Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1993)
Nebraskan QDODT'Q Friday, Novambar 12, 1993 y^JL ^ - „ ^ Coalition concerns Devaney, bowl officials By Todd Cooper Senior Editor _ Cornhusker Athletic Director Emeritus Bob Devaney approached Orange Bowl President Bob Epling Thursday with a question on behalf of Nebraska. Epling had just finished briefing Nebraska media and athletic depart ment officials on South Florida trav el and safety issues when Devaney raised another concern: “Why is Miami up there ahead of us?,” Devaney asked Epling, refer ring to the bowl coalition poll. “What can we do about this, Bob?” Epling said he shared Devaney’s concerns regarding the college foot ball coalition poll, which has 8-1 Miami ranked ahead of undefeated Nebraska. “Our goal, of course, is to have a national championship game,” Epling said. “But in the AP poll, it appears that some of the writers are deliber ately trying to set up a national cham pionship game in the Fiesta Bowl.” After last weekend, Miami jumped 44 points ahead of Nebraska in the rankings, which combine the point totals from The Associated Press and the CNN/USA Today polls to deter mine bowl matchups. Epling said he was shocked when he learned before last weekend that some writers told Fiesta Bowl offi cials they would vault the Hurricanes above Nebraska. That would set up a national title game between Miami and the winner of Saturday’s Florida State-Notre Dame game in the Fiesta Bowl. “You always know that something like that can happen,” he said. “But you don’t think it ever will.” Epling said he and the other major bowl representatives would meet in Chicago Friday to discuss the coali tion setup. And, Epling said, he will voice a simple concern on behalf of the Or ange Bowl and Nebraska. “We have a once-beaten team who’s ranked ahead of an unbeaten team,” he said, “My question is: How could that happen? “Is there anything there that is subjective? Is it objective enough?” Epling said Nebraska could alle viate any of those concerns with two solid performances in its last two games. “The Big Eight champion can play their way into a national champion ship with a strong performance in their remaining games,” he said. “Maybe the Big Red had their bad week last week and will climb back above Miami this week.” Cyclones to threaten NU again, Osborne says Kiley Timperley/DN Quarterback Tommie Frazier, shown here in the Cornhuskers’ 21-20 win over Kansas, hopes to lead Nebraska to vengeance Saturday against Iowa State, which upset Nebraska 19-10 last season. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. Walden: Cyclones grow in talent, confidence By Jeff Singer Senior Editor At the beginning of this year, Iowa Stale football coach Jim Walden thought Saturday’s Nebraska-Cyclone game might affect the Big Eight conference standings. After all, Iowa State was coming off a 19 10 upset of Nebraska at the end of last season, and Walden believed he had more talent this year than in his previous seven seasons. But with a 3-6 record so far, Walden and his Cyclones — destined for their fourth straight sub-.500 season — once again will be limited to a spoiler role on Saturday against the 3rd- and 4th-rankcd Cornhuskcrs at Me morial Stadium. “I thought this year was going to be a six or seven- win season for us, especially since I do think this is the best group of total athletes I’ve had here,” Walden said. “This is the best crop I’ve been able to grow; but then again, this is the first time I’ve been in dirt rather than rock.” On defense, strong safety Kevin Fulton leads the Cyclones with 98 tackles and was named the league’s Defensive Player-of-thc-Weck after registering 10 tackles and an interception in Iowa State’s 20-17 win over Oklahoma State Oct. 23. And on offense, freshman quarterback Todd Doxzon, a 6-foot, 167-pounder from Millard North, came off the bench to lead Iowa State to a 27-23 upset of thcn-No. 18 Kansas State last weekend. Walden said he would not decide until Fri day whether to start Doxzon or more experi enced junior Bob Utter at quarterback against the Huskers. Either way, the effects of Iowa State’s win over the Wildcats should carry over to this Saturday’s game. “The K-State win probably gave us some confidence.” he said. “Hopefully on Saturday, our kids won’t feel like they can’t do it.” While the majority of Big Eight teams have emphasized their passing attacks in recent years, Iowa State differed and went to the wishbone running attack last season. “With the wishbone, they’re probably not used to seeing it because nobody runs it any more,” Walden said. “Sometimes it looks like lightning, sometimes it looks like junk — it usually just depends on who we’re playing.” Walden said Iowa State might not be as much of an underdog to Nebraska, especially after last year’s win. “After you’ve done something once, it’s a lot easier to do it twice,” he said. Memories hurt, but game called no grudge match By Jeff Griesch Senior Reporter The painful memories of Nebraska’s 19-10 loss to Iowa State last season still linger in the minds of Cornhusker players and coaches. “They spoiled a lot for me,” Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said. “Our chances probably weren’t too good, but they knocked us out of any opportunity to win a national champion ship.” Despite ISU’s upset of the Huskcrs last season, Osborne said revenge would not be on the Huskcrs’ minds for Saturday’s game with the Cyclones at Memorial Stadium. “We’ve not been a big revenge team," Osborne said. “We want to play well and play well every week.” And the Huskcrs will have to play well if they arc going to beat the Cyclones, Osborne said. Osborne said the 3-6 Cyclones could pose a threat to Nebraska similar to what Kansas did in the Huskcrs’ 21 -20 win over the Jayhawks. “They are kind of like Kansas in that they are playing their best football most recently,” Osborne said. “They have gotten a lot better as time has gone on.” The Cyclones arc coming off their biggest win of the season, a 27-23 upset of then-No. 18 Kansas State. Iowa State dominated the Wildcats, piling up 359 yards while holding Kansas State to just 248 yards total yards — 124 fewer than its average. But after committing four turnovers, the Cyclones still had to come back from being 11 points down in the fourth quarter. “You have to be doing a lot of other things right if you go minus-four turnovers and still win the game,” Osborne said. Osborne said the biggest problem with pre paring for the Cyclones was figuring out how to stop the Iowa State offense. The Cyclones usually start in a wishbone formation with a full-house backfield, which Nebraska hasn’t seen yet this season. “They are the only team in the conference that run the wishbone,” Osborne said. “It used to be that we saw wishbone teams several times a year, so we were well-prepared. But now we only have four or five days to prepare for them.” Although the Cyclones’ offense centers on See HUSKERS on 8 Volleyball crowds affect Husker, visitor performance By Tim Pearson Senior Reporter_ Surrounding the volleyball court at the NU Coliseum are 17 Big Eight championship ban ners, two national runner-up banners and one national semi-final banner. There is a lot of tradition at the home court of the No. 14 Nebraska volleyball team. Nebraska leads the nation in average vol leyball attendance at home this season. And partly because of fan support, the Cornhuskcrs have won 17 straight Big Eight titles. Missouri coach Craig Sherman, whose team has never beaten Nebraska at home, said play ing the Huskers in Lincoln has never been easy. Sherman’s team will face Nebraska — and, most likely, a big Coliseum crowd — Saturday at 5 p.m. “It’s one of the toughest places to play,” Sherman said. “We haven’t played with crowds that big. It’s a different atmosphere and it has really affected our play in the past. “You have to prepare for the crowd when you play them at home.” Colorado, which defeated Nebraska Oct. 13 in Boulder, Colo., wasn’t even able to win a game in their Oct. 30 match against the Huskers in Lincoln. Buffaloes coach Brad Saindon said there was a big difference between playing Nebras ka in Lincoln and playing the Huskers on the road. “It’s tough to pull out a win against them at home,” Saindon said. “The crowd’s always a factor when you play Nebraska.” But even with the difficulty of playing the Huskers at home, coaches have said the expe rience is a good one. Iowa coach Linda Schoenstedt, whose Hawkcyc team lost to the Huskers in Lincoln Sept. 1, said her team learned a lot from play ing before a big crowd. “This is a great place to play,” Schoenstedt said. “It’s probably one of the funnest places in the nation to play. Why wouldn’t you want to bring a team in here?” Nebraska opponents very rarely pull off a win against the Huskers at home. The Huskers arc 9-0 at home this season. Since 1990, the Huskers are 53-3 at home. - it This is a great place to play. Why wouldn’t you want to bring a team in here. —Schoenstedt Iowa volleyball coach -ft - But Pettit said that even after $ lo$s, the Huskers don’t lose their fan support. “1 don’t know of many places in the coun try where fan support is solid after a win or a loss,” Pettit said earlier this season. “It’s very heartening to our players to sec that type of support.”