Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 23

HUSKER EXTRA page design: Karl Vogel Lincoln Journal Star 4 Saturday. November 29, 1997 I IP rrrr .1 i 1 1 -ms. v. TED KIRKbncom Journal Star Colorado wide receiver Darrin Chiaverini (6) catches a second-quarter pass in front of Nebraska cornerback Ralph Brown II (22) on the Buffaloes' field goal drive. Husker defenders upset blowout wasn't preserved The Nebraska yell squad carries RANDY HAMPTON Ajncotn Journal Star Husker flags onto Folsom Field before Friday's game.

FIRST QUARTER NEBRASKA 3, COLORADO 0 Kris Brown 25 field goal (4:16) I Drive 55 yarsd in 1 4 plays. I Other playe NU false start penalty, Frost 1 1 run. Green 5 run. Green loss of 8, Frost incomplete pass Intended for Lance Brown, Frost 20 run, Joel Makovicka 4 run, Green 2 Frost 1 run, Mako-vicka 7 run on 4th-and-3, Green 1 1 run, Green 2 run, Makovicka 4 run. Frost 1 run.

SECOND QUARTER NUHuskers see bottom line Continued from Page 1 Osborne. "The bottom line is we won the game. But we almost lost to a team with five losses (now six), so that is probably in the voters' minds also." Nebraska appeared to be on its way to making points with the voters, rolling up 401 yards of offense and a 27-10 lead by the end of the third quarter. Green, who scored twice and finished with 202 yards, scored easily on a 16-yard run, following a 64-yard sprint to open the second half. Green scored again, on an 11-yard run with 10:37 left in the third quarter, to cap a startling drive that included a 31-yard pass from Scott Frost to Kenny Cheatham and a 22-yarder to Matt Davison A field goal to end a 13-play drive as the third quarter ended seemed to lock up Nebraska's victory and help the Husker campaign for votes.

Hessler, who threw for 362 yards the most against the Huskers all season was thrown around the backfield on successive plays by rush end Mike Rucker. The next Colorado possession ended with one completion for 9 yards. The following possession netted minus 4 yards. "It's like we were sitting and waiting for the game to end, for Colorado to quit and for somebody to pat us on the back for playing so well," said Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride. "We didn't lose and that's great.

But this is not good." Colorado, with 455 yards of offense, is the only team to outgain the Huskers this season. That is impressive against a defense that was third in the country and was giving up just 235 yards a game. The same Nebraska defense that came up with a pass interception by Eric Warfield at the Nebraska 32 in the second quarter and Swiney's interception at the NU 27 in the third quarter was stunned in the final minutes. "We didn't have the knife to slit their throat and kill them off when we should have," said Nebraska secondary coach George Darlington. "We didn't have the killer instinct and we had to hang on for our lives.

"We were in control and then we end up feeling like we lost" Nebraska's control appeared complete until the final four minutes. The Huskers scored on their opening drive in 14 plays. They scored again in 10 plays. On their third series in the first half, a drive stalled at the Colorado 44. Only a 43-yard run on a fake punt by Dwayne Cherrington kept a Colorado drive alive long enough to set up a 30-yard field goal to cut NU's lead to 10-3 at halftime.

"We just got a little too far behind," said Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel. "It said a lot about us as a team by coming back. But Nebraska scored in two plays to start the second half. They converted on fourth down on their first drive, third-and-long on their next two drives and executed the right plays at the right time. "We did some things that gave us some big plays.

We had a fake punt and some different offensive sets. We lost and that's all that really matters." The Huskers have a different viewpoint than Neuheisel. "I'm glad to see people disappointed," said Nebraska center Matt Hoskinson, who filled in for Josh Heskew, who was injured in the first half. "It may be kind of funny. But if I walked into the locker room and saw people jumping up and down and hugging each other, then I would know something is wrong." Drive 80 yards in 2 plays.

Other play John Hessler 45 pass to Darren Chiaverini. Conversion Jeremy Aldrich kick. I NEBRASKA 24, COLORAD0 10 Ahman Green 11 run (10:37) Drive 77 yards In 8 plays. Other play NU false start penalty. Jay Sims 2 run, Ahman Green 3 run, Scott Frost 31 pass to Kenny Cheatham, Frost 22 pass to Matt Davison, Joel Makovicka 7 run, Frost 4 run, Green 2 run.

I Conversion Kris Brown kick. NEBRASKA 27, COLORAD0 10 Kris Brown 46 field goal (0:20) Drive 45 yards in 13 plays, set up by Erwin Swiney interception of John Hessler pass and 2 return to NU 27. Other plays Ahman Green no gain, Scott Frost 4 run, Green 7 run, NU false start penalty. Green 1 1 run. Jay Sims 8 run.

Frost in- complete pass to Sheldon Jackson, Frost 1 run, Frost 15 pass to Shevin Wiggins on 3rd-and-9, Joel Makovicka 3 run with NU illegal block penalty. Frost incomplete screen pass to Sims, Frost incom- -pete pass to Cheatham, Sims 1 6 run. FOURTH QUARTER NEBRASKA 27, COLORAD0 17 Marcus Stiggers 32 pass from John Hessler (3:16) Drive 77 yards in 6 plays, set up by Ryan Black recovery of Ah- -man Green fumble. Other plays John Hessler 20 pass to Phi Savoy, Hessler 6 pass, to Marcus Stiggers, Hessler 1 5 pass to Chris Anderson, Hessler incomplete pass to Stiggers, CU 13-yard holding penalty phis NU 15-yard personal foul penalty, Hessler 2 pass to Herchell Troutman. Conversion Jeremy Aldrich kick.

NEBRASKA 27, COLORADO 24 Robert Toler 18 pass from John Hessler (2:34) Drive 55 yards in 4 plays, set up by Darren Fisk recovery of T.J. DeBates fumble on CU onsides kick. Other playe John Hessler 22 pass to Phil Savoy, Hessler 1 5 pass to Herchell Troutman, Hessler incomplete pass to Marcus Stiggers. Conversion Jeremy Aldrich kick. NEBRASKA 1 0, COLORADO 0 Scott Frost 19 run (11:42) Drive 67 yards in 10 plays, set up by Jason Lesley's failed 50-yard field goal attempt.

Other plays Joel Makovicka 2 run, Green no gain, Frost 1 1 pass to Kenny Cheatham, Green 4 run, Makovicka 5 run, NU false start penalty, Green 7 run on 3rd-and-7, Frost 21 pass to Makovicka, Makovicka 1 run, NU false start penalty. Conversion Kris Brown kick. NEBRASKA 1 0, COLORADO 3 Jeremy Aldrich 30 fieid goal (0:27) Drive 78 yards in 1 1 plays. Other plays Herchell Troutman 3 run. Dwayne Cherrington 10, 11,7 runs, Cherrington loss of 2, John Hessler incomplete pass to Chris Anderson, Chernngton 43 run on fake punt, Troutman 4, 2 runs, Hessler incomplete pass to Darrin Chiaverini.

THIRD QUARTER BY CURT McKEEVER Lincoln Journal Star BOULDER, Colo. They might not be No. 1 in the polls, but for the second time in three games, second-ranked Nebraska can make a claim that it's at least the nation's most entertaining college football team. The Cornhuskers seemingly were headed for an easy victory at Fol-som Field on Friday, leading Colorado 27-10 midway through the fourth quarter. But after recovering a fumble with 4:59 to play, the Buffs drove 77 yards for a quick touchdown, recovered an onside kick and scored another touchdown in 36 seconds to pull to 27-24.

Colorado then forced a Nebraska punt, giving the Buffs a chance to pull off a miraculous victory. But freshman cornerback Erwin Swiney stopped wide receiver Phil Savoy three yards short of a first down on fourth-and-25, preserving the Huskers' perfect season. "I tried to keep the guy from going behind me," Swiney, a former Lincoln Northeast standout, said of Colorado's final offensive play. "I knew I was in front of the first-down marker and once I saw him catch the ball, I just knew he couldn't get past me. And I slipped on the wet turf, so I just had to get to him.

"I swung around and grabbed his jersey, and swung around so the other guys could attack him, but I still held on trying to hustle to get to him. (Linebacker) Jay Foreman made a good tackle. He tackled me, too." And like they did at Missouri two games ago, the Huskers walked off the field as relieved winners. "By the way it went, I think our defense kind of relaxed," free safety Eric Warfield said of the harried finish. "But we stuck through it and came out with a win.

"We're happy about the win, but a lot of the players are down because we just won by three points. There's no way we should've won by three points. It should've been a blowout." Nebraska driving for touchdowns on its first two possessions of the third quarter, when it piled up 234 yards had solid control when it took possession of the ball at the Colorado 47 with 13 22 left in the game. But after Scott Frost failed to connect with a wide-open Bobby Newcombe when the wingback ran the wrong pattern on the first play, Nebraska's offense suddenly shut down. The Huskers' next two series, both of which began in Colorado territory, ended with punts.

Another possession that began at the NEBRASKA 17, COLORADO 3 Ahman Green 16 run (14:25) Drive 80 yards in 2 plays. Other play Ahman Green 64 run Conversion Kris Brown kick. NEBRASKA 17, COLORADO 10 Dwayne Cherrington 35 pass from John Hessler (13:53) OFFENSE RUSHING Player No. Yards Avg. Ahman Green 29 202 7.0 Scott Frost 14 76 5.4 Joel Makovicka 12 46 3.8 Jay Sims 3 26 8.7 PASSING Player C-A-l Yards TO Scott Frost 7-14-0 92 0 RECEIVING Player No.

Yards Avg. Kenny Cheatham 2 42 21.0 Ahman Green 2 -8 Matt Davison 1 22 22 0 Joel Makovicka 1 21 21.0 Shevin Wiggins 1 15 15.0 Buffaloes' 47 was stopped when Colorado strong safety Ryan Black recovered I-back Ahman Green's fumble at the 23. Seven plays later, wide receiver Marcus Stigger caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from John Hessler and the Buffs trailed 27-17. Four plays after Colorado's Darren Fisk recovered an onside kick that went off Nebraska's T.J. Be-Bates, Hessler scrambled and found wide receiver Robert Toler in the end zone from 18 yards out and Fol-som Field was rocking.

Colorado's next onside kick went out of bounds, but the Huskers opted to punt on fourth-and-one from the Buffs' 40. Starting at the 20, Hessler completed a 16-yard pass to Savoy, then threw two incompletions before connecting with Savoy again for a gain of 14. But Savoy was flagged for offensive pass interference against Swiney, and the Buffaloes faced third-and-25. After another incompletion, Hessler fired a pass in the flat to Savoy, who made a nice run after the catch but was stopped short of the first down. It was one of the few times War-field was glad the Huskers had changed to zone pass coverage.

"We thought Hessler was hurt because they switched quarterbacks (on the possession before Colorado's first fourth-quarter touchdown) and we wanted to get some more pressure on him," he explained. "But he made a few scrambles and completed some good passes." But in the end, the penalty against Savoy proved critical. "We did some things that gave us some big plays," Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "We had a fake punt that worked pretty well and used some different offensive sets, and so forth But basically, it was who we've been all year. Part of the time we executed terrifically, part of the time we didn't and that's the reason we find ourselves finishing with a 5-6 year." Nebraska, meanwhile, will gladly take an 11-0 record to San Antonio for next Saturday's Big 12 Conference championship game against Texas "We know what kind of team we have, and right now even though we only won by three points, I still don't think that there's anybody that could beat us," Warfield said.

"Not to take anything away from Michigan, I just have that much confidence in our team." Husker notes Zatechka, thigh bruise. Quarterback Scott Frost was thinking ahead to next Saturday's Big 12 Conference championship game at San Antonio against Texas "It's a home game for them. It's a lot like the Missouri game in that they're an up and coming team," he said. "I think they're a lot better team at the end of the year than they were at the beginning of the year, and they're going to be gunning for us. We just have to make sure that we're ready for them, too." The score of Friday's game did little to change how Frost felt about the Huskers.

"Before this game, and we'd have to see how it Is after the game, but people weren't giving us much credit for anything," he said. "We scored 63 points in the first half of the Iowa State game and dropped points in the poll. And any time you score 63 points In a half it shows what kind of offense you have. I can make a million arguments for us, but right now we're just going to focus on the games we have to play." One player who had no problem with Friday's result was Husker rush end Grant Wistrom. "Obviously, we think the score should've been a little more lopsided than it was," he said.

"We felt we beat them a lot worse than the score reflected. Unfortunately, they played us close (but) it makes the game fun. Jason Peter 1 5 Grant Wistrom 1 0 INTERCEPTION RETURNS Player No. Erwin Swiney 1 Eric Warfield 1 Yards 2 0 SPECIAL TEAMS PUNTING Player No. Yard Jesse Kosch 5 192 Avg.

38.4 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Yard Avg. Bobby 2 16 8.0 Lance Brown 1 6 6.0 Shevin Wiggins 1 5 5.0 KICKOFF RETURNS Player Joe Walker Team No. Yards Avg. I 23 23.0 II 1.0 Jesse Warren 2 13 Damen Wheeler 0 2 2 Clifton Peter 2 0 2 Brady McDonnell 1 1 2, Aaron Marshall 2 0 2 FUMBLE RETURNS Player No.

Yard Ryan Black 1 0J Barren hsk SPECIAL TEAMS PUNTING Player No. Yards Avg. NickPietsch 3 120 40.0 Andy Mitchell 1 36 36.0 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Yard Avg. Damen Wheeler 1 6 6.0 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No.

Yard Avg. Ben Kelly 1 31 31.0! OFFENSE RUSHING Player No. Yards Avg. Dwayne Cherrington 10 78 7 8 Herchell 8 26 3 3 Jeremy 2 -4 -2 0 John Hessler 5 -7 PASSING Player C-A-l Yards TO John Hessler 19-35-2 362 3 Jeremy 0-1-0 0 0 RECEIVING Player No. Yards Avg.

Phil Savoy 6 107 17.8 Chris Anderson 3 39 13.0 Darrin Chiaverini 2 54 27.0 Marcus Stiggers 2 38 19 0 Herchell 2 17 8.5 Tennyson 1 45 45.0 ck Shirts essler frustrates Bla 1 1 DEFENSE TACKLES Player UT Jay Foreman 4 Erwin Swiney 5 Ralph Brown II 5 Jason Wiltz 1 Mike Rucker 4 Grant Wistrom 4 Eric Warfield 2 Octavious 2 Mike Brown 2 Jason Peter 3 Eric Johnson 2 Carlos Polk 1 Tony Ortiz 2 Brian Shaw 0 SACKS Player Mike Rucker AT 8 2 1 5 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 1 12 7 6 No. Yards 2 12 Dwayne Cherrington 1 35 35.0 Robert Toler 1 18 18.0 Brody Heffner 1 9 9.0 DEFENSE TACKLES Player UT AT TT Ryan Sutter 12 7 19 RonMerkerson 6 4 10 Ryan Black 5 4 Ben Kelly 6 2 8 Viliami Maumau 6 2 8 Ty Gregorak 2 5 7 Marcus Washington 3 3 6 Mike Phillips 1 5 6 Hannibal Navies 3 2 5 Terrell Cade 2 13 Ryan Olson 1 2 3 NickZiegler 1 2 3 Brandon Southward 0 3 3 lanLoper 12 3 CU notes Neuheisel: 1 am anxious to put this season back in its proper place. The buck stops here and it something I want to avoid ever having to live through again. The criticism has been devastating. Maybe it's been going on too hard since we lost to Michigan because that was such a big media event." Neuheisel comparing Michigan (a 27-3 winner over Colorado) and Nebraska: "They're both good, obviously." Neuheisel on subbing quarterback Jeremy Weisinger for John Hessler with 8:10 left.

"Hessler hurt his thumb on the previous play and walked by and said he thought his thumb was broken. I put in Weisinger. Then, I wanted to put John back in when I heard he was OK. But Cherrington's fake punt sparks CU BY JOURNAL STAR WRITERS BOULDER, Colo. Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride was exasperated by Colorado quarterback John Hessler's second-half performance.

"They came up with the big play at the very end. But we've got to do something to stop a guy from throwing for 360 yards on us. That's too much. i "But we had guys out there busting their tails. Guys who were not going to lose.

Guys like Jason Peter ho probably should have never been out there with the way his back is." The 455 yards allowed by Nebraska was the most by a Husker opponent since playing Texas in the Big 12 championship last year. Nebraska had 442 yards and was outgained for the first time since the Texas game as well. Nebraska offensive line coach Milt Tenopir on Nebraska's five false-starts (illegal procedure) penalties: "Some were against tight ends, some against linemen on check calls. Maybe some of It was noise. Some the excitement of the game.

We still rushed for a lot of yards and did a lot of good things. We ust didn't finish off as well as we would have liked because of some missed blocks." Nebraska injuries Defensive tackle Jason Peter, sore back; safety Octavtous McFarlin, hip pointer; center Josh Heskew, sprained left ankle and foot; offensive guard Jon I couldn't find him on the sidelines so we called a time out. A time out we could have used later." Colorado middle linebacker Ty Gregorak, on finishing 5-6: "It hurts not to go to a bowl game and 1 have a losing season. This is a great rivalry and we played it like a rivalry. We played great last year and lost a close one.

We played great this year and lost a close one. At least we must be getting Nebraska's attention and respect, maybe if we treat the other 1 0 opponents on the schedule the same way, we'll get back on the right track again." Offensive tackle Andrew Welsh on comparing Nebraska and 1 Michigan: "I'd have to say that Nebraska's front four are better than Michigan's front four. At linebacker -they are both pretty equal and In the' I secondary, obviously, Michigan is better there. Michigan would win if they played each other. Michigan has, much more of a killer Instinct." 1 BY JOURNAL STAR WRITERS Colorado back Dwayne Cherring ton, who rushed for a team-high 78 yards, picked up 43 yards on a fake punt to set up Colorado's first-half field goal.

'That was big because we were down 10-0 and not doing much," he said. "It worked just NEUHEISEL like in practice. All I have to do is hang onto the ball, clear the end and beat one down lineman and I'm gone for a long time. "We don't get the field goal or something and this baby's all over at halftime." Colorado Coach Rick i ,4. 7- TED KIRKLmcom Journal Star Nebraska rush end Grant Wistrom celebrates a first-quarter sack.

"It all came down to whether we could stop them for one series. If we didn't, we knew we were In trouble. Thank goodness we came up big on a couple plays and things worked out well for us." ,1.