The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 13, 1997, Page 6, Image 6

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    WACO, Texas - Nebraska place
kicker Kris Brown converted seven of
seven extra-point attempts against
Baylor on Saturday. His second PAT,
in the first quarter, broke NU’s school
record for points scored by a kicker.
Brown, a junior from Southlake,
Texas, passed Byron Bennett’s 222 l
career points (1990-93).
Brown also moved from sixth to j
fourth among all point scorers, pass
ing Bennett and quarterback Tommie
Frazier, who also scored 222 while at
Nebraska.
■
The last time Brown played at
Floyd Casey Stadium, he quarter
backed Southlake Carroll High to a
14-6 victory over Cuero (Texas) High
for the 1993 state championship. Clint
Finley, now a redshirt freshman free
safety at Nebraska, played quarter
back for Cuero.
Brown and Finley were two of
eight Huskers who returned to then
home state of Texas on Saturday.
■
With a 49-21 victory over Baylor,
Nebraska has now won 33 consecu
tive conference games. The win was
the Huskers’ 52nd in their last 55
games and their fourth straight over
the Bears.
NU coach Tom Osborne is now
94-6-1 in the month of October and
within three games of his 250th career r
victory.
■
Saturday’s crowd of 38,175 was
the smallest Nebraska has played in
front of since it defeated Texas Tech
42-16 before 32,768 fans in Lubbock,
Texas, Sept. 8,1994.
■
In just his second start, true fresh
man Erwin Swiney recorded his first
career interception against the Bears.
Swiney jumped and grabbed a pass in
the end zone from Baylor quarterback
Jeff Watson with about three minutes
remaining in the third quarter. Starting
in place of Jerome Peterson, out with a
hamstring injury, for the second week
in a row, Swiney also had two tackles
and a pass breakup.
■
Four of Nebraska’s seven touch
downs were scored on drives that con
sumed less than two minutes. The
Huskers had possession of the ball for
12 minutes, 19 seconds in the first
quarter, compared to the Bears’ 2:41.
Five NU touchdowns were scored
on drives of five or fewer plays.
■
f
The Huskers rushed for 410 yards
Saturday - their second-best effort of
the season. Nebraska rushed for 472
against Akron in the season opener
followed by 364 against Central
Florida, 384 at Washington, and 379
against Kansas State.
Nebraska, which leads the nation |
in rushing, has won 79 straight games j
when rushing for over 300 yards. 1
Under Osborne, the Huskers are 157
5 when rushing for more than 300
yards and 80-0 when scampering for j
over 400.
j
Game day Notebook was com
piled by senior reporter David I
Wilson and staff reporter Andrew
Stmad.
TODAY Top 25
Coaches Poll and The
Associated Press Top 25 Poll for
college football.
APT0P25
Rank School Record Pvs
1 Penn a (51) 5-0 2
2 Nebraska (14) 5-0 3
3 Florida a (3) 5-0 4
4 North Carolina (2) 6-0 5
5 Michigan 5-0 6
6 Auburn 6-0 8
7 Florida 5-1 1
8 LSU 5-1 14
9 Tennessee 4-1 9
10 Washington 4-1 10
11 Ohio a 5-17
12 Michigan St. 5-0 11
13 Washington St. 5-0 12
14 Texas A&M 5-0 15
15 Iowa 4-1 17
16 Oklahoma a 6-0 20
17 UCtA 4-2 18
18 Air Force 7-0 19
19 Georgia 4-1 13
20 Kansas a 4-1 22
21 Georgialteh 4-1 25
22 Virginia Tech 5-1 23
23 WestVftginia 5-1 —
24 Wisconsin 6-1 —
25 Sanford 4-2 15
USATODAY/Coaches
Ttp 25
1 Perm St (51) 50 2
2 Nebraska (9) 5-0 3
3 Florida St. (1) 5*0 4
4 North Carolina (1) 6-0 5
5 WcMgan 50 6
6 Florida 5-1 1
7 Auburn 00 8
8 Washington 4-1 9
9 Tennessee 4-1 10
10 LSU 5-1 14
11 Michigan St 50 11
12 Ohio St 5-1 7
13 Washington St. so 12
14 Texas A&M 50 13
15 towa 4-1 16
16 Oklahoma St. 60 20
17 Ae Force 70 18
18 UCLA 4-2 19
19 ^igW&Tech 5*1 20
20 Kansas St. 4-1 23
21 Georgia 4-115
22 WestVirginia 5-1 24
23 Stanton* 4-2 17
24 Wisconsin 6-1 -
25 Georgia Tech 4-1 -
eads NU
to rout of Bears
By David Wilson
Senior Reporter
WACO, Texas - On a rainy night at
Floyd Casey Stadium, Baylor was a little
too slippery for Nebraska’s second team
to handle.
But the Comhusker starters had no
problem taming the Bears.
Nebraska, which improved to 5-0 and
2-0 in the Big 12 Conference, and jumped
one spot to No. 2 in both major polls, led
42-7 halftime and coasted to a 49-21 vic
tory over Baylor (1-4 and 0-2) before
38,175 Saturday.
NU coach Tom Osborne said he was
not pleased with the play of his backup
units. The Huskers were outscored 14-7 in
the second half.
l m just kind ot upset at the tact that
we didn’t finish the game off playing
well,” Osborne said. “What I’m after is
not a big score - not trying to rub it in. I’m
just trying to make sure we execute. When
we don’t execute like I think we can, then
I’m not real happy.”
Nebraska recorded 378 yards of total
offense in the first half - including 312 on
the ground - and scored touchdowns on
six of nine drives. In the second half, pri
marily under the execution of the second
and third teams, the Huskers produced
170 yards and allowed 107 yards.
NU’s only scoring drive in the second
half was led by senior quarterback Scott
Frost, who completed 5 of 8 passes for
103 yards and rushed for 71 yards.
The Huskers’ nation-leading ground
attack was led by junior I-back Ahman
Green, who carried the ball 20 times for
158 yards. Nebraska finished with 548
yards of total offense and 410 rushing
yards. „
“My line was opening holes wide
open for me and it makes my job easier,”
Green said. “If they do their jobs good, I
know I’m going to have a good day out
there.”
Green, who said he is playing as
good as he ever has, rushed for more than
100 yards for the fourth consecutive
game. He also tied a career high with
four touchdowns - all in the first half.
A possible Heisman Trophy candi
date, Green will have trouble winning
the award because he doesn’t touch the
ball enough, Nebraska running backs
coach Frank Solich said.
“There’s so much hype that goes into
it,” Solich said. “If we’re really trying to
push someone hard, which we’ve never
had a tendency to do for the Heisman, he
would have gotten a number of carries in
the second half, and he would have had
unbelievable numbers.”
/\ner oemg iorcea to punt in its iirst
series, the Nebraska offense struck first
with 7 minutes, 6 seconds remaining in
the first quarter when Green capped a
38-yard drive with a three-yard touch
down run. The Bears saw a lot of Green
as Nebraska only threw one pass in the
first quarter.
“The intensity was good,” frost said.
“I think we might have come out a little
flat right at the beginning. But we figured
out we were in a football game right away,
and came out playing.”
The rain came down early in the first
half, and wet footballs caused some prob
lems with both teams’ passing games. In
Big 12 Conference games, teams are only
allowed to use six balls each half.
Baylor carried the ball 37 times for
137 yards, topped by an 80-yard touch
down run by senior tailback Jerod Douglas
in the first quarter; which was the Bears’
biggest play of die evening. The only posi
tive-yard play for Baylor in the first quar
ter, Douglas’ scamper was a career long
and the longest against Nebraska since an
87-yard run by Frank Madu of
Washington State Sept. 30,1995.
“We gave up that first long touch
down, and if we don’t stop doing that kind
of stuff, we aren’t going to be a national
championship football team,” NU defen
sive coordinator Charlie McBride said.
“That’s just all there is to it”
The Bears didn’t score again until the
fourth quarter, when they put 14 points* on
the board. Freshman tailback Darrell
Bush finished a 68-play drive with a one
yard touchdown run with 8:54 remaining
in the game and weakside linebacker
Kenyada Parker recovered a fumble in the \
end zone on the last play of the game.
On the final play, NU freshman full
back Willie Miller took the handoff from
third-team quarterback Monte Christo and
was hit hard before coughing up the balL
Turnovers also hurt the Bears.
Two Baylor fumbles resulted intwo1
first-half touchdowns for the Huskers.
1