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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 31, 1997)
«** The first of 15 spring practices begin today for the Nebraska football team. By Mitch Sherman Senior Reporter Dust off the pads and helmets. It’s football season. Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne and Co., minus 13 starters from last season’s sixth-ranked 11-2 squad, begin spring practice today at Me morial Stadium, the first of 15 workouts this month. Saturday, NU holds one of three major scrimmages in preparation for the April 26 Red White Game. Spring drills bring a chance to work on fun damentals, Osborne said, and provide budding stars an opportunity to impress coaches, while the team develops a chem- _ istry its members hope translates into a third na tional title in four years. “Spring ball is pretty much where all the jobs are won,” said defensive tackle Jason Peter, a senior next fall and one of only three returning starters from a defense that ranked seventh _ in the nation last season. peter “This is where the young guys let it all hang out.” The Comhuskers, whose 47-3 mark over the last four years established an NCAA record for victories, still feel the pain of losses to Arizona State and Texas last fall, Peter said. A convinc ing 41-21 Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech ended the season nicely, he said, but spring prac tice serves as the first major step on the path back to a national title. “Last year,” Peter said, “we were riding the wave of winning two national titles. I think we automatically thought we were going to be play ing for a third, and that didn’t happen. When someone takes something from you, you want it back.” An experienced offense led by senior quar terback Scott Frost, junior I-back Ahman Green and senior linemen Aaron Taylor, Jon Zatechka and Eric Anderson must pave the way for NU this spring, Osborne said. “Offensively, we’ve got more coming back with experience,” Osborne said, “but athleti cally, we’re still good on defense.” Nebraska’s coach of 24 years, who can claim his 250th career victory next fall if NU wins eight games or more for the 29th straight sea son, said he’s concerned with depth in the sec ondary and offensive line this spring. No. 1 center Josh Heskew, who fractured his foot last month in winter-conditioning drills, will not practice this month, and reserves Jeff Clausen, James Sherman, Sasho Becvarovski, Lonnie Fulton and Justin Ferrell enter the spring recovering from injuries. In addition, sopho more I-back DeAngelo Evans will not work out this month because of a slow-healing groin in Please see SPRING on 11 matt milleb/dn MARSHAU NELSON perfonas m the floor exercise Friday night. Nebraska area Its first-ever MPSF title over the weekeed. Huskers fight off Sooners for crown By Gregg Madsen Staff Reporter The Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry may be dead on the football field, but in men’s gymnastics it’s still going strong. Friday night during the Moun tain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in front of a crowd of 626 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, the Comhuskers and Sooners battled down to the final ro tation for the team title. Heading into the high bar, NU held a slim four-tenths of a point lead over the Sooners, who were on the pommel horse. The Huskers re sponded with a 38.35 score and Oklahoma finished with a 38.15. That sealed the Huskers’ 230.7 230.1 victory over the fourth-ranked Sooners and the rest of the nine-team field. Second-ranked California was third at 229.8. Oklahoma Coach Greg Buwick said he wasn’t surprised the meet went down to the wire. “We’re used to this,” Buwick said. “Every time we come here it’s close between the two of us, so it’s not anything we’re not accustomed to.” The win, Nebraska’s fourth straight, brought the fifth-ranked Huskers’ record against Oklahoma to 2-2 this season. Buwick and Nebraska Coach Francis Allen both said they were surprised with the sluggish perfor mance of the Bears, who suffered their first defeat of the season Fri day. Allen, who was named the MPSF coach of the year, said he thought NU and OU intimidated Cal. * “I just think Cal got out there and they had to take on Oklahoma and Nebraska, and I just don’t know if they knew how to do it,” Allen said. Bears Coach Barry Weiner said his team, the 1996 MPSF Champi ons and NCAA runner-up, had their worst meet of the year. “We started poorly, and then we continued to do a little more poorly, and then we got worse,” Weiner said. “I thought Nebraska was great. We know they’re a good team — and Oklahoma did a good job. It’s foolish to believe that we could per form poorly and defeat good teams.” The Huskers, who scored above 38 on every event, relied on a solid team effort throughout the evening. Sophomore Marshall Nelson — who led all qualifiers for Saturday’s individual-event finals with a 9.9 on the parallel bars and a 9.8 on the pommel horse — said the meet proved Nebraska can compete with the top teams in the nation. NU all-arounders had a strong showing as well. Freshman Derek Leiter finished second with a 56.975, sophomore J.D. Reive was fourth at 56.925 and junior Bill Mulholland was fifth with a 56.825. Stanford’s Keith Wiley won the all around with a 57.4. Despite scoring above 230 for the fourth consecutive meet, Allen said the Huskers still have room for improvement before facing Okla Please see MPSF on 11 Tennessee beats ODU to win title CINCINNATI (AP) — The Ten nessee women’s basketball team won yet another national championship, and this one might have been the toughest — and most bruising — of all. Shackling Old Dominion with aggressive, physi cal defense, the Volunteers weath ered a second-half comeback and beat the Lady Monarchs 68-59 Sunday night to win their second straight national crown and fifth overall. Lhamique Hoidsclaw led the Lady Vols (29-10) with 24 points and made the key plays down the stretch after Tennessee temporarily lost the lead. In the final 6:48, Hoidsclaw scored 10 points, assisted on two baskets and blocked a shot With 9.3 seconds left and the title secure, Hoidsclaw slapped hands and bumped bodies with jubilant team mates. On the other side of the ball ODU All-American guard Ticha Penicheiro threw the ball away on the Lady Monarchs’ last possession. It was Penicheiro’s 11th turnover of the ball game and OldDominion’s 26th. Just as important as Hoidsclaw’s play was the Tennessee defense, which was allowed to bump and knock people around without fouls being called while the Lady Vols were build ing a 16-point lead in the first half. uia uommion managea to over come that frustration, taking the lead on three occasions in the second half, the last time at 49-47 on Amber Eller’s 3 pointer with 7:05 left But Holdsclaw, die sophomore All American who always seems to be there when Tennessee needs her the most, came through again. First, Holdsclaw tied the game at 49. Then she fed Niya Butts few a short bank shot in the lane that put UT up 51 -49. That was followed by a pass to wide-open Pashen Thompson for a layup, stretching the lead to 53-49, and Tiffani Johnson’s basket inside made it 55-49 with 4:46 left After Clarisse Machanguana made a running hook to cut the Vols lead to four, Holdsclaw made two straight baskets to stretch the lead to eight.
