Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 20

Saturday, November 27, 1993 Page 20 Lincoln Journal-Star f0TO ST OKI f. W' I On a 1 9-degree day, the fans high in the south stands at Memorial Stadium were among the 75,674 people who braved the elements. A FABJtMstie Game wi Don yj i may not have been pretty. As in awesome. But it was perfect As in 11-0.

They played the Nebraska- 1 i I FJJ i riwm the Sooner Schooner. Sooners go boomer. Huskers celebrate. Up in the deep freeze of Section 129 at the very top row of the west balcony, where the view is panoramic and the wind-chill is Arctic, Tim Cutler and Randy Luebe of Elkhorn whooped it up. Hugs and high-fives all around.

Through sunny T-shirted September afternoons or the cold, pouring rains of a Colorado or Oklahoma showdown in November, or this frigid Friday when it was so cold that the red disappeared from Memorial Stadium, buried beneath layers of winter jackets and hoods and parkas, Tim and Randy are the leaders of Section 129. Hearts have been broken on cold days in Lincoln when Oklahoma came to town. Not this time. Tim and Randy got to celebrate Nebraska's first perfect regular season in 10 years. Last time, the Huskers came within one point of a national championship in the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Oklahoma game in a refrigerator Friday, but it wasn't until the fourth quarter that the Huskers put the game on ice. Two touchdowns in 13 seconds spelled meltdown for the Sooners and a perfect regular season for Tom Osborne's top-; ranked Huskers, his 206th victory in 21 years at Nebraska, his 88th win in his last 100 Big Eight games. Now that is awesome. By the time this one was over, a late afternoon moon was peeking over one of the television light towers onto the bedlam below. Fans spilled onto the field with 18 seconds left, bringing the game to a slightly premature end.

Oklahoma players simply turned and headed for the locker room; Nebraska players head for balmy Miami next. Where the moon comes accompanied by a song. And where a national championship awaits. This was vintage Nebraska-Oklahoma. A low-scoring 7-7 slugfest after three quarters.

Once again, NU-OU would be decided in the fourth quarter. Dejavu all over again. Only this time it wasn't the Sooners doing one of their old-time, in-your-face heartbreakers right in front of Nebraska fans in Lincoln as they had so of ten in the past. Oh, let me count the ways. Twice in 1984 and 1987 they knocked the Huskers off their No.

1 pedestal. Both times in Lincoln. Oklahoma scored the first time it had the ball Friday, raising all the unpleasant ghosts from the past. But the Sooners never scored again. Spell this Husker victory D-E-F-E-N-S-E.

And subtitle it field position. The Black Shirts took command in the second half. If you want to pick a moment when the game turned, try two minutes to go in the third quarter when the defense stuffed Oklahoma deep in its own territory, forcing a punt. Shortly after that, the wheels fell off r-iii(ii' riday's victory gives Nebraska I another chance on New Year's I night, when the Orange Bowl winner can claim the crown. One final word about all the In the frigid weather, some fans wore little, choosing to tackle the outdoor bare-chested (left).

Most fans bundled up with heavy coats, hats and blankets, including one fan who resembled a Christmas tree. thrashing of Osborne by the national sports media for his recent 0-6 bowl record. When you're so successful that you play the best, it's not as easy to win. National sportswriters who punish Osborne forget another coach who went through an eight-year period when he failed to win a bowl game because he played the best. That coach went 0-7-1 from 1967 through 1974 before breaking out of that cycle and winning six in a row.

Name: Bear Bryant. Ever hear of him? Photos by Randy Hampton Layout by Karl Vogel Tommie Frazier's second-quarter TD beat OU's Darrius Johnson and tied the score. I OP II ,11 1 III I II HI I UIJ.UI Ll I II II I Mil ill ji 'A II i ll 'V Husker fever took many forms: Ron Holmes hawked Orange Bowl shirts as fans sold tickets (left), a cheerleader waved a flag (center) and fans with painted faces showed pride (right)..