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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 1995)
Sports Tuesday, January 10,1995 Page 7 Coach McBride reveals key to Osborne’s happiness Nebraska coach is fun, likes to boat and fish By Mitch Sherman Senior Reporter MIAMI — Charlie McBride knows the secret to Tom Osborne’s happiness. McBride In his 13th year as Nebraska ’ s defensive coor dinator, McBride said after the Orange Bowl that the rest of the nation may have had a difficult time under standing Osborne. “I told those guys how to get Tom Osborne,” McBride said. “Nobody will listen to me. You get a lake, a house and a fishing boat, andhe’syours. You got that $4 or $5 million and you think it’s going to move him—it won’t move him across the street.” usoome nas always been completely open and honest with his assistant coaches, McBride said. “He tells us everything,” McBride said. “If he gets offered a job, he calls us in the office and says, ‘Guys, I just talked to president so-and-so and here’s what he said.’ There’s no secrets with him. We always say we’re staying here. OK. He calls the president back and tells him, ‘no,’ right in front of you. “I’m talking millions of dollars. Money don’t mean one thing to him.” And as long as Osborne stays content in Lincoln, McBride said he didn’t envision the 56-year-old coach hanging it up anytime soon. “He’ll just go until he doesn’t want to coach anymore,” McBride said. “I could see him going until he’s 65 or 70.” Following Nebraska’s first bowl victory in seven years, Osborne was not the only coach receiving accolades in Miami. McBride’s Husker defense limited the Hur ricanes to minus-35 yards of total offense and no first downs in the decisive fourth quarter. “Nobody will listen to me. You get a lake, a house and a fishing • boat, and he’s yours.” m MCBRIDE I NU defensive coordinator The Huskers sacked Miami quarterback Frank Costa six times and allowedjust 29 yards on the ground the entire game. McBride said he wasn’t surprised the de fense played well down the stretch. Over Nebraska’s final seven regular-season games, Husker opponents averaged 3.4 points and 110 yards of total offense in the second half. No team scored more than seven points after half time, and only Kansas and Colorado gained more than 26 yards rushing. The Hurricanes followed suit, amassing 79 yards of total offense and minus-16 yards rush ing in the third and fourth quarters. “It all goes back to conditioning,” McBride said. “These guys worked hard. They didn’t go home for Christmas. There was a time when all but two coaches were out recruiting. They still did their regular running and lilting. To be honest with you, I don’t know why they did. But that was a big concern — keeping in shape.” The work paid off, he said, and Nebraska’s returning players will continue to benefit next year. “We’ll have a very young football team next year,” McBride said. “We’ll have agood nucleus of returners.” NU reels in win against Xong Beach LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Tom Wald came off the bench to score 16 of his 20 points in the second half as Nebraska rallied from 12 points down to beat Long Beach State 82-71 early today. * « The Comhuskers (12-3) trailed 51 - 39 with 14:29 left in the late West Coast game, but ran off a 16-3 streak to take a 55-54 lead on a layup by Wald with 8:50 remaining. “It was one of the hardest games to coach, when you play choppy and so damn bad,” Nee said in an interview on the Nebraska Basketball Network. “I’m just happy to get the hell out of here with a win.” Nebraska steadily pulled away, with a 3-point basket by Wald mak ing it 71-61 with 3:23 to play. Nebraska shot 72 percent from the floor as they stormed back after half time, making 28 of 46 shots. Long Beach (4-4), meanwhile, made just 10 of 32 after leading 39-29 at the break. Wald hit six of seven from the floor, including his only 3-point try. Erick Strickland added 18 points cm 5-of-8 shooting for Nebraska, in cluding making three of five from 3 See NEBRASKA on 8 Coach Beck still optimistic after tough run Jay CaMaron/DN Brenden attempts to steal ths ball Item Kansas’ Angela Aycock, a preseason All-American pick, during the first half of Nebraska’s 77-64 loss to Kansas Sunday altemoon. By Todd Walfcenhoret Staff Reporter The Nebraska women’s basket ball team knew that it would be facing tough competition when it opened up conference play. And the Comhuskers’ first two conference games upheld that as sumption. The Huskersopened up conference play with a pair of losses to Kansas State and Kansas. And Husker coach Angela Beck said that her team may now be facing one of its toughest portions of the season. “We play three of the top four teams (in the Big Eight) in a row,” Beck said. “It’s a tough run for us.” Nebraska’s performance in Sunday’s 77-64 loss to the Jayhawks was easier for the Husk ers to take than its loss to Kansas State. “This is a respectable loss,” Beck said. “The loss to K-State was a bad loss. Kansas is probably one of the most athletic teams we face this year.” Despite the losses, the Huskers are still optimistic that they can turn their conference season around. The Huskers started off their season 9-3 in non-conference See WOMEN on 8 Unsung hero Phillips is real reason behind victory Une ot the biggest reasons Nebraska finished its 1994 regular season No. 1 was No. 1. And one of the main reasons Nebraska was able to pull out a 24 17 Orange Bowl victory over Miami and finish the season No. 1 — for the first time in 23 years — was No. 1. Nebraska I-back Lawrence Phillips, who wears No. 1, rushed for 96 hard-fought yards Jan. 1 against the No. 1 rushing defense in the country, yet it was quarter back Tommie Frazier who was the Most Valuable Player. Yet it was the offensive line that was praised for Nebraska’s ability to run the football. Yet it was the Comhuskers’ pass rush that was credited with stop ping Miami’s offense. Not to say they didn’t deserve it, but didn’t Phillips deserve much more? Where was Phillips during all the celebration following . Nebraska’s first Orange Bowl win since 1983? Right along with the rest of his team, jumping all over the Orange Bowl turf, hugging teammates, coaches and fans and enjoying one of the greatest moments in Ne braska football history. Yet where was Phillips during the post-game interviews — with the mob of reporters with cameras and microphones ranging from ESPN to Sports Illustrated to TV Tokyo? He was there, but only for a short time, and then he escaped the limelight of television and newspa per coverage as easily as he has escaped defenders all year. And during the Orange Bowl media day, Phillips was as hard to find as a Dallas Cowboys fan was in 1989. Still, what is even more baffling is how Phillips can be the only consistent part of the entire Ne braska team in the Orange Bowl, yet he wasn’t featured in the newspapers or television coverage of the game. But that has been Phillips’ style Derek Samson the entire season. Phillips was the nation’s third leading rusher with 1,722 yards and 16 touchdowns, and carried the nation’s No. 1 team throughout most of the season. But he wasn’t one of the six players invited to the Downtown Athletic Club, finishing eighth in Heisman balloting. What more did he need to do? Against Oklahoma State, quarterback Brook Berringer left the game at halftime with a re-col lapsed lung and only a 9-3 Nebraska lead. Nebraska started the second half with Matt Turman and rolled to a 32-3 win, while Phillips, coinciden tally, ran for 221 yards and three touchdowns. But all the headlines the next day revolved around some clever way to use Matt Turman’s last name. The following week, Nebraska traveled to Kansas State with Turman as its starter. Nebraska couldn’t pass and Phillips had 31 carries and, even though he left with a sprained thumb, he returned to play through the injury and gain 117 yards, score a touchdown and help Nebraska win. The following day, the praises were sung for the tremendous job the offensive line had done — which it did — but Phillips wasn’t the top story. It’s difficult to remember a time when a running back has meant so much to a team and had such little publicity, especially with the numbers he put up. , It didn’t change in the Orange Bowl — Phillips’ consistency or the credit he received after the game. The sophomore was Nebraska’s only offense in the first half, running for 56 hard-fought yards. In the second half, he added another 40 yards, including a 25 yard run to the Miami 15-yard line that set up Nebraska’s tying touchdown. That’s been the stoiy of the season for Phillips — the running back who produced better numbers this season as a sophomore than any other Husker back did in any season, besides Mike Rozier’s senior season. His record 11-straight games with more than 100 yards rushing carried Nebraska through a season of injuries and adversity. It’s too bad Phillips wasn’t given more attention and recognition throughout the season and espe cially in the Orange Bowl, because without No. 1, Nebraska wouldn’t be No. 1. Samson is a Junior news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan senior reporter and columnist