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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 1995)
Sports Tuesday, October 31, 1993 Page 7 Derek Samson Heisman nod boils down to stats or wins As the 1995 college football sea son dwindles down, so does the list of Heisman Trophy hopefuls. With no clear-cut favorites, it wi 11 be interesting to see what infl u ences voters this year. If the trophy goes to a player with outstanding statistics, it would be hard to overlook Iowa State’s Troy Davis, who is only 474 yards away from being the fifth player in NCAA history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. But, Iowa State? Please. A11 four other runners to pass the 2,000-yard plateau — three of which were from the Big Eight — have won the Heisman. But something about the most coveted award in college football going to a Cyclone just doesn’t add up. “The award is supposed to go to the best player in college football,” Iowa State coach Dan McCamey said. “We haven’t had the national exposure we hoped to as a team, but Troy’s got a lot of individual expo sure and he deserves it. “It’s a shame because he is a great player, and he’s great to watch.” Because the biggest stats are coming from a Cyclone, the voters will have to consider other criteria. The intangibles. No one in the country does more for his team than Tommie Frazier does for the top-ranked Comhuskers. He does all the little things — almost always gets a first down on third-down-and-short, calls the cor rect audibles in key situations, rises up above the competition in the big games and, best of all, he doesn’t slide at the end of a run. Frazier doesn’t have the stats that the other top quarterbacks do, but he’s 29-3 as a starter and will have his team playing in the na tional championship game for the third consecutive vear. The quarterback of the Florida Florida State winner on Nov. 25 could get the nod. Both Danny Wuerfful of Florida and the Semi noles’ Danny Kanell have the num bers and winning teams. So, it comes down to stats versus winning. Frazier’s stats are good enough, and he knows how to win better than any player in the nation. Davis’ stats are more impressive than anyone’s in the nation, but he wouldn ’t know a win if it bit him on the nose. It is likely that voters won’t want to explain choosing either one and might go with the safe choice—the Wuerfful-Kanell winner. But it would be a shame if play ers are excluded because their teams are too bad for them to be noticed or their teams are too good for them to run up impressive stats. Samson Is a senior news-editorial major and a Dally Nebraskan senior sports reporter. I Poise puts Frazier on top By Derek Samson Senior Reporter During the first quarter of Nebraska’s 44-$ 1 win over Colorado - Saturday, Ahman Green fumbled af ter the play had been blown dead by the officials. A Colorado de fender picked up the ball and began running toward the iINCDrdSKB Cnd Frazier zone. Because whistles had blown the play dead, no players on either team reacted to the return. Except Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier. Frazier chased the Colorado de fender almost 50 yards, diving for him at about the 10-yard line. The senior quarterback’s effort typified his day and his career at Ne braska. “Tommie Frazier is a tremendous player and a tremendous leader on the field,” center Aaron Graham said. “The thing I love about Tommie is his com petitive spirit. When I get in the huddle, I can see that fire in his eyes. It just gets me rolling, too.” Frazier’scompetitive spirit showed against Colorado when he completed 14 of 23 passes for a career-high 241 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 40 yards and a touchdown. “Good teams like this bring the best out of me,” Frazier said. “It’s competitive. I like games where you have to work to win.” One particular play highlighted Frazier’s day. On a first-down-and-10 from the Colorado 42-yard line, Frazier dropped back to pass and was hit by Colorado linebacker Mike Phillips. Frazier brought the ball back in, then on his way to the turf, fired a comple tion to Green along the sideline for a 3 5-yard gain. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said Frazier didn’t miss on many passes, despite the circumstances. “He’s tough, and that was a great play,” Osborne said. “He got the ball out to Ahman down the sideline after he took a hit that would have knocked a lot of people down. It showed a lot of poise. He was pretty much on the “In my opinion, he’s got to be leading in the Heisman votes. ” AARON GRAHAM Nebraska center money with everything he threw to day.” Frazier said there wasn’t much to the play. “The guy hit me, and I was able to stay up,” Frazier said. “I knew where Ahman was, and I just tried to get the ball out to him. The guy hit me, and I saw that I wasn’t going down, so Ijust flipped it out to Ahman.” With the big day Saturday, Frazier moved past the 3,000-yard mark for career passing yards — fifth on the all-time Husker chart. The two touch downs brought Frazier’s total to 39, two behind record-holder Dave Humm. It was also Frazier’s 29th win as a starter, tying Steve Taylor for the See FRAZIER on 8 . Huskers get commitment forvolleyball By Trevor Parks Senior Reporter TheNebraska volleyball team has started to replace holes that will open up next season with the loss of three seniors. The No. 1 Cornhuskers re ceived an oral cotrimitment from Katie Jahnke, a 6-foot middle blocker from West Bend East High School in West Bend, Wis. Next year, the Huskers will lose Billie Winsett, Christy Johnson and Allison Weston to gradua tion. Jahnke became the second player—Tonia Tauke, a 6-foot 3 middle blocker from Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa, was the first—to makeanoral commitment toplay for the Huskers next season. Lynn LaPorte, Jahnke’s See JAHNKE on 8 SIS q^rter®"4*°#th®benChdUrin9th®BU"S’exhibltion9“"®in Lincoln Friday nigh^o!?ma^N Rodman brings colorful style to Nebraska ay Mine muck istatt Reporter Dennis Rodman knows what his role will be this season for the Chi cago Bulls. With Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen on the same team, Rodman is content in the background. “I do the dirty work and get the hell out and go home and then come back in and redo it again,” Rodman said. “I do it real well and let Mike and Scottie do all the things they ’re accustomed to and play.” Rodman, the NBA’s rebound leader and most controversial player, did his role in the Bulls’ preseason 104-101 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Fri day night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. In Rodman’s 12-minute appear ance, he pulled down five rebounds, including four defensive boards, scored three points and handed out two assists. But in the third quarter, Rodman’s controversial side, die one Bulls man agement feared, took over, and within 14 seconds Rodman had been ejected after receiving two technical fouls. After the game, however, Rodman promised that his behavior would be different when the regular season started and losses meant more than they did in preseason. “I’ll do what I got to do,” Rodman said. “If we got the game in hand, I damn sure will do something.” Rodman expressed his displeasure with the replacement officials from the Continental Basketball Associa tion. National Basketball Association officialshave been locked out of games because they have not reached a con tract agreement with NBA manage ment. During the preseason, the NBA “I bring controversy no matter where I go, whether it is the cornfields here or somewhere else. ” DENNIS RODMAN Chicago Bulls forward is using CBA and replacement offi cials, which has not set well with Rod man. “The NBA is making a real bogus move by having the CBA refs come in here,” Rodman said. “Half the time they don’t even know what the hell is going on. The NBA needs to do some thing about this and get this stuff re solved. If not, it’s going to be a long season.” The officiating limited Rodman’s performance, he said. Rodman had been averaging 12.7 rebounds a game and 24.3 minutes a game. Because the NBA regular season starts on Friday, Rodman said he would get serious about the season and, if needed, tolerate the replacement offi cials. “The referee told me he was afraid I was going to hit him; that’s why he tossed me out,” Rodman said. “I said, I’m not going to hit you, I’m just See RODMAN on 8
