Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 19

A- Sports A Umcolii Journal'' Friday, November IT, 1978 1 9 4 I if As A t' 'fv 1 TomOhrt Millard Billy Todd Chandler, Ariz. RlckBerns Wichita Falls, Tex. Bruce Dunning Arvada, Colo. George Andrews Omaha Darrell Walton Omaha Lee Kunz Golden, Colo. fTr-iiffiiiiM'i iMiiiMiTiiiirmLjii 'Exceptional' seniors ready for home finale Jvjs'" Tom Sorley Big Spring, Tex.

Lawrence Cooley Monroe, Mich. By Randy York Staff Sports Writer The first two players out of the South Stadium tunnel Saturday will be Steve Lindquist and Jeff Hansen. You could bet the house on it. Someone would have to trip them, or better yet, tackle them, to keep Lindquist and Hansen from leading the Corn-buskers onto the field against Missouri. Lindquist, from Minneapolis, and Hansen, from Sacramento, have lived and eaten Nebraska football for five years.

Saturday is their day. Along with 17 other seniors, they'll drown their emotions in that sea of red known as a sellout crowd. Appropriately, it will be the 100th straight sellout in Memorial Stadium. This group deserves the milestone. If it beats Missouri to claim Nebraska's first undisputed Big Eight championship since 1972, the second-ranked Huskers will have the opportunity to really go out in style as national champions against No.

1 Penn State in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Night. For the sake of the seniors more than anything else, Tom Osborne wants all the pieces to fall into place. "I remember two or three years ago when things weren't going very well," he recalled Thursday after practice. "I was a little down and Ursula Walsh (Nebraska's academic counselor) said stick around until Kelvin Clark and Tom Sorley are seniors. She could tell then that this was an exceptional group." Exceptional, in this case anyway, covers a lot of ground, Osborne said.

"I mean exceptional attitude-wise as much as ability-wise, even though this group has some of the best ability we've ever That's why Andrews, the defensive captain, hasn't really tried to monitor his emotions for his last game in Memorial Stadium. "Maybe I would have, if this wasn't such an important game," he said. "The intensity of the crowd should be the same this week as it was last week because our intensity is going to have to same." Sorley, the offensive captain, knows it'll be there. "Nebraskans are good, friendly, down-to-earth people," he said. "They respect Missouri and know what it's going to take to beat them.

They'll be behind us all the way. They're the greatest fans in America." And they never cease to fascinate the players who play for them. "I still get goose pimples every time I run out in front them," said Lindquist, named an All-Big Eight offensive guard this week. "I still remember the first time I walked out there my freshman year," he recalled. "I was used to going to Golden Gopher games in Minneapolis where you could get a 50-yard line ticket at halftime.

I left Abel Hall 20 minutes before kickoff, not thinking much about it. "I walked down through the tunnel and out into the stadium. I couldn't believe it. I thought I was Moses and they were the Red Sea. It's an indescribable feeling." "Moses" will experience that feeling for the last time Saturday and obviously plans to lead 18 other seniors into the Promised Land.

That is, if Jeff Hansen doesn't beat him to it. had," he said. "There's been a minimum of problems. No one seems to care about himself more than the team. To me, that's the ultimate tribute." Unselfish is just one word Osborne uses to describe Nebraska's 1978 senior football class.

Conscientious and intelligent are two others. It's been a long road from the steel mills in Birmingham to the pot of gold awaiting the Huskers at the end of the rainbow in Miami Lesser teams would have canceled the dream date a long time ago. No wonder this group of seniors has a special place in Osborne's heart. They've woven an old-fashioned word spirit into the concept of a team. They've painted a masterpiece virtually without superstars.

"Dollar" Bill Bryant, a third team defensive tackle from Boys Town, sat in front of his locker and took a minute to reflect Thursday after practice. "I'll always consider myself as much a part of this team as any starter," he said. "What makes me feel even better is knowing that all the starters feel the same way. The experience, and the friendships, will last forever." Last week's win over Oklahoma, of course, is the sweetest thought in a candy-coated season. But everyone knows a loss to Missouri would be like a forced shot of caster oil.

"Well remember the Oklahoma game most unless we lose to Missouri," Fischer said. "If we lose this week, all the effort will be wasted. All the hours we've spent in spring ball, tackling drills, butt drills, two-a-days, three-a-days and Wednesday scrimmages will go down the drain." i. Kelvin Clark Odessa, Tex. Barney Cotton Omaha i dl-ta H4r Wri win 1.

I T0mlTm'mfm fZLmmiWnm mimtMm-rr irwi i Mrnti ri mi mi" mmmm Jim Pillen Monroe Bill Bryant Decatur, Ala. Frank Lockett Richmond, Calif. Tim Fischer Lincoln Randy Poeschl Fremont Steve Lindquist Minneapolis, Minn. Steve Glenn Pawnee City Jeff Hansen Sacramento, Calif. Cipriano, Apke find selling job easy fir uri lineT i JL No.

Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Pos Yr.Wt. Ht.

Nam NEBRASKA OFFENSE No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Pos Yr.Wt.

Ht. Name Nebraska cage guide available and edited the 200-page guide, featuring a six-page section of color photos. Copies may be obtained by contacting the sports information office. The 1978-79 Nebraska basketball media guide is now available to the public at $2.00 per copy. NU assistant sports information director Bill Bennett and student assistant Steve Pederson compiled' MISSOURI No.

Miller 4-4 Jr. TE Sr 230 i-t Winslow S3 73 K. Clark 6-4 275 Sr. LT Jr. 245 4-3 Guender 74 54 Cotton 6-5 245 Sr.

L6 Jr. 235 4-2 Jones 44 57 Saalfeld 6-4 237 Jr. Sr. 235 4-3 Allard 55 48 Lindquist 4-4 250 Sr. R6 So.

230 6-3 Lechner 69 74 Ohrt 4-4 244 Sr. RT So. 252 4-5 Richards 72 84 Smith 4-3 194 Jr. SE Sr. 185 4-3 Downer 80 12 Sorley 4-2 200 Sr.

QB So. 170 44 Bradley 15 32 HIPP 4-0 200 Jr. RB Jr. 220 4-2 Ellis 43 39 Franklin 5-11 195 So. FB So.

220 4-2 Wilder 32 22 Brown 4-0 174 Jr. WB Sr. 155 5-9 Lewis 10 NEBRASKA DEFENSE MISSOURI No. Name Ht. Wt.

Yr. Pos Yr.Wt. Ht. Name No. 92 Nelson 4-1 212 So.

LE Jr. 225 44 Petersen 88 55 Horn 4-5 259 Jr. LT Sr. 230 4-3 Hamilton 94 51 Weinmaster 4-0 214 Jr. MG Jr.

225 4-3 Goodman 98 93 Pensick 4-5 245 Jr. RT Sr. 245 4-4 Suda 84 94 Andrews 4-4 223 Sr. RE So. 218 4-5 Ray 90 40 Dunning 4-3 214 Sr.

LB Jr. 212 4-2 Berg 34 38 Kunz 4-1 218 Sr. LB Sr. 215 4-1 Garlich 48 29 Pillen 4-0 183 Sr. Sr.

181 44 Lauderdale 27 14 Fischer 5-9 145 Sr. CB So. 170 4-1 Poe 9 34 Means 4-0 172 So. CB Sr. 180 4-1 Calabrese 17 48 Hansen 4-2 198 Sr.

So. 170 4-2 Wright 21 By Mike Babcock Staff Sports Writer OMAHA Somehow the word must have gotten out. Nebraska and Creighton have a basketball game with each other Dec. 9. Husker Coach Joe Cipriano and Blue-jay Coach Tom Apke were the featured guests at a luncheon in Civic Auditorium Thursday, the purpose of which was to publicize that fact.

But about the only way you can get Into the game now is to buy a season ticket, and since fewer than 800 tickets remain, Cipriano and Apke didn't have to do much selling. "I'm the coach at Nebraska, and the last time I saw this many people at a press conference for basketball was when Junior Miller came out for the against Arkansas Tech. Over 9,000 non-student season tickets already have been sold for the Husker home games. Creighton's season begins against Oregon State the same night in Omaha. "People say, 'Oregon State But with just two weeks of practice, Oregon State beat the Soviet Union national team, 87-85.

That's something New Mexi- team," said a smiling Cipriano. "I was thinking of bringing one of the football players out this season and raising some interest again." That hardly seems necessary. Nebraska opens its season Nov. 24 at Alabama-Birmingham and returns to the newly-named Bob Devaney Sports Center for its home-opener the next night Site: Memorial Stadium. Kickoff: 1:30 p.

m. Broadcasts: KFAB, KLIN, WOW, KFOR KRNU FM. co, Notre Dame and Indiana weren't able -to do this year," Apke said. "It's a terribly difficult opener, which should answer a lot of questions for us," he said. Nebraska's opener, which will be Gene Bartow's debut as head coach at Alabama-Birmingham, also should answer some questions for Cipriano questions like why he scheduled such a team.

"I'm afraid that's a real scheduling mistake," Cipriano said. "Gene Bartow's just taken over, and we thought we might catch him of guard. "But he's recruited some junior college players, and since it's a new program, transfers are immediately eligible, so we're going to have our backs to the wall," he said. Apke expects his team's opponents to figure the Bluejays will have their backs to the wall most of the seasoa "When people analyze on paper what our basketball team looks like, they're fair in picking us somewhere in the middle of the (Missouri Valley) conference. But we'd like to think we have some things outsiders don't know about, some surprises," Apke said.

"For instance, I think we have some good freshmen, and we have some kids who didn't play that much last year because of the good seniors we had." But Apke admitted that the graduation of younger brother Rick three times the Bluejays' leading scorer and MVP would be difficult to overcome for his defending conference champs. Nebraska has more experience returning, but Cipriano thinks last season's surprising success second in the Big Eight will make thisear more difficult for his Huskers. "We can't fool people this year," he said. "We're kind of on the hot seat Other teams didn't feel we were the ones to beat last year, but this year they will" And Nebraska's non-conference schedule may be tougher this time around. "I think the biggest thing is to get started on a positive note, to play well in December.

Last year we had a lot of good games at home in December," Cipriano said. But this year there's Alabama-Birmingham waiting for the Huskers at the opening tip. "Well maybe we can be like the football team," he said. "Maybe we'll lose our first game in Alabama and then win the next 11 or 12 in a row I'd settle for that" No doubt, Apke also would settle for such a streak to begin this winter. "Basketball season is here, and we'd just like to get the word out," he said.

It appeared the word already was. AP's Nissenson picks Missouri Associated Press college football forecaster Herschel Nissenson has become the second wire service analyst to pick Missouri to upset Nebraska Saturday. Thursday, United Press International's Fred McMane saw Missouri a 20-17 victor in the contest. Friday, Nissenson picked Missouri, 21-17, in the contest. Nissenson noted Missouri's history of pulling of the big upset as a reason for picking the Tigers.

In his story, Nissenson discusses some aspects of the bowl situation and says, "It's enough to start Ye Olde Peerless Prognosticator thinking wicked thoughts. And the first thought that comes to mind please, Nebraska fans, no letters is the Upset Special of the Week Missouri 21, Nebraska 17." Hip J--; -s A I tn 4 4ir iVsjI NU student gets reward The goal posts are in place and Memorial Stadium is ready for Nebraska's regular season finale against Missouri Saturday. The goal posts were torn down and hauled away following Nebraska's victory over Oklahoma last weekend. "A $100 reward that was offered for the return of the base piece which couldn't be replaced on short notice paid off," University of Nebraska Police Capt. Robert Edmunds says.

"A student (education major Jim Bertrand) brought one of them back because of the reward." The reward was offered by the Touchdown Club, a Husker booster group, and Lincoln Life and Casualty since such a reward could not come from state tax money. The main standard of the other post, NU police learned, had been destroyed. Grounds Director Bill Shepard used the base from a similar goal post on the practice field to complete the project Memorial Stadium's 100th consecutive sellout crowd wont notice any difference in the appearance of the posts, Shepard says. "But we dont have any spares left now," Edmunds notes. "I hope the fans dont tear these down.

The team will need them for extra point and field goal practice prior to the Orange Bowl" Capt Edmunds says he cant understand how the tradition of tearing down goal posts ever got started. "It would seem much more fitting to hang No. 1 banners on the posts as a momument of victory than to tear them down," he TV Scene STAFF PHOTO BY WEB RAY Friday Football NCAA highlights, 6:30 p.m., Notre Dam vs. Tenneswo, 11:50 p.m., Ok Bob Divoney, 10:30 p.m., CD Saturday Football Tixas MM vs. Arkansas, 11:30 a.m., Viking rtport, 9 p.m., NFL Gome of the Week, 12:30 p.m., CD UCLAv.USCJp.m.,ag Husker volleyers get key victory Iowa's Gail Hodge (24) cant make a return on this shot as Nebraska's Mindy Martens (20) watches.

NU won three' matches in the Region Six tourney Thursday, including a key victory over five-time defending champion Southwest' Missouri State. See story, page 20..