The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 05, 1998, Page 11, Image 11

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    Rainy weather slows
Aggies, Longhorns
Weekend brings cold conditions, muddy fields
By Jay Saunders
Staff writer
There is an old saying that if
you don’t like the weather in
Nebraska, wait 10 minutes and it
will change.
Unfortunately for the Texas
A&M and Texas soccer teams, the
change wasn’t for the better.
After a week of sunny skies and
warm temperatures, the skies
opened up and the temperatures
dropped. The rainy and cold condi
tions made the Abbott Sports
Complex field into a sloppy mess
for this weekend’s games.
“It always sucks to play on a
sloppy field,” A&M forward Nicky
Thrasher said. “It is no fun to have
to deal with the cold and the rain.”
The No. 12 Aggies (5-4 overall
and 0-1 in the Big 12 Conference)
might not want to come back to
Nebraska after dropping Friday’s
game 2-0 to the Huskers.
Combined with the weather,
A&M was only able to get two
shots on goal against Nebraska
goalie Karina LeBlanc.
Thrasher had both shots on
goal, and A&M had only six shots
total.
On the flip side, the Huskers’
offensive attack found success
tt
They were allowed to run all over us,
and they did. Teams that work hard
get lucky sometimes .”
G. Guerreri
Texas A&M coach
against the A&M defense.
NU rattled off 11 shots on
Aggie goalie Melanie Wilson.
“They were allowed to run all
over us and they did,” Texas A&M
coach G. Guerreri said. “Teams
that work hard get lucky some
times.”
Texas (3-5 and 1-1) had to over
come similar weather conditions
Friday in a 4-0 win over Iowa State.
The Longhorns’ game against
Nebraska was also affected by
Mother Nature. A fierce wind
affected both teams on offense.
With Nebraska leading 2-1 in
the second half, UT had to go up
against more than just Nebraska
and the wind.
The cloudy skies gave through
to a rainstorm for the last 15 min
utes of the game.
“The weather probably hin
dered both teams,” Texas Coach
Dang Pibulvech said. “But we
came out flat in the second half,
and you can’t do that against a
potent attacking team like
Nebraska.”
NU was also able to get 11
shots on goal against Texas. But the
Longhorns didn’t buckle under the
pressure.
Texas forward Katie Karuth
had a shot go just wide of the post
with two minutes left in t! e game.
“Everyone battled until the
end,” Karuth said. “Nebraska just
pushed ahead and got that extra
goal.”
The weather is supposed to
change for the better again this
week, but Guerreri said his team
shouldn’t look toward the condi
tions for an excuse.
“(The weather) was not good,”
Guerreri said, “but that is all sec
ondary because (Nebraska) did a
‘Fire and emotion’ don’t stop NTJ
HUSKERS from page 8
locker room tied with OSU at three. NU
hadn’t been held to three or fewer points
in the first half since being shut out by
Arizona State in 1996.
“They came out and played with a
lot of fire and emotion,” Newcombe
said. “They maintained that throughout
the whole game. They kept on fighting
and kept on fighting.”
Nebraska’s offense came alive in the
second half, scoring the game’s first two
touchdowns in its first two possessions.
Both drives were sparked by Sheldon
Jackson receptions, one for 40 yards
and one good for 30.
But that would be all NU could
muster until Walker’s punt return.
The Huskers’ rushing attack was
slowed by the Cowboy defense, but NU
also hurt itself with two fumbles in the
fourth quarter - both of which were
recovered by Nebraska.
Newcombe fumbled one pitch out
of bounds on a third-and- three play and
then fumbled again on a third-and-six to
end the Huskers’ next possession.
“When you run the option as much
as we do, you’re going to have problems
with the pitch,” Newcombe said. “It’s
just something we’re going to have to
correct before we go down to Texas
A&M next week.”
Despite the fumbles, Solich said he
was more than satisfied with
Newcombe’s performance. The sopho
more finished with 22 yards on 13 car
ries, while completing 9 of 15 passes for
112 yards.
“I thought he played extremely
well,” Solich said. “He made big plays
when he had to.”
Solich also said Newcombe had not
regained all his speed after suffering a
knee injury in NU’s season opener
against Louisiana Tech.
Also hampered by injury was
Husker starting I-back DeAngelo
Evans, who took the majority of
Newcombe’s handoffs.
Evans, who returned from a knee
injury against Washington last week,
was slowed by a sore foot following a
146-yard performance against the
Huskies. The 5-foot-9, 210-pound
sophomore also bruised his tailbone on
the first play of Saturday’s game.
Choatic last play costs
Cowboys chance to tie
OSU from page 9
Simmons, didn’t hear the play
called. He ran onto the field late and
lined up wrong.
“We lost about three or four sec
onds on that,” Lindsay said. “Plus,
the play was just late getting called.
We wanted to try and catch
Nebraska off-balance, and we
couldn’t do it.”
The Cowboys used the unbal
anced “craw” formation effectively
throughout the game, rushing for
203 yards on 55 attempts. Nathan
Simmons’ 114 yards marked the
first time a player rushed for more
than 100 yards against NU since
Virginia Tech’s Ken Oxendine
rushed for 150 yards in the 1996
Orange Bowl.
But Bob Simmons couldn’t hide
his disappointment over the final
play.
“When the game is on the line,
you have to have a play called,” he
said. “And when the ball is on the 1
inch line, you have to get it in the
end zone. We failed to do that, so we
came up short.”
It was one of the few times OSU
fell short. The Cowboys rendered
Nebraska’s offense nonexistent in
the first half. The Huskers rushed
for four yards and never crossed
OSU’s 25-yard line in the first half.
Oklahoma State stuffed NU’s
He finished with 15 carries for 41
yards - an average of 2.7 yards per carry
- well below his career average of 5.5.
“Offensively, we just didn’t get
things done,” Evans said. “I take a big
part of that. I didn’t do what I needed to
do for this football team.
“I wasn’t finding the creases like I
usually would. I didn’t play well. It was
just one of those days. I was a little
banged up - you can blame it on that,
but I just didn’t play well.”
Turning Point g^
Eric Johnson’s roughing the passer penalty
negated a Nebraska interception and a likely
NU touchdown. Oklahoma State scored on the
drive to make the score 17-10. The play helped
turn what could have been an easy Comhusker
victory into a nail-biting finish.
fullback trap - Joel Makovicka
rushed for 9 yards on six carries -
and limited Husker I-back
DeAngelo Evans to 2.7 yards per
carry.
The Cowboys, on the other
hand, moved the ball well against
the Blackshirts. Nathan Simmons
had 59 yards alone in the first quar
ter.
“You have to give credit to the
offensive line,” said OSU tailback
Jamaal Fobbs, who rushed for 55
yards on 12 carries. “It’s great to see
your guys out in front of you. We
just came up short in the end.”
But, Comacho said, the
Cowboys have to forget about their
so-called “moral victory” over
Nebraska and concentrate on win
ning the Big 12 South Division.
OSU plays undefeated Texas Tech
next week and third-ranked Kansas
State the following Saturday.
“It hurts,” Comacho said of the
loss. “It hurts a lot. But we made a
statement to the nation that we can
play, and we’re going to show that
again next week and the week after.”
In all, the Huskers managed just 73
yards on the ground, their lowest output
in the 1990s.
“They shut us down inside almost
completely,” Solich said. “We really
didn’t get any big plays out of the run
ning attack, which was somewhat both
ersome.”
Evans also was bothered by the
Huskers’ performance Saturday.
“You can’t make excuses,” Evans
said. “We were just lucky to survive.”
\
\
NU holds on to No. 2
in both national polls
From Staff Reports
—
After surviving a scare from
Oklahoma State Saturday, the
Nebraska football team retained its
No. 2 ranking in both Associated
Press and USA Today/Coaches Polls
Sunday.
The Comhuskers (5-0 overall and
1-0 in the Big 12 Conference)
received one first-place vote in the
AP Poll, and received 1,640 points
overall after a 24-17 victory over
OSU. Ohio State, which defeated
then-No. 7 Penn State 28-9 Saturday,
remained No. 1 with 66 first-place
votes and 1,746 points overall.
UCLA was third in the polls, fol
lowed by Tennessee and Kansas State
to round out the top five. Florida
moved up to sixth, while Georgia
entered the top 10 on the strength of a
28-27 win over LSU, which dropped
from sixth to 11th. Florida State,
Virginia and Arizona round out the
top 10.
In the Coaches’ Poll, Nebraska
has six first-place votes, while Ohio
State has 45. UCLA is again third, but
Kansas State is fourth, while
Tennessee is fifth.
The only change in No. 6-10 in
the Coaches’ Poll is Wisconsin,
which clocks in at 10th.
Other Big 12 teams in the Top 25
are Colorado, 14th in both polls,
Texas A&M, 18th in both polls, and
Missouri, 21st in both polls.
Previous NU opponent
Washington dropped out of both polls
after a 31 -28 loss to Arizona Saturday
night.
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