The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 30

SUNDAY, APRIL 1991 LINCOtN JOURNAL-STAR 4DEZZZ3 FOOTBALLOPiniOnSPOnTS pit iffiaiS cBride disappointed 1 WKKSKKHk with defensive intensity mm. 4 WAY rHf By Ken Hambleton Lincoln Journal-Star Never has so little been done In such a short time, Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride said. y. "If we're not better than this, we better have a good offense," he said after Saturday's spring foot ball game. "We're the least prepared at the end of spring practice we've been since I've been here." McBride said there are a number of reasons for the lack of progress.

First, four defensive players 4 who will be expected to start or compete for starting spots next fall missed the spring with injuries. Limited workouts Second, the spring workouts were limited by the NCAA to IS days 10 in pads. With so many new ti I jfi T' people on defense, the coaches were limited to lacked a strong pass rush, NU head coach TomjQs-bornesaid. "The pass rush needs to improve, and it wiH," he said. "Right now, our defensive tackles are stable guys with a lot of strength and power to stop the run but don't get to the passer welL And the secondary has talent but not a lot of experience, except for Tyrone Legette, and that will take a lot of improvement" Curtis Cotton, previously a monsterback, was at cornerback for the first time this spring.

Kenny Wilhite and Vernon Powell moved to cornerback from the offense this spring, too. Osborne said there were some good signs oh de- fense. "We didnt give up the huge, big plays, and held together well for the most part," he said. The Reds scored on a 44-yard run by Derek Brown and on a 53-yard pass from Tom Haase to Nate Turner. "And remember, we may have had an exceptional day on offense, too," Osborne said.

Improvement seen Outside linebacker David Leader, who had three quarterback sacks, said he could see improvement in the younger defensive players. "We've got the base built," he said. "We just have to add on to get better. For instance, we only ran a half of our blitzes, and we didn't run the dime (pass defense). "But well have some of the experienced guys back in the fall, and the new guys will feel more confident, so it should come together." Inside linebacker Mike Petko, who had two tackles behind the line, agreed.

"It'll take time to find the guys to fill in for the six defensive players we had drafted into the NFL last week," he said. "We'll thicken up by the 1 "Maf 4 Pf JFN rV covering only the basics. There were other concerns, too. "I'm disappointed in the intensity," McBride said. "We had a bunch of reachers and grabbers.

That lack of intensity is a big concern. "And unless we improve in all areas, a whole lot of things, it's going to be a long season. We've got so much improvement to do, it's scary." The Red defense was limited because outside linebackers David White and Trev Alberts were out all spring, recovering from surgery. Travis Hill, who had two quarterback sacks, was slowed by a bruised heel late in the scrimmage. The defensive line also was limited Middle guard Pat Engelbert was held out of the second half after he was hit in the head and momentarily lost his memory.

Lacked strong pass rush And while defensive tackles John Parrella and Jamie Liewer played well against the run, they A HARALD DREIMANIS LINCOLN JOURNAL-STAR Nebraska l-back Calvin Jones (44) darts through a hole and away from a tackle attempt by cornerback Curtis Cotton en route to some of his 99 yards rushing in Saturday's Spring Game. Notes quotes Spring Game statistics I- Coach Tom Osborne said the r-prrp 'Jr but he kept asking if the scrimmage had started and had to ask how the game came out," NU trainer George Sullivan said. "His injury doesn't appear to be too serious." Outside linebacker Travis Hill had a bruised heel; I-backfullback Scott Baldwin a hip pointer, defensive back Chris Grass a knee strain and linebacker Daren Williams a bruised knee. I Osborne said he didnt think any of his football players were involved in Nebraska's internal investigation of athletes obtaining loans from Raymond J. Peery, the executive director of Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact, who was arrested this week on a charge of diverting at least $600,000 in compact funds for his own use.

Osborne said he asked his players if they had been involved with Peery, and they said "no." Two NU basketball players had loan deals, that have since been canceled, from Peery. quarterback race is still close. He said all three of the quarterbacks heading into their senior year Tom Haase, Keithen McCant and Mike Grant should grade well from the spring. He added that Mickey Joseph, who was out with a shoulder injury, is still in the race. "Haase had a little more of a solid day but he was with the No.

1 offense all day, too McCant and Grant switched teams at halftime. Osborne said no decision has been made yet, but that if Grant is not No. I after a couple weeks of fall practice, he would be redshirted. He added that he didn't foresee alternating quarterbacks next fall "We'll go with whoever is the best." Senior middle guard Pat Engelbert was held out of the second half ajter.suffering a loss of memory. "He knew; what was going on in the present, HARALD DREIMANISLINCOLN JOURNAL-STAR Red 43, White 21 White .14 0 7 0-21 Red 14 7 0 22-43 First quarter Red Derek Brown 44 run (Byron Bennett kick) White Keithen McCant 1 run (kick failed) Red Ray Relfenrath recovered fumble In end zone (Bennett kick) White Joel Cornwell 15 run (Duane Wiles pass from Corn well) i it- Second quarter Red Tom Haase 12 run Bennett kick) Third quarter White Vincent Hawkins 3 pass from Mike Grant (Pat Specht kick) Fourth quarter Red Haase 1 run Brown run) Red Nate Turner S3 pass from Haase (Bern nettklck) Red Kyle Emslck 3 run (Bennett kick) Red Whlti First downs 28 Rushes-yards S9-345 42 147 Passing vards 220 141 Return yards 37 20 Passing 14-24-0 1H1-0 Punts Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0 Penalties-yards 3-30 5-50 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Red, Haase 14-45, D.

Brown 12-131, Lewis 5-17, Grant 1-4, Achola 4-17, McMlllen 4-50, Emslck 3-20, Williams 3-8, Schlesinger 3-22, Gries 2-3, Llndquist 1-5, Johnk Turner 1-1, McCant l-(-12), Cornwell 1-8, Nance 1-4. White, McCant 8-H), Baldwin Lamme 1-(-l), M. Jones 2-31, Blatny 1-8, Corn-well 1-15, Fiala 1-3, Glantz 1-2, C. Jones 13-99, Mitchell l--4). Grant 7-1-17), Hawkins 1-3.

PASSING Red, Haase 10-164, 12; Corn-well 2-2-0, 34; McMlllen 1-2-0, 17; Grant 1-2-0, McCant 0-1-0, Llndquist 0-1-0, 0. White, McCant 5-10-0, 45; Grant 5-12-0, 42; Gragnano 3-5-0, 20; M. Jones 1-2-0, 10; Cornwell 1-2-0, 4. RECEIVING Red, Turner 3-82, Leise 2-33, Schepers 1-27, Medley 1-17, Achola 1-14, Dowse 2-14, L. Lewis 1-9, McDuffy 1-8, D.

Brown 1-7, Shaw 1-7. White, Hughes 344, Werner 2-25, Seizys 2-15, Fleischman 1-12, Vedral Ml, Armstrong 1-10, Hawkins 2-9, Wiles l-B, Mitchell 1-7, Raderl-0. Husker l-back Derek Brown gets pushed out of bounds by free safety Dean Schneider before he can score a touchdown during the first quarter. Brown's foot went out on the 2-yard line, the official ruled. MWIJimillllllllMlltlMllllUlliaWWIIiipWtgl II I 1' iff u.

i HARALD DREIMANISLINCOLN JOURNAL-STAR Tom Haase makes a cut. Huskers From pagelD i msmmm sw mmmw with a quarterback sneak for a touchdown and, three minutes later, hit wing-back Nate Turner on a 53-yard scoring paSS. "I think we'll be a lot different on offense next fall because every scrimmage, including today, we used the new plays and they worked," Haase said. "Come fall, we'll be adding more of the same kind of things." McCant, who Osborne said was one of the most improved players this spring, said the changes have made for a happy offense. "We are utilizing more players in more ways and the offensive likes it, especially the receivers.

"We've mixed things up enough that we can throw a 2-yard pass and get a 30-yard gain," he said. i However, the changes may not dramatic as Haase and McCant said. Osborne said he would stay with the new plays but warned that the changes are not a sip of a conversion in offense. "I don't want people reading the newspapers and thinking we've changed everything." Publicized changes in the Nebraska offense were not apparent at the start Brown broke through the line on a 44-yard touchdown run to open the scoring and put the Red ahead. New offensive plans were evident the first time the White had the ball, though.

McCant hit 4 of 5 passes for 54 yards to set up a 1-yard quarterback sneak to give the White its first score. Then, Haase, who hit 10 of 16 passes for 162 yards, countered with a series of three short passes, interspersed with runs of 14, 7, 1 and 11 yards to give the Red a first down at the 2. Fullback Lance Lewis fumbled, but offensive tackle Ray Reifenrath recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Haase scored on a 12-yard run to break a 14-14 tie late in the second quarter, but the White tied the game on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Grant to wingback Vincent Hawkins early in the third quarter. Haase hits Turner The Red closed out the scoring when Haase capped a 45-yard scoring drive 1 v.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Quarterback Keithen McCant can't escape the clutches of Red team linebacker Travis Hill during the first half. Readers' sportshorts Spitz's second race also a dud Corner Van Zant is a former Parade Magazine national player of the year after a celebrated prep career at H'azelwood Central High School in Florissant However, a history of knee injuries dating back to 1986 has sidetracked his college career. The 6-foot-l, 203-pound junior has one year of eligibility left at Missouri. Waldorf continues hot streak with 63 GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) Could Duffy Waldorf be 100 times better in the 1991 Greater Greensboro Open than he was in last year's tournament? He's working on it Waldorf, whose third-round 81 last year led to a final score of 300 and a check for $2,562, tied the Forest Oaks Country Club record with a 9-under-par 63.

His 12-under-par 204 total gave him a share of the lead with first-round leader Bob Wolcott and an eye on the $225,000 first prize, a vast change from last year's take-home pay. Cesar Chavez still an unbeaten champion CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) Julio Cesar Chavez, the world super lightweight champion, remained unbeaten in 75 fights when he knocked out Tommy Small Friday night in the fourth round of a non-title bout About 10,000 fans filled the stadium in Culiacan, capital of the northwestern state of Sinaloa where a disastrous flood left hundreds homeless last year. The scheduled 10-round fight was held to benefit the flood victims. Drake starts work on sports center DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Ground was broken at Drake on Saturday for a $12 million sports center that officials said will take the university "to another level of athletic excellence." The Multipurpose Recreation, Sports and Convocation Center-will enable the Drake men's basketball team to play its home games on campus for the first time in 30 years. It also will be the home court for women's basketball and volley-; ball and will house weight training rooms, a fitness center, jogging track and racquetball and handball courts.

The center will seat 7,000 for basketball It is scheduled to be, completed in the fall of 1992, and Drake hopes to play its 1992-93 basketball season opener in the building. Cocaine reportedly Maradona's downfall BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) An Argentimarinkws agency reported that police tests on Diego Maradona were positive' for cocaine use, and the 30-year-old soccer star remained isolated in a jail cell. 'Bonecrusher' wins jr. heavyweight title RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Former heavyweight champion James' Smith won the IBC junior heavyweight title Saturday with a first-round technical knockout of Pancho Carter.

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. (AP) Mark Spitz's comeback was dealt another setback Saturday when Matt Biondi beat the former Olympic champion in the 50-meter butterfly in a matchup of gold-medal winners. Biondi swam the race in 24.51 seconds in his attempt to break the world-record time of 24.39 seconds. Spitz, winner of seven unprecedented Olympic gold medals nearly 20 years ago, swam in 26.51. The 41-year-old Spitz lost to Tom Jager on April 13 in the first race of his comeback.

Jager finished in 24.92 seconds, while Spitz clocked 26.70 in the 50-meter butterfly. "I am disappointed in my time but I feel better about this race than the one two weeks ago," Spitz said. "I feel good about my progress and I feel I am improving all the time." Spitz retired after setting seven world records to match his medals in the 1972 Olympics at Munich. Missouri's Van Zant arrested for assault COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) Tony Van Zant, a junior running back at the University of Missouri, was arrested on charges of third-degree assault Saturday morning following a fight outside a local bar.

Columbia police say Van Zant was allegedly involved in a brawl with two men outside the Field House, a favorite student night spot in Columbia. Van Zant, 23, was released from Boone County jail early Saturday after posting a $1,000 bond. Mahoney hole dangerous I would like to call someone's attention; to what I would call a dangerous situation at Mahoney Golf Course, where I at times play. On the No. 1 hole, when players are on the second tee box or are coming off No.

5 and walking around the backside of No. 1-to get to the No. 6 tee box, it is a miracle someone has not been hit by a golf ball and seriously injured. I suppose it would take a bad shot to have this happen, but if some golfers plqy Ijke I do, it could. A screen or net or something needs to be erected.

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