The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 9

Saturday, January 2, 1993 Lincoln Journal-Star Page 9 Tide mcanes SlPww, 1" ,9 tyros back Hu I- Sugar Bowl pi; "Tap 9 4' first two plays of the second half and scoring two touchdowns in a 16-second span. After Tommy Johnson's interception led to a 1-yard TD run by Derrick Lassie, George Teague picked off another Torretta pass and returned it 31 yards to put the Tide ahead 27-6. Miami pulled to 27-13 on a Sugar Bowl-record, 78-yard punt return by Kevin Williams with 12:08 left in the game. But the Hurricanes could score no more points against a stifling Alabama defense, and the Tide padded its cushion with a 1-yard touchdown run by Lassie, the game's MVP. The victory extended Alabama's winning streak to 23 and made the Tide the third Division I-A team to go 13-0 and win the national title.

The others were Nebraska in 1971 and BYU in 1981 It was a particularly rewarding win for Alabama Coach Gene Stallings, who played for Bryant at Texas and worked for him at Alabama. "To win 13 games and win the national champion-sliip, I'm not smart enough to describe how I feel," Stallings said. No. 1 Miami is denied in bid to repeat as national champion. NEW ORLEANS (AP) Alabama recaptured the glory of the Bear Bryant era Friday night by winning the national championship and depriving Miami of its fifth title in a decade of dominance.

The Crimson Tide defense humbled the No. 1 Hurricanes 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl, giving No. 2 Alabama its first championship in 13 years. Ala-bama will be officially crowned college football's champion Saturday when The Associated Press poll is released. Miami was trying to become the first back-to-back AP champion since Alabama did it under Bryant in 1978-79, and the first school to win five titles in 10 years.

But the Tide controlled the showdown between the last two unbeaten, untied teams in the country, helping Alabama capture its sixth national title and snapping Miami's 29-game winning streak. "We had a great game plan for the Miami of- fense," said Alabama linebacker Antonio London. They talked a lot of noise all week long. They were talking a lot of trash. They couldn't get it done." Miami receiver Lamar Thomas said he was disappointed that the Hurricanes failed to make history.

But he said the season wasn't ruined by the defeat, because the team overcame so many hardships to get to the Sugar Bowl, including a hurricane that destroyed the homes of several players and coaches. "When I look back over the season and think about all the things we've accomplished, I know that losing this game isn't the end of the world," Thomas said. "Give Alabama all the credit They played an outstanding game." The Tide's top-rated defense, inspired by a screaming, crimson-clad crowd of 76,789 in the Su-perdome, broke the game open by intercepting Heisman Trophy winner Gino Torretta on Miami's Assoc rottd Prtss Alabama defender Derrick Oden (left) puts the pressure on Miami quarterback Gino Torretta in the first quarter. NO effort mora Scoring, Team Stats Florida State 7 13 7 0 27 Nebraska 0 7 0 7 14 FSU Vanover 25 pass from Ward (Mowrey kick) FSU FG Mowrey 40 FSU McCorvey 4 pass from Ward (Mowrey kick) FSU FG Mowrey 24 Neb Dixon 41 pass from Frazier (Bennett kick) FSU Jackson 1 1 run (Mowrey kick) Neb Armstrong 1 pass from Frazier (Bennett kick) A 57,324 FSU extends Huskers' bowl skid. By Ken Hambleton Lincoln Journal-Star MIAMI Inspired.

Yes. Determined. Yes. Competitive. Certainly.

But frustration was still the overwhelming reaction of the Nebraska football team after its 27-14 toss to No. 3 Florida State Friday night in the Orange Bowl. While Florida State soared behind the slick play of junior quarterback Charlie Ward, llth-ranked Nebraska was mired in the mud, partly because of the mishaps of freshman quarterback Tommie Frazier. It was the seventh straight bowl victory for the Seminoles. For Ne- et Jr.

jh picked off and lost one of its five fumbles at its 2-yard line. The Cornhusk-ers also failed on first-half field goal attempts after driving to the FSU 5- and 15-yard lines. ADD TO THOSE WOES Florida State's first scoring drive, which was helped by three penalties for 20 yards against the Cornhuskers. Then, FSU marched 58 yards in seven plays including a 29-yard reverse by receiver Tamarick Vanover and a 28-yard throwback from halfback Sean Jackson to Ward to set up a 40-yard field goal that gave FSU a 10-0 lead. That was followed by Frazier ptching wildly past I-back Derek Brown with FSU defensive end Dan Footman recovering at the NU 2.

On second-and-goaL Vanover appeared to fumble the ball back to NU's John Parrella at the 4, but the Seminole receiver was ruled down before he lost the ball. On the next play, Ward hit Kez McCorvey on a touchdown pass to pad the lead to 17-0 with 9:22 left in the half. Byron Bennett missed a 39-yard field goal, and FSU drove 70 yards in 10 plays before Dan Mowrey kicked a 24-yard field goal to increase the Seminoles' lead to 200. "Ifs don't count, but two field goals we missed and a fumble we gave them at our 2-yard line, and this is a close game," Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne said. THE CORNHUSKERS finally an- Please turn to: Orange, Page 12 FSU NU 23 13 48-221 34-144 215 146 436 290 10 30 16-31-1 10-22-2 3-0 5-1 6-71 6-50 36:53 23:07 8-16 3-12 0-0 2-3 First downs Rushes-yards Passing yards Total yards Return yards Passing Punts Fumbles-lost Penalties-yards Time of possession Third-down conversions Fourth-down conversions Orange Bowl Ward says FSU is really No.

1 Page 13 braska, it marked the sixth straight bowl loss, including five losses to teams from Florida. "We bottled up Charlie Ward pretty good," said Nebraska outside linebacker Travis HilL "We only let a couple of plays get loose, and it looked like we had some good chance to score. "But we didnl They did, and that's that. And we had a few mistakes, and it cost us." WARD, WHO HAD HELPED the Seminoles outscore their last four regular-season opponents 211-66, was limited to 23 yards rushing. He completed only 15 passes for 187 yards.

It 1 "I don't think he did near the damage to us everybody said he would," Hill said. "I don't think they did all that much offensively at all "But they did enough." And what Florida State didnt get on its own, Nebraska contributed. After just one turnover in its last six games, Nebraska had two passes i Tad KlrkLlncoln Journal-Star Seminoles surround Nebraska l-back Calvin Jones on a first-quarter carry for a 2-yard loss. mafd supplied offense; NU ground game didn't left them waving, helplessly. But as the half Mike Babcock Sports Columnist MIAMI Time and again, the Florida State lootball team turned third-down situations into first downs.

Time and again, the reason was Charlie Ward, the Seminoles' quarterback. JYard was every bit as elusive as he was supposed to be in Flori la State's 27-14 victory against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl Friday. Tell me something I didn't know before the opening kickoff. WITHOUT A DOUBT, Ward will be among leaders in the race for the Heisman Trophy next season. He was the Seminoles' offense on Friday.

His imprint was on nearly every one of Florida State's 436 yards. was special no question. At times, the Cornhusker pass rushers looked like the Keystone Cops in their pursuit of the mercurial junior. Often, Nebraska's defenders got to Ward, then watched as he ducked underneath and much as a first down during the third quarter. Nebraska ran seven plays from scrimmage and punted twice in the third quarter.

One of the plays was an intercepted pass. The other six gained 14 yards. So much for comebacks. An offense that had been essentially error-free after Frazier became the starting quarterback malfunctioned often Friday night. The Cornhuskers' execution was hardly of postseason quality.

In some ways, the game went exactly as most had predicted. In some ways, it didnt Florida State was supposed to win decisively, and the final score might have looked as if it did. But it doesn't take much imagination to think the Cornhuskers could have won. With a little execution and more than 144 yards rushing, they could have. They were balanced, offensively, yes.

But they need to run to win. Jones and Derek Brown, Nebraska could add only 144 rushing yards to its season's total. Jones had more than half of those yards, 76 to be exact, on 19 carries. Either he or Brown had rushed for 100 or more yards against every opponent this season, except Washington and Iowa State, the other losses. There's a clear correlation.

The Cornhuskers passed for 146 yards, the first time this season they've gained more yards through the air than on the ground. Nebraska needed to control the ball, keep its defense off the field against Florida State. And it didn't THAT WAS NEVER more obvious than in the third quarter. The Cornhuskers had the emotional lift of a 41-yard touchdown pass from Tommie Frazier to Corey Dixon with 1:03 remaining in the first half, which cut the score to 20-7. But they couldn't pick up so wore on, Florida State ran more and more plays from the I-formation.

The Cornhuskers slowed down Florida State's fast-break offense about as well as any team has. In fact, Ward and his "Perils of Pauline" escapes shouldn't have been enough to beat Nebraska, which did an admirable job of pressuring him when the game could still be had. All things considered, the Nebraska defense didn't play that badly Friday night, despite the yardage it yielded. It bent, but it didn't break as often as it could have. i RATHER, IT WAS Nebraska's offense that broke down.

Broke down, or was sabotaged, as it was in last year's 22-0 Orange Bowl loss to Miami and other recent bowl losses. No way was Nebraska going to shut down the Seminoles. the only way it could have won was to outscore them. So much was made of Florida State's speed on offense. But the Seminoles' defensive speed, ultimately, was Nebraska's undoing.

The Cornhuskers came to the Orange Bowl with the No. 1 rushing offense in the country. However, despite an offensive line described by Coach Tom Osborne as one of his best, and despite a pair of rushers in Calvin uskers hope to regain Associated Press Top 25 Bowl result their competitive edge Irish burst Aggies' bubble DALLAS (LAT) On a cold New Year's Day in the Cotton BowL Notre Dame warmed Lou Holtz's heart with a victory against Texas that the Irish coach could truly appreciate a no-frills, up-the-gut, 28-3 pounding. The fifth-ranked Irish scored 21 points in the second half to put the Probable Starters Nebraska (8-3) 1 Miami, Fla. (1 1 -1 lost to Alabama 34-1 3, Sugar 2.

Alabama (13-0) def. Miami, Fla. 34-13, Sugar 3. Florida State (1 1-1) def. Nebraska 27-14, Orange 4.

Texas (12-1) lost to Notre Dame 28-3, Cotton 5. Notre Dame (10-1-1) def. Texas 28-3, Cotton 6. Syracuse (10-2) def. Colorado 26-22.

Fiesta 7. Michigan (9-0-3) def. Washington 38-31 Rose 8. Georgia (10-2) def. Ohio State 21-14, Citrus 9.

Washington (9-3) lost to Michigan 38-31 Rose 10. Colorado (9-2-1) lost to Syracuse 26-22, Fiesta 11 Nebraska (9-3) lost to Florida State 27-14, Orange 12. North Carolina State (9-3-1 lost to Florida 27-1 0. Gator 13. Stanford (10-3) def.

Penn State 24-3, Blockbuster 14. Florida (9-4) def. North Carolina State 27-10, Gator 15. Ohio State (8-3-1) lost to Georgia 21-14, Citrus 16. Boston College (8-3-1) lost to Tennessee 38-23, Hall of Fame 17.

Tennessee (9-3) def. Boston College 38-23, Hall of Fame Reb. 7.4 5.4 67 30 1.5 Vr. Pt Eric Piatkowski (6-7) Jr. 16.6 Bruce Chubck (6-7) Jr.

7.9 Derrick Chandler (6-10) Sr. 10.4 Jamar Johnson (5-11) Jr. 11.5 Andre WooWdge (6-1 Fr. 7.2 Eastern Illinois (1-6) Cotton Bowl 18. Washington State (9-3) def.

Utah 31-28, Copper 1-3 road trip shows Nee basketball team p.eeds to get a boost irxmental willpower. ByCurt McKeever Lincoln Journal-Star Back to work. After returning Friday from a four-game, 11-day trip to California and Hawaii, the Nebraska men's basketball team went straight to the Deva-ney; Sports Center and held a 90-minute practice in preparation for Saturday's 7:05 p.m. home game against Eastern Illinois. 'Rest, according to Coach Danny Nee said, is not No.

1 in importance to the Cornhuskers. A 1-3 showing out West against Southern California and three games in the Rainbow Classic showed Nee his team needs a boost in mental willpower. "We're not very mature and tough-minded at this point, but I did think we can learn that as we were going through this," Nee said. "My dad always said that you measure a man by Eow he handles adversity and that's yhat I tell these kids all the time and we're not there yet," AFTER LOSING to Southern Cal, N0-'6 Michigan and NCAA Tournament-tested Southwestern Louisiana, Nee tabled his team's confidence as "IT JUST SEEMS like everything is just off a little bit Against Southwestern Louisiana and even Michigan, nobody shot well," Piatkowski said. "They're in there, rattling in and out, they're good shots.

We're starting to work the offense well, and we're trying to concentrate on things to get better. "It's going to come, and when it does we're going to be really good." NOTES: Nebraska freshman guard Andre Woolridge was in good condition after a car accident Friday night in Omaha. The car he was driving struck a power pole, authorities told The Associated Press. Firefighters had to get Woolridge out of the car because of the fear of live wires. He was able to walk to the ambulance, and a St Joseph Hospital spokesman was unsure late Friday whether Woolridge would be admitted.

Saturday's game marks Nebraska's fifth straight against a 1992 NCAA Tournament team. Eastern Illinois, which lost to NU 81-68 last season, is off to a 1-6 start and hasnt played since Dec. 21. Some $7 upper-section tickets remain and will go on sale at the NU ticket office at noon Saturday. 19.

North Carolina (8-3) plays Mississippi State, Peach 20. Mississippi (9-3) def. Air Force 13-0, Liberty 21 Perm State (7-5) lost to Stanford 24-3, Blockbuster 22. Arizona (6-5-1) lost to Baylor 20-15, John Hancock 23. Southern Cal (6-5-1) lost to Fresno State 24-7, Freedom 24.

Mississippi State (7-4) plays North Carolina, Peach Pot-flayer (Ht.) Vr. Pt. deb. Louis Jordan (6-5) So. 13 6 3 0 Andre Rodnguez (6-7) So.

6 8 4 2 Curtis Leib (6-7) Jr. 6 8 2.8 GerrickLandrus(6-1) So. 16 5 0 0 Eric West (6-4) Sr. 10.2 4.8 TIp-oH: 7:05 p.m.. Saturday, Devaney Sport Center.

Next game: 7:05 p.m.. Tuesday, Southern Utah, Devaney Sports Center. But after the Cornhuskers snapped their string against Fordham on Wednesday, junior forward Eric Piatkowski said Nebraska shouldn't panic just because of its disappointing trip. As he noted, the 8-3 Cornhuskers have four non-conference games remaining, and "there's just no way we should lose one, so that'd put us at 12-3, and that's not bad." "People shouldn't get down on us just because we just got three losses," Piatkowski said. "I think we're going to bounce back strong and be good." And, he said, he doesn't think it will take a lot of changes for Nebraska to reach that level game away and threw only thtt.

passes to do it For Holtz, who never met a conservative game plan he didn't like, it was pure football. For fourth-ranked Texas the previously unbeaten Southwest Conference champion, it was pure torture. Most damaging to the Aggies were two long Notre Dame drives in the second half that were accomplished entirely with running plays, most of them between the tackles. "It definitely was north and south," Notre Dame fullback Jerome Bettis said of his running style Friday. wasnt looking for fakes and jukesM was just trying to pound people" i Bettis produced all three of.Uie Irish's second-half touchdowns.

He scored on runs of 4 and 1 yard, and tie caught a 26-yard touchdown pass Please turn to: Cotton, Page 10 25. Brfgham Young (8-5) tost to Kansas 23-20, Aloha Vols give Fulmer first official victory Page 10 Syracuse kickoff return costs Colorado Page 10 Michigan gets revenge in Rose Bowl Page 10 Stanford's Walsh gets better of Paterno Page 1 Bowl schedule, summaries Page 10 a.