1 I,
Rutz to play
second fiddle
one more time
Poor Ben Rutz.
The Kansas/North eastern Okla
homa A&M/Nebraska quarterback
just can’t seem to get a break.
He was was highly recruited out
of Oklahoma City by Nebraska and
came to Lincoln in 1992 with high
expectations.
Rut aft<»r rrwnina “within a hair”
of winning the starting quarterback
job — as NU Defensive Backs
Coach George Darlington put it ear
lier this week — Rutz settled for a
redshirt year.
Some young man named
Tommie Frazier won the job.
During spring drills of 1993,
Rutz split time with Frazier running
the first-team offense.
Rutz tore his anterior cruciate
ligament in a non-contact drill, and
even though Rutz was ready to play
that fall, Comhusker Coach Tom
Osborne and the entire state had al
ready fallen in love with this Frazier
kid.
So after playing four games as a
Husker, Rutz read die writing on the
wall and transferred.
After a season of junior college
ball in Miami, Okla. — where he
led the Northeastern Oklahoma
A&M to the National Junior Col
lege Athletic Association champi
onship game — Rutz found a new
home with the Jayhawks.
Once he landed in Lawrence,
Rutz played mop-up duty as Mark
Williams became KU’s No. 1 man
and led Kansas to an impressive 10
2 record last fall.
This year, all the bad luck was
supposed to change. This was the
season for which Rutz had dreamed
his whole life. He was to be the start
ing quarterback at a Division-I
school in his senior year.
However, fate had a different
plan. Rutz tore his ACL again dur
. ing spring drills. Determined not to
let it get him down, he made a quick
recovery.
But not quick enough. Junior
Matt Johner moved into Rutz’s job,
and this season Rutz has had to
settle for the backup spot—again.
Last week in KU’s 20-7 loss to
Colorado, Rutz may have finally
wrestled the job away from Johner.
And this week, Jayhawk Coach
Glen Mason has hinted that Rutz
may start his first game ever on Sat
urday night.
What a fitting reward that would
be for Rutz,
But like a new page from an old
book, Rutz’s chance to shine Satur
day will have to wait a few minutes
longer. Nebraska is retiring
Frazier’s jersey before the game.
Kind of fitting, isn’t it?
Cheer up Ben, that may not be
as bad as the punishment you take
the rest of the day from the
Blackshirts.
; - , y"'- :i~ • •
Kindt is a graduate student in
journalism and a Daily Nebras
Jayhawk star back
Henley will not play
Saturday night.
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
Through Nebraska’s current 26
game conference winning streak, the
Comhuskers have defeated their oppo
nents by an average score of 38-11.
During that span, only two confer
ence teams have come within 10 points
of defeating the Huskers, Colorado 21 -
17 and Kansas 21-20, both in 1993.
Only an incomplete two-point-conver
sion pass prevented the Jayhawks de
feating Nebraska in Lawrence, Kan.
Saturday, the Jayhawks (3-3 over
all and 1-2 in the Big 12) try (Mice again
to end the Husker streak when they face
Nebraska (5-1 and 3-0) at 6 pan.
The game will be the fifth-ranked
Huskers’ second night game this sea
son and first at Memorial Stadiumsince
Nov. 9, 1992,
when the Huskers
defeated Kansas
49-7. Nebraska
lost to Arizona
State 19-0 earlier
this season, a night
game in Tempe,
Ariz.
A win for Ne
braska would be
their 34th con- Henley
secutive at home and break a school
record for consecutive home victories.
. The Jayhawks, meanwhile, are try
ing to end a 27-game losing streak to
Nebraska. They will have to do it with
out senior running back June Henley,
their leading rusher.
Henley was suspended Thursday by
Coach Glen Masai after being ticketed
for driving under the influence of al
cohol and various other violations.
Henley ranks fourth in the Big 12
and seventh nationally in rushing, av
eraging 131.7 yards per game.
“Naturally, it doesn’t help them to
lose him,” Nebraska Coach Tom
Osborne said. “I wouldn’t say Kansas
is diminished by that much. We played
one game without Ahman Green.”
In three games against NU, Henley
has rushed for 248 yards and two
touchdowns on 60 attempts.
Without Henley, running the ball
may become difficult for Kansas. The
Jayhawks will start junior Eric Vann,
who has 125 yards and one touchdown
this season.
In addition to playing without their
top back, the Jayhawks will also face a
Husker defense that ranks in the
nation’s top 10 in all four major de
fensive categories.
The Husker defense hasn’t allowed
a touchdown since its 65-9 win over
Colorado State on Sept. 28. Despite
their success, the Blackshirts still have
room to improve, Osborne said.
“The defense made some great
plays and certainly kept (Texas Tech)
Please see KU on 13
. ...
JARED TOMICH and Terrell Farley stop Texas Tfech tailback Byron Hanspard last Saturday in Nil’s 24-10 victory. ScoTr Bruhn/dn
boccerteam
can clinch
league title
By Vince IPAdamo
StaffReporter
The fifth-ranked Nebraska soccer
team (15-0 overall and 7-0 in the Big
12) looks to clear its biggest remain
ing hurdle in its quest to win the first
ever Big 12 regular-season title.
The Comhuskers take on Baylor
(12-1-1 and 5-1-1) today at 3 p.m. in
Waco, Texas, and closes out the Big
12 regular season against Texas Tech
(11-5 and 4-3) Sunday at 1 p.m. in
Lubbock, Texas. ~
“It’s what we need,” NU Coach
John Walker said. “We’re looking for
ward to playing two tough games.
We’re jping to have to play well de
With a win today, NU can clinch
the league title and earn the top seed
in the conference tournament
----
Please see SOCCER on 13 i
.
NU concentrates
on Baylor, Tech
- I-1
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Staff Reporter
No matter who the Nebraska
volleyball team faces each week in
the Big 12, Coach Terry Pettit said,
the possibility of a competitive
match is much greater than it was
just one season ago in the Big Eight.
“We would sometimes go three <
or four weeks without a competi- '
tive opponent,” Pettit said. “Now, 1
we have to play, hard every week 1
just to stay competitive.
“People shouldn’t be surprised t
if every match we have on the road <
is competitive.” 1
No. 5 Nebraska (16-2 overall t
and 8-0 in the league) travels to -
Texas this weekend to take on -
Baylor (14-8 and 3-5) tonight at c
7:30 and Tfexas Tech (19-2 and 6
2) Saturday at 7 p.m. The
■AjiimuaiKaa, wuo uwn on 1}-match
/inning streak, are making their
irst-ever appearances in Waco and
Aibbock.
NU is ridinghigh after claiming l
ae conference lead last weekend by
efeating No. 10 Texas and No. 11
fexas A&M. But die Huskers know
tie dangers of looking past Baylor
-which owns a 7-1 recced at home
—and No. 20 Tbxas Tech, winners
if a league-high 19 matches this
Please see VOLLEY on 14
l
’Yanks shock
Braves; snag
Series lead
ATLANTA (AP)—The New York
Yankees might miss this ballpark even
more than the Atlanta Braves.
Andy Petti tte outpitched John
Smoltz in a classic duel Thursday
night, and the Yankees moved within
one win of the World Series champi
onship by hanging on for a 1 -0 victory
ovec Atlanta in Game 5.
In the last game ever to be played
at Atlanta-Fujton County Stadium, the
Yankees finished this postseason 8-0
on die road, dramatically shifting the
momentum of a Wald Series thought
by many to be over after two games.
They got the 3-2 Series lead by
waking around a leadoff double in the
ninth inning by Chipper Jones.
Now, they'll return to Yankee Sta
Please see SERIES on 13
