Sports
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Tuesday, April 23, 1996 Page 9
Gregg Madsen
Unheralded
backs learn
to survive
Steve Raymond and Chad
Eicher were running down a dream
this spring — the dream of playing
I-back for Nebraska.
This unknown tandem shared
the No. 2 and No. 3 I-back spots
for the majority of spring practice
because of injuries to James Sims
and Damon Benning.
Raymond, a redshirt freshman in
the fall, was the second I-back on
the white offense in Saturday’s
spring game, backing up the recov
ered Sims.
but ticner, listed as tne no. j i
back on the red squad behind starter
Ahman Green and Benning, did not
have a chance to run the ball in the
red team’s 20-17 victory.
He was filling out an answer
sheet for the Medical College Ad
missions Test. Eicher, a junior trans
fer from UNO, said missing the
game was a disappointment, but it
wouldn’t erase the progress he
made this spring.
“I think I’ve shown that mentally
I can keep up and physically I can
run the plays,” Eicher said. “I know
I definitely have the ability to play
I-back.”
At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds,
Eicher may be better suited for full
back.
“I came in kind of wanting to do
that,” he said. “I really like carry
ing the ball, but fullback is defi
nitely a possibility.”
Fullback also could be a possi
bility for Raymond, who has bulked
up to 205 pounds after coming to
Nebraska at 185.
“I’ve really been working hard
on the weights.” Raymond said.
“But coming here I knew I needed
to just survive.”
1 his spring, Raymond nas done
more than just survive.
He gained 135 yards on 35 car
ries and scored three touchdowns
in the Huskers’ four scrimmages
this spring.
A 1,000-yard rusher as a junior
in high school, Raymond tore his
posterior cruciate ligament before
his senior year at Gering.
“I didn’t have to convince any
one," Raymond said. “I think more
than anything else, I needed to show
myself I could play here.”
Raymond and Eicher both said
they weren’t worried about what
would happen next fall when high
school All-American running back
DeAngelo Evans arrives in Lincoln.
If Evans doesn’t redshirt,
Raymond and Eicher will drop even
further on the depth chart.
Neither Raymond nor Eicher has
the breakaway speed of Green, the
athleticism of Sims, the experience
of Benning or the reputation of
Evans.
But they do have something as
large as any other player on the
team — a love for the game.
And for now, that’s enough.
Madsen is a sophomore news-edito
rial major and a Dally Nebraskan staff
reporter.
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Matt Miller/DN
Nebraska quarterback Jeff Perino eludes the grasp of Chad Kelsay on Saturday during the spring game. Perino decided to
not wear No. 18 Saturday out of respect to former Husker Brook Berringer.
QB follows Berringer’s example
By Trevor Parks
Senior Reporter
As of Saturday morning,
Comhusker jersey No. 18 was set
to run onto the Memorial Stadium
turf again.
But quarterback JefFPerino, who
had been wearing Brook
Berringer’s old number throughout
the spring, said he felt it wouldn’t
be right to wear it on a day when
the Nebraska football program
mourned the loss of its former quar
terback.
Berringer was killed in a plane
crash Thursday near Raymond. His
funeral was held Monday in
Goodland, Kan.
Right after the pregame meet
ings Saturday, Perino told quarter
backs coach Turner Gill that he
didn’t feel comfortable wearing No.
18.
“I said, 'I don’t know why, but I
didn’t feel like I should be wearing
this,”’ Perino said. “For whatever
reasons I decided to change my
number. That’s his number, and it’s
a part of him.”
So Gill called down to the equip
ment room and found another white
jersey for Perino, a redshirt fresh
man. Almost every Cornhusker
wore a black T-shirt with a white
No. 18 printed on the front, though.
During Saturday’s spring game,
Perino wore No. 5, a change that
he said probably wouldn’t become
permanent.
Perino completed 5 of 11 passes
for 66 yards and rushed for minus
13 yards, but he said he was having
a tough time concentrating on foot
ball. Perino was Nebraska’s lead
ing passer in two of its four major
scrimmages this spring.
“We really cared about him,”
Perino said of Berringer. “Every
body who plays for this team and
comes through this program is like
family, and we care a lot about
them.”
When Perino came to Lincoln
from Durango, Colo., last summer,
he Was recovering from knee sur
gery and ended up spending two
weeks in Berringer’s home.
Because Perino could not move
into the residence halls until shortly
before classes began, he slept on
Berringer’s fold-out couch. The two
quarterbacks talked football after
Berringer returned home from two
a-day practices in the fall.
“He’d come home and he was
tired and we’d sit down with a glass
of iced tea,” Perino said. “We talked
a lot about football.”
In his first spring, Perino has
looked like Berringer at times.
Perino redshirted last season af
ter knee surgery last summer.
Berringer also redshirted his first
season in 1991. After his redshirt
season, Berringer was 6-foot-4 and
200 pounds, not far from Pcrino’s
6-2,195-pound frame.
Both Berringer and Perino have
often talked about their love for
hunting and the outdoors. Perino
said he played with Berringer’s
hunting dogs many times.
Last fall, Perino was a scout
' See PERINO on 11
Ideus decides to leave
• «■
By Trevor Parks
Senior Reporter
Chad Ideus didn’t want to stay
at a place where he didn’t feel wel
come.
So after finding out he wouldn’t
play, even though his scholarship
was renewed, he decided to trans
fer from the Nebraska basketball
program.
Ideus became the second
Comhusker to transfer, following
center Leif Nelson, who decided in
the first week of April to leave Ne
braska.
Ideus said he had a meeting with
Coach Danny Nee the morning of
April 9, but that afternoon he said
he did not want to leave Nebraska.
“When I went into him, he said,
' You’re not going to play and you’re
not going to fit in,”’ Ideus said. “It
just came down to he wasn’t going
to play me, and I don’t understand
because he never gave me a
chance.”
The 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman
from Adams committed to Ne
braska after his junior year. He
played in only 10 games last sea
son, averaging 2.7 points and 1.5
rebounds per game.
After meeting with Nee, Ideus said
he hadn’t yet made a decision.
“I’m looking forward to being
here next year,” Ideus said on April
9 after his meeting with Nee. “If for
some reason I’m not here next year,
it won’t be by my choice.”
Ideus said the point of that meet
ing was to make sure Nee knew he
was not going to transfer.
“I knew I wanted to stay, but I
also had to think about it,” Ideus
said. “I also wanted to say that what
happened in February shouldn’t
have happened. I was just caught
up in the middle of it.”
Ideus was referring to Feb. 13,
when nine of 11 players went to
Athletic Director Bill Byrne to
voice their concerns about Nee.
“He (Nee) didn’t see me fitting
into the system,” Ideus said. “I was
doing what the team was doing, and
I got singled out.”
But why not ask Nee to termi
nate his scholarship instead of sit
ting on the bench and not playing?
“Either way, it doesn’t matter,”
Ideus said, “but maybe this way he
can cover his butt. I’m moving on
to be around people I trust, and a
big reason why I am leaving is to
enjoy basketball again.”
Nebraska Wesleyan and Ne
braska-Kearney are two schools
Ideus has shown interest in. Ideus
said he did not want to transfer to
another Division-I school because
he would lose a year of eligibility.
Nebraska, which now has two
scholarships available, is still in the
running for Kris Hunter, a 6-10,
210-pound center from Tallahassee,
Fla. Hunter averaged 15.5 points,
14 rebounds and eight blocks per
game.
Hunter’s coach, Ronnie Lang,
said Hunter canceled his visit to
Georgia scheduled for last week
end. Other schools besides Ne
braska that are still in the running
are Florida State, South Florida,
Virginia and Auburn. Hunter will
make a decision later this week,
Lang said.
NU golfers
in 3-way
tie for first
From Staff Reports
After the first two rounds of the Big
Eight men’s golf tournament in
Hutchinson, Kan., Nebraska is in a
three-way tie for the lead with one 18
hole round left Tuesday.
The Cornhuskers are tied with
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State for
first place with a score of 299. On
Monday, Nebraska was led by junior
Trent Morrison and freshman Josh
Madden, who are tied for fifth place
at 150.
Sophomore Ryan Nietfeldt shot a
153, and was followed by freshman
Steve Friesen with a 162.
Going into the final round of the
women’s conference tournament in
Des Moines, Iowa, the Huskers are in
fourth place, 36 strokes behind Okla
homa State. Iowa State is second and
Missouri is third.
Nebraska sophomore Rachelle
Tacha is tied for first place heading into
the final round with a score of 154.