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Brown;
UT will
beatNU
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas
quarterback Janies Brown boldly
stated Monday that the Longhorns
will beat three-touchdown favorite
Nebraska Saturday in the Big 12
championship game.
“I think we’re going to win by
three touchdowns,” said Brown,
who threw for four scores and 336
yards without an interception in a
51-15 victory over Texas A&M on
Friday. “If they blitz os, and we
make plays against the blitz, we’ll
be all right.
“I’m as confident about this
game as I was going into the A&M
game.”
On paper, Brown figures to have
a long day against the nation’s
fourth-ranked defense, which is giv
ing up just 77.8 yards on the ground
and 232 yards total per game.
“I watched the Colorado game,
and they sacked (Koy) Detmer ev
ery other time he dropped back to
pass,** Brown said. “To sack me,
they’re going to’have to catch me.
“Ifthey bring everyone, it means
they are going to be man-to-pian,
and I don’t think they can cover our
receivers the whole game man-to
man.”
Hanspard wins
Doak Walker
Texas Tech junior Byron
Hanspard was announced as the
winner of the Doak Walker Award
pn Monday, given annually to the
j>est running back in college foot
NCAA history to rush for more than
2.000 yards in a season, edged jun
iors Troy Davis of Iowa State and
Northwestern’s Darnell Autry for
the award.
“It’sjgreat to gbthere with all my
family and fried^s and people I
grew up with,” he said. “It’s an
honor to go back home and receive
the award.”
Hanspard ran for 2,084 yards
this season, but Davis topped him ’
for the Big 12 rushing titld with a
national-best 2,185.
Hanspard’s only statistical edge
over Davis was in yards per attempt,
6.1 to 5.4.
But Hanspard led Ibxas Tech to -
a 7-4 season, compared with 2-9 for
Davis’ Cyclones.
“All I can do is give God praise
for all the blessings he’s given me
and the teammates he’s surrounded
me with,” Hanspard said.
Note:
Hanspard and Davis were both
named to the Football Writers As
sociation All-America team on
Monday. Nebraska rush end Grant
Wistrom and crater Aaron Ihylor
also made the team, along with fel
low Big 12 players Matt Russell of
Colorado and Chris Canty of Kan
sas State.
Pettit pleased
:*f _
with composure
Huskers appear to be
hitting stride at the
right time.
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Staff Reporter
Nebraska Volleyball Coach Terry
Pettit knew at the beginning of the 1996
season that his team had the potential
to accomplish
great things.
Pettit
sensed that this
young Nebraska
team—nine of 12
players are sopho
mores and fresh
men — could
overcane the loss
of four key mem
bers from its 1995
national championship team.
“It was just a refusal to lower our
standards,” Pettit said. “And eventu
ally, we grew into those standards and
we played some great volleyball.”
NU’s great volleyball paid off Sun
day, when the Huskers were awarded
the top seed in the East Region of the
NCAA Tournament. If Nebraska wins
Saturday night at the NU Coliseum
against either Rhode Island a Arkan
sas, the Huskers will play host to a re
gioial tournament for the third straight
season.
In the last four weeks, Pettit said
— particularly last weekend against
Texas and Texas A&M — the indi
vidual pieces of the puzzle have fallen
into place for the Huskers, who appear
to be playing their best at the perfect
time.
1 1 Since tensing to Texas Tech on Oct:
26, NU has won 10 straight matches,
including four against ranked oppo
nents. By defeating eighth-ranked
Texas and No. 16 Texas A&M—nei
ther of which had lost a match at home
— Nebraska secured the conference
title and a top seed in the tournament.
“I said about four weeks ago that
we needed to win all of our matches
M
I always sensed that
this team wanted to
aspire to great
things.”
Terry Pettit
NU volleyball coach
from that point,” Pettit said. “We didn’t
talk about it as a team. We didn’t start
hyperventilating over it or anything.
“Our goal was to win the Big 12,
so we didn’t need to state that again.”
Sophomore setter Fiona Nepo said
the Huskers remained composed dur
ing the season’s stretch run and didn’t
think much about the postseason.
“That was always in the back of our
minds,” Nepo said. “But we just
wanted to concentrate on each match.
I can see the improvement in my play
and also in the team’s. It’s just amaz
ing. The team has improved so much
in the last two weeks.”
Pettit cited several factors in the
improvement, including an increase in
leadership, something he said his team
lacked after its Nov. 22 win over Texas
Tech.
“We got it in several ways,” Pettit
said. “We got it from (Lisa) Reitsma
and her physical play. We got it from
Stacie Maser, someone who hasn’t
played a lot this year but showed what
it means to be an experienced player
by raising her level of play and taking
the team with it.”
Pettit also credited Nebraska’s suc
cess to Nepo’s consistency and the
communication skills of seniors Kate
Cmich and Maria Hedbeck.
“It’s been a gradual but consistent
growth,” Pettit said. “That’s different
than having great athletes or having
great individual skills. That’s a mental
factor, and it’s taken some time to de
velop.
“I always sensed that this team
wanted to aspire to great things.”
NUbowl options abound
BOWLS from page 7
ment Monday. But Reid said the Holi
day Bowl would be happy to have Ne
braska.
But until Sunday, nothing can be
come official, said Paul Hoolahan, ex
ecutive director of the Sugar Bowl, not
even Florida State’s invitation to the
Jan. 2 game in New Orleans. The Semi
noles finished the regular season 11-0
after defeating Florida 24-21 on Sat
urday.
Note:
Nebraska I-back Ahman Green suf
tered a stress fracture in his foot Fri
day against Colorado and probably will
not play Saturday against Texas.
“I think it’s about a done deal,” NU
Coach Tom Osborne said, “but I don’t
know for sure.”
Fellow I-back Damon Benningalso
missed practice on Monday with a
sprained ankle.
Because of the injuries and the Big
12’s 66-man travel roster, fullbacks
Joel Makovicka and Brian Schuster
will practice at I-back this week behind
DeAngelo Evans and Jay Sims.
NU to face test, tonight
HOOPS from page 7
playing well, with all five starters av
eraging at least 10.3 points per game.
Forward Venson Hamilton is coming
off the bench to average 10.7 points
and 8.7 rebounds per game.
Because of injuries to 6-8 forward
Andy Markowski and Florence, the
Huskers are using their third starting
lineup in four games.
After missing the first two games,
Markowski returned to the NU lineup
against Oregon State, scoring five
points and grabbing one rebound.
Although Markowski said he was
out of game shape, he was glad to get
back on the court. After watching two
games from the bench, he said he no
ticed that NU is playing enthusiasti
cally; this season.
“Each game we've had a different
type of team to play against,”
Markowski said. “We are just going off
what the coaches say about the person
nel and play to the scouting report We
hope to improve on certain aspects, and
so far in the past three games, we have
done that.
Ttois is no time to turn back. muff
Keep MDA’S lifesaving research Muscular Dystrophy Association
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1-800-572-1717
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