Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 15

15 Tuesday, January 1 979 Lincoln, Neb. Journal ii.mn urn i i in, iii.iii in juiin.Liiiiiji.nl ii. ipiii.imiuiimmiwijjiinii J.Jlll?.la'''wPWHBgw,''l''l 11 1 1 01, NU know who's No. 1, unlikely pollsters to agree if 'CV i' 3 If i Junior Miller (89) returns kickoff to the Oklahoma 36 after second Sooner touchdown in second quarter. "The only way we could come close is just to make us feel a little bit better inside" he added.

"The only way was to beat Nebraska cause it's the closest to an undefeated season we could come." "We are a great football team," Switzer said. "We have a great bunch of senior athletes. But you can never make up for that loss in Lincoln. "With those three extra yards, we would have been here playing Penn State for the National Championship," he added. "I don't know who deserves it right now.

There are a lot of good football teams. Alabama is a good defensive football team. So was Penn State, but nobody in the country scored more points or gained more yards than we did." Turnovers decisive The difference in the game was lack of the turnovers that plagued the Sooners in Lincoln. "We had nine, actually 11 the last time we played, and only one tonight" Switzer said. "Basically that was the difference in the ball game." "We did nothing different about the fumbles," Lott said.

"You just go out and try to do the best you caa Each time it's a different day. "I think this was one of our best offensive games," Lott said. "It proves we didn't play a very good football game last time. They said before that we couldn't take no hard hits. I think it's time you all go ask them about it now." Fullback Kenny King had a quick explanation for the lack of fumbles this time around.

"We had so many last time, that's why," he said. "You can't start thinking about it. We didn't talk about it before the game, but with eight minutes to go, everybody started saying 'hold on to the ball, hold on to the ball' and sure enough, we dropped it. "I don't like having anybody tell me to hold onto the ball," King said. "That's my job.

Hold on, and go get six." Can't forget fumble Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims had a firm handle on the ball and a solid performance, but he still can't forget that fumble the last time around. "It was just one of those things," Sims said. "I was trying my hardest to go in, and it popped loose. That was the National Championship right there. "I look at it like we're still the No.

1 team in the country, even if we did come up three yards short. I know other people probably think they are, but they're entitled to their opinion, just like I'm entitled to mine." "Sure we're disappointed the loss in Lincoln cost us so much. But we're happy to go out on a winning note," linebacker Daryl Hunt said. "It doesn't make up for losing out on our dream, an unbeaten season. But that's football.

You have to take the bitter with the sweet Fortunately we had the sweets at the end. Ill tell you, it's a lot better to finish a winner." By Chuck Sinclair Staff Sports Writer MIAMI, Fla. Oklahoma knew who the No. 1 team in the nation was when all the post season play ended with the Sooners' 31-24 Orange Bowl victory over Nebraska Monday night So did Nebraska. But both were painfully aware that the Sooners would not get the nod when the final tally on the wire service voting is in.

In similar situations, a team which had just accomplished what Oklahoma had wouldn't have stopped with the mere thrusting of the No. 1 sign skyward. They would have backed it up with a plea to the nations voters for top consideration. Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne said- there was no question that Oklahoma was the best team in the country. Nobody, he said, can display so much fire power at one time.

To a man, the Sooners felt the same way, but everyone involved knew the national championship was decided in Lincoln in two successive weekends in November. Oklahoma's 17-14 loss to Nebraska during the first meeting of the two schools ended any real hopes of winning that national title. And Nebraska's loss to Missouri the next week in Lincoln did the same for the Huskers. Sooners were of the opinion that either Nebraska or Oklahoma would have won that title against Perm State in the Orange bowl New Year's Night "We lost it in Lincoln," was a universal feeling. Win nice, but It was also a universal feeling in the winners' quarters that while the triumph was a bit of sweet revenge, there was absolutedly no way it could completely compensate for the total disappointment of a missed national championship.

"We're a very happy football team with our performance tonight," Switzer told the press corps, "but it's a sad thing to think that we came three yards short of a national championship." Switzer was referring to Billy Sims' fumble on the Nebraska three yard line in the closing moments of the first meeting between the two schools that would have given the Sooners the undisputed Big Eight championship, and a national championship meeting against Perm State in the Orange Bowl. The Miami performance against Nebraska figured to be the only way Oklahoma would have a shot at winning over enough votes for a national title. We're the best' "Hell yes, without a doubt we're the best team in the country," quarterback Thomas Lott said. "The National Championship? We lost that in Lincoln. There's no way you can make up for that Iter 5 iWltfT 'in I 1 In IT i MacArthur picks 'Tide NEW ORLEANS (AP) -Alabama, following a 14-7 Sugar Bowl victory over top-ranked Penr State, was chosen Monday to receive the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame's 1978 MacArthur Bowl, the foundation announced.

In a statement foundation chairman Vincent dePaul Dreddy of New York said the trophy would be presented at the University of Alabama this spring. He said Alabama's victory at the Superdome "proved championship ability, particularly in the dramatic goal-line stand against the Nittany Lions." In the fourth quarter, Penn State had the ball inside the 1 -yard line for two plays but was prevented from scoring by a tough Alabama defense. v. -1 1 Staff iotos Bob Gorham Randy Hampton Web Ray Harold Dreimanis AP UPI A late Cornhusker hope came in the fourth quarter as OU quarterback Thomas Lott (6) coughed up the ball when George Andrews (96) hit Lott before he could hand off. David Clark (63) recovered for the Huskers, beating Sooner fullback Kenny King (30) and Nebraska defensive lineman Bill Barnett (97) to the ball 0 ess Afjr r1 0 lhy fit 'A Si Sims dims NU hopes While the 14,000 Big Red fans cheered from the stands (left) including (from left) Susie Hoge, Stacia Dryer and Jane Grasserole, their hopes were dampened with the running of Oklahoma running back Billy Sims (20), who scored two touchdowns and raced for 134 yards as the Sooners gained revenge.

i i 1 Nebraska split end Tim Smith (84) holds ball high in air after scoring Huskers' first touchdownonaToraSorleypass. I.