Pacific heads into classic as underdog
■ Despite last season’s
No. 10 ranking, Tigers
expect tough fight.
By Matthew Hansen
StaffWriter
It seems far-fetched that a team
returning all six of its starters from a
squad that managed a No. 10 final
national ranking last season would ever
be an underdog.
But, according to Pacific Head
Coach John Dunning, an underdog is
exactly what his team will be when it
takes the court against the Huskers in
the first night of the State Farm
I
Classic/NACWAA on Friday.
“Any team that comes into Lincoln
to play Nebraska in front of its fans is
automatically an underdog,” Dunning
said.
Pacific, a perennial Big West power
house, last faced NU two seasons ago
and lost a close, five-set match.
However, the Tigers have historically
enjoyed success against the Huskers
with an 8-5-1 series lead.
“Recently we’ve had a tougher time
with Nebraska, and we have never done
well in Lincoln,” Dunning said.
“However, both die team and I are look
ing forward to seeing how we match
up.
Part of the Tigers’ readiness to play
the preseason No. 3-ranked
-1
Comhuskers is probably due to the fact
that they have Elsa Stegemann on their
side. Stegemann, a first-team All
American last season, averaged 4.51
kills per game and hit .348 in 1998.
“Elsa really deserved All-American
last year. She put up great numbers for
us and did everything we (the coaching
staff) asked of her,” Dunning said.
The coach of the preseason Tigers
said he was also confident in his team as
a whole. Pacific finished 1998 with a
record of 26-6. The team has 12 return
ing letter-winners back from the squad,
including those six starters.
Dunning also said the team had pro
ductive spring and fall camps and had
sustained no major injuries. He praised
his team’s chemistry, saying that his
u
Any team that comes into Lincoln to play
Nebraska in front of its fans is automatically
an underdog.”
John Dunning
Pacific head coach—
starting unit’s togetherness and team
play is “seamless.”
Dunning said he and his staff had
spent considerable time reviewing film
of last year’s Husker team. This, in addi
tion to the 1997 matchup, gives the
coach confidence that Pacific has pre
pared well.
Friday’s game against the Huskers
will be a measuring stick for Pacific,
according to Dunning.
“We are trying to move up a notch
on the national scene,” Dunning said.
“To do that, you have to play, and com
pete with teams like Nebraska.
Hopefully we can do that on Friday.”
OSU hopes to cut
little big mistakes’
By Samuel McKewon
Senior staff writer
Editor’s note: This is the fourth
story in an 11-part series exploring
Nebraska s opposing football teams
in the Big 12 Conference.
Excuse Oklahoma State Coach
Bob Simmons if he didn’t enjoy
being considered one of the best 5-6
teams in the country last season too
much. He’d much rather take the 8
4 record and bowl trip his team had
in 1997.
In reality, OSU wasn’t too far
away from either last year. But, in
the words of junior quarterback
Tony Lindsay, it was the “little big
mistakes” that doomed the
Cowboys in 1998, as they lost three
games in die fourth quarter, includ
ing a 24-17 nail-biter to Nebraska.
“We had a lot of close games, a
lot of games we could have won,”
OSU linebacker Tarrell Knauls said.
“And it’d just be mental mistakes,
offensive penalties or personal fouls
or something. We’ve got tc start a
game and finish it the same way.”
Oklahoma State hopes to elimi
nate those lapses through a hearty
crop of seniors, whom Simmons
said would provide the key leader
ship in 1999. Barring injuries or any
big freshman debuts, the Cowboys
should have 15 senior starters on
either side of the ball, plus place
kicker Tim Sydnes, who connected
on 15 of 18 field goal attempts last
year.
l hat experience includes a trio
of linebackers expected to be
amongst the best units in the nation,
much less the Big 12 Conference.
Knauls, Kenyatta Wright and
Raymond Cato combined for 176
tackles and 13 sacks last season;
another former starter, Jack Golden,
returns after redshirting in 1998.
Despite the experience,
Oklahoma State, which was 3-5 in
the Big 12 play last year, still isn’t
getting much respect. The presea
son Big 12 coaches poll had the
Cowboys fourth in the South
Division, behind Texas A&M, Texas
and Texas Tech.
But senior left guard Adam
Davis isn’t listening, adding he
expects OSU to sneak up on several
opponents this year.
“Polls are polls,” Davis said.
“Fourth or first, it doesn’t matter.
It’s where you finish the season, and
we’ll be there.” -
For that prediction to becpme
reality, Simmons said his team
needs more consistent play from the
offense, a squad that dazzled at
times (397 total yards and 34 points
vs. Texas) and disappeared at others
(172 and six vs. Texas A&M). The
consistency starts with Lindsay, die
Denver native who amassed 2,034
total yards last season and starts for
his third season.
Simmons said he doesn’t see
Lindsay’s ath
letic ability as
a problem, but
said his lack of
vocal leader
ship has been
in the past.
“Tony can
be a mute, but
Tony is also at
-^-r-3-- me quarter
Lindsay backM posj.
tion,” said Simmons, who enters his
fifth year at OSU, “and there are
times he has to take control in the
huddle. But the bottom line comes
down to performance.”
For his part, Lindsay under
stands his verbal role must increase
along with an improvement in his
attitude.
“I learned more about the
wrong decisions I was making and
the way I was acting,” Lindsay said.
“I have to take encouragement bet
ter than I have. And I have to be
more vocal.”
Lindsay has help in the back
field by way of tailbacks Nathan
Simmons and Jamaal Fobbs* who
combined for 1,346 yards rushing.
Nathan Simmons diced up the
Cornhuskers for 116 yards.
Oklahoma State has decent experi
ence in the receiving corps, includ
ing tight end and Imperial native
Garrett Steggs. Three starters return
on the line.
Defensively, there are the line
backers and a significantly more
experienced secondary, which got
roasted for 19 touchdowns last year
- second worst in the league. Now,
Bob Simmons figures his defense
might be one of the best in the Big
12.
‘I like our speed,” he said. “We
look to improve the secondary, but I
like the way the defense plays.”
In special teams, Sydnes returns
at kicker, as does Scott Elder at
punter, although he may not start.
Both kick and punt returners are
back, though true freshman Chris
Massey, a Parade All-American,
could get a shot at either.
The schedule has OSU at home
for four of its first six games. Texas
and Kansas State visit Stillwater,
Okla.-; Texas A&M and Nebraska
are road games. Bob Simmons said
he weighed winning home and road
games equally and thought every
game was winnable.
So does his team. But, as Knauls
said, that means the pressure is on,
and the Cowboys welcome it. But
the little errors have to go.
'“We can’t be a flop,” Knauls
said. “People will be like
‘Oklahoma State, what happened to
them?’ We’ll do what it takes to get
rid of mistakes.”
UT maintains optimism
despite the loss of Williams
By Samuel McKewon
Senior staff writer
Not long before the New Orleans
Saints turned their collective future
over to him, Ricky Williams had a lit
tle time to stop by Mack Brown’s
office at the University of Texas.
“I was thinking, man, we ought to
petition the NCAA so we can get
another year out of him,” Brown said.
In his second year, Brown has to
go without the Heisman Trophy win
ner and one of the more prolific run
ning backs in college football history.
Not to mention a pretty good defen
sive player, Brown said, noting
Williams helped the defense as much
as any defender on the Longhorn
team.
Texas now must regroup. And it
won’t start with replacing Williams,
but building upon what they already
have — namely, an extremely strong
recruiting class, which was widely
considered the best in the nation.
Brown said there are no plans to
redshirt any of the players; just how
many of them see action might be
answered Saturday night when UT
plays North Carolina State in the
Black Coaches Association Classic.
“Our freshman orientation will
move more quickly than usual,”
Brown said. “We will not plan on red
shirting any of those young guys. One
thing you don’t need to do at Texas fs
redshirt for the future. You’d better try
to win today.”
Winning today includes getting
continued solid play from sophomore
quarterback Major Applewhite.
Applewhite was a surprise for the
Longhorns last season, throwing for
2,453 yards and 18 touchdowns, both
UT freshman records. His 97-yar<jl
touchdown pass to Wane McGarrity
last season was a school record.
Applewhite will be joined by two
true freshmen quarterbacks, Chris
Simms and Adam Hall. Simms, son of
NFL quarterback Phil Simms, is con
sidered the top incoming quarterback
in the nation. For now though, the job
is Applewhite’s to lose.
“Whenever he decided to come, I
was excited,” Applewhite said of
Simms, who originally committed to
Tennessee. “We have the better play
ers coming to the University of
Texas.”
The defense also reaps the bene
fits of the recruiting class but has a lit
tle more to build on. UT returns eight
starters on that side of tfie ball, includ
ing all four linemen. Last season the
Longhorns were ninth in total defense
in the Big 12 and 11th in passing
defense.
“Our defense has experience, so
we know it’s going to be stronger,”
linebacker Anthony Hicks said.
“We’re worried as much about stop
ping the pass or the run.”
Opposing defenses certainly have
to worry less about stopping UT’s
rushing game. Without Williams, the
Longhorns might cover the job by
committee, but the starting nod should
go to Hodges Mitchell first. Mitchell
had 111 yards rushing in 1998.
Brown is diplomatic when talking
about replacing Williams, mainly
because it’s clear there’s no real way to
do it.
“We’re not going to talk about
what we don’t have (in terms of losing
Williams),” Brown said. “You already
know.”
Applewhite agreed.
“You’re not going to replace him,"
Applewhite said. “You just try to find
a bunch of guys who can do things
almost as well as Ricky.”
If the Longhorns can make it
through the Wolfpack Saturday, the
schedule may allow the team to ease a
running back into the system.
Stanford and Rutgers follow on the
non-conference slate — neither had
winning seasons last year — and
Baylor is the first Big 12 game. The
biggest early test comes Oct. 2 when
UT is at home against Kansas State.
The 1999 season brings greater
expectations, largely because of
Brown’s open willingness to put pres
sure on his team. Some of the talent
from last year’s 10-3 squad is there;
Applewhite especially has time to
develop. But the main $tage talent has
to be replaced, and until Saturday it’ll
be hard to judge just how much
Williams meant to the 1998 team.
Still, UT preaches optimism.
“We had a good season."
Applewhite said. “We know people
expect us to have another. That’s
exactly what we want to do.”
Huskers post 5-1 record in Europe
By Matthew Hansen
Staff writer
The Nebraska women’s basketball
team ended its European trip with a 92
78 victory over the Schio, Italy, club
team Saturday. The Comhuskers com
pleted the 13-day trip with a 5-1 record.
“It was a fantastic trip for us basket
ball-wise as well as culturally,” Head
Coach Paul Sanderford said. “We got
some quality experience in against
good opponents while getting to see a
different part of the world.”
All-America candidate and senior
guard Nicole Kubik led all scorers
against Schio, a professional team that
won the Italian Cup last season. Kubik
was the team’s leading scorer on the
trip, averaging 17.8 points per game.
She also dished out a team-high 6.3
assists per contest
Sanderford said that Kubik was a
“solid, consistent force” who distrib
uted and shot the ball well.
Other Huskers who shined in
Europe included senior Charlie Rogers,
who led the squad in rebounding with
11 per game while averaging 15 points
per game during the trip. Junior Casey
Leonhardt, who sat out last season after
transferring from Illinois, chipped in 14
tt
I think the best thing that came out of this
trip for us was the extra practice days the
NCAA granted us.”
Paul Sanderford
NU head basketball coach
points and nine rebounds per contest.
“Casey’s presence at center really
helped us out because it allowed
Charlie Rogers to move to power for
ward, which is her natural position,”
Sanderford said. “Both of them played
excellently for us,”
Senior guard Brooke Schwartz,
junior guard Amanda Went and senior
forward Naciska Gilmore also aver
aged double figures for the team, giv
ing the Huskers six players with dou
ble-digit point averages in Europe.
The competition from the
European squads was good, with at
least three of the Huskers’ six oppo
nents able to compete on the major-col
lege level, Sanderford said. NU
dropped its first contest to a French
club team and proceeded to win their
next five games, several of which were
against other professional squads.
“I think the best thing that came out
of this trip for us was the extra practice
days the NCAA granted us,”
Sanderford said. “When you factor in
that we also got to play the equivalent of
six road games against quality oppo
nents, it was great preparation for the
season.”
Other NU notes:
Sophomore guard Candace
Blackbird will not be joining the team
for the 1999 season because of academ
ic ineligibility.
Keasha Cannon, a Nebraska
recruit, also will not join the team this
fall because she failed to qualify for her
freshman season. Cannon, the Kansas
City metro player of the year, will trans
fer to a junior college and plans to
enroll atNU in two seasons, Sanderford
said.
