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Sports
Monday, April 8, 1996 Page 7
Mitch Sherman
Heart keeps
beating for
NU’s Turman
Matt Turman leaned against the
fence behind the west sidelines of
Memorial Stadium on Saturday af
ternoon, talking to his younger
brother, Seth.
A senior at Wahoo Neumann
High School, Seth gives up four
years but little athletic ability to his
older brother, who, as strange as it
looks, is competing for the'No. 1
quarterback spot on the Nebraska
football team.
Seth stands a good three inches
taller than Matt, can run faster, jump
higher and throw farther than
Nebraska’s lone returning quarter
back with any speakable experi
ence. If Seth, a track star and
standout quarterback, has the heart
of his older brother, someday Seth
will be a great college football
player.
Matt Turman is never going to
be a great college football player.
His career stats— 116 yards rush
ing and 11 pass completions for
169 yards—are a decent game for
Tommie Frazier. But it is unfair to
compare Turman to Frazier.
For that matter, it’s unfair to
compare Turman to Scott Frost, the
man with whom Turman is compet
ing for the No. 1 quarterback job.
Frost is 3 1/2 inches taller and 32
pounds heavier than Turman.
“Size I don’t think is a real big
advantage,” Turman said. “There's
a lot more to it, like experience and
knowing what to do in certain situ
ations. Heart plays a big part in that,
loo.”
Turman’shcartisbig.Ifit wasn’t,
he wouldn’t be Nebraska’s co-No.
1 quarterback. If Turman's heart
wasn't big, he wouldn't be
Nebraska’s co-No. 5 quarterback.
He wouldn’t even be on the Ne
braska football team.
In four years, Turman has been
banged around, knocked on his head
and slammed to the turf dozens of
times, all while managing to earn a
scholarship.
So far this spring, the Wahoo
Wonder has completed only 8 of 24
passcs.Yet he continues to trudge
along.
“I’m just having fun,” he said
Saturday. “I’m excited today be
cause we are scrimmaging, and I
can’t wait until next Saturday when
we get to do it again.”
Of all Nebraska’s quarterbacks,
Turman is the most comfortable
under center and makes the fewest
mistakes, but next fall, he probably
won’t start. He will, however, be a
valuable reserve off the bench and
a team leader.
When Turman lines up behind
Nebraska’s 1,500-pound offensive
line, he has the unmistakable look
of a small child climbing into the
saddle ofan 18-wheeler semi-truck
about to embark on a wild journey
across the plains.
Somehow, Turman always finds
a way to stay on the road.
Sherman Is a junior news-editorial
major and the Daily Nebraskan sports
editor.
Frost pulls ahead in QB race
By Trevor Parks
Senior Reporter
Halfway through spring practice, a
once murky quarterback picture is fi
nally coming into focus for the Ne
braska football team.
Afler the second major scrimmage
of the spring season Saturday, Coach
Tom Osborne said Scott Frost had
emerged as the Cornhuskcrs’ top quar
terback.
“We’ll just have to see how it all
shapes out,” Osborne said. “Scott’s
the most talented right now, but he has
a little bit left to learn about the of
fense.”
No. 1 I-back Ahman Green said
Frost had showed his potential after
two weeks of practice.
“He’s really stepped up in spring
ball, and it’s still going to be an inter
“He’s getting to where everybody knows he is in
control and he knows what he’s doing. ”
AMMAN GREEN
Nebraska l-back
esting battle between those guys,”
Green said. “So far he has done a good
job.
“He’s getting to where everybody
knows he is in control and he knows
what he’s doing.”
At the beginning of Saturday’s
scrimmage, Frost looked as if he could
have a bright future as the Husker
signal caller.
On the first drive, the 6-foot-3,215
pound transfer from Stanford com
pleted two passes while leading the
first-team ofTense against the third
team defense. His first completion was
a 32-yard strike to wingback Jon
Vedral, and the second was a 34-yard
screen pass to fullback Brian Schuster
that went for a touchdown.
After sitting out a scries, Frost re
turned.
This time, he overthrew a wide
open Brendan Holbein, who would
have scored easily on a 70-yard recep
tion. Two plays later, on a third-down
and-7 play from the 33-yard line, Frost
hit Vcdral again for 34 yards.
Alter those three big completions,
the junior-to-be completed only one
more pass, finishing the scrimmage 4
of 12 for 111 yards, with two intercep
tions and one touchdown. He also had
37 yards rushing on four carries. For
the spring, Frost has hit 10 of24 passes
for 200 yards.
No. 4 quarterback Jeff Perino, a
redshirt freshman operating against
backup defensive units, led all quar
terbacks by completing 8 of 11 passes
for 154 yards. Senior co-No. 1 quar
terback Matt Turman was 6 of 11 for
75 yards, and sophomore Monte
Christo completed 5 of 9 passes for 76
yards.
Osborne said he expected the of
fense to have trouble moving the ball,
but he was pleased with its progress.
See FROST on 8
Matt Miller/DN
Nebraska quarterback Matt Turman is chased by Jon Hesse (right) and Jared Tomich on Saturday during Nebraska’s second
scrimmage of the spring. Turman has fallen behind Scott Frost in the Huskers’ quarterback race.
Huskers defeat Kansas twice
From Staff Reports
The 17th-ranked Nebraska soil
ball team took two of three games
from Big 12 rival Kansas at the NU
Softball Complex on Saturday and
Sunday.
The Comhuskers, 25-12 overall
and 3-1 in the Big 12, beat the
Jayhawks (22-13 and 4-3) 6-4 in
nine innings Sunday behind a strong
pitching performance from Angela
Blackwood, who improved her
record to 10-3.
The sophomore from Broken
Arrow, Okla., threw six innings
Sunday, allowing six hits and one
unearned run. Stacie Stafford
pitched the final three innings.
After Kansas look a 4-1 lead in
the top of the seventh inning, the
Huskers scored three in the bottom
of the inning to send the game into
extra frames. Senior Karla Kniccly,
facing Beth Robinson in the bottom
ofthc ninth, pounded the first home
run ofher career to win the game for
Nebraska.
Kniccly provided the Huskers
with offense all day, finishing the
game 4 for 5 with two RBI and two
runs scored.
- On Saturday, Kansas beat Ne
braska 3-2 in the first game of a
doublcheadcr, and the Huskers
came back to win the second game
15-11. Nebraska left fielder Jenny
Smith paced the Huskers in their
win Saturday. The sophomore from
Fort Collins, Colo., went 4 for 4
with a home run, seven RBI and a
run scored.
Stafford, 11-8, started the game
for Nebraska, pitched 3 2/3 innings
and picked up the win. Blackwood
relieved her in the fourth and was
tagged for nine runs on nine hits in
3 1/3 innings. Nebraska scored four
runs in the first, third and fifih in
nings and added one in the seventh
to ice the win.
In Saturday’s first game, the
Jayhawks used a two-run fourth
inning to beat the Huskcrs 3-2.
Stafford pitched a complete game
and took the loss.
NU needs
extra inning
for sweep
By Nikki Markota
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska baseball team swept
a three-game sericxthis weekend from
Oral Roberts, capped off by a dramatic
10-910-inning win in the final game of
the series Sunday at Buck Beltzcr Field.
The Huskers (14-18-1) arc now
riding a four-game winning streak, but
Coach John Sanders said the team
couldn’t relax after the recent wins,
See SWEEP on 8
