Jon Waller/DN
i) Luther Hardin, right, wrap up Kansas tailback L.T. Levine.
" Jon Waller/DN
i *
Houston III. Frazier broke the Nebraska total offense record held by
I
I
OC Iaaimc This week's polls arc shown with
IU|J Mm%J IwdlllO first-place votes in parentheses.
I Associated Press
Rank School Record Points Pvs.
1 Nebraska (45) 10-0-0 1,530 1
2 Ohio SL (12) 10-0-0 1,476 2
3 Florida (5) 9-0-0 1,458 3
4 Tennessee 8-1-0 1,350 4
5 Northwestern 9-1-0 1,295 5
6 Florida SL 8-1-0 1,239 6
7 Kansas SL 9-1-0 1,172 7
8 Notre Dame 8-2-0 1,105 8
9 Colorado 8-2-0 963 9
10 Texas 7-1-1 950 11
11 Southern Cal 8-1-1 885 12
12 Michigan 8-2-0 772 13
13 Virginia 8-3-0 743 14
14 Arkansas 8-2-0 725 15
15 Kansas 8-2-0 685 1 0
16 Oregon 8-2-0 649 17
17 Alabama 8-2-0 617 16
18 Texas A&M 6-2-0 521 18
19 PennSL 6-3-0 438 19
20 Virginia Tech 8-2-0 413 21
21 Auburn 7-3-0 405 20
22 Washington 6-3-1 275 22
23 Syracuse 7-2-0 147 23
24 Clemson 7-3-0 122 24
25 Miami 6-3-0 53 ~
USA Today/CNN Coaches Poll
Raj* School Record Points Pvs.
1 Nebraska (50) 10-0-0 1,535 1
2 Ohio St. (11) 10-0-0 1,476 2
3 Florida (1) 9-0-0 1,453 3
4 Tennessee 8-1-0 1,337 4
5 Northwestern 9-1-0 1,277 5
6 Florida St. 8-1-0 1,220 6
7 Kansas St 9-1-0 1,189 7
8 Texas 7-1-1 1,043 8
9 Colorado 8-2-0 969 10
10 Notre Dame 8-2-0 962 9
11 Southern Cal 8-1-1 951 10
12 Virginia 8-3-0 796 13
13 Arkansas 8-2-0 683 1 6
14 Michigan 8-2-0 676 15
15 Texas A&M 6-2-0 642 14
16 Oregon 8-2-0 620 17
17 Kansas 8-2-0 554 12
18 Virginia Tech 8-2-0 508 19
19 Alabama 8-2-0 507 18
20 Auburn 7-3-0 410 20
21 Penn St 6-3-0 326 21
22 Syracuse 7-2-0 301 22
23 Washington 6-3-1 243 23
24 Clemson 7-3-0 153 25
25 Brigham Young 6-3-0 82 —
DN Graphic
Coach prai
despite los
By Derek Samson_
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas
coach Glen Mason spent Saturday af
ternoon watching his lOth-ranked
Jayhawks get routed 41 -3—commit
ting five turnovers and scoring no
touchdowns — all in their home sta
dium that was half-full of Nebraska
fans.
So why wasn’t Mason angry when
at his post-game press conference?
“I told you they were good,” Ma
son said as he sat down. “1 thought the
players played extremely hard. I
thought we played well defensively. I
thought we threw the ball well. I don’t
think the score was that indicative of
what the game was like. Overall, 1 was
pleased with how hard my players
played.”
Kansas threw 50 times for 273 yards
and finished with 345 yards of total
offense. Nebraska had 375 total of
fensive yards, including 289 yards
rushing.
“I guess I’m finally a passing
coach,” Mason joked. “1 don’t know
how many of you guys thought com
ing into the game that Kansas would
have 82 snaps for 345 yards and Ne
braska would have 66 snaps for 375
yards. But that doesn’t mean anything.
The score was still 41-3.”
But the most harmful statistics for
the Jayhawks were the three intercep
tions and two fumbles.
“To play Nebraska and beat them,
you would have to play errorless foot
ses players
stoNU
ball,” Mason said. “Really with all our
mistakes, I thought we were hanging
in there pretty well. It all goes back to
our players playing hard. Some of
them probably learned some things
about themselves against a very, very
good football team.”
Perhaps the biggest turnover came
after Kansas had just forced Nebraska
to go three plays and out on its first
series.
Kansas punt returner Isaac Byrd
fumbled Jesse Kosch’s punt, and
Nebraska’s Jon Vedral recovered the
loose ball in the end zone for
Nebraska’s first score.
“I know I personally accounted for
seven of their points,” Byrd said. “He
(Kosch) had a great hang time on it,
then I took a glance at the line coming
down, and it just hit my shoulder. I had
a chance of getting back on top of it,
but the guy did a good job of holding
me down.”
Despite the turnovers, Mason said
his team did everything he asked of it.
“We had way too many turnovers,
obviously,” Mason said. “But there was
a bunch ofkids playing hard—that’s all
it takes. And obviously, we were pretty
well prepared for this game because
Nebraska’s got a lot of weapons.
“No one likes to win more than me.
But more importantly, it’s when the
kids all played hard. And today, they
played their tails off. I don’t like the
mistakes, and I’ll take the blame for
that. But overall, we were prepared to
play against the number one team in
the country.”
Jon Waller/DN
-. v ;r ■ viv * * »
Nebraska’s Brendan Holbein is hit by Jamie Harris while
trying to catch a pass.
Kansas coach Glen Mason ar
gued with officials after time ex
pired at the end of the first half as
the Jayhawks tried to line up for a
39-yard field goal.
“I knew that was the right call,”
Mason said. “What I was talking to
the officials about—and don’t take
this as a criticism because I can’t
afford to be fined — was that I
thought they spotted the ball slow
on the play before that. I knew the
clock would run with five seconds
on it.”
* * *
*
Kansas’ reaction to its own sta
dium being flooded by at least
20,000 fans in Nebraska red was
more praise for Cornhusker fans
than criticism of Jayhawk fans.
“Nebraska fans arc on the wagon
all the time,” Mason said. “They
sure had a lot of people down here.”
Kansas defensive tackle Kevin
Kopp agreed.
“They have great fans,” Kopp
said. “You can’t take anything away
from those Nebraska fans. With a
following like that, it’s tough to
lose even on the road.”
★ * *
Nebraska quarterback Tommie
Frazier, who broke Jerry Tagge’s
total offense record Saturday with
186 yards, walked from the locker
room to the team bus on crutches.
Frazier said he was playing at about
85 percent for most of the day. He
received treatment on Sunday for
Plantar fascitis, which is a sore heel
and arch. He may miss a couple of
days of practice.
“It’s just real sore, and it’s hard
for me to walk on it,” he said. “It’s
more the whole foot, the heel and
the ankle. It’s been bothering me
for the last couple days, and the
more I played, the more it hurt.”
* * *
True freshman 1-back Ahman
Green ran 10 times for 45 yards
against Kansas, becoming the first
Nebraska freshman and the fourth
freshman in Big Eight history to
gain 1,000 yards. Green, who has
1,042 yards on 128 attempts, needs
86 yards against Oklahoma to break
Kansas tailback June Henley’s Big
Eight freshman rushing record set
in 1993.
* * *
Kansas tailback L.T. Levine had
caught 16 passes in nine games
before playing Nebraska Saturday.
The 5-foot-10, 210-pound senior
caught nine passes for 51 yards
against the Huskers.
* * *
Nebraska true freshman place
kicker Kris Brown hit all five of his
extra points Saturday. Brown, who
is 54 of 57 for the season, needs
seven successful conversions
against Oklahoma to break Rich
Sanger’s school record. Brown also
has scored 84 points this year, only
three points shy of Gregg Barrios’
school-record 87 points scored by a
kicker.
* * *
Kansas’ three points against '
Nebraska were a season low. The
Jayhawks, who had 9 yards rushing
heading into the third quarter, ran
for 72 yards on the day. Nebraska
has held six opponents this season
to 72 yards or fewer rushing.
* * *
Injury report: Tight end Mark
Gilman sprained his ankle and may
miss a couple of days, and I-back
Lawrence Phillips reaggravated his
sprained left ankle. The Huskers
will not practice today.
Compiled by assistant sports editor
Mitch Sherman and senior, reporter
Derek Samson.