Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 27

gfe Arizona Batlii Star Tucson. Wednesday, January 3, 1996 NBA 2D NHL 2D Classified ads 6D steers No. Frazier MVP Victory means that Nebraska has built dynasty EMPE Finally, midway through the fourth quarter, Ne braska had to punt. By that time, leading 49-18, you wondered if the Corn-huskers special teams hadn't already showered and been fitted for championship rings. Take the niqht off, boys.

We don't need you. And it wasn't just that. You wondered if Nebraska even had a punter. Greg Hansen in Nebraska's lopsided win By Jack Magruder The Arizona Daily Star I TEMPE For years, plodding Nebraska was fodder for the sleek Florida schools, especially in postseason. Times have changed.

Nebraska may still be a Deere. But Florida was a deer in the headlights last night. Sleek and speedy, No. 1 Nebraska won its second straight national championship by capping its second straight perfect season with a 62-24 thrashing over No. 2 Florida in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

The game was played before a partisan Nebraska crowd of 79,864 at Sun Devil Stadium. The Cornhuskers (12-0) became the first team since Oklahoma in 1955-56 to win back-to-back national titles in both the writers and the coaches polls. Nebraska ran its winning streak to 25 games, while treating 12-1 Florida like some sort of Iowa State, and breaking the Fiesta Bowl scoring record set by Arizona State in a 49-35 victory over Missouri in 1972.. The Huskers are 36-1 over the past three years, the most victories by a Division I-A program in a three-year period. "I thought it would be a close game.

We got momentum, we got r. few breaks, and things snowballed," Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said. "I think the players expected to win. It wasn't ho-hum. But it was matter-of-fact." After trailing for only the second time all season, Nebraska used a 29-0 second quarter to name its score behind senior quarterback Tommie Frazier, junior halfback Lawrence Phillips, and a blitzing defense that turned Florida's record-setting "fun-n-gun" offense into stunned mediocrity.

Frazier rushed for 199 yards and scored on 32- and 75-yards runs, both in the third quarter. He broke five tackles on the latter, a simple optioii play that gave the Huskers a 49-18 lead with :01 left in the quarter. He also threw a touchdown pass. See FIESTA, Page 5D xVi 1 I f) a Vv-: When did the Cornhuskers last punt, anyway, 1991? Jesse Kosch, one of the 73 Nebraskans on the Huskers' roster, trotted onto the field, got the punt away without incident, and trotted back to the bench, surprised by a loud ovation. "What was that for?" he wondered.

"Florida fumbled," he was told. "We recovered. And then it was 56-17. Or something like that. You would have that it was September again, and that it was Missouri or Iowa State on the opposite side of the field, casually dismissed by the bullies of the Big Eight.

But this was have-no-fear Florida, 12-0, funnin' and gunnin', the exciting new way to play college football. The Gators might give up 40, but that wouldn't matter. They'd get 50. Hadn't they done that against Tennessee and Auburn? "It's gonna be a shootout, boys," Gator coach Steve Spurrier said last week, a glint in his eye. "You might want to study that new tie-breaker rule in case there's an overtime." Oh, there was too much time, all right: the second half.

Nebraska had played with a fury to lead 35-10 at half. Hadn't the Gators suffered enough? The game was delayed three times while Florida's medical staff assisted injured players from the field. It was a mismatch. Florida found itself outworked, outrun, outplayed and simply intimidated by the biggest, strongest, most talented team in college football. The only question left unanswered after Nebraska's 62-24 Fiesta Bowl victory was: What Jvill history have to say about the Cornhuskers? Will it use the word dynasty? I It will.

i Alabama's Bear Bryant was the last college football coach to win back-to-back national championships (although the Tide's 1979 title was Splintered, shared by USC in one poll). But neither Alabama nor any of the champions of the last 15 tears Miami, Perm State, Notre Dame, Florida State beat people the way Nebraska beats people. The Cornhuskers turned what was one of the most anticipated showdowns of the '90s into some fcasy calisthenics. "We got smashed up front," Spurrier said. "If we're ever going to be a team like Nebraska, we've See HANSEN, Page 5D David Sanders, The Arizona Daily Star Nebraska senior quarterback Tommie Frazier, center, rushed for 199 yards against Florida Gators crumble as 'too good for us' Huskers rush in Fiesta Bowl notes.

Page 5D. By Anthony Gimino The Arizona Daily Star TEMPE Florida came to the Fiesta Bowl with the Fun and Gun offense, and leaves with the Fun and Gun and Done offense. Nebraska's defense flattened the Gators as easily as if they were a bag of Tostitos chips, hounding quarterback Danny Wuerffel into seven sacks and intercepting him three times. "First of all, I apologize we didn't make a game of it," Florida coach Steve Spurrier said after Oklahoma State to Nebraska. "We had no answers," Spurrier said.

The Gators did not help themselves with penalties, which put them in bad positions throughout the game first and 15, first and 20, first and 24, first and 15. A more common and worse position was Wuerffel on his back. The conventional wisdom was that Nebraska needed to pressure Wuerffel, who completed nearly See RUSH, Page 5D the 62-24 loss. "They are too good for us. That's about all you can say." There is little dispute that Florida is the second-best team in the nation, and there is no argument that they will take a back seat to Nebraska all the way.

The team that scored 62 against Tennessee and 63 against South Carolina was just another Wildcats step up as Pac-10 season gets set to start is out indefinitely with a bulging disc problem in his lower back. Cal's top inside players Alfred Grigsby and Tremaine Fowi-kes are out for different reasons. Grigsby has ongoing back problems that will keep him out at least this weekend. Fowlkes won't be eligible until Jan. 25 because he took $1,800 from an agent over the summer.

k. X. i ii if ill Eagles hope to add to playoff success with Peete at helm By John F. Bonfatti The Associated Press VERO BEACH, Fla. It has been a rewarding season for Rodney Peete, who started the season as a backup and emerged as a leader on the Philadelphia Eagles.

But Peete, a former Sahuaro High School quarterback, isn't willing to look at it in the past tense. "This is what you shoot for all season long," he said. "You want to get to this point and still be playing. It's very satisfying that we got to this point, but it's not the time to say, We got here, let's Most of the Eagles, who will play the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday (Channel 11, 10:30 a.m.) in the NFC divisional playoffs, were relaxing yesterday; coach Ray Rhodes Buffalo's offensive line, which includes two former Wildcats, is diverse but singular in its effort Page 5D. gave the team the day off, except for an everting meeting.

But Peete spent part of the day reviewing video, trying to find clues that will help him solve the Cowboys' puzzle. Despite the fact that Dallas is an ovewhelming favorite, Peete spoke with conviction about the Eagles' chances of an upset. "We know Dallas well, having played them twice," he said. "We know we can exploit them. We have some confidence going into Dallas, unlike the last time we went in there." Philadelphia's last trip into Dallas wasn't the low point of the season: the Eagles got smoked 48-17 by Oakland in Week 4.

But the 34-12 loss in Dallas on Nov. 6 was a close second. The Eagles went on a four-game winning streak after the Oakland loss and were beginning to feel good about themselves going into the Monday night game By Javier Morales The Arizona Daily Star Less than two months ago, the media and Pac-10 coaches said UCLA would come back as strong as a year ago, and Stanford would be difficult to beat with a backcourt of Brevin Knight and Dion Cross. Arizona, seven times the Pac-10 champion under Lute Olson, was lumped into the next class with emerging dark horses California and Washington State. Many times, the Wildcats became an afterthought, deemed unworthy of a title run without Damon Stoudamire.

Now, with the combination of Arizona excelling to a No. 9 ranking, and other teams beset with injuries to key players, the Wildcats are the favorites among Pac-10 coaches. "Arizona is a team that has showed its grit so far by winning the Preseason NTT," Oregon coach Jerry Green said yesterday during a media teleconference involving league coaches. "To me, Arizona has the best club," Oregon State coach Eddie Payne said. "They play together.

They have the best chemistry and the most experience overall. I like what I see in them." The Pac-10 season starts tomorrow with four games, including Arizona against Cal at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, and the league coaches all agreed the Pac-10 race will be determined by who is healthy or not. UCLA point guard Cameron Dollar has been relegated to the bench with injuries to both pinkies. Washington State center Mark Hendrickson is out a week and maybe two with a broken left hand. Stanford center Tim Young Furthermore, prolific scorer Ed Gray, a junior college trans- A quick look at each of the Pac-10 teams.

Page 3D. fer, is no longer a starter, and he will get limited minutes because of a subpar athletic performance last semester, Cal coach Todd Bozeman said. "Arizona and UCLA are a cut above everybody else," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said, "but I don't think there is any' question that if Cal were to get Grigsby back, Cal would make a I "They'll get Fowlkes back, and that will elevate them. But if they were to get Grigsby back, they would not only be big, but they would be very talented." As it is, Cal is relying a lot on freshman sensation Shareef Ab-dur-Rahim, who is being praised as perhaps the best player ever to wear a Golden Bears uniform. Even better than Jason Kidd.

Hendrickson, arguably the best player in the league this year, will be severely missed by the Cougars when they open conference play tomorrow against UCLA at the Spokane Arena. Bruins center Jelani McCoy, another freshman standout, will find it easier to work for defen- See PAC-10, Page 3D 1995 AP photo QB Rodney Peete resurrected the Eagles after becoming a starter in Game 5 in Dallas. The game got off to a good start for the Eagles. Emmitt Smith fumbled deep in Dallas territory early. But the Eagles were unable to convert the turnover into a touchdown, settling for a field goal.

Dallas scored the next 17 points, and the game was effectively over. Rhodes said later that it appeared that the Eagles were in awe of the Cowboys. "We were not so much in awe of them, but we were too high," Peete said. 'We were coming off a four-game win steak. Everyone was looking toward that game, because it was a Monday night game.

I think emotions were extremely high, and it showed on the field." Peete was one of the reasons the Eagles were feeling so good about themselves going into the game. Philadelphia's season turned after See EAGLES, Page 5D.