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Sports
Wednesday, October 6,1999 _ Page 11
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Mike Warren/DN
RIGHT CORHERBACK Ralph Brown smiles while walking off the field with cornerhack Tyler Rauenzahn after
defeating Southern Mississippi at Memorial Stadium on Sept. T8. Brown has seen fewer passes thrown his way
this season because of his experience as a four-year starter in the defensive secondary.
Seeing fewer
passes, Brown
still can’t relax
By Samuel McKewon
Senior staff writer
The life of a defensive back is full of
paradoxes.
The better they get, the less action
they see. And the less a team passes the
ball, the more pressure there is to make
a play.
Those things considered, NU cor
nerback Ralph Brown might be in for a
heck of a mind game Saturday against
Iowa State.
The-senior from Hacienda Heights,
Calif., one of the top cover comers in the
nation, doesn’t see many balls thrown
his way. Opposing teams would just as
soon test less experienced Comhuskers
like Keyuo Craver, who’s been up to the
challenge, leading the team with eight
pass breakups - and he also has two
interceptions.
Plus the Cyclones (3-1) don’t like to
throw the ball much. As he 108th pass
ing team in the country, ISU might look
Brown’s way only once or twice in
Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. contest.
For Brown, hose games are no eas
ier than contests where teams throw he
ball 50 times.
“It is harder,” said Brown, who has
four pass breakups and one intercegttist*
this season. “You have to be very hen
tally sharp. It’s just like playing
Nebraska, they keep running he ball,
running he ball, and you think it’s a run
- and that play is going to be a pass, and
you’re going to get beat when you least
expect it.”
It’s a situation Brown’s had to deal
with all season long.
As a fourth-year starter, Brown’s
ability has already been proven. His trial
by fire occurred his first two seasons at
NU, when as freshman and sophomore,
he played opposite such experienced
comerbacks as former All-American
Michael Booker, who was avoided by
quarterbacks nearly every game.
Now, Brown gets the hands-off
treatment. And although he terms
Craver and he injured Erwin Swiney as
«
With the repetitions
I had, I knew they
were going to
test Keyuo.”
Ralph Brown
NU comerback
“great football players,” Brown’s chess
matches aren’t always as fun when pass
es are thrown 30 yards in the other
direction.
“Michael Booker didn’t get any
balls thrown his way his senior year, and
he was mad, just like I am this year,”
Brown said. “With the repetitions I had,
I knew they were going to test Keyuo”
Not that it’s hurt the secondary’s
performance much. Nebraska is fourth
in the nation in pass efficiency defense,
right behind, ironically, Iowa State. The
Cyclones have yet to face as sophisticat
ed a passing offense as Nebraska faced
with Southern Mississippi, however.
NU Defensive Backs Coach
George Darlington said he noticed the
'isebondary’s. progression as a unit but
cautioned reading too much into num
bers this early in the year.
“We’ve probably faced the five
weakest offensive teams we were going
to face this year, with the exception of
Southern Mississippi,” Darlington said.
“Time will tell if people look at this
defense as one of the best.”
Iowa State, the No. 1 rushing team
in the nation, wouldn’t seem to give the
Nebraska secondary huge problems on
paper. ISU has thrown 60 passes this
season; 24 of those came against
Kansas State.
Still, Brown insists, the Cyclones
have good receivers. One of them is
Brown’s close friend, Damien Groce,
who has six receptions for 169 yards
Please see BROWN on 12
Transfer will miss
season with injury
■ NU forward George
Mazyck is set for surgery
today to repair his knee.
By Joshua Camenzind
Staff writer
The Nebraska men’s basketball ■
team took a blow Tuesday when it was:
revealed that junior college transfer
George Mazyck will miss the entire sea
son because of a knee injury.
The forward from Columbia, S.C.,
broke his right patella during preseason
workouts. Surgery to repair the knee
will take place today, and he will be out
until next spring.
Knee problems have hindered
Mazyck throughout his basketball
career. He suffered the same exact
injury last season while playing at
Coffeyville (Kan.) Community
College. He played just eight games at
Coffeyville last season.
Mazyck also tore his anterior-cruci
ate ligament in the same knee while
playing at Missouri during the 1997-98
season. The injury limited him to just
four games at MU.
Nebraska trainer Mike Gooding
said he was unsure of how the injury
occurred.
“He just came in one day, and it was
a lot more sore than previously,”
Gooding said.
Gooding had been rehabbing
Mazyck for his last broken patella.
Head Coach Danny Nee said a cou
ple of weeks ago that Mazyck would be
counted on to shore up NU’s front line.
He described Mazyck, a 6-foot-9,270
pounder, as a “physical, tough, strong
Please see MAZYCK on 12
NU setter accepts role
.t-.
By Darren Ivy
Senior staff writer
Entering the season, junior set
ter Jill McWilliams expected to be
the starting setter in a 5-1 system.
Why should she have expected
anything else? She had backed up
All-American Fiona Nepo for two
years until Nepo’s graduation in
1999, and McWilliams had worked
all summer in preparation for her
chance to finally lead the
Comhuskers.
What she didn’t expect was
Coach Terry Pettit to change to a 6
2 system and have to split time with
another setter.
Unlike some players, who might
have pouted and taken it as a demo
tion, McWilliams accepted the role
and has tried to make the most of it.
“I feel I can still be just as much
of a leader on this team with the role
m
I have now,” said McWilliams, who
leads the team with 326 set assists.
“Really it is the same role, it’s just
that I am not in there the whole
_________ game.”
Adjusting
to the split time
with another
setter and the
6-2 system
, didn’t happen
overnight and,
at times, it has
been frustrat
i n g ,
McWilliams McWilliams
said.
However, McWilliams’ play this
past week against Kansas and Texas
A&M made her forget about some
of that frustration and gave her con
fidence that things are becoming
settled.
“I feel that as the season has
gone on, I am starting to get more
ft.
comfortable with the role I have on
the team,” said the Des Moines
native. “I’m just trying to play so
the other players can have confi
dence in me. I feel with every match
it is getting better and better.”
Pettit agreed.
“I thought Jill McWilliams set
as well in the last two matches as
she had all year,” Pettit said. “I think
it has to do withponfidence. With
each match she becomes more com
fortable.”
Senior Tonia Tauke said
McWilliams is most comfortable
when she plays and doesn’t think.
“I think sometimes her mind
gets cluttered with the expectations
and thinking what she should do in
certain situations,” Tauke said.
“When she just plays, she’s great. I
think we are getting to the point in
the season where we just play.”
Please see SETTER on 12
