Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1998)
f * . s ootball -$1.00 Lite Pints ■ ... • '**W**i £*:* ' *•'.- ^ , ' •• : t&mtM Players await ‘homecoming’ ■ Four Cornhuskers originally from California say Saturday ’s game will hold extra emotion. By Brandon Schulte Staff writer The opportunity to play California this weekend in Berkeley isn’t just a challenging game against a respected oppo nent. It holds more signifi cance for a few Comhuskers. Four Huskers from the state of California will have a homecom ing of sorts when the two teams Jackson square off this Saturday. Sheldon Jackson, Ralph Brown, James Sherman, and Dion Booker will have a rare opportunity to play in front of their friends and family in their home state. Junior cornerback Brown, a three year starter and 1997 First-Team All Big 1 i honoree from Hacienda Heights, Calif., is excited about the opportunity to play in his home state, p* . “I’m real happy about going home to play in front of my home crowd,” Brown said. Perhaps he was referring to play ing in front of his friends ami family, but he could just as easily have been speaking of the 35,000 Nebraska fens expected to be in attendance. Senior tight end Sheldon Jackson, captain and three-time letter winner from Diamond Bar, Calif., expects 15 to 20 friends and immediate family members to attend the game. It will be the first time since the 1996 Fiesta Bowl that Jackson’s mother, Frances, will have seen him play. Jackson said he has tried not to iook iorwara 10 mis game too mucn, but may feel more pressure playing in front of friends and family members he hasn’t seen since January, and some for even longer. “I can’t put extra pressure on myself or else I’ll play badly,” Jackson said. “After the game it will be nice to see people I haven’t seen in four years.” A junior offensive lineman from LaVferne, Calif., James Sherman will have his parents, sister and extended family attending the game. He will also have the opportunity to play against former high school all-star game teammate Derrick Gardner, who is a Golden Bear defen Forgettable performance fires Cal up for Huskers By Shannon Heffelfinger Senior staff writer California Football Coach Tom Holmoe can’t wait for the Golden Bears’ game against Nebraska at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley Saturday. Both he and his team would rather take their chances against the defending Holmoe national cnam pion than dwell on the outcome of Cal’s season open er against unranked Houston Sept 5. Holmoe said the Bears were lackluster in a 14-10 come-from behind victory over the Cougars. Cal needed a 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Justin Vedder to Dameane Douglas with two min utes and seven seconds remaining in the contest to avoid a loss. But the stakes are higher for California this week. And Holmoe knows the Bears need to forget about their performance against Houston. “The bottom line is that whenev er a team like Nebraska comes in, to beat them you have to out-execute them,” Holmoe said. “They have to make mistakes, you have to force mistakes, and you can’t make mis takes. That is what we are looking for” It is also what the Bears need after their mistake^filled game last Saturday. California struggled offensively against unranked Houston. Cal racked up 5 rushing yards on 28 car ries behind an inexperienced line that allowed five sacks. “That is something we need to address immediately, and there will be some personnel changes,” «-— We were gratejul to get out of there with a win last week.” Tom Holmoe California head coach Holmoe said. “We were grateful to get out of there with a win last week. Obviously on offense there were a number of things that need to be cor rected and corrected soon, same with special teams.” California returned one kickoff for five yards and four punts for 40 yards. The Bears averaged 31 yards per punt Despite his misgivings about the first game, Holmoe did acknowl edge several bright spots. Vedder completed 23 of 44 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, the Bears held Houston to 221 total yards. Junior linebacker Sekou Sanyika grabbed two interceptions for Cal, which ranks fourth nationally in pass effi ciency defense after one week. “The defense played well, but they know that playing a team like Nebraska the effort has to be as good, if not better,” Holmoe said. “They need to be able to come with more plays and more turnovers to have a chance to beat a team as powerful as Nebraska.” T'. TflcV! Holmoe expects nothing less f than California’s best effort against IheHuskers. “When you see a team who is that successful over time, you have a tremendous amount of respect for them,” Holmoe said. “We are going to play the game and fight hard.You have to try to find areas you can take advantage of.” sive back. With a large California contin gent rooting for Nebraska, Shaman believes it would be intimidating to play in front of a neutral crowd in one’s home stadium. “We get a big boost from people who come out that far to root for us,” Sherman said. i ’ \ . •_ Injury notes: Sophomore quarterback Bobby Newcombe practiced less on Wednesday than he did on Tuesday as Coach Frank Solich said Newcombe didn’t move as well as he had previ ously. Solich said Newcombe was more questionable than probable for Saturday’s game against California.
