dirksen said.
Two of the Huskers’ top runners
were injured. Katie Fletcher was
out after having surgery on her hip,
and Michclc Schaefer was out be
cause three screws were inserted in
her hip.
“We had to rely on people a
little more quickly than we wanted
to,” Dirksen said. “Sandy Fein and
Dannika Hardersen ran very well.”
Fein finished 15th, and
Hardersen was 22nd.
On the men’s side, the Huskers
finished fourth.
Dirksen said the loss of junior
David Iteffa, who didn’t compete
because of injury, hurt the Huskers.
“With Iteffa, we could have
gotten second,” he said. “David
makes us a better team.”
Renier Henning was the leading
runner for the Husker men, finish
ing in 17lh place. Kevin Miller
followed in 18th place.
“Henning looked real good, and
Miller had a real good meet,”
Dirksen said. “This gave us a better
idea of where we’re at right now,
and we’re not ready to really race
yet.”
As for the rest of the season,
Dirksen thinks his men’s team will
improve.
“1 hoped that they would have
run a little bit better, but by the end
of the season, we ’ 11 be pretty good. ”