Jay Saunders
Pollsters
direct fate
of teams
Husker fans should send
Minnesota football Coach Glenn
Mason a thank-you note.
After years of Nebraska beating
up on Mason’s Kansas teams, he
has turned around and done NU a
huge favor. The Golden Gophers’
narrow 16-15 loss to Penn State
allowed the Huskers to leapfrog the
Nittany Lions into the No. 1 rank
ing in both major polls.
But Cornhusker fans, don’t
make any national championship
plans yet. If Nebraska were to falter
this week or any week, the Huskers
could easily be replaced at the No. 1
spot, just like Penn State.
The pollsters have all the power
in deciding who is No. 1 and have a
major influence on who will be in
the Bowl Alliance. This is college
football’s biggest problem.
The polls will never be done
away with. It’s just too much of a
tradition. The stubborn coaches and
media just won’t allow the NCAA
to not have their voices be heard.
What can be done, though, is to
modify the way the polls operate.
Keep both The Associated Press
and ESPN/USA Today Coaches
polls. Those are the standards col
lege football has been operating
with for years. But follow the
model of the College Football
Writers of America poll format.
The football writers do not
release a poll until the sixth week of
the season. This can save a lot of
embarrassment for the pollsters as
well. Did Texas really deserve to be
ranked No. 12 in the preseason
poll?
Redesigning the polls is only
one step to finding a true No. 1.
Next step, do away with the
Bowl Alliance. Adding the Rose
Bowl to the mix next year to form a
“Super Alliafice” is not the answer
college football should look for.
There is a chance, as there is this
year, that three teams could go into
the bowl steason undefeated. More
than likely;the No. 1 and No. 2
teams would face off in a national
cnampionsnip game, leaving tne
No. 3 team out in the cold. The only
answer is a playoff system.
Take the top four teams in the
two polls and have them face off in
a playoff. A playoff would 1)6 a huge
moneymaker for the teams
involved and for the NCAA.
But for now, Nebraska looks on
track to go to the Orange Bowl and
a chance for the national title. But
how happy can the Nittany Lions be
in Happy Valley?
It’s all because of Glenn Mason.
What a nice guy.
Saunders is a sophomore
broadcasting major and a Daily
Nebraskan assignment reporter.
Nikki Fox/DN
NEBRASKA SENIOR TIGHT ENDS Vershan Jackson and Tim Carpenter have not piled up the receptions this
season but have helped the Huskers through their blocking.
Tight ends adapt, excel
By Sam McKewon
Staff Reporter
Johnny Mitchell, Jamie
Williams, Junior Miller: All were
All-America Nebraska tight ends
who made a name for themselves
catching the ball.
Current NU senior tight ends
Tim Carpenter and Vershan
Jackson are making a name for
themselves in a different way.
Both are major factors in helping
the Nebraska rushing offense to lead
the nation in rushing at 401.5 yards
per game. If the Huskers continue on
this track, they will become one of
the most prolific rushing offenses in
the 107-year history of football at
Nebraska (6-0 overall, 3-0 in the Big
12 Conference), which takes on
Kansas (4-3, 2-2) on Saturday at
6:07 p.m. in Lawrence, Kan.
“Every play begins with the
tight end keeping his block,”
Carpenter said. “If we miss our
assignment, the first linebacker is
going to be there to make the tackle
and make the play.”
Carpenter, from Columbus, and
Jackson, from Omaha, team up
with junior Sheldon Jackson as the
tight end tandem for the Huskers.
So far this season, Shdkfon Jackson
has six receptions for 124 yards,
and Vershan Jackson has grabbed
three balls for 50 yards, while
Carpenter has yet to tally a catch.
But Carpenter said the number
of receptions NU tight ends have
doesn’t tell the whole story.
“People who don’t know a lot
about Nebraska football don’t real
ize that first and foremost, we’re
blockers,” he said. “Our job isn’t to
gOLput and catch the ball all the
time. We run the football.”
Playing tight end hasn’t always
been the job for Carpenter and
Vershan Jackson. Both were recruit
ed out of high school as fullbacks,
and Jackson still holds the Class A
record for rushing yards in one
game with 389 for Omaha South.
After their arrival in Lincoln,
however, both were switched to a
position they didn’t know.
“We got switched over to tight
end at the same time, so we’ve kind
of grown up together at Nebraska,”
Carpenter said. “We both have
learned how to play the position the
same way.”
It’s a position that got better
every day with more experience,
Vershan Jackson said.
“It takes time to get everything
down perfect and become a complete
tight end at Nebraska,” he said. “You
have to do everything well, blocking
and catching, everything. Tim and I
have been through that system.”
With the experience, NU has
created what Carpenter likes to call
“the three-headed monster.”
Carpenter is primarily a blocker
and gets much of the work on short
yardage plays. Sheldon Jackson has
developed into one of the team’s
leading pass-catchers and route
runners, while Vershan Jackson is a
Please see ENDS on 10
fcfc
It takes time to get everything down
perfect and become a complete tight end
at Nebraska
Tim Carpenter
,• * NU tight end
Golf play
satisfies
NU coach
By Sam McKewon
Staff Reporter
For the second time in the fall
season, the Nebraska men’s golf team
shot a team score good enough to win
most tournaments, but was outdone
by another team.
The Comhuskers finished in a tie
for fourth at the Red Raider
Intercollegiate in Lubbock, Texas,
although the team shot a 7-under 857
for the 54-hole tournament. New
Mexico State was 15 'strokes better
than NU, with a 22-under score of
842.
Also finishing ahead of the
Huskers was Iowa State at 850 and
Sam Houston State at 856.
NU Coach Larry Romjue said he
wasn’t happy with NU’s finish, but
was pleased with the team score.
“It’s hard to be completely disap
pointed when you shoot a 7-under
score,” Romjue said. “I have to give
all the credit to New Mexico State.
They’re a good team that played good
for three rounds.”
Romjue said NU struggled some
what in the opening round and lost
valuable ground to the Lobos.
“We didn’t get it going right
away, and that hurt us,” Romjue said.
“New Mexico State shot under par all
three days” '• * - • , v
individually, juniors Steve
Friesen and Jamie Rogers paced the
Huskers with sixth- and seventh
place finishes, respectively. Friesen
shot a 5-under 211, while Rogers
shot a 4-under 212. Matt Lewis of
Iowa State won with 207 strokes.
Romjue said Rogers’ score could
have been even better if not for a few
mishaps in the first two rounds.
“Jamie had a couple of balls that
he lost in the first two rounds, which
is rare for a golf course in Texas,”
Please see GOLF on 11
legendary
By Sam McKewon
Staff Reporter
On Sept. 2i, 1991, George Bush
was the president of the United
States, the Washington Redskins
were on their way to the Super Bowl
and the Miami Hurricanes were still a
good college football team.
It was also the last time Nebraska
lost a home football game.
The Cornhuskers fell 36-21 to
Washington in one of NU’s most lop
sided losses in Memorial Stadium.
The Huskies racked up 617 total
yards and scored 27 points in the
fourth quarter.
Since the loss, Nebraska (6-0
overall and 3-0 in the Big 12
Conference) has won 40 straight
games at home. In those 40 wins, only
three teams have been within a touch
down of the Huskers (Kansas State,
38-31 in 1991; Oklahoma, 19-14 in
1991; and Colorado, 17-12 in 1996).
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