Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 15

OQ Page design: jme Koch Lincoln Journal Star Sunday, October 1. 1995 NU notes, quotes HUSKERS 1 X' Vi if I H- -v mfi ii i Nebraska freshman l-back Ahman Green got a lot of oohs and aahs from the Memorial Stadium crowd Saturday after bruising his way through the Washington State defense for 176 yards and one touchdown. But not all of the noise directed toward him was positive. Washington State defensive coordinator Bill Doba launched into an obscenity-filled tirade after Cougar Shad Hinchen dropped Green following a 6-yard gain late in the fourth quarter. Green was stung in the shoulder by the hit and was down on the turf for about a minute.

"Look at that Doba yelled, pointing at Green. "That's the way to stick it up his Shad Hinchen. They're trying to embarrass you." Nebraska fullback Jeff Makovicka, who was in the game at the time, said he was surprised to hear that kind of talk coming from a coach. "I was like "Is he talking to us or the refs?" Makovicka said. "I think we reacted really well.

We just kind of stood there and didn't say anythinr NU defensive coordinator Charlie McBride shook his head when he heard about the incident. "That's low-class stuff," he said. "It's just a bunch of garbage." Wingback Clester Johnson, who had four catches for 31 yards and also ran two reverses for 20 yards, said he was impressed by the Cougars. "They were legit. They played hard all the way throught the game," Johnson said.

"But that's our type of game. We knew we'd win if we just executed." Cornerback Tyrone Williams, who had five tackles and his first for a loss this season, on the game: "It felt great to finally get in a big play," he said of the tackle of Washington State's Shawn Tims on a reverse for a 9-yard loss in the first quarter. "I haven't been in on a lot of plays this year because we're playing so much man-to-man coverage. But! finally got something to get up and yell about. Center Aaron Graham, on Nebraska's 527 yards against the WSU defense: "I guess that means we're pretty good." Nebraska has won five games this year and has the longest NCAA Division l-A win streak of 18 in a row, 26 consecutive home games in a row, and 30 consecutive regular-season victories.

Saturday's game was tlie 400th in Memorial Stadium and Nebraska is 289-98-13. At one point in the first quarter, Washington State had 90 yards rushing. By the end of the game, after nine consecutive plays for zero or minus yardage, WSU had just 72 yards rushing. Nebraska has five games this season with more than 525 yards of total offense, and is averaging 656.2 yards per game and eight yards per attempt. NU punter Jesse Kosch had four punts, the most in a game this season for the sophomore from Columbus.

Nebraska leads the nation in net punting with an opponent average of minus 1.7 yards per return. Injuries to Cornhuskers include: guard Aaron Taylor, ankle sprain; Tommie Frazier, right elbow bruise; Brook Berringer, knee bruise; linebacker Aaron Penland, sprained arch; rover Mike Minter, reaggravated knee injury (that Coach McBride said may take a few weeks to heal); and Ahman Green, shoulder stinger. 'A Washington State's Todd Nelson snags NU fullback Brian Schuster after a 23-yard scamper in the first with 42 yards on five carries. Husker fallback atones in a quarter Saturday. Schuster finished big way 6 Their linebackers weren't big but they were fast.

RANDY HAMPTONUncom Journal Star that happen, and I was glad to see him work his way through the game after it," Solich said. "He hasn't had a problem with fumbles, and I don't expect he will." Makovicka said Washington State which was ranked fourth nationally defending against the run entering Saturday's game might not have been ready for the punishing running of the Husker fullbacks. "Their linebackers weren't big but they were fast," Makovicka said. "In the Pacific-10, 1 don't think many teams run a fullback set and come right at you. A lot of the stuff you see on film is one-back sets, and people are passing or pitching left or right, or they are running misdirection plays." Nebraska finished with 428 yards rushing, including a 13-carry, 176-yard effort by freshman I-back Ahman Green.

Green impressed at least one Husker veteran. "I think Ahman is a tough kid who was thrown into the mix right away, and he's responded well," Makovicka said. "I think down the road, he'll be awesome. It's kind of neat sometimes to see a young guy continue to gain confidence because it will really help him down the road." BY STEVE SIPPLE Lincoln Journal Star Nebraska fullback Jeff Mako-vicka offered no excuses. Fumbles happen, he said.

"I got hit on the hand and lost it," said Makovicka, referring to his fumble on the Cornhuskers' first drive of Saturday's football game against Washington State. "I think it's the first time it's happened to me, so I don't really know what to think. It was tough, but the coaches and everybody else were supportive. It helps when something bad like that happens and everyone picks Jou up.1 Makovicka, a senior, fumbled on the 11th play of the Huskers' drive tyhen he was hit by linebacker James Darling after a 5-yard gain to the Washington State 9-yard line. The Cougars' Chris Hayes recovered, and two.

plays later, running back Frank Madu broke loose for an 87-yard touchdown run to give Washington State a 7-0 lead. Nebraska, however, recovered from the early setback for a 35-21 victory, and Makovicka and fellow fullback Brian Schuster played major roles in the win. RANDY HAMPTONUncom Journal Star A Washington State quarterback Chad Davis fires one-of his 37 passes Saturday agains Nebraska. Davis finished with 20 completions for 278 yards but the. Cougars lost 35-21.

WSU notes, quoted Offensive lineman Marc McCloskey on the game: "We should have scored 15 more points. came in knowing we could play with them, but they're definitely a good team." Offensive lineman Scott Sanderson on NU: "Nebraska is a good team, a quality team. That's the reason they won. They shut down' the run pretty good in the second half. We came to win and had opportunities, but didn't come through.

It's not a moral victory." Coach Mike Price: "I didn't think they'd gain that many yards. It didn't surprise me to see what they did, but it did surprise me they got that much." Cornerback Shad Hinchen, on catching Ahman Green after a 54-yard gain: "That's my responsibility. When I saw him racing down the sideline, I thought I'd better get on my horse and try to catch him. He's pretty good, a real good back. Sometimes on sweeps, he got the best of me and sometimes I got the best of him." Running back Frank Madu: "They're (Nebraska) a good team.

They competed a little bit better than we did." How far behind their program is Washington State? "We're not very far away from being with them." Linebacker James Darling: "When you face this team, you know they have a lot of speed. You don't have time to make reads just get off the block and react." Quarterback Chad Davis: The passing game worked great for us Early, we had trouble heanng fhe snap count, but I thought the line pro-? tected really most of the dayr They're just so powerful on Defensively, we played well, but we) came up short." three years. "We wanted to make sure there had been no violations even thoueh Lawrence Phillips is currently sus-pended from the team. I feel we've provided the information that showi there was no violation." Byrne added, "If we hadn't been'so thorough, the NCAA probably wouS have been here doing its own inves i-gation. Al Papik, and Dick WonH (NU attorney) have cooperatedto the Nth degree and I feel we have done everything we can do.

Nebraska defenders appreciate opportunity to do some brawlui' -Jeff Makovicka 9 position for us. We have a lot of good athletes in the backfield, but you can't forget about us." Nebraska running backs coach Frank Solich said Makovicka's 54-yard gain in the third quarter came on an off-tackle trap play. "They were really trying to stop the wide game, and it opened it up for Jeff not only on that occasion but on others too," Solich said. "Our fullbacks are very good runners. They are explosive and can run through tackles.

I really feel good about them." Solich did not want to dwell on Makovicka's first-quarter fumble, which led to a touchdown that put Nebraska (5-0) behind for the first time this season. "It was unfortunate that Jeff had pect to make plays. I know I'm better than 10 tackles and no sacks in four games." After four blowout wins, Peter said he was happy to be playing in the fourth quarter. Then again, four quarters of what he called the most physical game he's played in since the Orange Bowl in January was right up Peter's alley. "We were tired, but so were they," Peter said.

Considering comments from some Washington State players he read in the week leading up to the game, Peter would have had to been running real low on oxygen to be forced from the field Saturday. "I get to my locker and there's all this 'Cougars are going to beat the Huskers." I don't understand why they were flapping their mouths," Peter said. "Who are these guys to say they're going to come into our house and win?" On the field, Tomich said the Cougars were a good team ready to play. "I figured these guys would be a bunch of mouth-offs," he said. "They weren't.

They were physical. "But we like that kind of ball, too." Makovicka, a graduate of East Butler High School, rumbled for a career-long 54-yard run in the third quarter and finished with 64 yards on four carries. Schuster, a junior from Fullerton, carried five times for 42 yards. Entering the game, Washington State (2-2) had allowed just one run longer than 20 yards this season. But Husker quarterback Tommie Fra-zier broke free on a 20-yard run on the second play of Nebraska's first series, and Schuster had a 23-yard run on the first play of the Huskers' third series.

"I think they were keying on the I-backs," Schuster said. "Someone told me before the game they hadn't allowed a run over 20 yards, so I guess I put an end to that. I've been saying all along fullback is a sneaky said Madu's run was a shock to the defense, but also served as a challenge. "It could have really hurt us and we sucked it up," Tomich said. "It kind of got the blood flowing a little.

You feel threatened." Tomich explained that Washington State ran a lot of plays where if the defense got sucked underneath "the whole play was shot." Nebraska was blitzing on Madu's touchdown run and also was coming after Davis when he threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Tims in the fourth quarter. But Tomich said the Cornhuskers refused to back off on their aggressiveness. "I think, for the most part, we got a lot of pressure on (Davis)," Tomich said. "We were in there a lot." The Nebraska defense recorded 11 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and also broke up three of Davis' passes. Outside linebacker Grant Wistrom had five tackles, including four for losses and one sack.

"It's great to look in the quarterback's eyes and see fear," Wistrom said. "He's got nowhere to run. It's either hit the deck or take a heck of a hit. "I loved it," Wistrom said. "I ex Bill Byrne said Saturday.

"We have investigated every question, every request for information and been upfront on everything to do with the investigation of the eligibility of Lawrence Phillips." The question whether Phillips will be taken off suspension for the assault of his former girlfriend three weeks ago is still unanswered. Coach Tom Osborne said Phillips may return if he completes an exhaustive program for anger control BY CURT MCKEEVER Lincoln Journal Star Christian Peter did not want to give insight to his term of "East Coast Football," but when asked if Saturday's physical game against Washington State fit his definition, Nebraska's senior defensive tackle was all grins. "Up front, we were brawlin' in there," said Peter, whose bloodstained uniform pants added visual proof to that statement. "It was fun. Those guys were tough, but we feel we're pretty tough, too." Nebraska, which was burned on Frank Madu's 87-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, rebounded to outslug the Cougars 35-21.

Madu's run was his first carry of the game and Washington State's fourth. But by the end of the game, Madu had added just three yards to his total while the rest of the Cougars were thrown backwards. "Everyone on the defense came through today," said Peter, who had sacked quarterback Chad Davis once and also batted away a pass. "They had the one play. I think they lost yardage after that." Outside linebacker Jared Tomich Jt I.Hi TED KIRKUncoh Journal Star A Washington State's Marc McCloskey (68) loses his helmet after an altercation with Nebraska outside linebacker Jared Tomich in the second quarter Saturday.

Washington State was penalized for a personal foul on the play. NU officials file final report on Phillips to NCAA committee and a number of other requirements but Osborne has set no timetable. Still, Nebraska wanted to pursue the case with the NCAA, "To show we keep our house in order," Byrne said. Al Papik, Nebraska's NCAA compliance director, said he filed the 15-page report, which condenses more than 200 pages of previous reports, with the NCAA committee on legislative services. He said he expects that committee to forward its recommendations to the eligibility committee soon.

"We expect a prompt response because the report is complete," Papik said. The investigation that began in earnest in June, when Nebraska inspected the relationship between Phillips and an agent that Phillips ended up paying for his part in a lunch concluded with Papik's visit to California to report on the group home where Phillips lived since he W39 12 "The NCAA wanted to know if the group home was the same as a foster home, under California state law, and if the group home provided other invididuals with benefits after they began attending college, and if the group home carried on parental responsibilities," Papik said. "What we found was that by providing the use of a car, airfare and spending money, the group home, run by Tina McElhannon, had provided similar benefits to other former residents and had acted as parents, since nobody else did for at least the last BY KEN HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal Star Almost nine months have passed since Nebraska first sought answers to questions about the car suspended I-back Lawrence Phillips was driving. Now, the university has filed a final report with the NCAA this weekend. "We've done it all and there can't be much more to find out or answer," Nebraska athletic director.