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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 1993)
Nebraskan Tuesday, October 12,1993 SPORTS Kiley Timperiey/DN Cornhusker quarterback Tommie Frazier tries to elude tacklers during Nebraska’s win over Colorado State. Frazier said he has gained his teammates confidence during crunch time. Fine-tuned Frazier gains confidence in clutch situations By Tim Pearson Senior Reporter_ At this point last season, Ne braska quarterback Tommie Frazier was on the bench as backup to starter Mike Grant. So far this season, Frazier has been a starting quarterback who has rallied his team to three come from-behind victories. Last October, Frazier was ad justing to the Nebraska offensive system. This season, Frazier knows the Nebraska offense. Last season at this point, Frazier had two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown. He had passed for 89 yards. This year, Frazier has four touch down passes and three rushing touchdowns. He has passed for 539 yards. And he has made all of those strides while playing on an injured ankle, something he didn’t have to deal with last year. The main difference between last year and this year, Frazier said, is confidence. “I think the team has more con fidence with me back there,” Frazier said. ‘‘They know that last year I probably would have cracked un der the same situations. “But this year, 1 come to the sidelines when we’re not moving the ball well and they say, ‘Don’t worry about it.’” Frazier, a sophomore from Bradenton, Fla., didn’t crack under pressure against Oklahoma State last Thursday in the Comhuskers’ 27-13 victory over the Cowboys. He led the Huskers back from a 6-0 deficit and a 13-6 halftime def icit. Right before the end of the first half, Frazier ran a hurry-up offense with just over a minute left. He completed two passes to Trumane Bell and Calvin Jones. With 21 seconds left, Frazier again hit Jones for 7 yards. Then on fourth-and-five, Frazier hit split end Corey Dixon for 31 yards to set up a 26-yard Byron Bennett field goal before halftime. Frazier said those types ofdrives helped him win his teammates’ confidence. “It makes me feel reallv good that they have that kind of confi dence in me,” he said. “I’m going to go out there and give it my all for those guys.” In those situations, Frazier said, he simply tries to get something started. See FRAZIER on 8 V. Aggies bow out of planned date with Huskers By Jeff Singer Senior Editor___ Last week, Utah State followed a recent trend by showing how tired it was of exchanging a football blowout loss for a fast buck. The Aggies canceled their sched uled games next season with Nebras ka and Arizona and are looking to replace them with opponents that will schedule a home-and-home scries with the Aggies, Utah State Athletic Di rector Chuck Bell said. And, Bell said, they’ll make sure their opponents are on an even plane. “We felt like we were selling the bodies of our 19- and 20-year-olds for a fast buck,” Bell said. “We have a word for that in Utah.” Opposing teams that come to play at Memorial Stadium are paid $275,000. But in the last three meet ings between the Cornhuskers and Aggies, Nebraska has won each game convincingly, outscoring Utah State by a combined 178-53. The Huskcrs won 59-28 in the teams’ most recent meeting in 1991. Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Byrne said football cancellations were becoming too commonplace. “What we’ re seeing is that coaches -1( We felt like we were selling the bodies of our 19- and 20-year olds for a fast buck. We have a word for that in Utah. — Bell athletic director, Utah State -»> and athletic directors see a game or two that they don’t want to play and then try to get out of it,” Byrne said. After cancelling their contract with the Huskers, the Aggies arranged to have Pacific replace Utah State on Nebraska’s schedule next season. The Tigers will be Nebraska’s fourth op ponent next year and will play in Lincoln on Sept. 24. Bell said in order for Utah State to become a power in the Big West Conference, the Aggies needed to have opposing teams come to Logan, Utah. Utah State couldn’t afford always to play its tougher opponents on the road, he said. See SCHEDULE on 8 Coach: Nebraska to face tough Kansas State team By Mitch Sherman Staff Reporter____ When Nebraska plays host to the Kansas State Wildcats in Memorial Stadium Saturday, fans will witness something that has not happened in 24 years of the series. They’ll watch a game between two ranked, unbeaten teams. The Wildcats, 5-0 and coming off a 10-9 victory over Kansas, entered the CNN/USA Today Coaches poll at No. 24. Nebraska assistant coach Frank Solich said Monday at the Ex tra Point luncheon that the fifth- and sixth-ranked Huskers would see a type of Kansas State team they have never seen before — $ confident one. “When these guys come in to play us they’ll ride on the bus, but they’ll be flying,” Solich said. “One thing that I’ve found out about athletics is if you truly bel ie ve you have a chance to win, then you can win. “These guys are coming in here feeling that they’re going to win the football game. They have a lot of incentive.” Sol ich praised the job Kansas State coach Bill Snyder has done with the Wildcat program — a program re garded as the worst in Division 1 football when Snyder took over Five years ago. “If you would have talked to a lot of coaches (when Snyder took over), they’d have told you it was a no-win situation, a dead-end street.” Solich said the Huskers have con tinued to struggle on offense, but have come together as a defensive unit. “The defense really played pretty well (against OSU), especially in the second half,” Solich said. “They did make some key stops early on when Oklahoma State had great field posi tion. We held them to two field goals, so instead of being down 14-0, wc were down 6-0.” Solich saidTrev Alberts continued his excellent play and anchored the defense along with Terry Connealy, Kevin Ramaekers, Ed Stewart and See SOLICH on 8 Huskers due for big game; Wildcats on receiving end Oklahoma Slate coach Pat Jones had to know what was ahead of him when his team sprinted off the field, jumping and celebrating its 13-6 half time lead over Nebraska. On the opposite sideline, there was no fear or look of surprise flashing on the faces of the Cornhuskers. Nebras ka knew —just like Oklahoma State —what was ahead in the second half. The Huskers came out in the sec ond half and did just what they do best — they wore the opponent down. Jones saw his lead disintegrate into the 20th-straight Cowboy loss to Ne braska,as 21 unanswered second-half points gave Nebraska a 27-13 victory. With the exception of Colorado and Oklahoma, the rest of the Big Eight flbormats should not bank on pull ing off an upset on the 1993 Husk ers. That includes this Saturday’s matchup with undefeated Kansas State in Memorial Stadium. The Wildcats are off to their best start since probably the Revolution ary War,but they better be prepared to be humbled. After the Nebraska loss to Iowa State last year, Kansas State does not have a chance. Kansas State isdoing the Big Eight a favor by going undefeated, but its victories include wins over New Mex ico State, Western Kentucky, Minne sota, UNLV and rival Kansas. The Kansas football program, which is the biggest disappointment in the Big Eight since the confer ence’s performance in last year’s NCAA Basketball tournament, went from Aloha Bowl Champions to the Derek Samson laughing stock of the conference. In the exciting contest between Kansas and Kansas State last Satur day, the Wildcats hung on to a 10-9 win to raise their record to 5-0. Now, the city of Manhattan is buzzing with excitement and anticipation for the battle with Nebraska. Even if Kansas State jumps out early, Nebraska fans need not worry. This year, the Huskers don’t panic. In the 50-27 win over Texas Tech, Nebraska fell behind in the third quar ter, but ran off 23 straight points to turn the game into a rout. During the following game at UCLA, the Bruins played Nebraska tight throughout and held a 10-0 lead. But the experience of Nebraska never gave way to the upset-minded Bruins, and the Huskers escaped with a 14-13 win. Finally, there was Oklahoma State. The 21 straight second-half points proved it will be even more difficult than usual to rattle the Huskers. A final point to look at is that Nebraska hasn’t really played a great game yet. It hasn’t put together that all-around, butt-kicking win that is sure to come. It is hoped that it will come against Colorado orOklahoma,but most like ly it will occur sooner than that. Kansas State has played Nebraska somewhat tough in the past couple years, including a 38-31 scare in Lin coln two years ago. But the Wildcats haven’t beaten Nebraska since 1968. Kansas State should have a lot to look forward to with the revival of its program, an undefeated record and game films of opponents playing Ne braska close. Well,sorry Wildcats,butthe Husk ers are due for a big game, and it is obvious Nebraska will not let any Iowa States get to them this year. A healthy Calvin Jones will run wild, and Nebraska will hand Kansas State its first loss in a 42-13 Husker win. Santo* It a sopbonore aews-edltorial najor aid a Dally Nebraska* itafT reporter.