INebraska-Missouri
Scoring Summary
Nebraska 1410 0 10 -34
Missouri 0 14 7 3 —24
fSQ NU— Frazier 3 yard
(SB touchdown run (Bennett kick)
NU— Frazier runs wide 7 yard
touchdown run (Bennett kick)
|® MU— Jackson 1 yard
touchdown run (Jacke kick)
MU— Ofodile 13 yard
touchdown, pass from Handy
(Jacke kick)
NU— Jones 1 yard
touchdown run (Bennett kick)
NU— Bennett 26 yard FG
□ MU—Bailey 39 yard
touchdown pass from Handy
J ____ (Jacke kick)
I l|g NU— Bennett 26 yard FG
J IfiO MU—Jacke 25 yard FG
NU— Frazier 5 yard
touchdown run (Bennett kick)
1 Daily Nebraskan
Frazier jumpstarts Husker win
By Nick Hytrek
Senior Reporter
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Tommie
Frazier made Nebraska foot
ball history,and Missouri nar
rowly missed making a little history
of its own in the Comhuskers’ 34-24
win over the Tigers Saturday.
Frazier became the first true fresh
man to start at quarterback under
Husker coach Tom Osborne, and for a
while it looked as if the Tigers would
beat Nebraska for the first time since
1978.
“We fell Tommie had progressed
where he deserved a chance to start,”
Osborne said. “Frazier has had two
good weeks of practice and I think
he’s made improvement.”
Despite some nervousness at first,
Frazier said he was relaxed during the
game.
“I felt comfortable. The teammates
felt comfortable with me. The way
they were looking at me told me it’d
be all right if I made a mistake,”
Frazier said.
Nebraska I-back Derek Brown,
who ran for 148 yards on 25 carries,
said he saw no difference between
Mike Grant, who had started
Nebraska’s first five games at quar
terback, and Frazier.
“He’s a smart guy,” Brown said.
“I’m just really impressed with the
way he’s been running, taking control
of the offense out there.
“He wasn’t nervous at all. It was
just business as usual."
Grant had experienced back prob
lems the past few weeks, Osborne
said. As a result, Grant missed prac
tice Monday and wasn’t full speed yet
by Tuesday.
As it turned out, it was Missouri
that suffered fromGrant’s back pain.
Frazier made the most of his first
career start. He finished the day 9 for
20 passing for 157 yards, ran for 77
more and scored three touchdowns,
including a 5-yard clincher on fourth
and 5 with 2:09 left in the game logivc
the No. 8 Huskers a 34-24 lead and
allowed Nebraska to improve to 5-1
on the season, 2-0 in the Big Eight.
Missouri dropped to 1-6,0-3.
Osborne said he was pleased with
Frazier’s performance.
“He was very stable out there,”
Osborne said. “We thought he played
a good, solid ball game and made the
right decisions.”
But Missouri’s Jeff Handy made
some good decisions of his own. The
sophomore quarterback, making only
his second start, turned in a 29-Of-44
passing performance for 424 yards
and two touchdowns and gave the
53,337 fans — about 12,(XX) of them
from Nebraska — at Faurot Field
reason to believe Missouri could win.
It was Handy’s passing that kept
the Tigers close throughout the game,
cvenaftcr falling behind by two touch
downs in the first quarter.
On Nebraska’s second possession,
Frazier engineered a 12-play, 75-yard
drive for the first score of the game —
a 3-yard run by Frazier.
Frazier scored again the next time
Nebraska got the ball, this limeon a 7
yard run to give the Huskcrs a 14-0
lead.
Missouri coach Bob Stull said it
was good to see his team refuse togivc
up at that point.
“I was happy to see them not lose
their poise," Stull said. "What creates
emotion is plays. If you can make a
- (ft
The teammates felt
comfortable with me.
The way they were
looking at me told me
It’d be all right if I
made a mistake.
-Frazier
NU quarterback
-f* "
play on offense or defense, you can
get everyone fired up, including ihe
Ians.”
Il was ihe Tiger offense that began
lo make those plays.
It took Handy only 56 seconds to
gel the Tigers back into the game.
Handy marched Missouri 80 yards
down the field in five plays, with
Mark Jackson scoring from a yard out
to cut Nebraska’s lead lo 14-7.
After holding Nebraska on three
plays, the Tigers scored again. This
time Handy hit AJ. Ofodilc from 13
yards out to tic the game at 14-14.
On their next possession, the Ti
gers advanced the ball to the Husker
40 before Kenny Wilhite intercepted
a Handy pass and returned it 49 yards
to the Missouri 20. From there, the
Huskers moved to the l.whcreCalvin
Jones scored on fourth and goal.
Wilhite said Missouri’s success
through the air got to him, but it was
something he had to shake off.
“For me it was (frustrating), but if
you gel frustrated, you get down on
yourself and then you stop thinking
about what you have to get done,’’ he
said. “They had a lot of success with
the pass today. We knew they were
going to throw, but not that much.”
Nebraska was able to get one more
shot before halftime. The Huskers got
the ball back at their own 16with 1:21
left and were able to drive to the
Missouri 9. Byron Bennett kicked a
26-yard field goal on the last play of
the half togivc'Ncbraskaa 24-14 lead.
Brown said he was surprised with
the fight the Tigers put up.
,/> “To tell you the truth, I was sur
prised lhat they played us this tough,”
he said. “That’s not to say that I
thought it was going to be a breeze
coming in here. I knew they ’d play us
tough, but not this close.”
After the two teams traded missed
field goals in the third quarter, Handy
and the Tigers struck again. Handy hit
Bailey with a 39-yard scoring pass
and the Husker lead was only 24-21.
The Huskers then ground out a 16
play, 73-yard drive lhat took more
than seven minutes. Nebraska was
unable to get the ball into the end
zone, however, and had to settle for a
26-yard Bennett field goal to increase
the lead to 27-21 with 14:56 left.
Nebraska kept the ball on the
ground and threw the ball only three
limes during the drive.
A 25-yard Jeff Jackc field goal
closed the gap to 27-24, and, after
holding the Huskers on their next
possession, Missouri took over the
ball with 7:54 leftand had a chance to
take the lead.
But John Reece spoiled those
chances two plays later with an inter
ception at the Missouri 49.
11 was men up u> rra/.icr unu me
Husker offense lo pul the game away.
The Huskcrs converted two third
downs and faced a fourth-and-goal
situation at the Missouri 5. At that
point, there was only one call lo make,
Osborne said.
“If we kicked a field goal, we’re up
six,” he said. “That’s nice, but on the
other hand, the way they had moved
the ball at times we weren’t real sure
that we wouldn’t get beat by a point.”
On fourth down, Frazier rolled
right, looked lo pass and then tucked
*thc ball away and leaped over a de
fender into the end zone to secure the
34-24 Husker win.
“It was a basic bootleg action, run
pass first,” Frazier said. “There were
two men out there. I was hesitant at
first but I saw the fullback block one
of them and I said ‘Hey, this is for all
the marbles.’ I jumped and got in.”
Immediately after the game, the
question surfaced: Would Frazier start
Saturday against Colorado?
“4-would say right now it would be
surprising if he didn’t,” Osborne said.
But Frazier said it didn’t matter to
him.
“I just want what’s best for the
team,” he said. “If that’s what’s best
lor the team, then I’ll take it.”