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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 2000)
NateWagner/DN Freshman Rush End Benard Thomas concentrates on drills at the beginning of prac tice Tuesday. Coach Frank Solid) said Thomas' athletic ability and intensity on the field won him the chance to show his stuff on defense against Iowa last Saturday. Freshman a presence at rush end for Huskers THOMAS from page 9 Depends like an 80-year-old man, and you’re going to go crying to your momma tafidng about how you don’t want to play football anymore. “Our defensive playbook looks like a telephone book. All our veterans seem like they’re running at 4.3-speed, and you can’t keep up with them. The tight ends are too big to block; they smash me around. The offensive linemen are killing me. But off the field, I know it’s making me bet ter.” That kind of attitude, Thomas’ emergence in practice this fall and the not-so-emerging play of Demoine Adams, Chris Kelsay and Justin Smith at the left end spot, had NU coaches sending Thomas on the field during the Huskers' first defensive series against Iowa Saturday. “His athletic ability got him onto the field,” Coach Frank Solich said. “What makes him dangerous is his size; he’s got excellent strength for a very young player, and he plays at a level that is high in intensity. “Every time the ball is snapped, he’s one of those players that just automatically plays things out. He doesn’t have to be driven to play it out.” Playing runningback and linebacker in addition to defen sive end at St Francis High School in East Palo Alto, Calif., may have helped the quick move from the scout team locker room to varsity locker room. “Benard has great football instincts,” Rush Ends Coach Nelson Barnes said. “His playing on both sides of the ball has helped him. He’s probably been in those positions where he’s been pursued, and knowing how he tried to escape, now he’s the pur suer.” He's pursued getting on the field with little reserve. Thomas admitted he’s not the redshirt type. He just hasn’t been the sit ting-around type ever, period. It’s easy to tell, with his sharp tongue, loud inflection, jittery movements and ear-to-ear grin. "I was a dirty, goofy little boy,” Thomas said. "Always running around with a snotty little nose. Always fighting and banging on something. Always fidgeting. I gave teachers and parents a tough time.” Perhaps Thomas’ outgoing tendencies come from his child hood. The SuperPrep All American grew up fli the poverty stricken San Francisco Bay area suburb of East Palo Alto, which wasn’t exactly Compton, but not exactly the bourgeois haven of neighboring Palo Alto. “There were some thugs here and there,” Thomas said. “If you didn’t run your mouth, you were okay, but you always had to be ready to fight. I never got into much trouble in high school. I was always chilling. I never trash talked anybody. I was just always talking about something cool.” Which is probably part of the reason Thomas has made such an impact in such a short time at NU. But he said he doesn’t want people to expect him to be like past golden NU rush ends Trev Alberts, Jared Tomich and Grant wistrom. “My main thing is trying to bring something new to this game,” Thomas said, “a different kind of speed pass rush thing. Make up something new. I’ve got to get crunked.” Crunked? “Yeah, crunked. You gotta get juiced. You gotta get amped, whatever it takes.” If there’s anyone who has ever been “crunked” to be a true fresh man for Nebraska, Thomas is the man. "I’m living. You can’t ask for much more. I’m just happy to be at Nebraska - the number one team in the nation. I’m about to go practice for the number one team in the nation! "I think about that a lot. The number one team in the nation called my house, talked to my par ents, asked me to go to school and play with the best. Man, you know you’re doing something right when they’re telling you that” 12th & O - Gateway Mall _www.sartorhamann.com_ Former Husker Lindland wins silver BY DAVID DIEHL After a three-month appeals battle and the uncertainty of his position on the U.S. Greco Roman Wrestling team, Matt Lindland has put his mark on Nebraska wrestling history. Lindland, a 1993 Big Eight champion for Nebraska, captured an Olympic silver medal in the 167.5-pound division in Greco Roman wrestling Tuesday morn ing. The second-place finish is the highest ever for a former or cur rent Nebraska wrestler. Itoo other former Husker wrestlers earned bronze medals. The last bronze was Bill Scherr’s in 1988. Lindland, an assistant coach on last year’s NU wrestling team, fell to Russia’s Mourat Kardanov, 3-0 in the gold medal match after an improbable run to the medal rounds. The former NU wrestler nearly missed going to the Olympics altogether. He originally lost in the finals of the Olympic qualifying tournament. He appealed the decision and gained the right to a rematch, which he won. Only after another series of appeals and ultimately a decision by the Supreme Court was Lindland allowed on the Olympic team. Despite the amazing events surrounding his getting to Sydney, and despite the fact that he wasn’t a pre-tournament favorite, Lindland said he wasn’t aiming for silver at all. Gold was all that was on hi? mind. “I’m happy with what I got,” said Lindland, 30. “I’m not going to be upset about it. You can’t do anything about it now so I have to be happy with it” Lindland fell behind early in the match with Kardanov and had a chance to score points late, but the sweaty conditions made a takedown hard, he said. “If I had gotten a takedown earlier,” Lindland said, "it might have gone the other way and ended differently. He just wrestled a good match.” Lindland had never wrestled Kardanov before the gold-medal match, but it didn’t create a prob lem, he said. He had watched film of the Russian before on film. “I knew he was good,” Lindland said. "I know all the Russians are damn tough.” Overcoming all the pomp and circumstance of the Olympics could have been tough. But Lindland said there was not a chance of him getting lost in the atmosphere. It was “just another tournament" to him, he said. “I was here to get a medal,” Lindland said, "and I did. It wasn’t This year the cast of MTV's The Real World' went to Africa. ’Now you can tool Enter for a chance to win at your local Council Travel office or at counciltravel.com This trip to Africa is provided by 10 —.-c-on, virgin (or It to 35 par at* atlantic No Purchase Necessary. Open to residents of U S., between the ages of 18 and 35 as of 96*00. Void where prohibited. See agency for Official Rules or go to coonaltravel.com. Sweepstakes ends 10*15*00. I Council the color I wanted, though. But I wasn’t here for the event of the whole thing.” Despite winning that silver medal and marking his place in one of the most ancient sports, other things mean more to Lindland. Things such as seeing his chil dren experience Australia and the Olympics meant the most to him. "Having my wife and kids here was the best part about it,” said Lindland, who, along with his wife, has two kids, James, 8, and Robin, 6. “I wanted to compete, and I wanted them to have a great time and go to events and meet the athletes. It's something kids just don't get to do.” Craver front, center for NU CRAVER from page 10_ Bohl said plays of that cal iber are expected from a player like Craver. “Some guys have that nature to them,” he said. “He is an awfully athletic guy, and he fits the bill." And with his desire, Craver said he will not disappoint. “I’ve never wanted to settle for less,” he said. “I don’t want to just settle for being a blackshirt. I want to make sure that I make a mark on my name.” W.C.’s Downtown Friday. September 29th The Downtown Lincoln Debut of... sroavDpilpPet Former members of One More Time. 9 PM to Close $5 at the Door Penny Pitchers Buy the first pitcher at regular price & the second is only 10. W.C.’s Downtown • 1128 P’ St. • 477-4006 *Now hirig all shifts. Apply at the bar. PLAY THE GAME All New: All Youre: All Free