The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 25

4447 Win WO it iNU Braces for OU Showdown 13 0 Dixon, 5 run 1:21 14 0 (Sanger kick) Second Quarter 14 6 Childs, 8 pass from Morrison 11:33 (kick blocked) 14 9 FG Goerger 34 8:43 20 9 Kinney, 1 run 5:37 21 9 (Sanger kick) 23 9 Safety, K-State fumble goes through end zone 4:43 29 9 Dixon, 2 run 2:27 30 9 (Sanger kick) Third Quarter 36 9 Cox, 56 pass from Tagge 5:48 37 9 (Sanger kick) Fourth Quarter 37 15 Calhoun, 1 run 12:42 37 17 (Childs pass from Morrison) 43 17 Rodgers, 16 pass from Tagge 6:00 44 17 (Sanger kick) first four plays. The first produced a pass interference call and the next two were strikes of 9 and 14 yards to split end Woody Cox, who finished with 108 yards on four catches. After reaching Kansas State territory Tagge turned to I-back Jeff Kinney. Jeff, who netted 98 yards on 19 carries, lugged the ball on 8 of the 11 plays the Cornhuskers needed to cover the last 45 yards. On third and goal from the Cont.

on Page 3D, Col. 3 How They Scored Time NU KS Left First Quarter 6 0 Rodgers, 6 pass from Tagge 9:21 7 0 (Sanger kick) 30-9, despite some second quarter defensive difficulties. But the Black Shirts didn't have to take any pressure off their offensive mates Saturday. Tagge rolling for 204 yards on the ground to complement the 285 aerial yards, had their finest day. By halftime the Cornhuskers had picked up 19 first downs and moved for 297 yards.

Kansas State refused to buckle, however. "We're playing a lot better now than we were earlier in the season," claimed Gibson after the loss, loss. Tagge set the temp for the offense on the opening drive, throwing three times In the fourth quarter he'd completed 20 of 28 passes for 2S5 yards and three touchdowns. Two of the TD pitches went to Rodgers, who had his most productive day as a leceiver in establishing new Nebraska and Big Eight season touchdown reception records with his 10th six-point catch in the fourth 4 quarter. "We wanted to throw the ball more today because Kansas State plays its monster close to the line of scrimmage.

That amounts to an eighUnan front and three deep backs. We told Jerry to throw ,40 to 50 per. cent of the time early in the game and to see what happened," explained Cornhusker assistant Tom Osborne. fered testimony to the except tional balance of the defending national champions. The Wildcats, who put the ball in the air 46 times and completed half of the attempts for 179 yards, put more points on the board against the Corhhuskers than any team has this season.

But Rotate couldn't do what coach Vince Gibson said was necessary to do to beat the Cornhuskers stop Jerry Tagge and Johnny Rwigers. Tagge, who has not thrown the ball much in recent games, was given the word to come out throwing Saturday. When he left the game in the SECTION 10 PAGES NOVEMBER 14, 1971 By half time, Tagge was 12-14 and had directed touchdown marches of 80, 94, 79 and 57 yards the first four times the Cornhuskers had the ball. Nebraska led at that point, i Devaney Praises Offense By HAL BROWN Manhattan, Kan. Looking past opponents has not bben a problem that has bothered the Nebraska football team through the first 10 weeks of the season and head coach Bob Devaney doesn't figure it'll be a problem now.

"I don't think: we'll have to worry about our players looking past Oklahoma to Hawaii," Devaney quipped after the Huskers' 44-17 victory Saturday over Kansas State. Speaking seriously of the Thanksgiving Day game between his Huskers and Oklahoma, Devaney observed, "It will be a fine game, one both teams are looking forward to now. "It's a great tribute to Big Eight football to have two teams meeting at the end of the season for the national i TO' i I 17 J' iv i Pi its oire e.eryDoaya ieen waiting for." The Husker oach called bis team's offensive performance against Kansas State "as good as we've played all year and probably the best we've played offensively. "Johnny Rodgers made some 'great catches and Jerry Tagge hnA a firm rtov thmraririin' iha SUNDAY JOURNAL AND STAR COLORPHOTO BY Nebraska's Jerry Tagge (14) gets good blocking from his interior line a he drops back to pass against Kansas State. Tagge hit for 285 yards and three touchdowns as the Big Red set up their showdown battle with Oklahoma Thanksgiving, NU KS First downs 27 17 Rushes-yards 53-203 34-57 Passing yardage 285 183 Return yardage 14 4 Passes 20-30-2 23-46-1 Punts 3-38 5-43 Fumbles lost ,1 2 Yards penalized 56 74 By DON FORSYTHE Manhattan, Kan.

Clear tihe decks for action! Nebraska, which has carefully avoided looking ahead to a showdown with unbeaten Oklahoma, took care of the last obstacle before the Thanksgiving Day epic by dismantling Kansas State, 44-17, here Saturday. It was the toughest struggle of the season for the unbeaten Cornhusikers, but the win of Huskers Looking AtOU Manhattan, Kan. The no-looking ahead theme ended for Nebraska's top-ranked Huskers here Saturday afternoon and all thoughts turned to Oklahoma. Husker players displayed confidence in themselves and their teammates toward the showdown with Oklahoma on Thanksgiving Day, but there was no evidence of cockiness or over-confidence. "There's been some conversation about Oklahoma," quarterback Jerry Tagge admitted, "But it's been strictly secondary because we've concentrated each week on the upcoming game.

"Now though we can con-c a on the big showdown." What about that game? "We're going to win," he says with no hesitation. "I don't score, isui I have confidence in our defense and I think we can move the ball on them." Slotback Johnny Rodgers, who teamed with Tagge for two touchdown passes Saturday echoed those thoughts. i "I don't think our offense will have a problem scoring," he said, "And I don't think our defense will have a problem holding them to a substantial number of points. "I'm always optimistic, but I think we're going to win. Defensive co-captain Jim Anderson, pointing out that his Black Shirt cohorts "met a pretty good challenge today," added, "That Oklahoma game will be our ultimate challenge.

"Maybe this week we didn't concentrate as well as we should have, but we haven't had a problem with looking past anybody because each week we knew our No. 1 ranking was at stake and we wanted to play well each week. "We haven't seen a single Oklahoma film as yet and the coaches haven't discussed Oklahoma with us at all." Senior I-back Jeff Kinney, who was nursing some bruised ribs after the game, predicted fans would see a little different Nebraska team on Thanksgiving Day. "There's nothing to look past now," he said. "We've been playing pretty steady football each week, but on Turkey Day, you're going to see some fired up Cornhuskers." When Tagge hit Rodgers with those two touchdown passes, they were the ninth and tenth TD receptions of the season for Rodgers, snapping the NU single season record held by Clarence Swanson for 50 years, but Rodgers didn't know it "Is that right," he responded when it was mentioned to him, "I hope it lasts for 50 years." Tagge, who completed 20 of 28 passes for 285 yards, admitted he was a little surprised by the ease with which he was able to throw against the Wildcats.

"Our game plan was to play a little looser than we had been," he explained, "But I was surprised that I was able to complete so many. "But this was as tough a defense as we've played against. They really hit and I'm more sore than I've been all season." A pass that looked like a sure touchdown was one that was thrown by Kinney, not Tagge, but split end Woody Cox, who was all alone near the K-State 10-yard line, dropped the "Those are the kind that you normally drop," Cox explained. "You're all alone waiting for it and you lose your concentration. You get to thinking about getting into the end zone.

The play worked just the way it's drawn on the blackboard. That's probably what It was too perfect." 'I I Oklahoma Obliterates Outclassed KU, 56-10 I t. if ,1 SUM i tt "7 ft -4 I "i RANDY HAMPTON 20-28 passes KSU, 44-17. 1 W'B OH- College High Football Notre Dame highlights, 10:30 a.m. (3); College Highlights, 1 p.m.

(7); Nebraska highlights, 6 p.m. (7-10). Pro Football Baltimore Colts v. New York Jets, noon (3); Washington Redskins v. Chicago Bears, 1 p.m.

(6-10); Cleveland Browns v. Kansas City Chiefs, 3 p.m. (3). Bowling Best of fowling, 3 p.m. (7).

mm- r4 7 St. 7 Vy pa4 1 yt ill III Kansas Oklahoma First downs Rushes yards Passing yardag Return yardage Passes Punts Fumbles lost Yards oenalized 24 50-146 127 56 9-14-0 7-39 4 35 70-502 64 33 J-3-0 1 40 Norman, Okla. W) Quarterback Jack Mildren led second-ranked Oklahoma on a awesome assault of the record books here Saturday as the Sooners demolished Kansas, 56-10, and set the stage for a Thanksgiving Day collision with No. 1 Nebraska for the Big Eight championship and the national title. Mildren ran for one touchdown and passed for another, and Oklahoma's fleet Big 8 Standings AU Conf.

Games Nebraska 6 0 0 10 0 0 Oklahoma 5 0 0 9 0 0 Colorado 5 2 0 8 2 0 Iowa State ....3 3 0 6 3 0 Oklahoma St. .2 3 0 4 4 1 Kansas St. ....2 5 0 4 6 0 Kansas 1 5 0 3 7 0 Missouri .......0 6 0 1 9 0 Saturday's Results Nebraska 44, Kansas State 17 Oklahoma 56, Kansas 10 Colorado 40, Oklahoma State 6 Iowa State 45, Missouri 17 This Week's Games Oklahoma State at Iowa State Missouri at Kansas Kansas State at Memphis State Air Force at Colorado November 25 Nebraska at Oklahoma of talented backs eclipsed the NCAA single-season rushing record set by the same team in 1956 OU blasted out to a 49-0 halftime lead, scoring in almost every conceivable was a most impressive win in an impressive season for the Sooners, now 9-0 over-all and 6-0 in the conference. Fullback Leon Crosswhite joined Mildren in the first-half Top 20 Results AP 1. Nebraska (10-O) def.

Kansas Stats (4-6), 44-17. 2. Oklahoma (9-0) def. Kansas (3-7) 56-10. 3.

Michigan (10-0) def. Purdut (3-6), 20- 17. 4. Alabama (104) def. Miami, Fla.

(4-4), 31-3. 5. Penn Stat (9-0) def. No. Carolina State (2-8), 35-3.

6. Auburn (9-0) def. Georgia (9-1), 35-20. 7. Georgia (9-1) lost to Auburn (9-0), 35-20.

8. Notre Dams (6-1) dsf. Tulan (4-5), 21- 7. 9. Arizona Stata tt-1) def." Wyoming (5-5), 52-19.

10. Stanford (7-3) lost to San Josa St. (4-4-1), 13-12. 11. Tennessee -5) did not play.

12. Colorado (8-2) def. Oklahoma Stata (4-4-1), 40-6. 13. Texas (7-2) def.

TCU (4-4-1), 31-0. 14. Toledo (10-0) def. Marshall (2-7), 43-0. 15.

USC (6-4) def. Washington (7-3), 13-12. 16. Ohio State (7-2) lost to Northwestern (6-4), 14-10. 17.

Arkansas (7-1) def. SMU (3-6), 18-1. 18. Houston (7-2) beat Virginia Tech (3-6), 56-29. 19.

Washington (7-3) lost to USC (6-4), 13-12. 20. LSU (7-2) beat Mississippi St. (2-8), 28-3. ball." The Huskers opened the game throwing, a new wrinkle for the nation's No.

1-ranked team which usually tries to establish its running game first. "We felt we had been typing ourselves," Deavney explained. "We had been seeing if we could run first in the past, so we just decided today to come out throwing." Devaney could find only two things he wasn't satisfied with offensively. "The only two things I could find wrong with our offense were the plays where we turned the ball right back to Kansas State on a fumble after we had gotten it on a fumble and when we went for the first down and didn't make it on a fourth and less than a yard deep in our own territory," he pointed out. "We probably wouldn't have gone for that first down if we'd been ahead by only 7-0," he added, "But we'd have been punting into a strong wind and I think our offense ought to be able to get a yard and a half." And despite the fact that his defensive Black Shirts gave up 17 points, their biggest yield of the season, he was not disappointed with the Husker defense.

"Kansas State has a fine offense," he pointed out. "We knew that after we watched films of their game last week where they scored 35 points against Oklahoma State in the second half. "Their offense has been coming along well and as soon as they went back to the offense they had been using in past years, Dennis Morrison began throwing well. Kansas State's offense line did a good job. We were prepared mentally and we knew it would be a tough game.

"This is the first time our defense has not turned the ball over to ns a number of times, but we can't be dissatisfied anytime we win by 44-17." The Huskers came out of the game with more bumps and bruises than in any other game this season, but Devaney said all should be ready for the Oklahoma game with the possible exception of offense tackle Carl Johnson, who suf-fered strained knee ligaments. "We won't know about Carl for a few days, but we think day. "We'll have them look at by next week," Devaney said. He said the Huskers would not praciice Sunday or Mpn- day. 1 scoring barrage, romping for two touchdowns on runs of 38 and 24 yards.

It was Mildren's 65-yard TD sprint which broke the NCAA seasonal rushing record of 3,910 yards. It came with four minutes left in the first quarters. The senior signal caller from Abilene, cracked two individual records with the TD jaunt. He broke Bobby Warmack's school total offense record of 4,337 yards and also set a new Big Eight standard for rushing by a quarterback. Halfback Greg Pruitt and Everett Marshall, ends Jon Harrison and Albert Chandler and reserve quarterback Bob Robertson scored in the romp.

Chandler hauled in! Mildren's TD toss a 30-yard strike-d Harrison scored on. a 32-yard end around play. Oklahoma head coach Chuck Fairbanks finally was asked the big question "What about Nebraska?" "We will not work at all on Sunday," the Sooner coach replied, "and that includes watching game films, but Monday we start working hard. We hope to have the team at a mental climax as the game I starts on Thursday." Kansas Coach Don Fam-brough was high in his praise of the Sooner team. "They have the finest offensive machine I have ever seen," Fambrough said.

"But the defense is really underrated, very much so. They bend a little, yes, but they make the big play when they have to. "What else can you say about the offense? Every one of their offensive players are good athletes. It's the same team we played lat year, but Fairbanks and his coaches have done an excellent job in preparing them to play." Kansas tot 10 It Oklahoma 14 35 7 56 OU Crosswhite 38 run (Carroll kick) OU-JWildren 65 run (Carroll kick) OU Pruitt 2 run (Carroll kick) OU Chaitdler 30 pass from Mildren (Carroll kick) OU Crosswhite 24 run (Carroll kick) OU Harrison 31 run (Carroll kick) OU Marshall 14 run (Carroll kick) OU Robertson 1 run (Carroll kick) KU Schroll pass from Jaynes (Jaynes run) KU Safety, Carroll tackled In end zone. A 54,400.

tern Saturday and the Sugar Bowl has already said they plan to issue invitations to both the Sooners and Huskers. The Orange Bowl has indicated it would prefer to wait until after the clash batween the two unbeaten Big Eight powers, who currently rank one-two in the national wire service polls. 4 Nebraska's Willie Harper (81) wraps up Kansas State quarterback Dennis Morrison (10). Morrison was able to pitch the ball away to tailback Bill Butler on the play but the alert NU defense also stopped Butler for no gain. Devaney Wants Early Bowl Bid gimday On The Inside All-City Team Page 2D Ioiva State Wins Page 3D Auburn Rips Georgia Page 5D Deer Hunting 7 Page 7D Manhattan, Kan.

Nebraska football coach Bob Devaney said Saturday he's hopeful the bowl picture can be settled before his Huskers meet Oklahoma on Thanksgiving Day. "I'd prefer to get it settled ami out of the way," he said. "But that's going to be up to the bowl people." Bowl invitations may be offered" to all teams at 6 p.m..