Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 43

SECTION October 30, 1977, Lincoln, Neb. shooters outdraw 0U' 3 1-14 gum, 4, 'w. C-N Neb. Okla.St. First Downs 21 12 Rushes-Yards 63-318 54-196 Passing Yards 74 63 Return Yards 29 0 Passes 6-10-2 2-5-2 443.3 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 Penalties-Yards 7-54 3-25 Third down conversions 7-14 2-10 Time-of-possession 36:01 23:59 Stillwater, Okla.

Oklahoma State tried a Halloween stunt two days early here Saturday. But the "trick" turned into a Nebraska "treat." Cornhusker coach Tom Osborne's club took advantage of the situation and roared to a convincing 31-14 football victory over the Cowboys in a crucial Big Eight Conference clash before a fullhouse Lewis Stadium crowd and regional television audience that included 60 percent of the nation. OSU, behind the running of Heisman Trophy candidate Terry Miller, who carried the ball on 12 of the Cowboys' first 18 plays, took a 7-0 lead near the end of the first quarter on a seven-yard Miller TD dash. Nebraska, which had fought back from a 15-3 deficit to win against Colrado last week, took the ensuing kickoff and marched 80 yards in 13 plays, culminating the drive early in the second quarter with an Isaiah Hipp touchdown from 10 yards out. Soon after, came the key play of the game.

Shades of the Bumeroosky which helped Nebraska beat Missouri two years ago. Nebraska kicked off and held the Cowboys after one first down. It was fourth-Season's records 1 1 III' t1 -i 1 i Sir' vA nn-, i n. Saturday afternoon at Stillwater, Nebraska quarterback Tom Sorley (12) ran the option like a coach dreams about. During the game, Sorley -J, i A carried 12 times for 55 yards and scored 31-14 triumph.

By Dave Sittler While Miller edged over the 100-yard mark, Hipp's 71-yard total was the first time the sophomore sensation failed to hit three figures in the yardage department in six'games. But the Chapin, S.C. product, who became only the fourth Nebraskan ever to crack the barrier in a season, showed no regrets about his final statistics. "I've always said winning is the most important thing to me," said Hipp, who now has rushed for 1,029 yards. "Touchdowns and yardage always come after winning." mummtmtiP v.l good rushing day against the 18th ranked Pokes.

"We noticed in films that Oklahoma State was dropping one end off the line on an option," Sorley told a mob of reporters who had him pinned in a corner of the dressing room. "I'd just slide down the line, see an opening and then yell 'block' and Dodie (NU fullback Donnell) would throw some great blocks and I was gone." Ending one of his finest afternoons as a Husker with 55 rushing yards and a touchdown, Sorley heaped praise on the Nebraska defense which stymied the brilliant Miller. "When we (offense) were standing on the sideline watching our defense give 100 per cent it really gets us fired up," Sorley said. "When they worked so hard to get us the ball, we knew we had to do something with it." Kunz, the anchor of the defensive effort with a team-leading 14 tackles, had high praise for the vanquished Miller. "He is excellent," Kunz said of OSU's Heisman Trophy Candidate.

"He showed a lot of class out there. Everytime he got up after a play he'd say 'nice tackle' I have a great deal of respect for him." Respect aside, Kunz and his Black Shirt mates came tantalizingly close to snapping Miller's 15-game streak of gaining more than 100-yards rushing. An 18-yard burst by Miller moved the Colorado Springs ail-American over the century mark for the 16th consecutive game as he finished with 116 yards. "We weren't thinking about holding Miller under a 100 yards," Kunz said. "Everyone was just supposed to do his job and make no mistakes.

That's what happened." Cornhusker team effort offsets Miller threat By -X Virgil Parker and-two at the OSU 47. Oklahoma State lined up in punt formation, but snapped the ball to fullback Vince Orange, who tried to sweep the left side. The trickery backfired. Husker defensive end Larry Young reacted quickly to the fake punt and threw Orange for a two-yard loss. With quarterback Tom Sorley at the controls, Nebraska marched the necessary 45 yards in 12 plays to take a 14-7 lead on Sorley's one-yard sneak.

The Huskers were never threatened after that. "Oklahoma State used a fake punt play when Lance was coaching down Osborne said of Nebraska defensive coordinator Lance Van Zandt, who was an assistant to OSU coach Jim Stanley during the 1973 and '74 seasons. Lance moved the tackles a little wider to protect the flanks on punt situations and -it paid off." Van Zandt, in turn, credits Osborne "When watching our films," he "Coach Osborne felt we were vulnerable to such a play. He's the one who wanted a change made. I just moved the tackles out and had the guards do the rushing instead of the tackles.

It was a big, big play in the game. The players really deserve the credit, however. They're the ones who stopped the play." The game was billed as a personal duel between Miller and Hipp. Going into the contest, Miller was the only back in the nation who had gained over 1,000 yards rushing his season. Hipp had the best per-carry average (7.3) among the NCAA leaders.

Miller managed over 100 yards for the 16th game in a row, but didn't reach the magic mark until the final minute of play with the NU second-; team defense on the field. Hipp failed to reach the century mark for the first time in six games, gaining 7L yards. That distance did enable him; to, join Miller in the over-1, 000-yard club, however, running his total to 1,029 on the season. The NU sophomore sensation had 12 fewer carries (16 against 28) than the Cowboy senior. Hipp becomes just the fourth runner in Nebraska history to exceed the ljOOQ-yard mark in a single season, joining such Husker standouts at Bobby Reynolds, Jeff Kenney and Tony Davis.

So, as far as the Hipp-Miller matchup was concerned, Nebraska may have lost the skirmish, but won the war. More importantly, the Huskers had team balance. Except for Miller, Oklahoma State had only quarterback Harold Bailey gain more than 50 yards. -He totaled 65. On the other hand, Nebraska had four in that category, paced by wingback Cur- tis Craig's 82 yards gained.

Then came Hipp's 71, fullback Oodie Donnell, 58, and Sorely with 55. In addition, freshman fullback Andra Franklin gained 34 on just six carries. Nebraska's defense, which came into its own against Colorado, gave a superb -effort for the second straight week, holding Oklahoma State's vaunted run- -ning game to just 196 yards. Nebraska's '-offense totaled 318 on the ground. "I felt before the game," Osborne observed, "that the team who played the best defense would be the winner.

Both teams had good offenses. It was a matter of who was going to stop the other Oklahoma State has yet to beat Nebraska since Bob Devaney took over the Husker coaching reins in 1962. The string now includes 15 victories and one tie that a 17-17 standoff here in 1973 Osborne's first year at the Husker helm. HUSKERS: Continued page 7E bracket Championship game Nov. 11 Stillwater, Okla.

In recent years, folks in these parts like to think victory was spelled T.M. But Nebraska gave Oklahoma State's football patrons a spelling lesson here Saturday as the Cornhuskers sandwiched an and A between those letters to produce a A win. It was that simple four-letter word that turned a game featured as a battle between T. M. (OSU's Terry Miller) and I.

M. (NU's Isaiah Hipp) into a 31-14 Cornhusker victory. "We're a team, we're a team," quarterback Tom Sorley preached in a cramped Husker locker room following Nebraska's crucial Big Eight Conference win. Husker linebacker Lee Kunz echoed Sorley's proclamation when he said, "We showed them out there today that we are a balanced football team. There are 22 guys on this team, not just one." Even Hipp, the player who received much of the pre-game publicity, was singing the team theme.

"We have plenty of guys who can do the job. That's what makes us a good team." Kunz and Sorley were two of the ringleaders who turned the much ballyhooed Hipp-Miller hookup into more than a two-man show. For their efforts, the two Cornhuskers were named players-of-the game by ABC-TV, which regionally televised the contest. Sorley, instead of Hipp or Miller, emerged as the running star in the first half. The junior Texan rode herd over the Cowboys by rushing for 50 yards to turn a 7-0 Nebraska deficit into a 14-7 Husker lead at intermission.

Getting his first start in three games, Sorley said he fully expected to have a. OKLAHOMA STATE (4-4) NEBRASKA (6-2) Wash, St 10-1-9 Tulsa 34.1; Alabama 31-24 Arkansas 6-28 Baylor 31-I0UTEP 54-0 Indiana 3H3Florida St 17-25 Kansas St 26-9 Colorado. 13-29 lowa St 21-24 Kansas St. 21-14 Colorado 33-15Kansas 21-0 Okla. St 3l-l4Nebraska 14-31 5 at Missouri 5 Oklahoma 12 Kansas 12 at Missouri 25 at Oklahoma 19 at lowa St.

back Vince Orange for a two-yard loss after Orange had taken the short snap from center. "We practiced against a fake punt all week," Young said of the play which ultimately led to Nebraska's second score. "So we were expecting it. It feels mighty good to work on something a long time and then make it work." Lee's vital stop came in the third quarter and Nebraska up 14-7. The Omaha sophomore nailed OSU quarterback Harold Bailey for a loss as Bailey tried to convert a fourth-and-one situation on the Nebraska 24-yardline.

As he stood outside the Husker locker room grooving to the music on a friend's tape recorder, Lee said, "Tony Samuel (NU defensive end) turned him (Bailey) in and I just hit him. It was a team thing." One more witness for the defense on the "team theme" was cornerback Ted Harvey. "The coaches told us all week that the newspapers and television would build the game up as an IM-TM showdown," Harvey said. "But they said that's not what was going to win the game. The winner was going to be the team with the total team effort." 79B Sunday.

Football Notre Dame highlights, 8 a.m., CD; NFL Today, 11:30 a.m., SMS); Chargers v. Dolphins, noon, C5; Chiefs v. Browns, noon, ID; Vikings v. Falcons, noon, (S3); College Football '77, (2C4; Raiders v. Broncos, 3 p.m., QC5; Tom Osborne, 10:30 p.m., Bud Moore, 10:30 p.m., C2; Ellis Rainsberger, 11 p.m., CI; Barry Switzer, 11:30 p.m., C2.

Bowling Leisure Lanes, noon, (2. Playoff Quarterfinal round Semifinal round No. 1 seed No. 8 seed No. seed i No.

4 seed No. 3 seed No. 6 seed No. 7 seed No. 2 seed Home team Nov.

1 Nov.S Home team Nov. 1 Home team Home team Nov. 1 Homt Team Nov. 1 Home team How AP's top 20 fared Next week's 12. Nebraska (6-2) defi opponent Okla.

31-14 Missouri 1. Texas (7-0) def. Tex. Tech, 26-0 13. Pitt (6-1-1 def.

Tulane, 48 0 W. Va. 2. Alabama (7-1) def. Miss.

37-7 LSU 14. Tex. Tech (5-2) lost to Texas, 26 0... TCU 3. Ohio St.

(7-1) def. Wisconsin, 42-0 Illinois 15. Colorado (5-2-1) lost to 4. Oklahoma (7-1) def. Missouri, 24-14 lowa St.

Kansas 42-7 Okla. St. 1 Hof 1 To3 6-" de'- Ga Tech rest! tf-0 No. Caro." BVU (6-1) def. Arizona, 34.,4 Utah 7.

Kentucky (7-1) def. 29 14 Georaia VPI, 32-0 Vanderbilf Auburn' 29'14 Oeor9'a 8. Arkansas (6-1) def. Rice, 30-7 Baylor Minnesota (5-3) lost to 9. Penn St.

(7-1) def. Miami, 49-7 State Indiana, 34-22 Mich. St. 10. USC (5-2) lost to Cal, 17-10 Stanford JO.

Fla. St. (6-1) def. 11. Tex.

(6-1) def. SMU, 38-21 idle N. Tex. 35-14 VPI STAFF PHOTO BY RANDY HAMPTON one touchdown in the Huskers' Things were in the proper sequence for Hipp, who was on the winning side and scored twice in addition to his rushing OUtpUt. 1 Asked how he thought he fared in his showdown with Miller, who had one touchdown, Hipp said, "I think I won the war against Miller because we won.

I'm very happy with what I did today." Nebraska's often maligned defense, which has posted fine back-to-back defensive efforts, had a host of heroes in addition to Kunz. "I had a lot of help," Kunz said of his mates. Providing two of the major defensive efforts were end Larry Young and middle guard Oudious Lee. Young smelled out an OSU fake punt and Lee provided a crucial fourth down tackle to halt a drive deep in Nebraska territory. With the score tied 7-7 in the second period, Oklahoma State Coach Jim Stanley decided to take a chance on a fourth-and-two situation on the Nebraska 47-yardline.

But Young spoiled the gamble when he smacked Cowboy running Class Blair 6-1-2 (41.1) at Schuyler 9-0 (45.8) McCook 8-1 (43.88) at Hastings AC 9-0 (42.5) Pierce 9-0 (42.5) at Chadron 8 0 (44.5) Arlington 9-0 (44.7) at Minden 7-2 (41.66) Class C-1 Battle Creek 6-2-1 (41.1 at Centennial 9-0 (49.7) Wahoo Neumann 8-1 (45.5) at Bayard 9-0 (45.3) Elkhorn MM 9-0 (45.3) at Gibbon 9-0 (46.4) Hebron 9-0 (47.5) at Tekamah-Herman 8-1 (43.8) Class C-2 Orchard 7-1-1 (37.7) at Nebraska City Lourdes 9-0 (43.1) Humphrey St. Francis 8-1 (40.0) at Republican Valley 8-1 (39.4) Henderson 7-2 (39.4) at Grant 8-1 (41.6) Ansley 8-0 (42.0) at Hemingford 8-1 (38.8) Class Axtell 8-1 (43.3) at Nelson 9-0 (49.7) Cedar Bluffs 8-1 (46.6) at Coleridge 8-1 (45.5) Greeley 8-0 (45.3) at Bancroft 9-0 (49.2) St. Edward 9-0 (49.7) at Medicine Valley 6-2-1 (45.0) 8-Man Elgin 6-2 (40.6) at Wheatland 9-0 (48.1) Trumbull 9-0 (46.4) at Hampton 9-0 (46.4) Eustis 8-0 (46.3) at Adams 9-0 (47.0) Potter (47.0) at Bee'mer 8-0 (46.2) All playoff pairings are unofficial and based on calculations by the Sunday Journal and Star. The Nebraska School Activities Association will announce the official final point standings and playoffs pairings today. Solich, Els spend Saturday in different fashions Els and his Northeast assistants also took Friday night, since the Rockets beat Fremont Thursday, to look at a few prospective opponents.

Els admitted the Rockets used a little foresight and a little luck in getting the game on Thursday. "There were two reasons," Els said. "With teachers convention vacation, we didn't want the kids to have Thursday, Friday and Saturday to think about the game. "But in the back of our minds, we were thinking about the extra days rest if we made the playoffs," he added. Els watched Grand Island film three different times, sandwiching in time with his players and his family.

The family doesn't get much time this time of year Els admitted. "My family understands that," Els aid. "They wouldn't want it any other way right now." The Saturday editions of the Lincoln Star and Lincoln Journal contained the unofficial information that Brady had qualified in 8-Man. A recheck in point standings moved Elgin into the 8-Man playoffs as a wild card ahead of Brady 40.6 to 40.5. Playoff pairings Class A 0.

Westside 7-2 (38.8) at Lincoln SE 7-1 (43.7); Lincoln NE at Grand Island 7-2 (41. Ralston 7-2 (40.0) at Creighton Prep 8-1 (42.7) PaDillion 8-1 (43.3) at Fremont 6-3 (39.4) By Chuck Sinclair Prep Sports Writer Bob Els and Frank Solich both got out of bed Saturday morning and both relaxed watching some of the action in the televised Nebraska-Oklahoma State football game. That's where the similarities ended for the two Capital City playoff-bound football coaches. Els. you see, as the head coach of Lincoln Northeast's Rockets, spent a great portion of the day engrossed in running his squad through light drills and watching films of their Tuesday first 'round foe Grand Island.

The Rockets, as the unofficial fourth seed in Class travel to Grand Island for a rematch of a 15-13 loss to Islanders two weeks ago. Solich also spent a great deal of Satur-' day with his team. Much more than Els as a matter of fact. The coach of the defending state Class A champions Lincoln Southeast met with the entire team for breakfast, then met them again at 3:30 p.m. for a trip to Norfolk to end the regular season.

A 28-14 win ended the season in fine fashion, but Solich could have thought of a hundred ways he would have rather spent the evening. Heading the list, would' ve been watching film of the Knights' Tuesday opponent at Seacrest Field. Omaha Westside. Solich's Saturday night game poses a major dilemma for the head coach how to prepare for the first round game less than 72 hours later. "We look on the positive side," Solich said after watching a game that seemed to last three days instead of a couple of hours.

"After other Saturday night games, we usually have pretty spirited practices on Monday. "Maybe it will be good for us from the standpoint that the kids will still be up from this one," he said. "I hope so." Solich isn't trying to kid anybody about his druthers. 5 He would have much rather had the game scheduled a little earlier in the week. He and athletic director Bill.

Miller had tried to reschedule over a week in advance, but it wasn't possible from Norfolk's end. ''It's too bad it worked out that way," Solich said. "But we look at it like most of the other schools in the state only had one more day's rest, "I still spent part of my day worrying about Omaha Westside," Solich admitted. "They caught us a little by surprise. We were kind of figuring on playing Fremont in the first round.

"Luckily, not playing Friday night game, we were scouting Omaha West-side along with two other high school games," he said. "We think we'll be pretty well prepared." For finals, the team located the farthest east in finals will be the-. home team in classes C-1 and the farthest west in classes C-l'. -and tight-man. This is a sample of the Nebraska School Activities Association state ibbt i mi a ii i i ball playoff pairings.

The teams will be seeded on point.