Sports
Monday, November 21,1994 Page 7
. — .. . •1 . " i —
Colorado football coach to resign following bowl game
From Staff Roporta
and Tho Aaaociatod Proaa_
No longer will Bill McCartney be pointing
_at the Nebraska same as
Colorado's big rivalry.
McCartney, 54, an
nounced his resignation on
Saturday, moments after
his No. 7 Buffaloes beat
Iowa State 41-20 to raise
I their record to 10-1.
McCartney, who will
coach through Colorado's
bowl game, was vague
aooui ms reasons ior leav
McCartiwy saying on|y that the
decision was made for family reasons.
“There arc no negatives here,” McCartney
said. “I’ve been thinking about this for some
time. I’ve been here 13 years. It’s time. There
is no reason except it was the best time for us
to do this as a family.”
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said
McCartney's decision to leave Colorado sur
prised him.
“I have no knowledge of what led him to
his decision,” he said. “I have a great deal of
respect for what Coach McCartney has done
at Colorado. He has turned them into a na
tional power, and he'll certainly be missed in
the Big Eight.”
Colorado athletic director Bill Marolt was
as shocked as anyone when McCartney told
him he was walking away from one of the
nation's most successful football programs.
“I was totally surprised, shocked. As I saw
this program move forward, I thought he’d be
in this for the long haul,” Marolt said. “He’s
been a tremendous asset to this program. We’re
going to miss him.”
McCartney refused to rule out any future
coaching ventures.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t anticipate
coaching soon, but I don’t rule it out.”
He did deny speculation that he might be
interested in the vacant Michigan State coach
ing position.
“I would put to rest any rumors about go
ing to Michigan State,” he said.
Marolt said McCartney “was specific in say
ing he wasn’t doing this because he was look
ing for another coaching opportunity. There’s
no health issue; there’s no problem with the
administration; there’s no problem with the
NCAA.”
McCartney signed a 15-ycar “lifetime” con
tract in 1990.
“The contract has an option at the end of
the fifth year to option out and resign, and
that’s what he did,” Marolt said.
McCartney urged the administration to
quickly appoint a successor so as not to dis
rupt recruiting.
‘Til edach through the bowl game, but then
I want to get out of the way,” he said. “We’ll
need a new coach prior to next year’s recruit
ing.”
Marolt said he would begin searching for a
successor immediately.
“We want to make it quick but not so quick
that we make a hasty decision,” he said.
McCartney gave no indications about what
his future plans might be.
!
1 Season School W L T
I 1M.Colorado'...-.J.8.~T
1983 Colorado "70
1984 Colorado 10 0
1985 Colorad 5 0
1986 6 0
1987 4 0
1988 4 0
1989 1 0
1990 1 1
1991 31
1992 9 2 1
1993 Colorado 8 3 1
1994 Colorado 10 1 0
“This chapter has ended,” McCartney said.
“I don’t know quite what’s around the corner.”
McCartney is the founder of Promise Keep
ers, an evangelical Christian men’s organiza
tion that emphasizes family values. It has been
speculated that he might devote more time to
that cause, but he didn’t address it on Satur
day.
Colorado linebacker Ted Johnson said he
respected McCartney’s decision, no matter
what the reasons were.
“I’m sure he’s got good reasons — if it’s
best for him and his family, then it's good for
him,” Johnson said.
McCartney took over a moribund program
and guided the Buffaloes to a national cham
pionship in 1990. This year’s team contended
for another national title before losing to No.
1 Nebraska. He is the most winning coach in
Colorado history with a 92-55-5 record.
“It’s a big loss,” running back Rashaan Sa
laam said. “I'm used to seeing Coach Mac with
his crazy look on the sideline. Not to see that
is going to be real weird. People broke down
and started crying when he told us.”
MIolwHa Paulman/DN
Nebraska’s Peggy Meyer prepares to spike the ball against
Oklahoma on Saturday In her final regular season hams watch.
Team ends unblemished season
By Mttcti Ihfiwan
Senior Reporter
Two days after his team completed
the first perfect season in school his
tory, Nebraska volleyball coach Terry
Pettit figured his team deserved a
break.
But the Comhuskers didn't think
so.
Before an NU Coliseum-record
crowd of 4,670, Nebraska defeated
Oklahoma 15-8, 15-2, 15-5 on Sat
urday night to finish the regular sea
son 27-0 overall and 12-0 in the Big
Eight. Oklahoma fell to 16-15 over
all and 5-7 in conference play.
Following the match, Pettit said
he asked the Huskcrs if they would
like to forego practice on Monday
before resuming preparation for
Friday's rematch against the Soon
ers in the first round of the Big Eight
tournament.
Immediately, the team said no.
UI thought they were a little fa
tigued tonight,” Pettit said after No.
1 Nebraska’s 23rd sweep of the year.
“They have a right to be fatigued."
Pettit said the team was mentally
and physically drained after last
Wednesday’s win over Big Eight ri
“I don't think they are a great team. I think they
are remarkable in how they play every night. ”
■
TERRY PETTIT
NU Coach
val Colorado in Boulder.
“We got back here Thursday and
practiced hard Thursday and Friday,”
he said.
Regardless, outside hitter Kelly
Aspegrcn said, the Huskers didn't
think twice about spending an extra
day away from the court.
“Why7” Aspegren said. She and
Peggy Meyer were honored Saturday
before playing their final regular sea
son match at home.
“Why take one day?” Aspegrcn
said. “This is our chance. We can
spend that day working on things we
need to work on.”
Pettit said he anticipated the play
ers might reject his offer.
“I think they stiH feel they arc get
ting better,” he said. “They want to
be on the court getting better. They
know there were some things that
they didn’t do tonight as well as they
could”
The Huskers’ fatigue showed in
the first game. But after struggling
early in the match, Nebraska had
little trouble handling the Sooncrs.
Oklahoma came out hot, jumping
to a 6-4 lead, but the Huskers scored
three straight points to take their first
lead of the match at 7-6.
Nebraska never let the Sooncrs
back into the game, scoring eight of
the final 10 points. With Meyer serv
ing, the Huskers won the game on a
block by Allison Weston.
The score, however, was not in
See SOONERS on 8
Volleyball senior not sentimental yet
By Trevor Parka
Staff Reporter
Although Kelly Aspegrcn played
her last regular-season home match
at the NU Coliseum on Saturday
night, she knows it probably wonrt
be her last.
With the No. 1 Cornhuskers at 27
0 and holding the Big Eight title,
Nebraska most likely will play host
to four matches in tne NCAA tour
nament.
Aspegrcn and Peggy Meyer, the
two Husker seniors, were honored in
a ceremony before the match.
Aspegren said it was a nice mo
ment.
“It gave me a chill or two.”
Aspegren and Meyer closed out
their regular-season careers by help
ing the Cornhuskers to a 15-8, 15-2,
15-5 victory over Oklahoma.
Aspegren said she tried not to
woriy about playing her final rcgu
lar-scason game at the NU Coliseum.
“I tried not to let it affect me,”
Aspegren said. “I can’t worry about
playing here my last time. I just know
our team needed to improve, and I
needed to concentrate on my play.”
One reason the Huskers were suc
cessful against the Sooners and
against other teams was the leader
ship of Aspegren, Oklahoma coach
Miles Pabst said.
Pabst said he had noticed a differ
ence in the way Aspegren had played
this year.
“I think her maturity as a person
is the most evident,” Pabst said. “She
is a team-leader-type girl, and she is
definitely a very important factor ”
Aspegren showed her skills
against the Sooners, recording nine
kills on 21 attempts for a hitting per
centage of .381.
With totals like that throughout
the season, Aspegren most likely will
be picked for the All-Big Eight team
later this week.
"It’s something that would be
nice,” Aspegren said. MI came here
to help the team win a national cham
pionship. This is a team sport, not
an individual sport.”
Aspegren said she wasn’t going to
8et sentimental yet, because the
[uskers still had the possibility of
playing more matches in Lincoln.
"Maybe the final match of the year
here, Pm sure I’ll be pretty emo
tional,” Aspegren said. "I’m so grate
ful and fortunate to play for a pro
gram at this level.”
Aspegren said the Huskers would
benefit greatly by playing the NCAA
tournament matches at home on the
way to a chance at the Final Four in
Austin, Texas.
"It’s hard for other teams not to
be intimidated when they come here,”
Aspegren said. "Our team is lough
enough to handle any situation.”