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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1997)
Trevor Paries Huskersuse Orange Bowl to salvage pride MIAMI—Will Nebraska come to play? llie question arose so many times before what seemed like a meaningless Dec. 31 Orange Bowl that the Nebraska players and coaches were almost appalled to answer it. You couldn’t blame them if they were taking this game lightly. With no national title at stake, for die first time in three bowl games, motiva tion had to come from within. You could forgive them because less than a Scott Frost pass away from the team hotel was an even bigger distraction — the beach. It must have been hard to run out on the field, look up in the stands and see 20,000-plus empty orange seats. The last time NU played in front of that many no-shows was when the north end zone of Memo rial Stadium, was closed for the Spring Game. Everybody asked if we were going to come tq play and how jwe were going to get motivated,” se nior I-back Damon Berining said. “I think it’s ridiculous. Anytime you come from the type of program that we come from and you play for the coach that we do you always come prepared.” So instead of just talking up the Orange Bowl—as the Comhuskers have done in the past before bowl games that don’t mean anything ex cept pride — NU responded with a lesson for wanna-be football power Virginia Tech. The Huskers taught the Fighting Gobblers a thing or two about the big time. Virginia Tech slated this game as a landmark for its program: beat two-time defending champion NU and earn a spot among the nation’s elite. Maybe the Huskers used that for motivation. Nebraska spoiled the Hokies’ finest hour 41-21 that night and gave Virginia Tech a wake-up call. In the end, the Orange Bowl’s significance turned out to be bigger than expected. “There was a lot more riding on this game than people thought,” Benning said. “Just because it wasn’t for the national champion- ' ship it doesn't mean it wasn’t a big game.” A program that has won 47 of its last 50 games. A school that in 10 Orange Bowl games under Coach Tom Osborne won for only its third trophy. A program still stunned by a loss to Texas in die Big 12 championship game. Senior Jon Hesse said losing to Virginia Tech would overshadow the accomplishments of the past four seasons. “We just played so badly in our last game,” Hesse said. “As a se nior class to go out as losers it would be a shame with the kind of record we had in the last four years.” Turns out there was a lot to play for after all. Parks is a post-graduate stu dent and the Daily Nebraskan sports editor. Huskers use an offensive explosion to win their third straight bowl game. MIAMI - Like everybody else on New Year’s Eve night, Nebraska rang out the old and looked forward to a prosperous new year. The Comhuskers ushered in the new year the same way they began it, with a win. This time NU beat Virginia Tech 41-21 in front of a sparse crowd of 51,212 fans at the 63rd annual Or ange Bowl and with little fanfare com pared to last season’s Fiesta Bowl. The Huskers finished their season with an 11-2 record but without a na tional title for the first time since 1993. NU salvaged its pride by scoring 17 unanswered second half points, in cluding 10 in the fourth quarter, in the first Orange Bowl game played at Pro Player Stadium. With 20,000-plus empty seats, the 1996 Orange Bowl was die least attended Orange Bowl in 50 years. “I’ve been down here a lot of times to the Orange Bowl and haven’t come away with that trophy very often,” Coach Tom Osborne said. “I am very pleased to have that opportunity to night.” One oi the mam reasons Osborne brought the Orange Bowl trophy back to Lincoln was senior I-back Damon Benning. Benning, starting just his second game of the season and only the sixth of his career, rushed for a team-high 95 yards and scored two touchdowns cm the way to being named Nebraska’s most valuable player. Benning praised die younger play ers for Nebraska’s third consecutive bowl win. “I dunk a lot of the young guys con tributed well and gave us great looks,” Benning said. “It was important for them next year in how the media per ceives them.” Benning’s first touchdown came with 9:54 remaining in the third quar ter when he burst up the middle for a 33-yard ran to give Nebraska a 24-14 advantage. Perhaps more important than his touchdown ran was his run on the pre vious play. The Huskers faced a fourth down-and-one play at the Hokies’ 36 •» ?*ya - Rec Ydr TP» Player Rec. Y<fa. TD» [ I 89 Jeff Lake 2 27 0 28 Ken Oxendine 3 60 0 First downs 25 22 Fumbles / returns 1/31 0/0 Rushing yards ^ 279 193 Penalties / yards 3/16 5/89 Passing completions 11 16 Kickoff returns / yards 4 / 84 3 / 95 Total plays ~ 71 72 Third-down conversion 11 of 16 9 of 16 Average yards per play 5.8 5.7 Sacks/yards 3/24 0/0 yard line leading by just three points. Instead of punting or attempting a field goal, Benning ran for 3 yards and picked up the first down. “I give my offensive line all the credit,” Benning said. “I can only be as good as my offensive line, and they were great. They were great for these last two weeks.” Benning scored his second touch down on a 6-yard run with 20 seconds left in the third quarter to give NU a 31-21 lead. It was the final run of the game and his Nebraska career. Overshadowed by Benning’s per formance was the play by junior quar terback Scott Frost. Frost, a transfer from Stanford, was the Huskers’ sec ond-leading rusher with 62 yards. He ran for two touchdowns and also com pleted 11 of 22 passes for 136 yards.' ‘1 drought Scott Frost played a great ballgame,” Osborne said. “He threw the ball well. He had a couple of balls that should have been caught but were dropped. He ran the option well. He really performed a variety of functions very well. “You really have to give a lot of credit to Scott because he audibled well and ran the offense very well. This was by quite a bit his best game.” Frost, who performed under con- I stant criticism most of the season, di- I rected the Husker offense to scores on ■ each of the four second half posses- I sions he was the signal caller. The only time Nebraska didn’t I score was when senior quarterback I Matt Turman took over for the final I five snaps of the game. “I think all around, it probably is (my best game),” Frost said. “I can still improve though. I have never played a game where I haven’t come off the field and said I can still improve. Hopefully, this kind of game will be one of my worst ones next year, where it’s one of my best ones this year.” Frost scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter which gave the Husk ers their first lead of the game 10-7. Nebraska moved the ball 45 yards in three plays, keyed by a 23-yard recep tion by sophomore split end Kenny Cheatham. Frost scored the final NU touch down of the season on a 22-yard ran with 3:26 remaining left in the game. Sophomore I-back Ahman Green, who Please see ORANGE on 12