Slocum preps team for Huskers
SLOCUM from page 11
be what they do,” Slocum said.
A&M might have an advantage in
its defensive line, Slocum said. The
Aggies operate under a 3-4 alignment,
built on speed. Last season, it helped
Texas A&M fclow the Husker option
attack by penetrating into the backfield
with fleet down linemen.
“Part of Nebraska’s plan is to push
the line of scrimmage back,” Slocum
said. “We’re not a huge physical defen
sive line, but we do have pretty good
team speed and good athletic ability.”
Slocum has no real doubts about
how his offense must operate. He need
only look at A&M’s 28-21 upset of
Nebraska last season to draw inspira
tion. In that game, the Aggies had two
backs, Ja’Mar Toombs and Dante Hall,
who went 100 yards rushing.
Neither of them, largely because of
injuries, have surpassed the century
mark in a game this season yet. Hall
may not play Saturday. Still, Slocum,
whose team is 5-2 this season, said his
team can’t be one-dimensional.
“We won’t have a chance in this
game if we go in there having to throw
it down,” Slocum said. “We’ve got to
"be able to make some positive yards
running the football.”
Injuries in the offensive line have
hurt confidence of the team, not to
mention a gut-crunching 51-6 loss to
Oklahoma. One week later, A&M
rebounded with its most significant
win of the year, a 21-3 victory over
Oklahoma State that left several play
ers crying tears of joy afterward.
So the Aggies, despite being slight
ly in the dark about NU, are upbeat - no
better way to be, as this game is a must
win for Texas A&M if it is to win the
South Division.
“I saw some genuine enthusiasm,
emotion and excitement in the locker
room after the (OSU) game,” Slocum
said. “They certainly felt like they got
back on the right track”
Wrecking crew’ ready to descend
CREW from page 11
Despite being the third-best total
defense in the Big 12 Conference this
season, the Aggies have continued to
show a weakness in stopping the pass.
Two weeks ago, tne “wrecking
crew” got taken to the wood shed,
giving up 51 points and 552 total
yards to Oklahoma.
“I‘don*t know what happened,”
said senior inside linebacker Sean
Coryatt, who has 12 tackles in eight
games. “They just rolled us.”
Despite die problems against the
Sooners, Coryatt said, the “wrecking
crew” was still good. If you throw out
the Oklahoma game, the A&M
defense is giving up an average of
12.8 points per game.
Against Oklahoma State last
week, the defense gave up just a field
goal, die fewest points it had surren
dered all year.
“We bounced back last week
against Oklahoma State,” said
'ijr-W . i .
Coryatt about the Aggies’ 21-3 victo
ry. “We have to play like we did last
week.”
Curry agreed that the Aggies are
ready to show the real “wrecking
crew” when they take on the No. 9
Huskers in a 2:35 p.m. showdown
Saturday. -
“If we play up to our potential and
swarm to die ball, we can be effective
against them,” said Curry, who is tied
for second on A&M’s team with three
interceptions.
Soft-spoken rush end impresses
ADAMS from page 11
His extended playing time should
continue Saturday against Texas
A&M, as starting rush ends Aaron
Wills and Kyle Vanden Bosch and
backup Chris Kelsay are all injured.
Adams, like former standout
Husker Mike Rucker, has the ability
to play left and right rush end so he
will spell Vanden Bosch and Wills.
In seven games, Adams has made
three tackles, including two for a
loss, and also returned a fumble for a
37-yard touchdown against Iowa
State.
What makes the 6-foot-2, 220
pound Adams so remarkable is that
he has given up an average of 80
pounds to the offensive linemen he
faces each game.
But middle linebacker Carlos
Polk said Adams’ size has worked to
his advantage.
“He’s quick off the ball,” said
Polk, who is 6-foot-2 and 250
pounds. “Most linemen can’t get to
him quick enough, and he’s by them
before they know what hit them.”
Another thing that makes Adams
special is his “relentless pursuit and
spirit,” said junior defensive tackle
Loran Kaiser.
“The guy is a human battery. He
never shuts off,” Kaiser said.
Adams probably has all that ener
gy because he doesn’t waste it talking
and being expressive.
“Off the field he is a quiet guy,
and you almost have to pay him to
talk,” Polk said. “He does his talking
Football Starters^^ ^
Nebraska starters ”
BOlMH
Name HL Wt Poe. No. Name HL Wt
MaS Davison i 4 61 9 185 LR 81 Aaron Wiis 62 250
Adam Juich 65 320 NT 96 Steve Warren 62 305
James Sternum * 64 *4 296 DT 91 Loran Kaiser 64 295
^ JJ. g &S V*
Dave Volk 65 300 MLB 13 Carlos Poik
TJLDeSatee 68 250 WLB 50 Jufc*J**aon . 61.
Eric Crouch 61 195 LCB 3 KeyuoCraver 610 190
ttttdifiler 61 245 FS 19 CSntFWey : 60 205
Dan Alexander 6-0 245 ROV 21 Mike Brown 5-10 180
Sean Applegate 5-9 185 RGB 22 Ra** Brown 610 180
Josh Brown 62 185 P 17 Dan Hadenfeidt 611
Tens JUJI starters
Btftmtf
>■- m un t— ki- ti- in Mi*
Naim HL Ifl rOS. NO. Naim nL f?I.
Randy McCown 64 .. 213 t£ 96 RodtyBmtwd 63 283
Eric Bernard 69 190' NG 96 Ron Edwards 63 272
. RE 99 RonMdFiemons 66 247
LOLB23 Jason Glenn 61 235
Wil40'GMiN*JMtany'64 234
RBrpugNon 61 247 MIKE 17 Brian Gamble 62 227
ROLB40 RoySn Bradley •- 6i 230
Chris Valletta 63 287 LCB 30 Jason Webster 69 178
290 FS IT Brandon Jemngs 61 197
SemM Haimyl 62 309 SS 1 Michael Jameson 611 179
Andy Vincent «ir?98* RC8 18 Sedrick Curry 61 :f93
Terence Kitchens 69 165 PR 34 Dante Hall 68 196
on the football field with his actions.”
McBride said Adams isn’t afraid
to talk, as long as it is about football.
“He is a very quiet person and a
very intense learner,” McBride said.
“He doesn’t hold things inside him. If
he doesn’t know something, he’s
going to ask you, but that is about the
only time you will hear him talk.”
Adams doesn’t need to talk about
himself because teammates and
coaches already are taking notice.
“He’s the kind of player who I
think someday will be an outstanding
rush end,” McBride said. “He will be
in the mode of some of the great ones
we’ve had in the past.”
Added Kaiser: “He is in a great
position, and things are only going to
get better for him.”
--
SUNDAY NIGHT
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NU rolls into final
of Big 12 tourney
By Brandon Schulte
Staff writer
From the moment the No. 4
Nebraska soccer team arrived in San
Antonio, Texas, for the Big 12
Tournament, it was penciled into the
final.
It’s in ink now.
The top-seeded Cornhuskers
quelled any thoughts No. 22 Baylor
might have had of an upset, in the
early going, in a 7-1 thrashing at
Blossom Soccer Park.
Coach John Walker was happy
with his team’s offensive production,
which moved NU to 19-1-1 on the
season, while Baylor dropped to 14-6
1.
“They are certainly a quality
team,” Walker said “They are a top-25
team with an excellent goalkeeper, so
of course we are happy to get seven
goals.”
The seven goals set a new NU
school scoring record of 99 goals in
21 games. Nebraska’s 4.7 goals per
game leads the nation.
All game lohg, Baylor tried to
draw Nebraska offsides. It proved to
be an ineffective tactic, as Nebraska
took advantage of the defense to score
several easy goals.
“If a team decides to play flat
against us, we will definitely try to
penetrate and play die ball in behind
them with long passes,” Walker said.
Nebraska 7
Baylor 1
Six different Huskers scored
goals, but few had the same excite
ment as freshman Christine Latham’s
goal in the 40th minute.
Latham won the ball at midfield
and proceeded to catch BU goalkeep
er Dawn Greathouse off guard as
Latham launched a 50-yard shot from
near midfield that resulted in
Nebraska’s third goal. Latham scored
two goals Thursday night and has
been in the scoring column the last
eight games.
NU goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc
continued her strong play in the goal
as she recorded a season-high eight
saves and gave up a single goal.
Nebraska will move on to meet
third-seeded Missouri, a 2-1 winner
over Iowa State in the other semifinal,
Saturday night at 7:30. The game will
be a rematch of last year’s final, won
by Nebraska 4-0. Earlier this season
the Huskers defeated the Tigers 5-1 at
the Abbott Sports Complex.
Walker said his team will face a
better MU team than it saw last
month.
“It will be a challenge,” Walker
said. “Missouri is a good, experienced
team. They are well-organized and
explosive up front. We definitely
know we will be in for a test on
Saturday.”
Former Creighton star
caught with marijuana
TORONTO (AP) — Miami Heat
rookie Rodney Buford was sent home
and faces disciplinary action after a
small amount of marijuana was found
during a customs check.
Police, who described the amount
as “very, very, very small,” did not
charge Buford, but Heat coach Pat Riley
took matters into his own hands.
Riley also said there might be
“implications” with the league. He
refused to elaborate, and Heat players
refused to comment
This is the first season in which
NBA players are being tested for mari
juana and steroids.
Buford, a 6-5 guard out of
Creighton University, was stopped
Wednesday night during a customs
check when the Heat arrived in Toronto.
The drugs were confiscated and the
matter left to the team, said Staff Sgt.
Bill Matheson of the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police.
In September, Buford was sen
tenced in Douglas County Court in
Omaha to 180 days probation, a $400
fme and a 60-day driver’s license sus
pension for driving under the influence.
At his sentencing, Buford told the
judge he had not used drugs or alcohol
since being ticketed.
In May police stopped Buford on
Interstate 680 in Omaha. Officers
noticed smoke coming from Buford’s
vehicle and smelled a “strong odor” of
marijuana. Several marijuana roaches
were confiscated at that time.
Grand jury indicts IBF
on charges of bribery
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The
president and other officials of the
International Boxing Federation were
indicted on charges of taking bribes
of up to $25,000 from promoters and
managers to manipulate rankings.
“In the IBF, rankings were
bought, not earned,” Robert F. Cleary,
first assistant U.S. attorney for New
Jersey, said Thursday.
The 32-count indictment, handed
up Wednesday by a federal grand jury
and unsealed Thursday with the
arrest of the IBF president’s son,
includes charges of conspiracy and
racketeering.
The four defendants took in about
$338,000, including a $100,000 pay
ment in 1995 for a so-called special
exception, according to the indict
ment. That was for a heavyweight
champion to defend his title against a
boxer previously unranked by the
IBF, it said.
“The defendants completely cor
rupted the IBF ranking system,”
Cleary said, noting the 13-year
scheme began almost with the IBF’s
inception.
The indictment said seven pro
moters and managers were involved,
as well as 23 boxers. They have not
been charged and were not named in
the indictment. However, the investi
gation is continuing.
Cleary would not say if a June
raid on the Florida offices of promot
er Don King was related to the IBF
investigation, and declined to say if
King was a target.
The bribery scam affected rank
ings in 10 of the 15 weight classes
with larger payments made in the
heavier divisions, Cleary said.
* He declined to say whether any
one is cooperating with investigators,
but said the evidence includes “con
sensually monitored conversations,”
on audiotape and videotape.
The investigation was “kickstart
ed” by accusations raised in 1996 in
lawsuits against the IBF by former
heavyweight boxing champ Michael
Moorer, Cleary said.
With their rules and rankings, the
IBF and the two other major sanc
tioning groups — the World Boxing
Association and World Boxing
Council —play a large role in deter
mining a boxer’s opponents. Fighters
with higher rankings are usually paid
more for their bouts, but those who
defy the groups risk losing the chance
at a high ranking.