:
Life could be
a lot worse
for NU fans
So, you’re a
die-hard Big
l Red fan for life,
donning your
bleeding-scar
let shirts and
underwear
every Saturday, John
eating your Gaskins
Husker potato
chips and maybe pounding down
some brews - perhaps Red Dog -
with all your buddies.
You remember all the memo
rable games, plays, scores and the
dewpoint during the ’92 Middle
Tennessee State game. You con
sider it a personal and state
tragedy when NU loses.
Been there, done that. I know
how you feel.
And now you’re pissed, pissed
at this damn defense.
The 55th-ranked defense in
the nation? Allowing 492 yards
against Missouri - the No. 66
offense in the country? Letting
Iowa State - Iowa Frickin’ State -
stay in a game for three quarters?
Doesn’t matter that the team
is No. 1. Doesn’t matter it hasn’t
lost yet. Doesn’t matter it has a
Heisman-quality quarterback
leading the nation’s fifth-best
offense that averages nearly 500
yards and six touchdowns a game.
You’re wondering what hap
pened to the Blackshirts. To the
Browns. To Charlie McBride. To
making quarterbacks squeal like a
pig. To domination. To 60-point
blowouts. Boy, domination was
fun to watch.
It makes you want to puke up
your Runzas, send Craig Bohl
nasty hate mail and pray to Grant
Wistrom for mercy.
That and Oklahoma, Kansas
State anti, in four days, a danger
ous Texas Tech team are waiting to
take the Huskers to the woodshed
in their own backyards.
I have two words for you.
Chillout
v It ain’t that bad. Thanks to the
glory years of the mid-’90s, noth
ing short of the big enchilada
seems to be accepted. And when
not attained, something is wrong.
Things could be worse, like
the way they were with this pro
gram 10 years ago.
Nebraska would stroll on
down the primrose path against
hideous opponents, climbing the
polls all fall long, but then came
the Oklahoma game, or the
Colorado game, or both. And after
that, the bowl game - usually
against Florida State or Miahu.
Pain. Lots of pain.
j . I'm sure it’s still somewhat
vivid in your mind. You screamed
at your television set when
Colorado, Oklahoma or a Florida
team would knife through the
slower-than-molasses Husker
secondary like butter and dance
into the end zone with ease.
That got you raging pissed.
That was back when everyone
wanted that McBride guy’s head.
Tom Osborne was neither a
genius nor a deity - he was a
behind-the-times has-been who
never won the big one. And con
sidering the Democrats were kick
ing butt in Nebraska back then
(with two senators and a gover
nor), Oz wouldn’t have been a
shoe-in for Congressional office.
Not with that defense.
Chances are, those days are a
blur, thanks mostly to a 1995
championship team that plowed
through everyone and made us
think that should be the standard
of Nebraska football
Wall, it shouldn’t be. Thanks to
parity in scholarships and new
age, Matt Foley-like, slickster
motivational coaches, more
teams give NU a run for its money,
which makes 1999’s 12-1 record
seem so incredible.
Granted, it was frustrating to
see the Blackshirts get burned.
And, if NU would play No. 8 OU or
No. 2 KSU today, it probably
would lose.
But let's take a look at our cal
endars, people. The Oklahoma
game is Oct. 28-17 days from
now. The Kansas State game is
Nov. 11 - a month from now. Not
today. There’s time to heal
And Texas Tech? Please.
Expect a repeat of Iowa State.
Those underachieving, veteran
defensive linemen and backs
played more like veterans. Those
inexperienced outside lineback
ers and left rush ends are becom
ing experienced.
NU should slow the run -
despite Ricky Williams - and
make Tech pass. It might not give
the Red Raiders an early death,
. but expect the same Chinese
water torture treatment it gave the
| Cyclones.
Please see DEFENSE on 9
I Tech looks to cement reputation with win
BY JOHN GASKINS
Time for the best 5-1 team
people don’t know much about
to come out of its shell.
Texas Tech - buried in the
headlines and unranked
because of a relatively weak
schedule - has kept itself mum
so far despite sporting the
nation’s second-best defense
and a wide-open, gun-slinging
offense.
But come Saturday, the cat
will be out of the bag and
exposed on national television
when top-ranked Nebraska
invades Lubbock, Texas, for the
first time in six years. The
Huskers and Raiders will square
off at 6 p.m. before a Fox Sports
Net national audience.
For Tech, its a chance to
show to the nation whether
first-year Coach Mike Leach’s
system is for real and provide
NU a roadblock on the way to
Norman, Okla., and Manhattan,
Kan.
"I think this is a big game for
us, win or lose, to show people
we can play,” said sophomore
Quarterback Kliff Kingsbury,
who operates Leach’s pass
happy system.
“Coach Leach brought in the
attitude to not set the limits on
this program and is trying to
take it to the next level with
Nebraska and Texas and the big
names in the (Big 12) confer
ence, and players are starting to
buy into it.”
Leach came to Lubbock via
the offensive coordinator spot
at Oklahoma, where last year he
helped then-first-year Coach
Bob Stoops turn around the pro
gram and make a star out of
Quarterback Josh Heupel.
It’s no different with the
Raiders, where Kingsbury is the
latest Leach product to blos
som. Tech - the 10th-best pass
ing offense in the nation and
second in the Big 12 behind OU
- throws the ball on 76 percent
of its plays, an average of 50
times per game.
"I think there’s already proof
that the nation is wrong about
passing offenses not having as
much success as running
offenses,” Leach said. "Passing
offenses have won for years and
years and years. Our passing
game is getting better all the
time.”
Despite averaging 303 pass
ing yards per game in wins over
New Mexico, Utah State, North
Texas, Louisiana-Lafayette and
Baylor, and a 33-15 loss to Texas
A&M, the Raiders are 63rd in the
nation in scoring with just 24
points per game.
Kingsbury said it has been a
matter of growing pains.
“I wouldn’t say it was confus
ing,” Kingsbury said. “We
weren’t playing with a lot of con
fidence out there. Everybody
was not on the same page at ail
times, so that really hurt us, but
we’re starting to come together,
and things are starting to click.”
With running less than a
fourth of Tech’s attack, things
are somewhat sketchy for senior
Running Back Ricky Williams,
who before a season-ending
knee injury in the 1999 season
opener was a Heisman Trophy
hopeful.
Williams averages just 14
carries for 48 yards per game but
has caught 28 passes for 112
yards.
The whole gun-slinging
offense thing has left a laser
speed defense ranked second in
the country in total defense and
first in pass-efficiency defense
in the shadows.
That may be a good thing
because Tech - which surren
ders just under 10 points per
game - has not faced an offense
nearly as explosive as NU's, nor
a quarterback like Heisman
hopefiil Eric Crouch.
"It's going to be a new chal
lenge for us,” junior linebacker
Kevin Curtis said.
“You can’t simulate Eric
Crouch with any quarterback in
the country. He's a great athlete
and playmaker. He’s the guy
they go to, and he always comes
through.”
All five Husker
offensive line
men average
nine pancakes
pergame.That
dominance is
helping the
Nebraska
offense to lead
the nation in
rushing this sea
son. ,
MikeWarren/DN
Offensive-line bond equals NU success
BY DAVID DIEHL
For any well-oiled machine to work, the
parts must function in unison. It is no differ
ent for the machine that is Nebraska’s offen
sive line.
Currently that offensive line paves the
road for the nation’s No. 1 rushing offense
and the fifth-best total offense in the nation.
A major piece of the Comhuskers’ suc
cess on die offensive line this season has
been the cohesiveness and camaraderie of
the unit that makes the Husker offense roll.
Sixth-year senior tackle Jason Schwab
said the relationships between the linemen
were the tightest he’d seen while at NU.
"We’re all friends,” Schwab said. “IWo,
three, four guys down the line, we’re all a
tight-knit group and it helps us on the field
tremendously.”
Senior tackle Russ Hochstein attributes
the bond to the time the linemen have spent
together at NU.
"All the guys up front have grown up
together the last few years,” said Hochstein,
who is in his fifth year in the Nebraska pro
gram.
Four of the starting five up front -
Hochstein, Schwab, tackle Dave Volk and
center Dominic Raiola - have been in the
Nebraska program sine? at least 1997.
Schwab and Hochstein have been at NU
since 1995 and ’96.
Haying with the same group of lineman
has been a majdr, intangible component of
that production, Hochstein said.
“We all started young,” the senior and
All-Big 12 pick said. “I think we were kind of
thrown in to a situation where we had to
grow up fast as far as game experience
goes.”
Taking snaps with the same group day
in and day-out for years translates into con
tinuity and familiarity on the playing field,
Schwab and Hochstein said. The ultimate
result is success.
So far, that’s been evident on paper and
to Nebraska’s coaches.
"When you add it all up, I think they’ve
done excellent so far,” Coach Frank Solich
said. “We feel very good about how they’ve
held up and what they’ve accomplished.”
Offensive Line Coach MiltTenopir said
he’s been impressed with the work of his
line.
“We’ve had five fairly productive games
so far,” Tenopir said, “and it all starts up
front, no question about it”
Several offensive linemen live together,
work out and lift with each other during the
winter and summer months. But between
workouts and practices, the group finds
time to enjoy themselves. That leisure time
usually consists of one activity, Hochstein
said.
“We eat," the Hartington native said
bluntly. “I tell you that, we eat”
About once a week, the line will get
together and head to a local eatery and
chow down.
"We like to go to buffets and put them
out of business,” Schwab said.
Both coaches and players agreed they
believed living, working and playing togeth
er translated into respect for the other line
men on the field, which subsequently leads
to success, Hochstein said.
"You understand each other more,"
Hochstein said. “If a person makes a mis
take, you’re not coming back to the huddle
and letting a guy hear about it You’re doing
it in a way that’s supportive.
“What goes around comes around. The
closer you are, the better that works.”
Tenopir agreed, saying having the line
men all on the same page and working
together was crucial.
“If you don't have that, you don’t have
success,” Tenopir said.
Hochstein said the bond between the
“What goes around comes
around. The closer you are,
the better that works.”
Russ Hochstein
senior tackle
linemen went deeper than the starting five.
All of the linemen have the same goals and
those goals drive them, he said.
“It’s the little things that count,"
Hochstein said. “We all get along with each
other and all have a passion to compete and
to do our best. We all try to make the best of
things and that’s what keeps us together.”
Tenopir and his players agree there is
always a tight connection between offen
sive lineman. Success is unattainable with
out it, Tenopir said.
But with a group that has been together
for as long as this one, the bond is tighter
than in years past.
“This year is extra special,” Schwab said.
“It's been a lot different, a lot more tight-knit
I’d say.
“Part of the best memories I’ll take out of
this place is playing with these guys.”
Cook: Baylor poses threat to NU
Volleyball coach is cautiously optimistic about conference game tonight
BY MATTHEW HANSEN
The Baylor Bears will battle No. 1
Nebraska tonight with just mediocre
armor.
A .500 record in the Big 12 and an
0-9 all-time record against the
Cornhuskers aren’t the kind of num
bers potential upsets are made of.
But the Bears have one significant
weapon heading into tonight’s 7 p.m.
contest at the Coliseum, one that has
NU Coach John Cook on his toes.
The Bears aren't Iowa State, and
they aren’t Creighton.
After NU's pasting of the Big 12
doormat Cyclones and the Missouri
Valley Conference weakling Bluejays,
Baylor looks much more dangerous to
Cook than its 10-6 record would indi
cate.
i
"We’re going to have to raise our
mentality this week because Baylor
has played some really good volley
ball,’’ he said.
Of course, then-ranked Texas A&M
also had played its share of good vol
leyball when it came to the Coliseum
on Sept. 30. NU dispatched the Aggies
in straight sets.
No matter, Cook said. It will only
take a good performance by a Big 12
opponent coupled with a Husker let
down to tarnish NU's perfect 15-0 (7-0
Big 12) record.
“At some point, someone is going
to play well against us," Cook said.
"Whether that’s Wednesday or
Saturday, I don’t know, but it's going to
happen.”
And the Bears do have enough fire
power to throw a scare into NU. Cook
mentioned Stevie Nicholas, a fresh
man who has a .300 hitting percentage
in the Big 12, and Tatiana Keenan, an
athletic right-side hitter, as BU players
he is impressed with.
But the numbers keep on jumping
off the page, threatening Cook’s praise
of NU’s opponent tonight. There are
NU’s seven straight Big 12 pastings, all
by straight sets, opposed with four
conference losses by the Bears. There
is 17-0 NU facing 10-6 Baylor.
And, as Cook seemed to acknowl
edge, tonight’s match-up was likely
another case of the No. 1 Huskers
competing only against themselves.
“I want to see our team execute our
game plan and play Husker volleyball,
not play Iowa State volleyball or what
ever,” he said.
“That’s what we want.”
Steven Bender/DN
Nebraska middle blocker Jenny Kropp returns a ball Tuesday
during practice at the Nebraska Coliseum.The undefeated
Huskers take on Baylor at 7 tonight, at the Coliseum.
