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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1996)
Sports Opinion Trevor Parks Human should get his chance to run offense Tuesday, for the second time in four days, Scott Frost did not show up. Frost’s first disappearing act was Saturday night inTempe, Ariz. This time, he was a no-show for the Comhusker football team’s weekly press conference. But as eighth-ranked Nebraska prepares to play Colorado State, the quarterback picture is crystal clear. Scott’s the man, and that’s the word from the coach. When asked Tuesday about backup Matt Turman, Coach Tom Osborne whipped out his shortest answer of the day —11 words about No. 11. Osborne blamed some of the 19 0 Husker loss to Arizona State on poor offensive communication. Isn’t that the quarterback’s fault? Maybe the coach is quickly jump ing to conclusions about his start ing quarterback. Turman deserves a chance. He is more experienced and most im portantly, he is more confident. Frost has a 1-3 record as a start ing quarterback. This year, he has CQmpleted 11 of 32 passes, 34.4 percentage with zero confidence. The main factor, however, is that Frost is not a leader. As he ran onto the grass Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium, someone near the Cornhusker sideline shouted, “Good luck Scott.” Said Frost: “Luck? We don’t need luck.” frost needed more man iuck. Over the next three hours, Turman watched as Frost ran the NU offense into the ground. With 3 minutes and 40 seconds to play — about 15 minutes too late — Turman got his chance. “When I came in the game,” Turman said, “there was a TV timeout. I told the offense, 'We’re going to move the ball down, and we are scoring. Nebraska football never gets shut out, and we’re not going to get shut out.’ They took that to heart.” If not for a fumble at the 6-yard line, die Huskers would have scored against an ASU defense trying des perately to preserve its shutout. The NU offense will play for Tinman. Will it play for Frost? While Frost was at Stanford, three wide receivers met with Cardinal Coach Bill Walsh asking for a quar terback change. Maybe that’s why Frost started four games at safety. Tinman, NU’s most accurate passer, is 5-foot-ll but has a big heart. And he can run the offense. It’s been almost two years since Husker fans were scared to death of seeing Turman start. Soon, they’ll be demanding it. I am saying it, too. Bench Frost. Go with die true leader. . Parks is a senior news-edito rial major and a Daily Nebraskan senior reporter. Matt Miller/DN TOM OSBORNE said Tuesday that every offensive player made two or three mistakes against Arizona State, contributing to NlPs 19-0 loss. Benning blames ‘attitude’ osborne says Frost is not at fault for offensive struggles. By David Wilson Staff Reporter Saturday’s 19-0 loss to Arizona State was a reality check for the Ne braska football team, senior I-back Damon Benning said Tuesday. “I think Arizona State was kind of a good thing,” Benning said. “It taught us a lesson about taking things for granted.” Benning, who had never lost a regular-season game before Saturday, said the loss had little to do with the Comhuskers’ talent level. “Everybody seems to think its about personnel, Benning said. •“But it’s not. It’s about attitude. “It was one night of one sea son of one year, and I think people need to remember that. We haven’t given up on our selves.” Banning Much of the , blame has been wrongfully placed on quarterback Scott Frost, Benning said. “People are accustomed to Tommie Frazier, but it’s a different team with a different quarterback,” Benning said. In his second game as a Husker, Frost completed just 6 of 20 passes for 66 yar^s and was sackedsixtimesv - Coach Tom Osborne said that ev ery player on offense made two or three mistakes and that he is at fault as much as any individual player. Frost played well considering that he has been a part of the Husker pro gram for just 1 Vi seasons, Osborne said. “He was under a lot of pressure,” Osborne said. “He didn’t play a bad football game. It wasn’t a great game, but it was solid. Believe me, I’d tell you if Scott was the problem.” Senior Matt Turman entered the game in Nebraska’s final possession and directed a 67-yard drive — Nebraska’s longest of the game. But Osborne said Frost will definitely start Saturday against Colorado State. “He’s thebeslwe’vegot ” Osborne said, “and that’s the bottom line.’’ Of the offensive mistakes made by the Huskers, Osborne said, many were communication problems in part be cause of the loud Arizona State crowd. Nebraska fumbled six times and rushed for only 130 yards. I-back Ahman Green, who carried the ball 20 times for 87 yards, said signals and miscommunication played a big part in the lack of offensive pro duction. “We just couldn’t get things go ing,” Green said. “It was really loud Please see FOOTBALL on 8 Huskers up 1 spot, look to 12-1KSU From Staff Reports The Nebraska volleyball team climbed one spot to No. 7 in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches' poll released Tuesday. The Comhuskers swept 24th ranked Colorado State and Iowa last weekend at the NU Coliseum. Nebraska will play its first two Big 12 matches this weekend, fac ing Kansas Friday and Kansas State Saturday at the coliseum. No. 1 Hawaii, which beat the Huskers in three games last month, is 12-0 and received all 59 first place votes in the latest rankings. The Huskers' opponent Satur day, Kansas State, is off to its best start in school history. The 12-1 Wildcats, who also beat Iowa and Colorado State at the First Bank In vite in Lincoln, received votes for the top 25 this week. KSU is led by senior Kate DeQerk, who is hitting a red-hot .463 this fall. She hit .889 against Colorado State on Friday and earned the Big 12 player-of-the week and AVCA national-player of-the-week honors. 12. Notre Dame Mavmount Barbara DeClerk, however, was not named the most valuable player of oileybali 9-2 the First Bank InVite. That honor went to Nebraska’s Fiona Nepo. Unbeaten NU jumps three spots to 10th From Staff Reports Two weekend victories earned the Nebraska soccer team a three-spot jump in the USA Today Coaches’ poll released Tuesday. The Comhuskers, 7-0, are ranked No. 10 and play sixth-ranked Texas A&M Sunday at the Abbott Sports Complex. The Aggies, 8-0, are the highest ranked Big 12 team and are ranked No. 1 — one spot ahead of die Huskers — in the NSCAA Central Region ratings, which are used to determine seedings for the NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M finished 18-6 a year ago. Nebraska, which defeated Vanderbilt and Colorado College last weekend, is shooting for a school record eighth consecutive victory Fri day night at 7 against Texas, also at the Abbott Sports Complex. The Huskers have o\itscored their oppo nents 39-6 this season. Two Husker victims, Vanderbilt and Duke,, are also ranked in the latest poll. Duke, 3-3-1, is ranked 16th, and 4-4 Vanderbilt, which lost in double overtime to Nebraska on Sunday, en tered the rankings at No. 22. Nebraska junior Kari Uppinghouse USA Today Top 25 s 2 Notre Dame (2) i 6. Texas A&M 8 Massachusetts 10. Nebraska 12. St 14, 16. 18. Woconsin Ames Madison 22. Vanderbilt 24. Buder 8-0-0 7-1-0 8-0-0 6-0-0 7-0-0 5-0-1 4-3-0 # 4-2-0 4-4-0 is now among the nation’s top 10 scor ers after recording 10 points in NU’s last two wins. Uppinghouse, a midfielder, leads Nebraska with 23 points, eight goals and seven assists.