Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 45

HUSKER EXTRA Lincoln Journal Star Friday, September 26, 2003 3F Some Eagles fans not too friendly HATTIESBURG. Miss I'm not Vl ir- sure, but I don't think the young men sitting in the stands behind the Husker bench were from the Hattiesburg Chamber of Commerce. For starters, their wardrobes were fashioned with body paint. Of course, their were other clues that these gentlemen weren't appointed as ambassadors of Southern Mississippi, like their fondness for using the middle finger. "Yeah, they got that going," said Husker offensive lineman Dan Vili Wal-drop.

The harrassing behavior was nonstop, and it's like that every game, according to a family of Southern Miss fans seated right next to the hecklers. Dad said i I SUBJECT: Sunday school? Isn't this Friday? Sorry kids, I guess we should've called this TGIF today. I guarantee that's how the Huskers are feeling right now. They may be 4-0, but if you are headed to services on Sunday, you might want to put in a good word for the offense. SUBJECT: What about the offense? Is there any hope of it getting better? Well, maybe Demorrio Williams can play quarterback.

Lord knows, he spends -enough i 1 3 "this was a little worse" than most Southern Miss games. Mom, when asked what it's like to sit there game after a game with her kids, said Iron, 0 JOHN MABRY Journal Star Sports Editor time around those guys. we're a TED KIRKLincoln Journal Star Southern Mississippi fans get rowdy during the first half of Thursday's game. The crowd set a record at M.M. Roberts Stadium.

third of the way into the sea- son, and or- ordinatnr Barney Cot- ton is search- ing for a magic "It's hard." "I'll tell you what," said NU offensive coordinator Barney Cotton. "They've got a couple of professionals up there." Three of the gendemen got to leave the party early, with police escorts. Probably wanted to get home to hit the books. The thing about the fans at M.M. Roberts Stadium, aka The Rock, are basically on the field.

And on Thursday night, so were some of their concession leftovers. Bot-ties were flying. So was spit, according to Gary Sharp, Pinnacle radio's sideline reporter. Sharp said it was as bad as Boulder. Yikes.

Sharp said he could smell the booze, which would explain the ESPN-themed sign that said, "Eagles Sober? Probably Not." To the Huskers' credit, they appeared to handle the abuse pretty well. "I was proud of our players," Cotton said. "Coach Solich did a great job of telling our guys to focus on the game and to prepare them for what they were Small but strong Thursday night in Hattiesburg, Nebraska played Southern Mississippi in front of 36,152 fans, the biggest crowd to see a game at M.M. Roberts Stadium. However, it was the smallest crowd to watch the Huskers since 1994 at Lubbock, Texas, when NU and Texas Tech played in front of 32,768 fans in another Thursday night game.

Here's a list of the smallest crowds to attend a Husker game the last 10 years: Year Opponent Att. 1994 at Texas Tech 32,768 1993 at Oklahoma State 35,580 2003 at Southern Miss 36,152 2001 at Baylor 38,102 1997 at Baylor 38,175 1997 at Kansas 42,000 1995 at Oklahoma State 42,100 1994 at Kansas State 42,817 1996 at Kansas State 43,916 2002 at Oklahoma State 45,017 1994 at Iowa State 45,186 1999 at Kansas 45.100 1998 at Iowa State 45,817 2002 vs. Mississippi 46,096 1996 at Iowa State 47,850 Independence Bowl, in Shreveport, La. wand. That's not a going to see on the sideline.

It was exactly what we thought it would be like. "And our players, I didn't hear one word back at them. Actually, sometimes our players even laughed at some of the tilings they were saying, and so did I. They really conducted themselves in a professional way on the sideline, and it's great to see that in a hostile environment." Husker lineman Richie Incognito said tiie only way to deal with it is to do your best to pretend it's not there. "You just block it out.

That's pretty much it. Just block it out and not listen to a thing they're saying." So what were they saying? They must have had some good ones. "Yeah," Vili Waldrop, "but we can't say that in the newspapers." Reach John Mabry at 473-7320 or jmabryjournalstar.com. Vili Waldrop said he admired the fans for their efforts. "I actually like fans that are like that against you," he said.

"It makes you just want to work harder." good sign. SUBJECT: Oh, come on! What about those TD strikes Jammal Lord threw in the third quarter? Good point. Cotton deserves credit for recognizing Southern Miss was crowding the line and leaving its secondary in oneon-one coverage. And Lord delivered a couple of in-stride bombs to Ross Pilkington (above) and Isaiah Fluellen. Those should quiet the cries for Joe Dailey for at least another week.

SUBJECT: Nebraska won convincingly on the road. What does that say? Hattiesburg was supposed to be a snakepit, but the Golden Eagles don't have the kind of offensive venom to rattle a team such as the Huskers. That won't be the case with NU's next road opponent, but at least a trip to Columbia, shouldn't look as daunting to Big Red now. Empty seats a part of record night MPOMCARDI An estimated 4, 000 Big Red fans in crowd of 36, 152 Lincoln Journal Star For all of the hype about this being the biggest home game in Southern Mississippi history, the stands didn't exactly reflect it. Despite a M.M.

Roberts Stadium record crowd of 36, 152, there were many empty seats in the upper deck on the east side toward the south end zone. Other vacant seats were scattered in portions of the stadium. The vacant seats became more prevalent after halftime, even though Nebraska led by only 10 points at the break. So how did Southern Miss set a stadium record without even filling the stands? Well, officials, predicting an overflow crowd, brought in 3,000 extra bleacher seats behind the south end An estimated 4,000 Nebraska fans attended me game. Nebraska's third-ranked, breadand-butter ground attack got spread all over the field.

The Huskers deserve credit for twice hammering across the goal line after a couple of first-quarter turnovers, but Southern Miss dominated thereafter. y' GAME V-vy: A Does it get any better than two touchdown pass- es? This year, probably not. againsttherun: A The only play the Huskers had trouble with was a pitch to the running back out of the shotgun formation. But even on one of those, the Blackshirts had enough traffic around the ball to come up with a turnover. AGAINST THE PASS A Southern Miss switched quarterbacks early in the fourth quarter.

Dustin Almond (44or-24 with a cou- pie of interceptions) would've been happy if his exit had come much earlier. Blf not for Marvin Young's 37-yard punt return, which set up Southern Miss' only score before morup time, the Huskers would merit an A here. Kyle Larson kept the Golden Eagles in the shadows of their goal with a couple of thunderous punts. David Dyches is proving to be money regardless of the field-goal distance. GAME MANAGEMENT AND PENALTIES Bit's a good night when you have no glaring issues in enemy territory.

The Huskers had a timeout to play with near the end of the first half, but probably played it smart (and were mysteriously allowed to by a Southern Miss team that had two timeouts remaining) in letting the clock run out. Lord appeared to audible into a play before scoring Nebraska's first TD. PLAY CALLING Bit looked like Nebraska was quick to play it conservative after Southern Miss' early turnovers helped hand the Huskers a 17-0 lead. But the deep-route calls in the third quarter were obviously well-timed, and essentially pulled the plug from a team hoping to give the majority in M.M. Roberts Stadium an electrifying experience.

A Even with their flaws, the Huskers went into a difficult environment and turned what many thought would be a nail-biter into a nc-brainer. Remember how things were just the opposite a year ago in State College? TED KlRWLmcoln Journal Star Demorrio Williams (7) and Daniel Bullocks (14) look to wrap up Southern Mississippi's James Walley Thursday. Good sacks, bad sacks Senior linebacker Demorrio Williams, a Butkus Award candidate, had a 3-yard sack in the first half, giving him a team-leading four for the season. Cornerback iti i i WILLIAMS GAME NOTEBOOK Bullocks back at it Josh Bullocks grabbed his nation-leading fourth interception in four games when he snagged a Dustin Almond pass tipped by Nebraska comer-back Fabian Washington in the first quarter. He returned the ball 41 yards to the Southern Miss 4-yard line to set up David Home's touchdown run.

Bullocks' four interceptions this season already tie NU's season best last year by Washington and Dejuan Grace. Ruud ties record Nebraska linebacker Barrett Ruud re though he did show again he's not bad from long range, either. Dyches booted a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter for a 10-0 lead. He's 9-of-10 on field goals this season, all in the last three games. The most field goals in any three-game series by a Husker is 10 by Dale Klein in 1985.

Lohr returns It was a long wait, but senior nose tackle Jason Lohr finally played Thurs-daynight. Lohr, in his sixth year with the Huskers, came into the game in the fourth quarter. It was his first game action in more than two years, since he left the 2001 Notre Dame game with a knee injury. Lornell McPherson also collected an 11' yard sack, the second of his career. On the other hand, Nebraska quarterback Jammal Lord also suffered his first sacks of the season.

He was sacked twice in the first half. Bland injured Nebraska safety Philip Bland watched the fourth quarter of the game from the sidelines on crutches, Bland sprained his ankle on a pass breakup in the third quarter. The severity of his injury wasn't immediately known. covered a third-quarter fumble and tied the school record for most fumble recoveries by a linebacker in one season. He holds the record along with his father, Tom, who first accomplished the feat in 1974.

Barrett's three fumble recoveries are also the most by a middle linebacker in season. Nebraska has converted those fumbles into 17 points this season. Dyches strong again Thankfully for the Husker offense, freshman place kicker David Dyches did most of his work Thursday night kicking extra points instead of field goals al 2003 HUSKER FOOTBALL SCHEDULE NOV. 28 Colorado AUG. 30 SEPT.

6 SEPT. 13 SEPT. 25 OCT. 4 OCT. 11 OCT.

18 OCT. 25 N0V.1 NOV. 8 NOV. 15 (it i eg) (9) Oklahoma Utah Penn Southern Troy Missouri Texas Iowa Texas Kansas Kansas State State State Mississippi State State State NUf34 fr Time TBA Time TBA Time TBA Time TBA Time TBA Time TBA IrO 2-0 3-0 40 Uncln Columbia Uncoin Uncoin Austin Lawrence Uncoin 11 a.m. Boulder TV: ABC.