Thursday, October 26, 1995 Page 7
————““■
Derek Samson
Divisions could
cause problems
in conference
Considering eight of the 12
schools that will form the Big 12
next season are rated in the top 25,
it’s easy to predict that it will be
the nation’s strongest conference
next season.
The Big 12 looks to have plenty
of balance from top to bottom, but
how balanced will the divisions
be?
Of the eight teams now rated,
the top four will compete in the
northern division next season.
Three of those four are in the top
10.
Now, consider the total domi
nation by the northern division
teams over the southern division
teams lately.
Oklahoma, which will be a top
contender for the crown in the
south, was routed by Colorado and
. Kansas. Yet, the Sooners played to
a tie with Texas — another team in
the southern division.
Texas A&M, which would have
been favored to run away with the
southern division this year, lost to
Colorado — the third- or fourth
best team in the northern division.
The only other team with a pos
sibility of representing the south in
a conference title game is Texas
Tech, which Nebraska defeated 50
27 in 1993 and 42-16 last season.
Big Eight coaches didn’t want
to make comments about which
six teams were better, but empha
sized all 12 instead.
“I think in its own right, it is a
very prolific division and confer
ence as a whole,” Kansas State
coach Bill Snyder said.
Kansas coach Glen Mason
stayed away from the subject as
well.
“I haven’t thought about the
Big 12, but I know the Big Eight is
awfully tough,” Mason said. “Some
coaches say that their league is the
toughest, but I don’t think that any
conference is tougher than ours.”
But if next year plays out like
this season, the coaches won’t be
able to avoid answering these ques
tions.
If there are going to be divi
sions, there is no other way to set it
up other than geographically —
north and south.
But, if a title game is decided
on, it will pit the top team of each
division, but not the top two in the
league.
So, as unbalanced divisions
begin to look unavoidable, why
not rethink the idea of divisions?
The Big 10 has 11 teams and no
divisions. The Pacific 10 has no
divisions. The Big 12 might be
headed into a world of arguments.
Scrap the divisions. Scrap the
title game. Play eight or nine con
ference games and two or three
non-conference games. Rotate con
ference opponents as the Big 10
andPac-lOdo.
Or leave it like it is and open the
first season of the Big 12 in a
tornado of complaints.
Samson is a senior news-editorial ma
jor and a Dally Nebraskan senior sports
reporter.
Colorado aims for revenge on NL
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter
Colorado outside linebacker Greg
Jones doesn’t think a win over Ne
braska would ease the pain the Buffa
loes still feel from their 40-24 loss to
Kansas on Oct. 7.
Only next year can do that.
But Jones said Colorado needed a
victory over Nebraska Saturday in
Boulder, Colo., to help clear some of
the scars the Comhuskers have left
the past four years.
“The Kansas game was very dis
appointing,” Jones said. “We played
basically just very bad. Not taking
anything away from Kansas, because
they played very good. A win over
Nebraska won’t make up for that.
That loss is still there. We have to
wait until next year for revenge on
Kansas.
“But it’s time for us to get revenge
on Nebraska. They’ve beat us quite a
few years in a row now, so that’s why
we want to beat Nebraska.”
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound junior
from Denver said the Buffaloes had
been taught valuable lessons in what
not to do against the Huskers.
“In the past, we haven’t been physi
cally beaten, but we’ve been men
tally beaten,” he said. “We weren’t
mental ly prepared, and Nebraska took
advantage of that. We blew a lot of
assignments.
“You can’t make those kind of
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mistakes against a team like Ne
braska. You make one mistake, and
it’s a touchdown. They’re that good.
You have to be ready every play.
That’s what has hurt us in the past.”
If Colorado cuts down on its men
tal errors, Jones said he thought the
Buffaloes would win.
“I know they’re good, but they’re
beatable,” Jones said. “We have to go
into the game knowing they’re
beatable.
“I believe any team can be stopped.
We don’t back down from any chal
lenge. Any team can be beat, includ
ing Nebraska. They aren’t invincible.
No one is.”
A lot of Colorado’s success de
pends on Jones and how well the
defense stops the Nebraska rushing
attack, which still leads the country
with an average of 426.9 yards a
game.
“Their run does a lot, like setting
up the pass,” he said. “They play
action pass really well. We just have
to be aware of our assignments the
whole time. We can’t break down
even one play. But we have to stop
See JONES on 8
Tanna Kinnaman/DN
Nebraska pitcher Jarod Bearinger, a freshman from
Omaha Westside, warms up Wednesday at Buck Beltzer
Stadium. The Huskers are in the middle of fall practice
now.
Red-White World Series
sets ball season in motion
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter “
The Nebraska baseball team is
practicing in full swing again after
completing the annual Red-White
World Series.
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game
intrasquad
scrimmage,
played Oct. 2
to Oct. 10, was
encouraging to
Cornhusker
coach John
Sanders, but he
said there were
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things to improve on.
“I saw good effort,” Sanders
said. “I think the guys took it for
real and worked hard at it. It’s hard
to play yourselves all the time.”
Nebraska will have to replace
some key players from last season ’ s
team. Both All-American out
fielder Darin Erstad and pitcher
Alvie Shepherd were drafted in the
first round of the Major League
Baseball draft. Outfielder Jed
Dalton and pitcher Craig Sanders
also were picked.
But John Sanders said the fall
practice brought some players into
the spotlight.
“We did a lot of scrimmaging
this fall,” Sanders said, “and then
we turned it up a notch with the
Red-White World Series. That
turned into a real competitive situ
ation.”
See BASEBALL on 8
Win over KU makes
NU’s Pettit unhappy
From Staff Reports
Other than winning its 17th
straight match and school record 51 st
- consecutive
lfnllAwkoli game, the Ne
VOlieyDail braska volleyball
team did little
Wednesday night
to please the
Cornhusker
coaching staff,
i Top-ranked Ne
braska, 18-1 and
8-0 in the Big
Eight, played un
inspired volleyball at the Allen
Fieldhouse at Lawrence, Kan., top
ping Kansas 15-5, 15-9, 15-8. The
Jayhawks fell to 6-15 and 1-7 in con
ference play.
“I thought we played like we
weren’t really eager to be here,” Ne
braska coach Terry Pettit said after
meeting with his team for more than
10 minutes after the match.
The Huskers trailed Kansas in each
of the three games before rallying
from behind. In the first game, the
Jayhawks jumped to a quick 4-0 lead,
but Nebraska had little trouble tak
ing the lead.
A back row kill by senior middle
blocker Allison Weston with Kate
Cmich serving tied the score at five
in the match’s first game. Nebraska
took the lead for good on the next
serve with another Weston kill. The
All-American from Papillion finished
with a match-high 15 kills.
Led by sophomore outside hitter
Lisa Reitsma for the remainder of the
first game, the Huskers held Kansas
scoreless. A Reitsma kill with Maria
Hedbeck serving finished the game.
Nebraska’s problems appeared to
See KANSAS on 8
Starting as free safety
agrees well with Veland
By Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter ~
In life, one must learn to expect
the unexpected, and football is no
exception.
Tony Veland came to Nebraska
expecting to play quarterback for the
Comhuskers. During his redshirt year
in 1991, he saw the Huskers struggle
to a 9-2-1 record.
Two injuries and three years later,
Veland is now the starting free safety
for the defending national champi
ons.
“When I came here, I expected to
be playing quarterback,” Veland said,
“but don’t get me wrong, I’m glad
I’m playing safety.”
Veland’s roller coaster ride began
in 1992 when Mike Grant, the No. 1
quarterback, broke his collarbone two
weeks before the season began. Then
in 1993, Veland went down with a
ruptured patellar tendon against Texas
Tech. While rehabilitating his right
knee in the spring of 1994, Veland
studied with the secondary and made
the switch from quarterback.
Veland got his first chance at free
Safety when teammate Mike Minter
tore his anterior cruciate ligament
during the second game of the sea
son. Veland moved in and started the
remaining 10 games of the season.
Since then, Minter has moved to
starting rover, and Veland, who had
three interceptions last year, remains
the starting free safety. He is also one
of the Huskers’ co-captains this sea
son.
Veland has 18 tackles, two pass
breakups and one interception this
year.
“I’m really enjoying playing
safety. I am having a lot of fun,”
Veland said. “I think things defi
nitely worked out for the best.”
With the Huskers eyeing a second
consecutive national title, Veland said
he expected the Huskers to turn it up
a notch or two with the heart of the
Big Eight schedule fast approaching.
“The Big Eight is rol ling this year,”
Veland said. “I expect every game to
be a tough challenge for us.”
Veland said the defense had
stepped up, especially cornerback
Michael Booker and linebacker
Terrell Farley.
Veland said the addition of new
talent and the return of experienced
personnel once again would lead the
Huskers to the promised land — a
Fiesta Bowl game in Tempe, Ariz.,
for the national title.
“There’s no question about it,” he
said. “If we do the things we’re sup
posed to do, we’ll be there at the end
of the year.”
NOTE:
• Freshman I-back Ahman Green
returned to practice Wednesday after
missing Monday’s workout with a
sprained left ankle that he suffered in
the win over Kansas State.
Coach Tom Osborne said Green
looked better, as did backup quarter
back Brook Berringer.
“He’s (Berringer’s) functioning
pretty well,” Osborne said. “He’s not
100 percent, but he’s doing pretty
well.”
Linebacker Phil Ellis practiced,
but was not at full speed, and I-back
Damon Benning seemed to be recov
ered from a sore hamstring, Osborne
said.
