Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 35

Lincoln Journal-Star SUNDAY, JANUARY 2. 1994 to NU falls in final seconds BY KEN HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal-Star 1 MIAMI Nebraska's hopes for the mythical national football championship drifted to the left along with Byron Bennett's 45-yard field goal attempt at the end of the Orange Bowl Saturday, but maybe there is something left for the Cornhuskers. "If there is a moral victory, this is it," NU defensive tackle Kevin Ra-maekers said of the Cornhuskers' 18-16 loss to Florida State. "Let's put it this way, a national championship beats the heck out of moral victories, too." Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden agreed. "Nebraska deserved to win it as much as we did," he said.

"We've lost -t 7 Jk 1 a -v. il I Nsww 1 it ft COLOR IAN DOREMUSUNCOLN JOURNAL-STAR Split end Reggie Baul (left) puts the Cornhuskers on the scoreboard with a 34-yard touchdown reception from Tommie Frazier as Florida State defender Clifton Abraham pursues. national championships by missing kicks, and tonight we won with a kick." The victory put Florida State, 12-1, in position for its first title. Seminole kicker Scott Bentley kicked his fourth field goal of the game with 21 seconds left to give FSU the win before a record crowd of 81536. Florida State's 60-yard drive to set up Bentley's 22-yard field goal took 55 seconds.

Bennett, who hadn't kicked a field goal since Oct. 16. appeared to have won the game with a 27-yard field goal with 1:16 left to give Nebraska a 16-15 lead. The Cornhusker senior got another chance to give NU its first national championship since the 1971 season, with one second left But his kick was wideleft "I think we may have hurried, may have just not gotten the ball right," Bennett said. "AH the calls, all the plays and all the game were in that kick.

1 "It was crazy, and maybe I rushed it a bit" Nebraska's final drive started at its 43-yard line when Barron Miles returned the FSU kickoff 23 yards. NU quarterback Tommie Frazier Please see NU on page 4E SCORES, TEAM STATS Florida State 0 6 9 3 18 Nebraska 0 7 0 9 16 FSU FG Scott Bentley 34 NU Reggie Baul 34 pass from Tommie Frazier (Byron Bennett kick) FSU FG Bentley 25 FSU Floyd 1 run (pass failed) FSU FG Bentley 39 NU Phillips 1 2 run (run failed) NU FG Bennett 27 FSU FG Bentley 22 BY CURT MCKEEVER Lincoln Journal-Star Holtz argues head-to-head DALLAS (AP) After Watching Florida State defeat Nebraska 18-16 MIAMI The 1994 Orange Bowl I As expected, Bentley is happy. Page 5E. I What other writers said about the game. Page 6E.

7tu Saturday night in the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz said he thinks the outcome should give his once-beaten Fighting Irish an edge when the final polls are announced today. Holtz, whose fourth-ranked team defeated Texas 24-21 in the Cotton Bowl, said his team's 31-24 victory over Florida State on Nov. 13 should be the first consideration voters use. lasted 76 seconds too long for Nebraska kicker Byron Bennett After booting what he thought was a game-winning, 27-yard field goal to put the Cornhuskers ahead of Florida State 1R-15 with The Notre Dame coach recalled the 1989 season. when Miami won the national championship after kAqtinn KUm nAmA it tU.

i ucauiig nuuc iaiuc ui mic loot icguicu-seciauii gdiuc 1 i Lou Holtz year, noiu arguea mat ms team lougn scnea- ule and bowl victory over No. 1 Colorado should merit thetitle. "That's what they said in 89 Holtz said of the head-to-head argument "They were right and I was wrong." A 01,336 guess they're the better team at the end of the game." Until Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward drove his team 60 yards for Scott Bentley's 22-yard field goal with 21 seconds left Nebraska looked destined to win its first national title since 1971. Even after that the Cornhuskers got to the FSU 28-yard line and, after the officials put one second back on the clock, Bennett tried again to give NU the victory. That was just a wild ending, I think, and it might've taken its toll on me," said Bennett.

"Everything was OK on the kick. They had pretty good penetration and I think that altered my kick a little bit. I could just feel them and any time a kicker can feel it coming you sometimes may try to hook it or something like that. "You've got to give Florida State credit They put on a good rush at the 29-yard reception from Tommie Frazier. Nebraska had called time out in time, but Bennett said that there was a lot of confusion before he lined up for the final try.

"You have a three-, four-, five-, six-minute delay. However long it was, it seemed like eternity to me," he said. "Yeah, that's going to take a toll on anybody, but kickers are supposed to be mentally tough and I should've hit it" Amazingly, Bennett showed no signs of losing his composure in the post-game interview. "I'm the most down person on the team, probably, but you've got to hold your head up," he said. "Florida State played a great game and we played played a great game, too.

"I thought I won it the first time That's just my luck." NU 20 44-183 280 FSU 22 24-47 286 I89 333 Byron Bennett lM day, the senior was summoned out of a mass of hysteria to try to duplicate his earlier feat this time with one second left from 45 yards. "I've waited all my life to kick a game-winning field goal, and unfortunately it didn't happen," said Bennett whose try in a frenzied Orange Bowl went wide left and gave the Semi-noles an 18-16 win and most probably the coveted mythical national championship. "I thought I had it in the bag, and you've got to give Florida State credit They drove down the field and scored and kicked the field goal, so I 24-43-0 13-25-2 18 21 First downs 1 Rushes-yards Passing yards Total yards Passing i Return yards Punts Fumbles-lost Penalties-yards Time of possession Third-down conversions Fourth-down conversions end and they might've made me pull the ball a little to the left." But the rush didn't make him look up before he kicked. "I followed it all the way. Right when I hit it I kind of knew it was off," Bennett said.

"I could just tell by the way my leg came through the ball I didn't follow through the ball properly and, of course, it hooked left and the wind was helping it" Before Bennett's final try, Orange Bowl security had to clear the field of Florida State players and fans because they thought that time had run out after NU's Trumane Bell was pulled down at the FSU 28 following a 2-0 11-115 32:57 7-16 0-0 0-0 10-69 27:03 1-12 1- 1 THE REST GF THE EOWLS 6. 3 Mountaineers meet their match SIHMRBOWL v. 'V NEW ORLEANS (AP) It took West Virginia all football season to build its case for a national championship. It took Florida only a few minutes to rip it apart With Coach Steve Spurrier signaling in his own plays, the eighth-ranked Gators used their quick-strike offense to overwhelm No. 3 West Virginia 41-7 Saturday night in the Sugar Bowl and wreck the Mountaineers' perfect seasoa "We got whipped big time.

There's very little to say other than we got whipped," West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen said. "We certainly played poorly." Errict Rhett ran for 105 yards and three short touchdowns, all set up by Terry Dean's passing, and Lawrence Wright scored on a sensational 52-yard interception return for the 11-2 Gators, who won a Sugar Bowl for the first time. They also won on New Year's Day for the first time since Spurrier weeks after winning the Heisman Trophy led them to a victory over Georgia Tech in the 1967 Orange Bowl. "All of us are ready to walk down Bourbon Street or do something," Spurrier said. "Everything seemed to go our way." The 11-1 Mountaineers, meanwhile, did nothing right after taking a 7-0 lead on their first possession.

The quarterback platoon of Jake Kelchner and Darren Studstill could not solve the Gators' defense, and Spurrier Co. made it a long night for Nehlen on his 58tb birthday. The toss was a sorry end for West Virginia, which also blew a chance for the 1988 national title when Notre Dame ruined its undefeated season in the Fiesta BowL The Mountaineers were unranked in passes for 255 yards. He played the whole way because Danny Wuerffel, who shared time with Dean during the season, had an injured knee. Rhett scored his second touchdown on a 2-yard run early in the third period, and West Virginia's fumble on the ensuing kickoff led to a 1-yard run by Rhett for a 35-7 lead with 8 58 left in the quarter.

"It was a lot easier to run on them," Rhett said. "I felt like they couldn't stop me. I was surprised at how small they were. They seemed to get fatigued as we kept passing. I don't think they were in that good of shape, and I'm sure they know that I knew that because I kept helping them up.

But what I couldn't understand was why they kept punching me in the stomach." Florida counted on big plays throughout 1993, and it got a spectacular effort for its first lead in 1994. With the score tied at 7 midway through the second quarter, Monty Grow's hard hit forced Studstill into a wobbly throw that Wright intercepted at mid-field. Wright ran to the right and stopped just short of the sideline near the West Virginia 40. Players on both teams seemed to think he was going out of bounds and stopped, but Wright didn't Instead, the freshman safety spun around 360 degrees, ran back a few yards and took off toward the middle of the field. Picking up some blocks, he veered back to the right and ran untouched for a 52-yard touchdown return.

Florida's first interception return for a score in 21 bowl games and the first turnover against West Virginia that was taken back for a touchdown this year made it 14-7 with 9: 12 left in the second quarter. the preseason poll, receiving fewer votes than Bowling Green, and only wins over Miami and Boston College to end the season put them in position for any shot at No. 1. "I never said we were underrated," Nehlen said. "I said if we win this game, we should get a piece of the national championship." West Virginia went into the game with little chance of winning the Associated Press title No.

1 Florida State was playing No. 2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl but had a chance at the USA TodayCNN coaches' championship. West Virginia was ranked No. 2 in that poll and needed a win, plus a loss by Nebraska, for that crown. But as the Orange Bowl went back and forth, and the Superdome faru cheered the public-address announcements of the score, the Mountaineers fell farther and farther behind.

By the end, most of the Mountaineers' fans had left Florida fans, however, were on their feet cheering for their team and also hollering for Nebraska to beat archrival Florida State, but the Seminoles won 18-16. West Virginia remained winless in bowl play since the 1984 Bluebonnet BowL Florida, which lost the Sugar Bowl two years ago to Notre Dame, showed off its speed all season, setting a Southeastern Conference record with 472 points. 1 Wright's spinning return put Florida ahead with 9:12 left in the second quarter, and Dean's 39-yard touchdown pass to Willie Jackson made it 21-7 only 51 seconds before half time. Dean completed 22 of 37 ASSOCIATED PRESS Former Nebraska player Barry Alvarez (right) had a big, red face when he ran onto the field to argue with an official after two of his Wisconsin players and two UCLA players were ejected for fighting. Alvarez presumably looked happier after his Badgers won 21-16.

HerHape: Southern U. 11, SC. State 0 PsoeJC Ha 01 Fame: Michigan 42, N.C. State 7 PageTC Cotton: Notre Oame 24, Texas 21 PegeK Rom: Wisconsin 21, UCU 16 Pag2E Fiesta: Arizona 29, Miami 0 PegeSC Carquest Boston College 31, Virginia 13 PsoeSE I a a a I XV. it?.