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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1995)
Sports Tuesday, November 21, 1995 Page 7 Derek Samson Every week is new low for Sooners Before Oklahoma’s first game this season, i wrote a column rtre dictingthat the Sooncrscoultl come to Lincoln this week with an unde feated record, a ton five rantdng arid hopes of using the final Big Eight game to capture the final Big Eight crown. Instead, Oklahoma already has guaranteed its first losing confer ence record since 1965, along with a non-winning regular season (if it loses to Nebraska to finish 5-5-1), which also happened last in 1965. Thank God no one reads my columns. But how can you blame me? I, too, was wrapped up in Howard Schnellcnberger’s boot camp he conducted before the season. I read Sports Illustrated’.s articles, saying that he had brought a new attitude into Oklahoma. Yes, I also believed that the “Sooner Nation” could be alive and kicking once again. 1 looked at the factual evidence to back my reasoning—the Soon ers returned 18 starters from 1994. With a new coach, new attitude and experienced people, there was no way Oklahoma could go wrong. Well, they did go wrong, and I was wrong. I didn’t take into ac count that the 18 starters the Soon ers returned were just plain bad. Not bad as in Pacific bad, but defi nitely bad by top 25 standards, and lately, bad by Big Eight standards. Schncllenberger ripped on former Sooner coach Gary Gibbs constantly, especially when he called Oklahoma’s 31-6 loss to Brigham Young in last year’s Cop per Bowl “clearly the lowest point in the great history of Oklahoma looioau. But now, the S(X)ners get to ex perience a new lowest point every week. The current “lowest point of Oklahoma football” was its 12-0 loss to Oklahoma State last week, Oklahoma’s first loss to the Cow boys since 1976. It was also the first time the Sooners have been shut out since 1983, and the first time they have been shut out by Oklahoma State since 1945. Before last week, the standing “lowest point in Oklahoma foot ball” was the previous week when the Sooners were destroyed 49-10 by Kansas Stale. Try to imagine the laughter ifany college football fans, especially from Oklahoma, were told that score 10 years ago. Look for the “lowest point in Oklahoma football” to continue its weekly trend Friday. This famed rivalry could turn into a 50-point win for Nebraska on national tele vision. It will be remembered as the last game ofthe Big Eight, a confer ence Oklahoma dominated for many years. Nothing would typify the Sooners’ season better than a 63 -10 Nebraska win. That’s about as low as it gets. j Samson Is a senior news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan senior sports reporter and columnist. End of the Eight . mi -— - Scott Bruhn/DN Nebraska’s Allison Weston will play her 56th and final Big Eight match on Saturday at the Big Eight Tournament. The Huskers play Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Huskers won’t overlook Big Eight Tournament By Mitch Sherman Senior Editor It’s not quite do or die time yet, but the sense of urgency among the mem bers of the Nebraska volleyball team is ucgirimiig iu reach postseason form. “We know this has to be the year senior outside hit ter Billie Winsett said. “The urgency is greater, not only for the seniors, but for everyone else, oecause we Know we should be on top.” At 7:30 p.m., Friday, the No. 1 rankcd Cornhuskers, 25-1, play 19-11 Oklahoma in the first round of the last ever Big Eight Tournament at the Civic Auditorium in Omaha. Iowa State and Colorado will play at 5:30 p.m., Friday in the other semi final, and the finals wi 11 be held Satur day night at 7:30. Nebraska, which hasn’t lost a Big Eight match in two seasons, will be the heavy favorite to capture its 17th tour nament title in 20 years of competi tion. If the Huskers win the title, they almost certainly will be selected as one of four regional hosts in the NCAA Tournament, which begins Nov. 29. As a top seed, Nebraska would re ceive a first-round bye and play Dec. 2 or 3 in a second-round match. The regional semifinals and finals will be held Dec. 7-10 at campus sites. “Usually, this is the point of the season where you divide the good teams from the average teams,” senior All-American middle blocker Allison Weston said. “We know what is out there, whereas last year, we didn’t know because we hadn’t played the competition. We hadn’t gone that far. “This year, we know what we want to do, we know how to do it, and we have the tools to do it.” Husker coach Terry Pettit agreed with Weston. He said Nebraska’s dif ficult schedule, especially in the past month, had prepared the Huskers for the postseason better than in past years. But Pettit said Nebraska, which has defeated nationally ranked Texas, Notre Dame and Florida since Nov. 4, was not looking past the Big Eight | Tournament. “I think there are probably a couple j of other teams in the Big Eight that will go to the NCAA Tournament,” Pettit said, “so it’s not that they are not good teams. It’s that we have'played See BIG 8 on 8 Scott Bruhn/DN Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier will play his 21st and final Big Eight game Friday against Oklahoma. Sad Oklahoma season won’t tarnish rivalry By Derek Samson Senior Reporter Oklahoma already has wrapped up its first losing conference record since 1965, dropping two straight and win ning only twice in its last seven games. But for Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, it’s still Oklahoma. Osborne said he didn’t expect to see any less of an effort from the Sooners when they travel to Lincoln for Friday’s 1:34 p.m. kickoff in Me morial Stadium. “I suspect that it being Nebraska Oklahoma and the last Big Eight foot ball game played, that both squads will play awfully hard,” Osborne said. “They can still go to a bowl game with a win. “It will be important for a lot of reasons. It’s the seniors’ last home game—that has a lot of meaning. It’s Nebraska against Oklahoma — that has a lot of meaning.” Oklahoma is coming off its first loss to Oklahoma State since 1976 and has been outscored 108-40 in its last four games. Osborne, however, said the Soon ers’ recent slide would only enhance their desire to play hard. “I think that probably the loss to Oklahoma State won’t work to our advantage,” he said. “They certainly are going to be determined to end the season on a good note and work very hard. They have to be embarrassed by that.” Nebraska took Oklahoma’s best shot last year as the Sooners played the Cornhuskers to their closest game of the regular season— 13-3. “They have good athletes; they have 17 or 18 starters back which, at times, have played very well,” he said. “They played us about as tough as anyone did last year. That was an intense ball game.” But Nebraska has a trip to the Fi esta Bowl to play for the national title and a third strai ght undefeated regular season on the line. “There are a lot of things going for us,” Osborne said. “We need to play well, and I think we should. I don’t expect us to be down or not to be ready to play this game. I don’t think we will dwell on it, but we do have a lot at stake. So do they.” It also will be the Final game of the Big Eight, which expands to the Big 12 next season. Nebraska and Okla homa, which have either won or shared 34 of the 38 conference titles, will no longer meet every year. “It has determined the Big Eight championship so many times, so I guess that’s what’s made it special,” Osborne said. “It will be kind of sad to see the rivalry end.”
