Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 34

2D Nov. 12, 1978 Lincoln, Sunday Journal and Star ir I PS "You can't choose I WJ the right tire uV.S 'X if you don't have YT TN APWIREPHOTO Penn State football Coach Joe Paterno raises his fingers in a victory gesture as cheerleaders raise fingers denoting nu. i mici ciw oiaic ueieaieu worm Carolina aiare, i-iu, aaiuraay at university raric, ra. Perere State terns, eyes No, 1 spot SUPERIOR ABOUT OUR CUSTOM BATTERIES Virgil Parker records Season's WHEELS Penn St. (IM) Tempi 107 Rutgers 24-10 Ohio 19-0 First downt RuthM-vordl Pasting yards Return yards Passu Punts NCS PSU 17 41-W 61 IM IS It 147 6 IJ 1 9-11-2 19-43 4-40 2-0 (Ml 5-3S 4-67 NCSt.

(4-J) e. Carolina 291 Syracuse. W.VIrglnla....29-15 Wake Maryland 7-31 N. Carolina 34-7 10-33 0 BEST BUY! Original Equipment on Many Cars Fumbln-lost Penalties-yards SMU 24-21 TCU SM Kentucky 30-0 Syracuse 45-15 W. Vlrglnio 49-21 Maryland 27-3 NCS 19-10 N-2S Pittsburgh S.

Carolina 22-13 Penn St 10-19 N-lSDuke N-25 at Virginia 2.06-3.27 BLACKWALL FREE MOUNTING WITH PURCHASE OFF MFG. List Price the first half and went into the ANY BR78x13 ER78x14 HR78x14 SIZE BR78x14 FR78x14 GR78x15 LISTED CR78X14 FR78x15 HR78x15 If out of your size, ask Installation Available tor rain cnecK. UNIROYAL SNOWPLOW MICHELIMI); IfSfkMiSPLyS DOUBLE STEEL BELTED RADIAL WHITEWALLS LOW-LOW PRICES 155SR-12 GR78x14 62.95 42.95 DR78X14 44.49 60.95 58.95 GR78x15 62.95 60.95 HR78x15 64.95 Plus F.E.T. 2.11-8.47 Bad officiating '5 This shouldn't seem like sour grapes since Nebraska knocked off Oklahoma. But the officiating at the biggest game in "the country Saturday left an awful lot to be desired.

1 1 Cornhusker Coach Tom Osborne, despite his red hair, is a -pretty even-tempered, mild-mannered person. But he's had his -blood pressure reach the boiling point several times this season. You might expect that from a loser. Osborne has had his legitimate gripes after winning. -1 Osborne refused to publicly criticize the refs after the Okla--noma game, despite several obviously bad decisions one of rwhich could have easily cost Nebraska the game, 5 "The most flagrant error came on the kickoff after Billy Todd produced the eventual final 17-14 score with a field goal Nearly in the fourth quarter.

Nebraska kicked off. The Sooners' Phelps returned the ball from the goal line to the 19. He djdn't go another inch farther. That's where he ran into John i'Ruud, who is following in the footsteps of brother Tom as a hard-hitting linebacker. It was the most violent collision of the game.

Phelps and Itne ball parted company. Phelps didn't wake up until after the Buskers recovered the ball on the Oklahoma 14. 3 But the officials gave the ball back to the Sooners. "I asked them why it wasn't ruled a fumble," Nebraska defensive captain George Andrews recalled later, "and he told me 'his knee was already down." That caused one writer to quip, "If his knee was already down, then Huud should have been penalized for a late hit." A television replay which was shown several times proved Phelps was in an upright position when the ball flew vloose. 1 "I'm not blaming the officials," Osborne said, "but that was bad call.

I thought so at the time and I still do. But, I'm not in favor of instant replays. That would slow the game down too much. I'm aware that the officials have a tough job and do the best they can." The "best" of Saturday's crew at Memorial Stadium wasn't good enough. The OU fumble on that play was just one of several obvious errors.

Go back to Nebraska's second possession in the first quar-ter for the first example. The Huskers took over on their 25 and 'started to move the ball. They were near midfield when quarterback Tom Sorley, on third down, passed over the middle to I-iback Richard Berns. Oklahoma linebacker Daryl Hunt flattened Berns as he reached out for the ball Yet no flags flew on what 'should have been a pass interference call. Instead, Nebraska had to punt.

Four plays later Oklahoma took a 7-0 lead on a 44-yard run by Billy Sims. On the play, An-idrews was blocked out by an official. I Defensive end coach George Darlington says his prize pupil came off the field after Sims' run and said, "Coach, I was in a 'position to make the tackle and as I reach for him I was brushed Andrews said he didn't realize at the time until he was by a teammate that it was an official who got in his way. told this was also clearly shown on the TV replays of the touchdown run. "I'm just thankful the call on the kickoff didn't eventually cost us the game," Darlington said in a forgiving tone.

"That "would have been tough to swallow." UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (UPI) While 77,443 fans and more than a few Perm Statte players went berserk after hearing that Nebraska had toppled Oklahoma from the unbeaten ranks, one guy continued to worry and pace furiously between the 40-yard lines. "Believe me, I wasn't worried about what was going on in Lincoln Perm State Coach Joe Paterno said. "I was worried about what was going on in front of me. We had a real dogfight on our hands." But the second-ranked Nit-tany Lions handled it, getting an NCAA record-tying four field goals from Matt Bahr and a 43-yard punt return by Matt Suhey Saturday en route to a come-from-behind 19-10 victory over stubborn North Carolina State.

The triumph, coupled with Nebraska's 17-14 upset of top-ranked Oklahoma, left the Lions, 10-0, as the only undefeated major college football team in the country and almost assured their ascent to the top of the national rankings. Paterno warned that the Lions have Pittsburgh on Nov. 24 in addition to its as-yet unannounced bowl game before he can worry about a first national championship in his successful 13-year coaching career. "We still have to beat Pitt yet," said Paterno, whose team has won 18 straight, the longest winning streak among major colleges. "Hey, let's assume we're not voted No.

1 this week. Stranger things have happened." The Wolfpack, 6-3 but still in the running for a bowl bid, came close to an upset. Their aroused defense allowed Penn State only 21 yards rushing in locker room at intermission leading 7-3. But Penn State got three Bahr field goals kicks of 32, 37 and 30 yards that tied an NCAA record of 21 field goals in a season to take a 12-7 lead after three quarters and Suhey sealed the victory with his punt return with 3:38 to play. "It was a really tough game," Paterno said.

"North Carolina State really got up for us. I was proud of our football team, with all that pressure and so much at stake. They stayed in there in the second half and really kept their poise." Wolfpack Coach Bo Rein, whose team was defeated by Penn State last year on a touchdown with 58 seconds to play, said there was no consolation by the closeness of the final score. "Our players gave a good, hard effort, but this is no moral victory," he said. "We feel as bad about this one as any we lose." After Bahr's final field goal had given the Lions a 12-7 lead with 33 seconds remaining in the third quarter, North Carolina State, aided by a successful fourth-down gamble at the Penn State 38, cut the margin to two points on a 42-yard field goal by Nathan Ritter with 13:31 to play.

N.C. State 0703 10 Penn State 0397 19 PS FG Bahr 33 NCS Brown 2 run (Rltterkick) PS-FGBohr32 PS FG Bahr 37 PS FG Bahr 30 NCS-FG Ritter 42 PS M. Suhey 43 punt return (Bahr kick) UWROYALI m0K SNOWPLOW II BIAS-PLY POLYESTER Zx BLACKWALL 155SR13 MSWHITEWALLS lea nm A78x13 34.95 78x1 4 36.95 35.95 G78x15 36.95 E.T. 1.57-2.86 H78x15 37.95 ALL SIZES, white or blackwall. Priced Prropotionally Low.

Plus SMALL ilFCoodrieh HIWAY II vMh. IllluiOflVftl tew sStthkx Nebraska From Page ID" records Season's Oklahoma (9-1) Stanford 35-29 W. Vlrglnio 52-10 Rice 44-7 Missouri 45-23 Neoraska (9-1) Alabama 3-20 California 34-26 Hawaii 56-11 Indiana Iowa St 23-0 Kansas State. Colorado 52-14' Oklahoma Kansas 63-21 Oklahoma 17-14 N-18 Missouri Texos 31-10 Kansas 17-14 Iowa State 34-4 Kansas 54-19 Colorado 28-7 Nllhrflciin 11.17 650x16 39.95 700x15 42.95 700x16 42.95 750x16 49.95 800x16.5 49.95 I 875x16.5 53.95 950x16.5 64.95 TRACTION 6001 6 39.10 700x15 40.30 700x16 42.95 750x16. 49.95 600x16.5 53.05 875x16.5 57.95 950x1615 69.95' 2.42-4.M 4 2f mm railltfSr OFF 2nd Tire fl than the overcast skies.

NU Printed ex- JiX i tt change price players should get the praise, not the coaches," he insisted. "I could put 100 diagrams on the blackboard, but if the players don't execute properly, no plan is going to win. The main thing is for the players to be aggressive. And I thought our players hit better than in any game this season." Van Zandt noted that a lot of folks will credit Nebraska's victory to Oklahoma's numerous fumbles. "But they didn't drop it without one of our guys giving them a good hit, did they?" he asked.

"Actually, we didn't do much of anything different than we have all year. The biggest mistake we could have made was put in a whole lot of new stuff which might have confused the players. I think we had a good plan, but it was the player's attitude, execution and effort that made it work." At the outset of the game, Oklahoma didn't take long to ignite its explosive offense. Although Nebraska held the Sooners to three plays and a punt the first time they had the ball the second OU possession was a different story. Taking over on its own 30, Oklahoma needed just four plays to move the necessary 70 yards for a 7-0 lead.

King rambled for 17 on a pitchout, and though Sims was held for a total of 7 yards on the next two plays, he flashed into the open and rambled 44 yards on third down to score. Just five plays later things looked tRrker for Nebraska upright and caromed away. "Things were pretty quiet in the dressing room at halftime," Osborne admitted, "but nobody felt we couldn't win. I just encouraged them to keep up the kind of hard-hitting play and all out effort they had given in the first half." That kind of play soon paid off. On Oklahoma's second possession, Pensick made the hard-hitting tackle and end Derrie Nelson recovered still another Sims' fumble at mid-field.

The Huskers moved the 50 yards in six plays. The biggest was a 33-yard Sorley to Miller pass. Hipp covered the remaining 17 yards in three carries. His 8-yard TD run came with 9:25 left in the third quarter and Todd made it 14-7 with his conversion kick. It was the first time this season Oklahoma had been behind! Oklahoma didnt stay behind long, although the Sooners got one reprieve.

Lott fumbled at the NU 35 and Pillen recovered for the Huskers, but Nebraska was ruled offsides on the play. On the very next snap after the penalty, Sims whisked 30 yards and it was a 14-14 tie with 6:47 left in the third stanza. It wasn't long before Nebraska started the drive which resulted in Todd's successful field goal early in the final frame. Then came nail-biting time for the partisan red-clad crowd as the Huskers thwarted the final two Oklahoma comeback attempts to claim the victory, thought we had a couple of other fumbles, but the rulings went; against us- To stick in here and overcome that makes me even happier." victory over the Sooners pushed Osborne's Coaching record to a sparkling 55; victories against just 14 defeats and two ties. "Of course this had to be my most satisy-ing win," Osborne observed.

"It certainly the one our fans wanted. And it gives us at least a share of the conference championship and should put lis in the Orange Bowl." (For a took at the bowl picture, see Page 1A) I t)sborne acknowleged that nine Oklahoma fumbles the Sooners lost six of them played a big part in the outcome. "Oklahoma runs a high-risk offense," Osborne noted. "Die ball-handling required by the wishbone can lead to fumbles. But the real key was the play of our linemen, both offensively and defensively.

The offensive line really kicked out There's no way you're going to blow a team as good as Oklahoma clear out of the ball park. But our kids took it to them. I'And the defense did a great job. Oklahoma is a fine team. And you cant try to stop just one back.

We tried to vary our defense, blasting after the quarterback on one play and the fullback on another. I thought the defensive coaches did" a super job." Nebraska defensive coordinator Lance Van Zandt refused fcjtake any of the credit, "The BRAKE SERVICE FRONT ALIGfUENT quarterback Tom Sorley was on target with a pass to tight end Junior Miller, but the usually sure-handed Miller bob-bled the ball twice in midair. It was one bobble too many. Sooner linebacker George Cumby arrived on the scene to make an interception. But that's when the Black Shirts began to assert themselves and turn the game into a stalemate.

Early in the second quarter, after Hansen grabbed the first of his two Oklahoma fumbles, the Huskers started a drive toward a 7-7 tie. Sorley passes of 7 yards to Miller and 17 to Berns, plus a 10-yard run by I.M. Hipp, got the ball in position for Berns' 5-yard blast to paydirt Todd kicked the extra point to produce the tie with 10:06 left in the half. Oklahoma didnt threaten again before intermission, but Nebraska did after a 24-yard pass from Sorley to split end Tim Smith put the ball on the Sooner four. But time was running out Just six seconds remained.

Todd came on for a field goal try. The Huskers were actually too close. The angle was so severe, Todd said later, that he didnt have much room for error. The ball ticked the right FRONT fiEUNE DISC or DRUM Most American American Cars 14.95 Foreign Cars 18.95 4 wheel 66.95 OIL CHANGE 1Q95 Cars Labor and Lining 3 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS 2400 0 STREET 13lhl5QUTH E3 1150 N. 48th 432-4497 477-3741 467-3561.