Sports
Tuesday, September 21,1999__Page 7
Oklahoma State, which comes to
Lincoln on Oct. 2, will be doing so
without quarterback Tony Lindsay.
Lindsay is still recovering from a knee
injury he suffered in the Cowboys’ sea
son opener Sept. 4. Head Coach Bob
Simmons has ruled out the possibility
that Lindsay will be available for the
Nebraska game.
“He is still rehabbing his knee and
participating in practice from a throw
ing standpoint,” Simmons said.
Missouri will be facing Nebraska
this week after starting the season 2-0.
Head Coach Larry Smith said he is
looking forward to die rematch with the
Huskers in Columbia.
“Players walked off the field (in
’97) knowing that they played
Nebraska nose to nose,” Smith said. “It
was very inspiring for our football team
and helped pick our program up.”
■
R.C. Slocum, head coach at Texas
A&M, is very aware of what Southern
Mississippi will bring to the table Mien
they meet on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
USM played Nebraska tough last week
- and the Aggies faced the Golden
Eagles last season in a 24-6 Aggie win.
“Southern Miss is a really good
team,” Slocum said. “Everybody that
watched them play Nebraska got a good
appreciation for them.”
■
Colorado and Washington will
square off Saturday in a battle that will
go beyond the lines of the field. Media
hype of Colorado visiting its former
Head Coach Rick Neuheisel, now the
coach of the Huskies, will no doubt
overflow during the week. CU Coach
Gary Barnett said that this game is
important for both teams.
“Both teams have their backs to the
wall,” Barnett said. “This is a must-win
for both teams.”
m
Oklahoma quarterback Josh
Heupel was named the Big 12 offensive
player of the week after guiding the
Sooners to a 41-10 win over Baylor.
Heupel broke four school records pass
ing for 420 yards, completing 37 of 54
passes. School records for completions,
attempts, passing yards and total
offense now all belong to the junior
first-time starter. Head Coach Bob
Stoops said he has been pleased with
Heupel’s poise in the first two games.
“We felt all along that Josh was a
strong quarterback,” Stoops said. “I
love his attitude, love the way he pre
pares and after the summer and the
spring he had - we figured Josh would
be pretty solid, and he has definitely
been that.”
■
Nebraska linebacker Julius Jackson
took the defensive player-of-the-week
honor after leading the Comhuskers to
a 20-13 win over Southern Mississippi.
Jackson scored twice for NU; once on a
fumble recovery and once on an inter
ception return.
Colorado kicker Jeremy Aldrich
picked up the honor for special teams as
he converted on a CU record- five field
goals for the Buffaloes against Kansas.
All five field goals were more than 40
yards. He was also perfect on his four
extra-point attempts.
Big 12 notebook compiled by
staff writer Joshua Camenzind
Craver arrives for Huskers
By Darren Ivy
Senior staff writer
Being thrown into the fire, a per
son must learn that getting burned is
part of the experience - and move on.
If he doesn’t, it’s all over.
Sophomore cornerback Keyuo
Craver now knows that. As a true
freshman, he was basically baptized
under fire in the secondary.
Not only was the Harleton,
Texas, native adjusting to college
football, but he was doing it at a posi
tion he rarely had played in high
school.
“Technique-wise I was clueless,”
Craver said. “I had no idea what I
was doing.”
However, the former standout
running back learned his new posi
tion quickly and saw action in all 13
of NU’s games last year. As the sea
son went on, he earned more playing
time and ended the season with one
interception and 25 tackles.
Craver took some knocks, but he
also learned many things that he lias
applied this season. The most impor
tant thing, he said, was that football
is 10 percent physical and 90 percent
mental.
“(Playing cornerback is) mostly
a mental thing,” Craver said. “You
just can’t get down on yourself. I
learned a big lesson (Saturday). You
have to forget about all your mis
takes and come back strong.”
After being burned several times
by Southern Mississippi’s two out
standing receivers, Sherrod Gideon
and Todd Pinkston, Craver bounced
back to make two key fourth-quarter
interceptions.
He also broke up four passes and
his tipped pass set up Julius
Jackson’s winning touchdown.
“It made me very proud to see
him do that,” said Ralph Brown,
Craver’s mentor and fellow starting
cornerback. “He was getting a little
down on himself early in the game.
nNMmsotI
iVlIIYT, VVAlUUiIM/lSll
NEBRASKA CORNERBACK Keyuo Craver leaps in front of Southern Mississippi quarterback Jeff Kelly to break
up his pass. Craver finished the game Saturday with four pass break ups and two key interceptions, helping
Nil move to 3-0 on the season.
For him to do that was great. I gave
him a little pat on the back and told
him he did a great job.”
Brown has taken Craver undei
his wing in much the same wa>
Michael Booker did when Cravei
came in. Brown said he can identify
with what Craver is going through
because he sees a lot of himself in the
young comerback.
In terms of pure athleticism.
Brown said, Craver has him beat. As 1
for technique, it’s a close call, Brown t
said. c
Brown’s overall edge on his r
young running mate apparently has
grown smaller. f
“I just have a little more confi- 1
dence,” said Brown, the school’s all
time leader in pass breakups. “I s
believe I can cover anybody. Once he j
gets over the hump confidence-wise, 1
I
t will steamroll, and everybody bet
;r watch out. I think those two inter
eptions (Saturday) will give him
aore confidence.”
The humble Craver said his con
idence had come a long way from
ist year.
“I’ve matured a lot more,” Craver
aid. “I’ve gotten smarter and
;rasped the whole mental aspect a
3t better.”
-1
De la Hoy a chokes,
loses the boxing title
John Gaskins
Hello, once again, oh sports
geniuses. I was going to attempt to
write a decently thought-out, half
intelligent sports column with possi
bly, quite possibly, a dabble of valid
opinion to it. But the two^eople who
actually read my column, my sports
editor, Dave, and my imaginary
friend, Blinky, both found the last
DN Sports Quiz so finger-lickin’
good that they wanted an encore.
So, Dave and Blinky, this is for
you. Of course, because of the uni
versity’s contracts with numerous
corporations, I now have to give the
Quiz a sponsored title. So, here it is,
your Pepsi-Amigos-Adidas-Jenny
O-Gas ’N Shop-Cellular One-Old
Milwaukee Light-Trojan Condoms
Turtle Wax-Dixie Cup-Reddi Whip
DN Sports Quiz. Enjoy!
1. The big plays of Keyuo
Craver, Julius Jackson and the rest of
the Nebraska defense against
Southern Mississippi:
a. Saved the Huskers from los
ing the game.
b. Saved the Huskers from los
ing a shot at the national
championship.
c. Saved most Husker fans
from having nothing else to
live for for another year.
2. The fact that Iowa State
started the season 3-0 is a sign that:
a. Head Coach Dan
McCamey, in his fifth sea
son, is finally turning the
program around.
b. It has a weak schedule.
c. The apocalypse is indeed
upon us.
3. After blowing a sure victo
ry in the 1 1th and 12th rounds of his
Welterweight Championship major
ity decision loss to Felix Trinidad,
Oscar De La Hoya admitted that in
those rounds, he was:
Please see QUIZ on 8
NU optimistic after
challenging top team
By Brandon Schulte
Staff writer
One day after losing its first
match of the season to top-ranked
Santa Clara, the Nebraska soccer
team was filled with optimism.
This hopefulness sprung from
the fact that Nebraska, ranked
fourth in the NSCAA poll, played
even with No. 1 Santa Clara before
losing 2-1. Despite the loss,
Nebraska moved up in two of the
three major soccer polls, while
dropping only one slot from three to
four in the NSCAA.
Down by two goals at halftime,
the Cornhuskers battled back
against a pro-Bronco crowd and
what NU Coach John Walker said
might have been the best team he’s
seen in his tenure at Nebraska.
“They certainly have a complete
package,” Walker said. “Looking at
the combination of technical abili
ty, athletes and physical play, I can’t
think of a team that was better than
the one we saw yesterday.”
Santa Clara displayed its might
in the first half by scoring two goals
and controlling the majority of play.
However, the second half was a
different story altogether. Two
thirds of the second half was played
in the Bronco half of the field.
Nebraska cut the lead to one
goal when it scored on a header by
Lindsay Eddleman off a comer kick
in the 70th minute. In the final 20
minutes, Nebraska added an extra
forward as the entire team began
attacking to get an equalizer.
The only times Santa Clara
managed to cross midfield, Husker
goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc
stymied counterattacks with two
key saves and broke up several
crossing passes. On one occasion
Walker said she “flew through a
pile of players to punch the ball
away.”
In the last 10 minutes of the
match, Santa Clara showed signs of
fatigue. It knocked the ball out of
play on purpose and held onto the
ball instead of pushing forward for
another goal as it employed stalling
tactics to run out the remainder of
the clock.
Another player who came up
big down the stretch for NU was
Jenny Benson. Returning home to
her native California, in front of
Please see SOCCER on 8
