The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 31

I K5nnday Journal-Star- NOVEMBER 18, 19M Outdoor, 1 1 Pockctbook, 1 2 eil chances dIom NU9 dreams Mi Sooners 17, NU7 Oklahoma 7 0 0 10-17 Nebraska 0 7 0 07 Okla Bradley 1 run (Lashar kick) Neb J.Smith 1 run (Klein kick) Okla FG Lashar 32 Okla Bradley 29 run (Lashar KICk) A 74,323 OU 9 51-143 58 201 6 5-10-2 9-40 1-1 4-31 First downs Rushes-yards Passing yards Total yards Return yards Passes Punts Fumbles-lost Penalties-yards Time of possession NU 19 53-137 234 373 49 14-24-1 5- 47 4-3 2-29 29:59 6- 14 0-1 30:01 Third down conversions 5-17 Fourth down conversions 1-1 i '-v By Virgil Parker Sports Editor Nebraska, failing to capitalize on any of five excellent scoring opportunities the last and most crucial three inches from the Oklahoma goal line lost its No. 1 rating for the second time in a single season at Memorial Stadium Saturday. At the end the scoreboard read: Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 7. It should have read: Oklahoma 10, Nebraska 7. But, after Husker I-back Jeff Smith failed to score from inches out on a fourth-down running play and then fumbled an Oklahoma punt three plays later, a determined Nebraska Black Shirt defense finally ran out of gas to allow a meaningless last-minute Oklahoma touchdown.

"This was as disappointing a loss as we've ever had," NU head Coach Tom Osborne said. "There have been some over the years that have hurt, but this was as bad as any of them." It was NU's first loss to the Sooners in four years, ending Nebraska's 27-game Big Eight Conference win string that began after a 21-17 loss to Oklahoma in 1980. Nebraska won the statistical battle but lost the war. The Huskers had 19 first downs to nine for the Sooners and 373 yards in total offense to 201 yards for Oklahoma. But it was Nebraska's failure to gain three inches on fourth-and-goal with six minutes left in the game which kept the Huskers from victory.

Although a field goal would have produced a tie and an Orange Bowl bid, Osborne didn't second-guess himself about going for the touchdown and victory and a retention of Nebraska's No. 1 rating. Reminiscent of Miami It was a very similar situation as in the Orange Bowl against Miami when he ordered a last-second two-point conversion try that would have produced a clear-cut national championship. "I thought about kicking a field goal and probably would have if it had been a couple of yards to go," Osborne said. "But, when it got down to less than a yard, we thought we ought to try to get it Normally, you hope to score from a foot or so out I had told the coaches upstairs that if we were short on third down by any substantial margin, we'd kick the field goaL "There was enough time left that we thought a tie might force them into desperation-type football, giving us a chance to pick off a pass or something.

But, with a foot to go, we thought we See HUSKERS on page 70 I n.r, nv umuocotq RAMIRE2 Oklahoma quarterback Danny Bradley eludes the grasp of Nebraska lineman Jim Skow. Bradley's Sooners slipped away from the Husk-ers 17-7 Saturday and may have taken the Big Eight Conference title and Orange Bowl berth with them. Proud Switzer: It's Sooners9 time How Top 20s fared Result This week's opponent Nebraska (9-2-0) lost to Oklahoma, 17-7 season completed South Carolina (9-1-0) lost to Navy, 38-21 Clemson Brigham Young (11-0-0) def. Utah, 24-14 Utah State Oklahoma St. (9-1-0) def.

Iowa at Oklahoma Florida (8-1-1) def. Kentucky, 25-17 Idle Oklahoma (8-1-1) def. Nebraska, Oklahoma St. So. California (8-2-0) lost to UCLA, 29-10 Notre Dame Washington (10-1-0) def.

Washington completed LSU (7-2-1) lost to Mississippi 14-14 Tulane Texas (7-1-1 def. Texas Christian, 44-23 at Bovlor Ohio St. (9-2-0) def. Michigan, 21-4 season completed Texas Christian (8-2-0) lost to Texas, 44-23 at Texas Boston College (7-2-0) def. Syracuse, at Mioml Miami (8-3-0) was idle Boston College Georgia (7-34) lost to Auburn, 21-12 Idle So.

Methodist (7-2-0) def. Texas Tech, 31-0 Arkansas Florida St. (7-2-1 def. 37-0 idle Auburn (8-3-0) def. Georgia, 21-12 Idle Virginia (7-1-2) tied North Carolino, 24-24 Maryland Clemson (7-3-0) lost to Maryland, 41-23 at South Carolina Penn St.

(4-4-0) lost to Notre Dame, 44-7 Pittsburgh AP UPI 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

8. 4. 7. 8. 5.

9. 12. 10. 9. 11.

12. 10. 13. 14. 17.

15. 14. 16. 15. 17.

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20. 20. and sometimes it doesn't But it worked today," freshman linebacker Brian Bosworth said. The defense provided the "magical feeling" all day long for the Sooners. "Our offense couldn't help us and we had to have our defense do the job.

That was great defense out there," said Switzer, the winningest major college coach in the country. "I like this Lincoln weather. We would have been in trouble if it had been hot because our defense was out there the whole third quarter. "But they didn't quit Even in the fourth quarter, they didn't quit "Dubose makes a great run way down the field But we don't give up. We hold them and stop them.

We know they've got to go for a touchdown. They cant kick a field goal and win. They didn't make it on the fullback pop and on fourth down, we thought they'd go wide. "They had to go wide because we were playing the heavy front Hall made a great play on the sweep," he said. "If they passed, they would have made it But it's our time.

I knew we had a chance." Two upset factors The chances for the upset came in two forms. "Defense and luck," he said. "You've got to have luck to beat the No. 1 team and they played everything like a No. 1 team should.

Nebraska is a great team. Great offense and great "They made a couple of mistakes and we took advantage," he said. Sooner senior quarterback Bradley said it was only a matter of time before something broke one way or the other. "We knew it would be a tough, hard-hitting game and we just had to have some patience, fighting for every play, every yard on every down. It was face-on-face football and Nebraska did a great job.

"But we knew something had to happen because we had the edge in people who can make the breaks with (Derrick) Shepard, (Spencer) Tillman, (Steve) Sewell and Buster Rhymes Last year, they had the people with (Mike) Rozier, (Irving) Fryar and (Turner) Gill," Bradley said. "Our defense did the job and that's what gives you the chance to win the Big Eight the national title and the Orange Bowl I thought I played against a defense as great as ours today. We just got the big plays," he said. The "big plays" included a 31-yard pass from Bradley to Rhymes that set up Tim Lasher's game-winning field goal with 14:49 left in the game. Another big play was Bradley's 29-yard touchdown run two plays after Tillman ran for a first down on a fourth-and-one at the Nebraska 34 with almost three minutes left in the game.

"Seeing that No. 1 (Bradley) streaking down the sideline after we get the big fourth-down play was the prettiest thing I saw an day," Switzer said. By Ken Hambleton Barry Switzer climbed over the crowd in the interview room, jumped up on a chair and gave his acceptance speech. "You all saw something that you maybe see just once in a lifetime and today you saw it twice. "They put that thing down there and they said 'Stop And we said 'Go ahead and score.

Beat Our defense came up with the plays. We were lucky, but it's our time," the Oklahoma coach said after his Sooners slammed the door shut on Nebraska's hopes of a national title and a fourth straight trip to the Orange Bowl with a dramatic goalline stand with 5:32 left. "We've still got some business at home. We have Oklahoma State next week and we start preparing for them now. Well, maybe a little Nebraska celebration tonight," he said.

Trailing 10-7, Nebraska quarterback Craig Sundberg hii Doug DuBose on a short pass and DuBose raced to the Oklahoma eight before Sooner safety Sonny Brown knocked him out of bounds. Four plays later, Oklahoma rushed 11 men and left cornerback Brian Hall tackled Jeff Smith inside the one to end the threat The Sooners added a touchdown on a 29-yard run by Danny Bradley to seal a 17-7 upset victory. 'Magical feeling' "There's just a magical feeling when we get on the goal line that nobody can score. Sometimes it works Loss apparently sends Huskers to Sugar Bowl si Gamecocks suffer Fiesta Bowl representative Alex Crutchfield said his group "would be very interested in Nebraska, but it looks like they are going to the Sugar BowL" The Cotton Bowl had said Nebraska was high on its list, but Boston College announced after its 24-16 win over Syracuse that they were going to accept a bid to play in Dallas. The most down-hearted bowl representative at Memorial Stadium was Stan Marks of the Orange BowL He had envisioned a No.

1 versus No. 2 matchup between Nebraska and South Carolina. Navy spoiled that early in the day with a 38-21 upset win to hand No. 2 South Carolina its first loss of the season. "What looked rosy last night looks pretty bleak right now," Marks admitted.

Marks vehemently denied an ABC-TV report that the Orange Bowl had already made a deal with South Carolina. "That's absolutley not true," he said. "We weren't born stupid. Although, if South Carolina beats Clemson next week and finishes 10-1, they would be in the picture. So is Washington if they finish 10-1." By Virgil Parker Sports Editor Except for the remote possibility of an Oklahoma-Oklahoma State tie next Saturday in Norman, Nebraska's loss to Oklahoma Saturday removed the Corn-huskers from the Orange Bowl picture.

Although nobody will confirm the prevelant rumor, it appears Nebraska will play either Florida or Auburn in the Sugar Bowl New Year's night. "We are very interested in Nebraska," Sugar Bowl representative Henry Bodenheimer said after Saturday's game. "But that will be a committee decision to be made later." Bowl bids may not be officially extended until 6 p.m. next Saturday. Nebraska Athletic Director Bob Devaney would only say that "well be going to a good bowl as a reward for a good season.

Nothing is 100 percent right now. Oklahoma and Oklahoma could still tie and we'd go to the Orange BowL You can speculate if you want. But the various bowl people will announce their decisions next Saturday." loss setback with lit ft 5 ri Syracuse Tulane beat Memphis State' 14-3, Southern Mississippi -thrashed Louisville 34-25, Florida State clobbered Tennessee-Chattanooga 37-0, Rutgers defeated Colgate 17-7, Alabama demolished Cincinnati 29-7, Virginia Tech clobbered Vanderbilt 23-3, Notre Dame crushed Perm State 44-7 and Temple shocked West Virginia 19-17. Pitt and Miami, Fla. were idle.

At Annapolis coach Gary Tranquil gave much of the credit to the defensewhich held South Carolina to seven points until the final quarter when the score was 38-7 and the game was out of reach. Navy scored two touchdowns on passes from quarterback Bob Misch to Chris Weiler and two on short runs by halfback Mike Smith. The Midshipmen, after building a 14-7 halftime lead, broke open the game in the third quarter, scoring on three consecutive possessions. South Carolina's first touchdown came early in the second quarter on a two-yard keeper by quarterback Allen Mitchell. The Gamecocks didn't score again until the final period, when run-' ning back Quinton Lewis ran two yards for one touchdown and quarterback Nullified interception key play in OU victory From News Wires South Carolina's hopes of playing on New Year's Day in the Orange Bowl suffered a major setback Saturday in cold and windy Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Orange Bowl officials dropped by the South Carolina dressing room after watching the previously undefeated Gamecocks demolished by Navy, 38-21. They didn't extend the invitation to play the Big Eight champion on Jan. 1 which South Carolina had anticipated. "They said we're not out of the picture," said Sid Wilson, assistant athletic director. "They said they have to go back and think it over." "We know we'll go to a bowl but we're not sure which one he said.

Orange Bowl officials had said earlier in the week that South Carolina was at the top of the list of possible opponents for the Big Eight champion, and Gamecock fans had already bought more than 6,000 tickets for the bowl Navy's stunning upset not only damaged South Carolina's Orange Bowl hopes, it ruined an undefeated season and chances of a national championship for the No. 2-ranked team. In other games involving major independents, Army beat Montana 45-31 Friday in Tokyo, Boston College got by ill ill Harris' word was good enough. "He caught the ball," said Strasburger. On such plays are national champion-See HARRIS on page 81 IKS UPITEUPHOTO Navy's Rich Clouse takes off on a 53-yard touchdown run past Mike Hold connected with redever Eric 73 See NAVY on page 2D South Carolina's Bryant Gllllard.

By Mike Babcock Eight seconds into the fourth quarter of the Oklahoma football team's 17-7 victory over Nebraska Saturday afternoon the Sooners tried a bit of trickery which didnt trick Neil Harris. Nebraska's senior right cornerback saw the play coming. On a third-and-12 from the Cornhusker 14-yard line, Oklahoma halfback Patrick Collins started running to his right, then stopped and, in desperation threw a pass back across the field. Harris dived for the ball at the 2-yard line. An official ruled that Harris hadn't intercepted the pass, and on the next play, the Sooners' Tim Lashar kicked a 32-yard field goaL According to Harris, Lashar shouldn't have had that field goal opportunity.

He was convinced he had intercepted the pass. "Easily, it was an interception. I dont see how the call couldVe been anything but that," said Harris, whose last-second deflection of a pass in the end zone preserved Nebraska's 28-21 victory over Oklahoma a year ago. "If Neil had dropped the ball, he'd be the first to tell me," Cornhusker defensive end Scott Strasburger said. Cornhusker spikers claim 9th Big Eight title Football: Oklahoma St 16, Iowa St '10 Big Eight.

Page 3D Ohio State 21, Michigan 6 Big Ten. Page 2D BYU 24, Utah 14 WAC.Pag3D Texas 44, TCU 23 SWC.Page4D Florida 25, Kentucky 17 SEC, Page 40 Maryland 41, Clemson 23 UCLA 29, USC 10 Also: blasted out to an 11-2 lead' behind Adamczak's four service aces. The Tigers then outscored NU 9-2 to close to within 13-11, but Adamczak shut them down by serving the final two. points. In the semifinals, NU blasted Okla- homa 15-7, 15-8, 15-7 behind the hitting of Hermann and Noth, who combined for 28 kills.

Schonewise and Karen Dahlgren each added seven kills to the effort. We served and blocked exceptionally tough, we played great defense and the girls never stopped hustling." In the first game, Adamczak had seven ace blocks and served six of the Huskers' first 12 points as NU jumped out to a 12-4 led. Noth and Hermann each had four kills. In the second game, Nebraska took an 8-4 lead, behind the serving of Noth, then reeled off seven consecutive points towinthegame. i In the final game, the Huskers nament crown since the conference sanctioned volleyball.

Noth was named the tournament MVP for the third-straight time and was placed on the all-tourney team for the fourth-consecutive year. Nebraska placed three others on the all-tournament team: Hermann, Mary Buysse and Enid Schonewise. "I think that we played exceptionally well here," NU Coach Terry Pettit said. "This was probably the best that we have ever played in this tournament NORMAN, Okla. Cathy Noth and Julie Hermann combined for 16 kills and Annie Adamczak had five service aces to lead Nebraska to a 15-11, 1H 15-11 win over Missouri in the final of the Big Eight Volleyball tournament Saturday night The win marked the ninth straight time that NU has won the Big Eight tournament title.

The Cornhuskers have won 36 consecutive tournament matches NU is the only school to win either a league regular-season or tour- NFL roundup Basketball roundup Scoreboard Outdoor news Page 50 PageSD' PagelOD PageUD.