The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 53

OCTOBER 30, 1988 SUNDAY JOURNAL-STAR 17B BUSKERS Read-option- 3 Pi' i iwnii.it hiiuiij i imn ii i ii i ii I IflllVvfA iilv i ii jSF 74 4nrfy gJL Nebraska's offense also got two breaks on passes that were decided long after the from center, Millikan Taylor said. Taylor hit Millikan on an 82-yard pass; play that was called for a pass to Mor gan Gregory primarily and wingbacK Dana Brinson if Gregory isn't open, MQ likan said. "I think you could have called me the third choice on that play. I was just trying to get open because I figured Steve was scrambling and he found me and that was an we needed," he said. The touchdown was Millikan's 13th or his career, a Nebraska tight end record, Former pro and NU All-American Jun- ior Miller held the previous record of 12; touchdown catches.

Later in the third quarter, Taylor Nate Turner on a 59-yard pass that set up a 29-yard field goal by Chris Drennan on a similar play. "I was scrambling and Nate, like Todd did earlier, did a good job of finding an open spot and getting my attention," Taylor said. "It was just a matter of finding a way to win. That's what I'm here for. "I heard the booing and one guy even yelled at the to put Gerry Gdowski (NU backup quarterback) in the game be- cause he was mad at me," he said.

"But I knew we'd come up with the big By Ken Hambleton Bryan Carpenter said he felt like he was stepping into outer space when he popped through the middle of the line on his way to a 49-yard touchdown run that broke open Nebraska's victory over Missouri. -V: The Tiger defense limited Nebraska I-back Ken Clark, who had 481 yards in his last two games, to 57 yards on 23 carries. Carpenter had even less until his touchdown run with 8:24 left in the game. He had six rushes for five yards. Quarterback Steve Taylor was thrown for 66 yards in losses.

"They had been guessing right, or in the right blitz all day long and I didn't know if we'd ever get anything going against them," Carpenter said. They were getting all over Steve (Taylor) so he couldnt pass and stopping up the line so we couldn't run. "But we made adjustments at half-time. We spread out the offense and started to run the read-option. It was a great move and a great series of calls by Coach Osborne." After Missouri took an 18-17 lead on Jeff Jacke's fourth field goal of the game, Carpenter ran for eight yards to the Missouri 33.

Clark picked up three yards to become the tenth Cornhusker to break 1,000 yards in a season and Tay lor hit Morgan Gregory on a 12-yard pass to the Nebraska 48. One play later, Carpenter took the ball from Taylor and raced almost untouched into the end-zone to put Nebraska ahead for good. "It was strange because the middle of the line just opened up and nobody even touched me until a guy tried to grab for my ankle at the end," Carpenter said "I didn't want to look back or look around. What a relief that touchdown was." Nebraska tight end Todd Millikan agreed There was a big sigh of relief," he said. "I didn't know how or when, but I figured something had to happen soon.

I was just relieved Carp got the ball in there for a score." Missouri defensive coordinator Carl Reese said it was a gamble that backfired on the Tigers. "We went to another formation and we went to a blitz that is not good against the fullback trap," he The read-option part of the play helped considerably, Taylor said. "I saw their tackles split out a little wider than usual and on the read option, I stick the ball into Carpenter's stomach. The only way he knows if he gets to keep the ball is that I put it in there a little harder than usual He got a good grip on that handoff.V to win." mm ilPilill TED KIRKSUNDAY TED KIRK, GAIL FOLD A SUNDAY JOURNAL-STAR Taylor's struggles continue in the third period as he is flattened by Missouri's Ben Corl, causing one of Taylor's five fumbles on the day. Teammate Doug Glaser recovered the loose ball, but the Huskera-' lost 1 0 yards on the play.

Taylor recovered to throw an 82-yard TD pass two plays later. NU fullback Bryan Carpenter (above) sprints toward the end zone on his game-winning, 49-yard touchdown run. Meanwhile, Husker quarterback Steve Taylor (below) waits impatiently for officials' decision on a second-quarter pass interference call. From Tigers away Imter for BWMclier Losing takes mvm yvwm illliiiaillllll MMmmim ft if MM i 'f' WSSI 'I Walters, who finished the game with seven unassisted tackles and 10 total tackles, said the blitzing helped inspire the defense. "We had a great feeling on defense today.

We were just pumped up like we haven't been all year," he said. "Early in the game, you could see in their (Nebraska players') eyes that they were maybe a little confused and just surprised. 'Everybody plays Nebraska hard because they're Nebraska. It was like it snowballed the more we did right, the harder we tried." Strong safety Otis Smith, who did much of Missouri's blitzing and finished with four tackles for 24 yards in losses and 10 total tackles, agreed. "I think their offense was a little frustrated with what we were doing," he said "We came in a halftlme and the team was excited about how we had played defense and held 'em down.

"But in the second half, they picked it up and figured out what we were doing. We made some plays that lost the game but we still made some good plays. There were just four plays that beat us the tight end catch that scored, (Steve) Taylor's run to the one, the bomb that didn't score and the fullback finding the hole to score." Widenhofer said mistakes contributed to three of the game-breaking plays. "Nebraska's first touchdown (tight end Todd Millikan's 82-yard catch from Taylor) came off a broken play. We almost had Taylor before he threw the ball and the defensive back got under the tight end," he said.

"We were in a blitz when Taylor scrambled to the one and also on the fullback trap for the touchdown." Millikan's TD cut Missouri's lead to 9-7 and Taylor's scramble set up Ty-1 reese Knox's touchdown for a 14-9 Ntfj. lead Missouri regained the lead but Taylor's 59-yard bomb to Nate Turner set up a field goal and a 17-15 Husker lead And after Jeff Jacke kicked a 51- i yard field goal to give Missouri an 18-17 lead, the 49-yard fullback trap run by Bryan Carpenter gave Nebraska the-; lead for good. "I'll take full responsibility for the blitz we were in on the trap," said Mis-v souri defensive coordinator Carl Reese "We had some control early but by that time, it had turned into a guessing game. "They hadn't used the trap much, but you know they have it and it's been eff fective for years." Reese said Taylor capitalized on Mis- souri's defensive mistakes. "We weren't blitzing on all then-bigs' plays, but you have to give credit to their quarterback his athletic talent made those plays." kvC Smith said that was one of the Tigers1.

concerns. tlZ "With a broken play, Taylor can messj; you up," he said. "You better get on hino quick because if you don't, it will out to be a big play. The defensive scheme was designed" to hinder Taylor's passing on the rtfn but it also helped stopped Nebraska's-running game. tV "They do such a good job on play-action passes on running plays.

So we wanted to get somebody free to stop that," Reese said. "We had success with the blitzes early and used them more and more. But we lived by it too long." Widenhofer a tradition of close games with Nebraska affected the Tigers. "Missouri over the years has played Nebraska tough and the kids are not Intimidated by Nebraska," he said. By Ryly Jane Hambleton Missouri Coach Woody Widenhofer said he talked with kicker Jeff Jacke before sending the freshman in to attempt a 51-yard field goaL But Jacke said the two didn't exchange words, VST" We never said anything.

He looked me in the eye and I looked him in the eye and nodded," Jacke said "I can't doubt myself every time he asks me, say I can make it" The 51-yard field goal was the longest Jacke has made this year and his four field-goal performance against Nebraska tied the school record for three-' pointers in a game. He hit 25- and 32-yard field goals in the first half and added a 19-yarder in the third quarter before the long field goaL Jacke had made two field goals this year 46 and 29 yards. His lone miss, a 21-yard attempt, was at the end of Mis-: souri's game with Indiana, which ended in a 28-28 tie. "I feel good about the record, but losing takes a little luster away from it," Jacke said. Sets limits Although Jacke says hell take the challenge any time, he sets limits for himself after warmups.

"The wind was kind of deceptive. The flags above the stadium made it look like I was kicking into a pretty stiff wind but actually, it was kind of a cross-wind," he said. "During the pre-game warmups, I was hitting from around 50 and I told Coach that 55 would be my maximum against the wind." The field goal gave Missouri an 18-17 lead with 10:53 left in the game but Ne- braska scored less than three minutes later to take the lead for good "I asked him if he could make it and he made the decision It was good to see him hit that it means he's bounced back from Indiana," Widenhofer said. Widenhofer said the Tigers had to try some new things and pass a bit more against Nebraska. "If you sit there and play conservatively against Nebraska, you're going to he said, his voice trailing off.

One of the new offensive weapons was the quick pass by quarterback Corey Welch. Special moment "UCLA hit short passes against Nebraska, so we brought that quick release pass in just for today," said Welch, Who completed six passes for 97 yards. "We wanted to hit the backs or wideouts and then maybe they could break a tackle. It worked early but they came out ready in the second half." The freshman signal caller said his inexperience hurt him at times. "When we came out with a lead, I got a little anxious and tried to do it myself," he said "As an option quarterback, you make all the decisions and it can get you in a lot of trouble." Welch suffered a wrist injury late in the game and pve way to backup Brad Fitzmaurice late in the game.

Another serious injury for the Tigers came in the second quarter when defensive end Steve Vandegrift injured his left knee. Widenhofer said he didn't know the extent of the injury, although Vandegrift was on the sidelines and on crutches with a brace on his knee for the second half. -OAIL FOLDA SUNDAY JOURNAL-STAR Missouri place-kicker Jeff Jacke (3) approaches the ball, held by teammate Brad Fitzmaurice, while booting his first of four field goals Saturday. This one went 25 yards and gave Missouri a 3-0 lead. His others went 32, 19 and a personal-high 51 yards.

The last one gave the Tigers an 18-17 lead with 10:43 left in the game, but Nebraska rallied to win 26-18. imii ii inn llll I 11 it -rov mi urn wmmmntm -W r-Zr 7 7 -c Statistics Nebraska Offense Rushing No. Yds. Carpenter 12 96 Clark 23 57 Knox 2 4 Brinson 2 -3 Tavlor 13 -38 Passing No. Co.

Yds Taylor 9 3 153 Receiving No. Millikan 1 I '-i My- Turner Ave. 8.0 2.5 0.5 PI 0 Yds. 82 59 12 Ave. 41.0 Yds.

7 3 Yds. 68 41 Yds. 9 2 0 Pete 7 3 10 Wells 5 2 7 Anderson 3 0 3 2 3 5 Thomas 4 5 9 Marco 2 13 Croel 1 0 1 Etienne 3 3 6 Caliendo 9 2 11 L. Hicks 2 0 2 Frvar 9 0 9 4 0 4 Jackson 4 0 4 Sanders 10 1 Skrodls 1 12 Ferguson 1 0 1 Buchanan 1 0 1 Missouri Offense Rushing No. Yds.

Ave. Jones 14 62 4.4 Stowers 14 49 3.5 Welch 20 44 2.2 Hall 3 8 2.7 Elmore .......3 -1 Fltzmorris 1 Passing No. Co. Yds PI Welch ........14 6 97 1 1 0 0 1 Receiving No. Yds.

Stowers ..................2 40 Lommers 2 21 Bruton 1 27 Elmore 1 9 Punting No. Yds. Ave. 7 261 37.3 Punt returns No. Yds.

Lommers 4 15" Klckoff returns No. Yds. Elmore 3 40 Hall 2 30 Moore 1 7 Defense Tackles UT AT TT. Vandegrift 2 0 2 Corl 2 1 3 K. White 4 0 .4 Darling 3 3 L.

Johnson 6 2 8 Reiner 1 0 1 Miller 4 0 -4 Mav 1 0 1 MacDonald 5 4 9 Walters 7 3 10 Mueller 1 0 1" LePage 1 0 1 A. Jones 2 3 5 Holmes 1 0 0. Smith 6 4 10 '4 0 4 King 0 1 1W Jacke. 1 12 McKlnney 2 0 2 Gregory ...1 Punting No. Yds.

Kroeker .....7 287 Punt returns No. .........2 Bell 1 Kckoff returns No. Brinson ......4 Bell ...2 Interception returns ill Yy 4 i. Callendo 1 Fryar ...1 ummtm iiiiiiiiiiiHiii nn iiiiiwiiiiiwininmiiM im 1 1 1 w.wn.wt.vKw ROBERT BECKERSUNDAY XXJANAL-STAR Defense Tackles UT AT TT 6 Nebraska fans (lower right) don't seem to be having as much fun as some Missouri band members during a second-half break in the action. Griffin..