Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 20

4C Lincoln Journal Star Saturday. November 25, 1995 HUSKERS Page design: Karl Vogef Sooners' seniors finish Scoring story NU-OU How scored season, career frustrated FIRST QUARTER 4-0 Kris Brown 31 field goal Drive: 67 yards In 12 plays. Highlighted by Ahman Green 11. 13 runs; Tommie Frazier 6 run; Lawrence Phillips 14 run; Mark Gil- man 17 pass from Frazier. 10-0 Jamel Williams 36 Interception return Conversion: Brown kick.

SECOND QUARTER 13-0 Brown 27 field goal Drive: 47 yards 6 plays. Frazier 5 run, Clester Johnson 1 1 pass from Frazier, Reggie Bad 6 pass from Frazier, Phillips 25 run. THIRD QUARTER 20-O Tony Veland 57 fumble recovery return Conversion: Brown kick. 23-0 Brown 35 field goal Drive: 14 yards in 7 plays. Set up by Mike Fullman 48 punt return to Oklahoma 32.

Highlighted by PhHIips 5, 3, 1 runs, OU offsides penalty. FOURTH QUARTER 30-0 Jon Vedral 38 pass from Tommie Frazier Drive: 74 yards in 5 plays. Highlighted by Clinton Childs 13 run to end third quarter. Joel Makovicka 1 1 run; Childs 6, 6 runs. Conversion: Brown kick.

37-0 Joel Makovicka 17 run Drive: 80 yards in 13 plays. Set up by OU failure to convert on fourth-and-1 at NU 20. Highlighted by Phillips 3, 8, 3, 8, 3 runs; Brook Berringer 6, 15 runs; Joel Makovicka 8, 9 runs; Baul 8 pass from Berringer. Conversion: Brown kick. Individual statistics GAIL FOLDAUncoki Journal Star Peter (55) locks up with Oklahoma play.

em Time left" 10:44 8:38 to 7:41" 0:28 14:12 CI mm Oklahoma Offense Rushing No. Yds. Jerald Moore 14 39 James Allen 7 19 Garrick McGee 5 18 Jermaine Fazande 1 6 Team 1 -9 P.J.Mills 1 -11 Eric Moore 1 -11 Passing No. Co. Yds Garrick McGee 30 15 159 Eric 4.1 31 Receiving No.

Stephen Alexander 6 P.J. Mills 4 JaJuan Penny 3 Jerald Moore 3 Ave. 2.3 2.7 3.6 6.0 pi mm 1 Yds. 71 76 27 16 Defense Tackles UT AT. Maylon Wesley 6 8 Tyrell Peters 9 4 Anthony Fogle 2 7 Broderick Simpson 3 5 Wendell Davis 4 2 Kelly Gregg 3 2 Martin 1 4 Cedric Jones 2 2 Barron 2 2 Larry Bush 1 3 Arthur Atkins 2 1 Brent DeOuasie 0 3 Jason Freeman 2 0 Roderick Manuel 2 0 DaleAllen 1 1 Darrius Johnson 1 1 Keith Sparks 1 0 Chris Blocker 0 1 Bruce McClure 0 1 Harry Stamps 0 1 Interception returns No.

Larry 1 Special teams Punting No. Yds. TimDaughtry 10 417 Ktekoff returns No. P.J. Mills 2 JaJuan Penny 1 TT 14 13 9 Yds.

16 Ave. 41.7 Yds. 24 IO BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal Star Jerald Moore spoke of predictions, karma and schizophrenia. "Everybody knew what we were going to do. Our offense is just so predictable Moore said of his Oklahoma team.

"Everyone knew we had to come out and run the ball. Every time we got a drive going, we'd get a penalty or fumble or throw an interception. It was like it wasn't meant for us to drive down the field. "That's how this team has been this year. It's a Dr.

Jekyll-Mr. Hyde situation. We'd throw a long pass and then get sacked. We have a long run and then fumble." The senior's frustrations came after Nebraska shut down the Sooner running game and dealt Oklahoma a season-ending 37-0 loss. The 5-5-1 record is Oklahoma's worst since 1965 when the Sooners went 3-7.

"We've been facing the same adversity all year," he said. "We've had trouble throwing the ball and running the ball. Against Nebraska, they're one of the best at playing the run because they pursue to the ball so fast. You have to get them a little off-balance." Moore's 39 yards rushing were due in large part to the misdirection and counter plays he ran. Senior quarterback Garrick McGee said it was also because of the way the Cornhuskers play defense.

"They're pretty good up front McGee said. "They are No. 1 in the nation for a reason. They play their linebackers close to the line of scrimmage and that helps the run defense a lot. That showed today and it was the reason we were able to pass on them." McGee came into the game in the second quarter in relief of freshman Eric Moore, who threw an interception (for a Nebraska touchdown) and was sacked for an 11-yard loss in the first quarter.

"He (McGee) was doing much better at the end of the second quarter than Eric Moore was doing in the first quarter." Oklahoma Coach Howard Schnellenberger said. "I had planned to put him in for his turn, which is one series or two. But Oklahoma notes I Offensive lineman Joe Carollo "Nebraska is a great team and you have to play a great game to beat them. I can't describe what I feel right now. It's been a dame rough year for us." I OU Coach Howard Schnellenberger, on the strength of the Big Eight "I played against Kansas when I was at Louisville and Nebraska when I was at Miami.

I feel about the Big Eight the way I always did. The Big Eight is always one of the top-of-the-line conferences. They have won 4 A NU defensive tackle Christian center Chuck Langston on a as the second quarter dwindled down, he had made some good plays and I elected to let him finish out the quarter. At halftime, I felt our best chance to win was to stay with Garrick." McGee almost didn't get to do that. On the third play of the second half, McGee went down hard after his legs were knocked from under him.

He had a sprained neck, but was back on the field for the Sooners' next series. "I don't know exactly what happened." McGee said. "There was someone at my feet and I tried to step back and throw over him. This was my first game ever at Nebraska, so I wanted to finish the game. "You can 'if all day, but if you don't turn the ball over, you can win.

We turned the ball over and they made us pay." The Sooners' seniors will leave Oklahoma never having defeated Nebraska, which was a hard pill to swallow for defensive lineman Ce-dric Jones. more bowl games. And it is stronger this year than it has been in the past. The only weak-sister is Oklahoma." I Schnellenberger, on the final outcome "I didn't think it would be 37-0 and I shouldn't have been 37-0. But I guess based on our track record, they (the oddsmakers) were closer to right than I was.

But the two teams out there were a lot closer than 37 points apart." I Schnellenberger, on playing in Lincoln "Lincoln is a tough place to play because of its fine football team and its fine coaches. Their fans are 6 They shut down "That's tough," he said. "I'm disappointed we didn't beat Nebraska in four years. I think we played Nebraska great and a couple of times, we played well enough to win. We just didn't get it done.

Today, our defense played well against the option. It's not like we play against it every week, but we practiced hard for two weeks to be disciplined and carry out our assignments. Everyone has to be disciplined and on the same page." That still wasn't enough, but Jones said Nebraska had a lot to do with that. "Everyone in the country knows they're a polished football team," he said. "They don't do anything fancy or out of the ordinary.

They just do what they need to in order to win. When you play Nebraska, everybody knows they have a good offense. But what not many talk about is that they have a great defense. "We knew we had to keep it a low-scoring game to have a chance to win." wonderful and they fill this place up all the time. But it wasn't very loud here.

Not nearly as loud as some other places. I was happy for that. I think they were being kind to us." Some young boys were asking Sooner players for their playing gloves as they walked into the locker room. Nearly all declined, but senior comer back Darrius Johnson stopped, pulled the gloves off his hands and handed them to the youngsters. Jerald Moore became the 1 2th OU player to rush for 1 ,000 or more yards.

His 39 yards gave him 1 ,001 for the season. to shutout 9 Nebraska Offense Rushing No. Yds. Lawrence PhilHps 15 73 Joel Makovicka 4 45 Ahman Green 13 44 Tommie Frazier 10 35 Clinton Childs 4 32 Jeff Makovicka 4 15 Brian Schuster 3 14 Brook Berringer 3 13 Passing No. Co.

Yds Tommie Frazier 25 12 128 Brook 2 1 .8 Receiving No. Reggie Baul Brendan Holbein '2 Clester Johnson 2 Ahman Green 2 Jon Vedral 1 Mark Gknan 1 Lawrence Phillips 1 Defense Tackles UT AT Tony Veland 5 2 Terrell Farley 2 4 Grant Wistrom 4 2 Mike Minter 3 2 Jared Tomich 2 3 Jay Foreman 1 4 Christian 0 5 Jamel Williams 2 2 Jason Peter, 1 3 DougCoknan 0 Phil 1 1 Mike Fullman 1 0 Jon Hesse 1 0 Octavious McFarlin 1 0 Aaron Penland 1 0 Tyrone Williams 1 0 Michael Booker 0 1 Interception returns No. Jamel Williams 1 Michael Booker 1 Fumble returns No. Tony Veland -i Special teams Punting No. Yds.

Jesse 4 172 Punt returns No. Mike Fullman 4 Damon Banning. 3 Ave. 4.9 11.3 34 35 80 38 4.7 4.3 PI 1 0 Yds. 38 20 19 1 38 17 3 TT 7 6 6 5 5 5 Yds.

36 22 Yds. 57 Ave. 43.0 79 31 (J! Is unbeaten and No. 1 TED KIRKbncdn Journal Star A Oklahoma Coach Howard Schnellenberger sneers into the wind during his team's 37-0 loss to NU. OU coach pleased with effort BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal Star A combination of a stout Nebraska defense and an unproductive Oklahoma offense was more than the Sooners could overcome Friday at Memorial Stadium.

"They're a very good football team," Oklahoma Coach Howard Schnellenberger said in describing Nebraska's relentless defensive attack in its 37-0 defeat of the Sooner. "Our of fense was our own worst enemy. In many respects. I was very proud of our football team today. They had great effort and laid it on the line on both sides of the ball against a very mature and winning football team." But that wasn't enough in the final Big Eight Conference game.

"Obviously, about midway through the third quarter, the chance of winning the game began to slip away from us," Schnellenberger said. "And it slipped away because of the continuing inability of our football team to play closer to error-free football than we had been playing. Obviously, Nebraska is the better football team. "Today, there were two good teams out there, but one was capable of putting plays together and making good things happen. Our team has played giveaway all year and that was the story again today.

I would like to see these two teams play with us taking out all of our giveaways." The Sooners had three turnovers, and two proved very costly. The first came just two piays after a 31-yard pass play from Eric Moore to P.J. Mills. Moore attempted another pass to Mills and NU's Jamel Williams stepped up, grabbed it and ran 36 yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead. Nebraska was unable to capitalize on the second turnover, an interception by Michael Booker, when a Kris Brown field goal sailed wide-right.

The third turnover, midway through the third quarter, may have been the point Schnellenberger said the game slippped away. James Allen pounded over right tackle but had the ball stripped by Jared Tomich at the Nebraska 43-yard line. Tony Veland scooped up the ball and raced 57 yards to give the Huskers a 20-0 lead. "You can't put the ball in the end zone unless you're a great football team with the number of penalties we had and obviously the two interceptions," Schnellenberger said. "That's the reason why the offense hasn't scored the last two weeks.

That's the reason why it hasn't done much the last five games. If it isn't throwing interceptions or fumbling the ball, it's getting holding penalties and blocks in the back." I Since the Sooners tied Texas earlier this season, they have scored just 40 points in five games losing to Kansas 17 points scored beating Missouri (13), losing to Kansas State (10), losing to Oklahoma State (0) and losing to Nebraska (0). This was the first time Nebraska shut out the Sooners in 53 years and it was the first back-to-back shutouts for OU since 1965. Schnellenberger sa id the Sooners' defensive effort was similar to others this year. "As was often the case this year, the defense played well enough for us to win," he said.

"Yea h.weshutdowntheirrun and I thought we did a wonderful job on their passing game, except for the obviously one busted signal. When we play the right coverage, we play pretty well." okst NUBig-play defense sparks Huskers our running game, our option game, and yet, we still got 407 yards, three field goals and two touchdowns. Sounds like a No. 1 team to me. NU wlngbaek Jon Vedral Nebraska now officially locked Into Continued from Page 1C In between, Nebraska linebacker Jamel Williams intercepted an Oklahoma pass and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown with 8:36 left in the first quarter and the rest of the Nebraska defense stifled all but a few Sooner passes.

By the end of the first half, Oklahoma had minus-7 yards rushing and had been in Nebraska's half of the field just once. Even that Sooner penetration, to the Nebraska 38-yard line, ended back at the Sooner 44 after Tomich chased Sooner quarterback Garrick McGee into an intentional-grounding penalty, then sacked him for a 4-yard loss on successive plays. Nebraska showed more of the same in the second half, holding the Sooners to minus-1 yard on their first possession, as the Peter brothers hounded McGee into submission. On Oklahoma's second possession, Tomich ripped the ball loose from tailback James Allen and Husker safety Tony Veland scooped up the fumble and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown to give Nebraska a 20-0 lead. "Oklahoma shut down our running game until the end, but we played so well everywhere else, we were unstoppable as usual," Nebraska linebacker Terrell Farley said.

"When I saw Tony Veland's rear end (on his fumble return for a touchdown) and when I saw Jamel Williams streaking on the sideline (on his interception return for a touchdown), I knew we had some answers to them stopping our offense." Nebraska linebacker Phil Ellis, Tomich, Farley and safety Mike tne Tosmos Fiesta AI No. Bowl officials aren't supposed to announce their official -selections until Dec. 3. But John Junker, executive director of the Fiesta Bowl wearing a Nebraska sweatshirt under his yellow blazer "Nebraskans, don't make plans for Miami or New Orleans. This is a dream come true for all of us.

We'll make our invitation on Dec. 3." NU Coach Tom Osborne answered, "We'll be waiting for it." Tickets for the -Fiesta Bowl will not go on sale officially until next week. Nebraska has received more than 45,000 requests, but Junker said the number of tickets allotted to NU is between 1 2,500 and 1 3,000. Did I hear ABC announcer Dick Vermeil say Nebraska had. set an NCAA record for highest points-per-game average? 'Al Yes you did, but Vermeil needed to take a closer look at the record book.

Nebraska averaged 52.4 points this season. Army, In 1944, averaged 56. What did Oklahoma do to stop Nebraska's running particularly on option plays? Their linebackers were extremely fast and they clogged up our ordinary lanes," said NU center Aaron Graham. "Their linebackers were flowing so fast nobody on the line could catch them. I doubt that Lawrence Phillips and Tommie Frazier could catch them.

Maybe we i should have run a reverse or something. But give them credit on defense, too." Freshman l-back Ahman Green added, "We had to show patience to get our yards and we did late in the game. Nobody panicked. Our defense carried us to that point and we finished them will Nebraska defensive linemen Christian Peter let his hair grow back? the Fiesta Bowl," said the bald-headed Peter. "That's when I'll start looking for a couple modeling Jobs because let me tell you, I have what It takes." I What happened to the Nebraska cheerleader who was Z'Z taken from the field on a stretcher In the fourth quarter? Ai Tracy Jensen, a sophomore member of the yeM squad, was hurt slightly during an acrobatic maneuver.

A fellow cheerleader later 1Z reported she was not hospitalized. Minter punished the Sooners again and, after a 48-yard punt return by Mike Fullman, Brown added his third field goal of the day. Finally, Frazier, who hit just 12 passes for 128 yards, connected with wingback Jon Vedral for a 38-yard touchdown the first offensive touchdown of the game for the Huskers to boost the score to 30-0 with 14 12 left in the game. Eventually, we knew the offense would break through even though Oklahoma was the best defense we played all year," Vedral said. shut down our running game, our option game and yet, we still got 407 yards, three field goals and two touchdowns to go with our two defensive touchdowns.

"Pretty much a complete team win. Sounds like a No. 1 team to me. Defense wins championships, plain and simple," Christian Peter said. "We stopped them on first downs, on second downs, on third downs and even on that fourth down, when Grant Wistrom got them at our 25 late In the game.

Our backers were flying around and everybody on the line was in there for the whole fight" The Huskers also won in the kicking game, with 110 punt return yards. "I was very proud of the way our defense played today," Osborne said. "I thought they played a great ball game. We got some turnovers, obviously, a lot of field position, and kept them out of the end zone. I was very proud of the overall effort they gave.

"It was a struggle. Offensively, we knew there was going to be a lot of second down-and-8 and third-and-6 situations early in the game. We felt that if we could just keep plugging along and keep going after them, some of those 2-or 3-yard gains would become 5 and 6 and 7, like they did in the fourth quarter. "It wasn't easy, and I don't think the difference between the two teams was 37 points in terms of ability or anything But Osborne reminded everyone that he believed in his team. "I never felt today that we were going to get beat," he said.

"That took some of the pressure off. Fourteen points on defense did, too.".