Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 21

I A i A' I A A w-W NEBRASSIA YISU OFFENSE Banks not happy with play Even though he threw for 290 yards and completed 21 of 35 passes, Michigan State quarterback Tony Banks was not pleased with his play. "Ten points? What's 10 points?" Banks said. "I don't think you could ever be satisfied on offense if you score 10 points." See story, Page 2 DEFENSE MSU gives up record yardage Michigan State gave up school records of 552 rushing yards and 666 total yards in Saturday's loss. The 666 total yards surpassed the mark of 653 set last year by Penn State in a 59-31 defeat The 552 rushing yards broke the record of 463 set by Ohio State in 1976. QSee story, Page 2 Sunday, Sept.

10, 1995 A ft' 1 Xr. 5... Going, going, gone: MSU's Marvin Wright dives for Nebraska running back touchdown in the fourth quarter. Nebraska rushed for 552 yards, 89 more than any Ahman Green, but he can't pull him down as Green scampered 57 yards for a opponent has ever gained against the Spartans. it Lansing State Journal A 'fit ROD SANFORDLansing State Journal.

vi basic power football with Pod -Warner fundamentals. The biggest problem, aside roni the defending national champs physical superiority, was the same shoddy tackling and lack of hustle we saw from the Spartans last yeaf at Penn State, when the Nittanv' Lions put up 59 points and 653' yards of total offense. Also familiar was the first-game lack of execution that cost MSU against Rutgers and Central Michi-; gan twice in a span of five season-' openers from 1988-92. Saturday's scroll of screwups included 11 penalties, an interception" and six fumbles, including a give--away on the opening kickoff that Please see EBLING, 31 aban not pleased with 2nd-half effort INJURIES Muhammad twists ankle Muhsin Muhammad, a senior receiver who played at Waverly High School, twisted his left ankle covering a punt midway through the second quarter and never returned. It spoiled a strong start for Muhammad, who caught four passes for 85 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown.

See story, Page 2 NEBRASKA 'Huskers are tough on road Nebraska started the season with two strong road wins, beating Oklahoma State 64-21 last week and Michigan State 50-10 Saturday. The Cornhuskers head home for five straight home games, playing Arizona State, Pacific, Washington State, Missouri and Kansas State. Nebraska goes back on the road on Oct 28, playing Colorado before returning home No. 4 against Iowa State. The Cornhuskers close out the regular season at Kansas on Nov.

11 and at home against Oklahoma on Nov. 24. SCHEDULE MSU travels to Louisville After Saturday's 50-10 loss to Nebraska, Michigan State goes on a road trip for the next two games, taking on Louisville on Sept 16 and Purdue on Sept 23. Here is the rest of the schedule: Sept 30: Boston College Oct 7: Iowa Oct 14: at Illinois Oct 21: Minnesota Oct 28: at Wisconsin Nov. 4: Michigan Nov.

11: at Indiana Nov. 25: Penn State The Nebraska and Michigan games are sellouts. For ticket information, call 355-1610. COMPUTERS Ebling goes back online Once again, staff writer Jack Ebling will talk MSU football on Spartan Online. To get online, set your modem to 14,400 baud, 8 bit word, no parity, 1 stop bit and modem dial 377-1253.

Jack will answer as many questions as his time allows until 6 p.m. Monday. If you don't have a computer, fax Jack your questions at 377-1298 by 6 p.m. Monday. Some of the questions will appear in the newspaper later in the week.

0 fa mm Stcfi Grcf beets Monica Sebs for the U.S. Open women's tonnis title. Sea story, Pas 1C Andre Agassi bests Boris Becker and will meet Pets Sampras in the U.S. Open men's finals today. See story, Paga 1 Michigan beats Memphis 24-7 behind a stingy Wolverine defense.

See story, Page 1C r.luhammad scores: Muhsin my By Dave Matthews Lansing State Journal EAST LANSING With a lot of help from the enemy, Michigan State has given a grim new twist to the phrase zero-for-the-season. Officially, the Spartans arc merely 0-1 after Saturday's 50-10 crunching by reigning national champion Nebraska. As a practical matter, though, you could make that 0-2. MSU didn't just lose badly, to the surprise of almost no one in the Spartan Stadium capacity-plus crowd of 73,891. It failed to achieve its lone realistic goal.

In the opinion of Coach Nick Sa-ban, the Spartans did not maintain their competitive zeal for the full 60 minutes. "The most disappointing thing to me, and giving Nebraska all the credit in the world, I was disappointed in the way we competed in the second half," the new head Spartan said. "To put it bluntly guys, I felt that our players quit" Saban clearly did not appreciate having the word "quit" attached to his MSU debut, even if he was the one who did the attaching. "If they quit, they won't play, not here," he said. "I don't know who we're going to play or what we're going to play with, but I'm not going to play with people that won't give effort" fs- 1 It could be argued that the proceedings of the second half were inevitable that the Spartans were never really in the game from the moment they fumbled the opening kickoff and spotted the Cornhuskers a quick 3-0 lead.

Yet MSU trailed only 10-7 entering the second quarter, 20-7 at the half with Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier long since sidelined by a mildly bruised thigh and 23-10 with less than seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. Eleven Nebraska plays later, it was 43-10, with more than 13 minutes left. But what plays some of them were. A 51 -yard bomb from backup quarterback Brook Berringer to split end Reggie Baul led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Heisman hopeful Lawrence Phillips. Three minutes later, with the Huskers sitting in a shotgun formation, Phillips got loose for a 50-yard TD gallop, then took a seat on the bench with 206 yards, four touchdowns on 22 carries and a slight ankle sprain.

Less than three minutes more had expired when Phillips' heir apparent at I-back, freshman Ahman Green, zipped 57 yards to score. The Huskers' biggest play was yet to come. Another I-back, Please see SPARTANS, 3 "I don't know who we're going to play. But I'm not going to play with people who won't give effort, won't try as hard as they can try, won't play with toughness and won't do what they're supposed to do." In the Saban era, which began roughly where the George Perles years ended in terms of intensity on defense, one thing is as clear as the Cornhuskers' path to the end zone. Embarrassments will not be waved away with the cliche, "They all count one." There IS a difference between competing for four quarters and spending the last period as spectators against a spectacular offense.

Saban, Spartan fullback Scott Greene and several others gave appropriate credit to Tom Os- MARGIE GARRISONLansing State Journpl Muhammad scores on a 16-yard-pass from Tony Banks. i Coacli wsDinms lie w)E9t tolerate qiMtibeirs MI I I. II1U I 3 lini ii inirimtiiiir i i Saban, who knew he wasn't coaching the character-rich Cleveland Browns defense this year. "Attitudes are developed over a period of time, by habit. And you can't change old habits that easily.

"I'm not criticizing the whole team. Some guys played their hearts out. But there weren't enough of those guys for us to be a good football team right now." Or to be a team that can trade blows with the Nebraskas of the world any time in the near future. Instead of being tough to score against, MSU allowed the Cornhuskers to travel 290 yards in 13 plays for their final four touchdowns. And this wasn't against some Florida State flamboyance, just EAST LANSING It's bad enough to be beaten 50-10 and worse to be beaten up in the process.

But to hang around for 40 minutes and disappear for the final 20 is something Nick Saban won't stand for as long as he's pacing the Michigan State sideline. A coach who hates giving up big plays despises something else much more giving up when adversity hits as hard as a blitzing Nebraska linebacker. "To put it bluntly, guys, I felt some players quit And if they quit, they won't play Not here," Saban said Saturday, after a 23-10 third-quarter deficit was more than tripled in a span of 11:06. Jack Ebling borne's machine a Lincoln in every way. But there was also a strong statement about the importance of personal responsibility, an honest appraisal that'll surely be seen as a slap at the past by Perles loyalists.

"It's a learning process," said.