Osborne describes CU as fast, strong
Coach says defense
must perform well
to win against Buffs
By Ptwk ta—an
Senior Reporter
With Nebraska’s most important game and
toughest opponent of the season coming to
Lincoln Saturday, coach Tom Osborne wants to
talk about Colorado the football team, not Col
orado the rivalry.
Osborne said the importance of Saturday’s
game is No. 2 versus No. 3, with a possible Big
Eight championship at
stake.
“It doesn’t mean that
we don’t respect Colorado.
We think they’ve got a
great football team,”
Osborne said. “It doesn’t
mean we don’t look for
ward to playing them. We
certainly do. Wejust don’t
have any (rivalries)... so
Osborns
don’t ask me about it.
“This is a big game this week and we’re
really zeroed in on Colorado. But last week it
was Missouri and next week it’s going to be
Kansas. I don’t see why it (rivalry) has to be an
issue, it’s just an important game.”
And what a game it promises to be.
Colorado, ranked second in The Associated
Press poll, has beaten five ranked opponents on
its way to a 7-0 record. While the AP’s second
ranked Comhuskers have struggled through
injuries to post an 8-0 mark.
Osborne said he was yet to find a weak spot
on the Colorado team.
“Colorado does have a great team. They’ve
got a lot of speed and on both sides of the ball
they’re very strong,” Osborne said. “They’ve
got a fine quarterback (Kordell Stewart) with a
lot of experience, a great running back (Rashaan
Salaam), and they’ve got excellent receivers.
We think it will be an exciting game.”
The combination of Stewart, Salaam and
receiver Michael Westbrook may be especially
scary to Nebraska fans because they are being
compared to some of the 1983 Cornhuskers.
Nebraska’s 1983 “offensive explosion” fea
tured quarterback Turner Gill, running back
Mike Rozier and receiver Irving Fryar. That
team remained No. 1 throughout the entire year,
until losing 31 -30 to Miami in the Orange Bowl.
Through seven games, Stewart has thrown
for 1,330 yards andrushed for 445 yards. Gill,
in 1983, passed for 1 ^ 1 boards and rushed for
531 yards. Salaam has rushed for 1,256 yards
through seven games, while Rozier rushed for
2,148 yards in 1983. Westbrook has caught 21
passes for 420 yards. Fryar, who plays for
Miami in the National Football League, caught
40 passes for 780 yards.
But Osborne did not want to make any
comparisons.
“We had an outstanding receiver in Irving
Fryar, we had a very good quarterback in Turner
Gill anda very good I-back in Rozier and maybe
that’s what they’re talking about (when making
the comparison),” he said. “We haven’t played
(Colorado) so I couldn’t say a whole lot more
than that. They certainly look good on film.
They’reanoutstandingonensivefootball team.”
But the Colorado offense will be matched
against a Nebraska defense that has been at its
best.
Nebraska’s defense has given up only 16
points in its first three conference games —
against Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Mis
souri. The Nebraska defense leads the BigEight
in total defense and is 10th in the country.
The Huskers’ rushing defense is third in the
nation, allowing just 60.6 yards rushing per
game.
Osborne said the defense stepped up when
the offense lost quarterback Tommie Frazier for
the season and would need to step it up again
this Saturday.
Colorado is second in the nation in total
offense, averaging 502.86 yards per game.
“Our defense has given up fewer points since
Tommie (Frazier) got hurt, with the Wyoming
game being the exception,” he said. “The last
three games they’ve done pretty well. Hopeful
ly, everybody just picks it up a notch and plays
a little harder.”
OFFENSE Yds./Game Pts./Game
Colorado 502.86 40.3
Nebraska 500.75 40.6 .
Quarterbacks Att Comp. Yds.
Kordell Stewart CU 143 93 1330
Brook Berringer NU 75 45^—
, 11#
18 179.43
12 154.13
|
Michael Westbrook CU
Abdul Muhammad NU
DEFENSE Yds./Game Pts./Game
Colorado
Nebraska
Chris Hudson CU 23 SL57
James Kidd CU
Damon Benning NU
Neil Voskeritchian CU 6 2
Darin Erstad NU
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