Sports
Tuesday, November 8,1994 Page 5
Final farewell
Scott Bruhn/DN
Nebraska senior linebacker Dwayne Harris knocks the ball loose from Kansas’ Ashelkl
Preston while another Husker senior, Trey Dumas, goes alter the ball. Dumas, Harris and
23 ether seniors played their final heme game Saturday.
Seniors’ last home game an emotional one
By Pfk Samson
Senior Reporter
Twenty-five Nebraska senior
football players competed for the
last time at Memorial Stadium in
the Comhuskers* 45-17 win over
Kansas Saturday.
The victory brought the seniors
one step closer to becoming one of
the most memorable classes in
Nebraska history, as the No. 1
Huskers improved to 10-0.
If Nebraska defeats Iowa State
and Oklahoma in its final two regu
lar season games, this year’s se
nior class will have won the Big
Eight championship during all four
years at Nebraska.
“If we win the rest of our games,
we'll be the four-time Big Eight
champs,” offensive guard Joel
Wilks said. “We can’t control the
national championship, but we can
control the Big Eight champion
ship since we play all the teams.
?‘That’s pretty important to us.
This is a pretty good senior class,
so we’ll probably be remembered
pretty well.”
Playing their last game at Me
morial Stadium meant more than
just championships for many se
niors.
“I guess it hasn’t really set in
yet because we still have two more
games,” linebacker Ed Stewart
said. “But I’m really going to miss
it. I’ve had some great times here.”
Defensive tackle Terry
Connealy said announcing the se
niors one by one before the game
made it hard to concentrate on
Kansas.
It s real emotional, but to be
honest, I really wasn’t thinking
about that before the game,
Connealy said, 'if you think about
that, you’re going to pet upset. It is
kind of weird walking onto that
field for the last time. It hits you
that there isn’t going to be another
time.’’
Not including any redshirt sea
sons that may be involved with
some players, this Husker senior
class has posted a 39-6-1 record —
with three games remaining — in
its four years at Nebraska.
It has also contributed to the
nation’s second-longest home win
ning streak at 23 games and a 25
“It is kind of weird
walking onto that field
for the last time. It hits
you that there isn’t
going to he another
time. ”
■
TERRY CONNEALY
Nebraska senior
1 record at home in its four years.
Offensive tackle Zach Wiegert
said it was sad to say goodbye to
the Nebraska fans in Memorial
Stadium Saturday.
*i wanted to have a good game
for the last time I was playing in
front of these fans,” he said. “I was
real depressed at the same time.
Shaking a lot of the coaches' hands
before going out onto that field for
the last time was real emotional
for me.”
Huskers to remain
focused for season
By Tfvor Parks
Staff Reporter
Even though the Nebraska foot
ball team faces winless Iowa State
Saturday, quarterback coach Turner
Gill said the Comhuskers would re
main focused.
Gill doesn’t expect the Huskers to
lose the focus they’ve had all season.
“That’s been the No. 1 thing of
staying focused, no matter who the
opponent is, who you’re playing and
when you’re playing them,” Gill told
the Extra Point Club Monday. “We’re
on a really good mission.”
But the mission hasn’t been easy
for Gill, who has had to deal with
numerous injuries at quarterback.
“It’s been a good experience for
all of us,” Gill said. “It has made us
better people.”
Gill said everyone on the team had
responded positively to the injury
problems.
“You never know when you are
going to be called upon, so you al
ways have to be ready to play.”
. One reason why the team has kept
its focus is the play of Brook
Berringer.
Gill said Berringer’s success
hadn’t been a surprise.
“I knew he always had the ability,
always had the tools to play quarter
back and do well in a game,” Gill
said. “1 never knew for sure, but I
always had the confidence he could.”
Although Tommie Frazier is out
for the season, Gill said the junior
quarterback had been a big help on
the sidelines.
Frazier has helped prepare
Berringer and Matt Turman at quar
terback.
“It’s a little bit hard on him being
around the football team,” Gill said.
“The aspect of seeing all the guys
play and run and knowing he is physi
cally OK but not able to do any
thing.”
Gill said despite the injuries, this
team could be better then the 1983
team he played on that lost to Miami
in the Orange Bowl 31-30.
“This team is a better football
team overall because of defense,”
Gill said. “No one has really com
plained. They just rise to the occa
sion and say, 'I’m getting the job
done.’”
Cyclone coach hurls
criticism at officials
By Mitch Ihwmwi
Senior Reporter
Jim Walden is taking advantage
of his last few weeks as Iowa State
coach to vent a little frustration on
the Big- Eight officials.
Walden criticized the officials who
called the Cyclones’ 38-20 loss to
Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan., on
Saturday.
The eighth-year coach, whose
team is 0-8-1 this year despite return
ing 21 starters from last year’s 3-8
team, announced last week that he
would resign after this season.
In particular, Walden was upset
with tne crew for not calling a pen
alty on Wildcat defensive end Nile
Wyren for slamming Iowa State quar
terback Todd Doxzon to the turf.
Walden said the missed call “about
outdid anything I’ve ever seen.”
“It was frightening not to see it get
called,” he said.
Some kind of action needs to be
taken, he said, to prevent officials
from continuing to ignore obvious
penalties.
“I’m getting fired because I’m not
a very good coach,” he said. “Why is
it that I see the same people year after
year making the same calls?’’
He said the Big Eight needed to
discipline, or even fire, officials who
consistently made incorrect calls.
“I think somebody needs to ex
plore what is going on,’’ he said.
A possible cause of the poor offi
ciating, he said, is the fact that offi
cials are graded by their peers instead
of a governing body.
“The guy that used to be their
buddy is now their boss,” he said.
After harping on the officials,
Walden complimented Nebraska, his
opponent in Ames, Iowa, this week
end.
“I just hope thev don’t stomp us to
death,” he said. “I don’t want to see
my guys get killed. The smart people
of the world do not play Nebraska.”
NUflag line is the most valuable sight for football fan
Oh, baby — the sweetness of rec
onciliation.
For the three of you that read this
column, you know that my gerbil,
Mookie, and I had a small fight,
which forced him to subsequently
move out of my room.
The exact reason for this tiff has
escaped me for the moment but it’s
moot anyway — that’s behind us.
Mook and I have resolved our
differences and have resumed the
stellar friendship we had once shared.
Well anyway, we thought it would
be pretty groovy if we attended the
final Nebraska Comhuggers’ home
football game.
For those of you who didn’t go to
the tilt with the Kansas Jaywalkers,
the ’Skers won big. Oh, it was some
thing like 152-15. I’m not sure of the
exact frig gin’ score. Mook and I spent
most of the time trying to start the
wave, so we really weren’t paying
too much attention to the score.
What’s with the wave anyway?
Mook and I tried to start the sucker
at least 500 times, and it never worked.
The dudes sitting in front of us thought
we were trying to fan them.
I mean, we’d jump out of our
seats, arms raised high in the air (OK
— Mook lifted his legs because he
has no arms), and screamed,
•‘yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.”
Then the chica seated adjacent to
me would look at me and say, “Why
don’t you and your rat sit your goofy
butts back down.” We heard this re
peatedly throughout the game.
I, of course, would wittily retort
back, “Urn, urn, urn — shut up, you
big bad lady.”
Oh, the peppy banter that makes
student camartuierie at Memorial Sta
dium so delightful.
But back to my point. It took until
the third quarter for the wave to get
going. And Mookie and I didn’t even
start it.
By the third quarter, the Delta
Gammas had stolen Mookie and were
playing catch with him. This wasn’t
too bad until one DG came out of
nowhere yelling, “I’m Barron Miles,
I ’ m Barron Miles” and batted Mookie
away from the intended receiver.
I didn’t find Mook until midway
Beau
Finley
through the fourth quarter when I
spotted him at the bottom of some
band guy’s tuba.
After I fished Mook out of the
tuba, he was pretty frazzled.
But Mook returned to his gregari
ous self when the flag line returned to
the field following the game.
1 mean, Brook Berringer’s bombs
were cool and Lawrence “my name is
not Larry’’ Phillips’ running pretty
much ruled, but for my football
money, them flag babes are worth the
higher ticket prices.
Obviously, this isn’t the consen
sus view since most people leave
immediately after the game and don’t
stick around for the postgame show.
But Mook and I dig the flag line.
The way they blend their grace
and rhythm into a gorgeous pink.
blue and gold mosaic; the way they
melodically maneuver all over the
artificial turf. I tell you, it’s a slice of
something special.
I tell ya, Nebraska is to flag danc
ing what Jan Stoney is to dirty poli
tics. Translation: Nebraska is pretty
good.
Next year, Mook and I want to be
the ones who run out and pick up the
flags when the dancers are done with
them. That would be cool.
But that’s next year.
For now, I must depend upon the
memories forged this season.
Sometimes they were a little rough
(like sandpaper rubbing upon my
heiny), but all in all, this has been a
lovely home season of Comthumper
football.
I just hope I don’t have to sit next
to that anti-wave, spirit-killing fas
cist next year. Um — Go Big Red.
NU volleyball update: The
Huskah slappers, rated No. 2 at the
time of this writing, won this week
end against the ranked Texas
Longjonns.
And guess what? Top-ranked
Stanford lost.
So when asked if his team was the
best in the country, Husker coach
Terry Pettit said something to the
effect that the Comtrumpeters were a
good team, but not a great team.
When asked again, he allegedly
said, “Urn, like whatever Tom
Osborne said.”
Now I truly admire this type of
modesty but, Terry, you’re taking it a
bit far. You clearly have a great team,
and you’re clearly No. I.
The Comhumper volleyball team
has something like a 250-match win
ning streak and has hardly been
pushed all year. No other team can
claim such an unblemished record.
Come on Terry, face it: you guys
rule.
There’s nobody that can contend
that they should be ranked higher
than you right now.
Well I mean, as long as Lee Corso
is not a pollster.
Fluky k ■ Mcoad-ymr law atatoat mnI ■