Florida State 18, Nebraska 16
*
For NU and Osborne, waiting continues
By Jeff Griesch
Senior Editor
MIAMI — Bobby Bowden ap
proached the microphones on the po
dium after posing for pictures in front
of the Associated Press national cham
pionship trophy.
Bowden’s eves
mm.
looked like he had
not slept all night,
but he was still all
I smiles at the 11:30
press conference
the morning after
Florida State beat
Nebraska 18-16 in
the Orange Bowl.
Bowden proba
bly was smiling be
cause he no longer has to answer the
previously omnipresent question:
“Will you ever win the national cham
pionship?”
“The best part about winning the
title for me is that people aren’t going
to remind me that I haven’t won a
national championship,” Bowden said.
“It’s good to finally get that off my
back.
Bowden got the national champi
onship monkey off his back, but Ne
braska coach Tom Osborne will have
to face the questions for at least one
more season.
Bowden and the Scminoles were
big winners on New Year’s night, but
Osborne said his players were win
ners, too.
“They won,” Osborne said. “They
didn’t win on the scoreboard. But they
did what they had to do. We could’ve
won it just as easy as we lost it. The
main thing is not the rings and not the
championship, it’s the players play
ing like champions, and I think they
did that.”
Nebraska’s losing streak in bowl
games grew to seven games, but de
See ORANGE CRUSH on 8
Staci McKee/DN
Nebraska fans sit dejected after the game in Miami.
Cornhuskers lose title, but earn doubters ’respect
MIAMI—As he walked off the
Orange Bowl field, Zach Wiegert
held back the tears welling in his
eyes. Tommie Frazier, with his
coach, Turner Gill, draped over
him, fought off tears of his own.
On the way into the lockerroom,
other Comhuskers lost that fight
with their feelings.
But their tears didn’t mean they
had lost the battle.
Although Florida State beat Ne
braska 18-16, the Huskers gained
something much more important
than a national title:
Respect.
That seven-letter word was rare
ly, if ever, displayed during the
buildup to the bowl. The gamblers’
17 1/2-point line was one of the
largest margins in bowl history.
And of course, the media made
that spread do the splits.
Norm Hitchaguess, ESPN’s
prognosticator, said Florida State
would win 52-20. Craig James,
another ESPN analyst, said he
agreed with Norm until he saw
Nebraska’s focus. That focus nar
rowed James’ prediction from 42
17 to 34-17.
Sports Illustrated wrote:
“Maybe eight starting Nebraska
Comhuskers could make Florida
State’s two-deep. Vegas likes the
Seminoles by 18.... We like them
even more. Florida State, 41-14.”
To top it off, a USA Today
writer said he would bathe in a vat
of creamed corn if Nebraska won.
Todd
Cooper
Rest assured, they’re eating com
with their crow right now.
Nebraska’s offensive line, la
' beled too slow, manhandled Flori
da State in the fourth quarter. The
Blackshirts, labeled too slow, held
Florida State’s offense — which
outside linebacker Trev Alberts said
averaged “80 points a game or
something: like that’’—to a season
low 18 points.
Ana Nebraska outyarucu riori
da State in virtually every catego
ry. Unfortunately, that included
penalties.
Which brings me to the moan
ing.
Yes, Lance Gray’s clip on
Dixon’s first-quarter punt return
was questionable. Seminole Will
iam Floyd clearly fumbled before
he crossed the goalline for Florida
State’sonly touchdown. And Barron
Miles’ sideline bump on Warrick
Dunn during the Seminoles’ game
winning drive warranted a flag that
shouldn’t have been thrown. -
Yet, none of the griping or crab
bing — or the sending of game
tapes to the Big Eight offices — is
going to change anything, besides
[NCDrasxa s sioic image.
“There’s a lot of controversy,”
Dixon said. “We already had con
troversy with the media. Now, we
have it with the officials. But I feel
if we argue, we’ll get put down
even more.”
Exactly. Nebraska coaches,
players and fans should take the
lumps — and swallow hard.
But that’s especially difficult
for the seniors who should have
won a national title.
Alberts, who with one arm
played better than Def Leppard’s
drummer, deserved better than sec
ond place and second-rate officiat
See RESPECT on 11