Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 9

Journal Star LpJ ml mm 4sjJ' vsC Sunday, October 12, 1997 '7 1 1 iffv; 1 i- -it 'is 1 t. 'St If 1 11 V'. t' i i IAN DOREMUSUncom Journal Star This first-quarter run by Nebraska's Ahman Green was just a portend of things to come. The junior l-back scored four touchdowns and rushed for 1 52 yards in the first half. 1 QDBDD'S BW GodoobG 9 BY CURT McKEEVER Lincoln Journal Star --'4-' i1 Baylor, which entered the game with a defense ranked 94th out of 112 NCAA Division I-A teams, forced a Nebraska punt on the opening drive.

But after the Bears' offense went three-and-out, the Huskers marched 38 yards in seven plays, with Ahman Green scoring his first of four first-half touchdowns, this one from 3 yards out, to make it 7-0 with 7:06 remaining in the first quarter. However, the 5-foot-8, 180-pound Douglas gave Baylor a charge on the first play after the ensuing kickoff, breaking right and into the clear, and running away from free safety Eric Warfield down the Nebraska sideline to tie the score with 6:49 left in the period. Douglas' 80-yard run was the longest against the Huskers since Washington State's Frank Madu scored on an 87-yard scamper in 1995. But after the Baylor defense held Green for no gain on a fourth-and-1 play from Bears' 22, Douglas fumbled a direct snap from center and Husker defensive tackle Jason Wiltz recovered at the 15. Fullback Joel Makovicka scampered into the end zone on the next play to make it 14-7 with 37 seconds to go in the period, and the rout was on.

After the first quarter, the Huskers had run 25 of tensive plays to Baylor's 7. "We kept pounding them inside," Taylor said. "Their defense was tired, and you could tell probably four or five series after we got out there." While Baylor's next seven offensive plays netted minus 7 yards, the Huskers needed just seven snaps to score two more touchdowns. "I think we were real flat in the first series, and it showed," Taylor said. "But the way we responded was impressive." The Huskers began a drive at their 37 following a punt and clipping penalty, but on second down from the 42, Green took a quick pitch right from Frost, followed wingback Shevin Wiggins' block and cut back to his left at the Baylor 20 en route to a 58-yard score.

Defensive tackle Jason Peter hit Douglas hard enough to force another fumble on the Bears' next play from scrimmage, and Tony Ortiz recovered to give Nebraska the ball at the Baylor 20. Five plays later, Green plunged in from the 2 and Nebraska led 28-7 with 11:19 remaining in half. After the Husker defense forced another three-and-out series, Nebraska took over at its 45. Frost then connected with Brown on a 24-yard pass and three plays later, on third-and-9. Green took another pitch to his right, and with the help of a block from tackle Eric Anderson, scampered 30 yards into the end zone.

Green had 18 of his 20 carries and 152 of his 158 yards in the first 30 minutes. The junior from Omaha was coming off a 193-yard, four-t0uch-down effort against Kansas State. "I think the last two weeks Ahman's been better than ever," quarterback Scott Frost said, Nebraska finished its first-half flurry with an eight-play, 76-yard drive that reserve I-back Jay Sims capped with a 2-yard dive that made it 42-7 "We figured out we were in a football game right away, and came out playing," Frost And though Douglas' long touchdown" run made things interesting at least temporarily it also served as a wakeup call to the defense! "We come into every game and our main priority is to shut a team out," said rush end Chad Kelsay. "When they bust a big play like that, it burns you, and the run really burns you more because we take so much pride in shutting down the run. I "But I thought we did well the rest of the half More on NU, Page 2B WACO, Texas Call off the dogs, the hunt's over.

By halftime of Saturday night's game, there wasn't any sport left in the Nebraska football team's 49-21 win against Baylor. Although no one could catch Baylor tailback Jerod Douglas on his 80-yard touchdown gallop that tied the game 7-7 early in the first quarter, the No. 3 Cornhuskers had the Bears on the run thereafter to improve to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference. Nebraska, the highest-ranked team to play here since No. 1 Texas did in 1970, produced touchdowns on six of its nine first-half possessions, including five straight, to build a 42-7 lead.

By then, Coach Tom Osborne had no interest in adding to Baylor's frustration. A 35-yard pass play from quarterback Scott Frost to wingback Lance Brown had given Nebraska a first-and-10 at the Bears' 16 with 11 seconds to play in the half. But the Huskers didn't bother to call timeout, and gave the ball to I-back Jay Sims on a basic dive play to run out the clock. "They are the real deal," Baylor Coach Dave Roberts said of the Huskers. "Their linemen come out whew! That's a group of players." Many of the 38,175 fans in Floyd Casey Stadium having sat through heavy rain before the opening kickoff and drizzle throughout the first 30 minutes had figured that out as well, and soon headed for the exits.

They were convinced the Huskers were a lock for their 41st straight win in the month of October (the last October loss occurred at Colorado in 1986). "It is pretty difficult to keep your interest up (with that kind of lead), but that's no excuse for anything," said offensive guard Aaron Taylor. "Overall, though, I thought our first units played pretty well." v-. A i TED KIRKLmcoln Journal Star Baylor's Matt Anderson runs NU quarterback Scott Frost out of bounds after a 17-yard run in the second quarter Saturday. Watching NU roll almost unbearable (Dtp 10 Ken Hambleton i.

Nebraska 49, Baylor 21 Nebraska 14 28 7 0 49 Bavlor 7 0 0 14 21 NU Ahman Green 3 run (Kris Brown kick) BU Jerod Douglas 80 run (Matt Bryant kick) NU Joel Makovicka 15 run (Brown kick) NU Green 58 run (Brown kick) NU Green 2 run(Brown kick) NU Green 30 run (Brown kick) NU Jay Sims 2 run(Brown kick) NU Scott Frost 1 run (Brown kick) BU Darrell Bush 1 run (Bryant kick) BU Matt Anderson fumble recovery (Bryant kick) A 38,165 Standings NORTH DIVISION Conf All games 5-0 Nebraska Kansas Kansas State Missouri Colorado Iowa State 2-0 2-1 1-1 1-2 0-2 0-3 4-2 4-t 3-3 2-3 SOUTH DIVISION these Big 12 games. He's going to have to plan ahead for the runaway scores in the first quarter. On the road games, he could take 33 scholarship players and 33 walk-ons just to keep the score reasonable at halftime. Osborne and Nebraska players will talk each week about "Keeping a focus," "Taking one game at a time," and the ever popular "On any given Saturday, any team, any There simply are no big games left for Nebraska as long as the majority of Nebraska's top 100 players are healthy. The motivation for Nebraska will come in the form of memories of playing and losing at Arizona State, to Texas at St.

Louis and, of course, the Huskers' 1992 loss to Iowa State. Osborne will note that Baylor scored two touchdowns, backup quarterback Frankie London lost two fumbles, and Nebraska had at least five penalties. He'll note that Nebraska is not perfect. Everybody else will note that Nebraska is closer to perfection than any other team. Ken Hambleton covers Nebraska football for the Journal Star.

He can be reached at 473-7436 or at khambletonnebweb.com described the latest of at least seven Baylor players to leave the field with an injury in the second half, it was obvious that nobody wearing green wanted to stick around in the stands and watch the slaughter either. To begin with, Baylor only has 68 players on scholarship. Tom Osborne complained he could only bring 66 players because of the Big 12 Conference road travel limit. Changing the focus Baylor fans were complaining about Osborne showing a lack of heart because he was using his starting quarterback and was throwing late in the first half. Heck, anybody who has watched Nebraska rush for 400 yards a game, week after week, would understand that Nebraska is trying not to run the score up by passing.

Osborne was only lacking in heart, one Nebraska fan said, "Because those darn linemen keep blocking and the defense keeps tackling," he said. Things will only get worse. There's Texas Tech, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa State, and, oh yes, Colorado, left on NU's schedule. Osborne is going to have to develop a whole new approach to NU First downs 27 Rushes-yards 64-410 Passing yards 138 Total yards 548 Passing 8-17-0 WACO, Texas Stop the madness. This is nuts.

Bring back Central Florida. Baylor scored on the last play of the game to close within four touchdowns of Nebraska. If Baylor scored four touchdowns on the last play of the game, it wouldn't have mattered. Nebraska is serious about the national championship. Baylor is serious about getting a second win before the season is over.

Baylor, at 14 and miserable, never had a chance. For goodness sake, Washington and Kansas State didn't have a chance. Even if the Baylor Bears got help from the Chicago Bears, the Berenstein Bears, the Care Bears, Smokey the Bear, Bear Bryant and Yogi and B00B00, it wouldn't have mattered. "We don't compare ourselves to anybody, much less Nebraska," Baylor Coach Dave Roberts said. "But we'd sure like to get there, where they are.

"They'll be first or second in the polls. It doesn't matter, they're going to play for the title in January. They are the real deal." Big 12 meal deal The problem is that in the meantime, the Big 12 schedule looks like deal a meal for the hungry i BU 12 37-137 66 203 7-19-1 15 9-39 2-2 5-51 27:21 131 Return yards Oklahoma State 3-0 6-0 Texas 2-0 5-0 Texas Tech 2-0 "3-2 Texas 1-1 3-2 Oklahoma 0-2 2-4 Baylor 0-2 1-4 Saturday's results Nebraska 49. Baylor 21 Kansas St. 42, Missouri 1 1 Texas 56, Iowa St.

1 7 1 Texas 27, Oklahoma 24 Oklahoma St. 33, Colorado 29 Texas Tech 1 7, Kansas 7 1-40 5-3 8-90 32:39 Punts-average Fumbles-tost Penalties-yards Time of possession Huskers. Maybe if Nebraska's team bus had a crash or blew a tire, and arrived late to the game. Maybe if the Brazos River flooded its banks and the power went out at Floyd Casey Stadium. Maybe if there was a Big 12 South Division All-Star team to fill in for the Baylor players.

Remember, Baylor was the team described by its coach as the worst in America. He claims he was misquoted. Then he explained, "When you lose a home game you feel like the worst team in America." Actually, Baylor isn't the worst team in America, Nebraska just made it seem that way for much of Saturday night As the press box announcer Green really in a 2B groove. Texas Tech stops Jayhawks; NU next. 2B FN.

Bears give NU 15D kudos..