The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 24

Cfjc Certifier ALABAMA JOURNAL 4B SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1981 Tigers not 'buried9 Jl eraovers story off Auburn Neb. Auburn de- i I Neb. Auburn de I I Phillip fWj UUtSIIAI.L r'Vfl. 'Im iII-. I I I V-r rf V.

i-- I Vt i f( x'v vA ''X V- LINCOLN, fensive players were watching television here Friday night when sportscasters gleefully predicted Nebraska would win by anywhere from four to six touchdowns. They'd heard all about how Nebraska normally buries opponents the week after a big loss like last Saturday's 30-24 defeat at the hands of Penn State. They vowed it would not happen to them. Nebraska won the game 17-3. But Nebraska didn't beat Auburn's defense.

The Cornhuskers had to go only 13 yards for two touchdowns and they were the difference. Seven Auburn turnovers told the story. "We had a lot to prove," said defensive tackle Donnie Humphrey. "We didn't get any respect out here. On TV last night, they were saying it was going to be 42-0 and things like that.

We saw that and think it helped us. We weren't going to let it be like that. "I thought we played good enough to win." The Tiger defense didn't walk out and destroy Nebraska's offense. The Cornhuskers ran up 307 yards, but they found the going rougher the closer they got to the end zone. Only after a bad Charles Thomas pitch at the 4 and a Lionel James fumble at the 9 were they able to put the game away.

It had to be frustrating for the swarming Tiger defenders. Time after time they stopped Nebraska only to be called back after a turnover. "Everybody is in this thing together," Humphrey said. "When the offense makes a mistake, it's the team's mistake." Auburn went to the dressing room at halftime with a 3-0 lead, having repulsed several Nebraska threats. Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill (12) is stopped after a short gain defensive tackle Edmund Nelson (99) is about to "Everybody felt good," Humphrey said.

"We felt like we had them on the run and that if we kept playing as hard as we did in the first half we could win the game. It just didn't work out that way." Humphrey was impressed when he watched Nebraska's big and fast offensive linemen on film. He was not as impressed after the game. "Playing straight up against them, they aren't as good as I thought they would be," he said. "We didn't let them drive the ball a long way for a touchdown." Quarterback Charles Thomas suffered through one of his most miserable days.

He was sacked repeatedly, for losses totaling 72 yards. He fumbled seven times, losing three and threw two interceptions. The rain-soaked ball, he said, didn't make things any easier. "The second half, the refs weren't getting the ball in there in time," he said. "They acted like they didn't care.

I kept telling them and they said they were doing the best they could. Then, on the next play, the ball would still be wet." The game was tied 3-3 in the third quarter when Thomas found trouble. His pitch to halfback Lionel James never got there. Nebraska recovered and quickly took the lead for good. "I was just trying to get the ball out there and their guy hit my arm," Thomas said.

"I pitched it short. I think Lionel had a big gainer out "Certainly, we didn't establish our offense like we did against Tennessee (10-7 loss)," Dye said. Charles Thomas went virtually all the way at quarterback after freshman Ken Hobby limped off with an ankle injury. He was cannon fodder for the rampaging Nebraska defense. "Hobby getting hurt hurt us some," Dye said.

"He probably could have played, but I couldn't see getting him hurt again. I could have gone with Joe Sullivan, but I didn't want to put him out there in an embarrassing situation. "Charlie Thomas didn't have a good day, but he never had a chance. He doesn't deserve all the blame for what went on offensively." Despite its offensive woes, Auburn was very much in the game until Nebraska converted a Lionel James fumble into a 9-yard touchdown drive. "I really thought we would move the football better than we did," Dye said.

"We just didn't get any movement in our offensive line. If you don't block up front, it doesn't matter what offense you are running. "They took us out of our game, both running and throwing. If we But defense, kicking game good ITT'. TsrM rr" 1 Al ye disappointed with loss there, too." there, too." In the fourth quarter, Auburn was trailing 10-3 and driving on the Nebraska 25.

Thomas and fullback Ron O'Neal couldn't get together on a handoff and the Tigers' last hope died. "I knew we were going to take it in," Thomas said, grimacing. "But we didn't. I just didn't get the job done." Thomas admitted he'd never faced a fiercer rush, but he stopped short of praising the Cornhuskers too highly- "I thought they had a pretty average team," he said. "We could have beaten them if we hadn't stopped ourselves on offense.

"You are going to have those kind of days, but we're getting better. We've got a long season ahead of us and we are going to be hard to handle down the road." The first stop down that road is Saturday's game against LSU in Auburn. The Tigers have lost eight straight Southeastern Conference games, dating back to a 25-18 loss to Alabama in 1979. "It's imperative that we win that game," Thomas said. "We are going to win it." Linebacker Danny Skutack, one of only two seniors on Auburn's defense, vowed nothing but further effort, whatever the outcome of what is coming close to being a disastrous Auburn year.

"It was a discouraging loss," he said. "There's nothing to be encouraged about when you get beat. "But we have some people on defense who love to play football." Being ready has not been an Auburn problem. The Tigers play with intensity, effort and hustle. Sooner or later, that is going to pay off.

don't turn the football over, I'm not sure Nebraska could drive the ball any distance against us." Dye has had to pull his team up from disappointing losses the last two weeks. He'll have to do it again, starting Monday. "I think they'll play next week," he said. "I know I'm going to get ready." Nebraska coach Tom Osborne praised Auburn's effort. "Auburn is a good football team," he said.

"A lot of people didn't realize they were that good. We saw it by looking at films. They played hard. You have to give them credit. "Our defense played very well.

They didn't get four or five yards a crack. We had set a goal of getting four turnovers, and we did that. "Offensiely, we moved the ball, but not consistently. We have to execute better. I'm pleased that we won the game.

The players stuck together and the kicking game was improved." Quarterback Mark Mauer praised Auburn's defense. "They played real tough," he said. "They stopped our outside game and I I 4 4 A it i yy i AP wirrpholo throw the Cornhusker to the ground trick' AP wirrphulo attempt to avoid Saturday's rainfall Statistics Nebraska Alt GalD Lost Nel 5 6 8-2 RUSHING Maver Craig Bates Gill Rozier Steels TOTALS TD Long 22 12 8 15 2 87 68 20 76 8 8 16 16 8 35 7 9 24 257 II By PHILLIP MARSHALL Advertiser Sports Editor LINCOLN, Neb. Defeat was written on Pat Dye's somber face. He said he was proud of his defense and kicking game and disappointed in the lack of offense.

Mostly, he was disappointed that his Tigers had lost their third straight game, 17-3 to Nebraska. "It's kind of obvious that, defensively, we played about as good as we could play," he said. "Our kicking game was much improved over what it has been the last two weeks. "Defense and the kicking game kept us in the game, but offensive mistakes took us out of it. "Offensively, we got manhandled.

We had a few bright spots throwing the ball and tricking them a little bit. "But when you can't block them a little up front, you can't establish anything inside." Auburn established nothing inside. Freshman fullback Ron O'Neal, a rampaging bull the first three games, managed just 22 yards on 14 carries. There was some success to the outside, but five fumbles and two intercepted passes negated that. If I I offense they were real aggressive.

They came up in that 5-3 defense and played us tough." Running back Mike Rozier echoed those sentiments. "The game was rough," he said. "Auburn was really hitting tough. Auburn's defense was fast and I was cutting back against the grain and getting some room." Hobby, who played less than a half dozen snaps, is not believed to be seriously injured. "It doesn't look bad," said Auburn trainer Herb Waldrep.

"Unless there is something there we don't know about, he should be ready next week." Wyoming 45 UINLV 21 LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) Flashy punt returning by Darnell Clash and a grinding wishbone offense led Wyoming to a 45-21 non-conference football victory Saturday over the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Clash returned one punt 46 yards to set up Wyoming's second touchdown and then returned another punt 90 yards for a fourth-period touchdown that put the game out of reach. ii it 3 1 i '7 yardage AP wlrephtilfl (99) and Mark Dorminey (46) Auburn cheerleaders pull 'hat Individual Auburo All Gals Loft Net TD Long RUSHING ThomaB James ONell Hobby Peoples Woods TOTALS 73 IB 23 10 3 72 1 0 1 1 0 0 IB 22 0 10 3 128 74 PASSING Alt Comp Int Ydi TD Thomas 10 i 1 06 0 TOTALS tO I 5 0 Long 30 RECEIVING No. West 3 Edwards 1 Woods 1 TOTALS i Yds TD 51 0 14 0 30 0 0 LB3o 14 30 30 PUNTING Boiling TOTALS FIELD GOALS Del Greco TOTALS No.

Yds 7 310 Long 81 81 7 310 44.3 Att 1 1 Made 1 1 Long 52 52 Punis Kickolli Intercepted RETURNS No. Yd No. Yd No. Yd King 0 0 0 0 2 44 II i i I Amei- I 1 I Int Yds TD Long'. 1 41 0 18 1 9 0 9 SO 0 11 Yds TD Long 0 10 26 0 18 5 0 5 50 Yds Avg Long', 250 50 2 57 250 M.J 17 Made Lon 1 31 Klckoffs Intercepted N.

Yds No. Yds. PASSING Maver Gill TOTALS RECEIVING Brown Williams Steels 5 6 1 15 6 No. 2 3 1 TOTALS PUNTING Campbell TOTALS FIELD GOALS Seinel TOTALS No. 5 i All 1 1 Punts RETURNS Steels I.lndquist Fryar Lyday TOTALS 0 18 21 31 0 0 0 31 0 23.

0. II 41- Auburn defenders surround Nebraska running back Mike" Rozier (30) as he rambles for big Tiger defenders are visible, including Zac Hardy (87), Edmund Nelson.