The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 27

Sunday Journal-Star SEPTEMBER 2, 1990 i Gorndbusker defense falf ills expectations' apt Quote of the game Baylor Coach Grant Teaff; "I thought they played really well. If they hadn't have, they wouldn't have won the foot ball game." Scoring, team stats Baylor 0 0 0 0 0 Nebraska 0 6 0 7 13 NU FG Barrios 37 NU FG Barrios 20 NU Baldwin 2 run (Barrios kick) A 76,184 Baylor NU First downs 13 18 Rushes-yards 66-138 49-249 Passing yards 28 88 Total yards 164 335 Return yards 0 77 Passing 2-8-1 5-8-1 Punts Fumbles-lost 4-1 2-1 Penalties-yards 4-30 3-18 Time of possession 33:03 28:57 Third-down conversions 7-17 5-12 Fourth-down conversions 1-1 0-1 By Ken Hambleton Nebraska's 13-0 season-opening victory against Baylor Saturday night at Memorial Stadium was to college football what the candidate debates are to the State Fair. Serious. Studious. Dramatic It's certainly not part of the flash, dash and flair of the midway.

Two field goals early in the game and a touchdown in the final 22 seconds were the only scores in battle of two dominating defenses. "I said the defense was the strength of our team and the defense saved our bacon," Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne sail Baylor Coach Grant Teaff said the only chance his team had was to have a defensive game. NU defense key Nebraska's defense won out by stopping Baylor on the Comhusker 5-yard line with 10:15 left in the game when Pat Tyrance knocked the ball loose from Baylor's Frankie Smith and NU linebacker Travis Hill recovered. "That play kind of told it all, didnt it?" Hill said. "They had a great defense.

We think we have a great defense. We all looked at the clock and saw "fourth quarter," and we were ahead 6-0. We also saw they had zero. "We only had a couple of minutes left to play, to win. And none of us wanted to see the paper in the morning that said Nebraska didnt do this or that and lost "You couldn't believe the adrenalin going in there." Osborne said that Baylor, as well as Nebraska, gave everything he promised.

And both teams and the game lived up to its pre-game billing for the season opener before 76,184 fans and a national TV audience. "I may have gotten dumped on, but I'm happy," said Osborne, who through the courtesy of a fan was wearing a pop-soaked shirt. "Hopefully, the ones who know football will be happy. Those who don't wont They'll throw coke." The Cornhuskers were happy with the Grant hi his first college start, hit 5 of 6 passes for 86 yards and drove the Cornhuskers to their second field goal of the game with two seconds left in the first half. He hit Jon Bostick on a 34-yard pass to set up a 20-yard field goal that gave Nebraska a 64) lead.

Defense relented The Comhusker defense, which had held Baylor to less than 100 yard of total offense through the better part of three quarters, finally relented. Baylor stung Nebraska for a 15-yard pass from Steve Needham to Greg Anderson. Smith then broke loose on a 9-yard draw play. Eldwin Raphel broke loose for draw plays of i 5, and 7 yards and Needham hit Anderson for another 11 yards. Needham, in his first college start ever, broke the machine-gun barrage of draw plays with a naked-bootleg run around Nebraska's hard-charging Mike Croel to Uie NU 6-yard line.

Didn't want to lose That was enough for the Nebraska defense. "We didn't want to lose this 7-6," NU middle guard Pat Engelbert said. "There was no way any of us was going to let them get any close to the goal line. "Thank goodness they dropped the ball on the next play," he said. Nebraska senior linebacker Pat Tyrance hit Smith at the line and Travis Hill recovered Baylor's only turnover of the game.

"That's winning football making the plays when you have to make them," NU defensive coordinator Charlie McBride said. "That shows character and everything else good about our kids. "We had mistakes and I told the kids I didn't care about mistakes. I wanted them flying around and making the plays. They did." Tyrance, who stopped Raphel on a 1-yard run the play before the fumble, said he hit Smith hard.

"I saw the ball squirt See HUSKERS on page 2E On the Inside Baylor coach says Nebraska fans shouldn't be disheartened. Page 2E. two field goals by Gregg Barrios, the late touchdown by Scott Baldwin and the first shutout by the defense since blanking Minnesota last year. There were concerns, too. "We lose a touchdown on a penalty, one on a fumble and we missed a short field goal," NU quarterback Mike Grant said.

"But we knew we were doing enough of the right things. "I know those people were sitting in the stands waiting for more or waiting for something wrong, but I knew we'd eventually punch it in. I knew we could break them down," he said. TED KIRKSUNDAY JOURNAL-STAR Nebraska's Kenny Walker (57) and Travis Hill (obscured) sack Baylor quarterback Steve Needham (27) for a 9-yard loss in the first quarter Saturday. NU win encourages, discourages, depending on view Mike Babcock Columnist Ml.

probably pined an advantage in the competition for the starting Job. "Mike was really poised in there. He didnt seem nervous at all," said Comhusker center David Edeal, who played every snap, including punts. "He (Grant) was confident, calm. He executed well." But, Edeal was quick to add, "Mickey was the same way.

I can't really notice a big difference, whichever one is in there." Osborne said the starting job could still be earned by either of the junior quarterbacks, that nothing was settled Saturday night Line not bad The question of how good Nebraska's offensive line is, or can be, wasn't answered. But the indications were, it can be pretty good. Baylor's strength was defense, and the strength of Baylor's defense was up front the Bears' linemen. "I don't know if well see four athletes like that again," said Nebraska offensive guard Jim Wanek. An evaluation of the Nebraska football team's 13-0 victory against Baylor is a little like the quasi-philosophical discussion as to whether a glass of water is half full or half empty.

To some extent, at least, it depends on what you want to see. You could say that Baylor is better than most Nebraska fans expected and that the Bears could be a factor in the Southwest Conference this season. In that case, Nebraska did wen to win. Comhusker Coach Tom Osborne was of that opinion. "I was really pleased with the win," he said.

Not annual blowout On the other hand, you could say that Nebraska must not be as good as Comhusker fans have come to expect or, more accurately, demand and that a 13-0 victory against Baylor is cause for concern, not now but later, when Nebraska plays Colorado and Oklahoma. The Cornhuskers had won their last four home among Nebraska fans because the Cornhuskers were tested and met the challenge. Early in the fourth quarter, with the score 6-0, Baylor had driven to a second-and-goal at the Comhusker 3-yard line when Pat Tyrance, Nebraska's senior inside linebacker and co-captain, tackled Baylor fullback Frankie Smith and dislodged the balL Outside linebacker Travis Hill recovered, and the Bears were thwarted. Some people might say the Cornhuskers were lucky. But what happened there was more by design than accident It was a "nerve-wracking time," said EdeaL "But I had confidence we'd stop 'em.

Our defense really came through." Baylor managed only 164 yards of offense and 13 first downs. Championship teams are built on that kind of defense. Going in, nearly everyone said Nebraska's strength this season would be defense. And, based on Saturday night they were right I No matter how you look at it Grant says Cornhuskers got job done. Page 1E.

"Baylor has a great defense, and we knew it would be tough." It was, particularly on third-down, short-yardage situations. Even so, the Comhusker offense controlled the line of scrimmage enough to keep the defense off the field and rested. In that sense, the offense contributed to the shutout "This game will be something to build on," Wanek said. "It's going to help us in the long run." Delivered under pressure Of that there can be no doubt which brings up a significant question Nebraska answered Saturday night whether the Cornhuskers could respond to pressure and win a game they might have lost A Big Eight championship team is forged in adversity, not lopsided victories against out-manned non-conference opponents. Saturday night's game should be reason for optimism openers by a combined score of 201-59.

By comparison, 13-0 doesn't look very good QB still up for grabs The truth is probably somewhere in between. Many of the questions regarding this year's team were left unanswered on a steamy night more appropriate to a Fourth of July celebration than football. Nebraska's quarterback situation wasnt resolved, although Mike Grant played considerably more than Mickey Joseph and Doors keep closing for U.S. Open seeds NEW YORK (AP) Brad Gilbert wobbled wearily to the end, Michael Chang saved three match points before succumbing and Goran Ivanisevic simply quit trying as three more men's seeds tumbled from the VS. Open on Saturday.

Defending champion Boris Becker avoided the same fate, beating Tomas Carbonell 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in a night match to set up a fourth-round match against surprising Australian Darren CahilL Jennifer Capriati and Steffi Graf skirted the upset that befell Monica Seles in the third round and set up a rematch of their Wimbledon clash on Monday. Capriati, 14, the youngest player to reach the round of 16 in U.S. Open history, played superbly while beating Sweden's Maria Standlund 6-1, 6-4 before a packed crowd on the stadium court Graf finally found her rhythm in the third set to beat Elna Reinach 3-6, 6-1. In Grafs first two victories, she dropped only six games without losing a set The men's seeds struggled once more, adding to the list of early victims that includes No. 1 Stefan Edberg, No.

5 Andres Gomez, and No. 16 Martin Jaite. Amos Mansdorf of Israel, ranked 41, knocked out No. 8 Brad Gilbert 5-7, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 in a four-hour match that wore down Gilbert until he was barely able to move in the final set "I really got tired in the fifth," Gilbert said. "I gave it everything I had in the fourth.

His backhand passing shot was unbelievable. He didn't miss a thing. I ran out of gas." Soviet Andrei Cherkasov, ranked 50th, had little problem taking charge at the net and knocking off error-prone Chang, the 1989 French Open champion at age 17. Cherkasov won 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, and win play Christo van Rensburg of South Africa, who beat Brazilian Luiz Mattar Greenwell gets homer on grounder By Associated Press On July 7, 1989, Boston outfielder Mike Greenwell hit the first inside-the-park homer of his career against Greg Cada-ret of the New York Yankees. That was a solo shot that ricocheted off the wall in left-center, helping the Red Sox to a victory at Fenway Park.

Greenwell took a shorter route with greater success against Cadaret on Saturday, hitting an inside-the-park grand slam down the right-field line at Boston. The slam, on a hard-hit grounder in the fifth inning, two homers by Ellis Burks and one homer by Tom Brunan-sky keyed a 19-hit attack as the Red Sox rolled to a 15-1 victory against the Yankees. The rout extended the American League's longest winning streak this season to nine games. The first-place Red Sox are 6 games ahead of Toronto in the East "It's embarrassing," said New Yorfc outfielder Jesse Barfield, who slipped in an attempt to get Greenwell's grounder at a turn in the fence at the 320-foot mark. "They're playing great ball, but It's still embarrassing on days like this." The Red Sox started early, scoring five in the first inning against Andy Hawkins In three starts at Fenway Park in the last two seasons, Hawkins has yielded 13 hits and 18 runs in one inning.

Mariners 3, Royals 0 Russ Swan pitched 6V4 no-hit innings and combined with Bill Swift for a two-bite at Seattle. Swan, just recalled from a rehabilitation assignment at Calgary after being on the disabled list since July 8, lost his no-hitter with one out in the seventh MS) 4p I if) Huskers spike UNO in opener Page 6D Lid could curtail high school sports Page 3D Clarkson man has big fish story Page 5D Clemson ruins Allen's return to coaching Page 6D ASSOCIATED PRESS Boston's Mike Greenwell celebrates after hitting a rare inside-the-park grand slam home run in the fifth inning. See AL on page 2D E3 PI.