Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 34

6 lilUSICEOS OCTOBER 19. 13B3 SUNDAY Tigers cauglit rly ingez catnappi 'J- Nebraska's main adjustment wajflfC seal off the Tigers' inside running tack, linebacker Marc Munford said. Haled Nebraska with 10 tackles. "We were a little soft in the middle aC the beginning," he said. They ran lijc of isolations and traps early, but 4he went away from that later.

I dont know why they did, because they were prettjC successful with At that point, Nebraska had a surprise; for the Tigers, Parsons said. "As the game went on we tried to beaC them with our quickness," he said.rWC knew we didnt have to stand toe-to-tMg; with them" Defense tightened up Missouri quarterback Jeff Hennihg? sen and running back Darrell Wallace who combined for 43 yards rushing ott the opening drive, finished with 70 total. "We tightened up on the second and? third series," Thomas said. "When got going full blast, it was all over." "After that first series, we settled down," Parsons said. "I dont think thej knew what they were getting into." Thomas said he was inspired, something else.

He said the should have been called for holding-penalties on several occasions. "They did it all day and the ref didnT do anything," Thomas said. "That made me mad. When I get mad I go out and do what I do best knock somebody's head off." ByMikeReilley Four members of the Nebraska defense admitted that Missouri caught them off guard Saturday, but added that they made the Tigers pay for the surprise. Missouri opened its 48-17 loss to the Cornhuskers with a It-play, 68-yard drive.

The drive culminated with a 29-yard field goal by Tom Whelihan that gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead. The Tigers were then shut out for the next two quarters before Nebraska gave up two late touchdowns. Nebraska linebacker Kevin Parsons said Missouri's veer offense caused chaos for the Huskers on the opening drive. "They came out in sets that they knew from studying films were bad ones for us," Parsons said. Ran right at Huskers Defensive end Broderick finished with six unassisted tackles and eight total, agreed with Parsons.

"Nobody had ever tried to run right at us before," Thomas said. "Last week, Oklahoma State tried to run away from us. We dont want anyone coming in here running or throwing on us." Defensive end Tony Holloway said the Huskers had to make some defensive adjustments after the first possession. "I would like to see us adjust better than we did," said Holloway, who had seven tackles. "We knew we had to play our game make them play to us." NebrasKa middle guard Danny Noonan (left) and Missouri guard Phil Pettey engage in some hand-to-face-mask combat.

After Missouri9 opening drive, it was shutdown city9 place. "Getting turnovers can pick a team up. But before you know the offense got going and so did the defense. They had the same problem we did in just getting started. "But I think the big turnaround came on the kickoff return when Dante Wiley really smacked a guy good.

Everybody fired up after that," he said. After the Huskers took a 13-3 lead on a 10-yard run by Keith Jones, Wiley, a member of the kickoff team, stopped Tiger kick returner Craig Lemmers with a stunning hit Stymied Tiger attack Missouri's next possession ended with an interception by Fryar and the following drive netted just seven yards. After Missouri's initial drive, the Tigers were held to 32 yards total offense the remainder of the first half. In the third quarter, the Tigers had a total of 13 yards. Missouri had to wait until there was 12 minutes left in the game with Nebraska leading 48-3 before the Tigers managed to get two first downs on the same possession.

"Our offense got going, everybody was playing the way they like to," Fryar said. "I had a little run-in with Robert Delpino (MU receiver). "Delpino was just going to hit and hit me. I tried to hold back but that's hard to do," Fryar said. "I'm getting tired of that kind of play.

That's three games in a row where guys have taken the elbow shot or the hit in the back when the play is somewhere else. "I don't know if they want me to fight or whatever. But two plays after he hit me and made that catch, I made the interception. That's the best way to get my revenge." By Ken Hambleton there was surprise and even alarm when Missouri took the opening kickoff and drove 68 yards in 16 plays and took a 3-0 over Nebraska Saturday at Memorial Stadium "We came out kind of flat, and they came out riled up," NU right cornerback Charles Fry ar' said. They pushed us off the bal a bit and that hasnt been done to us before.

"Their quarterback really surprised me. He did a very good job-V. said it was a matter of Missouri's Jeff Henningsen taking advantage of some confusion in the Nebraska defense. assignments were mixed up and they were running unbalanced and running traps and options to the unbalanced side and our responsibilities got changed up," he said. The Black Shirts made some changes during the Comhusk-ers'Jirst offensive possession! "We didnt have the ban long, so it was kind of hurried, but we came out in the second series and we were better," Fryar said.

after that it was shutdown city." Oustard recovered fumble fjii Missouri's third possession, NU cornerback John Custard, -who started in place of Brian Dads, recovered a fumble caused when Tony Holloway hit Tiger running back Darrell Wallace. The recovery set up Nebraska's go-ahead field goal by Dale Klein. We were just getting going," Custard said. That first drive really woke us up. We knew that if we didn't get going it was going to be a long, long day and maybe a bad day, too.

'f think getting the fumble helped us," he said. "We had changed our coverages a little and I ended up in the right I i I Husker John Custard (28) recovers a Mizzou fumble near Kevin Parsons' legs in the second quarter. Give Brinson an inch (or so), he'll take a mile Mike Babcock Columnist "JET 1 Aft i i '4 rT: fig) -4 "I focus on the punter, then look at the coverage. That way I have a better idea of what I can do," Brinson said. There's some guessing involved, and if he guesses wrong "Ordinarily, I already have a first move in mind, so if the guy does something the opposite of what I expected, I'm in trouble," Brinson sail He agrees that waiting to field a punt can make one feel vulnerable.

That's why "I just focus on the punter and the ban and block everything else out" Brinson said. "If I stood back there and thought, 'These guys are coming to hit I'd be looking up; and down, and I'd never catch the baU." And besides, he's got those two yards in which to make ah: escape. Oklahoma State free safety Mark Moore needed about five extra yards to tackle Nebraska quarterbacks Steve Taylor and Clete Blakeman on two plays in last Saturday night's game. Moore hit Taylor that far out-of-bounds along the Conv, husker sideline, and he tackled Blakeman about that far into the end zone after a touchdown. Both hits drew penalties.

Late last week, Taylor and Blakeman each received letters of apology from Moore and from Oklahoma State head Coach Pat Jones. "That was nice," Taylor said. "I reaHy appreciate The letters are evidence that Moore responds like an An-American both on and off the field. He and Jones showed some class Mowing the unfortunate, and unintentional, incidents. How much is enough? Two yards is plenty for Dana Brinson, a sophomore kick returner on the Nebraska football team.

"If I've got two yards, I'm good," Brinson said recently. Brinson, who, according to the official game program, stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 170 pounds, was discussing his disdain for fair-catching the ball when he lines up deep on punt returns. "I try to return everything," said Brinson, who returned three punts and two kickoffs in Nebraska's 48-17 victory over Missouri Saturday afternoon in Memorial Stadium. "Even if a guy (defender) is right there, IU catch it, anyway. "They have to gjve you two yards." Sometimes, of course, a defender covering a punt win ignore the rule.

During Nebraska's 59-14 victory over Illinois, for example, Brinson was hit the instant he fielded a punt That experience, however, didnt change his attitude about making fair catches because "it wasn't a hard hit It appeared hard. The guy brushed me; he caught me off-guard. But it wasnt hard," Brinson said. "I've never been hit reaUy hard (on a punt return)." Ever wonder about the psychology of being a kick returner, having to stand there waiting for the ban to come down while 11 players, most of them at least 40 pounds heavier, race down i the field, intent on doing you bodily harm? Ask Brinson, who's been returning both kickoffs and punts all season. There's a difference.

"On kickoffs, you've got time to let your blockers set up the walL After you catch the ball, you normally have about 10 yards to run before you make any contact" he said. "I can hesitate before I make my break. While I'm running up, I can look for an opening. "On punts, as soon as you catch the ban, you've got to start faking people out because they're right on you." You'd figure Brinson prefers returning kickoffs, right? After an, they are a little less dangerous. Brinson may be the second-fastest Cornhusker football player in history he's been timed at 04.39 in the 40-yard dash but he has to catch the ban before he starts running.

"I like punt returns. They're more exciting, more challenging," he said. Wrestling alligators is, no doubt, more exciting than working for a newspaper. But I've never had a desire to sell my typewriter and move to the Everglades. Concentration, not thrill-seeking, is the key element in returning kicks, according to Brinson.

Before he catches the ball, he knows what hen do. NU's Dana Brinson starts on a 7-yard gainer. Offense Huskers 1D K2J ter.jweltersaid. the pme open. "If you were in the huddle when we start playing Nebraska footban those pitches, rolls and isos the whole team is completely fired up, because that's just one on one," he said.

"We're blessed with a great option quarterback, a good passing game and yet, we can still go back to what we always do, because we have the linemen who root people out and beat them up." There was a source of inspiration for the offense, Taylor said. "We knew they'd play us hard and they did. But I didnt want to kick seven field goals to win like we had to last year," be said. That's not a knock against Dale Klein. He could to it But.

we wanted to do our share this time. "I missed some audibles early in the game because I was going for their bluff and some other times I got too deep into my cadence and that resulted in sacks. That touchdown at the end of the half and then the drive to start the third quarter, when I had the two delay-of--game penalties, showed whatwe have," he said. The 48 points and the 524 total offensive yards are a good sign, Taylor said. "We're scoring points and they arent all easy points, like interception returns or four-yard drives and that shows we're playing wen." The addition of Tyreese Knox at I-back, backing up Keith Jones and the return of Kaelin at fullback helped the offense, too, Taylor said.

"Keith did what Keith does. Tyreese couldnt have had a better debut at I-back," Taylor said. "And Kaelin, just his presence is a big lift He goes around tapping everybody on the head, he's the motivator. That's one reason why we miss Von Sheppard (injured NU wingback) so, much, too. 'You've got to have those motivators," he said.

"It's not always easy to get up for a team that you're supposed to beat easily and that may have been a factor early in the game. But the defense got us fired up. Our line got us fired up and when we're fired up we're hard to stop." Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne said. Osborne didn't elaborate. Until I-back Keith Jones scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 10-yard run midway through the second quarter, it appeared Klein might have to handle the Cornhuskers' scoring again.

"That's exactly what I thought," Nebraska linebacker Kevin Parsons said. "I remember coming over to the sideline and saying to the other guys on defense, 'Something's got to break. We've got to make something Actually, the defense already had started to make something happen, by shutting down Missouri's offense. Kaelin scored And something broke when Cornhusker fullback Ken Kaelin ran 28 yards for a touchdown with 36 seconds remaining before halfume. "We audibled a trap into a bUtz," said Osborne.

That produced a 20-3 lead and gave the Cornhuskers control according to Missouri Coach Woody Widenhofer. Nebraska added 28 points in Use sec ond half before sending in the reserves, against whom Missouri managed two touchdowns in the closing minutes. The second half was not without interest for an audience of 76,005, which watched the Cornhuskers' Tyreese Knox score a pair of touchdowns, the second on a 92-yard run from scrimmage, the longest ever aUowed by Missouri. Knox, a redshirted sophomore from Daly City, returned to I-back Saturday after spending last spring and an fall learning to play fullback. Knox finished with a game-high 127 rushing yards on eight carries.

"Tyreese is a great I-back I think he's more confident there," Nebraska quarterback Steve Taylor said. According to Cornhusker defensive end Broderick Thomas, who's never at a loss for words, the 5-foot-10, 218-pound Knox win become "another Herschel Walker" before he leaves Nebraska. Happy to be I-back Knox, who's been timed at :04.44 In the 40-yard dash, was just happy to be an I-back-again. After be was told he was switching positions last week, "I wcntC home with a smile on my face," i Mm Even though he finished with 83 yards'-' rushing, Brinson had no desire to be' come an I-back Wingback is fine. v' Td Just like to carry the ban morev.

said 'Brinson, who carried it one too" many times as far as Missouri's beleaguered defense was concerned. Brinson raced 63 yards for a touchdown on a play "identical" to one on which he ran 57 yards for a touchdo.wn in a victory over South Carolina. "I reaUy want to commend the offetKC sive line. It was exceUent blocking, ture-perfect, exactly the way it was drawn up," Brinson said. "I don't know if they even had a secondary back thereTZ'C A down-field block by Jones eliml- nated the final defensive back and left Brinson with that impression.

"I didn't know I-backs could block likV: that," Brinson said with a smile. By then, Nebraska was "Another day at the office whet the copier broke dowfe," said "When the offense does what it did today, it doesnt matter how many tackles somebody got. If we do what we did today, we're going to be an right for the restof the8eason." NU quarterback Steve Taylor said he could feel the power, too. "When we start running our traps and getting six-, seven yards a shot and running rolls and pitches, then we're playing power foot-ban and that's what we like to do," he" it took awhile. Although Nebraska fin-) ishcd with its second most productive' game this season, the Cornhusken had just 49 yards and three first downs on 12 plays hi the first quarter.

As soon as Coach Osborne makes those, little adjustments then we start waHn'," Kaelin said. "It was so great to be in there." Kaelin missed the last two games with an ankle injurybut returned to the lineup this week and' rushed for 43 yards and a 28-yard touchdown run just before halftim) that broke.