Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 1993)
Daily J Nebraskan Thursday. Mpm 8,1883 • KHey Timperley/DN Nebraska’s Brook Berringer drops back to pass at a scrimmage Saturday at Memorial „ Stadium. Huskers to use shotgun offense more next year, Osborne says By Jeff Singer Senior Reporter When will the Nebraska offense - change? That’s the question many ' Cornhuskcr football fans have asked concerning Nebraska coach « Tom Osborne's offense, but Osborne said this spring’s olTcnse was different from ones used in years past. “Sometimes people say we’re doing the same old thing, but that’s not true at all,” Osborne said. “We probably change 30 percent of our plays every year, so we’ve made a lot of changes.” One of the alterations to the Husker offense this spring has been a more frequent use of the shotgun formation, which is normally re served for passing teams. Osborne, whose team led the nation with 328.2 rushing yards per game last season, said he would like to use the shotgun more to mix the different offenses Nebraska could throw against its opponents. “We’ll use it in certain situa tions. I don’tknow that it’s going to be a steady diet, but we feel like we’d like to be able to line up in it some,” Osborne said. The player who will likely be using the shotgun the most is No. 1 -1« Sometimes people say we’re doing the same old thing, but that’s not true at all. —Osborne’ NU football coach - %% - w w Huskcr quarterback Tommie Frazier. The freshman said he liked using the shotgun more. “Any quarterback feels comfort able with it, because it gives them the opportunity to look out and see what’s coming at them,” Frazier said. Frazier, who finished last sea son with Nebraska’s best-cvcr touchdown-to-interception ratio at 10 to 1, said he was eager to throw the ball more. “The focus of this year is going to be to try to throw the ball more,” Frazier said. “We have put in some new plays that make teams wary about us just running the ball.” Frazier said it was easy to sec why Osborne wanted to pul the ball in the air more this year. “We have fast athletes out there and I think (Osborne) did this to show our speed to other i&ms,” he said. “In the past, teams thought that Nebraska was just a power football team, but now that we have speed sters on the team, (Osborne) is just u-ying to exploit that too, instead of just power,” Frazier said. 4* Osborne said talk o£ more pass ing didn’t mean that he was ready to revamp his run-style offense, which had led to four NCAA rush ing titles in the last five years. “We’ve been very dominant offensively,” Osborne said. “But people arc always going to be un happy with some of the things you do.” Frazier is listed at the top of the Husker spring depth chart, but both Osborne and Frazier said things could change. “This isn’t like with pro football quarterbacks where anybody has anything locked up; it’s always open,” Osborne said. Quarterbacks Ben Ruiz, Tony Vcland and Brook Berringer are listed behind Frazier on the depth chart. Frazier said he would need a solid spring season to keep a hold on the No. 1 spot. “I can’t say it’s mine to lose, because anything can happen,” he said. “I’m just going to go out there and try to improve; I’m always going to try to do the best I can.” NU, Cyclones split soaked doubleheader By Jeff Griesch Staff Reporter The rains came at Buck BclUtor Field on Wednesday, but the Nebraska and Iowa Slate baseball teams would not go away, Nebraska beat the Cy - . cloncs5-l in the first game of a double header, but the Huskcrs lost the night cap 15-3 and fell to 2-3 in Big Eight play and 13-13 overall. The start of the first game was delayed by 45 minutes, and the teams had to sit through another 45-minule rain delay with one out in the top of the sixth inning. ‘That’s Midwest baseball foryou,” Nebraska coach John Sanders said. “You just kind of have to expect it as part of baseball this time of year.” Troy Brohawn, 4-0, struck out 11 Iowa State hitlers cn route to his third complete game of the season. Brohawn, a sophomore from Woolford, Md., scattered five hits but lost his shutout bid in the ninth inning. Iowa State third baseman Brett Elam led off the ninth with a single to right field. Brad Mangier followed Elam’s single by hilling a hanging change-up from Brohawn over Jed Dalton’s head in center field to score Elam from first. The Huskers got off to a quick start against the Cyclones, scoring three runs in the first inning and another in the second. Nebraska added an insur ance run in the eighth off Iowa Slate reliever Ron Tjcbbcn. All five Husker runs wcrcuncamcd, as Nebraska look advantage of four Cyclone errors. With one out in the first, Darin Petersen reached on a throwing error by the Cyclone second baseman. With Petersen on first, Marc Sagmocn hit a double off the base of the fence in center field to drive in Petersen. Darin Erslad followed with a bunt single and Sagmocn moved to third. After Erstad stole second, Sagmocn scored on a sacrifice fly from Brohawn. Derek Dukarldrove in Erslad with a two-out single to give the Huskers a 3^) lead. In the second game, Iowa State . jumped on Nebraska starter Steve Boyd — a reliever making his first start of the season — early. The Cy clones scored two runs in the first inning before Boyd settled in, selling a career high with eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings of work. NU’s Brohawn misses shutout by one pitch By Susie Arth Senior Reporter Despite a steady drizzle, a rain delay and a muddy field, Cornhusker pitcher Troy Brohawn lost his con centration only once. That once came in the ninth in ning, when Iowa State’s Brad Man gier hit a double off Brohawn to score teammate Brad Urban and ended Brohawn’s hopes of a shutout. “I had one bad pitch today,” Brohawn said. “Maybe I gave up a little on the pitch, but I won’t do that next time. “That was the only thing 1 did totally wrong today.” Brohawn, who improved his record to 4-0 for the season, said he was especially pleased with his perfor mance in the first inning. ‘Today me and John (Sanders) made a goal to gel out of the first inning,” Brohawn said. “I think that was the key today.” In the first inning, Brohawn was able to strike out the first two batters he faced and get a fly-out from the third. Brohawn was able to have another steady start Wednesday, when he re mained in the game after a 45-minute rain delay at the beginningof the sixth inning. Alter the delay, Brohawn retired three of the first four batters he faced. “My arm actually fell better after the delay,” he said. Brohawn’s concentration was not limited to the mound. From the plate, Brohawn had three sacrifices, a walk and one run batted in. Sanders said he was pleased with Brohawn’s effort. “I know he wanted the sh utoul,” he said. “The pitching was solid.” This truly may be the year for the Husker football team It’s April, so naturally it’s lime for the hype to begin. From the Panhandle to downtown Omaha while spring football prac tices continue, Nebraska fans across the state already arc talking about how their beloved Comhuskcrs will perform in the fall. Nebraskans tend to believe there arc only two big events during the spring: the groundhog seeing his own shadow and the start of spring prac tices. And during the four weeks of football’s spring training, the major tty of Huskcr fans usually have the upcoming season’s national champi onship banner ordered by the time the Red-White game comes around, only to have something go wrong in the fall. But for the first time in 22 years, the Nebraska forecasters who arc pre dicting a Huskcr national title might just end up being right. Nebraska won’t be the best team in the nation in the fall—but then again, how often does the best team win the national title? The team who docs bring home the mythical national championship is the one who can use its own talent to the best of its abilities while being fortu nate enough to get some good breaks along the way. Therefore, if you have the right amount of luck, mixed with talent and good fortune, a national title can be bom. And this year, circumstances seem to have placed the Huskers into a position where talk around town of a national championship can now go from fantasy to reality. So why should optimism soar around the Husker program this spring? Here arc the best reasons why: • A guaranteed perfect non-con fcrcnccseason. Thisisn l saying much with a schedule that includes North Jeff Singer Texas Slate, Texas Tech, UCLA and Colorado State, but how often in re cent years has Nebraska been able to start its Big Eight season unscathed? True, this is a pitiful group of non conference opponents, but at the end of the season, 4-0 will be better re membered than Nebraska’s plaster ing of the North Texas State Eagles. •A weak Big Eight conference. This season will probably mark one of the worst seasons for Big Eight football as aconfcrcncc in recent history which should mean a cakewalk for the Iiusk ers through their league season. The only scare for Nebraska will be in October at Colorado — oops, I > -r take that back; I just remembered that the two teams are similar to the ones that registered a 52*7 Husker win last year. • Tommie Frazier gelling control of the reins for ihc full season. Last season's Big Eight Offensive Fresh man of ihc Year will gel lo prove himself as a sophomore by gelling to start at quarterback for the enlire sea son. Wipt ihis in mind, Frazier should challenge for All-Big Eighl honors and possible All-American hype as long as Coach Osborne’s offensive Pastern can blend and lie in wilh razicr’s extraordinary abilities. • The moving of ihc “Wc-Backs” into singular form. Derek Brown’s prcmaiurc departure for the Naiional Football League will prove ilsclf as a blessing for tbc Huskers, and ihc evi dence of this will be Calvin Jones’ numbers ihroughoul ihc season. W iihoul hav ing lo rotate Jones and Brown into the lineup from quarter to quarter and altering the team’s rush ing styles, now the ground game can be clearly defined: power football via Jones with a constant eye on the Heisman Trophy. • Playing Iowa Slate at home. After watching Nebraska lose 19-10 in Ames last year in college football’s upset of the season, this is truly a valid point. Another plus to play ing those pesky Cyclones this year, as opposed to last season, is not having to see Iowa State quarterback Marv Seiler do another Joe Montana impersonation. Although it should be a clear road for the Huskers to the national cham pionship, Nebraskans now must hope the road doesn’t have any surprising potholes like it has the past 22 years. Singer is it senior news-editorial and po litical science major and a Dally Nebraskan sports senior reporter.