Kansas (1-1; beat UAB 23
20)
Kansas kicker Joe Garcia
may have flubbed an extra point
against Alabama-Birmingham
that cost the Jayhawks the lead
in second half of its win.
But Coach Terry Allen said
he had no problem going back
to Garcia later for a much
tougher kick - a 50-yard field
goal - that would provide KU
with the winning margin of
points.
"Joe had been kicking very
well in practice, so I had no hes
itation,” Allen said. “He split the
uprights, and it probably would
have been good by 55 or 56
yards.”
Oklahoma (2-0; was idle)
The Sooner camp is quiet in
preparation for Rice, one of the
few true wishbone teams left in
college football.
Oklahoma Coach Bob
Stoops said the off week was
spent working on the option
schemes and sets.
Oklahoma State (2-0; beat
Southwest Texas State 23-0)
Oklahoma State has a new I
back in Reggie White, who is well
on his way to a 1,000-yard sea
son after two straight games
over the century mark.
Coach Bob Simmons lauded
White’s size - 6-foot 2-inches tall
and 230 pounds - and speed
package.
“He runs aggressively, some
times too aggressively, which
brings up ball-control issues,”
Simmons said. “But he won’t let
people arm-tackle him.”
Kansas State (3-0; beat Ball
State 76-0)
After Aaron Lockett returned
his second punt for a touch
down in Saturday’s romp over
the Cardinals, Kansas State
Coach Bill Snyder joked about a
possible “returner controversy”
between Lockett and NCAA
record-holder David Allen.
There are no worries, Allen
fans. When the senior returns
from injury, the job is his.
“I think David has proven his
skills,” Snyder said.
Texas Tech (4-0; beat
Louisiana-Lafayette 26-0)
Coach Mike Leach's newfan
gled passing offense hasn’t been
perfect in Texas Tech’s four
game winning streak, but it has
been good enough against poor
competition.
Now the Red Raiders get a
week off before moving to Big 12
Conference play against Texas
A&M on Sept. 30.
“It’s probably good we’re get
ting a week off,” Leach said.
“A&M will be the best we’ve
played yet.”
Baylor (1-1; lost to
Minnesota 34-9)
If things at Baylor were bad,
the situation got worse Saturday
when quarterback Greg Cicero
suffered a broken left collar
bone. The injury will sideline
him for the rest of the season.
BU Coach Kevin Steele said
the two quarterbacks who fol
lowed in the loss to Minnesota
could not take advantage of
what Steele termed “a great
offensive game plan.”
“We looked at the tape and
saw all these chances,” Steele
said. “And we couldn’t get peo
ple in the right place.”
With Cicero’s injury, don’t
expect Baylor to scale back its
offensive attack. Steele said BU
will continue to run multiple
sets throughout the season.
Iowa State (3-0; beat Iowa
24-14)
Iowa State has been here
before. In fact, it was last year.
Yes, 3-0 is just how ISU
began the 1999 season, includ
ing a win over in-state rival Iowa.
But a loss to Kansas State the
next week began a tailspin
through the Big 12 schedule that
Iowa State never recovered
from.
“We got to see if we can be a
better team in 2000,” ISU Coach
Dan McCarney said. “Certainly
we didn’t play the best game
against Iowa, but the effort was
there.”
Texas (1-1; lost to Stanford
27-24)
. Texas lost in the little places
on Saturday night and Sunday
morning against Stanford.
UT had more yards but lost
two turnovers and didn’t force
any. It had a punt blocked. And
Please see NOTEBOOK on 11
I Banned trackster watches Olympics
■ Husker Carl Myerscough
remains suspended because of
accusations.of steroid use.
BY JAMIE SUHR
While the top track and field
athletes are in Sydney, Australia,
for the 2000 Summer Olympics,
Nebraska shot-putter and for
mer Olympic hopeful Carl
Myerscough sits at home and
watches.
Myerscough, a native of
Hambleton, England, is still
awaiting word on any ban from
the International Amateur
Athletic Federation (1AAF) for
testing positive for steroids in
June of 1999.
A source close to the track
team said Myerscough did
indeed take steroids from his
coach in England, Simon
Nathan.
Nathan, Myerscough and
Mark Colligan, Husker throws
coach, deny these allegations.
“That’s totally against his
character,” said Nathan, the
national junior shotput and dis
cuss coach for Great Britain.
The IAAF, track and field’s
international governing body,
has yet to weigh in on the mat
ter.
Myerscough has been sus
pended since June 1999. In
those 15 months, the federation
has not ruled on the case, held
up by a tangled mess of bureau
cratic red tape.
Eventually, the IAAF will
decide the NU shot-putter’s
innocence or guilt.
In the meantime,
Myerscough said he bides his
time thinking about what might
have been.
“It’ll be painful when I watch
the Olympics because I know I
should be there,” Myerscough
said. "I’m very bitter about the
whole thing, and I won’t forgive
them for that.”
The saga of Myerscough,
Nate Wagner/DN
Carl Myerscough,an NU shot-putter, didn't participate in Olympic trials because of a positive test for steroids in 1999.
steroids and the IAAF began in
June 1999 when Myerscough
received a phone call from a UK
Athletics official letting him
know he had tested positive for a
banned substance.
"I didn’t know what was hap
pening,” Myerscough said. “I got
a phone call at 7:30 p.m., and I
couldn’t sleep^ for three days.”
After a positive test, UK
..Athletics sends its findings to
the IAAF, and if the IAAF deter
mines the test results are valid,
then the athlete is suspended
until a hearing can take place.
Myerscough contends his
test results should be thrown
out because of what he said is a
rash of errors in the handling of
his case.
Myerscough said the courier
did not deliver the urine sample
to the lab within the 48 hours as
stated in UK Athletics’ policy.
In fact, the sample was three
days late and was left sitting on
the night stand at the courier’s
apartment, he said.
Myerscough added that no
paperwork was filed at the lab
that reported the whereabouts
of the test taker.
He said at least one of the
signatures on the test results
was forged and that one of the
lab workers would testify for
Myerscough.
IAAF officials and UK
Athletics would not comment
on the Myerscough case or his
allegations of wrongdoing.
However, Colligan said UK
Athletics is conducting an inter
nal investigation for forged doc
uments.
Please see MYERSCOUGH on ^
1 Nebraska(43) 2-0 1,747 1
2 Florida St. (26) 3-0 1,723 2
3 Florida 3-0 1,545 6
4 Kansas St.(1) 3-0 1,459 7
5 Virginia Tech 3-0 1,412 8
6 UCLA 3-0 1,408 14
7 Wisconsin 3-0 1,349 4
8 Washington 3-0 1,331 9
9 So. California 2-0 1,126 10
10 Michigan 2-1 1,107 3
11 Clemson 3-0 1,030 16
12 Miami 1-1 926 12
13 Tennessee 1-1 889 11
14 Ohio St. 3-0 733 17
15 Texas 1-1 717 5
16 Notre Dame 2-1 705 21
17 Oklahoma 2-0 629 18
18 TCU 2-0 531 20
19 Illinois 3-0 513 19 |
20 Auburn 3-0 445 24 -S
21 Purdue 2-1 422 13 §
22 So. Miss. 1-1 380 25 -3
23 Michigan St. 2-0 274 22 |
24 Georgia 1-1 194 23 “
NU fall sports
undefeated
BY MATTHEW HANSEN
The football team is still tops in the country. So
is the volleyball team. And the women’s soccer
squad is ranked third, just a few points away from
moving up to gain the No. 1 ranking.
You could say it’s been a pretty swell fall season
for Nebraska athletics.
Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Byrne said he
certainly thinks So.
“They’re doing great, aren’t they?” Byrne said.
"For our fall sports, this is clearly the best we’ve
ever been.”
The football team is in familiar territory on top,
as it has held the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press
and Coaches’ Polls for at least one week in five of
the last seven years.
Although the volleyball team has only one
NCAA championship to football’s three since 1993,
the team also feels comfortable near the top of the
polls. NU Volleyball has finished in the Top 3 in the
final AVCA polls four times since 1994.
But it’s the soccer team that is making this
Nebraska’s best all-around fall season ever - even
better than 1995, when both the football and vol
leyball teams won national titles, Byrne said.
Five years ago, NU soccer was only in its sec
ond year of existence. The Huskers finished 10-8
and unranked that season.
Please see FALL SPORTS on 11
Early upsets mar Big 12 teams
BY SAMUEL MCKEWON
One month into the col
lege football season, early
returns aren’t looking good
for the Big 12 Conference.
There’s Texas, suffering a
27-24 upset at Stanford,
which lost to San Jose State
one week earlier.
There’s Colorado, whose
woes continued against
Washington with a late fum
ble leaving the Buffs at 0-3.
There’s Baylor, which
proved with a 34-9 loss to
Minnesota that it is, alas, still
Baylor, a team worthy of
empty stadium seats.
But the kiss of death
arrives with the Big 12’s 1-6
record against Top 25 oppo
nents. Only Nebraska, has
managed a victory over the
elite crust of college football,
and that was a 27-24 squeak
er over Notre Dame. The Irish
improved its reputation with
a squeaker win of its own over
Purdue 23-21.
Outside of the Huskers,
the outlook is glum. With
CU’s losses to Washington
and Southern California,
Missouri’s losses to Clemson
and Michigan State, Texas
A&M’s loss to the Irish, and
UT’s loss to Stanford, the
buzz has shifted westward,
where the Pacific 10
Conference has blitzed
through competition and
placed three teams in the Top
10.
But Big 12 coaches are
shrugging off the shabby
results in favor of a my-team
first policy. Translation: If the
losses aren’t happening in my
neighborhood, it doesn’t
matter.
“Every year is different,”
Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops
said. “Every coach has to
have his own teams ready to
play. I leave all that who’s bet
ter stuff to the media people
and coffee-table folks for
arguing who’s the best con
ference.”
Stoops, who’s kept his No.
17 Sooners flying below the
radar so far, essentially
preached an idea that if every
team takes care of business,
reputation isn’t a problem.
And the coach whose
DN File Photo
Nebraska is the only team in the Big 12 to defeat a Top 25 team this season.The conference is a combined 1 -
6 against Top 25 opponents.
team has a chance to beat
No. 20 Southern Mississippi
this Saturday, Oklahoma
State’s Bob Simmons, saw it
the same.
“We want to win this
weekend’s ball game for all
the right reasons, starting
with what’s best for
Oklahoma State,’’ said
Simmons, whose team has
beaten up on Tulsa and
Division I-AA Southwest
Texas State for tune-ups.
But Simmons went on to
point out how easily the Big
12 reputation could be differ
ent, especially in the case of
CU.
The Buffaloes easily out
yarded USC in a 17-14 loss
and was driving for a game
tying field goal before fum
bling away a chance against
the Huskies.
Simmons said he felt his
former team, which lost to
now-No. 9 USC and No. 8
Washington, may be as good
as many top 25 teams.
“Colorado is one play away in
both of those games,”
Simmons said. “We’re talking
about three games (including
CU’s 28-24 loss to Colorado
“Every coach has to have his own teams
ready to play. I leave all that who's better
stuff to the media people and coffee-table
folks for arguing who’s the best
conference."
Bob Stoops
OU football coach
State) where had they won,
we’re not having this conver
sation."
Nor might it occur if a few
more of the conference pow
ers - well, Kansas State -
would schedule teams that
register on the college foot
ball respect meter.
While CU and Missouri
struggled against top 25
teams, KSU basked in the
purple glow of two blowouts,
including Saturday’s tension
addled 76-0 win against Ball
State that Coach Bill Snyder
termed “a game that was over
before it was over.”
“We had 34 points in the
first quarter," said Snyder,
who seemed to enforce a self
imposed mercy rule on the
Cardinals by not passing in
the second half. "It wasn’t
very close after that.”
NU Coach Frank Solich
takes a personal responsibili
ty track somewhere in
between most of the Big 12
coaches.
Unlike Snyder, he prefers
a brand-name program
sprinkled into the schedule
with a mid-level team and a
pushover:
Parity has made it harder
to steamroll most oppo
nents, both inside the Top 25
and teams’ lurking outside it.
“You’ve got to play great
football, no matter who you
play,” Solich said. "The Big 12
certainly isn’t off to a great
start.”