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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1995)
f PAGE ONE < BOOKSTORE 206 N. 13th • 474-6316 (beneath Douglas 3 Theatres) Books used in Lit Classes 1/2 Cover Price! Monday - Saturday 10:00-5:30 Open till 8:00 Thursday! Food for the Body, And Food for The Soul! FREE dinners at University Lutheran Chapel. 16th & "Q" Streets Thurs, Aug. 17 - Sat, Aug 19 6 pm Picnic on Centennial Mall (west side of building) _ ~ ifllV Open spots bring young players to the forefront for Nebraska By Mitch Sherman Senior Editor After losing 16 starters, including three All-Americans and seven play ers to the National Football League draft, the Nebraska coaching staff might have reason to be pessimistic. The Cornhuskers have more holes than usual, including four open spots on the offensive line and a linebacker corps with three positions to fill. But optimism still mles the Nebras ka preseason camp. The Huskers have reason to be positive because of the work ethic of young players such as Larry Townsend. The junior defensive tackle’s sum mer conditioning put the finishing touches on aone-year, 30-pound weight gain. “I have gained 28 pounds of muscle and two pounds offat,” said Townsend, who reported to fall camp at 298 pounds, with only 14 percent body fat. “I’ve done my homework over the year,” he said. “A lot of people have stayed around over the summer, and I think you’ll be able to tell.” Townsend is one of several young defensive players who will compete for significant playing time this fall. Sophomore Jason Peter could start at tackle. Redshirt freshman Jay Fore man began practice listed No. 1 at SAM linebacker. Sophomore Grant Wistrom and jun ior Jared Tomich have assumed the starting rush end spots, replacing Dwayne Harris and Donta Jones. And junior Ryan Terwilliger will take over for All-American Ed Stewart at WILL linebacker. On offense, redshirt freshmen split end Kenny Cheatham and fullback Joel Makovicka will be given a chance to shine in backup roles. “It’s going to be real important for some of the young players to step up,” Townsend said. “The team we have now isn’t the team that won the nation al championship.” Many of the incoming freshmen participated along with the returning Huskers during summer workouts at Memorial Stadium. The new class, whose members set eight position records during testing earlier this month, was ranked by many as one of the top five groups of fresh men in the nation. Despite their talent, most of the newcomers will redshirt this season, Coach Tom Osborne said. “The maturity level, the attitude and the belief that you can play isn’t there right away,” Osborne said. “I’d say two-thirds of the freshmen elimi nate themselves right away because they don’t believe that they can play. “(Tom) Rathman had that (confi dence). He was a good high school player, but wasn’t any more outstand ing than any other guy we recruited. But Tom had a mentality about him that he was as good as anybody. Will Shields had that attitude. Tommie Frazier had that attitude.” Freshman I-back Ahman Green said he had that attitude, too. A high school All-American from Omaha Central, Green said he did not plan to redshirt this year. “Mentally, I can pick up the plays real quick,” Green said. “It’s some of what I ran in high school, so I am very familiar with that. I’ve just got to get my endurance up to par.” During freshman testing, Green broke the Nebraska I-back record with a 38.5-inch vertical jump. His time of 4.47 seconds in the 40-yard dash ranks among the best in school history. And his total performance index of 2,997 points places him second in Nebraska history, trailing only Curtis Cotton’s 3,227 points in 1991. Green said he did not set personal goals for the season. He just wanted to contribute. “You just work to the expectations that you set for yourself,” he said. “I just want to work hard in practice, work hard when I get on the field, and wherever I’m at on the field — iust do Scott Bruhn/DN Nebraska freshman running back Ahman Green tries to elude a tackier in the Huskers first scrimmage on Sunday, Aug. 13. Green posted the second highest performance index total ever with 2,997. my best.” Green said he might see some ac tion as a kick-returner in addition to his backup I-back duties. Four members of the offensive line will be almost as inexperienced as Green. Center Aaron Graham is the only returning starter from last season’s dominant line. But Graham said a drop-off would not be evident. Juniors Steve Ott, Chris Dishman and sopho mores Eric Anderson and Aaron Tay lor began to come together as a group in spring drills, Graham said. “They don’t have to live up to anybody,” Graham said. “But there were some great players here and there who are going to be some people ex pecting us to play the same football that we did last year. Every one of them has the capabilities to do it.” Townsend said the 1995 Huskers wanted their own identity. “We’re the defending national champions,” Townsend said, “and we don’t want to be known as the the team that lost it the second time around.” Huskers hoping to prove voters wrong after being ranked No. 2 From Staff Reports Although a national championship impressed voters last year, Nebraska has not impressed enough voters to encourage a repeat. Nebraska is picked to finish No. 2 in both The Associated Press and USA Today-CNN Coaches’ poll. In both polls, Florida State is in the No. 1 spot. The Seminoles received 31 first-place votes in the AP poll com pared to Nebraska’s 15 votes. In the coaches’ poll, the Seminoles received 28 first-place votes, and die Com huskers received 17. Texas A&M, Penn State and Flor ida fill the top five roots in both polls. And No. 2 isn’t the lowest ranking Nebraska received. In the Sports Illus trated preseason rankings, the Huskers are picked No. 4. USC, Auburn, Texas A&M, Ne braska and Florida State fill the mag azine’s top five. But the Huskers aren’t letting the ratings bother them. Preseason football polls Record Pts Pvs 1. Florida St. (31) 10-1-1 1,498 4 2. Nebraska (15) 13-0-0 1,439 1 3. Texas A&M (6) 10-0-1 1,366 8 4. Penn St. (1) 12-0-0 1,308 2 5. Florida (6) 10-2-1 1,299 7 6. Auburn (2) 9-1-1 1,238 9 7. Southern Cal 8-3-1 1,151 13 8. Tennessee (1) 8-4-0 1,024 22 9. Notre Dame 6-5-1 1,011 NR 10. Alabama 12-1-0 974 5 11. Miami 10-2-0 893 6 12. Ohio St. 9-4-0 863 14 13. Colorado 11-1-0 689 " 3 14. Michigan 8-4-0 642 12 15. Oklahoma 6-6-0 527 NR 16. UCLA 5-6-0 517 NR 17. Virginia 9-3-0 516 15 18. Texas 8-4-0 368 25 19. Arizona 8-4-0 337 20 20. North Carolina 8-4-0 290 NR Record Pts Pvs 1. Florida St. (28) 10-1-1 1.438 5 2. Nebraska (17) 13-0-0 1.437 1 3. Texas A&M (7) 10-0-1 1,326 NR 4. Penn St. (3) 12-0-0 1,298 2 5. Florida (5) 10-2-1 1,293 7 6. Southern Cal (2) 8-3-1 1,240 15 7. Auburn 9-1-1 1,170 NR 8. Notre Dame 6-5-1 941 NR 9. Miami 10-2-0 906 6 10. Ohio St. 9-4-0 864 9 11. Tennessee 8-4-0 852 18 12. Michigan 8-4-0 788 12 13. Colorado 11-1-0 771 3 14. Alabama 12-1-0 572 4 15. UCLA 5-6-0 477 NR 16. Virginia 9-3-0 470 13 17. Oklahoma 6-6-0 445 NR 18. Texas 8-4-0 427 23 19. Arizona 8-4-0 350 20 20. North Carolina 8-4-0 323 21 | ^ First place votes m parentheses; final 1994 records and rankings That doesn t mean anything to us,” said Tony Veland, a senior free safety. “People don’t think we’re go ing to have the same kind of talent this year” Veland said not being ranked No. 1 could be a blessing in disguise. “In a way it’s kind of an incentive” Veland said. “It’s just something to work few to prove them wrong.”