Mike Kleck
The Catch
was great,
but it’s over
All right, enough already
about The Catch.
I know it’s the greatest
catch in the history of football,
that it will win the ESPY this
year and probably next year for
lack of quality competition.
The play will be diagrammed,
broken down and walked
through until my grandchildren
are playing football.
Ihe Catch dominated
Tuesday’s press conference.
Matt Davison, Scott Frost,
Tom Osborne, can you tell fne
about The Catch?
But then, Grant Wistrom
and Jason Peter, what did you
think of The Catch?
Yeah, I know you weren’t on
the field, but can you tell me
your thoughts on The Catch?
As it continued, you could
hear reporters say, “Um,
excuse me, I don’t know who
you are, butcould you tell me
about The Catch.”
The person would answer,
“I’m just the backup manager,
and I didn’t make the trip.”
The reporter presses on:
“Yeah, that’s OK, what was The
Catch like watching it on TV?”
Enough already. It’s time to
start concentrating on Iowa
State.
What? You laugh, even
scoff at me when I say it’s time
to start concentrating on the
lowly 1-8 Cyclones.
You tell me that I’ve been
hanging around Osborne a lit
tle too much when I start
believing that the Cyclones can
compete with the Huskers who
now - after a miraculous victo
ry in Missouri - must be des
tined to win the national cham
pionship.
wnere nave i neara inis
before?
1992.
NU had just beaten No. 8
Colorado 52-7 and No. 13
Kansas 49-7, both of which
were emotional victories,
before traveling to Ames to
face a 3-6 Iowa State squad.
The Huskers were moving
up the polls, trying to put
themselves in a run for the
national title after an early sea
son loss to Washington.
The result: a 19-10ISU vic
tory that shocked Nebraska and
the college football world.
That could never happen, I
heard before tjj£ 1992 game.
All I hear about now is The
Catch and nothing about Iowa
State.
Kluck is a journalism
graduate student and Daily
Nebraskan sports editor.
I Victoria All-Stars outshoot NU
Matt Miller/DN
NU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACH PAUL SANDERFORD tries to motivate the
Huskers during a time out Wednesday against the Victorian Ail-Stars at the
Bob Devaney Sports Center.
By Sarah Dose
Staff Reporter
A second half full-court press by the
Victoria All-Stars turned a 40-34
Nebraska halftime lead into an 82-67
loss for the NU women’s basketball
team.
The press created an overabundance
of turnovers for the Huskers, who fin
ished the game with 29.
“I think we made one or two
turnovers being passive, then all of a
sudden, we just threw the ball all over the
court,” Nebraska Coach Paul
Sanderford said.
NU took the lead early in the game
Wednesday night at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center in front of 1,406 fans with
a 9-2 run and hung on for a 19-14 lead by
the end of the first quarter.
They continued their solid defense
throughout the second quarter to end the
half with a 40-34 lead.
But halftime came and the two
teams that returned for the second half
were complete opposites of what they
had been in the first half.
Victoria added an attacking full
court press that Nebraska couldn’t han
dle, and the Huskers watched their lead
quickly disappear halfway into the third
quarter.
Victoria head Coach Guy Molloy
said he thought his team’s second-half
press made all the difference. But he
doesn’t attribute his team’s victory to
defense alone.
Molloy also gives Victoria credit for
improving its shooting percentage from
36 percent in the first half to^? percent
in the second half, practically swapping
Please see LOSS on 11
Vacek hopes to end on high note
■ The Nebraska senior
feels snubbed but plans to
leave her frustrations on
the soccer field.
Jay Saunders
Assignment Reporter
Not too many people can tell you
more about the history of Nebraska
soccer than Stephanie Vacek.
Vacek, a senior defender from
Papillion, has been at Nebraska since
the program’s inception four years
ago. At the end of this season, Vacek
will be the first Cornhusker to start
and complete her eligibility at
Nebraska. Sunday against Michigan
in the first round of the NCAA
Tournament, she will play the final
home game of her career.
She was part of the core of players
that helped die Huskers grow from a
first-year program to a national power.
During her first two years at NU,
Vacek played in the midfield.
She was switched to defense her
junior year.
“She is someone who has
improved greatly as a superb individ
ual defender,” NTJ Coach John Walker
said. “Her development of play mir
rors the growth of our program to a
point.”
In her first three years, Vacek
scored eight goals and had five assists.
This season Vacek has five assists
from the backfield. As a sweeper,
Vacek is the last line of defense before
the goalkeeper.
If not for the encouragement of
friends at Papillion-LaVista High
School, Vacek may not have been a
Husker.
When Vacek was looking at col
leges, Nebraska wasn’t even on her
initial list. Vacek looked at St. Mary’s
College, an NAIA school in Omaha.
Her friends, and Walker, persuaded
Vacek to be a Husker.
“I wasn’t looking at Nebraska,”
Vacek said. “I never dreamed I could
play Division I ball. I talked a little
with John (Walker) and decided to
give it a try.”
In the first year of the program, the
Huskers loaded their schedule with
teams such as Baker and Park College.
The Huskers even beat the College of
St. Mary’s 5-1.
Nebraska compiled a 14-4 record
during that first season. It wasn’t the
stuff.postseason tournament berths
are made of, but Vacek said the
Huskers really didn’t care.
“It was a big deal to beat a
Division II school,” Vacek said. “We
were just out there playing for fim. You
don’t think you are going to get to the
postseason.”
In the second year, the Huskers
built a tougher schedule and limped to
a 10-8 mark but gained experience
and confidence against teams like
Portland and Southern Methodist, reg
ulars in the NCAA tournament.
When Nebraska joined the Big 12
Conference last year, Vacek and the
Huskers took off. NU won its first 23
games, losing for the first time in the
quarterfinals of the NCAA
Tournament to Portland.
“It was always a dream to get to
play in the tournament,” Vacek said,
“but now it’s a reality. A lot of people
say, ‘Give a program five years.’ But
we made it in three. That really says a
lot about the girls that came here.”
This season, Nebraska started off
Please see VACEK on 11
Matt Miller/DN
SENIOR STEPH VACEK will be the first player to start her collegiate career
at Nebraska and use up her eligibility.
Huskers run 2-minute
drill to near perfection
By Sam McKewon
Staff Reporter
Down 38-31 in the closing min
utes of its game against Missouri .
Saturday, the Nebraska football
team had to turn to a part of its game
it rarely needs: the two-minute drill.
The Huskers responded, going
67 yards in 62 seconds, capping the
drive with a 12-yard touchdown
pass from senior quarterback Scott
Frost to freshman wide receiver
Matt Davison.
While the importance of the
two-minute drill was only recog
nized against the Tigers, the
Huskers devote time to running the
offense every day in practice, help
ing to boost their confidence in the
game.
“We work on it quite a bit in
practice” said split end Kenny
Cheatham, who had three catches
on the final drive and finished the
game with five receptions for 54
yards. 4 \ \
“We knew that if we could get
Please see HURRY on 11
Tight Husker win gives
improving Cyclones hope
By David Wilson
Senior Reporter
Nebraska’s narrow overtime victo
ry over Missouri Saturday has served
as an incentive for Iowa State this
week.
Missouri rushed for 153 yards and
quarterback Corby Jones threw for
233, but a last-second, diving catch by
NU freshman Matt Davison in the
fourth quarter saved the Comhuskers,
who won 45-38 in overtime.
“It’s hard to find examples of foot
ball teams being able to compete and
play with Nebraska, Iowa State
Coach Dan McCamey said. “It sure
does give you hope.”
Die Cyclones (1-8 overall and 1-5
in the Big 12 Conference) travel to
Lincoln Saturday at 11:30 a.m. to face
Nebraska (9-0 and 6-0) at Memorial
Stadium. The game will be a Big 12
syndicated broadcast, televised by
Channel 10-11.
With their slim victory last week
end, the Huskers fell from No. 1 to No.
3 in both The Associated Press poll
Please see ISU on 11