v j I
Jay Saunders
Bowls offer
fun holiday
diversions
’Tis the season to be bowling,
college football style.
With the announcement of
the six teams that will play in the
three Alliance bowls, the rest of
the 17 bowls fell in line. Starting
on Dec. 20, one of the best times
of the year will kick off with the
Las Vegas Bowl, pitting Marshall
and Mississippi.
The Las Vegas Bowl is just
one of several bowl matchups
that are very intriguing this year.
This year’s Holiday Bowl
could be the most interesting one
in years. Missouri and Colorado
State do battle in what could be
renamed the Lack of Defense
Bowl. Both the Tigers and the
Rams each probably will put up
400 yards of total offense. Corby
Jones, who is supposedly the Big
12’s best quarterback, does battle
with Moses, Moreno that is.
This year, I am putting my
morals aside and will select a
Big 10 team to win a bowl. The
Purdue Boilermakers go up
against another Big 12 team,
Oklahoma State.
As a rule, I never pick Big 10
m c tn win Aiif ci r\ f iliAit*
conference, but Purdue is no
ordinary Big 10 team. The
Boilermakers know how to pass.
And as these quality bowls
are going on, there are some
bowls that are going to disgrace
college football. I offer you the
Humanitarian Bowl in Boise,
Idaho, between Utah State and
Cincinnati.
Neither one of these teams
has grabbed the national spot
light this year. If this were sup
posed to be a humanitarian
effort, they wouldn’t play this
game. Maybe each team will get
some free potatoes.
Another monstrosity of a
bowl includes another one of my
favorite Big 10 teams, Penn
State. The Nittany Lions, whose
fans wear shirts that say
“Nebraska: anytime, any place,”
get to travel to Orlando, Fla., to
play the Florida Gators in the
Citrus Bowl.
Come on, Penn State is horri
ble; Michigan State proved that.
Florida will pass all over the
Lions, who have much less
defense than another Gator vic
tim, Florida State.
■ * There is a lot of talk about the
national title picture, but there
are a lot of bowls that may be
more interesting than Nebraska’s
trip to the Orange Bowl.
So while sitting in front of
the television this holiday sea
son, happy bowl watching to all
and to all a good Jan. 2 night.
Saunders is a sophomore
broadcasting major and a
Daily Nebraskan assignment
reporter.
i
HOUSTON (AP) — Just hours
after learning that his coach was
retiring, Nebraska defensive end
Grant Wistrom got good news
Wednesday night that he had won
the Lombardi Award as the nation’s
top collegiate lineman.
Coach Tom Osborne, who led
the Cornhuskers to two national
championships and 254 victories
over 25 years, announced
Wednesday that he would step down
following No. 2 Nebraska’s game
against No, 3 Tennessee in the
Orange Bowl.
Wistrom, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound
senior, was a main cog in the
defense that helped the Cornhuskers
take a 12-0 record into Osborne’s
final game as coach. Wistrom cred
ited Osborne for his success.
“You look at every one of the
players here tonight and each one is
on a great football team,” Wistrom
said. “The reason we are on a great
football team is because of Coach
Osborne. He’s a large part of why
I’ve been fortunate to have won it.”
It was an emotional day for
Wistrom, who learned of Osborne’s
retirement decision in a telephone
conversation with his coach prior to
the Lombardi dinner.
“I was upset. I mean, the man
meant the world to me the last four
years,” Wistrom said. “He praised
me when I needed praise and he
scolded me when I needed scolding.
He’s been a father to me away from
my own father. Next to my father, I
respect him the most.”
Wistrom, the school’s career
leader in tackles for losses, became
Nebraska’s fourth Lombardi winner
and first since Dean Steinkuhler in
1983.
On Monday, he was named Big
12 defensive player of the year for
the second year in a row.
Wistrom beat out Greg Ellis of
North Carolina, Andy Katzenmoyer
of Ohio State and Andre Wadsworth
of Florida State for the 28th annual
trophy, named in honoT of former
Green Bay and Washington coach
Vince Lombardi.
It has been an eventful few days
for Wistrom. He helped Nebraska
beat Texas A&M 54-15 in the Big
12 championship game on Saturday.
On Sunday, he was in a highly pub
licized altercation at a pizza parlor
in Lincoln and now has won the
Lombardi.
Wistrom said he was ticketed for
disturbing the peace when he
stepped in to help a friend at a pizza
parlor.
“It’s unfortunate the pizza thing
happened,” he said. “I still maintain
my innocence. I without a doubt did
nothing wrong.”
Wistrom said he did not retaliate
when he was struck and that he may
“press charges against the other per
son.”
Wistrom returned for his senior
year at Nebraska instead of turning
pro and has no regrets.
“This season has been a dream
come true,” Wistrom said. “We’re
12-0 and in the Orange Bowl where
we wanted to be. We still have real
istic shot at playing for the national
title. We’ve done everything that we
can do.”
All four players will be a part of
the bowl season. North Carolina
(10-1) will play Virginia Tech in the
Gator Bowl, and Ohio State (10-2)
and Florida State (10-1) will square
off in the Sugar Bowl.
The Lombardi winner was
selected in balloting by a nation
wide panel of sports writers and
broadcasters.
Fellow NU coaches wish best for Osborne
By Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter
Like everybody else in Lincoln,
Tom Osborne’s coaching peers were
just as surprised as the players.
Cornhusker Strength and
Conditioning Coach Boyd Epley was
present at Osborne’s Wednesday after
noon news conference said that,
despite the shock of Osborne’s
announcement, the program shouldn’t
miss a beat.
“Of course, it was a real shock atl
first but filings go on here,” Epley said.
“It’s business as usual for Nebraska.”
Epley said Osborne and former
coach Bob Devaney helped pioneer
one of the most successful football
programs in the last 30 years.
v The Huskers’ record since
Osborne joined Nebraska in 1962 is
355-69-5.
In addition to all of the successes
on the field, NU swimming Coach Cal
Bentz said Osborne made an equal
impact off the field.
“His record speaks for itself,”
Bentz said. “What I think goes over
looked is how he has taken the leader
ship role for the entire athletic depart
ment, which has made it easier for us
to recruit and succeed on a national
level.”
Nebraska Track and Field Coach
Gary Pepin called Osborne the most
respected man in the state. Pepin
echoed Bentz’s sentiment and said
Bluejays blast past Nebraska; Lue leads Husker scoring with 25
By Sam McKewon
Staff Reporter
The road has not been kind to the
Nebraska men’s basketball team, and
it continued its unfriendly ways
Wednesday night in Omaha.
The Cornhuskers (7-2) lost their
second straight road game in two tries
as Creighton University broke a
seven-year drought against NU with
an 84-73 victory in front of 8,403^^
the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
“We were our own worst enemy
tonight,” Nebraska Coach Danny Nee
said. “Part of that’s Creighton and
part of that’s Nebraska.”
The Bluejays (4-2) led for all but
one minute and eight seconds of the
game jumping out to an 25-12 lead in
the first 8:38 of the first half.
“They came out a lotmore fired up
than we did,” junior point guard Tyrorm
Lue said. “They were pretty emotional.”
Most of CU’s early points came
from forward Rodney Buford.
«
We had the momentum and they took it ”
Cookie Belcher
NUguard
Buford, who came into the game
averaging 19.8 points per game,
scored 20 in the first half alone on 8
for-12 shooting from the floor. He
tttttehed with a game high 29 points.
Nebraska sophomore guard
Cookie Belcher said there was little
stopping the junior from Milwaukee.
“I don’t know if he caught on fire
or what,” Belcher said. “I even con
tested his shots and everything was
going in.
“There’s nothing you can do
about that.”
The Huskers, on the other hand,
weren’t able to put any fust-half runs
together. NU shot only 46 percent
from die field and the Bluejays’ mul
tiple-zone defenses forced 10 NU
turnovers.
Nee said Nebraska couldn’t match
Creighton’s first-half level of play.
“They played superbly in the first
half,” he said. “Anytime we tried to
make a run, they just canceled it.”
In the second half, CU opened its
biggest lead at 65-51 with 9:51
remaining when the Huskers
responded with their final run
outscoring CU 13-2 over the next
5:27 to cut die lead to 67-65 with a
Lue three-pointer.
Then came what Lue called the
“back-breaker.”
Creighton set a screen at die top
of the key when sophomore guard
man west nu a mree-poinier 10 put
the Bluejays up 70-65. Nebraska
never threatened again.
“If he misses that, we would have
won,” Belcher said. “We had the
momentum and they took it.”
For the game, Lue led NU scorers
with 25 points, 14 in the second half.
Junior forward Venson Hamilton had
15 points to go with his 11 rebounds.
NU was out rebounded by CU 37-32
and shot 42 percent for the game.
Creighton, which won its second
game in a row, beat Nebraska for the
first time since 1989.
CU Coach Dana Altman said die
program took a step forward with the
win.
“They were a pretty talented
team,” Altman said. “They’ve got
some future NBA players, so it’s a
.good win’*
Nebraska continues its road trip
Saturday against Minnesota, who
went to the Final Four last season.
“We’ll be ready,” Lue said. “That
much I can tell you.”
Ryan Soderlin/DN
NEBRASKA COACH TOM Osborne walks out of bis news conference In South Stadium. During the news conference
Osborne announced he was stepping down as the Buskers’ head coach.
Osborne represents the best in college some way,” Pepin said. “I think Nebraska athletics mystify
athletics. Bentz said Osborne’s work has a lot of people because a state with 1.6
“I truly wish the very best for Tom, ultimately left an unique impression million people isn’t supposed to have
and I hope his health is good, so he can amongst those who live outside teams as dominant as they are,” Bentz
continue to be a part of the school in Nebraska. said.
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