Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 37

Spoits SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1994 HisBser offeree woraes Oslboinm- BY KEN HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal-Star Quarterback Miami MIKE BABCOCK Sports ball over a couple of times, and we have to get those kinds of things resolved soon. "But I think we can do it Brook and Tommie played really well Tommie looked like the old Tommie, and he wasnt gun-shy and delivered some hits of his own." Frazier, who has not played since the fourth game of the season, said he felt out of playing shape a little. "I'm in practice condition but not in game condition yet," said Frazier, the Huskers' most valuable player in last -year's 18-16 Orange Bowl loss to Florida State. "I need to work hard on conditioning, that's all Otherwise, everything felt pretty good." Osborne said Frazier practiced welL "He got banged around a little," Osborne said. "He carried the ball five or six times and seemed to be fine.

All the quarterbacks did good things." Reunion in Miami special for Tulsa. Page 10E. Kansas State lineman does Job quietly. Page 10E. workout at St Thomas University.

"Our defense had the upper hand today," said Brenden StaL, the Huskers' Ail-American right guard. "We have to work on our execution because our defense got us a couple of times. I still think we're going against the best defense in the country when we scrimmage, so we're not down about it" Despite the return of Frazier, and the play of Berringer who started seven of the last eight games and backup quarterback Matt Turman, the Cornhusker offense failed to score on the top defense in 20 plays. "It'll get better with some more tuning up," Stai said. "We turned the Most people may have been waiting for the results of quarterbacks Tommie Frazier's first full-contact scrimmage in three months, but Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne said Saturday he was more concerned with offensive execution after the Comhuskers' first full scrimmage in Miami.

Frazier, who hadn't practiced in contact drills in three months because of blood clots, fared well. So did quarterback Brook Berringer. And Osborne repeated that he would not name a starting quarterback any sooner than Wednesday and possibly as late as New Year's Day, the day of the top-ranked Huskers Orange Bowl game against No. 3 Miami. And that wasnt Osborne main concern Saturday afternoon.

The offense struggled against the defense throughout the two-hour Gliefe extod Please see NU on page 10E i willing to BY KEN HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal-Star Nobody wanted to talk to Frank Costa a year ago, and that was just fine with the Miami quarterback Things had hit the bottom for the Hurricanes and their quarterback with a 294 loss to Arizona in the Fiesta Frank Costa -i TV. i 17 talk now BowL Costa came off the bench and completed just 10 of 29 passes for 97 yards and threw an interception. It was a fitting end to a season in which Costa started the first five games, got benched after a loss to Florida State, regained his starting spot and got benched again after a loss to West Virginia. "If I saw an interview coming, I'd just turn the other way," said Costa, a fifth-year senior from Philadelphia. "The fans, the media and just about everybody else was down on me, and I followed suit Please see COSTA on page 1 OE iir i in Angeles Raiders' Winston Moss (99), Bert Emanuel.

Falcons 4 136 1 Carl Pickens. Bengals 9 135 1 Stering Sharps. Packers 9 132 3 Webster Slaughter. Oilers 8 123 0 Calvin Williams. Eagles 6-122 0 Vincent Bnsby.

Patriots 6 115 0 Don Beabe. Bills 8 111 0 Nebraskans Don Beebe, Bite (Chedron Stale) 9 catches, 111 yards. Derek Brown, Saints (Nebraska) 8 carries, 42 yards; 3 catches. 32 yards. Johnny Mitchell, Jets (Nebraska) 1 catch, 7 yards.

Jay Novacek, Cowboys (Gothenburg) 4 catches. 38 yards. LOS ANGELES (AP) Maybe next year the Los Angeles Raiders will be able to beat Kansas City. But not now, so their season is over. And the Chiefs are in the NFL play -offs.

Mark Collins returned an intercep tion 78 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half Saturday as the Chiefs beat the Raiders 19-9 in a playoff decider. Kansas City has won 10 of its last 11 meetings with its AFC West rival Raiders. Veterans Joe Montana and Marcus Allen also made significant contributions for the Chiefs before a sellout crowd of 64,130 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Montana completed 15 of 24 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Allen, a former Raider, became the ninth running back in NFL history to surpass the mark.

He gained 132 yards on 33 carries, giving him 10,018 for his career. Montana left the game early in the fourth quarter with a contusion of the left knee but said afterward he probably could have come back if needed. "It doesnt appear to be too bad," he said. "It scared me. I had some quick pain on the outside (of the knee).

On the sideline, it eased." Montana, 38, shrugged off rumors he will retire at the end of the season. "A lot of people have been predicting that since 1987," he said. "Eventually, they will be right It's typical hype. I haven't even thought about tomorrow. The longer I keep playing, the longer they will be predicting.

I can't control that" Both teams finished 9-7, but the Chiefs qualified as an AFC wild-card team by sweeping the season series. "What's really important is we're in the tournament," Chiefs Coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "That's all that matters. It doesn't matter who we play. We have no control over that" The Raiders, preseason favorites of many to reach the Super Bowl, are finished until next year despite winning seven of their last 10 games.

They could have made the playoffs if Chicago had beaten New England, but the Patriots won 13-3. "We just did not get it done," Raiders Coach Art Shell said. "The season has been filled with ups and downs. It is too bad we did not have one of our Green Bay, New England wrap up berths. Page 2E.

Bengals come back against Eagles. Page 2E. Summaries. Page 8E. up games.

"The interception was not a back-breaker, but it really hurt" Turnovers have played a major role in most of Kansas City's recent victories over the Raiders, and as Shell acknowledged, their only one Saturday was huge. Trailing 7-3 and without any timeouts, the Raiders opted to run a first-and-10 play from the Kansas City 28 with 12 seconds left before halftime. Jeff Hostetler was hit by former Nebraska standout' Neil Smith as he tried to pass to Rocket Ismail, and the ball fell far short It appeared Smith hit Hostetler on the facemask, but no penalty was called. Collins caught the ball in full, stride and sprinted down the left sideline untouched as time ran out in the half. "I was trying to throw it out of bounds, like into the second row, and my arm got hit," Hostetler said.

"I thought we were kicking the ball, they (the coaches) wanted to run another play" Collins said he just read where the ball was going. "I believe the pass fluttered a little and I caught it low. I think Jeff forced the ball. Sometimes quarterbacks try to make plays that are not there." Collins' return seemed to take the heart out of the Raiders, who didn't get a first down in the second half until eight minutes remained in the game. By that time, the outcome was decided.

"I dont think we even gave ourselves an opportunity to win," Raiders fullback and ex-Husker Tom Rathman said. "Coming in, we had control, and we did not even put up a fight." The Chiefs extended their lead to 17-3 in the third period on a 22-yard field goal by Lin Elliott and added two more points with 11:57 remaining when Raider center Don Mosebar was penalized for tripping Dan Sa-leaumua in the end zone, an automatic safety. Some gifts better than we realize The football helmet was a Christmas present from my parents. My brother received an identical one. They were suspension helmets, dark blue with four thin, yellow stripes and clear plastic facemasks, about 3 inches wide.

The color combination was Michigan's. But the helmets didn't resemble those of any team, at any level To the best of my knowledge, anyway, The world was different then. Now, a helmet of such quality would be produced with a licensing agreement that allowed it to be decorated in the manner of some professional or collegiate team. By outward appearance, it would be indistinguishable from the real thing, MY DAD pulled off the yellow stripes and spray-painted the hel mets, at my brother's and my re quest I would have to think the statute of limitations has expired on spray-painting football helmets to look like those of NFL teams even though no royalty has been paid. You never know, though.

Mine was metallic gold, identical to a San Francisco 49ers helmet ex cept for the facemask. My brother's became a metallic silver replica of a Detroit Lions helmet, except, of course, for the facemask. I have seen such facemasks only on hel mets not for official use. There was a label on the helmet. warning the owner that it was not for official use, as if the Lions re quired Barry Sanders to buy his own helmets at Shopko or Target Even so, those helmets looked like the genuine article, as best I could tell from watching football on a black and white television set and looking at the color pictures on the covers of football magazines.

In any case, there was no danger of my brother and I putting on the helmets and lining up across from Leo Nomellini or Doug Atkins in the front yard. THE HELMETS provided suffi cient protection from the bushes that divided our yard from the neighbors' and served as the end zone though, admittedly, the yard made a short football field. At one time, the bushes were high enough to be used for kicking extra points and field goals. The best crossbar, however, was the branch of a tree in the back yard, extending parallel to the ground and at least 6 feet above it The tree grew at the back of the yard, next to the alley, which meant a kicker could get a good placement on the patio and send a football into the neighbors swingset During baseball season, the branch defined a home run, hit with a wiffleball. If a tennis ball were used, and it was difficult to hit since the distance between the pitcher and batter was short, a home run had to carry over the telephone and power lines above the branch and clear the house across the alley.

Anyway, I was talking about the football helmets. When my brother and I got tired of being the 49ers and Lions, Dad used another can of spray paint to change the color scheme. At least one of the helmets was red with a white stripe, for a time. Nebraska once wore such hel mets. You could look it up.

I think about those helmets when I look at a Cincinnati Bengals helmet that was a Christmas present to my son several years ago. It is orange, with black stripes and a double-bar, gray plastic facemask, which looks like something an NFL player might wear. It is officially licensed. The helmet collects dust on a table beneath the stairway in the basement now, a reminder of another time and place, as well as a reminder of my parents, who are doing well but 1,600 miles away. MY WIFE and I occasionally amuse ourselves by imagining what we would do if we won the Power-ball lottery, how we would spend the millions, how much we would give away and to whom, how quickly we would quit our jobs, assuming there was enough left over after paying off all the credit cards to do so.

You have probably done the same thing. It's a pointless activity but harmless. That's because I've already hit the jackpot once in my life. You might have, too, and just didn't realize. The prize was parents who have always put the concerns of their children ahead of their own.

The older I get, the more I understand how special that is. I used to think it was simply the order of things. The world would be a better place it were. liiiinaaavniii mi iMammmBMaaiOTMOTaaMMOTii i i I in Kansas City's Marcus Allen (left) rushes for a short gain as the Los Terry McDaniel (bottom) and Anthony Smith defend. KFL COUNTDOWN: WEEK Saturday's results Atlanta 10.

Arizona 6 Indianapolis 10. Buffalo 9 New York Giants 15. Dallas 10 -Green Bay 34. Tampa Bay 19 New England 1 3. Chicago 3 Cincinnati 33.

Philadelphia 30 Cleveland 35. Seattle 9 Kansas City 19. Los Angeles Raiders 9 New Orleans 30, Denver 28 Houston 24. New York Jets 10 San Diego 37, Pittsburgh 34 Washington 24, Los Angeles Rams 21 100-yard rustier Yd 132 TO 0 Marcus Allen. Chiefs 33 Edgar Bennett.

Packers 21 100 1 250-yard passers Player, team Cp-AtMnt Yd TO Jim Everett. Saints 23-27-0 343 3 Bubby Brister, Eagles 26-37-0 325 1 Jay Schroeder, Cardinals 26-42-0 317 0 Chris MMer. Rams 2740-1 304 2 Brett Favre. Packers 24-36-1 291 3 Hugh MiUen. Broncos 25-44-3 290 1 Drew Bledsoe.

Patriots 23-38-1 277 1 Frank Rech, Bills 26-46-2 258 0 100-yard receivers PUyer, teem No Yds TO Torrance Smal, Saints 6 200 2 Charles Johnson. Stealers 4 165 2 Chargers work hard, earn week off KFL PUTCFFS NFC San Francisco (13-2) Omened West first-round bye, home field throughout playoffs. Dean (12-4) Ctrcred East tWe. first-round bye. Mmnesota (S-) Ctncnad berth.

Can etneh Central We with victory against San Francisco. OetroH (9-8) Clinched berth. Can clinch Central title with victory against Miami and Minnesota loss to San Francisco. Green Bay (9-7) Clinched berth. Can clinch Central trtle with Minnesota toss to San Francaco and Detroit toss to Miami.

Chicago (9-7) Clinched wild-card berth. AFC "Wsburgh (12-4) Cfinched Central title, first-round bye, home field throughout playoffs. Sen Diego (11-5) Clinched West title, first-round bye. Cktvelami(11-S) Ckxhed card berth. New England (1(M) Omened berth.

Can clinch East title with Miami loss to Detroit. Miami (9-6) CJnched berth. Can Inch East title with victory against Detroit. Kansas Ctty (t-7) Clinched wd-crd berth. SAN DIEGO (AP) It wasnt easy stopping the Pittsburgh Steelers, even when the team was reduced to a slew of second-stringers.

Still, the San Diego Chargers finally got to say hello to a bye. Natrone Means' 20-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1 with four minutes, 32 seconds left in the game tied the game and John Carney's 32-yard field with three seconds left gave the Chargers a 37-34 victory in a battle of AFC division champions Saturday. The Chargers, 11-5 and winners of the West, earned a first-round bye in the playoffs as the AFC's second seed. The 12-4 Steelers, winners of the Central title, already had locked up a bye and home-field advantage as the seed. That means if these teams meet again, it will be in Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game.

And barring further injuries, the Steelers will have Rod Woodson, Greg Lloyd and Eric Green back, as well as players such as Barry Foster who were pulled early. "If we see this team again down the road, it will be a completely different team," Chargers defensive end Leslie O'Neal said. There was no incentive for them to win." The Chargers know how hicky they were to win this one. A loss would have dropped them to third seed and into a wild-card game next weekend. The final score reminded O'Neal of a computer game, i That's not playing defense that's Sega Genesis," O'Neal said.

1 want to play a whole lot better than that" The Steelers, whose seven-game winning lot riding on this," Gilbert said. Humphries said he hit his thumb, injured three weeks ago in a loss to the Los Angeles Raiders, on a helmet. "You can't do anything with it for a day or so, but it kind of gradually goes away," said Humphries, one of many who will benefit from the bye. With the Chargers trailing 34-27, a drive was extended on a roughing-the-passer call on third-and-11 from the Pittsburgh 44-yard line. Four plays later, Means ran off right tackle for his second score of the game.

-The Chargers started their final drive from the Pittsburgh 48 with 2:39 to play. The key play was a 16-yard completion to Mark Seay to the 29. Carney kicked the game winner five plays later: The Chargers went up 24-13 when Means ran 2 yards untouched to finish the opening drive of the second half. Tomczak returned from his sprained knee in the first half and directed a seven-play, 83-yard drive that fourth-string running back Fred McAfee capped with a 6-yard run with 3:05 left in the third. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Tomczak and rookie Charles Johnson combined on an 84-yard scoring pass.

Johnson pulled in Tome-zak's short (ass, slipped Darrien Gordon's tackle at the 25 and was gone. Dwight Stone caught the conversion pass to give Pittsburgh a 27-24 lead. "We've got to learn how to tackle again," San Diego linebacker Junior Seau said. "If we learned how to tackle we can limit plays to nine yards instead of 90." 1 P-t't streak was snapped, had nothing to gain but momentum. "We didn't want to show everything, no doubt about it," said Steeler quarterback Neil O'Don-nell, who was pulled after the first quarter and came back only because Mike Tomczak sprained a knee.

Carney's third field goal of the game capped a 28-point fourth quarter in which Chargers quarterback Stan Humphries was knocked out with a bruised right thumb. San Diego blew an 11-point third-quarter lead, then won the game behind backup quarterback Gale Gilbert, who finished one scoring drive and led two more. "I didnt know the status of Stan's thumb, so if we had to come back next week there was a o. ASbOCIATEO PHtaS San Diego's Mark Seay celebrates a touchdown catch In the second quarter. i.