The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 29

HUSKE-ftS r17D Veggie, quarterback sayshehad more fun By Virgil Parker Utah State quarterback Brent Snyder was sacked eight times by Nebraska's Black Shirts last year. Saturday, the Husker defense managed to run him flown on just three occasions. "I'm -unhappy with the outcome," Snyder said of a 63-13 toss, "but tt was more fun this year. You always want to come out with a win. And this was especially tough because we've now got to go back home and look at the film.

But we played a great team. We did some good things, but we broke down in critical situations. And you just cant do that against a team like Nebraska." The Aggie quarterback said mistakes can be expected In the opening game. I "But we shouldn't have had so many-when you consider the development we have had from a year ago. I had some bad passes and there were some flropped bans." I Snyder said he didnt think he would -be sacked as many times as a year ago.

1 thought my protection held up-pretty well today. The difference between their front three and our front line was a lot more even than a year ago," he said. "But Nebraska's secondary was better, quicker and more experienced than last season." Snyder said Nebraska's secondary took away some of the plays he had planned with its coverage changes. "After also facing a passing team (Texas last week, they adjusted their coverages and did some different things against us," Snyder said. "But that's something I need to be able to read on the run." Utah State Coach Chuck Shelton said he left Snyder in the game until the very end because "we came here to play and we've got to get the best we can out of the best we've got Our league games are ahead of us, and it's a conference we can possibly win.

I don't think you can do that by pulling in your horns." i I nmn A fa Mil'1 SvfvT7-1 fyh-r-l T. iv I -x ma i li i i I )m0mimMm trZ WU Agg ie notes and quotes US-: Punter Louie Agular: "It was one of those days with the snapper. He had just one bad snap all last season. And last year we only had one blocked punt and that was also againstNebraska. This time, right after I kicked it, I heard another thud.

I looked up and all I saw was red. Hopefully, this will be the only blocked punt we have this year." Offensive right guard David Walker: "Nebraska does a lot of things well on defense. They run a lot of stunts. They are strong kids. They may not be uite as good as last year because they dont have Neil Smith and guys like that.

But they are still a very, very tough team to block." 1 Coach Chuck Shelton on freshman linebacker Greg Davis: "He made a lot of good plays, but his parents ought to sue us for putting him in a game as a true freshman against a team like Nebraska. I hope they dont because he played hard. He's a tough kid." TED kiHkSunOat jCkjRnl-STaH Utah State quarterback Brent Snyder (12) is leveled by Nebraska's Jeff Mills and Willie Griffin (84) after releasing a late second-quarter pass that fell incomplete. Snyder was under this kind of pressure all game. Utah State coach mistakes hurt his team By Virgil Parker some of his players.

"We dropped a lot of passes today," he said. "When we did complete a pass, our receivers tried to turn the catch into an 80-run and gave up a first-and-10 in the process. And we used poor judgment trying to throw a 20-yard pattern when we've got third-and-1. Also, twice in the first half, we dropped passes that would have been a first down. And they were dropped by receivers who have caught a lot of balls for Utah State.

"If you do things like that properly," Shelton added, "you can keep the score respectable. And people who dont think there is a difference in getting beat 63-13 and 40-13 havent been on the sidelines." Then Shelton repeated a statement he said he made after last year's 56-12 loss to the Cornhuskers. "As I said then, there will be some other people they'll beat I dont think this was their last victory of the season. Nebraska is going to win a lot of' games with a very physical offense and keep in those games with their defense. "That's probably the best secondary we've played against in terms of just a very punishing, very hard-tackling secondary.

And they are one of the most physical offensive football teams I've seen. I thought that when they played Texas Shelton said he thought his team played better in 'the first half against Nebraska's top units than it did in the second half against the third and fourth teams. "I felt we were an up-and-down ball club today," he said. "I thought we would play better offensively. Defensively, what I was afraid might happen to us did.

They found where some of our inexperience was and capitalized on it" Shelton said he didnt think pre-game jitters played a role in the outcome "because we played better physically in the first half than we did the second." The Aggie coach said the play of his special teams, particularly in punting situations, was especially damaging to his team's chances. "It seems like we try to foul up our special team play in the first couple of games every year," Shelton said. "And that came back to haunt us today. We wanted to negate their punt return team, and 1 thought we played them better than a year ago (when Nebraska returned two punts for touchdowns). But the snaps for our punts were just horrendous.

They rolled back there three times, yet the same kid (Jerry Brown) played all last year and had just one bad snap in 11 games." When asked if he felt Nebraska "poured it on," Shelton emphatically denied having such a thought "There is no more class football program in the country than Nebraska," he said. "One of the commitments they need to make is to make their football team the best it can be. And I find no fault with anything they did. "We got beat about as bad as a year ago," Shelton added. "But we werent as consistent this time.

Last year, we played really hard from top to bottom while not having some of the skills we had this year. So, I'm not very happy with Utah State and Chuck Shelton right now." Despite a 63-13 loss to Nebraska, Utah State football Coach Chuck Shelton has not lost confidence in his team. "Quite candidly, of our next 10 games, we should win seven or eight, maybe nine of them," Shelton said. The Aggie coach said it wouldnt be fair to evaluate the potential of his team on the basis of Satur-day's showing. "This is one of the best-coached programs in Shelton said of Nebraska.

"It's not just good athletes. Those kids come out ready to play good footbalL They are well-coached. "I realize, what we.werje up against," he added. "But I thought some of our people didnt get off their blocks very well If I remember right, in the third and fourth quarters, Texas didnt get off some blocks very well, either (last week against Nebraska)" Shelton said his team's lack of scoring punch didnt bother him as much as mistakes made by TED KIRK8UNDAY JOURNAL-STAR Aggie Coach Chuck Shelton. has something in his eye.

Husker From Pfl1P Scoring How scored 1 Time left NU-USU 11:25 5:08 4:32 t'f -T -x4t r- i m. v. ti- i I -fi )r fTr i-'r- If -VT'3'V tKataBflMMnMiacaWCTntrTiiinTT-nwiiip-nnni mnmm wwn i Hi mifl n. "rfT'fi ftf -Tr vw.w... vvv 0:44 12:32 7-0 144 21-0 28-0 350 357 42-7 49-7 56-7 63-7 63-13 FIRST QUARTER Taylor 22 run Drive: 80 yards In nine plays.

Highlighted by four Clark runs for 32 yards, Taylor 13 run, Milllkan 8 pass from Taylor. Conversion: Barrios kick. Schmidt 6 run Drive: 30 yards In three plays. Set up by fumbled snap on punt recovered by Walker at USU 30. Highlighted by Taylor 18 run, Clark 6 run.

Conversion Barrios kick. SECOND QUARTER Taylor 15 run Drive: 71 yards In nine plays. Highlighted by Clark 13 pass from Taylor, Clark 10, 9 runs. Carpenter 8, 12 runs. Conversion: Drennan Bell 11 pass from Taylor Drive: 74 yards In four plays.

Highlighted by Bell 29 pass from Taylor, Brlnson 34 pass from Taylor. Conversion: Drennan kick. THIRDQUARTER Clark 7 run Drive: 68 yards In six plays. Set up by Brlnson klckoff return to NU 32. Highlighted by Clark 6 run, Brinson 7, 10 runs.

Bell 37 pass from Taylor. Conversion: Barrios kick. Newman 1 pais from Synder Drive: 73 yards In 15 plays. Highlighted by Smith 11 pass from Snyder, Payne 15, 8 runs, Snyder 14 run, Payne 12 pass from Snyder and aided by two offsides penalties against Nebraska. Conversion: Moody kick.

Rodgers2run Drive: 75 yards In eight ploys. Highlighted by Gdowskl 17, 9 runs; Rodgers 8 run, Gregory 13 pass from Gdowskl, Brlnson 15 run. Conversion: Barrios kick. FOURTH QUARTER Devall 4 pass from Gdowskl Drive: 12 yards in four plays. Set up by Coliendo block of USU punt, recovered by Walker at USU 12.

Highlighted by Lewis 5 run. Conversion: Drennan kick. Joseph 8 run Drive: 47 yards In five plays. Set up by 28-yard USU punt. Highlighted by Joseph 17 run, Knox 11 run, Worden 7 pass from Joseph.

Conversion: Drennan kick. Gdowskl 1 run Drive: 64 yards in 10 plays. Highlighted by Joseph 9 run, Knox 10, 23 runs, Gdowskl 12 run. Conversion Janky kick. Smith 15 pass from Snyder Drive: 71 yards In 10 plays.

Highlighted by Snyder 5, 6 passes to Moore and 11, 10, 17 to Smith. Conversion: pass failed. 5:09 2:02 14:55 HARALO DREIMANISSUNDAY JOURNAL-STAR Utah State punter Louie Agular (19) fumbled a low snap, then the ball bounced behind him. Cartler Walker (27) recovered for the Cornhuskers. Statistics they say he is.

In fact I talked to him after the game and told him we'd name our practice field after him if he wanted to transfer to our school. But he didnt seem too interested." Shelton didnt have time to offer Nebraska I-back Ken Clark, fullback Sam Schmidt or wingbacks Bell and Brinson any deals, but he might have thought about it after the first half. Clark gained 77 of his game-high 90 yards in the first half. His 30 yards on four rushes In Nebraska's first drive set up a 22-yard touchdown run by Taylor. Schmidt capped a 30-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run to boost the Cornhuskers lead to 14-0.

The drive was set up by a bad snap on a Utah State punt BeH, who caught two passes for 40 yards in the first half, and Brinson sparked Nebraska's next two scoring drives. Made few mistakes Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne said he could only think of one or two mistakes Taylor made in the game. "He said he feels more relaxed and that's what we expect He had a good game," Osborne said. Osborne's only concerns about the offense were two Nebraska drives that started on the Cornhusker 10- and 5-y ard lines, respectively. Both possessions ended in punts after three plays.

Those were Nebraska's only punts in the game. Osborne said Utah State changed some defenses for the two drives and the Cornhuskers didnt adjust welL The Nebraska defense more than made up for the offensive lapses' in the first half. Utah State, favored to win the Big West Conference this year, boasted a passing game led by Brent Snyder. But Nebraska's defense nickled and dimed Snyder all day, hounding the senior quarterback, who finished sixth in the nation in total offense last year. Snyder was sacked three times and dropped for losses four other times.

The Aggies didnt pick up a first down until late in the first quarter and finished the first half with minus 22 yards Snyder had 80 yards in passing in the first half, but half of those yards came on a drive that ended with an interception by Nebraska's Mark Blazek. Nebraska outside linebacker Broder-Ick Thomas was credited with three sacks, Mike Croel with another, and senior middle guard Lawrence Pete with one tackle for an 8-yard loss in the first half. Defense played well "Defensively, we played a tremendous first half," Osborne said. The praise was tempered by Osborne's disappointment with Utah State's third-quarter touchdown drive that put the Aggies on Interception returns 13:24 4:59 2:47 Yds. No.

PI 1 Passing No. Co. Yds ......39 21 187 Receiving Blazek 5 Defense Tackles UT TT Ferguson Crlppen 1 No. 8 Roberson 2 Payne Newman ........................2 2 Punting No. Yds.

Agular ...........6 200 Team 1 0 Thomas 5 Yds. 108 12 53 6 11 Ave. 33.3 0 Yds. 20 68 29 Nebraska Offense Rushing No. Yds.

Ave. Tovlor 9 74 i 8.2 Schmidt 2 13 6.5 Clark J2 TO ,7.5 6 40 6.7 Carpenter 4 30 7.5 "Rodgers. 7 19 2.7 5 30 6.0 4 15 3.8 Joseph 3 34 11.3 Knox ..,..5 50 10.0 ...1 0 0.0 Flowers 3 18 6.0 1 3 3.0 Harchelrood 1 5 5.0 Passing No. Co. Yds PI Tavlor 9 7 143 0 3 2 19 0 Joseph 1 1 7 0 Receiving No.

Yds. Clark 1 13 1 34 Bell ,....3 77 2 24 Devall .....1 6 7 Mllllkan 1 8 Punting No. Yds. Ave. Klckoff returns No.

Smith 2 Payne 4 Newman 1 Defense AT 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Griffin 2 Murray 1 Etlenne 2 Tvrance 4 Fryar 2 Cooper 4 Jackson 1 Croel 1 Jobman 2 Custard 1 Lewis 2 Blazek 2 Wells 0 Hoggt 2 Coliendo 1 K.Walker 1 Pickens 1 Sanders 0 Pete 2 1 Edgren 1 Settles 1 Vampola 2 Svehla 1 Olson 1 Utah State didnt score its second touchdown until late in the game. In the meantime, Nebraska's reserves ran up the score. Gdowski led drive Reserve quarterback Gerry Gdowski sparked eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Terry Rodgers. Reserve linebacker Chris Caliendo flocked a Utah State punt on the next series and, four plays later, on fourth down-and-6, Gdowski threw a touchdown pass to wingback Brad Devall. After Nebraska's third-string quarterback, Mickey Joseph, scored on an 8-yard run, Gdowski tallied on a quarterback sneak.

"Gerry and Mickey can do the job," Taylor said. "They can make the offense go, too. I dont have worries if I'm not in there and they are. We were all in there to execute our plays better this week than last week. I think we did.

That's why we practice. "It's a natural step in preparing for UCLA next week," Taylor said of next Saturday's nationally televised game in the Rose BowL the scoreboard, 35-7, with 5:06 left in the period. Snyder completed four passes the 73-yard drive and ran for 14 yards on a quarterback draw. Utah State fullback Brett Payne had gains of 15 and 8 yards on draw plays in the drive. "We had our best people hi there and they (Utah State) went out and took the ball down the field on us," Osborne said.

"Of course, it is hard when you're ahead 35-0." Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride said the defensive letdown bothered him, too "I'm always afraid of a lapse because defense is such an emotional thing," he said. "They really didnt run against our run-defense well, but they did run well on the draw and that hurt us. "But overall, I thought we played wen defensively. Our dime coverage was the right one all but a couple of times," McBride said. He said the coaching staff considered Snyder as one of the top two passing quarterbacks Nebraska would face this year.

The other is UCLA's Troy Aikman, whom the Cornhuskers will face next week, Tackles UT Thornton 3 McCandless 3 1 J. Hunsaker 2 Miller 2 Bouwman 7 Lvles 6 TT 11 10 Munson 3 Tyler 9 Clark 6 AT 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 Pointer Kroeker. Utah State Offense Rushing 82 41.0 Punt returns No. Yds. 2 16 1 7 Kirkoff returns Roth B.

Hunsaker Hill Robinson S. Davis Sbrantl Brown Haugen G. Davis Stetz Brlnson. Yds. -17 43 7 14 Ave.

2.1 3.6 7.0 14.0 No. 8 ....12 1 1 Payne Tooaloa Team No. Yds. Brlnson 50 Knox .....1 27.