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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1998)
r ■ k _ , _ - ; • : (Coaches: *7 James Nicas Staffwriier 'T braska gave up 590 yards st Louisiana Tech, you les around the Big 12 Conference to see a window of opportunity to beat the Comhuskers. Ttoo years of NU dominating the conference not allow coaches to place a lot of emphasis on Saturday’s per the Bulldogs. can’t simulate what . Louisiana Tech does,” Texas Tech Coach Spike Dykes said “It is part of the process you go through early in the season. (Nebraska) did what was need ed to win, and there wasn’t much change in their team.” Although conference coaches claim to put little stock in Nebraska’s performance, there were some glitches inNUbplay. On Saturday, the Bulldogs i_ tered the record book against Nebraska^ passing defense. Louisiana Tech quarterbacl Rattay set Husker opponent recoras ior comple tions, attempts and yards. Rattay com pleted 46 passes on 68 attempts for 590 " yards. Rattay’s performance was over shadowed by wide receiver Troy Edwards. His 405 yards receiving set a NCAA record for yards in a game, not to mention an NU opponent record of 21 catches. ami, Missouri Loacn Larry amim said there is not really much reason to be concerned-ifyou’re Nebraska, that is. “Theygaveupalotofyards,butit has to be taken with a grain of salt because Nebraska was in control of the football and did not do a lot of gam bling,” Smith said “Louisiana Tech looked impres sive, but they still lost by 30 points” One coach who has had first-hand experience with Louisiana Tech is Texas A&M Coach R.C. Slocum. The Aggies defeated the Bulldogs 63-13 in 1996, and will play them at College Station on Sept 12. Slocum said he was not surprised by Louisiana Techfe performance. “I can’t say I was surprised,” Slocum said. “They have good players, and they know what they are doing. When you have a great quarterback and wide receiver you are going to be See wheeling.” Even though the Bulldogs gained attention with their passing offense, coaches were not sold on having to pass /u tunes to beat Nebraska. Smith said teams must try to play to their strengths to beat the Huskers. “Louisiana Tech wasn’t going to go down and run it down Nebraska’s throat,” Smith said. “They tried to match them score for score, and they thought it was die best way to win.” Preparing for a team that passes almost exclusively is often difficult Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder said his strategy against such a team would have mirrored NU’s. “We would probably approach it the same way as Nebraska did,” Snyder said. “They were playing with the same players of a year ago, and whatever mistakes they had will be corrected.” Oklahoma State Coach Bob Simmons said there is little reason for coaches to deny that Nebraska is still at the top of the Big 12. “Ibis doesn’t mean Nebraska is a vulnerable football team,” Simmons said. “They have had trouble with early games before, but they will always get better and better.” Jackson shines in opener JACKSON from page 10 Jackson spoke for himself and the offense when he stressed the need to „ erase any questions fans had about the inexperienced unit Then, Jackson provided many of the answers himself. - “(Louisiana Tech) bit on the play action pass,” Jackson said. “When that happens, you’re going to be open down the middle of die field. “I’m realistic. I know we’re not going to pass the ball that much and that’s up to the coaches. But I’m going to be ready when we do.” Jackson should earn more opportu nities in the coming months. Newcombe completed 9 of 10 passes for 168 yards - including a 46-yard touchdown pass to Jackson on NU’s first series of the game. “We’ve run that several times in practice,” Newcombe said of the play. “I just dropped back and Sheldon was wide open. Sheldon knows he needs to get open fast, or I’m going to duck and run up the middle. But that touchdown realty helped out our offense to start” Jackson hopes the pace continues throughout his final season - for him self and for the Husker offense. “This is like a great weight lifted off my chest,” Jackson said of the Louisiana Tech game. “Itls great for us to get out there and still show the world we can put some points on the board. This is an offense that can still move the ball. Running or passing, it doesn’t matter. We’ll get it done.” Huskers to meet Bluejays BLUEJAY from page 10 excited about just being there and get into the game right away.” For the Huskers, tonight’s match begins a long week for the team. After the match with Creighton, NU will compete this weekend in the San Diego State Tournament. Waiting for Nebraska will be defending national champion Stanford. “It’ll be good to play a game here before we go to San Diego,” senior middle blocker Megan Korver said. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, so playing Creighton can only help our preparations.” NU Head Coach Terry Pettit normally woulan t be in favor ot playing four games in one week. But he said it’s better to do it early in the year, rather than later when his players could be fatigued. On the court, the starting lineup won’t be known until game time. Senior outside hitter Jaime Krondak’s presence is still doubt ful. Krondak injured her left foot on Aug. 24 and didn’t return to prac tice until Monday. Despite die possible absence of Krondak, Pettit is still confident about whatever lineup he features tonight against the Bluejays. “I think we’re pretty comfort able with a strong unit of eight or nine players,” Pettit said. Top recruits still eyeing Huskers By Christopher Heine Staff writer The season within a season known as college football recruiting continues to build speed behind the scenes. Several top high school players from around the country are consider ing playing for Nebraska next fall. Cole Pittman, a 6-foot-3, 270 pound defensive lineman from Shreveport, La., is considering NU along with Florida State, Notre Dame, Louisiana State and Penn State. Shreveport Evangel High Assistant Coach Rick Berlin said Pittman is “the most productive defensive lineman we’ve ever had here.” Berlin said Pittman, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds, doesn’t have a favorite school on his short list NU is also recruiting quarterback Colby Freeman, a 6-foot-3, 210 pounder from Brownwood, Texas. Steve Freeman, father and coach for the highly touted prospect, said “Colby isn’t even thinking about recruiting at this point” Freeman said his son, who has 4.5 speed in the 40-yard dash, plans to visit NU but will consider Tennessee, Texas A&M and Texas as well. Freeman is considered one of the top five run-pass quarterbacks in the nation. Chris Buda, a 6-foot-4,305-pound offensive lineman from Tallahassee, Fla., has had enough offers to be unsure exactly which schools want to give him a scholarship. “I think Nebraska has offered, but I’m not really sure,” Buda said. “I haven’t made any serious decisions yet” Buda, who has 5.3 speed in the 40 yard dash, said he’s considering Syracuse, Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Florida State and the Huskers. Bruce Thornton, a 5-foot-11,182 pound running back and defensive back prospect from LaGrange, Ga., is also being recruited by NU. LaGrange High School Assistant Coach Richard Childs saichThomton has 4.3 speed in the 40-yard dash and “is everything you’d want from a player.” Childs said Thornton is leaning toward Ohio State but also will consider NU, Georgia, Notre Dame and Florida. Nebraska currently has seven oral commitments. NU golfer misses U,S. Amateur cut By Christopher Heine Staff writer Nebraska golfer Steve Friesen headed into the Final three holes of die qualifying rounds for the US. Amateur Golf Championship last week knowing he had a shot at mak ing the prestigious tournament “I needed a birdie and a couple of pars to make the cut,” Friesen said. “But then I went bogey-par and kind of lost hope on the last hole.” Friesen, a senior on the Cornhuskers’ men’s golf team, said this was the second straight year he tried to qualify for die championship. Last year at die Cog Hill Country Chib in Chicago, he totaled scores of 74 and 71. This year Friesen shot 74 and 75 at die Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. “I’m really disappointed because I think my game has improved a lot over the summer, and I believed I would at least qualify, ” he said. “In fact, I thought I had an outside chance of winning the tournament.” rucscu gui luc cuoucc iu compete in the national event by shooting a course-record 63 in the second and final round of a regional qualifying tournament at Shadow Ridge Country Club in Omaha on Aug. 11. It was the lowest round of Friesen’s career. The biology major didn’t fare as well at Oak Hill - a venerable, tree lined course that has played host to the U.S. Open, PGA Championship and, most recently, die Ryder Cup in 1995. On a course where accuracy is a premium, especially on the finishing holes, friesen said he didn’t hit enough fairways and greens in regula tion. “My driver and long irons were too inconsistent,” Friesen said. “I hung in there though by putting and chipping pretty well.” Friesen said he loved Oak Hill because of the “unbelievably pure fairways and all the history that’s hap pened there.” each green, Friesen said playing in front of a crowd was something he liked. i naa never naa inai oeiore, so that was kind of a thrill,” he said At Nebraska, Friesen won two tournaments last fall and was the Huskers’ No. 2 golfer behind Australian Jaime Rogers. He helped lead NU to the NCAA tournament in the spring. In the summer, Friesen scorched the Held at the Nebraska Stroke Play Championships, where his 23-under par winning total broke the tourna ment scoring record. Friesen said playing the amateur championship will help him this com ing season. “I think playing in a big-touma ment atmosphere was a good learning experience,” he said. “Oak Hills also helped me realize how important it is to hit a good driver at the professional level.” Even though he didn’t make it to the spotlight, Friesen said the trip to upstate New York was definitely worthwhile. “I told a few people to watch for me on TV last Wednesday, but unfor tunately I didn’t make it.” T£e wog wings were meant ta c«L estiin?) -MonAay Night Football -$1.00 Kamikaze -$1.00 Lite Pints . -HJ8 Colorado BufMttp -$1.75 Bn* .. it ' ' " IP#* Hgj ifeffe -—--- 11 ' 1