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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1995)
* ' Travis Heying/DN ^-quarter touchdown against Pacific Saturday. Sims ruihed for 55 yards on the day. H* .-3 • •• ' . i • \l • • i ii' •• / . . . • •*/ • • t 1 • » * ’ •* r W ✓ ** • * . 7 By Mike Kluck Staff Reporter Pacific coach Chuck Shelton had an idea of what would happen when his team faced No. 2 Nebraska Satur day. But Shelton wasn’t about to let his players know. “You get a little tired about reading how you are lambs for the slaughter and stuff like that,” Shelton said. “We didn’t say anything about those types of things to our kids, and they just came and played as hard as they could play. “And we got beat by an awfully good football team.” Shelton’s squad may not have been lambs for the slaughter, but the Tigers gave up 731 yards in Nebraska’s 49-7 win. Those yards were the most ever given up by a Pacific team. But the Tigers were not disap pointed in their encore performance at Nebraska. Last year, the Huskers de feated the Tigers 70-21. Shelton said the defending national champions were impressive. The Huskers limited the Tigers to 197 yards of offense. Tiger quarterback Nick Sellers said he saw signs of another championship team. ■ “They have an offense that comple ments their defense, and they may be better (than the defense),” Sellers said. “You have the makings of a national championship football team. I don’t know of a team that can play with Jeff Haller/DN J.D. Ernst, member of the concession staff and Waveriy native, carries bleacher seats into the deserted hallway of West Stadium Saturday after Nebraska’s victory over Pacific. tnese guys rignt now. Another Tiger limited by the Husker defense was running back Joe Abdullah. Abdullah entered Saturday’s game averaging 123.7 yards a game, but was held to just 25 , fJ ^ #\ v* , * 4 j ’ V l* < . ’ • yards against Nebraska. Abdullah said Nebraska’s defense limited him from getting outside. He said Nebraska had a better defense than Arizona, who beat the Tigers 35 9 on Sept. 2. A professional offensive line and a professional defensive line (could beat them),” Abdullah said! “I don’t know if there’s such a thing as a per fect college football team, but they’re about as close as you can come.” Derek Samson Benning ready to experience good fortune Damon Benning already had a career-high 173 yards Saturday in his first game back after being side lined with a pulled hamstring for two weeks. But in the third quarter — after scoring three touchdowns in the first half—— Benning left the game with a twisted ankle and is ques tionable for this Saturday. It was just another scratch in a season of scars which has turned Benning’s life into a roller coaster ride for the past three weeks. Benning did not make the trip to East Lansing, Mich., for the Cornhuskers’ game against Michi gan State Sept. 9. Early that morn ing, Benning was arrested on suspi cion of assaulting his former girl friend. The junior from Omaha North west maintained his innocence, as did Coach Tom Osborne. Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey announced Sept. 19 that there was not enough evidence to file charges against Benning. But Benning, who saw his pic ture and name thrown around by the local and national media after his arrest, did not hear much from the same people after the charges were not filed. “The media wasn’t near as ag gressive and didn’t have the fervor they had when the charges hit,” Benning said. “I’m not going to sit here and say I was a victim, but the media took advantage of the situa tion. There were a lot of inaccura cies out there.” But after Benning’s story was proven accurate, he wonders who the real victim is. wnen it comes down to it, I was a victim of lies and a victim of the media,” he said. “That’s OK. It happens sometimes, and I’m not going to cry about it. I just didn’t think you write stories like that with out knowing what’s going on.” But in the media frenzy that sur rounded the Nebraska football team last week, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Benning’s account of the incident would fall on deaf ears. “I stated what had happened a thousand times,” he said. “There were people that told it the same way I did. Obviously, it was the truth that I told them. I don’t know why we had to go through the pro cess we did to get to that truth.” After Lawrence Phillips was sus pended, Benning should have been the guy to take his place, but he was injured. After no charges were filed, Benning should have received as much publicity in the media as he was given after the arrest. But he didn’t. And after he rushed for a career high 173 yards as the starting I back, he shouldn’t have to worry about maintaining the No. 1 spot. But now with an injured ankle, he has to wonder. So when will it all stop? “I’ve had a lot of adversity so far this year,” he said. ‘T would hope everything would just be a walk in the park after all this. Who knows? See SAMSON on 8