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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1996)
NU aims to rebound HUUFS from page 9 Friday, but their first true test will come against the Huskers, Weber State Coach Ron Abegglen said. “Pepperdine had some experi enced players back,” Abegglen said, “but it was a home game, nothing to get too excited about. We have a young ball club, and we wanted to take them on the road early. We’re looking at it as a learning experi ence.” The young Wildcats will start just one senior, Ryan Cuff. Against Pepperdine, Weber State received 25 points off the bench from fresh men Nathan Miller and Ryan Jama. Abegglen said the Wildcats are counting on their young players to continue to play well, “(Nebraska) has a great front line that should help them a little bit,” Abegglen said. “They have the experience advantage up front.” The Huskers will be led up front by seniors Bernard Garner and Mikki Moore, who combined for 25 points and 17 rebounds against the LonghornS. Moore also blocked a career-high seven shots. Sophomore forward Venson Hamilton also played well for Ne braska, scoring 14 points and grab bing 11 rebounds. But Nebraska will need to improve on the mis takes it made against Texas, Nee said. “The key is winning—finding a way to win,” Nee said. “The game was on the line, and I think the big thing was turnovers. We beat our selves with 25 turnovers. We won’t be a good basketball team if we don’t cut down on the turnovers.” Despite the turnovers, Nee said he was pleased with NU’s four new comers, playing in their first-regu lar season game. True freshman Cookie Belcher scored nine points and sophomores Larry Florence and Alvin Mitchell, r&l I F 5 Larry Florence 6-5 225 So. G 30 Cookie Bekfeor 6-3 200 Fr. I_ :l who were academically ineligible last season, combined for 15. TVoy Piatkowski was the only first-year player not to score in his debut. “I’m not happy with the way I’m playing right now,” Piatkowski said. “I need some confidence. I’m just a little timid. I need to get some points on the board. But that will eventu ally come, so I’m not feeling any pressure.” Piatkowski said the young Husk ers will learn from their loss, but they definitely need to bounce back with a victory tonight. “Weber State is a good solid bas ketball team,” Nee said. “They have some good athletes. We think they’ll be good competition.” Nebraska will continue its htHTie stretch this weekend, playing host to Oregon State Saturday at 7:05 p.m. NU women to face S. Utah tonight By Jay Saunders StaffReporter The Nebraska women’s basket ball team will experience many firsts tonight when it plays host to Southern Utah in an 8:05 pm game at the Bob Devaney Sports Crater. The game will be not only be the first home game for the Comhuskers, but it will also be the ■ first home appearance for five NU freshmen. The game will also mark the first time that the women’s team has ever played directly after the men’s team, which will face Weber State at 6:05 pm Tonight’s twin bill is the first of the double-headers this season. Southern Utah (1 -1) is playing its third-straight game against a Big 12 opponent. The Thunderbirds lost to Oklahoma State by 53 points last Friday and then came back to beat Oklahoma 64-63 the next night. “Southern Utah is kind of ascary team,” NU Coach Angela Beck said. “They are capable of beating you. It is a team that can really do some damage.” The Huskers are coming off a season-opening 79-70 win at Illi nois State last Saturday. “It is nice to have a win under our belts,” forward Kate Benson said. “It gives us good experience, biit we have to remember the sea son has just started.” That also holds true for the five Husker freshmen who will make their home debuts tonight. “They will be excited, but I am not expecting any less of a calming effect,” Beck said. “They have pre pared mentally to get here.” jpC Forward Charlie Rogers may 1 ■ I F 22 Tina McClain 5-10 Sr. G 20 LaTogra Doage 5-6 Sr. have an advantage over same of the freshmen. Rogers, from South Sioux City, has played at the Devaney Center before, leading her high school to back-to-back state championships. “It is kind of an advantage not only playing here before, but hav ing people I know in the crowd,” Rogers said. “It is an extra incen tive,” _ One of the keys to the game could be turnovers, Beck said. The Huskers turned the ball over 24 times against Illinois State. Beck said she would like to see that num ber drop below 20. NU will play host to Bucknell, Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo and St. Louis, Triday and Saturday in the CableVisicn Classic. Colorado seeks respect before Friday’s battle Burro from page B fully, we are the same way. It will be interesting.” * Nebraska also has momentum en tering the game, Neuheisel said. After losing to Arizona State on Sept. 21, the Huskers have won eight-straight games and out-scored those opponents 413 71. Along with momentum, the Husk ers also have experience. Before the game Friday, Nebraska will recognize 24 seniors. During their four years, the seniors have compiled a 45-2 record, won three conference titles and two national championships. They have won more games than any group of four-year players in Division-I football. “Nebraska is an extremely talented team,” Neuheisel said. “They have put new parts into the machinery this year a. ,_■ and Scott Frost has improved. They are hitting their stride at the right time.” ma A By Trevor Parks Senior Reporter Colorado quarterback Koy Detmer is haunted by the memory of his first start fpur years ago at Memorial Sta dium. Detmer, then a true freshman for the Buffaloes, started his first collegiate game — in place of Kordell Stewart — on Oct. 31, 1992, when No. 8 CU visited the Comhuskers, who were also ranked eighth. What happened in the next three and-a-half hours on that Halloween evening remains a blur to Detmer, now a senior starting his 18th gamefor CU Friday afternoon in Lincoln. “It all started off on the wrong foot and things just got worse from there,” he said. “That’s all I want to remem ber.” To refresh his memory, his first pass of the game was intercepted by Travis Hill—one of three passes Detmer had picked off in the game — setting the tone for the Huskers’ 52-7 thrashing of the Buffs. rv-x__x>_rt_l _ l^vuiiwi gwia vuiv final vuaiiwv vu exorcise the demons that spooked him when No. 5 Colorado plays fourth ranked Nebraska for the right to repre sent the North Division in the Big 12 championship game, Dec. 7 in St. Louis. Since that 1992 game, Detmer has become four years older and much, much wiser. After redshirting in 1993 and back ing up Stewart in 1994, Detmer finally took command of the CU offense last season—only to see his year cut short when he tore a knee ligament during a win over Texas A&M. Two weeks later, he re-injured his knee in a loss to Kansas, ending his junior season. With the exception of a poor per formance in Colorado’s 20-13 loss to Michigan on Sept. 14, Detmer has had a tremendous senior season. The 6-foot,-1, 185-pounder from Mission, Texas, has completed 60 per cent of his passes, throwing for 2,930 yards and 22 touchdowns. In his five year career, he ranks second in pass ing yards (5,164), first in touchdown passes (40) and third in total offense (5,135) in the Colorado record books. ‘Tve grown by leaps and bounds,” Detmer said. “I’ve grown up physically as well as mentally. Playing more and more games has given me a lot of ex perience.” CU Coach Rick Neuheisel said Detmer should be a Heisman TVophy candidate, although it is unlikely Detmer will be invited to the Down town Athletic Club in New York next month. Heisman hopes aside, Detmer just wants to play well Friday. Opponent KAJCmpJkL Yards IDs orafeSt 42/81/0 864 2 Texas A&M 27/16 II 246 2 Kanna 36/1713 244 2 Missouri 33/19/1 457 3 Kansas St 22/15 /1 136 0 “It’s a great opportunity for all of us to play Nebraska,” Detmer said. “For the seniors, this is our last chance to beat them. The Nebraska game had always been an elusive one for us.” The Buffs’ 18 seniors have never beaten the Huskers. But this group has had a lot of suc cess, especially on the road. Since Neuheisel replaced Bill McCartney after the 1994 season, CU has not lost a road game. The Buffs are 10-0 with wins at Wisconsin, Kan sas State and Texas A&M. “We have a really good focus on the road,” Detmer said. “We know we are going into an opponent’s home sta dium, and we feed off the energy from their crowd. “At home, our fans start out mel low and wait until something big hap pens. When you’re on the road, you are the team everyone hates.” But CU has not yet encountered a test like it will face Friday. “One thing I can say is that they have no weaknesses,” Detmer said. “If you run the ball, you are going against the No. 4 defense. If you throw the ball, you are going against the No. 7 team. Either way, that is not very good odds.” The odds have the Buffaloes as 17 point underdogs, but Detmer said his team will be ready to play. Despite September losses by both teams, the North Division champion will still have a shot to win the national title in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2. “I’m sure both teams feel a little disappointed with each of us having a loss,” Detmer said. “The thing both teams can say is that they came bade from losses and responded well. Nei ther team has fallen apart.” Trevor Parks NU fens to miss 23 seniors after amazing st ink For 23 seniors, Nebraska’s battle with Colorado on Friday will be the final time to wear a scarlet and cream uniform in Memorial Sta dium. However, this isn’t an ordinary group of ball players. These 23 individuals' have helped Nebraska to a 45-2 record, two national championships and three Big Eight titles. Before they leave, they have a few items left on their agenda—like three more vic tories, the first-ever Big 12 Confer ence title and a third national cham pionship. Of the 23 who will'be honored before the game as they run out of the southwest tunnel at Memorial Stadium before a raucous crowd of 75,000, 18 have made their share of good plays in NU’s 21-1 record over the past two seasons. These players have grown up to gether. Only four players — Jared Tomich who missed the 1993 sea son after he didn’t meet academic requirements, Mike Fullman who transferred from Rutgers and has played only two seasons at NU, Michael Booker and Jamel Will iams, who never tedshirted after coming to Nebraska in 1993 — haven’t followed the same path. “It’s going to be extremely ex citing for me, and hopefully, it will be one of the greatest games that I ever play,” Tomich said. “It’s go ing to be real depressing when I walk off that field after the game. It’s amazing how fast everything has gone by.” Jon Hesse, one of Tomich’s de fensive mates, said it seems like decades ago when he signed a let ter of intent to play for Nebraska in February 1992. witn a record ot 45-2, it s hard to ignore the fact that there is some thing special about this group. “You’ll look back cm that record in five, 10, 15 years and you will appreciate it a lot more,” Tomich said. “Right now it doesn’t seem like that much, because we are out there doing the best that we can.” The most important years of these players’ lives are ahead of them, but Tomich said playing for Nebraska has been the most reward ing experience of his 22 years. “It’s the last time I’m ever go ing to step on that field in front of that crowd,” he said. “That can kind of shake you up a little bit.” Whenever Hesse leaves a game at Memorial Stadium, he stands on the sidelines and soaks up the at mosphere surrounding Nebraska football. It’s something he partially missed in his first three seasons while battling for playing time. “I’m trying to grab that feeling that I am playing for Nebraska,” Hesse said. “We just won two na tional championships. I’m in a packed house at Memorial Stadium , and there is nothing like it. “It’s going to be something that * I am going to miss when I am gone.” Nebraska fans will miss these se niors too. Parks is a senior news-edito rial major and a Daily Nebraskan senior reporter.
