The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 33

THE PALM BEACH POST SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 1993 5C Orange Bowl: Florida State 27, Nebraska 14 Ward is as FSU the difference makes its point Extra Points player of the game FSU quarterback Charlie Ward was named the game's MVP after completing passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Ward gained 23 yards rushing and caught a pass for 28 yards. HONOR ROLL Ward." Nebraska coach Tom Osborne had to agree with Bowden's evaluation. "Charlie Ward is a great athlete, you can see that," Osborne said. "He's very hard to pen up.

I think we did a better job on him than anybody in the last four or five games, but he's a superior athlete." Ward, the starting point guard on the FSU basketball team, will be on the bench in street clothes at 4 p.m. today when the Seminoles play the Florida Gators at Tallahassee. He plans to practice with the team three times before making his season debut Wednesday at Virginia in FSU's ACC opener. "It'll take me a week-and-a-half or two weeks to make the switch to basketball shape, but I'll be ready to play Wednesday," he said. "People ask me about things like the Heisman Trophy, but you never know what might happen between now and next season.

Right now I'm just thinking about playing E.A. KENNEDY IllStaff Photographer is pressured by Nebraska's Trev passed for 187 yards and two game's MVP. FSU quarterback Charlie Ward Roberts in the first half. Ward touchdowns and was named the riDAWriPfrnin IP downpours throughout the night. Jackson added 61 yards on four -receptions and completed a pass to for 28 yards.

Dan Mowrey added field goals of 40 and 24 anacG if'c iht narfant aamo -'ifor me," Jackson said. "I never thought I'd do all three in one game. This is the best all-around game of my career." The Seminoles defense held the I 1 vauiueu neuicuiKd miming game iu 144 yards. The I-back tandem of 1 i i. L-diviu dunes aim uei diuwh 89 yards.

Jones (76 and Brown (13 yards) each rushed for more than 1,000 yards on the season. "Those or whatever the heck you call them, should be 'called the Florida 'State linebacker Marvin Jones FSU Dan Footman (58) recovers a Nebraska fumble at the Cornhuskers' 2-yard line in the second Ward threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Kez McCorvey for a 1 7-0 lead. might make them click more." Using the no-huddle, "fast-break" offense, Ward directed FSU to a 20-0 lead before a driving rain forced the Seminoles to abandon their wide-open tactics. It was not unlike their performances in their last three regular-season games, when they ran up half time scores of 38-17 against Florida, 56-7 against Tulane and 42-7 against Maryland. "The rain took us out of our no-huddle offense," Ward said.

"We had to change our game plan. We wanted to attack them and grind it out in the rain." Not surprisingly, Ward was named the game's Most Valuable Player. "I could not say enough about Charlie Ward," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "His character, his leadership, as a player, a runner, a thrower and a leader. Our kids have the utmost respect for him, and so do the coaches.

He bailed us out time and again tonight. "We're doing things offensively we could not do except for Charlie State did not use the shotgun. The touchdown was the first allowed by Nebraska in the first quarter this season. The Seminoles stretched the lead to 17-0 in a 1:30 span early in the second quarter as Mowrey kicked a 40-yard field goal and Ward hit McCorvey on a 4-yard pass. The touchdown followed a wild pitch by Frazier that was recovered by defensive end Dan Footman.

The lead was 20-0 as Mowrey made his second field goal (24 yards) in as many tries. The Cornhuskers only score of the half came thel. "Our defense did a great job," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "They did better than I thought they would do. We wanted it to be hot to wear them down but the rain came and cooled things off.

"Our assistant coaches did a great job preparing the team for Nebraska." Jones, who will announce Monday whether he will pass up his final year of eligibility to play in the NFL, left the field with grudging admiration for Frazier. "I've been watching this guy play through the year," he said, "and young guys tend to get frus Fuller Clark Henry Frier Crowe Bush Roberson Nebraska RUSHING Att Yds Avg Long TD Jones Dixon Lewis Brown Frazier 19 76 4.0 17 35 35.0 35 19 6.3 13 3.3 16 15 16 1 0.1 PASSING Att Com Yds TD Int 21 10 146 2 2 10 0 0 0 RECEIVING No. Yds Avg Long TD 5 123 24.6 41 1 2 18 9.0 12 0 1 4 4.0 4 0 1 110 1 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 PUNTING No. Avg Long 4 44.8 58 Frazier Bell Dixon Hawkins Muhammad Armstrong Jones Stlgge 7 By CHUCK OTTERSON Palm Beach Post Staff Writer MIAMI Statisticians could come up with a dozen differences between Florida State and Nebraska. But the most obvious one in the Orange Bowl Friday night was the guys playing quarterback.

Nebraska's Tommie Frazier is a freshman with unlimited potential potential that is tough to realize against a football team like Florida State. FSU's Charlie Ward almost nonchalantly picks apart opposing defenses, rolling up scores that would be more appropriate on the basketball court. "The guy's crazy," FSU's All-America linebacker, Marvin Jones, said of Ward, who passed for 187 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 23 yards and caught a 28-yard pass from tailback Sean Jackson in the Seminoles' 27-14 victory over the Cornhuskers. "He makes your head spin around. He's just incredible.

"If they had a guy like that, it noles scored less than five minutes into the game and were never threatened. Nebraska employed six defensive backs in an attempt to slow down the Seminoles' emerging no-huddle shotgun. Linebacker David White was responsible for shadowing Ward. The scheme worked for one series as the Seminoles punted after three plays. On the next series, Ward completed 5-of-6 passes, the last being a 25-yarder to Vanover for the first score of the game.

The touchdown pass was out of the I-formation, the first time Florida 1 they've been doing the same thing for 100 MARVIN JONES ON NEBRASKA'S OFFENSE down came on a 41-yard pass from Frazier to Dixon, who bobbled the ball and finally caught it after he and FSU cornerback Corey Sawyer each tipped it a couple of times near the goal line. A 37-yard pass from Frazier to Dixon set up the second Nebraska touchdown from PUNT RETURNS No. Yds Avg Long 1 10 1O.0 10 KICKOFF RETURNS No. Yds Avg Long 1 6 6.0 6 1 1 1.0 1 INTERCEPTIONS No Yds Long 1 0 0 1 0 Sawyer McMillon Vanover Abraham Fowler DEFENSE Tackles Sacks UT A Tot NoYds Palmer 5 1 6 Abraham 4 2 6 Smith 3 2 5 Brooks 2 3 5 Jones 4 0 4 K. Alexander 3 0 3 Sawyer 2 1 3 Sanders 2 I 3 Davis 2 0 2 Rebol 2 0 2 Footman 2 0 2 Coes 2 0 2 Clark 2 0 2 Freeman 2 0 2 112 Fowler 1 1 2 Brown 1 1 2 Nance 1 1 2 Mcintosh 1 1 2 Simpson 0 2 2 1 saiu.

iney saia a 101 aDoui me, DUt n. I said, 'Let them run at But they ran the other way. Maybe they should be called the 'Other backs' run the other way." Tommie Frazier, the Corn-; huskers' freshman quarterback FSU tailback Sean Jackson rushed for 101 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. He also had four catches for 61 yards. Tamarlck Vanover caught three passes for 40 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown that gave FSU a 7-0 lead Nebraska split end Corey Dixon caught five passes for 123 yards and one touchdown.

His 86 yards receiving in the first half were 1 5 yards more than his career high. KEY PLAY With Nebraska trailing 10-0 and facing second-and-10 from its 20, quarterback Tommie Fra-zler's bad pitch left to Derek Brown was fumbled, and Florida State defensive end Dan Fopt-man recovered at the 2. Three plays later, Ward hit Kez McCorvey for a 4-yard touchdown p2ss and FSU went ahead 17-0 with 9:22 left in the first half. KEY STATS FSU kicker Dan Mowrey Cad more than one field goal for the first time in seven games. He was 3-of-6 in a 19-16 loss to Miami in the Orange Bowl Oct.

3 Frazier was 5-of-12 for 98 yards passing in the first half, although the Nebraska freshman entered the game averaging just 80.8 yards a game passing. Nebraska, as a team, averaged only 110 yards passing. On the other side, Nebraska came in averaging 328.2 yards rushing, and hadjqst 76 on 22 first-half carries. Nebraska junior tight end Chad Armstrong's 1-yard touchdown catch with 10:24 left was jhis ninth career catch eight going for touchdowns. Friday's announced attendance of 57,324 was the lowest Orange Bowl tcjtal in six years and the first non-sellout in six years.

FOR THE RECORD Florida State set an NCAA record with its eighth straight bowl win, and the Seminoles are 10-0-1 in their last 1 1 bowls. Nebraska has lost six straight bowls, and are 8-12 in bowls under coach Tom Osborne. Nebraska allowed a first-quarter touchdown for the first time this season. QUOTES 'We finally got the Orange Bowl trophy, but there is one more out there we ain't FSU COACH BOBBY BOWDEN INJURY REPORT Nebraska's All-America outside linebacker Travis Hill left the game with 10:55 remaining in the third quarter with what was believed to be a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, suffered on a tackle of Jackson after a Ward pass. Hill did not return Vanover was taken to the locker room in the second quarter after he suffered: a sprained left shoulder on a reverse that lost 3 yards with -10 minutes left in the first half.lHe returned on FSU's first possession of the second half.

Nebraska split end Tyrone Hughes left the game in the first half with a slight concussion. Orange Bowl Champions mS-Bucknell 26, Miami 0 1936- Catholic U. 20, Mississippi 19 1937- Duquesne 13, Mississippi St. 12 1938- Auburn 6, Michigan St. 0 1939- Tennessee 17, Oklahoma 0 1940- Georgia Tech 21, Missouri 7 1941- Mississippi St.

14, Georgetown 7 1942- Georgia 40, Texas Christian 26 1943- Alabama 37, Boston College 21 1944- Louisiana St. 19, Texas 14 1945- Tulsa 26, Georgia Tech 12 1946- Miaml 13, Holy Cross 6 1947- ice 8, Tennessee 0 1948- Georgia Tech 20, Kansas 14 1949- Texas 41, Georgia 28 1950- Santa Clara 21, Kentucky 13 1951- Clemson IS, Miami 14 1952- Georgia Tech 17, Baylor 14 1953- Alabama 61, Syracuse 6 1954- Oklahoma 7, Maryland 0 1955- Duke 34, Nebraska 7 1956- Oklahoma 20, Maryland 6 1957- Colorado 27, Clemson 21 1958- Oklahoma 48, Duke 21 1959- Oklahoma 21, Syracuse 6 1960- Georgia 14, Missouri 0 1961- Missouri 21, Navy 14 1962- Louisiana St. 25, Colorado 7 1963- Alabama 17, Oklahoma 0 1964- Nebraska 13, Auburn 7 1965- Texas 21, Alabama 17 1966- Alabama 39, Nebraska 28 1967- Florida 27, Gtoria Tech 12 1968- Oklahoma 26, Tennessee 24 1969- Penn St. 15, Kansas 14 1970- Penn St. 10, Missouri 3 1971- Nebraska 17, Louisiana St.

12 1972- Nebraska 38, Alabama 6 1973- Nebraska 40, Notre Dame 6 1974- Penn St. 16, Louisiana St. 9 1975- Notre Dame 13, Alabama 11 1976- Oklahoma 14, Michigan 6 1977- Ohlo St. 27, Colorado 10 1978- Arkansas 31, Oklahoma 6 1979- Oklahoma 31, Nebraska 24 1980- Oklahema 24, Florida St. 7 1981- Oklahoma It, Florida St.

17 1982- Clemson 22, Nebraska 15 1983- Nebraska 21, Louisiana St. 20 1984- Miaml 31, Nebraska 38 1985- Washlngton 28, Oklahoma 17 1986- Oklahoma 25, Penn St. 10 1987- Oklahoma 42, Arkansas 8 19M-Miaml 20, Oklahoma 14 1919-Miami 23, Nebraska 1 1990 Notre Dame 21, Colorado 6 1991 Colorado 10, Notre Dame 9 1992 Mlaml 22, Nebraska 0 W3-Florida St. 27, Nebraska 14 not help its reputation as a bowl pushover. The llth-ranked Cornhuskers have lost their last five bowls by an average of 20.6 points.

They are 0-5 against Florida schools in bowls since 1984. "The quality of our athletes is good enough to play this type of competition. I'm convinced of that," Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said. "So I have mixed feelings. I was proud of our football team for the type of effort they gave, but we didn't execute very well." The streak was destined to continue from the start, as the Semi passes of 41 and 1 yard to Corey Dixon and Gerald Armstrong.

zier was 10-of-21 for 146 yards and had two interceptions. He rushed 'seven for 1 varrl "The first couple of plays he back Clifton Abraham said about "After that, he was quiet as a rhnrrh mnn Nebraska's performance did Seminoles Bv CHUCK OTTERSON Palm Beach Post Staff Writer MIAMI Nebraska led the nation in rushing for the fourth time in five years. But if Florida piaies aeiense was aware ot mat fact, the Seminoles obviously were nnt i mnroccoH stuff Frazier, Nebraska's ground game ft ANNIE O'NEILLStaff Photographer quarter Three Dlavs later Charlie on a 41-yard pass from Frazier to Dixon that was tipped twice by cornerback Corey Sawyer and bounced off Dixon's helmet before he caught the ball. The teams traded touchdowns in a rainy second half. By that time, the crowd had dwindled and the Seminoles had time ponder another season as the nation's bridesmaid.

"We were three points from a national championship," Ward said. "The second part of the season we always seem to be playing better than anybody else. "We're one of the best teams in the country." trated. They couldn't run the ball against us the way they wanted to. "I think it's a great accomplishment that no back rushed for 100 yards against us.

A lot of backs we play, when they run for 100 yards they usually win. We make them work for what they get." FSU wasted no time justifying its role as a 10-point favorite. Nebraska tried to use its late second-quarter touchdown for momentum but fell behind 27-7 in the third period. "To tell you the truth," Jones said, "when it started raining, I think they wanted to go to the locker room." PUNT RETURNS No. Yds Avg Long 2 11 5.5 6 1 7 7.0 7 KICKOFF RETURNS No.

Yds Avg Long 2 79 39.5 48 2 35 17.5 18 INTERCEPTIONS No Yds Long 1 12 12 DEFENSE Tackles Sacks UT A Tot NoYds 8 4 12 111 5 3 8 6 1 7 5 2 7 5 1 6 5 1 6 4 1 5 3 2 5 2 3 5 114 3 0 3 3 0 3 2 0 2 2 0 2 1 0 I 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 Hughes Dixon Miles Hugnes Byrd Alberts Wright Parrella White Connealy Carmer Hill Byrd D. Jones Reece Wilhlte Hughes Anderson Beler Stewart Hawkins Dixon Seizys Wertz naif The Cornhuskers (9-3) averaged 328.2 yards rushing during the regular season. But they managed only 144 Friday night against the Seminoles (11-1) in FSU's 27-14 Orange Bowl victory. And much of that total came on a 35-yard end-around by Corey Dixon and a 17-yard run by I-back Calvin Jones against FSU's prevent defense with 1:05 remaining in the game. "We knew that anything they do Statistics TEAM involved running the ball," said Marvin Jones, FSU's Butkus Award-winning All-America linebacker.

"That's all I needed to know. "I've watched Nebraska for years. They might put in a wrinkle or two, but they've been doing the same thing for 100 years probably since before my father was born." Nebraska has led the nation in rushing eight times since 1980. But freshman quarterback Tommie Frazier and I-backs Jones and Derek Brown could not get the running game going against the Seminoles. The Cornhuskers' first touch- Neb Dixon 41 pass from Frazier (Bennett kick) FSU Jackson 1 1 run (Mowrey kick) Neb Armstrong 1 pass from Frazier (Bennett kick) Attendance: 57,324 INDIVIDUAL Florida State RUSHING Att Yds Avg Long TD Jackson 17 101 5.9 42 1 Vanover 3 50 16.7 29 0 McMillon 9 23 3.6 5 0 Ward 14 23 1.6 12 Wlmberly 1 19 19.0 19 1 Floyd 4 5 1.3 2 0 PASSING Att Com Yds TD Int Ward 30 15 187 2 I Jackson I I 28 0 0 RECEIVING No.

Yds Avg Long TD Jackson 4 61 15.3 32 0 Vanover 3 40 13.3 25 1 Baker 3 32 10.7 20 0 McCorvey 3 23 7.7 13 1 Ward 1 28 28.0 28 0 Ellison 1 24 24.0 24 0 McMillon 1 7 7.0 7 PUNTING No. Avg Long Wlmberly 6 35.8 47 FSU Neb. First Down Total 23 13 First downs rushing 1 1 8 First downs passing 9 5 First downs-penalty 3 0 Yards Rushing 221- 144 Rushing plays 48 34 Yards Passing 215 146 Passes attempted 31 22 Passes completed 16 10 Interceptions 1 2 Thrown for loss 2 1 Total yards lost 25 1 Yards Total 436 290 Offensive plays 79 56 Third-down conv. 8-16 3-12 Int. return-yards 2-0 1-12 Punt returns-yards 1-10 3-18 Kickoff retums-yds.

2-7 4-114 Punts-average Fumbles-lost 3-0 5-1 Penalties-yards 6-71 6-50 Time of possession 36:53 23:07 Florida Stats 7 13 7 0 27 Nebraska 0 7 7-14 FSU Vanover 25 pass from Ward kick) FSU FG Mowrey 40 FSU McCorvey 4 pass from Ward kick) FSU FG Mowrey 24 t-.