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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1994)
Sports Thursday, September 8, 1994 Page 10 No. 1 Huskers face Texas Tech Nebraska to face veteran defense By Derek Samson Senior Reporter Texas Tech won’t have a Bam Morris at I-back, a Robert Hall at quarterback or a Lloyd Hill at split end. But one thing the top-ranked Comhuskers can count on seeing tonight in Lubbock, Texas, when they face Texas Tech is an experi enced Red Raider defense. Texas Tech lost three major of fensive weapons in Morris, Hall and Hill, but Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said he expected to sec a much-improved Red Raider defense compared to that of a year ago. He said Texas Tech’s defense was better than the one his team saw in last year’s 50-27 victory in Lincoln. Last year, the Huskcrs racked up 317 yards rushing against the Red Raiders and 534 total yards. “Going into the season, what I read about them indicated they had more experience on defense,” he said. “They had nine original starters re turning. We think they’ll have a great number of their key (dc fensi vc) players back.” But replacing players like last season’s Doak Walker Award win ner Morris, who rushed for 1,752 yards and 22 touchdowns, isn’t easy. Osborne said Texas Tech’s 467 total yards in its 37-31 win over New Mexico on Saturday might have calmed Red Raider coach Spike Dykes’ fears about his offense. 7'm sure they were quite pleased with the ' way things turned out in that (New Mexico) ballgame, because offensively, they looked good. ” TOM OSBORNE NU Football Coach “They seemed to be a little bit more concerned about ofTensc be cause they have new quarterbacks, a new l-back; they lost one of their key receivers and some of their offensive lineman,” Osborne said. “I’m sure they were quite pleased with the way things turned out in that (New Mex ico) ballgame. because offensively, they looked good.” Like Nebraska’s Kickoff Classic opponent. West Virginia,Tcxas Tech will use two quarterbacks against the Huskers. Freshman Zcbbic Lcthridge did not start the New Mexico game but came in for the second quarter and finished with 190 yards after com pleting 16 of 22 passes. Game Day WSeMsl. * Tonight, 7 p.m. •% Texas Tech Nebraska OFFENSE QB 15 FB 40 IB 1 SE 7 WB 27 RT 72 LT 56 RG 66 LG 76 C 54 TE 85 PK 12 Tommie Frazier 6-2 Cory Schlesinger 6-0 Lawrence Phillips 6-0 Reggie Baul 5-8 Abdul Muhammad 5-9 Zach Wiegert 6-5 Rob Zatechka 6-5 Brenden Stai 6-4 Joel Wilks 6-3 Aaron Graham 6-3 Matt Shaw 6-3 Tom Sieler 6-5 205 QB 11 230 FB 40 200 IB 3 170 SE 87 160 FL 24 300 RT 73 315 LT 75 300 RG 79 280 LG 65 280 C 56 235 TE 83 205 PK 16 Tony Darden Todd Walker Alton Crain Field Scovell Matt DuBuc Jeff Wood Ben Kaufman Robert Rivera Casey Jones Scott Fitzgerald Scott Aylor Jon Davis DEFENSE LOLB 86 Dwayne Harris 6-2 225 DE 99 William Ritter 6-2 245 DT 55 Christian Peter 6-2 285 DT 91 Damon Wickware 6-3 279 NT 99 Terry Connealy 6-5 275 NT 76 Chris Ori 6-2 264 ROLB 84 Donta Jones 6-2 220 DE 94 Byron Wright 6-4 245 SAM 4 Troy Dumas 64 220 SLB 7 Robert Johnson 5-11186 MIKE 48 Doug Col man 6-3 240 MLB 35 Zach Thomas 6-0 232 WILL 32 Ed Stewart 6-1 215 WLB 46 Shawn Banks 6-2 224 LCB 14 Barron Miles 5-8 165 LCB 22 Cat Adams 5-8 170 RCB 2 Leslie Dennis 5-8 165 RCB 25 Shawn Hurd 5-8 171 ROV 29 Kareem Moss 5-10190 R 12 Marcus Coleman 6-2 201 10 MikeMinter 5-10175 FS 23 Bart Thomas 6-2 189 6 Darin Erstad 6-2 195 P 14 Brad Cade 6-2 174 6-0 180 6-0 211 | 5-9 191 1 5-11 180 ; 5- 8 163 I 6- 5 291 6-5 286 j 6-3 280 | 6-5 273 | 6-2 262 64 230 5-11 198 FS P DN nranhir Tony Darden, also a freshman, started the game for the Red Raiders and completed seven of 13 passes for 92 yards. “Those quarterbacks played very well,” Osborne said. “They complet ed almost 70 percent of their passes. Overall, I thoughttheycxccutcd well. It was an important win for them.” Nebraska hasn’ t played since Aug. 28, which may give the Huskcrs an advantage, because Texas Tech had only four days between games to prepare for the Thursday night game. “A lot depends on the physical status of their team,” Osborne said. “If they didn’t suITer a lot of injuries, it might not aifccl them much at all. On the other hand, if you get beat up, it can be a factor.” Coach says Texas Tech offense raw By Mitch Sherman Senior Reporter In Nebraska’s first game this season, the Comhuskers faced a team featuring two quarterbacks, neither of whom had ever started a game at the collegiate level. The Huskcr defense welcomed West Virginia’s Chad Johnston and Eric Boykin to the world of college football by sacking them a total of eight times. So when Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes watched the film of Nebraska’s 31-0 victory, he cringed, because his team isn’t much better off than West Virgin ia. “We have got our work cut out for us,” Dykes said. “1 don’t know what to expect. They arc scary.” Texas Tech also will send two young, inexperienced quarter backs up against No. 1 Nebraska tonight at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN from Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Tony Darden, whostarted Sat urday in the Red Raiders’ 37-31 comc-from-behind win over New Mexico, and Zebbic Lelhridgc will share quarterback duties tonight. Both arc redshirt freshmen. Dykes said he was pleased wi th thcplayofhis two freshman quar terbacks in the Red Raiders’ win over New Mexico. See DYKES on 11 Speedier defense is Comhuskers’ program for success By Mitch Sherman Senior Reporter Ten years ago, if you asked Nebraska defen sive coordinator Charlie McBride what the Comhuskcrs were looking for when recruiting defensive players, he would have told you si/e. But a dccadclong trend away from bulk and toward speed and quickness has been adopted by the Nebraska coaching staff during the past five years. The results have begun to show. “We have taken a little bit of the si/e factor out of it,” McBride said. “We arc going to be outsi7ed by teams, but hopefully the speed factor will make up for it.” McBride hopes top-ranked Nebraska’s 31 - Connealy Dumas Harris 0 thumping of West Virginia in the Kickoff Classic is just a sample of what is in store for Huskcr opponents this fall. “I don't think you ever expect anything like that,” McBride said of the defense, which held the West Virginia offense to only 89 total yards. West Virginia’s eight yards rushing was the lowest total by a Nebraska opponent since South Carolina posted minus MyardsonOct. 3,1987. Speed, McBride said, has allowed Nebras ka toswitch from a3-4defensive look to its new 4-3 alignment. Prior to last year, the Huskcrs occasionally used a dime package, similar to the 4-3, in passing situations. “We felt at one point a few years ago that we didn’t have enough speed in our secondary to do a lot of the things that we arc doing now,” McBride said. “So wc have tried to recruit with the idea that wc have got to have people at the outside positions that can run.” Speedy secondary starters Mike Mintcr, Tyrone Williams and Barron Miles are among the fastest players on the entire team. The emergence of speed has allowed See DEFENSE on 11 Husker fullback possesses an appetite for destruction Like a wrecking ball turning a oncc proud building into a pile of bricks, boards and garbage. Cory Schlcsingcr smashes into an opposing linebacker. The linebacker crumbles at the force of the Nebraska fullback's block and rattles his head to collect his senses before preparing himself for the next Nebraska running play. The linebacker will remember that Schlesinger block, and the next one, and the next for the rest of the season. He’ll remember what it was like to tangle with “The Demolition Man.” Along with demolishing opposing linebackers for the Comhuskcrs, the senior fullback from Duncan loves to demolish cars as a hobby. Schlesinger picked up the pastime as a young boy while watching his father, Gary, drive in demolition derbies in county fairs. “My dad’s been doing it since 1 was about 1 year old.” Schlcsingcr said. “Platte County is probably the biggest demo area in the world, so it was just kind of a natural thing for me to get into.” Schlcsingcr used to cruise the coun tryside with his dad searching for any car with the potential to be in a demoli tion derby. “Sometimes you find cars at junkyards or in an abandoned field,” Schlcsingcr said. “You just never know where you are going to find one. You just keep your eyes open and hope you find a good car.” Once they found a good car. Schlcsingcr and his dad prepared the car for the derby by taking out all the windows, working on or replacing the engine and making it intoashcll ofacar ready to be graffiti-marked for may l Jeff Griesch hem. When Schlcsinger finally was old enough to drive, he hit the muddy pit on his own. “I loved it,”Schlesingcrsaid.“lt was great just to finally get a chance to smash into the cars. The work that goes into the cars was fun, but the crashing and smashing and hitting was definite ly the best.” Schlesingcrdrovc in demolition der bies in Duncan, Central City, Dodge and Osceola, but after only three years of driving, he had to quit the summer after his junior year in high school. “I just didn’t have time anymore,” Schlesinger said. ‘‘I had to concentrate more on school and football. But I still think about doing it, and I am planning on doing it at least one more time,” So instead of wrecking cars in the summer, Schlesinger lifted weights, whichcamcd himCo-Lifter-of-thc-Ycar honors last year. He holds the Performance Index record among fullbacks at2,844points, and his athletic ability has drawn com parisons to the most famous of Nebras ka fullbacks — Tom Rathman. “It is an honor to be compared with Tom Rathman,” Schlesinger said. “But 1 would rather not be thought of as another Rathman. I would like to think I have my own style.” He averaged four yards per carry diving up the middle five or six times a game and had a total of 250 yards last season. This prcscason, he was listed as the No. 7 fullback in the nation by The Sporting News, and a chance at the National Football League is sure to be waiting for him at the end of this season. Although Schlcsinger has had to shift his attention from smashing oppo nents in cars toward smashing oppo nents in football pads, he has kept the same mentality. “Playing fullback and driving demo arc a lot the same,” Schlcsinger said. “But instead of running full speed ahead and hitting a car, you run full speed ahead and hit that linebacker.” By the glimmer in his eyes and the smile on his face, it is obvious that he loves both. Gricsch Is a senior news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan staff reporter and