Most Big Eight coaches glad they didn’t have games
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
From the looks of Nebraska’s 31 -0 win over
West Virginia on Sunday, most Big Eight teams
probably won’tbe socxc ited when it comes time
to take on the Cornhuskcrs, Kansas coach Glen
Mason said in Monday’s weekly Big Eight
coaches’ teleconference.
Mason said his team was ready to start the
season, but after watching the Kickoff Classic,
he said his team wasn’t ready for the third- and
fourth-ranked Huskers.
“I wasbusy with practice most of the day,” he
said, “so I taped the game and got to watch it at
night. I was a little bit surprised at the halftime
score, but I knew Nebraska was going to be
good. And they look awful good to me.”
Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, whose team
capped off a 9-2-1 season last year with a 52-17
win over Wyoming in the Copper Bowl, agreed
with Mason.
“(Nebraska) obviously has proven to the
nation that they are going to be very competitive
for the No. 1 spot.”
As the Huskcrs head toward Week 2 of the
season with one victory under their belt, most
Big Eight coaches are pleased their team didn’t
have to play a game this weekend.
Kansas and Oklahoma Slate open their sea
sons Thursday, while the remaining five teams
will begin action Saturday.
Oklahoma Stale coach Pat Jones was among
those who thought his team was not ready to hit
the field. The Cowboys, who open at Northern
Illinois, were picked to finish last in the confer
ence by the Big Eight Skywriters and in the
preseason media poll.
“We still are a long way from answering
some questions,” Jones said. “We have some
worries as far as depth goes, but the only way to
answer those questions is to play a game.”
Jim Walden — who has a 28-47-2 record in
seven seasons at Iowa State — said he was
expecting to field a competitive team this sea
son, but the Cyclones needed time to heal from
preseason injuries.
“It has been the most stressful two-a-days for
me ever,” Walden said. “We have had some
problems off the field. But they have their heads
scl on being a very good football team.”
Walden said as many as seven Cyclones
listed on the two-deep depth chart would sec
limited or no action against Northern Iowa on
Saturday.
“We arc starting the season 1 imping,” he said.
“But we aren’t crippled.”
Oklahoma offensive coordinator Merv
Johnson said the Sooners were anxious to get
under way, but injuries also had hampered Okla
homa’s fall scrimmages.
“Right now we’re kind of walking on egg
shells,” Johnson said.
Oklahoma begins play Saturday against Syr
acuse in the Carrier Dome.
First-year Missouri coach Larry Smith, who
in 17 years has coached at Tulanc, Arizona and
Southern California, said the Tigers were hop
ing to bring a new attitude into the season.
“For the most part, we had a good camp,”
Smith said. “We’re pretty much ready to go.
How we will handle adversity wil I show how our
self-esteem has improved. We need a game to
get that confidence level up.”
Thursday, Sept. 1
Oklahoma State at Northern Illinois 6:35 pm
Kansas at Houston 7:00 pm
Saturday, Sept. 3
SW Louisiana at Kansas State 6:30 pm
NE Louisiana at Colorado 12:10 pm
Tulsa at Missouri 6:00 pm
Oklahoma at Syracuse 7:30 pm
Northern Iowa at Iowa State 1:00 pm
DN graphic
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FOtC
Husker soccer
out for respect
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska women’s soccer team
will unofficially open its season Tues
day against Bellevue College in a 5:30
p.m. exhibition game at Whittier Field.
And Cornhuskcr coach John Walk
er stresses the word “unofficial.”
Walker said that although the game
was important for the players and for
the program, it would not be an accu
rate portrait of what the season would
be like.
This will be the first collegiate game
for most of his players, so Walker said
there was a lot of room to go upward.
Danielle Boswell,a freshman from
Fresno, Calif., agreed with Walker
that the game would not tell much
about the rest of the season. She said
there was still a lot to work on, but the
players were ready to play.
Former Lincoln Southeast standout
Carrie Slropc, also a freshman, said
the game would show the players how
well they play together and also what
they need to work on before their
regular season home opener against
Creighton Sept. 6.
Boswell and Stropc both said they
had one big goal for the game. They
arc striving for respect. Winning the
game, they said, could go a long way
in showing people that the Husker
program is for real.
“We want to convince the students •
that we’re out here,” Strope said.
%
RUGBY
Practice Begins
Tuesday
and
Thursday
at 5:30 p.m.
Harper Schramm Smith.
No Experience Necessary
New players encouraged.
Dance Contest
Every Tuesday
9 p.m.
1823 "O" Street
NO COVER
