The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 34

8DC 3 HUSKERS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1992 LINCOLN JOURNAL-8TAR skers can finally turn their thoughts to Htiskies By Ken Hambleton Lincoln Jouma-Star Kelly Holcomb had a bit of advice for Nebraska before the Cornhuskers travel to Seattle to face No. 2-ranked and defending national champion Washington next week. "They've got a tough one next week, don't they? I don't know too much about Washington, but I'd say they'd better be pumped up," the Middle Tennessee State quarterback said. Holcomb's implication that Middle Tennessee State didn't have the complete attention of the Cornhuskers was accurate, according to many Nebraska players. "I'm glad the Washington game is here and nothing is in the way of us taking a big, big step next week," said NU quarterback Mike Grant.

"We've practiced for Washington on and off for a number of weeks now, and now, they get our full attention." The reason is simple, Grant said. "We don't want to be looking back and saying, 'Washington, that's the reason we aren't We don't want that lurking behind us all season." The differences between beating Middle Tennessee and Utah and facing Washington are obvious, he added. "For one, we won't see better personnel than Washington. For another, we won't see the 'soft' defense Middle Tennessee played or the special defenses Utah played," he said. "We'll see a lot of football like we play it.

"It'll be just like ones-on-ones in our scrimmages. No gimmicks. Just great football." Grant, who watched the NU-Washington game from the sidelines last year as a red-shirt, said he took notes. "They are actually the same as us. Great athletes.

Great team. And they don't let up. We've got to be like the way we were in the first half last week and the second half this week for the whole game against Washington." NU outside linebacker Trev Alberts said it was hard not to look ahead to Washington. "I'm sure it was there in the back of our minds. Monday, we go to work on them." Then, "you just go out and hit them as hard as you can and help them up.

That's the way football is supposed to be played. "I guarantee you won't see us not hustling next week." Derek Brown, who rushed for two touch downs and 154 yards, said he was haunted by thoughts of Washington throughout the last two games. "Washington was there in the back of my mind and the minds of most players the last couple of weeks," he said. "Everyone likes to take on the top teams and take a shot at tearing them down. I think a lot of the things are the same for this year's game with Washington.

And yet, I think we have more talent. We're showing it now and then. We need to show it for a whole game with them." Receiver and kick returner Tyrone Hughes, who sparked Nebraska's second-half explosion Saturday with a series of kick returns, said Nebraska won't beat Washington with a first half similar to the one it played Saturday. "We're a better team than we were a year ago. Our defense is better and we have a bet-, ter handle on offense and kicking.

But a lackadaisical attitude, like the one we seemed to have today, would stop all that against v'V. I-back Calvin Jones, who rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown, said Saturday's victory should help Nebraska prepare for Washington. "We kept plugging away today and finally got it right. Last year against Washington, we had them beat and kept plugging away until we ran out of gas in the end and lost," he said. "A lot of people jumped off the bandwagon then and lost faith in us.

We kept going, knowing we'd have another shot at them this year. Now, it's here," Hu Raiders bullish on first half but can't bear up to pressure MY SAL UIS mm, tAJ I I J. By Curt McKeever Lincoln Journal-Star In reference to the fact that its football team received a $300,000 payday by playing Nebraska in Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon, some Middle Tennessee State fans wore T-shirts bearing the phrase "We did it for the money." For 30 minutes, the Division I-AA Blue Raiders looked more like a million bucks, as they trailed the Cornhuskers just 14-7 at halftime. Thirty minutes later, however, MTSU Coach James "Boots" Donnelly was ready to put his team up for bankruptcy following a 48-7 thrashing. "It could've been a good experience, but right now, no, it's not a good experience," Donnelly said.

"I think we should've played them a hell of a lot better. I think we should've played them a heck of a lot harder. We didn't, and it's not a good experience now. No, the last half was a sickening experience." In the first half, Middle Tennessee State's offense was forced to punt after three downs on just two of its six possessions, one of which ended when quarterback Kelly Holcomb connected with split end Vince Parks for a 61-yard touchdown pass that tied the game at 7-7 with 10:26 left in the second quarter. Two other drives ended with missed field goal attempts by Garth Petrilli.

Caught in rotation But in the second half, the Blue Raiders went three-and-out on five of their first seven possessions, fumbled on the first play of another and got a first down on the other only because of a Nebraska personal foul. "We were feeling pretty good at halftime, but their coaches must've went in and jacked it up because they came out the second half and just got to it right quick," Holcomb said. "Once they start rotating (players) in and out, we start getting tired. They keep sending them in fresh and you look and you say, 'Oh no, here comes some It gets frustrating." The Blue Raiders also had a trying time attempting to stop Nebraska's offense after halftime, as the Cornhuskers marched to three touchdowns in their first four drives. The first two scoring drives, on successive possessions at the start of the half, took just two plays apiece.

"We didn't believe that they could just come out and run, so when they did I think everybody just went into a shell," said linebacker Shingo Weems. "They didn't make any adj ustments, we ust didn't come out the same. "I guess we went ahead thinking the score was going to be 14-7 at the end of the game. I believe it shocked a lot of the guys playing like that (in the first half), so they looked ahead of themselves and thought it was just going to be the same thing automatically (in the second). They forgot you've got to make it happen." Nothing in second half That's what angered Donnelly the most.

"The first half, we played just as hard as we could play," he said. "We had an opportunity to do something the second half; we did nothing. Nebraska came back out like typical Nebraska teams, with a great deal of pride, and they played. We backed off. We went from an awfully good first 30 minutes to a very, very poor second half." Why? Donnelly could only guess that his team might have been in a daze for having played the Cornhuskers close in the first half.

"I don't think my players are mature enough to understand that these guys have got a lot of tradition," he said. "They weren't satisfied with (the score), they listened to their football coaches over there in that locker room and ours didn't listen to ours. Maybe we're just not very good, as far as playing a full game. Maybe we can play for a quarter or two quarters, but we just cannot sustain a full game." For Donnelly, that was reason enough for him to think, at least on Saturday, that playing Nebraska wasn't worth the money. Adjustments do the trick Is By.

Ken Hambleton Lincoln Journal-Star So Coach Tom Osborne, just how does a team go from scoring two touchdowns in two quarters to scoring four touchdowns in 16 minutes? "It wasn't anything major we changed," Osborne said Saturday after Nebraska erased memories of frustrating first half with a strong' third quarter against Middle Tennes-' see State. "I thought they (the Huskers) came out and played solid football in the second half, which is a credit to them because I could not do it for them. They did it for themselves." Osborne said MTSU blitzed at the right times and frustrated a number of Nebraska drives in the first half. Middle Tennessee also played a "soft" defense, meaning the Blue Raiders didn't drive into the Nebraska line at the snap of the ball but played off the line two or three yards. "Once we adjusted to that defense, by taking the three-step drops for passes, running the options to the outside, things seemed to work well," said NU offensive line coach Milt Tenopir.

"We got some big plays once we started executing almost the same plays we used in the first half." Nebraska even scored on a mistake. Osborne said the play Lance Lewis scored on a 42-yard run to open the third quarter was called to go to the right. "It went to the left, but Lewis broke through anyway, and we got the score," Osborne said. NU guard Will Shields, who keyed many big plays in the second half, said the offense was flat to start. "I was sort of flat and not as intense as I should have been," Shields said.

"But after you see what's happening, you say, 'Get going and pick it up. "I don't think we were peeking ahead or just coasting, but we didn't get it all done in the first half." Tenopir said the offense changed from attacking the strength of the Middle Tennessee defense. "We switched from going away from the strong safety to going right at him. Then, when that worked, we went away from him again. "Throw in some great downfield blocking by the receivers and some good, long blocks by the line, and we started to get some big plays." Through the first minute of the fourth quarter, Nebraska had 10 plays of 16 yards or more.

"Middle Tennessee had a lot to do with our problems in the first half," said NU I-back Calvin Jones. "We were fair in the first half, But we extended ourselves and executed so much better in the second half. I know I had some big holes to run through." RANDY HAMPTONLINCOLN JOURNAL-STAR NU outside linebacker Travis Hill (93) celebrates after teammate Steve Carmer (31) sacks Middle Tennessee State quarterback Kelly Holcomb for a loss of 1 1 in the first quarter. Nebraska vs. Middle Tennessee State sidelights scheduled speaker.

Milestones Injury report Official Ron Demaree suffered a pulled ligament in his left knee when he got knocked over in a scramble for a fumble. Nebraska center Jim Scott had a bruised left hand. and had man-to-man on the receiver. 'And anybody that covers Vince man-on-man is subject to getting burnt because he's quick. I just sent him to the fade and he got around the corner-back and I just threw it up and he ran under it.

After we hit that, the corners started backing off. I don't think they wanted to get burned any more." (On the Blue Raiders' game plan): "We just want to try to get our running game established, and if we get our running game established, that'll open the pass up. At the first of the game, our routes were open and they came clean and I hit a few of them. They started taking that away and started stunting people and blitzing people. They went in and made some halftime adjustments and we thought that we could run some of the same things.

They just came out and got us." Schedule Derek Brown had his 11th 100-yard rushing day (154 yards) and has a total of 259 yards for two games this season. He is 16th on the all-time NU rushing list with 1.947 yards. Calvin Jones, who started at I-back. boosted his season total to 211 with 119 yards Saturday, and moved up to 32nd on the all-time rushing cjiart. Brown and Jones both ran for more than 100 yards, marking the 23rd time NU has had two rushers over 100 in the same game.

Mike Grant bettered his career-best rushing day with 68 yards. l-Back update on the level that we play, butjt doesn't take a mental giant to know that we're not doing anything defensively, we're not blocking anybody on the offensive side of the ball, and it doesn't make a difference whether you're trying to block Nebraska or tackle Nebraska, we've got quality players that we have to go against and the same thing is going to occur unless we make some changes." (On not playing tailback Walter Dunson for much of the second half): "Walter got a little bit tired, and "we've got some young backs that we're going to work. They've got to have some experience and they might as well get it against what we consider a pretty good ball club." MTSU linebacker Shingo Weems (on Nebraska's second-half effort): "The teams that we play, Eastern Kentucky, Western Kentucky, are just as big as Nebraska, run about the same thing, so they weren't impressive. They just played football, that's what it's all about." MTSU quarterback Kelly Holcomb (on his 61-yard touchdown pass to Vince Parks): "I don't know what (play) was called, but I changed it (All times Central) Sept. 5 Nebraska 49.

Utah 22 Sept. 12 Nebraska 48, Middle Tennessee State 7 Sept. 19 Nebraska at Washington, 8:30 p.m. Sept. 26 Arizona State at Nebraska, 1 p.m.

Oct. 10 Oklahoma State at Nebraska, 1 p.m. Oct. 24 Nebraska at Missouri, 1 p.m. Oct 31 Colorado at Nebraska, 1 p.m.

(Homecoming) Nov. 7 Kansas at Nebraska, 1 p.m. Nov. 14 Nebraska at Iowa State, 1 p.m. Nov.

27 Nebraska at Oklahoma, 12:30 p.m. Dec. 5 Nebraska vs. Kansas State, Tokyo, 9 p.m. (kickoff is noon Dec.

6 in Japan) the second half and had a nice return and then the whole offense got more focused and decided to drive the ball. Our defense was taking them three downs and out and we finally exploded on offense. "The blocking on the returns was for returning right up the middle. Everybody blocked, and all I had to do was run right through the hole." (On his 36-yard punt return where he leaped over two would-be tack-lers): "I try to stay grounded but there was a pile and I had nowhere else to go but up." Center Jim Scott, on the improvement in the second half: "In the second half, the first three series we had good field position. That was the key, I think.

Finally, everything started clicking." Nebraska's first three second-half series started at the NU 35, NU 47 and Middle Tennessee's 45. NU Coach Tom Osborne: "I think it was good in that it was a struggle for two, three quarters. I think if we had gone out and jumped to a 21-point lead, that might not have helped us very much. We got a good workout today. Obviously, we will play better people next week by a good margin.

Still, these guys have some good people." Middle Tennessee State Coach James "Boots" Donnelly (on the value of playing Nebraska): If we would've continued on and played with a great deal of character, I think we would've gotten a lot out of the game. What have we got out of it right now is the same thing that we got out of the opening ball game last week we've got a lot of doubt. (On whether he learned anything by playing the Cornhuskers): "We won't play any better quality athletes Notes The first Extra Point Club luncheon of the season is scheduled for noon Monday at the University Club. Head coach Tom Osborne is the Calvin Jones Derek Brown NU- From page 1D Rushes Vd. Ave.

TO Derek Brown 29 259 8 9 3 CaMn Jones 27 211 7.8 1 Quotes players, and they'd be tough. I guess we just weren't listening that well until halftime," said outside linebacker Donta Jones. "We were all a little guilty of trying to get this one over with and getting onto Washington next week," added Calvin Jones. "A lot of people have been hyping Washington since day one. But getting this game over with and out of the way, now we can really focus on Washington and not just have Washington in the back of our minds." In the third quarter and first minute of the fourth quarter, Nebraska recorded 10 first downs, 254 yards rushing, 41 yards passing and four touchdowns.

In the same span, the NU defense held MTSU to minus 10 yards rushing and 47 yards passing. Quarterback sacks by NU defensive tackles John Parrella, Bruce Moore and Jamie Liewer, outside linebacker Jones and nose guard Terry Connealy, plus a fumble caused by NU safety Toby Wright, helped offset two Nebraska turnovers in the third quarter. A spectacular set of returns by Ty rone Hughes, who returned a kickoff and two punts for a total of 98 yards, plus a 26-yard punt return by teammate Cory Dixon, gave NU the complete control expected in playing a Division I-AA team for the first time since 1964. When asked whether changes in the offensive approach made a difference in the second half, Osborne answered with a laugh. "I'd like to say there were tremens dous adjustments at halftime that bordered on wizardry," he said.

"Actually, there wasn't anything. We did NU receiver and kick returner Tyrone Hughes, who had two punt returns for 63 yards and one kickoff return for 35 yards: "I think the returns in the second half turned the offense on. It was reminiscent of the Oklahoma game last year. We came out in Scoring summary Individual statistics 26 9 Nebraska Offense Rushing Kickotf returns No. a few things in the option game.

But it was a matter of intensity and execution more than knowing where they were." Grant said one major change made a difference. "In the first half, I was shocked. I'd make a change in the play call at the line and they'd be screaming, 'The play's coming here' and that's right where we were going," he said. "So we added some dummy calls in the second half to throw that kind of thing. We also just simply played better football." He added that Nebraska's offense took advantage of the gambling by Middle Tennessee State defenders.

Specifically, option plays that net- ted 60 yards and short passes for 50 more yards in the second half, were successful, Grant said. Options worked for Nebraska's final score when freshman quarterback Tommie Frazier drove Nebraska 34 yards in eight plays and scored on a 3-yard keeper around right end. "I'm relieved it's over," Osborne said. There's a lot of downside risk In a game like that I wasn't very proud of the way we played in the first half. I was proud of the way Middle Tennessee played.

"And I'd like to thank the fans. There arent too many places where a game like this, with the atmosphere around it, that you would have a sellout. I really appreciate the loyalty of the fans and for most of them to lick around till the end is phenomenal." And as Calvin Jones said, "We kind of made everybody wait a bit today. Didn't we?" Yds. 35 Yds.

Ave. 154 11.0 119 74 68 6 8 59 118 34 5 7 Defense Tackles UT AT TT No. Brown 14 Jones 16 Grant 10 Lewis 5 McDuffy 6 Frazier 6 Fiala 2 Mackovicka 3 Schlesinger 1 Corrtwelf. 1 McMiNen 1 Comwell 1 Passing Carmer 4 3 7 16 12 12 6 5 5 0 27 60 40 60 50 50 00 MTS-NU How scored Time left FIRST QUARTER 0-7 Jones 2 run 7:36 Drive: 74 yards in 9 plays. Highlighted by C.Jones 4, 7, 24, 5, 7 runs.

Conversion: Bennett kick. SECOND QUARTER 7-7 Parks 61 pass from Holcomb 10:26 Drive: 72 yards in 3 plays. Highlighted Dunson 10 run. Conversion: Petrilli kick. 7-14 Grant IS run 6:23 Drive: 65 yards in 9 plays.

Highlighted by D. Brown 6, 4, 16 runs; Grant 14 pass to Bell, Grant 8 run. Conversion: Bennett kick. THIRD QUARTER 7-21 Lewis 42 run 14:27 Drive: 65 yards in 2 plays. Set up by C.

Jones 23 run. Conversion: Bennett kick. 7-27 D.Brown 44 run 13:13 Drive: 53 yards In 2 plays. Set up by C. Dixon 26 punt return.

Highlighted by D. Brown 9 run. Conversion: run failed. 7-34 D. Brown 4 run 6:34 Drive: 56 yards In 5 ploys.

Highlighted by Grant 20 pass to D. Brown; Grant 14 pass to Muhammad, Grant 16 run. Conversion: Bennett kick. FOURTH QUARTER 7-41 Mc Duffy 16 run 13:44 Drive: 77 yards in 5 plavs. Set up by Anderson fumble recovery at NU 23.

Highlighted by McDuffy 9 run, D. Brown 26 run, two MTSU penalties. Conversion: Sieler kick. 7-48 Frazier 3 run 9:00 Drive: 34 yards in 8 plays. Highlighted by Frazieer 9 pass to Bell, Schlesinger 6 run, Frazier 5 run, McDuffy 9 run.

Conversion: Sieler kick. Ateobrook 3 93 31.7 Kickoff returns No. Yds. Simpson 3 85 Defense Tackles UT AT TT Huggins 7 4 11 Weems 4 4 8 Toney 2 5 7 Sensabaugh 5 16 Burum 3 3 6 Jordan 3 2 5 Troutman 2 3 5 Hal 1 4 5 Boykin 3 14 McGroom 2 2 4 Owens 2 2 4 CaidweH 0 4 4 Houston 1 2 3 Yorston 1 2 3 Mckenzie 0 3 3 Simpson 2 0 2 Mitchel 1 1 2 Redmond 112 Tate 1 1 2 Kimpson 0 2 2 Watkins 1 0 1 Hicks 0 1 1 Lawrence 0 1 1 Lee 0 1 1 Schlesinger 0 1 1 White 0 1 1 Middle Term. State Offense Rushing No.

Yds. Ave. Dunson 14 61 4.4 Lyons 5 22 4 4 Bayless 6 18 3 0 Crowder 3 7 2 3 Montgomery 1 3 30 Dirkson 1 -4 -4 0 Murphy 2 -11 8 -46 Passing No. Co. Yds PI Holcomb 21 8 152 0 Receiving No.

Yds. Parks 5 111 Dark 1 24 Watkins 1 14 Bayless 1 3 Interception returns No. Yds. Huogjna 1 27 Caktwel 1 3 Punting No. Yds.

Ave. Sytvester 6 244 40 7 No. Co. Yds PI Parrella 4 Alberts 3 Wright 2 Anderson 2 Hardin 2 Wiltnte 2 Byrd 0 Gray 1 Hid 1 Leader 1 Miles 1 Noorian Stewart 0 Branch 1 Conneaty 1 Hens 1 C.Jones 1 O. Jones 1 Liewer 1 Moore 1 Penland 1 Reece 1 Cisco 0 EH 0 1 2 3 2 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Grant 16 7 87 1 Frazier 5 2 23 0 Comwell 2 0 0 1 Bernnger 2 0 0 0 Receiving No.

Yds Be 3 32 Muhammad 2 31 Hawkins 2 13 Brown 1 20 Seizys 1 14 Punting No. Yds. Ave. Stigge 1 14 140 Punt returns Yds 63 No. Hughes 2 1.