The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 43

PORTS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16. 1994 'V Tigers swamp O'-f Gatoir -'''aw a zJ 1 if mm tit I- ij s- a fkf cv. BANDY HAMPTONUNCOU JOUHNAL-STAfl Nebraska fullback Jeff Makovicka (22) races around (from left) NU wingback Clester Johnson, Kansas State safety Chuck Marlowe and NU tight end Mark Gilman for his 15-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. The TD and point-after kick put the Huskers ahead 14-6. SCORING, TEAM STATS Nebraska 7 0 0 10 17 Kansas State 0 6 0 06 NU Lawrence Phillips 2 (Darin Erstad kick) KSU Mitch Running 29 pass from Chad May (kick blocked) NU Jeff Makovicka 15 run (Erstad kick) NU FG Erstad 24 A 42,817 itom defense poms 130 yards.

In the first quarter, Nebraska scored on a 28-yard drive that encompassed six running plays by Phillips. Darin Erstad added the extra-point kick to give Nebraska all the points it would need to win but not enough to relax. Previously unbeaten Kansas State, ranked No. 16 by the Associated Press, No. 11 in the CNNUSA Today coaches poll and No.

1 by the New York Times computer, responded as expected with a five-play, 62-yard scoring drive. The drive included Chad May's 21-yard pass to Kevin Lockett and a 29-yard touchdown pass to Mitch Running. Nebraska linebacker Troy Dumas destroyed KSU's chance for a tie when he blocked the extra-point try by Martin Gramatica. Please see NU on page 4E BY LARRY DORMAN New Vofk Times GAINESVILLE, Fla. Auburn did; it again.

Againsi an oaus, againsi an summon sense and against the top-ranked; college football team in the the Tigers pulled off another stunning victory Saturday. In what must rank as the biggest upset of the season. Auburn scored with just 30 seconds left to defeat Florida 36-33. On a chilly gray day at The uhprp FlnriHa had tint Inst tn a South eastern conference opponent since v. .1 bum forced Florida into six turnovers.

The Tigers turned the last one' into the winning touchdown in front of; a record Ben Hill Griffin Stadium crowd of 85,562. i said Spurrier, who watched Auburn improve to 7-v on tne season ana run its undefeated streak to 18 straight games under Coach Terry Bowden. "You've got to hand it to them. Auburn, which entered the game as a 16-point underdog, never stopped coming at Florida, which began the -game as the No. 1 team one spot ahead of Nebraska in the Associ-.

a ted Press and CNNUSA Today polls. The Tigers are ranked sixth by AP but are ineligible for the coaches polL The Gators came from behind three times to take the lead and seemed to have the game won after; they took the lead in the fourth quarter on Danny Wuerffel's 28-yard touchdown pass to Jack Jackson. But the Auburn defense, which has made a habit of saving games during the winning streak, came through agaia WuerffeL who had come on to replace ineffective starter Terry' uvaa in me um quai iei leu gu deep down the middle on Florida's it t-: I i 1 next possession. The pass was intercepted by free safety Brian Robinson, his third inter-, ception of the game, and Auburn went to work from its 45 with just 1:20 left "I figured we had enough time," said Auburn quarterback Patrick Nix, who completed 28 of 51 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns. The Tigers might be on probation, and they might not be able to play in a bowl game this season, but they defi-nitely are the genuine item.

Nix began the winning drive with a 13-yard completion to Frank Sanders, who had five catches for 65 yards on the day. He capped the drive with another throw to Sanders. ASSOCIATED PflSSS, (left) breaks up a first-quarter pass State's Bobby Engram. NU KSU First downs 16 17 Rushes-yards 60-210 23-(-7) Passing yards 52 249 Total yards "260 242 Passing 4-11-0 22-48-1 Return yards 74 17 Punts Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-0 Penalties-yards 9-70 12-102 Time of possession 31:26 28:34 Third-down conversions 3-12 6-17 Fourth-down conversions 0-0 0-1 MIKE BABCOCK Sports Defensive Nebraska alive, well MANHATTAN, Kan. Defense, like the diamond in a national championship ring, is forever.

Nebraska 17, Kansas State 6. The Cornhuskers might have a national championship-caliber defense, based on what happened Saturday at KSU Stadium. Reports of their demise have been greatly exaggerated Nebraska's epitath was supposed to have read: Undone by quarterback problems. Tommie Frazier's blood clots. Brook Berringer's collapsed lung.

Matt Turman's inexperience. And, finally, Chad May's strong right arm. May, the best passer this side of the NFL (or Alcorn State's Steve McNair, anyway) was to have added an exclamation point to the Cornhuskers' epitath on a damp, gray day well-suited to the mourning of their passing. DID I SAY their passing? Actually, it wasn't their passing that was mourned. I've worked myself into a linguistic predicament, like the jam in which May found himself much of the late morning and early afternoon.

"The defense was on him the whole game," said Nebraska's Grant Wistrom, a freshman outside linebacker who sacked May on the Wildcats' third play from scrimmage. Although it would be a while before he was sacked again, the warning had been delivered. The Cornhuskers would be back. And they were, five times. Appropriately, on the game's final play, May was sacked by Wistrom, "Our game plan was to knock him off his game plan," defensive tackle Christian Peter said as he stood in a steady drizzle outside the Nebraska locker room afterward.

"He felt the applied some heat to a Corn-husker secondary that has been unjustly maligned, completing 22 of 48 passes for 249 yards. Except for a second-quarter touchdown, however, his statistics were empty. As the day wore on, he seemed to wear down. USUALLY, MAY throws with frightening precision, and production. He hadn't thrown an interception since transferring from Cal State-Fullerton, or something like that, until Troy Dumas stole one Saturday.

By now, you might be thinking, lighten up. Teams win or lose, not individuals. And you would be right, of course. That was precisely the lesson to be learned Saturday. Nebraska has been at this sort of thing for a long time.

The air is thin where the Cornhuskers play for Big Eight titles, Orange Bowl bids and, yes, mythical national championships. Kansas State is climbing, but the Wildcats aren't there yet. Because of who it is, Nebraska probably wont get the credit it deserves for what it did here. The task of beating Kansas State would have been formidable even with Frazier or, at least, a healthy Berringer, and Mike Minter, whose speed at free safety would have been usefuL Each week, we wonder how the situation could get any worse for Nebraska, and each week we are shown how. Lawrence Phillips spent halftime Saturday at a hospital, having X-rays taken of his left thumb.

Had it been broken, he wouldn't have played in the second half. It was swollen and painful, but not broken, so Phillips was able to return. He rushed for 64 yards in the second half and finished with 117. Including the 15 yards he gained on two pass receptions, Phillips accounted for half of Nebraska's offense. THAT OFFENSE lacked imagination Saturday.

But like a solid defense, a good running attack, built on a big and strong offensive line, can serve a team well in times of stress. Saturday was such a time for the Cornhuskers. "We've been through a lot this year," Peter said, In case anyone needed to be reminded. Kansas State went through a lot in just three hours Saturday. On its final possession, Nebraska drove 73 yards on 13 plays, including a 34-yard pass from Berringer to Abdul Muhammad on a second-and-14 from its own 29-yard line.

The drive consumed nearly six minutes. That sequence was vintage Nebraska. The best defense is a good offense, kec? arcsy and all thst But sometimes, the best defense is, well, a good defense. And Nebraska' showed it has a good one Saturday. Come on, admit it.

No. 3 Penn State proves lofty ranking is no fluke JfW- link 1 --1 y-v If ifiy BY KEN HAMBLETON Lincoln Jourrwri-Star MANHATTAN, Kaa Heart-pounding, smash-mouth, in-your-face football was the key to Nebraska's 17-6 victory against Kansas State on a drizzly Saturday afternoon at KSU Stadium. "We had our hearts all over the field. It was gut-check time on the touchdown drive in the fourth quarter," said Nebraska senior offensive tackle Zach Wiegert "And our defense came up big and brought the game back to us," Wiegert said after second-ranked Nebraska improved to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big Eight Never before had Kansas State had such high hopes of ending what is now a 26-year losing streak against Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were without Schuchart maintains Nike lead CORNELIUS, Ore.

(AP) Mike Schuchart shot a 3-under-par 68 to maintain a one-stroke lead Saturday after the third round of the 1994 Nike Tour Championship. Schuchart, a former Lincoln East and University of Nebraska golfer, has a three-day total of 9-under 204 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club. He leads John Maginnes of Durham, N.C, who shot a 68 for a 205 total Jim Carter of Scottsdale, Ariz Emilyn Aubrey of Princeton, and Lee Rinker of Beaver Creek, Ohio, share third at 208 going into today's final round. Defending champion David Duval of Ponte Mike Schuchart Vedra Beach, had a 69 and is at 209. In addition to deciding the tour championship, the $225,000 event qualifies the top 10 Nike Tour money winners for the regular PGA Tour, Schuchart, 26th in the overall Nike Tour standings and well back of the top 10 money winners, was two strokes ahead of Maginnes after nine holes.

"If you try to get aggressive on this course, it will eat you up," Schuchart said. "I had some easy putts that rimmed out on 16 and 17, and I missed a6-footeronl8." The start of the round was delayed more than an hour because of fog. But after two cold and windy days, the sun came out World Match Play final to pit Els, Montgomerie. Pg 7E. Crosby leads World Championship.

Pag te. lauatnat a quarterback Tommie Frazier and did not start ailing backup Brook. Berringer, instead beginning the game with walk-on quarterback Matt Tur-man, who had just one half of significant experience. "Coming down here, I thought it was a 5050 proposition," said Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne. Nebraska's offense was partially hampered by the decision of the coaches to protect Berringer's left lung, which had partially collapsed in each of the last two games.

But the NU offense had plenty to work with in the fourth quarter as it pulled away from a 7-6 lead. For the most of three quarters, NU I-back Lawrence Phillips and the offensive line were the offense. Phillips finished with 31 carries for 117 yards and caught two passes for 15 yards, while the rest of the Nebraska offense accounted for 29 plays and a total of HIAC Standings Conference All games WIT Northwestern, Iowa 3 0 0 5 1 0 Midland 3 1 0 5 2 0 Hastings 2 1 0 5 2 0 Neb. Westeyan 2 2 0 3 4 0 Doane 2 2 0 2 4 0 Concordia 0 3 0 2 4 0 Dana 0 3 0 2 5 0 Saturday' results Midland 18, Hastings 15 Nebraska Westeyan 31 Dana 28 Northwestern. Iowa 33, Doane 14 Saturday's games Dana at Concordia Doane at Midland Northwestern, towa at Hastings Midland deals Hastings, first conference loss.

Page 2E. Plainsmen come alive on offense BY MARK DEROWITSCH Lincci Journal-Star BLAIR Nebraska Wesleyan couldn't have picked a better time to have its best day of the season offensively. And the Plainsmen needed every yard they got Saturday. Wesleyan's offense despite the cold, wet conditions took control of the game with 21 third-quarter points, then the Plainsmen held on for a 31-28 win against Dana before 500 spectators in a Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference football game. Wesleyan rolled up a season-best 401 yards of total offense.

Quarterback Andrew Miller threw for a career-high 256 yards, completing 13 of 29 passes, while wide receiver Aaron Long caught four passes for a career-best 108 yards. Running back Casey Head, who was sidelined early this year with a knee sprain, sparked the NWU ground game with a career-best 129 yaris. "This was one of our best, if not the best, performance of the year," Wes- Please see NWU on page 3E ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) People had been saying Penn State was running up big scores against weak competition. They can't say that anymore, not after the Nittany Lions won a battle of heavyweights.

Kerry Collins threw his third touchdown pass, a 16-yarder to Bobby En-gram with 2:53 remaining Saturday, to lift No. 3 Penn State to a 31-24 victory against No. 5 Michigan. Penn State extended its winning streak to 11 games, second in the nation only to Auburn's 18-game streak. The 6-0 start is the Nittany Lions' best since the 1986 team went 12-0 and won the national championship.

Penn State now is alone in first in the chase for the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth and is very much in the hunt for the national championship. "For me, this is the biggest game of my life," said Ki-Jana Carter, who ran for 165 yards on 26 carries for the Nittany Lions. They dominated the Big Ten for so long. I think we just gained respect as a great football It was the second time the Wolverines gave up a late score to lose at home. They were defeated by Colorado on a Hail Mary pass as time expired.

"I'm disappointed," Michigan Coach Gary Moeller said. "I dont like being taken out of a championship, because that's what we work for. We're not totally out of it But we worked to get to this point, and we didnt make the plays." With the score tied 24-24, the Nittany Lions drove 55 yards in five plays for the winning score. Penn State, which led the nation in scoring at 51.6 points a game, needed only 1:53 for the drive. Collins, who completed 20 of 32 passes for 231 yards in the game, started the drive with a 14 yardtr to Engram, who just got a toe down inbound on the catch.

Carter, who led the nation with an Michigan defender Deon Johnson in the end zone intended for Penn Brigham Young surprises No. 17 Notre Dame.Page 2E. Handy leads Missouri past Oklahoma State. Page 3E. into the game, slashed through the line for 26 more to the Michigan 15.

Three plays later, Engram slanted in front of Michigan cornerback Deon Johnson for the score. "Coach called the deep post," Engram said. "They had man coverage. I saw the ball in the air and I knew I just had to make the catch." 9-yarderto JohnWitman. "We were running out of time and; we had to do something," Collins said! "I thought we would settle for a fields goal on that last drive.

But the coach-. called for a pass and Bobby made al great catch." Brett Conway kicked field goals of- 24, 28 and 29 yards for Penn State, I Tyrone Wheatley ran 19 times for 144 yards for Michigan, including; touchdown runs of 67 and 21 yards in the third quarter, when Michigan ove? came a 164) deficit to lead 17-16. Tshimanga Biakabutuka, who car-, ried 12 times for 57 yards, had a l- yard run to tie the game at 24-aU in-the fourth quarter. M'f Collins also had a 3-yard scoring pass to Keith Olsommer and flipped a average of 8-3 yards per carry coming.