Sports
Wednesday, November 1, 1995 Page 7
Trevor Parks
Farley makes
major impact
on NU defense
When Terrell Farley arrived in
Lincoln this season, no one really
knew how much of an impact he
would make.
And after Farley’s first practice
as a Comhusker, you couldn’t fore
see the future of the Columbus, Ga.,
native.
But after eight games, it’s per
fectly evident that Farley has eased
right into the Husker defense, which
has benefited tremendously from
his performance.
Farley, a transfer from Indepen
dence (Kan.) Community College,
leads the team in tackles with 42.
He leads the team in interceptions
with three, two of which he re
turned for touchdowns. The 6-foot -
1 junior is second in pass breakups
with four. He is third on the team in
tackles for losses with seven stops
for 42 yards. He even has two
blocked punts.
Those stats show that Farley may
be the .best linebacker in Nebraska
school history. He can rush the
passer, he can stop the run, he can
break up passes and he can block
punts. People may get him con
fused, calling him a cornerback or
safety or whatever, but he is the
complete package.
Sure Trev Alberts and Ed Stewart
were named All-Americans the past
two seasons for Nebraska, but
Farley is better. The sad thing is
that this season no accolades that
Stewart or Alberts received will be
thrown Farley’s way. The only
awards he might win are Big Eight
defensive newcomer of the year
and a spot on the All-Big Eight
team.
Those two picks are no-brainers.
This Saturday, Farley and the
Nebraska defense will have to stop
Iowa Statc’sTroy Davis, something
nobody has done all season.
But Farley’s not too worried.
“He can talk all he wants,” Farley
said. “He’s a good athlete, but one
man can’t beat 11 people. If they
have 11 people that run like he runs,
then they’ve got a chance to come
in and beat us.”
Farley’s comments are definitely
some big words coming from some
one who nobody knew much about
at the start of fall practice.
“When they come to this sta
dium, for one they are going to get
intimidated by the crowd,” Farley
said. “Then they are going to gel
intimidated by us. We’ve got some
thing to prove.”
Sounds a little like another line
backer named Broderick Thomas.
But Thomas had trouble backing
up his “Whose House, Our House”
chant.
Translation: No one comes into
Memorial Stadium and pushes Ne
braska around. Farley has qualities
of Thomas, Alberts and Stewart.
What a combination.
Farley said no comparisons
should be made among himself and
the others.
“I just want to make a name for
myself,” Farley said.
So far, Farley has done just that.
Parks is a senior news-editorial ma
jor, a Dally Nebraskan senior reporter
and columnist
Phillips ready to return
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Editor
Just because Lawrence Phillips
missed six games and spent 44 days
away from the Nebraska football team,
Solicn
don t expect the
junior I-backtotrip
and fall when his
number is called
Saturday.
Cornhusker run
ning backs coach
Frank Solich said
Tuesday that the
former Heisman
Trophy candidate
was beginning to
resemble tne punismng runner wno
ripped through Oklahoma State and
Michigan State earlier this season.
“If you’re a great running back,
you don’t lose your ability because
you have not been out there,” Solich
said.
Phillips, who was reinstated to the
team on Oct. 24, ran for 359 yardsand
seven touchdowns on 34 attempts in
two games this season before being
suspended on Sept. 10 for assaulting
an ex-girlfriend.
Solich said Phillips would be the
No. 2 I-back Saturday against Iowa
State, behind true freshman Ahman
Green. Green, who has started the past
three games and is top-ranked
Nebraska’s leading rusher with 821
yards and 10 touchdowns on 107 at
tempts this season.
“There’s no set number of snaps
that we are going to i ssue him,” Sol ich
said. “Generally speaking, the sec
ond-team guy has gone in in the first
half and spelled the guy that started.”
Solich said Phillips—whose 1,722
yards last season are the second-most
ever by a Husker I-back and the best
season ever recorded by a Nebraska
sophomore, could see action as soon
as the game’s second series, or as late
as the fourth series.
“You can certainly see his ability
on the field,” Solich said. “It’s cer
tainly there, and as he gets into even
better playing shape, we’re hoping
that he’s able to play like he did those
first two ball games. I feel, he was, at
the end of those two games, the best
running back we’ve had.”
Solich isn’t the only person im
pressed by Phillips’ return to the prac
tice field.
“He was practicing with the first
team yesterday,” said Clester Johnson,
the Huskers’ leading receiver. “And I
was just talking to a couple of other
See PHILLIPS on 8
-1
Home court
Travis Heying/DN
Former Nebraska player Eric Piatkowski scored 16 points against the Chicago Bulls Friday
night in his return to Lincoln.
Piatkowski shines against Bulls
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
Eric Piatkowski received his
wish Friday night.
Piatkowski wanted one more
chance to play in front of the fans
who supported him throughout his
college career, and against the Bulls
he took full advantage of his 33
minutes of playing time.
“There are not many times you
can come back and play in an emo
tional game like this in front of your
college fans,” Piatkowski said. “The
people in Nebraska have always
treated me very, very well, and that’s
nice.”
Although Piatkowski did not
receive as much applause as fan
favorite Michael Jordan did when
the starters were announced, he was
a close second.
Piatkowski said he was fired up
from the fans’ reaction during the
announcements, and because of
that, he wore out sooner. But not
before he scored 16 points, includ
ing a drive around Jordan for a
layup.
—*«ay 33 minutes,
“This is just my second year, and hopefully Til be
in this league for many years to come. ”
ERIC PIATK0W8KI
Clippers’ forward
but did not play the final four min
utes of the game, much to the fans’
displeasure.
“If they had cheered for us the
whole ballgame, I might have put
him back in,” Clippers coach Bill
Fitch said after the game. “He played
good, confident minutes.”
Although the fans made Fitch’s
decision to not put Piatkowski back
in the game, he said the decision to
start Piatkowski was made when
the game was scheduled.
Fitch said an injury to
Piatkowski’s left Achilles tendon
had slowed him down during the
preseason. But he is now starting to
return to normal. During the pre
season, Piatkowski had been aver
aging 6.5 points a game and played
9.3 minutes a game.
During Piatkowski’s rookie sea
son, he averaged 14.9 minutes a
game and led the Clippers in three
point field goal percentage shoot
ing .374 from long distance.
“If he plays like he did tonight,
he will sure help us a lot,” Fitch
said. “I thought he played very well
tonight at both ends of the court.”
Piatkowski said his performance
in the Sports Center was good, but
it could have been better. He said
he had improved defensively from
his first year, but still needed to
improve on his consistency.
“I just wanted to play well,”
Piatkowski said. “I think there are
things I want to work on. This isjust
my second year, and hopefully I’ll
be in this league for many years to
come.”
Osborne
offended
by query
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Editor
Nebraska football coach Tom
Osborne abruptly ended his
weekly press conference Tues
day after being asked a question
he deemed inappropriate from a
CBS news reporter.
“Coach, I understand that this
may not be the most popular
subject to bring up in Lincoln,
but let me try anyway,” CBS’
Bernard Goldberg asked 10 min
utes into Osborne’s meeting witil
the media, scheduled for 30 min
utes. “If one of your players had
roughed up a member of your
family, and had dragged her
down a flight of stairs, would
you have reinstated that player
on the team?”
Osborne interrupted Goldberg,
and refused to answer the
reporter’s question at that time.
“I’m not going to talk about
that,” Osborne said. “And I kind
of resent that question to be very
honest with you. I don’t think
this is the right time or place for
it. If you want to talk about it out
in the hall, I’ll be happy to do it.”
Osborne left two minutes later
and told Goldberg three times in
the hallway outside the South
Stadium press conference room
that yes, he would reinstate that
player.
Last week, Osborne rein
stated Lawrence Phillips to the
team after the star I-back as
saulted his former girlfriend,
See OSBORNE on 8
Huskers eager
to reach tough
part of season
By Trevor Parks
Senior Reporter
Don’t expect the Nebraska volley
ball team to overlook Kansas State as
Volleyball
the Cornhuskers
embark on a stretch
of five matches in
12 days.
In that span, No.
1 Nebraska plays
the Wildcats, No.
7 Texas, No. 14
Notre Dame, Okla
homa and No. 3
Florida.
But it all begins
when the Huskers, 19-1 and 8-0 in the
Big Eight, put their 18-match winning
streak and 54-game streak on the line
against Kansas State, 16-7 and 3-5 in
the conference, tonight at 7:30 at the
NU Coliseum.
Coach Terry Pettit said his team
was looking forward to playing so
many matches in a quick period.
“Those five matches are interest
ing because we only have a day in
between each one,” Pettit said. “It
kind of simulates an NCAA environ
ment where you have to win a couple
of matches in a row, and you don’t
have a great deal of time to prepare for
them.”
To get a chance to play everyone in
this time span, Nebraska had to do
some schedule shuffling.
The Oklahoma match on Nov. 10
was moved up to Friday from Satur
day before the season, so the Huskers
could play Florida in Lincoln on Sun
See WILDCATS on 8