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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1998)
M Sam McKewon . x. ASU spectre won’t haunt NUatCal Arizona State. These two words are still spoken with hushed and reverential tones at this university. It’s not that they don’t like Arizona State - people fear them. At Tbesday’s press conference, NU Coach Frank Solich brought those two words up a couple of times. The Sun Devils beat Nebraska two years ago 19-0 in Tempe. The game wasn’t close. Not ever. The Comhuskers played bad. ASU didn’t. Game over. Now, in 1998, Solich brings it up again. Understand, this game still affects him- and the team. Solich has said many times one of the reasons NU scheduled Louisiana Tech this season was iu gci iwu games turner us ocu before it went to California - in order to prevent another Arizona State. Coaches and players talk about that garde is if they lost a member of the family. They bring it up more than you’d think. When they talk of tragedy, they talk of Arizona State. “It was realty a heartbreaking loss to the players and die staff” Solich said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. Heartbreaking? Come on. What people seem to forget is that ASU hap pened to be the second-best team in the country. They had a great quarterback in Jake Plummer, studs on defense, a super receiving corps and an offensive line that rivaled Nebraska’s. And now, NU players talk about making sure California doesn’t turn into another Arizona State. They are especially coneerned because Cal has hired die defensive coordinator that ASU had at die time it beat Nebraska. A man that, apparently, is the only man in the world that knows how to shut down the Husker attack. But die Golden Bears are a cut-rate Pac-10 team that has a quarter of the ability die Sun Devils had. Their defense isn’t perfect and their offensive line is porous. I don’t care who their defensive coordinator is, their defense isn’t good enough to stop NU for four quarters. And, yeah, it is a road game. So what? There will be 25,000 Husker fans there, at least. Even if there weren't, remember this is Berkeley. They’re not going to scream their heads nff few oruvt nlH Pal Thw wnn’t ram Out there, football is not life. (Shocking, isn’t it?) \.r% <• Personally, I think this Arizona State garble is a ruse. NU knows it’s going to throttle Cal. Its defense hasn’t blitzed in the first two games. When the Huskers turn the defense loose Saturday, Cal quarterback Justin Vedder’s in for a long day. Maybe then, we will have heard the last of Arizona State or any team that has beat Nebraska in the past. Until Texas arrives on Halloween. Now diem, I fear. Sam McKewon is a junior politi cal sdence and news-editorial major aad the Daily Nebraskan sports edi tor. By David Wilson Senior staff writer The mere mention of the mane Joel Makovicka can bring a smile to even the most stoic of faces. Neither formef Nebraska Football Coach Tom Osborne nor first-year NU Coach Frank Solich could keep from cracking a grin when talking about the progress of the fullbacks one day after practice in early August Willie Miller’s name came up first as the two straight-faced coaches stood across from each other in the tunnel underneath South Stadium Then Osborne mentioned Makovicka, the Comhuskers’ senior fullback and a team captain. “Don’t let Joel get too big of a head,” Osborne said The coaches looked at each other, and after a brief pause, they both started .laughing. Makovicka’s personality can some times make him an easy target. He knows it, and so does Solich. “We have a lot of fun, Coach r (Osborne) and I do, poking fun at Joel - in fact die whole team kind of does.” Solich said. “He’s one of those guys that gets along with the linemen really well, and so they’re the kind of guys that will embrace him, but at times they make little jokes with him. “He^ got a great sense of humor, so Coach and I have always been that way with Joel and he^ been that way with us.” Having a good relationship with both the coaches and players has evi dently earned Makovicka a lot of respect But his solid work ethic and all aypynd afJhleficabjlityareal&o key ingredients in making Makovicka a “great” football player, Solich said. “When it comes to the weight room, when it comes to off-season con ditioning, he works as hard as anybody works,” Solich said. “That’s his nature. He goes about things that way. I think he treats school that way. “Everything he does, he gives it his best That’s his personality.” Makovicka credited both his broth Matt Miller/DN SENIOR FULLBACK JOEL MAKOVICKA lifts hi the weight room after practice Tuesday. Makmricka’s work ethic has helped him become a “great” football player, NU Football Coach Frank Sollch said. er, who played fullback at Nebraska from 1992-95, and his parents for his strong work ethic. A walk-on in 1994, the 5-foot-l 1, 240-pounder had a chance to learn from his brother, Jeff, for two seasons, and played behind Brian Schuster in 1996, before taking over the starting role last year. While helping Nebraska to a national championship, Makovicka rushed for 685 yards - the fourth best output by a fullback in NU history. “I’ve always had confidence in my abilities,” Makovicka said. “This is a program where if you practice well and play well, you’re going to see the field.” Makovicka, who was the first play er to stand up and support Solich the day Osborne announced his retirement last December, also credited his suc cess to die Husker coaching staff. “They want to get die most out of you and for the most part, they do,” Makovicka said. “I think anytime you’re a running back under Coach Solich (NU’s running backs coach under Osborne), you develop a special friendship and kind of a great reladon ship. He’ll get on you at times, and that’s because he wants you to do your best” It was almost fitting that Makovicka, the most experienced ath lete in the Husker backfield this season, was handed the ball in the first play of die Solich era. Solich, a Nebraska fullback from 1963-65, said he felt that the choice was almost obvious. “He’s certainly the most experi enced player in our backfield, and we had a quarterback that really hadn’t taken a snap for us,” Solich said. “It just kind of made sense to give Joel the ball. “He’s been a tremendously reliable player - a guy that will do what it takes to get the job done. That’s the kind of guy we like to give the ball to whether you’re talking about the first play or the last play.” ; ' ; •: ? ; ’ *;•. The result of the Huskers’ first play from scrimmage against Louisiana Tech was a 12-yard gain by Makovicka. “I knew that I was getting the ball and I wanted to have a positive play happen,” Makovicka said. “I knew I was the guy in die backfield with die most returning experience, and I just Please see MAKOVICKA on 11 Pettit spearheads scheduling change By Shannon Heffelfinger Senior staff writer Two seasons after Big 12 - Conference volleyball coaches adopt ed a Friday-Saturday scheduling for mat for league matches, Nebraska CoachTory Pettit played a key role in convincing them to change the sched ule. Athletic directors and senior women’s administrators voted this summer to alter the current schedule after weighing league coaches’ argu ments, many of which were voiced by Pettit, former Texas Coach Mick Haley and current Ifexas CoachJim Moore. Beginning in 199$, conference teams will play matches on Wednesday and Saturday instead of Friday and Saturday. “Nebraska really led the charge for the changeColorado Coach Pi’i Aiu said. “Terry (Pettit) wanted this and people have a lot Of respect for him. “When someone who has had the kind of success that he has had talks, you’re going to pay attention. A lot of schools jumped on board because of him.” In the former Big Eight and Southwest Conferences, schools played primarily on Wednesdays and Saturdays. When the two leagues merged, coaches and athletic directors bowsd to the pressure of a new format to avoid excessive travel costs. The majority of schools did not want to spend the money to provide their volleyball teams charter flights - a necessity for the Wednesday Saturday format. The original proponents of the switch were those schools who did not have to battle budget constraints for volleyball. Nebraska spent $458,053 in 1996. Texas, another strong sup porter of the change, operated with $317,470. ; On die other end of the spectrum, Missouri, which initially opposed the switch, spent $36,187 on volleyball in 19%. But a two-year experiment has produced fewer benefits than costs, and aching adiletes have overruled the bottom line. “We were asking our athletes to do a lot,” Pettit said. "Last year, Lisa rfnmvrlMTT hitfpr'l took about 120 swings during a week end You wouldn’t ask a pitcher to go out there and throw on back-to-back mgnts. Moore said Pettit’s “pitcher” argu ment sent a message to athletic direc tors. “If you have one big gun like we do who is swinging 70 times per night, that’s going to cause some wear and tear,” said Moore, who coaches Big 12 Player of the Year candidate Demetria Sance. Aiu lists several other benefits of a Wednesday-Saturday format. J Fan apathy, the opportunity to play matches at home more frequently, and --»-|-I-’-JMM'iffit the challenge of preparing for two quality opponents at the same time contributed to the decision to abandon die weekend schedule. But Aiu only began to recognize the disadvantages of the weekend schedule last December when Colorado defeated volleyball power Texas on a Friday then lost to Texas A&M the next day. “We played well when we beat Texas on Friday, but it was so emotion ally draining that it took a lot out of us. We weren’t ready to play A&M the nett night,” Aiu said. “The bottom line is this: Ifwe had played a Wednesday Saturday schedule last year, we proba bly would have won the Big 12 Championship.” Both Aiu and Moore said they expect the 1999 schedule to create more parity among league teams. When each team has three days to prepare for one match instead of five days to prepare for two at the same time, Moore said, the playing field will level. Teams will have to rely more on strategy than talent. But coaches usually revert back to die strain on athletes- Pettit’s original argument - when explaining the change to a Wednesday-Saturday schedule. “When the athletic trainers heard about this, they showed a great deal of support,” Pettit said. “We don’t want to cause chronic shoulder and knee injuries for our athletes. Really, I just think people wanted to do the right thing for the sport”
