Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 14

im. Uncotn Journal Star HUSKERS Sunday, October 1. 1995 Page design: Jute Koch QB Frazier's performance helps silence WSU defenders 6 They sent out a challenge when they said that stuff in the paper. I took it personally. rt9 Hit A fVv Tommie Frazier 9 BY STEVE SIPPLE Linooln Journal Star Everyone blocks on Nebraska's Offense.

Just ask do-everything Quarterback Tommie Frazier. took out Washington State standout defensive end )wayne Sanders with a block that would have made a Husker offensive lineman proud during Nebraska's opening drive of the game. On Jthe 10th play of the march, Clester 'Johnson rushed left on a reverse, and as he headed upfield for his gain, Frazier took out Sanders as Sanders pursued the play. I It appeared Sanders never saw grazier coming. "He didn't say anything after the tplay)," said Frazier, who directed the Cornhuskers to a 35-21 win Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

"I guess he wore himself out in the papers." Frazier referred to Sanders' comments in The Seattle Times after the Cougars' 24-15 upset of UCLA last Saturday. Sanders was quoted saying, "The Nebraska game is going to shock a lot of people because we're going to win. You heard it here first from Dwayne Sanders." In addition, Washington State running back Frank Madu was quoted saying the Cougars would Nebraska apart." Frazier said such big talk is a no-no for teams about to face second-tanked Nebraska, the 1994 national champion. they said that stuff in the paper," Frazier said. "I took it personally." Frazier and Nebraska's offense had the final word.

The Huskers rolled up 527 total yards, including 428 on the ground. Entering Saturday, the Cougars had allowed teams an average of 70 yards rushing per game, which ranked them fourth nationally. The Cougars had something to roar about before facing the Huskers, but perhaps they should not have roared so loud. By doing so, they riled Frazier. "When you come to our place, you dont intimidate us we intimidate you," Frazier said.

Frazier rushed 15 times for 70 yards and completed 9 of 19 passes for 99 more yards. He said he was not pleased with his passing. "Sometimes I was off-rhythm, sometimes the defense had great coverage," he said. "But it's something you can't worry about" Part of Frazier's throwing problems were the result of a sore elbow that has been bothering him. He said he has landed on the elbow more than once while being tackled.

Saturday, Washington State linebacker Chris Hayes tackled Frazier after a 1-yard gain in the fourth quarter, and Frazier got up slowly, shaking out the pain in his elbow. Frazier, however, returned for Nebraska's next series. 1 kept falling on it, and it sent pain through my whole arm," Frazier said. "This off week came at a great time for me." Nebraska takes next Saturday off before facing Big Eight Conference foe Missouri Oct. 14 in Memorial Stadium.

Frazier was glad Washington State pushed the Huskers into the fourth quarter. It was a welcome change for a team that had won its previous four games by margins of 43, 40, 49 and 42 points. "(A close game) is what we really wanted," he said. "We knew they'd play us tough and that the starters would have to go the whole way." JKM C.j iiiiiiitfwiiii TED KIRKUncdn Journal Star NU's Tommie Frazier escapes a diving Johnny Nansen of Washington State on a 20-yard run on NU's first possession Saturday. "They sent out a challenge when GreenHusker freshman I-back gains respect of just about everyone i i i a i.

i i i ,1 piiai. Clinton Quids' Scoring story knee injury. He and backs) said we would have to step it Continued from Page 1B yards to keep the drive alive. On the last run. Green bowled over two Time left WSU-NU How scored FIRST QUARTER junior starter Damon Benning, who had 66 yards on 20 carries, combined to rush for more than Washington State's first three opponents did against the Cougars.

"I didn't expect to be doing this well as a freshman," said the 6-foot, 210-pound freshman, an Ail-American from Omaha Central. "At the beginning, I was thinking a little too much. I wasn't sure on all the plays. But it's coming natural now." That makes Green a "tougher guy mentally. Physically, I was already tough," he said.

But Green had shown that against outmanned defenses. Saturday, in a game he said was, by far, the most physical he'd played in, Green took his tough guy image to the next level. "I know where I'm at now, I can prepare for the next game," he said. "This is a tough one early. We're going to see what weaknesses and strengths we have from this game.

But we really didn't have doubts (about being able to run). We just knew we had to run hard." up this week because they're one of the top defenses," Green said. "The difference with this defense, they keyed on the ball. I felt early on I'd have to run hard and go straight to the hole." The Cornhuskers looked to Green again on their third possession of the second half. He carried four times for 19 yards, including a three-yard touchdown from the right side on a fourth-and-one play to help make it 28-7.

Two possessions later. Green ran for a 12-yard gain to the Washington State 35 one play before Tommie Frazier hooked up with tight end Mark Gilman for a touchdown that made the scored 35-14. "Ahman he passed the test; he gutted it out," Frazier said. "They had two times where the whole team was on him and they still did not get him down." Green's last four rushes came on the Cornhuskers' final possession. He recovered his own fumble at the Cougars' 34, then ran for 7 and 12 blacked out momentarily.

But after NU trainers got to his side. Green popped up like nothing had happened. "You can be hurt, but you can't let the other team know," Green said. "If you pop right up it makes ihe defense think 'What do we have to do to put this guy out of the Green was just getting warmed iip. On his next carry, he went 36 yards around left end to help set up a 33-yard field goal by Kris Brown that put NU ahead 17-7 in the second quarter.

Green stiff-armed cor-nerback Brian Walker at the Washington State 33-yard line before eventually being pulled down at the 11. Green's third carry, a 56-yarder up the middle to the Cougars' 13, let 'Brown kick a 22-yarder just six seconds before halftime. "Coach (Frank) Solich (who is in charge of the Nebraska running would-be tacklers and was eventually stopped, but not taken down, by a pile of players. Green shook the last player off his leg well after referees' whistles had blown and the crowd roared its approval. The NU student section started a chant of "Ahman Green," which was picked up by others in the stands.

"I was going to try and score. I couldn't, but I wasn't going to touch that turf," said Green, who acknowledged the support. "It makes me get more into the game when I hear the crowd yelling my name." Green suffered a bruised shoulder on his final run, but after lying on the turf for a minute he trotted to the Nebraska sideline to another big ovation. "Green's runs at the end pumped everybody up," said Gilman. "He came up so big for the team," Green is playing more because of Lawrence Phillips' suspension and 7-0 Frank Madu 87 run 8:44 Drive: 90 yards in two plays.

Set up by Chris Hayes recovery of NU fumble at WSU 10. Conversion: Tony Truant kick. SECOND QUARTER 7-7 Tommie Frazier 4 run 14:43 Drive: 66 yards in five plays. Set up by 19-yard WSU punt partially blocked by Terrell Farley. Highlighted by Brian Schuster 23, 10 runs, Ahman Green 24 run.

Conversion: Kris Brown kick. 7-14 Frazier 20 run 8:29 Drive: 66 yards in 11 plays. Highlighted by Frazier 2 run on third-and-1 1 6 run on third-and-1 1 Conversion: Brown kick. 7-17 Brown 33 field goal 5:08 Drive: 31 yards in six plays. Set up by Kenny Cheatham punt return to WSU 47.

Highlighted by Green 36 run. 7-20 Brown 22 field goal 00:06 Drive: 64 yards in seven plays. Highlighted by Green 54 run, Brendan Holbein 8 pass from Frazier. THIRD QUARTER 7-28 Green 3 run 00:27 Drive: 48 yards in eight plays. Set up by Mike Fullman 8 punt return to WSU 48.

Highlighted by Reggie Baul 15 pass from Frazier, Schuster 7 run, Green 13 run. Conversion: Brown kick. FOURTH QUARTER 14-28 Shawn Tims 33 pass from Chad Davis 12:14 Drive: 90 yards in eight plays. Highlighted by Davis 21, 10 passes to Jay Dumas, 20 pass to Bryant Thomas. Conversion: Truant kick.

14-35 Mark Gilman 35 pass from Frazier 7:20 Drive: 71 yards in five plays. Highlighted by Damon Benning 13 run, Green 12 run and aided by defensive holding penalty against WSU on third down. Conversion: Brown kick. 21-35 Tims 30 pass from Davis 3:38 Drive: 82 yards in 10 plays. Highlighted by Dumas 11, 12, 6 passes from Davis.

Conversion: Truant kick. NUDetermined Cornhuskers find way to escape Cougars Green ran 36 yards, including the final 15 after a stiff arm of Brian Walker, to set up a 33-yard field goal by Brown with 5:08 left in the first half. The freshman ran 54 yards through the middle of the line to set up a 22-yard field goal just before halftime. Continued from Page 1B the yards. You get over 500 yards against a team like this and that's pretty good movement." Still Nebraska found a way to get into the lead and take control with two touchdowns by Frazier, two field goals by Kris Brown, a touchdown by Green and a touchdown pass from Frazier to Mark Gilman midway in the fourth quarter.

In the same way, Nebraska found Individual stastistics After the two teams missed field goals to open the second half, Frazier his Reggie Baul on a 15-yard pass and Green carried three times for 16 yards to set up his 3-yard touchdown run with 27 seconds left in the third quarter. Nebraska padded the lead to 28-7 when place-kicker Brown took a snap from center and hit Schuster on a two-point conversion pass. Washington State found a few cracks in the Nebraska defense and quarterback Chad Davis threw completions of 21, 20 and 10 yards, before he hit Shawn Tims on a 33-yard touchdown pass with 12 14 left. some answers on defense, as well. Despite giving up the longest running play by an opponent Oklahoma tight end Keith Jackson ran an 88-yard touchdown reverse against Nebraska in 1985, the Huskers held Washington MCBRIDE wary of blitz Washington State Offense Rushing No.

Yds. Ave. Frank Madu 9 90 10.0 Derek Sparks 9 1 0.1 Shawn Tims 1 -9-9 0 Chad Davis 5 -10 Passing No. Co. Yds PI Chad Davis 37 20 278 0 Receiving No.

Yds. Jay Dumas 9 100 Shawn Tims 2 63 Bryant Thomas 2 31 Frank Madu 2 23 Chad Carpenter 2 16 David Knurl 1 20 Shawn McWashington 1 17 Eric Moore 1 8 Punting No. Yds. Ave. George Martin 7 341 48.7 Team 1 19 19.0 Punt returns No.

Yds. Jay Dumas 1 -1 Kickoff returns No. Yds. Frank Madu 3 15 Miguel 3 37 Jason Clayton 1 9 Nebraska Offense Rushing No. Yds.

Ave. Ahman Green 13 176 13.5 Tommie Frazier 15 70 4.7 Jetf Makovicka 4 64 16.0 Damon Benning 20 63 3.2 Brian Schuster 5 42 6.4 Oester Johnson 2 20 100 Joel Makovicka 1 1 10 James Sims 1 -3 Brook Berringer 2 -5 Passing No. Co. Yds PI Tommie 19 9 99 0 Brook 1 0 0 0 Receiving No. Yds.

Mark Gilman 1 35 Clester Johnson 4 31 Reggie Baul 2 19 Brendan Holbein 1 8 JonVedral 1 6 Punting No. Yds. Ave. Jesse Kosch 4 148 37.0 Punt returns No. Yds.

Kenny Cheatham 39 Mike Fullman 1 8 Kickoff returns No. Yds. Ahman 3 66 Team 1 10 Q. Who called the timeout for Nebraska with 1:22 left in the first half, when the clock was stopped after Washington State threw an incomplete pass on third down at the WSU 25-yard line? As of the end of the game, nobody knew who called the timeout that seemed to cost Nebraska a chance at a running play as it drove to the Cougar 5-yard line on the following series. Nebraska ended up kicking a field goal.

"Everybody is trying to find out who did (called time out), but we may never find that out," NU defensive coordinator Charlie McBride said. What happened to the ball boy on the Washington State sideline early in the game? Al One of the two ball boys was replaced soon after the start of the game. Washington State Coach Mike Price said, "He was getting in my way and I told him to move and stop cheering. He smarted off and swore at me. I had 75,000 fans screaming, I didn't need 75,001 on my sideline." From reader Kevin Lyly Griess, "Why the switch to all white pants on the home uniforms? Where are the stripes?" Aj The players and coaches voted for the plain look this year and the stripes on the pants and sleeves are gone.

What impact did Tommie Frazier's block of WSU defensive end Dwayne Sanders on Clester Johnson's reverse run in the first quarter have on the Nebraska defense? Will he get a black shirt? Ar According to defensive tackle Christian Peter, "That was unbelievable. I don't know, maybe a gold shirt. Not a black shirt because he's still a quarterback. Tommie' a tough kid." Frazier said of the block, "It felt good delivering it. I saw it coming and I don't think he did.

You don't think about your body on things iike that. You let your instincts take over. You have to play with pain and you have to have good instincts. That's the fun of football." QlWhat's next for Nebraska? AlA week off before returning to the Big Eight season with home games against Missouri and Kansas State. "We need the week off because we've got a lot of people banged up pretty good," Osborne said.

"We're right where we want to be. We want to be 5-0 with an open date. We'll probably get Clinton Childs back (out with injury the last two weeks), maybe Phil Ellis (linebacker out with a broken second metatarsal in his foot) and some others healed up." McBride added that his defense will work on improving the pass rush by practicing more one-on-one with the Nebraska offense. "We haven't done a lot of that and It's the only way we can get better." State to minus-23 yards rushing the rest of the game. "You want the blitz, you got the blitz," said Charlie McBride, Nebraska defensive coordinator.

"We blitzed on that play and they went on a short count, we didn't get the safety around, and when he did he was way wide and we just weren't ready to play. I thought, except for one play, our rush defense was as good as we've ever played it," McBride said. Nebraska's offense picked up on the resurgent defense and exploded for a 66-yard scoring drive, sparked by Brian Schuster's 28-yard trap up the middle and a 10-yard run around the left side. Then, Green, on his first carry of the game, took an option pitch around the right end on a 24-yard run to the Washington State 4-yard line, and Frazier scored to tie the game on a keeper behind key blocks by Schuster and tackle Adam Treu. The Huskers took the lead for good on the next possession when Frazier and I-back Damon Benning combined for 55 yards of another 66-yard scoring drive that Frazier ended with a 20-yard run around the right side.

Nebraska countered with a quick scoring drive that included runs of 13 and 12 yards by Benning and Green, respectively, and Frazier's 35-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mark Gilman. Washington State answered with a 30-yard scoring pass from Davis to Tims, as the Cougars almost doubled their offensive production for the game with 163 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter. "Defensively, at times we played really well, and then we let them have those three drives," Osborne said. "A couple of times our coverage wasn't that good, but we probably weren't getting enough pressure." McBride explained that Nebraska blitzed on Washington State's first two touchdowns, so he backed off the blitz. "We play the penetrating defense and we play it loose," he said.

"The key is that we tried to get by with a four-man rush and not blitz more than just a few times. I'm just afraid of when we blitz and don't get heat on the quarterback or when he has that perfect timing on a pass and there's nothing physically possible to do. They had some good blocking and some great timing today." Defense Tackles UT AT TT James 4 7 11 Phillip Glover 7 3 10 ChadHlnchen 4 8 10 Chris Hayes 4 8 10 Brian Walker 3 6 9 Duane Stewart 4 3 7 Derek Henderson 15 8 Shane Doyte 2 3 5 Darryl Jones 1 '4 5 Gary Holmes 13 4 Jarriel MH. 12 3 Robert Booth Dwayne 2 0 2 Brandon Moore 112 Todd 112 Johnny Nansen 112 Terrell Henderson 0 2 2 Ken Moore 0 2 2 Ryan Leaf 10 1 Jason Clayton 10 1 Jason McEndoo 0 11 David Evans 0 11, Doknw Morsts hmimnih 0 1 Defense Tscktes UT AT TT Tyrone WIIHams SOS JaredTomich 3 2 5 Grant Wistrom 3 2 5 TonyVeiand 4 0 4 MlkeMinter 4 0 4 DougColman 2 2 4 Michael Booker 3 0 3 Ryan Terwilliger 2 13 Jason Peter 12 3 Jamel Williams 12 3 Eric Wartleld 0 2 2 Octavlous McFarUn 1 1 2 Terrell Farley 1 1 2 Eric Stokes 1 1 2 Jon Hesse 0 2 2 Mike Fullman 1 0 1 Christian Peter 10 1 BHI Legate 0 1 1 Jay Foreman 0 11 Scott Saltsman 0 11.