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UCLA offense impressive, Osborne says
By Derek samson
Staff Reporter
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne
said the 1993 vers ion of UCLA had
some similarities to the Bruins of
the past.
“They still do mostly the same
things,” Osborne said. “I think there
is a lot of similarity to some of the
past UCLA teams, but everybody
changes some.”
The biggest difference, accord
ing to Osborne, is the talent since
the last time the two teams met.
The Bruins, who had six All-Amer
icans in 1988, beat Nebraska 41
28.
“In 1988, that was probably the
best collection of talent on one
team that we’ve maybe ever
played,” Osborne said. “They were
very impressive with the talent they
hao on that team. They still have
some talented players, though.”
Osborne said quarterback
Wayne Cook and receiver J.J.
Stokes would lead thd Bruins’ tal
ent pool into Saturday’s game. ABC
(Omaha KETV Channel 7) will
cover the game regionally. Kickoff
is at 2:30 p.m.
Stokes, a junior split end, caught
41 passes for 783 yards last season.
However, Cook only completed
eight of 13 passes in 1992 because
of an injury he suffered in the sea
son opener.
“My impression of UCLA has
been that they have a good quarter
back and passing game,” Osborne
said. “(Cook) had a lot of injuries,
but he played well against Califor
nia.
“They have a good offensive
line. Offensively, the thing that
catches your eye is the receivers.”
The defense is led by inside
linebacker Nkosi Littleton, who
totaled 61 tackles in 1992.
“Defensively, their strength is
supposed to be at linebacker,”
Osborne said. “They appearto have
very good players at that position.”
Osborne said he didn’t expect
the regional television broadcast of
Saturday’s game by ABC to prompt
any changes in his team’s play.
“Of course you want to play
well anytime you are being seen by
a lot of people around the country,”
he said. “Then again, you want to
play your best anytime. I don’t
think it will make any difference to
what we’ll call or to the players.”
Game day TV-ABC KET^channcl7) "I
PK 37 Bjorn Merten
LOLB 90 Bruce Moore 64 245
DT 67 Kevin Rameekers 6-4 290
NT 99 Terry Connealy 6-5 275
ROLB 34 Tree Alberts AB6-4 240
SAM 23 Ernie Beler 5-11200
MIKE 46 Mike Anderson 6-2 230
i WILL 32 Ed Stewart 6-1 215
LCB 14 Barron Miles 5-8 160
RCB 6 John Reece 6-0 200
ROV 3 Toby Wright 6-1 200
FS 4 Troy Dumas 6-3 215
P 13 Byron Bennett 6-1 180
-
1
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fT.
28 Darren Schager 6-0 194 j
AlSchaben/DN
Middle linebacker Troy Branch leads a pack of Cornhuskers — including
Trev Alberts and Kevin Ramaekers — as they swarm Texas Tech
quarterback Robert Hall during Nebraska’s 50-27 victory Saturday.
Bruins coach needs more time
By Jeff Griesch
Senior Reporter _
If it was up to UCLA football
coach Terry Donahue, the Bruins
would have another week off this
Saturday before they play No. 8
Nebraska at the Rose Bowl.
The Bruins enjoyed an extra
week of rest after their27-25 loss to
California on Sept. 4., but Donahue
said he doesn’t know if an extra
week of preparation will mean a
win against Nebraska.
A three-week bye would nave
been better,” Donahue said. “One
week wasn’t enough, but it certain
ly was better than none .It helps our
football team for the reason, but
I’m not so sure how much the bye
helps us this week.”
The 18-year coach of the Bruins
said that the Bruins are trying to
return to the prominence they
achieved in the 1980s.
With the Bruins in a develop
mental stage right now, Donahue
said, he would rather not play the
Cornhuskers this week.
“I don’t have any input into the
scheduling, but l probably would
not have scheduled Nebraska," 1
Donahue said.
Donahue said that Nebraska’s
depth was a major concern because
of the inexperience of the Bruins.
“Nebraska is a national champi
onship contender, and we are not as
talented as we once were," Donahue
said. 1
Flayer says tsruins pumped rorJNU
By Derek Samson
Sttdf Report* '
UCLA linebacker Nkosi
Littleton said he wants to get the
Bruins back into the national spot
light.
And, he said, he’ll have no bet
ter time to do it than during Satur
day’s ABC regionally televised
game with the Comhuskers.
“We arc really pumped,
Littleton said. “We feel like this
could be a good stepping stone. It
could put us back on the map."
However, Littleton said, the
Bruins need to worry about them
selves before they worry about
impressing the rest of the country.
“For us, we have to prove somc
’ thing to ourselves,” he said. “I’m
not worried about the Top 25. I’m
just focused on us playing our best. ”
A two-week layoff has given
UCLA a chance to prepare for the
Huskers, Littleton said.
‘it helps us get back in shape
both physically and mentally,”
Littleton said. “We’ve had time to
learn from our mistakes. We’ve
been able to focus on Nebraska
alone M
See~DTTLETON on 8
Pettit’s 500th victory
may be around comer
By Tim Pearson
Senior Fhporfr_
Nebraska volleyball coach Terry
Pettit could achieve a milestone this
weekend at the FirsTier Invitational,
but he’s not concerned with setting
records.
Instead, he and the Comhuskers
are concerned with improving their
consistency.
Pettit, in his 17th season as Husker
coach, is two wins shy of500 victories
at Nebraska.
But in order for Pettit to achieve
that, he said his team would have to
achieve consistency.
“We have a lot of battles left to
fight,” Pettit said. “We’re just trying
to get better and play better volleyball
for longer periods of time.”
The seventh-ranked Huskers face
No. 14 and undefeated Georgia to
night at 7:30, and they play Louisiana
State, which was ranked as high as
No. 14 in the preseason, on Saturday
night at 7:30 in the NU Coliseum.
Big Eight foe Kansas, 5-4, will
also play in the invitational, but they
won’t face Nebraska.
Husker setter Nikki Strieker, last
week’s Big Eight Player of the Week,
said the Huskers needed to continue
to show improvement.
“We have a ways to go,” she said.
“Everybody’s working hard, and we
can’t afford to lose our focus.
“But we need more consistency.”
The Comhuskers enter the week
end with a 7-0 record, the team’s best
start since it went 14-0 in 1989.
Nebraska is coming off three wins
over Louisville, Wyoming and Wash
ington in the Arby’sClassic last week
end.
“We made some progress, but 1
don’t know that it told us much,"
Pettit said. “We were a little erratic
against Louisville, but we played hard
last weekend.
“LSU and Georgia are much more
experienced, and hopefully it will give
us a clearer picture of where we stand "
However, Pettit said, it may be
See FIRSTIER on 8
attneNUColBSim^^^
•Nebraska vs. Georgia
Tonight 7:30
•Nebraska vs. Lousiana Stste
Saturday 7:30 p.m.
Probable Starters\
Nebraska (7-0)
S Nikki Strieker 5-10 Sr.
9 ' Stephanie Clare 5*6 Fr.
OH Billie Winsett 5-11 So.
OH. Maria Hedbeck 5*10 Fr. r
OH Kelly Aspegren 5-11 Jr.
MB AHJson Weston 6-0 So* j
Georgia (8-0) *
%%*%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%*
S Jodi Kruse 5-9 Sr.
$H; Priecttia Paoheco 6-11 Jr. -
OH Nikki Nicholson 6-0 So.
QH AsNey QMkW$M 84 8r.
MB HadlyAnstme 6-0 So.
MB HotySmlakal 94 H
9MMWwlMM99R«MRBW9NMM9BFaWNIIia9t
ON QraphU
Youth is disadvantage
for Tigers, coach says
i
By Tony West
Staff Reporter
The Louisiana State volleyball
team isn’t what it used to be.
The Tigers finished last season
with a 26-9 record overall and fin
ished second in the Southeastern Con
ference at 12-2.
But with eight freshmen, they’re
just trying to stay above water this
season. Louisiana State has a 3-4
record.
“We’re struggling,” Tiger volley
ball coach Scott Luster said. “We’ve
been good for a long time, and this
year we’ve really had to play some
inexperienced people. We’re justbad.”
Nevertheless, the Tigers will be
looking to eliminate some of their
problems at the FirsTier Invitational
this weekend at the NU Coliseum,
t Louisiana State will play Kansas
Friday at 3:30 p.m. and face Nebraska
Saturday evening at 7:30.
Luster said he wasn’t sure about
Kansas but knew all he wanted to
know about Nebraska.
“I know Nebraska is stacked again,”
he said.
Even though the odds are stacked
against them, Luster said, the Tigers
will come ready to battle.
“We have to make opponents earn
points against us," he said. “We have
to eliminate unforced errors. We’re
just going to come up, try to be com
petitive and hope for a split."
Luther said nis team was aggres
sive despite its youth.
“We’re a pretty aggressive team,
and 1 think we’re fun to watch,” Lus
ter said. “But we need a little more
firepower.
“We’re kind of in a transition now.
All we’re trying to do is get better by
the week and improve on strength.*