The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 44

NOVEWBEB 1 9, 1 999 SUNQAY JQURH t-ST AW 3 BUSKERS C6DC NU offense went about its business By Ryty Jane Hambleton The Nebraska-Oklahoma game radi-tionaDy gets Cornhusker players and fans more rued up than any other contest. But the Huskers took the 1989 game in stride, according to offensive tackle Doug Glaser. "We've been calm this whole year and that was still how we took this game today he said Saturday. "Even after we got up by 21 points, we knew Oklahoma would come back and play us tough to the end. "But we knew we could win because we knew what we had to do to win.

We had a lot of confidence we could get it done." Good play-calling Glaser attributed that to the play-calling of Coach Tom Osborne. "Most of our passing was set up through the run. And, there were a lot of good calls by Coach Osborne. He had a good game plan, because he knows what's going to work and not going to work," Glaser said. "An week long, he thought the play-action passing would work against them.

"I was kind of surprised they were stuffing us as wen as they did on first down, but we hit some really key passes on second and third downs." And that, Glaser said, was attributable to the execution of quarterback Gerry Gdowski "He runs our offense so wen and knows what we have to do," Glaser said. "If he doesnt get aH-Big Eight (as quarterback) wen, I dont think anybody on our team deserves it more than him. I think there's no doubt he's the best quarterback in the Big Eight Those passes were just perfect today." Receiver Jon Bostick, who had two catches for 34 yards on Nebraska's touchdown drive opening the second half, agreed. "On both my passes, especially the second one on the hook pattern, I looked up and the ball was in my hands," Bostick said. "He had it timed perfectly.

He knew I was going to run nine yards and he threw it before I was there. "I don't think there's a defensive back in the country who can cover a pass when the receiver turns around and the baU is in his hands. There's no time to react" Exploited OU secondary Gdowski passed for 225 yards on 12 completions, including four touchdowns, and Bostick said Nebraska exploited the Oklahoma secondary. "The defensive backs were giving us a lot of cushion they seemed to sag off quite a bit" he said. "I think they were trying to play the run with their safeties and linebackers because we do a tot of option passes." NU offensive line coach Milt Tenopir said inexperience in the Oklahoma secondary also contributed to the Huskers1 passing success.

"We hurt them in the secondary badly and it was primarily because of a lot of youth back there," Tenopir said. '1' 't "J7i iJ VrLLi tin 6 'l4j- y9 itfir GAIL FOLOASUNOAY JOURNAL-STAR TED KIRK SUNOAY JOURNAL-STAR left in the first quarter, Nebraska quarterback Gerry Gdowskl got a pass off ftSSf SrSl Benito a heaw r. nuahnma linphariccr Frank Biovins 351 scoring strike. The catch and Gregg Barrios conversion put NU ahead 22-7. llass-blocking drills pay off for Huskers By Ken Hambleton "When the offense is clicking, it seemed like we gamo in 1976.

Gdowski also ran for a touchdown to ful, he gets a big share of the blame. "I want to make sure everybody knows there are tie the school record of 13 in a season set by Steve could line up and send everybody out on a pass," JJ The driEs where one offensive lineman would Cbtock one defensive lineman, over and over and iover, were tiring, Nebraska offensive tackle Tom rPttatsaid. 2 1 "We've been doing the pass-pro drills for the last 0ve or six weeks and we must be getting good at Punt said Saturday after NU's 42-25 victory i against Oklahoma. "I think the Oklahoma defense ias surprised that here was Nebraska, pass block- lng like a passing team." I The Cornhuskers passed for 225 yards and ran 236 yards, including many on run-pass option plays, against the Sooners. fl 'And, in an of Nebraska's pass plays, quarterback C-J Gerry Gdowski was sacked just once, for an 8-yard wjfess.

think we're getting better at pass protection," iPunt'said." The passing game worked so well, there were dreams of even greater success. Taylor last year. Gdowski also broke the school record for lowest interception rate throwing just two interceptions in 136 attempts and he broke the school record for total offense in a season, which was held by Mike Rozier. His final pass rating of 177.3 is a school record and his rating of 294 against Oklahoma is the second-best in history by a NU quarterback And finally, he set a school mark for the highest average per rushing attempt (7.91), breaking the record held by Rozier. "I am shocked at the numbers," Gdowski said.

"I thought and I still believe that this (OU) was the best defense we've seen this season. "You've got to remember that when a team is successful that the quarterback gets a lot more credit than he deserves and when it's not success 10 other guys out there with me on the field at all times," he said. NU Coach Tom Osborne said he was impressed with Gdowski "Gerry is deserving of any honors he can get," Osborne said. "Look at the numbers, eight yards a carry, and percentage of touchdown passes. I dont remember any quarterback, any even at Oklahoma, who had those kind of stats." Punt said part of the motivation for the offense was provided by Oklahoma.

"We have these three Texans (Bill Bobbora, Young and Glaser) on the offensive line and there's no way those guys are going to give anything to Oklahoma. "We were going for the NCAA rushing title, too, since we dont have but a long shot at the national title," he said. "Now, with Gerry back there, we may be looking at the passing title, ha, ha." wingback Richard Ben said. There is one other aspect to pass blocking that made the Nebraska offense work, NU center Jake Young added. "Gerry Gdowski, everything he does is right He may not have been a great thrower, but he throws well enough and he runs the option to perfection.

You cant ask him to do any more than he's done." Young said Gdowski's performance was the fulfillment of a preseason prophecy. "I said when we came in that we didnt have a lot of big names, but by the end of the season, people will know about us and some of our individuals," he said. Gdowski completed a career-high 12 passes for a career-high 225 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. His 19 touchdown passes this season were one short of the school record set by Vince Ferra- Fiesta official happy Cornhusker notes, quotes At 5 pm Saturday, the Fiesta Bowl will extend invitations to Nebraska and Florida State, officially. "We hope theyll be accepted," Alex Crutchfield said with a smile after the Cornhuskers' 42-25 victory over Oklahoma Saturday at Memorial Stadium Crutchfield, a member of the Fiesta Bowl's selection committee, watched the game with understandable apprehension.

Even though it's still not official, his bowl was committed to the Cornhuskers, win or lose. 1 In Nebraska, 10-1, and Florida State, 8-2 with one game remaining, the Fiesta Bowl win have "maybe the two most exciting teams in the country," said Crutchfield. "We believe the winner of Kjur; game could be the national cham- pion. It's not too far-fetched. "It'd be a fun place to get Tom (Os-" borne) the national championship." The Fiesta Bowl was denied permission this week by the NCAA to extend an official invitation to the Cornhuskers after Saturday's game.

"They said we could do an unofficial invite but not an official one," said Crutchfield. "It's silliness. I'd guess that about aU the bowls have been filled for the last week." Despite finishing second to Colorado in the Big Eight Nebraska probably "has its best team in five or six years," Crutchfield said. "We're thrilled to have 'em." Unofficially, of course. Coach Tom Osborne: "The atmosphere was good.

I've seen very few unpleasant incidents, and it's possible to nave a great rivalry, and to want to win very badly and still play the game in the proper spirit You dont need to preach a lot hatred that's a lot garbage. "I told (Oklahoma Coach Gary) Gibbs that I hoped he didnt take offense at our last field goal We just thought that making it 17 points would do it We didnt want an interesting last minute. "If we had been stopping them, we might not have done that But they were good, and we werent stopping them" On quarterack Gerry Gdowski: "Right now, I wish we'd have redshirted him. But that was his decision and he's going to do weU as an accountant or whatever he wants to do." For some Huskers, there were a few uneasy moments in the fourth quarter after Oklahoma cut the margin to 39-25 and regained possession with nearly nine minutes left in the game. "They're a fourth-quarter team and they really believe they're unstoppable in the fourth quarter," said tackle Doug Glaser.

"We knew we just had to keep control of the ball we wanted to run out the clock." Linebacker Randall Jobman said Oklahoma's history lends itself to miraculous finishes. "Oklahoma has Sooner Magic so we knew we weren't out of the woods until "They had penetrated pretty wen to that side, so unconsciously I turned around and went the other way and ran away from the big guys. I dont like to run into them," he said. "I saw (Brian) Carpenter wide open in the end zone and threw it to him "It took me by surprise when Greg yelled I figured I better get up and do something about it" I Tight end Chris Garrett on his touchdowns: "I just didnt think the ban would ever get there. But I think Gerry is one of the best athletes in the nation and I knew it would get there eventually.

"They were both bootleg passes in the Nebraska tight end tradition." Garrett has five receptions and four touchdowns this season. the clock shut down," he said. "They've come from behind to win some big games before and once you've tlone something, you know it's possible again." IS Placekick holder and quarterback Jerry Dunlap said he was surprised when kicker Gregg Barrios yeUed "fire," calling for a two-point conversion attempt on the Huskers' second touchdown. "I just kind of bobbled the snap, even though it was a good snap," said Dunlap. "I got it down, but Gregg said he already was there to plant so the timing was kind of messed up." Dunlap picked up the ball and turned to the right side of the field, only to see oncoming Sooners.

From Huskers picked by a Nebraska team against Oklahoma in 20 years, and the most points by NU-OU combined at Memorial Stadium. my wildest dreams, I never 42 points would be possible lagajnst Oklahoma," Osborne said. "We thought they were vulnerable to the 2 pass, but iGdowski threw for more yards Oklahoma than any other NU 'quarterback. In 1984, Nebraska had 236 yards passing in a 17-7 loss to OU, but it -came from two quarterbacks, Craig 'Sundberg and Travis Turner. passing was there, so we took 4L said.

"We noticed their de-I; tensive backs were supporting the run tvery fast That left a lot of people wide, wide open. Both passes to Chris (Gar-were open and it seemed like I had out there just waiting for me to nirow the ban to them I'After a while, you get in a groove you feel Jike you can complete of Gdowski's incomplete passes iwere thro wa ways and one was tipped 2tfay In the end zone. His first comple- tiori; a 9-yard pass that Richard Ben a reached behind to catch, ted to Nebras- la's first touchdown. 'With the game just over a minute old, Oklahoma tost a fumble at its 34-yard We-and three plays later, Gdowski scored from 8 yards out on an option run. That was Nebraska's only running touchdown of the game.

Oklahoma, which finished 7-4, soared back into contention when quarterback Steve Collins hit Arthur Guess on a 82-yard scoring pass to tie the game 58 seconds later. Not to be outdone, Gdowski hit wing-back Bell on a 31-yard touchdown pass and connected with Garrett on a 24-yard scoring pass in the next eight minutes to give the Cornhuskers a 22-7 lead. Oklahoma came back again when Leon Perry scored on a 1-yard, dive to cap a 13-play march that included a 16-yard "Fumbleroosky" play by Sawatzky to the Nebraska 1. Both two teams tacked on field goals before half time. Nebraska extended its scoring success with two more touchdown passes by Gdowski, a 23-yard floater to Garrett and a 38-yard toss to Gregory, to boost the lead to 39-18.

Oklahoma, which had won the last three games in Lincoln, drove to the Nebraska 7-yard line and then "Fumbleroo-skied" Sawatzky to the 1 again to set up a touchdown dive by Perry to cut the gap to 39-25 with 12:49 left in the game. "No, I wasnt thinking 'Here we go Osborne said. Tm just sorry we showed them how to do that (Fumbleroosky)." Nebraska first used the play in 1979 against the Sooners. Nebraska's defense kept Oklahoma's offensive production to 124 yards in the second half, almost one-half of its first-half output In the fourth quarter, the Sooners managed just 46 yards of offense and Oklahoma's last two chances ended in frustration. On the Sooners next-to-last possession, a swarming rush by Jeff Mills, Ray Valladao and Kent Wells knocked Collins for a 2-yard loss and NU tipped away a fourth-down pass at the NU 36.

The Cornhuskers tacked on Gregg Barrios' second field goal of the game with two minutes left and Nebraska freshman Tyrone Byrd then intercepted a pass with four seconds remaining to close out the Cornhuskers' second straight victory against Oklahoma. "I'm proud of this team," Osborne said. "We maybe havent played the toughest schedule. We played Oklahoma and Colorado. And for those who think Bob Devaney and I manipulated our schedule, we are going to take on Florida State (in the Fiesta Bowl) and we didnt have to do that There are other teams that arent quite that good.

I dont know if anybody is any better." Osborne said the end of the regular season was pleasing. "I dont feel we've this year," be said. "That's not take anything away from Colorado. They won, but we didnt lose. We played weU." WW-V r.

r-J tt -IV r-ftriffl 1 Tf--mJtmtm ww (Willi s. OAR. FOLDASUNDAV JOURNAL-STAR Nebraska's Richard Bell makes a diving catch behind Oklahoma's Kevin Thompson (22) in the end zone for a 31 -yard touchdown reception from Gerry Gdowski in the first quarter. Kit'-'.