Husky: XIW improved on defense
BySamMcKewon
Staff writer
Three hundred eighty-four yards
rushing at 5.8 yards per carry. Two rush
ers with 129 yards each.
Those are the
numbers the
Washington
defense has looked
at for almost a year
- numbers the
Nebraska offense
inflicted upon
them in 27-14 vic
tory last season.
Lambright „ ^nd if the
Huskies are to
have any chance this season of beating
Nebraska, they’ll tell you they have to
stop those numbers from happening
again.
Specifically, they have to stop the
option.
Going about it, UW Coach Jim
Lambright said, is easier said than done.
“The game plan is going in as we
speak,” Lambright said. “We’ve got all
our notes from last year. We just can not
do what we did last year.”
What die Huskies did last year was
n’t much. UWfe defensive line, a small
er, attacking unit, seemed outmatched
against a bigger; stronger NU offensive
line.
Nebraska also contused the Huskies
with two new plays - one an option, the
other a quarterback draw-both went for
touchdowns, gaining the Huskers a 14-0
lead in the first quarter.
Lambright said this year the defen
sive line is in good shape with bigger,
stronger and better-running players; it
should help to slow the option down.
Husky defensive lineman Mac
Tuiaea said Washington will be better
prepared to stop die option.
“I definitely think we’re an
improved group,” Tuiaea said. “We’ll try
and use our quickness to our advantage.
We’re going to be open to try and stop
anything”
Stopping the option starts with stop
ping the fullback. And both Lambright
and Tuiaea agree that NU’s fullback,
Joel Makovicka, is one of the nation’s
best.
“It’s him on the goal line and in short
yardage purposes that we have to take
out,” Lambright said “He’s going to get
the ball and you know it”
Tuiaea said a lot of Makovicka’s
yards were the results of missed assign
ments defensively.
“Their offense executed really well,”
Tuiaea said. “We didn’t get guys in the
proper gaps and that’s what led him to do
what he did out there.”
Trying to simulate the option in
practice can be a daunting task as well.
While the Huskies do play an option
team in die Pac-10 Conference (Oregon
State) every season, the Beavers’ attack
doesn’t match up to Nebraska’s.
Furthermore, UW can simulate the
plays the Huskers will be running, but
they cannot simulate the personnel or
the execution speed of team in a system
that has run the option for more than 15
years.
“It’s realty hard to prepare in a week
for the multiple option that Nebraska
runs,” Lambright said. “It’s hard enough
to duplicate the scheme let alone how
you duplicate a Bobby Newcombe.
Those are two huge problems the
defense face.”
After last season’s defeat, Tuiaea
said, Washington goes into the Nebraska
with somewhat of a chip on its shoulder.
“We’ve got a lot to prove,” Tuiaea
said. “ We can’t get consumed by them.”
Burton returns to Lincoln
By David Wilson
Senior staff writer
As the only Washington football
player to have the experience of play
ing in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln,
Nigel Burton has been answering his
teammates’ questions all week.
Burton, a senior rover, played with
Pacific in 1995, when the
Comhuskers downed the Tigers 49-7.
“Pretty much I’ve told them that it’s
a great place to play,” Burton said. “The
fans just respect great football. The fans
will cheer for you and make you feel at
home even though you’re not”
Of course, the atmosphere of
Saturday’s game, which pits the No.8
Huskies (2-0) and No. 2 Nebraska (3
0) at 2:35 p.m., might be a little differ
ent from what Burton faced in 1995.
Since the last time Pacific was in
Lincoln, the Tigers have lost their foot
ball program. Washington, on the
other hand, has gone 24-11-1 over the
last three seasons, including winning
the Pac-10 Conference in 1995.
Pac-10 fans, Burton said, can get a
little crazy.
“It’s nothing like you see out on
the West Coast,” Burton said. We’ve
had some pretty foul things thrown at
us. I don’t foresee that happening at
Nebraska.”
Intimidation, said Burton, a 5
foot-9,180-pounder, will not be a fac
tor, as it was for some of his team
mates on the 1995 Pacific team.
Burton recorded 13 tackles
against the Huskers, caused a fumble
and snagged an interception.
“If I was intimidated, I wouldn’t be
playing this game,” Burton said. “I’m
not the biggest and I’m not die fastest
I show up every day and that’s just the
way I am. I just wanted to go out there
and prove that I could compete - and I
think I did.”
The attitude of this year’s Huskies
squad is much the same, Burton said.
“Our mission is pretty much to
play to the best of our abilities,”
Burton said. “In the last few years, I’m
not so sure we did that”
Washington entered its matchup
with Nebraska ranked No. 2 in the
country last season and lost 27-14
Burton said he is pumped up for
his return to Lincoln, and for the
crowd at Memorial Stadium.
“I think they’re just some good
down-home foils.”
Alpha Omega campus ministries presents
a Bible study of Jesus Christ
Fridays at 8:
425 University Terrace
(behind Pound dorm)
436-7177 (office)/
436-7202 (house)
www.ihcc.org/college.htiii
t
u r>s
Softball
Husker Invitational
Fri., Sept. 25
Creighton vs. Washington at 2 pm
Creighton vs. Utah at 4 pm
NU vs. Utah at 6 pm
NU vs. Washington at 8 pm
Sat., Sept. 26
Utah vs. Washington at 9 am and 11 am
Sun., Sept. 27
NU vs. Washington at 11 am and 1 pm
NU vs. Utah at 3 pm
NU Softball Complex
Free Admission
33rd l Comhusta Lincoln, MtbnsJu
402-464-3656
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