IT ' i£:\.
Iw" ^ . - . ' i
Sam McKewon
Durability
not showing
in I-backs
it takes about 20 seconds to fin
ger through the Big 12 Conference
statistics sheet to notice a strange
order of merit in the conference's
rushing leaders.
Not surprisingly. Rickv
Williams, the Texas version, is at the
top. He ought to be. since he's the
best m the nation. He's got 1.086
yards.
Then there's Ricky Williams, the
Texas Tech v ersion. He's pretty good,
too.
uo uown me nsi a mue. anu
you'll see players from Missouri.
Oklahoma. Oklahoma State. Kansas
State and Texas A&M.
Clocking in at No. 9 in the con
ference is Nebraska's Correll
Bucklialter w ith 337 yards
Ninth in the conference. Not
exactly something you see every day
from the Comhuskers. If they keep
on going like this. Nl: won't have a
1.000-yard rusher for the first time
since 1990. That, by the wav. was the
worst team NU's had in 25 years.
See a problem here'.’ 1 do.
NL has had little to no continuity
at the I-back position this season
First. DeAngelo Evans is hurt.
Bucklialter plays fairly well. Evans
comes back: Bucklialter sits. Evans
looks good, then looks like lie's run
ning in pudding against Oklahoma
State.
The Buskers have had enough
problems at quarterback to fill a sea
son. But. you know what .’ Thev've
held up their end of the bargain.
They've thrown it when they've had
to and made plays when they needed
to. It's called "sucking it up." folks,
and Bobby Nevveombe. Enc Crouch
and Monte Christo have sucked pret
ty hard
~TU 1_1. __1 4~ J . 41, . .
Ev ans is the best back, but maybe
it's time to re-evaluate just how
healths' this guv is. If he needs to sit
and regain his "core of strength" or
whatever it is he had then so be it.
But Evans is not dangerous at 50 per
cent. Or maybe Evans should plav
hurt, and just play a little better.
Buckhalter's tough and doesn't
fumble, but he doesn't evoke fear
turning the comer on the option plav.
i fe s fast, but he needs 20 yards to get
there Dan Alexander has never
learned how to make guv s miss.
The uncertainty at I-back hinders
what impact fullback Joel
Makovicka can have. too. Defenses
want to stop him; they know they
need only one linebacker to stop the
I-back. Manv times this season, the
fullback dive has been rendered
nonexistent.
A solution needs to be calculat
ed and fast. One of these days, the
young quarterbacks won't be able to
pull NU out of the fire with the pass.
That just might happen this weekend
in College Station. Texas.
Sam Mckewon is a junior
political science and news-editori
al major and the Daily Nebraskan
sports editor.
Finley loves ice cream, big hits
u A C uero, Texas, native
battled homesickness to
become a starter in the NU
secondary this season.
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Senior staff writer
It was a crisp October morning.
The Nebraska football team had just
armed in Waco. Texas, for a game
against unranked Baylor. Most of the
Cornhuskers knew they had to focus.
The\ knew they had to avoid a let
down after whipping Big 12
Conference foe Kansas State by 30
points the week before.
But Clint Finley couldn't help
thinking of other things.
Like ice cream. Texas ice cream,
that is.
"Last year when we played
Baylor, us Texas people wanted to get
some Blue Bell ice cream. It's Texas
ice cream. But my teammates didn't
think there was anything special about
that ice cream." Finley said with a
smile.
wmer guvs sav we mink we re
bigger and better than everyone else.
They giv e those of us front Texas a
hard time. It's fun to joke around."
The Huskers. who list seven Texas
natives on their roster, are returning to
Finlev s home state Saturday for a
rematch of last year's league champi
onship game. No 18 Texas A&M (4-1
overall and 1-0 in the conference) w ill
play host to second-ranked Nebraska
(5-0 and 1-0) at 2:30 p.nt. at Kyle
Field in College Station. Texas.
And once again, Finlev knows that
while he w ill concentrate on the oppo
nent. thoughts of playing in Texas also
w ill occupy his mind.
The 5-foot-11 sophomore is look
ing forward to seeing his family,
friends and high school coaches
Coaches projected Finlev. w ho is
from Cuero. Texas, as the starter at
free safety after playing behind Trie
Warfield, who is now with the Kansas
City Chiefs, last season.
But Finlev missed NL's first three
games and played sparingly in the last
two after straining his left knee in fall
camp. He expects to be close to 100
percent healthy for the first time in
1998. And Finlev couldn't think of a
better time to play at his best.
"It's not often you see a kid in
everyday life leave and go that far
away for school," Finlev said. "I hope
people back there will be surprised at
how I'm doing.
"A lot of them didn't want me to
go. Texas and Texas A&M were
recruiting me as a quarterback But 1
wouldn't change anything that has
happened for the world.”
Nebraska recruited Finlev as "an
athlete " A first-team all-state quarter
back, Finley suspected that Husker
coaches would mov e him to defense.
Finley redshirted in 1996 while
learning a new position. It proved a
difficult time for the homesick Texan.
"1 was always looking to the
future." Finley said. "When I made
mv decision. 1 knew 1 made it to never
look back. 1 missed home, but 1 had it
in mv mind that I was going to stick it
out at Nebraska."
Finley found a friend m NT kick
er Kris Brown, a fellow Texas native
Brown, who played against and beat
Fmiev m the 1993 Texas 3-A State
Football Championships. Brown
showed Finley around on his recruit
ing visit, and the two lived together
during Finley's first summer in
Lincoln.
"1 really tried to take him under
mv w ing." Brown said "I think it was
kind of a tough transition for him. 1
haven't seen very mam people who
w ere that homesick."
But any troubles Finley had in the
beginning were quickly erased after
his redshirt year. Finley proved as
ferocious on the field as he was mild
mannered off it. He quickiv built a
reputation as one of hardest hitters to
ever play in the secondary, NU
Secondary Coach George Darlington
said.
He had 14 tackles in a limited role
last season and 2 stops in a limited
role last week against Oklahoma
State.
"1 like to be known as someone
who plays hard and hits hard." Finley
said. "1 take pride in it. i enjoy it. But 1
hope people don't see me as a mean
guy."
Brown said nothing could be fur
•JON r RANK, 1J.X
ther from the truth.
"1 feel fortunate to consider Clint
a good friend," Brown said. "He's a
great person. He has a great attitude,
and he's fun to be with. I'm glad to
have another Texas guv here "
Henk ‘chased dreams’ to play for NU
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Senior staff writer
Nikki Henk will never forget the
day she chose to jump-start her stalled
volleyball career.
It was April 2.
1997. She walked
into the volleyball
office at the Coll
ege of Charleston
and told her coach.
Jewel Giesv. that
she wanted to give
up a full scholar
ship to walk on at
Henk Nebraska.
Volleyball
Nebrasrxa at Texas Tecr 7 p r cabboes Texa^,
Nebraska at Bavlcy 7:30ot Waco Texas
Saturdav
It was a dii't'icult time for 1 lenk. As
a freshman during the !l>% season,
she led C harleston with 7.0 kills per
game and earned first-team All
7 ! .ms America Athletic Conference
honors.
Now a defensive specialist for
Nebraska. Henk doesn't eipov the
plaving time she once did She
relieves middle blocker Toma Tauke
or right-side hitter Nancy Meendering
in the back row. She serves, passes.
plavs defense and leaves after three
rotations.
Ilenk gave up a lot to transfer
from Charleston a 500 team her
freshman year to Nebraska. She has
gone from the star of the team at
Charleston to a role player at
Nebraska. But. the Bellevue native
harbors no regrets. >
"All through the (1996) season. 1
thought college volleyball should be
about three lev els higher than the one
we were at." Henk said of her fresh
man year with the C ougars. "1 wasn't
satisfied with w here w;e were playing.
1 had bigger plans for what 1 wanted to
do. so I had to chase my dreams."
Henk's dreams included playing
for a top Di\ ision 1 team and compet
ing for a national championship. She
has accomplished the first objective,
and the Cornhuskers. undefeated after
13 matches, alreadv are talking about
the second.
Nebraska (13-0 overall and 4-0 in
the Big 12 Conference) will put its
perfect record on the line again this
weekend when it travels to Texas to
battle Texas Tech and Baylor.
Henk expects a challenging week
end.
The Red Raiders (13-4 and 2-2)
enter tonight's 7 p.m. match in
Lubbock, Texas, riding a three-game
Please see HENK on 8
Mike Warren/DN
CLINT FINLEY GOES HOME this weekend to his native state of Texas to face Texas A&M on Saturday in College
Station, Texas. Finley has been one of the harder hitters for the Cornhuskers this season.
Football Starters ISI L
... , _ . TV ABC (Ch 7/8)
Nebraska starters =»>
Offense Defense
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Pos. No. Name Ht Wt
QB 12 Bobby Newcombe 6-0 195 LR 57 Chad Ketsay 6-3 250
IB 4 DeAngelo Evans 5-9 210 NT 96 Steve Warren 6-1 305 j
FB 45 Joel Makovicka 5-11 240 DT 99 Jason Wiltz 6-4 310
WB 5 Shevin Wiggins 5-11 200 RR 84 Mike Rucker 6-6 260
SE 3 Matt Davison 6-0 180 SLB 37 Tony Ortiz 6-0 215
TE 88 Sheldon Jackson 6-4 245 MLB 44 Jay Foreman 6-1 240
LT 69 Adam Julch 6-5 315 WLB 27 Eric Johnson 6-1 205
LG 63 James Sherman 6-2 29o LCB 16 Erwin Swmey 6-0 185
C 59 Josh Fieskew 6-3 290 FS 21 Mike Brown 5-10 205
RG 72 Ben Gessforc 6-2 290 ROV 25 Joe Walker 5-10 200
RT 65 Jason Schwab 6-1 300 RCB 22 Ralph Brown 5-9 180
PK 35 Kris Brown 5-10 205 D 23 Bill Lafieur 5-11 200
Texas A&M starters
Offense Defense
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt.
QB 15 RandvMcCown 6-1 210 RE 99 Ronald Fiemons 6-5 247
R5 24 Jason Bragg 6-2 23C NT 96 Ron Edwards 6-3 262
RB 34 Dante Hal! 5-8 190 LE 95 Rocky Bernard 6-3 269
SE 80 Chris Cole 6-0 186 OLB 40 Roylin Bradley 6-1 221
FLK 88 Leroy Hodge 6-2 204 ILB 46 Cornelius Anthony 6-0 224
LT 53 Rex Tucker 6-5 290 ILB 9 Dat Nguyen 5-11 215
LG 73 Cameron Spikes 6-3 210 OLB 43 Warrick Holdman 6-1 230
C 77 Seth McKinney 6-3 293 RCB 18 Sedrick Curry 6-2 192
RG 62 Semisi Heimuli 6-2 303 FS 30 Brandon Jennings 6-1 191
RT 78 Andy Vincent 6-3 301 SS 48 Rich Coady 6-1 210
TE 89 Daniel Campbell 6-5 262 CB 39 Jason Webster 5-10 178
PK 6 Shane Lechler 6-2 220 P 6 Shane Lechler 6-2 220
