Sports Weekend
Friday, October 13, 1993 Page 7
Nathan McKinney
Hunting season
should be good
for elk lovers
When picturing the possibili
ties of hunting big game animals in
Nebraska, most people think only
of white-tailed deer, mule deer and
maybe a few antelope.
Few people would ever imag
ine that Nebraska was home to a
sustainable and huntable elk popu
lation.
But we arc. And the 1995 hunt
ing season is producing some spec
tacular results, proving that maybe
you don’t have to travel west to
find the wapiti.
Elk, which can weigh in at 1,000
pounds, aren’t the type of animal
to take up residence in Nebraska’s
cornfields. However, in the north
west comer of the state — where
the flatlands give way to moun
tains, trout streams and pine trees
— elk herds have found a place
they can call home.
According to the Nebraska
Game and Parks Commission,
hunters are currently allowed to
shoot limited number of elk. Be
cause a congregated herd of elk are
capable of causing severe crop
damage, the hunting, which causes
the herds to spread over a large
area of land, will benefit many
farmers and ranchers.
The hunting season, which runs
from Sept. 23 to Oct. 22, has al
ready netted some monster bulls,
including a 7-by-7, which would
be a trophy by even the strictest of
Western standards.
Unfortunately, not all hunters
are going to be able to take advan
tage ofNcbraska’s elk season. With
only 38 permits granted out of
1,200 applications, the odds of
getting a chance to hunt this year
weren’t very high. And under the
current management regime, the
numbers will likely remain low
until the system is altered.
At this time, the elk herds are
being carefully monitored with five
specific objectives.
• Determine elk population sta
tus in Nebraska, by area, and docu
ment expansion into an adjacent or
new range.
• Respond to all elk depreda
tion complaints.
• Use prescribed hunting sea
sons, starting in 1995, to provide
recreation, and to control elk popu
lations within landowner tolerance
levels.
• Monitor the overall health of
the elk population and prevent
contamination of domestic live
stock through removal or treat
ment of infected elk.
• Provide informational and
educational materials to the pub
lic. recognizing tree-ranging elk
as a valuable component of our
native fauna, and at the same time,
facilitate public viewing.
The number of applicants this
year definitely shows an interest in
the opportunity to hunt elk in Ne
braska.
Hopefully, the management
scheme will be successful and al
low more people the opportunity
to experience an elk hunt without
traveling hundreds of miles.
Green to start against Missouri
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter
Nebraska football coach Tom
Osborne said Thursday that true fresh
man I-back Ahman Green would
make the first start of his career Sat
urday against Missouri.
Green, who is the Huskers’ lead
ing rusher with 525 yards in five
games and is averaging 10.3 yards
per attempt, is the second Comhusker
true freshman ever to start at I-back,
joining Monte Anthony, who started
in 1974.
But Osborne said junior Damon
Benning and senior Clinton Childs
— who is 95 percent recovered from
a knee strain suffered Sept. 16 against
Arizona State — would see signifi
cant playing time.
Weighing more heavily on
Osborne ’ s mind as Nebraska prepares
for its second conference game of the
season at 1 p.m. Saturday at Memo
rial Stadium against Missouri is the
Tigers’ offense.
Osborne questioned Missouri’s
logic in changing its entire offense
this week. But he admitted the uncer
tainty left the Huskers with plenty of
questions.
“They’ve talked about changing
some things offensively, and that can
work for you or against you,’’ Osbomc
said. “If they happen to make some
real good decisions and revamp things
that will cause problems, then it will
work in their advantage. On the other
hand, if you change a lot of things in
the middle of the season, it can cause
confusion.
“Sometimes you’re not as good as
you were before. We’ll just have to
wait and sec what they come up with.
I’m a little uneasy because all we can
work on is what they’ve done in the
past, and we’re just wasting our time
if they totally revamp their offense.”
Missouri coach Larry Smith de
cided a change was necessary after a
30-0 shutout loss to Kansas State last
week, which dropped the Tigers to 2
3 and 0-1 in conference play.
“Defensively, we have been
steadily improving,” Smith said.
“Offensively, we have been incon
sistent. Whenever you go six quar
ters and only score three points, that
doesn’t speak well.”
Osborne said he thought Smith
wanted to put more emphasis on the
See NU on 8
Jon Waller/DN
Sophomore golfer Rachelle Tacha eyes a putt. The
native of Wicnita, Kan., will return to her homestate on
Monday when the Huskers play in Manhattan, Kan.
Heading home to lift
lady golfer’s spirits
By Antone oseka
Staff Reporter
Rachelle Tacha is excited to go
home Monday.
Tacha isn’t going home to do
her laundry like most college stu
dents. She’s going to play golf.
“I’m excited,” she said. “I like
it when my parents come watch,
especially my dad. He makes me
feel really relaxed and comfort
able. They’re really supportive, no
matter wnat.”
Tacha, a sophomore, said she
had been through an up-and-down
season this fall.
“My last tournament was really
bad,” she said. “It was one of those
brain-dead tournaments, I guess.
My short game was bad. It was one
of those tournaments where you
hit the ball good, but it just doesn’t
all come together. Hopefully this
next tournament it will all come
together.”
There’s no better time for it to
come together than Monday for
the native of Manhattan, Kan. The
Huskers will be golfing in Wichita,
Kan., only 134 miles from her
hometown.
Tacha said she came to Ne
braska to be away and close to
home at the same time.
“I wanted to go somewhere
away from home, and get out of
Manhattan,” she said. “But I
wanted to stay close enough that if
I ever needed anything, I was close
enough 1 could run home.”
See TACHA on 8
Healthy Husker team
ready for MU match
By Trevor Parks
Senior Reporter
Last year, when the Nebraska vol
leyball team traveled to Missouri, it
played without Jen McFadden, Bille
Winsett and Coach Terry Pettit.
Still, the Comhuskers had no prob
lem with the Tigers.
This year the 15-1 Huskers, who
are 5-0 in the Big Eight, will be at full
strength when they travel to Colum
bia, Mo., Saturday to face the Tigers
at 7:30 p.m. in the Hearnes Center.
Missouri is 4-15 and 1-3 in confer
ence play.
Nebraska is on a roll, winning 14
straight matches and 42 consecutive
games. The Huskers defeated the
Tigers 15-1,154,15-9 in 1994 with
out two of its starters and its head
coach, who was sick before the match
last year.
Another player who also didn’t
play in last year’s match, but is look
ing forward to the trip this weekend is
middle blocker Stacie Maser. Maser
redshirted last season after tearing an
anterior cruciate ligament in her left
knee before the season.
Maser said the Huskers would use
Saturday’s match to improve some
things.
“The thing we’re going to work on
is improving with every game,” Ma
ser said. “We want to work on things
like ballhandling and coverage from
the block, and just overall playing
together.”
Maser said for the last two weeks
Nebraska had struggled, but after
Wednesday night’s three-game win
over Kansas State, the Huskers took
a step forward.
“We just need to keep moving in
that direction,” Maser said. “We
need to avoid matches where we
have been letting up and let teams
play with us who aren’t on our
level.”
The 6-footer from Lincoln East
said she had seen some improvement
in her own play.
See VB on 8
Tiger player sure
of team’s potential
py Mine muck
Staff Reporter
Shad Criss knows Missouri has
the ootential to unset No. 2 Nebraska.
Criss, a sopho
more comerback
for the Tigers,
said his optimism
was not based on
the Tigers’ 2-3
record or the fact
they lost to Kan
sas State 30-0 last
Saturday. Instead,
■i Hi '"Mi Criss’confidence
CriSS comes from
Missouri’s 42-7 loss last season to
the Comhuskers.
A year ago, Missouri held Ne
braska to a scoreless first quarter and
trailed only 14-0 at halftime. In the
second half, the Tigers recovered a
Nebraska fumble on the 10-yard line.
But two plays later. Tiger tailback
Joe Freeman fumbled on the one
yard line, erasing a potential touch
down that would have cut the Husker
lead to seven points.
Nebraska recovered the fumble
and wait on to outscore the Tigers
28-7 the rest of the game.
“I pretty much know what to ex
pect from Nebraska,” Criss said. “Last
year we were able to stay close with
them. That fumble really took some
momentum away from us.”
Criss said he also knew what to
expect from Nebraska quarterback
Tommie Frazier. Frazier did not play
last year against Missouri because of
a blood clot in his right leg.
I ve been watching tilms ot Ne
braska, and Frazier likes to have the
ball in his hand,” Criss said. “He
would rather keep the ball then pitch
it.”
Although Criss said he knew what
to expect from the Huskers, he does
not know what to expect from
Nebraska’s home crowd.
Criss, who began his career as a
wide receiver, said dedication and
work ethic had made a leader among
the young Tiger squad.
“I feel if you bring out the best in
yourself by working hard, then it will
rub off on them,” Criss said. “The
coaches say I’m a leader because I
lead by example. All I’m trying to do
is help the team win.”
Criss said he felt no pressure when
playing Nebraska, which is averag
ing 656 yards and 55 points a game.
He said the pressure was on the Husk
ers, because they were predicted to
win the game easily.
“We’re like San Diego when they
played the 49ers in last year’s Super
Bowl,” Criss said. “All San Diego
did and we have to do is play the best
game we can play, and do the best we
can. The pressure is not on us.”
Criss said he expected the Mis
souri offense to perform better this
week. Last week, the Tigers were
limited to 118 yards of total offense
against the Wildcats.
“I have no doubt our offense will
move the ball against the No. 2 team in
the country,” Criss said. “We have a lot
to prove and will rise up to do the best
we can against than.”
