Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 37

I'SEPTEMeEW 21.1SQ8 SUNDAY JOURNAL-STAR HUSgmnSE37D Husker linemen' ightownfire rushed for 168 yards and scored two touchdowns, "figured some fraternity guys did it I think we stood outside for about 15 minutes." If that's the case, the Cornhuskers stood outside longer than Illinois stayed in Saturday's game. Davis1 interception return was followed by a fumble recovery that led to a touchdown just 2:17 into the game. The two quick scores took the fight out of the Fighting Illini, according to Welter, who lined up opposite Illinois defensive end Scott Davis. "He's an exceptional player," Welter said. But after the touchdowns, "he didnt have a fire in bis eyes." After a sub-par effort in a season-opening victory over Florida State, Nebraska's offensive line had fire in Its eyes, Welter said.

"Nobody was pleased with their performance (against Florida State)," he said. "I thought our line played a heck of a lot better tonight" The Cornhusker line opened the way. for 470 rushing yards against Illinois. "It was kind of strange," Welter said. "Not many out-of-conference teams will try to play head-to-head with us." After Nebraska had grabbed the 14-0" lead, the Fighting Illini "didnt know what was going on," said Stan Parker, an offensive guard and Cornhusker tri-captain.

"We expected them to come at us hard. But I think they got pretty jm, A am 'I 1 Illinois' Ray Halrston (91) lunges for Nebraska quarterDack Steve Taylor. By Mike Babcock CHAMPAIGN, HL Brian Davis had a score to settle with an unknown prankster. It turned into a big score for the Nebraska football team in its 59-14 victory over Illinois Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. "Brian said the first hit was going to be for the guy who pulled the alarm," said Tom Welter, a senior offensive tackle.

The first hit was actually an interception, which Davis returned 32 yards for a touchdown on the opening play of the game. With only 12 seconds gone, Nebraska led 7-0 and had an emotional edge it never relinquished. The Cornhuskers had the unknown prankster to thank. At least, everyone thought it had been a prank. "There wasn't really a fire, was there," quarterback Steve Taylor asked rhetorically.

Taylor was among the Nebraska players awakened early Saturday morning when a fire alarm went off at the University Inn, where the team was staying. "Some of the guys slept right through it," said Taylor. Welter wasn't among them. "I thought it was the alarm to get up," Welter sail He estimated the time at 2:30 am "I was going to let 'Spach' (roommate Chris Spachman) get it But when it didnt quit ringing, I realized, That's a fire alarm' I was the first guy out of the building." Junior I-back Keith Jones, who Husker Cornhusker Coach Tom Osborne on I-back Keith Jones: "If he gets a little room, hell go the distance. In high school he tended to wait In college you've got to go a little faster.

When he hits that crack, he's got great accelera-tioa Keith's just going to get better and better." Keith Jones on Osborne's new policy of allowing the Cornhuskers to display emotion on the field: "That helps get your teammates fired up." Linebacker Kevin Parsons on Nebraska's Black Shirt defense: "We don't want a bunch of AU-Americans out there. We want a national championship. That's what makes us play welL" JliHilttt 1 half. "I pretty much feel I established myself as a Nebraska I-back tonight," said the junior from Omaha. The Cornhuskers didnt let up, scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter and another in the fourth.

Taylor capped an 11-play, 70-yard drive with a 1-yard run; McCathom Clayton, the Cornhuskers' third quarterback, passed 21 yards to tight end Willie Griffin, and freshman Terry Rodgers scored the first touchdown of his college career on a two-yard run with 4:07 left in the game. Rodgers was Nebraska's second leading rusher, finishing with 65 yards on 10 carries. Illinois scored its second touchdown with 9:28 remaining in the game, on a 17-yard pass from reserve quarterback Brian Menkhausen to James Gordon, which capped a 10-play, 77-yard drive against a Nebraska defense comprised primarily of reserves. Lamb went to the sideline early in the fourth quarter after suffering a knee injury. The Cornhuskers, 2-0, return to Lincoln to play Oregon next Saturday.

At halftime, Illinois retired the No. 50 jersey of Butkus, the former Illini All-American and All-Pro linebacker for the Chicago Bears. By then, however, the emotion produced by the brief jersey retirement ceremony could have little or no psychological effect on the DlinL "Enjoy the rest of the game," Butkus said, concluding his remarks. He rolled his eyes as he spoke. Even Butkus had no solution.

The statistics underscored Nebraska's dominance. The Cornhuskers allowed Illinois only three yards rushing and a net of minus 15 yards on the ground in the second half. "We want to be the nation's best defense, the best defense Nebraska's ever had," said senior linebacker Kevin Far-sons, who made a team-high eight tackles. Parsons acknowledged the importance of Illinois' two turnovers early in the game. "You make your own breaks," he said.

"We were aggressive from the first snap." Nebraska generated 543 yards of offense, 470 of them on the ground. Jones rushed for 127 of those yards in the first on the sports page of the local newspaper began: "The ghosts of Memorial Sta-, dium are swirling today." Invoking the names of Illini greats like Red Grange, Ray Nitschke, Alex Agase and Dick Butkus had little effect on Nebraska, however. Illinois needed players of that quality, not the memories of their greatness. There was Six local businesses underwrote the cost of 72,000 orange pompons, distributed prior to the game. The Illini were 4-0 in pompon promotion games, the newspaper said, noting that last year, they beat Ohio State 31-28.

But the fans' first opportunity to wave the pompons Saturday night, after a 7-yard touchdown pass from Lamb to Jerry Reese, didnt come until Nebraska had the 284 lead. To make matters worse, the pompon waving couldnt last long. Cornhuskers countered The Cornhuskers countered with Jones' second touchdown less than four minutes later, and Klein kicked a 23-yard field goal 10 seconds before intermission, just for good measure. Butkus9 No. 50 retired at Illinois CHAMPAIGN, HL (AP) Dick Butkus left football and became an actor, but the former Illinois star wasn't acting in 1962 when he began tearing opposing teams apart and setting a new standard for linebackers.

Butkus returned to the Illinois campus Saturday for a ceremony to retire his No. 50 jersey. He noted that the only other Illini to be honored in that way was the legendary halfback of the 1920s, Harold "Red" Grange. "It's something very special here at Illinois," said Butkus in an interview before the ceremony. "It's a very emotional thing for me.

I was lucky to be associated with such classy people." Butkus, still feeling the effects of the knee injuries that forced his retirement, said he probably would need additional surgery some day, but that no one should feel sorry for him. "I was one of the few who accomplished what I wanted to when I wanted to," said Butkus, who has been named to both the college and professional football halls of fame. "What more can anybody ask?" As a junior, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound All-America led Illinois to the Big Ten Conference championship in 1963 and to victory in the Rose BowL He continued to crush runners and receivers while playing for the Chicago Bears, and was selected for the Pro Bowl eight of his nine seasons with the team. A magazine once asked Butkus to list his hobbies, and he responded: "reading football magazines, studying football movies, watching football games." I Huskers amused. the most optimistic Ulini fans had to be questioning their team's 'ehances of coming back after Nebraska went ahead 284) on touchdown runs by Keith Jones and Micah HeibeL Jones, who finished with two touch-'ttowns and 168 yards on 16 carries, broke behind a block from tackle Keven Lightner and raced 78 yards for a touchdown.

Heibel's 5-yard run capped a five-'piay drive, set up by a Davis fumble recovery at the Illini 35. With just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Nebraska led 28-0. So much for Illinois. So much for emotion. Send in the reserves.

Nebraska had used just about every player on its 60-mSn travel roster by half time. Lacked emotional edge The Fighting Ulini, 16-1-1 in their last -18 home games, were supposed to have an emotional edge over fifth-ranked Nebraska. That was the plan. -Members of Illinois' Big Ten cham-Trionship teams in 1946 and 1951 picked the weekend for reunions. The lead story NU-lllinois Nebraska Offense Rushing No.

Yds. Ave. 10.0 3.0 10.4 7.0 7.0 19.0 2.3 2.5 6.5 4.4 2.3 4.8 PI 4 40 Taylor 7 21 KrJones 16 148 killev 4 28 Helbel 3 21 BrWson 3 57 hppard 3 7 gtpkeman 2 5 Badgers. 10 65 Clayton 5 22 lttfteler 3 7 Knox 6 29 Passing No. Co.

Yds Taylor 5 1 5 Blakeman 3 47 0 1 0 Clayton ...2 1 21 Receiving i no 1 1 1 Iffln 1 anderas 1 Yds. 5 11 16 21 20 Punting No. Yds. Ave. 120 40.0 runirvivins NO IRson 1 thwpard 1 Rmlth 1 Klckoff returns No.

1 1 Wfefceler 1 interception returns we NO. Oovls 1 Yds. 9 0 5 Yds. 37 26 10 Yds. 32 i Defense Tackles UT UK AT quotes Parsons on Brian Davis' Interception return for a touchdown 12 seconds into the game: "I had no idea what was happening.

I was covering another guy. But I did see him go into the end zone." Parsons on defense's ability to keep pressure on mini after Davis' touchdown: "We really want to make people feel hopeless and I couldnt see any faces on the Illinois guys after the first half. They just never looked up at us. That's what we want to do." Offensive guard Stan Parker on Nebraska's unwillingness to let up despite the score: "To me, part of showing character is being able to play well and not let down." i UP) TELEPHOTO scored Time left 14:48 QUARTER 12:43 4:27 2:48 11:15 7:19 0:10 7:50 0:16 9:28 1:52. QUARTER Former Illinois and Chicago Bear football star Dick Butkus admires his old Fighting Illini No.

50 jersey Scoring Story 15 iSt NU-ILL How FIRST Davis 32 Interception return 7-0 144 21-0 28-0 28-7 35-7 38-7 Davis Intercepted pass from by intended receiver Pierce. Taylor 6 run. Drive: 22 yards In four players fumble. Highlighted by three kick. K.

Jones 78 run Drive: 78 yards In one play. Helbel 5 run Drive: 35 yards In five plays llllnlos 35. Highlighted by Brlnson Conversion: Klein kick. SECOND Reese 7 pass from Lamb Drive: 67 yards in 12 plays. to Pierce from Lamb, who hit 5 Slambekos kick.

K. Jones 1 run Drive: 47 yards In nine plays. Jones 14 run. Conversion: Klein Klein 23 field goal Shane Lamb which was tipped Conversion: Klein kick. after Thomas recovered Lamb K.

Jones runs. Conversion: Klein Conversion: Klein kick. after Davis recovered fumble at 18 run on wingback reverse. QUARTER Highlighted by 21 pass to Fit and 15 of 6 passes In the drive. Conversion: Highlighted by Kaelln 17 run and kick.

Drive 66 yards In 12 plays. Highlighted by Kelley 16 run and Blakeman 16 pass to Gamble and 11 pass to Brlnson. Conversion: Klein kick. Statistics Tfemlack 2 0 Blazek 3 0 Marco 4 0 Griffin 2 0 Maggard 1 0 Illinois Offense Rushing No. Yds.

Lamb 4 -5 K.Jones 7 8 McClellan 2 6 Wilson 10 -6 Usher 1 1 Turner 2 -2 Menkhausen 3 -11 Passing No. Co. Yds Lamb 26 12 107 Menkhausen 14 6 97 Receiving No. Pierce 9 Reese .7.2 Fit 3 Usher 1 Gordon 2 A. Williams 1 Punting No.

Yds. Little 7 285 Puntreturns No. Usher 2 Klckoff returns No. Usher 5 S. Williams 2 Boysaw 1 Interception return No.

Mathls 1 Defense Tackles UT AT Davis 3 1 S. Jones 2 0 5 1 3 1 Blondell 1 0 Wallner 4 0 Lynch 2 4 Ellsworth 5 4 Markland 5 1 Halrston 1 0 Taylor 3 2 Dawson 5 0 White 13 1 Harkey 3 0 Kelly 3 0 Grant 4 1 1 0 1 0 Tee 7.... 2 0 4 0 Ave. 1.1 3.0 1.0 PI 1 0 Yds. 73 18 37 3 21 52 Ave.

40.7 Yds. 9 Yds. 117 44 22 Yds. TT 14 mo Richard Gibson (background) of Shanfehan of Chicago base a new in Champalgne, III. vfreu.

THIRD 45-7 Taylor Iran Drive: 70 yards In 11 plavs. Highlighted by Taylor 17 pitch to Jones, and three Jones runs for 26 runs. Conversion: Klein kick. 52-7 Griffin 21 pass from Clayton Drive: 89 yards In 12 plavs. Highlighted by Blakeman 20 pass to Banderas, and seven Rodgers runs for 34 yards.

Conversion: Klein kick. FOURTH QUARTER 52-14 Gordon 17 pass from Menkhausen Drive: 77 yards In 10 plays. Highlighted by Menkhausen 52 pass to A. Williams. Conversion: Slambekos kick.

59-14 Rodgers 2 run 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Stomas Clones 3 iHowoy 3 arsons 7 Munford 2 Pvl. 3 Jrrvar 2 Washington 1 Stealer 1 Syrr 1 83E2 i Mother 1 3artrog 3 2 llnnlng C. Miller 5 Cincinnati and Dr. and Mrs. Joe friendship on a common interest Drrvt: 62 yards In 10 play.

Highlighted by RMgers 19 run, four nox rum ror yaras. ton version: g. schnltzler kick..