Jay Saunders
Soccer hopes
to break free
from shadows
In August of 1996, the
Nebraska soccer team was prepar
ing for its third season of colle
giate soccer. It was overshadowed
by football, volleyball and even
talk of early basketball news.
NU coach John Walker and his
players, who were not household !
names to the Nebraska sports pub
lic, didn’t know what to expect.
The Huskers ripped off 23
straight wins. Along the way, NU
climbed the rankings all the way to
No. 6 and won the first ever Big 12
Championship. The team was one
goal away from a birth in the Final
ruui.
Before anyone could realize it,
Nebraska had made itself into a
national soccer power. The
Huskers had snuck up on the colle
giate soccer world and made peo
ple sit up and take notice.
What a difference a year
makes.
The names Kari Uppinghouse,
Rebecca Hornbacher and Lindsay
Eddleman are now commonplace
in Husker sports talk. The players
and the coach are scrutinized by !
the public and the media eye. j
Bleachers are often filled to capac
ity at Abbott Soccer Complex.
But with this newfound suc
cess comes special attention.
“There may be pressure but it’s
nothing we can’t handle,” !
Hornbacher said. “It just comes
with the territory of trying to be
the best you can be.”
“We look forward to the chal
lenge of becoming one of the elite
teams in the nation,” Hornbacher
said. “Last year we made great
strides in our program, but the
ideal goal would be a national
championship.”
Can the Huskers do it?
Can such a young team go from
obscurity to a national champi- '
onship in just four years?
Maybe the better question is
why not? This Husker team has the !
tools. For the first time ever, NU
has experience and depth. The
youth is now mixed with juniors
and seniors who know how to win. !
On the flip side, the Huskers
could falter. The team can no
longer sneak up on opponents. The
national soccer spotlight has now
started to shine brightly here in
Lincoln. Maybe it will melt this
team’s very foundation.
It all comes down to how badly
this team wants the prize.
Nebraska has the chance to prove j
to themselves and the nation what !
they are made of.
“In order to get to that point we
need hard work and dedication
every day of the season.”
Hombacher said.
The pieces are all there, but
whether or not the Huskers can put
together a winning puzzle has yet
to be seen.
Saunders is a sophomore
journalism major and a Daily
Nebraskan assignment reporter.
Wistrom leaves mark
MICHAEL WaRREN/DN
RIGHT RUSH END Grant Wistrom works out on the grass fields behind
Memorial Stadium. Wistrom is a three time letter winner, a 1997 Preseason
All American, and a top NFL prospect.
■ Labeled as one of the
best rush ends, he sees
himself as a team player.
By Antone Oseka
Senior Reporter
When many college football
players decided not to try the humble
pie and opted out of eligibility for a
career in the NFL, Grant Wistrom
went back for seconds.
Wistrom is the returning Big 12
Defensive Player of the Year, and a
leading candidate for the Lombardi,
Outland and Bronko Nagurski
Awards in 1997. Yet he doesn’t con
sider himself one of the country’s
best football players.
“I find it really hard to believe
that I’m one of the best in the coun
try,” Wistrom said. “If I’m one of the
best players in the country, then col
lege football is going downhill in a
hurry.
“I’m really surprised even other
people say stuff like that, I just don’t
see it.”
Wistrom’s teammates and coach
es see it differently. Juniors Chad
Kelsay and Mike Rucker, two of
Wistrom’s fellow rush ends, said he
is one of the best to play at
Nebraska, a school that has pro
duced players like Neil Smith, Trev
Alberts and Jared Tomich.
“I think he’s at the upper echelon
of all of them,” Kelsay said.
Wistrom said he thinks that’s
some pretty tough company to keep.
“I’d probably put myself in the
middle of the pack,” he said. “I’m
glad they have respect for me, but
those are pretty good players to be
compared to.”
NU coach Tom Osborne said
Wistrom has the talent to be the best
rush end ever at Nebraska.
Alberts had the best NU single
season for a rush end during his
senior year in 1993, when he had 15
sacks and 21 tackles for losses, both
school records.
“Grant might surpass that,”
Osborne said.
National Prominence
Being at the top puts Wistrom in
the spotlight, including appearing
on the cover of many national pre
season football magazines. Many of
those publications are marketed
regionally, but seeing himself on the
cover surprises Wistrom.
“I’m still amazed when I walk
into a store and see my picture on
magazines and things like that,” the
6-foot- 5, 255-pound senior from
Webb City, Mo., said. “It’s flattering
all the same, but I don’t see myself in
that light.”
Wistrom sees himself as a small
part of the Nebraska defense. His
job is not to make plays, but to keep
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linebacker teammates.
“If we can make the play, that’s
great,” he said. “Jason (Peter) and I
are the type of players who are going
to do a little extra to make the play.
On the field, in the weight room,
we’re always doing a little more to
make ourselves better.
“If we make ourselves better, we
make the team better.”
NU opponents have to be con
cerned about Wistrom running ram
pant in their backfield. Wistrom said
he expects to be double-teamed
often this season during games.
However, Osborne said, teams
can’t afford to worry about Wistrom
alone.
“You can’t change a blocking
scheme because Grant Wistrom is
there,” he said.
Even if Wistrom is double
teamed, that leaves open another
member of the NU defense to make
the tackle.
Right now, the NU offense is
Please see WISTROM on 14
Akron game
big for Zips
Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter
To many Nebraska fans, this
weekend’s contest with the Akron
Zips is just one of two tuneups
before the Cornhuskers’ showdown
against Washington on Sept. 20.
The difference in the level of
enthusiasm between Lincoln and
Akron, however, couldn’t be
greater.
Nebraska’s 214-consecutive
sellout streak isn’t in jeopardy, but
it’s hardly the marquee matchup
Husker fans were hoping for.
But for the Akron faithful this is
the “Game of the Century.”
More than 1,000 Zip fans are
going to make the 1,000-mile jour
ney to Lincoln to watch their
beloved Zips take on the Huskers.
“This is going to be an exciting
trip for us,” said Lyn Waters, assis
tant director of the Akron Alumni
Association. “The game is going to
be a tremendous challenge, but
we’re up for it.”
The alumni association, which
is sponsoring a trip to the game that
includes air fare, two nights lodg
ing and game tickets all for $365.
“This is an extremely success
ful trip for us,” Waters said. “We’ve
sold 100 packages to our alumni,
and we’re ready to have a wonder
ful time.”
Akron fans who can’t come to
Lincoln or don’t have tickets will
still be able to see the game as it
will be replayed twice on an Akron
television station.
Akron Athletic Director
Michael Bobinski said Akron
learned Nebraska was looking for a
game when the Huskers called
Ohio State in search for an oppo
nent this season.
Bobinski said Nebraska’s for
mer Associate Athletic Director of
Football Operations Steve
Pederson called Akron after Ohio
State pulled out of the Zips sched
ule.
“Steve Pederson set this up last
year,” Bobinski said. “Nebraska
Please see AKRON on 14
USC takes prey
NU becomes the hunted
By Jay Saunders
Assignment Reporter
DePaul and the University of
Southern California get the first
two chances to do something the
st of the
will be
to do the
of the sea
- beat the
soc
team.
The
*
won 23
Millinder .
last season and
advanced to the quarterfinals of
the NCAA Tournament, will face
the Blue Demons Friday night in
the season opener at 7 at the
Abbott Sports Complex. Then on
Sunday they face USC at noon at
the complex.
DePaul finished last season,
its first season of competition, at
2-16.
This season the Blue Demons
return six starters including
sophomore forward Liz Gawne,
who scored 14 points last year on
seven goals.
Despite the experience return
ing, DePaul coach Laure
Schingen said playing in Lincoln
will not be an easy task.
“Obviously Nebraska is a very
good team,” Schingen said. “We
have a challenge ahead of us in
our opening game but we are
looking forward to it ”
Schingen said there are no
secrets about how her team plays
on the field but she hopes the Blue
Demons improve its offensive
attack from last season, which
only accounted for 17 goals.
With a second-year program, a
game against the No. 6 team in the
country may look intimidating,
but Schingen said this is exactly
what the Blue Demons need.
Please see HUNTER on 13
