Fort Lauderdale News from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • 58

Fort Latnl.nlale New an.l Stm-Sriitinol. Sunday, January 2. 1972 ID Calls Tide ryan 6G rasita peaces 4, iff plan. I can't blame it on the players. The same guys won 11 straight games for us this season." The Alabama players disagreed about the strength of their opponents.

Running back Johnny Musso and quarterback Terry Davis didn't think Nebraska was that overpowering. "The difference in this game was that they fell on all the fumbles and intercepted passes," Musso said. "They capitalized on all the breaks, too. They scored five touchdowns on our offense and three points on our defense. "We would make a nice five-yard gain on first down," Musso continued, "and then we would foul up and get thrown for losses.

It isn't that we don't feel like we could play them again and do a lot better, but we aren't going to get a chance. They re No. 1 and they deserve it. But we were so bad in this game it is really hard to say just how good they were." Davis, holding his injured left arm gingerly with his right hand, seemed as dejected as Bryant. "I just landed on my shoulder on one play when I was hit," Davis said.

"I don't think Nebraska gave us such a beating physically. We have played teams just as tough as they. But theie execution was outstanding. As for us, We couldn't run and we couldn't pass. When you can't run, you have to pass; when you can't pass, you have to run.

When you can't do either, you are in a lot of trouble." But offensive guard John Hannah, a 270-pounder consid-e Alabama's strongest man, admitted that the Nebraska defenders overpowered him most of the time. "They are strong," Hannah said. "They are the strongest team we have played. I tried to block like I did all season and I couldn't do it for bleep. I even tried a different way to block and that didn't work either." An Alabama assistant coach summed up the feelings in the Tide dressing room.

"Nebraska is mighty good," he said, "but they aren't that good. Nobody can be THAT good!" DAVE HEEREN Staff Sports Writer MIAMI Bear Bryant sat, hunched forward, on a bench in the Alabama dressing room. He spoke almost inaudibly. "We were beaten soundly by a far superior football team," he whispered. "Ne- 1 braska is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, team I've ever seen." 1 Bryant, who had masterminded Alabama to three national titles, including one that came after a 39-28 victory over Nebraska six years ago in the Orange Bowl, took much of the blame for the Crimson Tide's devastating 38-6 loss to the Cornhuskers last night.

"I kidded early this week about a coach being worth six points in a game like this," said the dejected Bryant. "Well, in this case I'd say coaching might have been worth five times that much. I'm not trying to take anything away from Nebraska, but I feel we had a poor game 3 A (Staff photo by Ursula Seemann) Cornlmsker Star Jeff Kinney Dives Through Tide For Two-Yard TD That Started It All Worst Defeat Ever For Brvant Bam 38-6 a Lrmske Ala. Neb. First Downs Total 16 15 Passing 3 5 Rushing )3 Penalties 0 Rushing Attempts 58 47 Yards gained J0 501 Yards lost ft 18 Net yards gained 341 183 Passing Yarns ganed 7 If Passes attempted 13 TO Completed 3 11 Had intercepted 2 0 Total Olfense-Yards gained 88 342 Plavs rushing passing 67 Interceptions 0 5 Yaras returned 0 30 Punting No.

ol ounts 7 5 Punting average 43 1 43.4 Punts had biorked 0 0 Punts re'urnerl Yards returned 34 134 Kickofts No. returned Net yards retvrnd .128 0 Penalties Times penalired ..4 4 Yards penalized 58 50 Fumbles Times fumb'ed 5 3. Own fumbles lost 2 Nefraska 14 1 3 731 A'ahama 0 4 04 NFj Kinney 2 run Ik.ck (ailed! NF'lRndgers 77 punt return (Oam-t-'FB Tagge 1 run (Sanger kick) NFB Dixon 2 run (Sanger kick) ALA Davis 3 run (run foiled) NEB FG Sanqer 21 NFB-Brownson 1 run (Sanger kick) Att: 73.151. (Continued from Page ID) as the quarter ended, and a two-point pass from Tagge to Maury Dakroger sent Nebraska into the second quarter with a 14-point lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Williams was racked by Nebraska's Randy Borg and fumbled the ball over to the Cornhuskers at the Tide 27.

Seven plays later, Tagge sneaked over from the two. The kick by Sanger was good at 12:43 of the second period, No one had ever beaten Eear Bryant by a bigger score. And Bryant was impressed with the nation's undisputed college champion. "They were one of the greatest, if not the greatest I have ever seen," said Bryant. Devaney summed tip the less than classic game, "This was for the national championship." The same championship Devaney won last year, same time, same place.

giving Nebraska 21 points in just a little over four minutes. The fourth Cornhusker touchdown came four minutes later following a fumble by Alabama fullback Steve Bas-ceglia at the Tide's own four. Reserve running back Gary Dixon had only to hit the line twice, each time for two yards, to go into the end zone. Nebraska missed another first half scoring chance by failing to hit a 23-yard field goal and mussed a fifth field goal with three minutes to go. Only briefly at the start of the second half did Alabama show how it had gotten to New Year's Night undefeated.

Davis took the Crimson Tide to the Nebraska 14 but was intercepted in the end zone. Nebraska's Sanger kicked a third period field goal from 21 yards. An interception and a 30-yard return by Cornhusker Jim Anderson led to the final Nebraska touchdown. Van Brownson took the ball over from the two with less than five minutes to play. (Continued from Page ID) that everything was not going to be all right this particular New Year's night.

The margin of defeat equaled the worst loss of Bryant's coaching life, a 41-9 hammering of Texas by Texas Tech when Bryant was the leader in 1954. Alabama, it seemed, could do nothing right in that horrendous first half. And Nebraska could do nothing wrong. The Tide fumbled four times and lost two in the first 30 minutes. Greg Gantt, the Alabama punter, was trapped when he tried to run at midfield with a high snap from center.

That error led to Nebraska's first touchdown, a two-yard burst up the gut by Jeff Kinney. The rest of the Cornhusker points seemed to come in a flood. Rodgers for the 77-yard punt return; Jerry Tagge on a one-yard sneak; Gary Dixon on a two-yard run; Rich Sanger with a 21-yard field goal, and Van Brownson with a one-yard plunge. When it was over and the Nebraska fans were going unashamedly berserk, Johnny Musso, the Tide's remarkable All-America running back was quietly tearing his jersey to shreds in the Alabama dressing room. "We were hobble," he said.

"They didn't force us into all those mistakes. We just made them." Briant, meanwhile, called Nebraska "one of the greatest, if not the greatest, team I've ever seen." For Bob Devaney, Nebraska's coach, there was something of sweet revenge in the victory. Bryant and Alabama had beaten his Cornhuskers badly the two previous times the teams had met, once in the Orange Bowl and again in the Sugar Bowl. Now it was Devaney's turn to be the defending national champion. "If I had to rank the teams in the country tonight," he said, "I would rank Nebraska one, Oklahoma two and probably Colorado three." A reasonable ranking, but patently unfair to the Huskers' second team, which then would have to fall all the way to fourth.

4 i I i 'f Xi ft 4 4. 4 Tf 4. 4 i X. if 4 "7 1 (Staff photo by Donn Gould) i 5 UamtCs Terry Davis Cringes As Nebraska Tackle Bill Janssen Prepares To Level Him uskers Unanimous: Sooners No bm. (Cintinued from Page ID) don't think it was as easy as it looked out there (against Alabama).

We got a couple breaks without them, it might have been a different game." "I thought it was going to be a little closer," Glover said. "But we're familiar with the wishbone after the Oklahoma game and this made it easier for us this time." Devaney said Rodgers' 77-yard punt return for a touchdown at the end of the turn man I've ever seen," Devaney said. "I imrgine they had to be pretty discouraged after that. I know we probably would have been if it happened to us," "I knew I was gone after I saw about five white Jerseys in front of me," Rodgers said. Rodgers was awarded the game ball, but he gave it to a former teammate, Rex Lowe, who has Hodgkins Disease.

"He was supposed to die a long time ago," Rodgers said, "but he always manages to come back and be at our big games. He was at school in my freshmen and sophomore years. He's a goodfriend." Nebraska seemed to lose interest in the game after building up a 28-0 half-time lead. "It's hard to sustain momentum after leading by 28 points," Devaney said. "I guess that's one reason we didn't play as well in the second half.

"Sure, the Oklahoma game was more exciting and maybe it was more important, but it would be kind of tough to say it was. Both were pretty important." The victory avenged two lopsided losses to Alabama in post-season play, one in the Orange Bowl and one in the Sugar Bowl. "I mentioned that to them," Devaney said. "I'i sure they were aware of it i'hen they went out on the field." first quarter was a key play in turning (Staff photo by Donn Gould) i BOB DEVANEY DOES ITl AGAIN I Cornhuskers No. 1 for secor.

ji straight year th! game into a rout, i 3 1 "That Rodgers is the finest punt rc 'nti L. 4..