■ Emphasis on playing
power football results in
big day for Nebraska
I-back Dan Alexander. x
By Samuel McKewon
Senior staff writer.
A wet towel draped over his head
like a sheik, Nebraska center
Dominic Raiola looked like he’d just
spent three hours merely trying to
survive an aggressive assault from
the NU Blackshirts.
His words sang a different tune. In
fact, Raiola said, Saturday’s offensive
performance in the first major scrim
mage of the fall was the best he’d seen
since the sophomore stepped on cam
pus two years
ago.
“Oh yeah,”
Raiola answered
when asked if he
was encouraged
by the offense’s
progress on the
Memorial
Stadium
FieldTurf. This
Raiola was the best
offensive scrim
mage in the last two years - like night
and day.”
Not that the defense didn’t have
its moments. Although the offense
compiled 385 rushing yards, the first
team unit rendered useless just about
every offensive squad that went up
against it and swarmed quarterbacks
Bobby Newcombe and Eric Crouch
on nearly every play.
Neither signal-caller had an espe
cially big day, partially by design, NU
Head Coach Frank Solich said. The
game plan .on Saturday had an
emphasis on power football, which
meant fewer options and virtually no
down-field passing, Solich said.
Power football did mean a heavy
dose of No. 2 I-back Dan Alexander,
who did not disappoint in his first
major action since surgery to his right
knee.
Alexander had the day’s biggest
play, bursting through a gaping hole
in the middle of the No. 2 defense and
rambling 65 yards for a touchdown
on the first play of an offensive series.
For the scrimmage, Alexander
recorded 87 yards on seven carries
and also put a devastating block on
Sam linebacker Julius Jackson,
enabling Newcombe to scramble for
13 yards and a first down.
“Bobby set that up,” Alexander
said. “He gave Julius a little move -
got him off-balance. I don’t think
Julius saw it coming.”
Alexander expressed surprise at
his performance, saying he thought it
might take “a couple of scrimmages”
before he returned to full strength
after repair to a tom lateral collateral
ligament he suffered in the Kansas
State game last Nov. 14.
Solich, though, had no such fears.
“Dan doesn’t mess around with
too many moves,” Solich said. “Even
when he gets in the open field.”
Solich had praise for redshirt
freshman Dahrran Diedrick, too.
Diedrick, the No. 41-back, ran for 52
yards on six carries, often taking
tacklers a few yards with him.
No. 1 back DeAngelo Evans
racked up 22 yards on eight carries as
Please see POWER on 14
Just for kicks
-—------- .n ii,■ ■ J* - m» » "U.
Matt Miller/DN
Breanna Boyd, loft, and Christine Latham fight for the ball in the Maskers’ Intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at
the Abbott Sports Complex. Bebraska, which opens Its regular season Friday against Texas Tech, also won
an exhibition game H-0 against the University of Mebraska at Omaha last weekend.
-----’Tf
Pettit satisfied
with scrimmage
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
Facing two top-10 teams this
weekend to start the season will be a
tall task for die Nebraska volleyball
team.
To prepare for such a task, the
Comhuskers faced another perennial
top-10 powerhouse Saturday night -
themselves.
The No. 3 Huskers showcased
their depth in the annual Red-White
Scrimmage in front of894 fans at the
Nebraska Coliseum.
After five sets and 2 Vi hours of
grueling play, Head Coach Terry
Pettit said his team will stack up well
against next weekend’s competition.
“I thought it was an incredible
scrimmage,” Pettit said. “From the
starting point, both groups competed
hard. At times, everyone played well.
It was certainly as good of a scrim
mage as we’ve had since I've been
here.”
The White team, composed of
NU’s top eight or nine players,
stormed back to shatter the dreams of
a younger Red-team upset* 10-15,16
14,9-15,15-13,15-4.
As expected, 1998 first-team All
American junior Nancy Meendering
stole the show at the outside hitter
position. Meendering, who played in
all five games for the White team, led
die Huskers with 24 kills.
Setting many of those attacks was
«
r I think we can learn
a lot from this
scrimmage”
Terry Pettit
NU head coach
who anchored the Whites to a
set, 15-4 romp when the team needia
her most.
McWilliams’ backup at setter*
freshman Greichaly Cepero, lived up
to the hype she’s received from Pettit
and the press. Cepero played setter,
middle blocker and outside hitter for
both teams and finished with 11 kills
and a .444 hitting percentage.
“Greichaly did a lot of things
well, like we knew she would,” Pettit
said. “We need to find a way to keep
her on the court.”
Three other players who
impressed both Pettit and
Meendering on Saturday were junior
outside hitter Kim Behrends (14 kills,
>448 pci.), freshman middle blocker
Pam Kxejci (led die Red team with 17
digs) and senior defensive specialist
Kim Crandall (12 digs).
“The closeness of the whole
entire match is realty evidence of how
even everybody on oiff team is inabil
ity,” Meendering said.
Please see PETTIT on 14
Hushers lookio
By Adam J. Hunker
Staffwriter
With Shevin Wiggins’ future in question fol
lowing his arrest last Friday, the Nebraska foot
ball team once again faces the loss of a key fig
ure in the offensive attack.
After being granted a rare sixth year of eligi
bility from the NCAAl, Wiggins, a senior wing
back, was expected to be one of the keystones in
the Comhusker receiver corps this fall.
Instead, Wiggins was suspended indefinite
ly from the Husker team after he turned himself
in to Lancaster County sheriff’s deputies on a
felony charge of sexual assault of a child.
NU Head Coach Frank Solich said Wiggins
will not play or practice with the team while the
matter, involving the alleged fondling of a 14
year-old girl, is investigated.
Solich said he based Us decision on univer
sity policy.
“There is a system in place within the uni
versity, and it is a policy I agree with,” Solich
umimim*.f-f-fr-r-rfiwH said. “We’ll start from
there.
The loss of Wiggins
now leaves some question
as to who will take over the
wingback duties for the
Huskers, though several
strong candidates are wait
ing in the wings.
There are three No. 2
winebacks listed on the NU
Wiggins depth chart: seniors Sean
Applegate and Frankie
London and junior John Gibson.
London, who has been plagued by injuries
throughout his career at Nebraska, said
although a weighty task now lies before them,
the talent and experience of the backups should
sustain the Husker receiving game.
“We would love to have Shevin out here
playing with us because he’s the greatest guy,”
London said. “He’s our teammate, and we love
him.
“The thing is, tough times come, and now
we’ve got to fight through it. We wingbacks will
have to put together a package, and I think we’ll
do well.”
In addition to the loss of Wiggins’ presence
on the team, Solich said the squad must also
contend with the psychological strain that
sometimes accompanies a controversial situa
tion involving a player in trouble with the law.
“It tears you up,” Solich said. “We do all we
can to have our players act in a certain manner.
When it doesn’t happen, it hurts. You really
spenda great deal of time with these players. On
a year-round basis you’re with them, you get
very attached to diem, you knowtheir character
and find that they’re good people. So when
something like this happens, it’s really a set
back.”
Following what many believed would be his
last season in 1998, Wiggins applied for and
was allowed a sixth season added on to the usual
five-year clock the NCAA gives athletes to
exhaust their eligibility.
Wiggins received his sixth year and has con
tinued at Nebraska as a graduate student as a
result of a bylaw that the NCAA had drawn up
in accordance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act. Wiggins has a learning disabil
ity.
But his future as a football player and as a
student is now in jeopardy as the alleged crime
carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and
a $10,000 fine.
“We ell wish the incident had never
occurred,” Solich said. “We’ll see how it affects
Shevin. Certainly he’s set back in his career
right now.”