but defense needs to fill holes
NU women’s team
vies for NCAA bid
By Brandon Schulte
Staff writer
It really isn’t fair when you think
about it.
When the Nebraska football team
takes the field March 20 to start spring
football, the Comhusker defense better
be prepared to be schooled.
In terms of experience, the NU
offense will be light years ahead of the
defense. The offense has nine returning
starters, including 95 percent of its
offensive production.
The defense? Try replacing six
starters and Defensive Coordinator
Charlie McBride.
Incoming Defensive Coordinator
Craig Bohl will have to find replace
ments for key players who were lost at
rush end, linebacker, safety and comer
back spots. Gone are defensive play
makers Aaron Wills, Eric Johnson,
Julius Jackson, Tony Ortiz, Bryan
Shaw, Ralph Brown and Mike Brown.
From his standpoint as Coach,
Frank Solich sees five spots that need
to be filled during the 15 NCAA-man
date spring practices if his team is to be
successful next fall. Solich spoke of the
spring campaign publicly for the first
time Wednesday.
“We got some holes to fill on the
defensive side of it,” Solich said.
“When you look at it, there are really
five positions that guys made a lot of
plays.
“You have a concern about replac
ing that much talent lost and that num
ber of guys that consistently made
plays for you. This spring, defensively
we’ll be working with that in mind a lit
tle bit to see who will step up and fill
those spots.”
Linebacker might be the toughest
position to fill. NU lost the top two
players on its depth chart at both
strong- and weak-side linebacker.
Inexperience abounds at both
spots. Scott Shanle and Rod Baker are
the only two returning letter winners at
the strong-side position, while Randy
Stella and Mark Vedral appear to early
U We got some holes to fill on the
defensive side of it. When you look at it,
there are really five positions that guys
made a lot of plays.”
Frank Solich
NU football coach
contenders at weak-side backer.
NU also signed five linebacker
recruits, and Solich said they all would
get a chance come next fall.
Defensive line is also an area of
concern. In addition to losing Warren
and Wills, four Huskers - defensive
ends Chris Kelsay, Justin Smith and
Brandon Mooberry and defensive
tackle Jeremy Slechta - will miss all
spring because of injuries.
The secondary, which lost two All
Americans in Ralph and Mike Brown,
might be in the best shape on the defen
sive side of the ball. It returns five play
ers with starting experience, including
Erwin Swiney, who red-shirted last
year because of a groin injury after
starting extensively in both 1997 and
1998.
The offense is an entirely different
story. Solich immediately cracked a
smile when talking about his returning
players on offense.
And why shouldn’t he?
There is but one real question
mark: the amount of work quarterback
Eric Crouch will receive this spring.
He underwent successful shoulder
surgery on his throwing shoulder fol
lowing Nebraska’s 31-21 win over
Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl last
January.
Solich said Crouch will be limited
in what he’s allowed to participate in
during the spring drills. But didn’t say
for sure if he would wear a green jersey,
which means he is not to be tackled, as
he did last year.
“Eric will not be involved in con
tact early on,” Solich said. “He proba
bly will not even throw early on. But by
the end of spring ball, he should be
healthy enough to do just about any
thing - we certainly will control the
amount of contact he receives, even at
the end of spring ball.”
So Jammal Lord, Joe Chrisman
and Brett Lindstrom will receive most
of the snaps. Former starter Bobby
Newcombe will not.
The kicking game should be nearly
identical to last season, with both Josh
Brown and Dan Hadenfeldt returning.
Punter Hadenfeldt received a sixth year
of eligibility, and Brown will try his
hand at wingback this fall, in addition
to his regular duties as place kicker.
Positions of running back, receiver,
tight end and offensive lines all have at
least a majority of players returning,
which are some of reasons why presea
son prognosticators have Nebraska
ranked as one of the top college foot
ball teams heading into next fall.
At running back, Solich said,
starters Dan Alexander and Correll
Buckhalter will see fewer snaps than
younger players, so the Cornhusker
staff can evaluate for the future.
Solich isn’t sure how his team
stacks up with others in the country, but
for now, he’s guardedly optimistic.
“I feel good about the team that’s
coming back,” Solich said. “I like their
athletic ability; I like their work ethic; I
like their attitude, so those are all
plusses.
“The thing that you never know
about is the chemistry until the first
game of the season, and then you start
to see what you’re made up of.”
NU swimmers look to hook top-ranked UT
LONGHORNS from page 20
The All-American Pine flaunts two
previous conference titles in the 100
yard butterfly, including the Big 12
record time (46.71), and he is a two
time NCAA runner-up in that event.
This year, Pine enters the meet
ranked third in the conference with a
time of 47.81, more than a second
behind the leading time of Texas’
Bryan Jones’ 46.75 mark.
Anthony Rogis hopes to defend his
conference-record swim in the 200
yard freestyle (1:34.97) last season.
However, the sophomore’s best time
this year is 1:38.96, ranking him fifth
in the conference, although that time
was taken unshaven.
Kalmikovs enters as the favorite in
the 200-yard breaststroke event with
the league’s top time at 2:01.84.
Windisch is a two-time Big 12 gold
medalist and top-ranked swimmer in
the 400-yard individual medley. His
3:47.90 time already qualified him for
the NCAA meet.
“Our team is aware of the fact that
meets like this are decided mentally,”
Windisch said. “I am swimming a mile
on the last day of the event, but even
though I’m tired, you have to pick it up
JL.
for the team.”
However, the team may be hurt by
the fact that both Pine and Windisch
are expected to go unshaven for the Big
12 meet, with NCAAs and Olympic
trials lurking on their horizons.
NU hopes to make the battle a little
more even with the presence of Erik
Cook. Cook will have the tough task of
trying to beat UT’s Troy Dumais, one
of the top divers in the country.
“Erik is ready to go and looking as
good as he has all season,” Bentz said.
“I’m not saying he’s going to beat
everybody, but he’s definitely ready to
dive well.”
H Sport Clubs
On the Road
NU Men’s Ultimate will travel to Baton
Rouge, LA March 2nd - 7th competing in the
Mardi Gras Tournament.
NU Women’s Soccer will be competing
against Drake University this weekend in
Des Moines, IA.
At Home this Weekend
Men’s & Women’s Rugby
Saturday - Noon - Whittier Field
(22nd & W streets)
«For more information regarding any of the
UNL Sport Clubs events - Please contact the
Office of Campus Recreation 472-3467
Get Involved!
Join an NU SPORT CLUB! New clubs
include Roller Hockey, Cycling and Handball
plus 25+ other clubs to choose from. For more
information call 472-3467.
Results
NU Men’s Rugby placed 4th in the twelve
team Mile High tournament hosted by Metro
State College in Denver, CO. Wins for NU
were against Mesa State and Colordo State
University. Defeating the Huskers were
Wyoming and Northern Colorado.
By Brandon Schulte
Staff uniter
Just like the presidential hope
fuls, the Nebraska women’s basket
ball team is trying to woo the voters.
Next stop: a possible make-or-break
primary in the Show-Me State.
With a win over Missouri on
Thursday night at 7 in Columbia,
Mo., it will sweep the season series
with the Tigers.
And NU hopes a regular season
10-6 record in the Big 12
Conference and a 16-11 overall
record, along with season sweeps of
Kansas and Kansas State, will be
good enough to get it selected to the
NCAA Tournament.
Missouri, at 17-9 overall and 7-8
in the Big 12 Conference, has an out
side chance of playing its way into
the NCAA Tournament.
Both teams have a lot on the line,
said NU guard Brooke Schwartz.
“I think both teams are looking
to gain momentum,” Schwartz said.
“If anyone needs to make a state
ment (in the conference), it’s both of
us. We both need to make a state
ment if we want to get into the tour
nament.”
A Husker win, coupled with
losses by Kansas and Texas, would
leave NU in fourth place in the Big
12 Conference and give them a first
round bye in the Conference
Tournament next week.
Though Coach Paul
Sanderford’s team can finish no
worse than sixth place in the confer
ence, he said it is important for his
team to extend its three-game win
AUSTIN (AP) — Step up, Chris
Simms.
This is your chance to send the
best quarterback in the Big 12 to the
bench.
Texas’ heralded sophomore-to-be
will be the No. 1 quarterback for the
Longhorns when they start 15 days of
spring practice on Monday. Major
Applewhite, the 1999 offensive player
of the year in the Big 12, will miss
spring drills after tearing a knee liga
ment in Texas’ Cotton Bowl loss to
Arkansas.
It would seem unlikely a quarter
back with more than 5,600 yards pass
ing and 39 touchdowns in two years
would be in danger of losing his job.
But Texas coach Mack Brown has
made it clear this is Simms’ chance to
shine, and the better quarterback, not
necessarily the older, will start next
season.
Simms would appear supremely
confident. Starting Monday he will
wear No. 1 on his jersey instead of the
No. 8 he wore last season.
“The whole thing comes down to
which one gets the ball into the end
zone the most, which one has the best
team chemistry,” Brown said.
“Major has shown he’s done all
that. We told Chris when we signed
him he would play some [in 1999]...
and he would have his chance to show
what he can do in the spring.
“It’s a great situation for us and a
delicate situation for us because both
of them are so high profile,” Brown
said. “We’ll play the one that we feel
can win the most ball games.”
As soon as Applewhite went
down, Texas fans wondered if it was
the beginning of the end of his days as
a starter.
“People have a lot of free time, and
they sit around and talk,” Brown said.
“The controversial situation at quar
terback is the one they like the best.”
Simms, the son of former NFL
quarterback Phil Simms, played spar
ingly in 1999. He completed 19 of 36
ning streak to maintain momentum
heading into the conference tourna
ment.
“I think it’s really important that
we play well,” Sanderford said. “We
need to send a message to the rest of
the conference and to our team that .
we can win on the road with the
stakes high.”
Nebraska won handily over
Missouri 80-63 in the first meeting
Jan. 18. NU held Missouri to 38.6
percent shooting from the field and
forced 28 turnovers.
In that game, guards Nicole
Kubik and Schwartz were plagued
by foul trouble. The Huskers
received key contributions from
Amanda Went (17 points) and Casey
Leonhardt (15 points).
But Sanderford didn’t expect
similar success if his team can’t get
points inside and win the rebound
battle. He also said MU will get an
emotional lift from its seniors - Amy
Monsees, Julie Helm and Ekpe
Akpaffiong - on their Senior Night.
They will make their final home
game appearance at Missouri on
Thursday.
Helm has been particularly suc
cessful against Nebraska in her
career. Last year in Columbia, Mo.,
she torched NU for 27 points.
Schwartz agreed with
Sanderford and said it will be a bat
tle.
“I would suspect that since it’s
their Senior Night that they won’t
want to go out with a loss,” she said.
“Missouri is a resilient team that
won’t go away. But at the same time,
it’s a must-win game for us.”
Phenom Simms to make start
in place of injured Applewhite
CC It’s a great
situation for us
and a delicate
situation for us
because both of
them are so high
profile. We ’ll play
the. one that we
feel can win the
most ball games.”
Mack Brown
Texas football coach
passes for 223 yards and two touch
downs.
He started against Texas A&M
when Applewhite was stricken with a
stomach virus and led the Longhorns
to two touchdowns before leaving in
the fourth quarter with Texas up 16-13
and momentum fading. Texas lost 20
16.
For Simms, the challenge this
spring will be to lead an offense
severely depleted at wide receiver. The
Longhorns’ top two receivers in 1999,
Kwame Cavil and Ryan Nunez, are
gone and a trio of heralded recruits
won’t report to UT until fall.
Simms must prove he can still
throw for touchdowns and lead an
offense that hasn’t scored a touchdown
in 10 quarters.
If all the focus on Simms bothers
Applewhite, he should adjust well,
Brown said.
“Major has to reflect on the fact
that he got the job when Richard
Walton waited around five years and
then broke a finger,” Brown said.