SportsThursday
Daily Nebraskan Thursday, September 28,2000 Page 10
MU's Smith
blows top
vs. Huskers
“Quit looking at the damn
replay boards! Quit looking at
them! Quit looking at them!”
Missouri Head Coach Larry
Smith chastising his Tiger players
for watching the HuskerVision
screen in the
waning
moments of a
51-7 loss to
Nebraska in
1996.
Say a prayer
' for Larry Smith.
neainigot mucn Samuel
time, Or marbles,
left for fee college
coaching game.
The pressure
is on for him to produce at MU,
even if he's done more than any of
the previous coaches in 20 years.
The heat is on because Smith’s
logic is off.
He’s a real mix of old school
and new age. He has seemingly
two emotions: anger and tears. In
three games I’ve witnessed Smith
against Nebraska, one or the
other (mostly anger) have been
the order of the day.
His emotions kick in every
year for Nebraska. When MU
thoroughly outplayed NU in
1997, and still lost in overtime,
Smith got glassy-eyed and
lameftted the sad fates with the
words “one stinkin play.”
It might as well be his life
mantra. Smith has taken four
teams to bowls - Tulane, Arizona,
Southern California and Missouri.
But Smith is a builder, and his
buildings don’t last. Arizona
dropped after he left. USC wilted
in his final seasons there. And
Ttilane disappeared into oblivion.
He does not, under any cir
cumstances, win the games he
absolutely has to win, even when
his job is on the line. He is 1-23
against Top 25 teams at MU. The
Tigers have lost 36 straight against
teams in the Top 10. That’s a lot of
anger. Not a lotta tears of joy.
Last year, the anger went from
overboard to funny. His outburst
after Missouri’s big flop against
Nebraska was memorable. At
MU, a golden-haired talking head
hits the coach up with questions
first while the news reporters sit
stone-faced, awaiting their turn.
The Tigers were a comedy of
errors that night in a 40-10 loss. It
was much, much more of a
blowout than the score indicated.
Smith seethed. He glared. And
when the writers started with
their g questions, Smith just let
out Some sample dialogue:
QUESTION: So, your opin
ions on the game?
ANGRY SMITH: It’s real sim
ple. We stunk. That’s the worst
excuse for a football team I’ve ever
seen.1
QUESTION: How will you get
the team back on track?
ANGRY AND NOW VINDIC
TIVE SMITH: We’re gonna whip
their butts. •
Well, whippin butts didn’t
work, unless Smith preferred the
effect to occur on the field. After a
couple of close losses to Colorado
and Iowa State, Missouri segued
into gelatinous goo.
During a 37-0 loss to
Oklahoma, Smith’s hand was
bleeding for unexplained purpos
es as he found a performance
even more pathetic than that of
the Nebraska game:
“It was the most pathetic
thing I’ve ever seen in my whole
life,” he said.
Imagine his wonder in the fol
lowing loss to Texas A&M 51-14.
Or after that to Kansas State,
where it got so bad his wife started
screaming at referees toward the
end of the miraculous 66-0 loss.
Anger runs in the family, it seems.
In some ways, Smith reminds
me of Jim “diddly poo” Mora, who
basically got ousted from the New
Orleans Saints for the "diddly
poo” tirade after a loss. (On side
note, it ought to be said the Saints
replaced him with a real prince of
soothing language, Mike Ditka).
The Smith train is about to
derail. He allowed a new passing
offense to stick for this year, and it
had produced poor results. The
62-9 blast at Clemson must have
been a real hello in the press room.
Smith claims to have no false
sense of security. Somehow, this
doesn’t sound like a good thing. If
a man senses he’s on his way out
the door, he can get reckless, stu
pid. He can get angry.
If the Tigers get “pathetic”
against Nebraska Saturday and
start watching 'those
HuskerVision screen again, watch
out. It’ll be a Hurricane Larry
warning.
4 i '
No. 1 Nebraska bowls over CU Buffs
■ The Cornhuskers have no problem
with another Big 12 road game, this one
a straight set victory over the young
Colorado team.
BY KRISTEN WATERS
Wischmeier to Cepero. Cepero to
Pilakowski. Pilakowaski to the floor. And
give the Nebraska’s women volleyball team
another point. Just another night for the No.
1 Nebraska volleyball team.
In a quick hour and 24 minutes, the
Huskers (12-0) swept the Colorado
Buffaloes (5-6) 15-5,15-6,15-9, doing to CU
exactly what it has done to all other Big 12
opponents.
The outcome was nothing new for NU
Coach John Cook.
“For being on the road, we played very
well,” Cook said. "There are always things to
work on, but what we worked on for this
game we executed great.”
“I think we came out and set the tempo
early with our serving and blocking” Cook
said.
The Huskers started the match with an
easy 15-5 first game win over the Buffs with
the help of sophomore Laura Pilakowski’s
five kills. *
NU took the Buffs and the Colorado
crowd off 1,988 out of the match early.
Nebraska 15 15 15
Colorado 5 6 9
“Colorado just couldn’t get into rhythm
tonight.” Cook said. “They hit a negative
percentage in the first game.
“You can’t come into road games and let
the teams think they have a chance.”
The second game started out shaky
when CU ran with the biggest lead of the
night with a 5-1 edge. But the Husker’s
blocking and serving game overwhelmed
Colorado as the Buffs fell, for the second
time, 15-6.
In the third and final game of the night,
the Huskers rallied back and forth with CU.
It was side-out after side-out until senior
Angie Oxley stepped up with a game high
five kills, giving the huskers a 15-9 victory
and anotherW” in the books.
“She (Oxley) came into Boulder, took
care of business, and got out of there.” Cook
said. “Nobody even knew she was here, but
they will when they look at the stat sheet
tomorrow.”
Oxley finished the night with 11 kills and
the highest hitting percentage on the team at
.500 percent She also had two blocks and dug
12 balls. Pilakowski led the team with 13 kills.
Despite the Husker’s easy win, the vol
leyball team still has room for improvement
Cook said.
“Winning is what is important right
now, along with getting better.” Cook said.
DN File Photo
Ron Brown is one of many Nebraska football assistant coaches who have stayed with the Huskers despite a number of other job offers.
numainstays
Coaches stick with
staff despite offers
BY JAMIE SUHR
It would have been easy for former
Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Charlie
McBride to be a coach on another team’s side
line.
When University of Wisconsin-Madison
approached McBride he turned down the uni
versity. Wisconsin eventually hired Barry
Alvarez.
When Arizona State University in Tempe
contacted McBride about their coaching
vacancy, McBride respectfully declined. ASU
settled for Bruce Snyder.
After Bill McCartney resigned as Colorado’s
coach in 1995, people close to the university
asked if he would be interested, but once again,
McBride refused.
In addition to the college opportunities,
Tom Landry, former Dallas Cowboys coach,
interviewed McBride for defensive line coach
and offered him the job. Luckily, McBride
refused Landry because Landry and his staff
were fired shortly thereafter. In all, McBride was
offered 15 NFL positions.
But McBride wouldn’t leave Nebraska.
Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener on
the other side of the pasture. That’s the case for
McBride and NU’s other assistant coaches.
The Cornhuskers have been successful
with keeping assistants, while other college
programs replace staff members each season.
Year after year, NU’s same assistant coaches
prowl the sidelines, forgoing other assistant
and coaching jobs.
The NU staff is the definition of consisten
cy, and consistency is the reason many stick
around for decades.
“At Nebraska, you don’t have to reinvent the
wheel every year,” Brown said.
The consistency starts with the head man.
Football Coach Frank Solich has spent 19 sea
sons on the staff-15 of those were spent coach
ing the running backs.
Solich, despite being offered other jobs
around the country, decided to stay at NU. The
decision couldn't have turned out better.
“I feel very fortunate to be here,” Solich
said. "There were times when I looked at other
jobs, but nothing out there was better than
here.”
Ditto for Brown, who has been offered
numerous jobs with other college teams.
In 1989, Brown was offered the coaching
position at Brown University in Providence,
R.I., but declined. Since then, Brown has inter
viewed for assistant coaching jobs at Florida
State University in Tallahassee and Penn State
University, and was also offered a coordinator’s
position at an unspecified school.
NFL teams have also inquired about
Brown’s availability. He turned down offers for
the wide receivers coach at both Tampa Bay
and New England.
The Nebraska assistants said the continuity
of their lives in Lincoln would be hard to leave.
Brown, who is involved with Christian
organizations, said being an assistant coach
allowed him to do things that a coach wouldn't
have the time for.
Brown co-founded Mission Nebraska and
is the university adviser for the Fellowship of
Christian Athletes.
“A head coaching job might not be for
everyone,” Brown said. “Head coaches have got
to be tedious and do a lot of the dirty work. I
have things to do that if I were a head coach, I
couldn’t do.”
Quarterbacks Coach Turner Gill said his
beliefs and family have kept him in Lincoln.
“I would always consider leaving, but I have
to pray to God to see where he wants me,” Gill
said. “I have to know what’s best for my family."
To NU’s elder assistants, Defensive Back
Coach George Darlington, Offensive Line
Coach Milt Tenopir and McBride, starting over
somewhere new held no interest.
"At my age, I have no desire to leave,"
Darlington said. “Not that I won’t look, though.
“The pluses here outweigh my desire,
which isn't overwhelming, to be a head coach,”
he said.
McBride said it wouldn’t be fair for him to
take a job at another school.
“At my age, I wasn’t interested to leave,”
McBride said. “To be a head coach, you should
be able to coach for 10 years, but only wanted to
coach another three.”
Tenopir said the last time he seriously con
-£
Please see COACHES on 9
Former
Husker
gets gold
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Rulon Gardner, a former
Nebraska All American as a
heavyweight, stunned the
wrestling world when he defeat
ed Russian wrestling legend
Alexander Karelin in the gold
medal match of the 2000
Olympics.
In the 286-pound finals,
Gardner defeated Karelin 1-0 in
overtime.
It was Karelin’s first
wrestling defeat in his 13 years
of international competition.
The Russian, considered the
best Grecco-Roman wrestler of
all-time, was never scored upon
in the 1990’s and trailed last in a
match at the 1988 Olympics.
The crowd at the Sydney
Exhibition Hall was stunned at
Gardner's seemingly impossible
feat. So were other wrestlers,
coaches and experts.
“What does this mean? He
just beat the best wrestling in
the history of wrestling - a
wrestler who had never been
beaten,” U.S. national Greco
Roman Coach Steve Fraser said.
Gardner scored the match’s
only point at the beginning of
the second period. Overtime
was then required because nei
ther wrestler had scored at least
three points.
Karelin tired in the over
time, taking less and less scor
ing chances. With eight seconds
left, he dropped his hands, con
ceding his first international
defeat.
The appearance was
Gardner’s first at the Olympics
while Karelin was wrestling for
his fourth Olympic gold medal
in Greco-Roman wrestling.
The gold medal is the first
for the former Nebraska
wrestler and just the third for a
U.S. Greco-Roman wrestler.
Matt Lindland, a 1993 Big Eight
Champion for NU won a silver
medal onHiesday.
Gardner’s win is considered
historic because Karelin has
been mentioned as the greatest
Olympic athlete of modern
times. Karelin, before losing his
first international match, had
compiled nine world champi
onships and three Olympic
golds.
Gardner, who had never fin
ished higher than fifth in inter
national competition, said he
never expected to beat the
wrestling legend.
“When did I think I could
beat him? About 10 minutes
ago,” he said, 10 minutes after
leaving the mat.
Diedrick odd man out in Cornhuskers' l-back rotation
BY DAVID DIEHL
A victim of the circum
stances surrounding him,
Dahrran Diedrick isn’t in the
position where he’d like to be.
As opposed to the latter
half of 1999 where Diedrick
saw regular playing time in
the Nebraska backfield, the
Scarborough, Ontario, native
has spent much of 2000
watching NU’s offense from
the sideline.
But the decrease in play
ing time isn’t Diedrick’s fault,
said NU coaches and players.
Rather, the conditions
around him haven’t allowed
him to step on the field.
Solid play from I-backs
* d
Dan Alexander and Correll
Buckhalter, tighter games
and a healthy staff have limit
ed Diedrick’s action.
With top running backs
Alexander and Buckhalter
turning out quality perform
ances and cutting down on
mistakes, Diedrick is again
forced to take a backseat to
the two seniors ahead of him.
Alexander leads the Big
12 in all-purpose yards and
rushing. Buckhalter ranks
sixth in the conference rush
ing. NU has lost just one
fumble in its first three
games.
"To take two seniors out
of the game, it’d have to be
because of their playing, and
they’ve been playing great,”
Diedrick said. “They’re both
having great seasons. There’s
no reason to take them out
premeditatedly.”
Alexander said turning
the backfield into a three
person revolving door
wouldn’t allow anyone to get
into a rhythm.
It was a different story last
season when fumbling prob
lems forced NU to experi
ment at I-back. Nebraska
fumbled against KSU 10
times. Diedrick took advan
tage of the situation and
rushed for 93 yards on 14 car
ries, and scored on a 42-yaid
run.
“There was on occasion a
lack of effectiveness from the
guys in front of Dahrran,”
said Dave Gillespie, running
backs coach. “So, he had a
few more opportunities.”
Those opportunities also
came in large chunks when
games were out of reach.
However, this hasn’t been the
case for all of NU’s games this
year.
Diedrick’s best perform
ances in 1999 came vs. Iowa
State and Kansas State,
games which NU won by 35
and 26 points, respectively.
This season, only
Nebraska’s 49-13 win over
Please see DIEDRICKon9
Stephen Bender/DN
NU sophomore
l-back Dahrran
Diedrick has
only seen action
in one contest
this season after
gaining 303
yards and aver
aging 5.3 yards
per carry in
1999.
