Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 32

SUNDAY JOURNAL-STAB- SEPTEMBER 13, 1987 6brzzz3tiusiiEsis Now is not the time for an NU letdown Virgil Parker Columnist i yAyfy: -Wit rt- -v Y'y -y y. 1 Now we all know Tom Osborne's favorite number, especially when his Buskers play UCLA. It's 42, the exact number of points Nebraska has scored each of the last three times out against the Bruins while recording 42-10, 42-3 and 42-83 victories. But dont start dancing in the street quite yet One win over a tough opponent doesn't make the season. Two more fpr-mldable foes, Arizona State and South Carolina, are waiting in the wings.

And the Huskers have some worrisome' weaknesses that need to be ironed out No, 1 on the list is hanging onto the ball Nebraska fumbled five times Saturday, losing four. Even Osborne observed that he was amazed to win over a good UCLA team with that many miscues. Saved by the 'D' to a great defensive effort, especially in the first half, Nebraska survived a snaky start The first two Husker drives were stopped by lost fumbles. UCLA was in a position to score 21 points at the outset but had to settle for seven after the Bruins were unable to capitalize on recoveries of fumbles by Steve Taylor and Keith Jones on NU's first two possessions. Pass defense remains a question mark.

The pass rush was great in the second quarter, but was almost non-existent in the second half. L3aCk of depth hurt vjnat can be blamed on lack of depth uj the defensive line because of ankle injuries to tackle Lee Jones and middle guard Lawrence Pete. Both played, but sparingly. And once UCLA fell behind, th4 Bruins turned to the pass almost exclusively. Trying to rush the passer, play after pjay, against a big offensive line, becomes tiring.

But without the help of a better rush, the Nebraska secondary allowed the Bruins to complete a 59-yard yard pass on a third-and-14 situation torn their own 16-yard line. 'When everybody in the stadium, including the cheerleader who doesn't watch the game, knows a pass is coming, that just isn't acceptable especially with pass-happy Arizona State and South Carolina on the horizon. Taylor fabulous Although those are some of the negatives, plenty of positive things came from the game. Taylor's passing was the most obvious. Here was a guy playing in a lot of pain from a severely bruised shoulder, breaking the school record for touchdown passes in a game.

When Taylor is able to surpass a mark shared by guys like David Humm, Vince Ferragamo and Turner Gill, you know Nebraska's passing game is in good hands. UCLA did an outstanding job deferring the run, especially the wide stuff. Except for Dana Brinson's 19-yard gainer on a wingback reverse, Nebraska running was not very effective. But UCLA was so run-conscious it opened up the passing, especially when Taylor faked a handoff into the line, started what appeared to be a keeper play around the end and then faded to throw. By that time, the UCLA secondary was coming up to support against the run and the Husker receivers were wide-open down the field As long as Taylor continues such accurate passing, future foes will have to defense the Huskers in a more honest fashion.

That should loosen things up and make the rushing attack more effective again. Runners overshadowed One thing that didn't materialize in Saturday's clash was the expected Gaston Green-Keith Jones rushing duel UCLA ace Green had gained more than 100 yards in each of his last eight games. The hype from the LA area was touting him as the front-runner among the Heisman Trophy candidates. Nebraska I-back Jones was looking for a stellar day in the hopes the spotlight might shine his way. Instead, they both fizzled against the two strong defenses against the run.

Green didn't get a half a hundred, despite 19 carries, while Jones fumbled twice in just six carries and didn't see the light of day after that. The guy who looked like he wants to be reconsidered for more I-back duty was Tyreese Knox, who ran hard late in the game while gaining 30 yards on just four carries. Sweet schedule The best thing about Nebraska's season so far has been the scheduling changes. Moving Utah State up to Sept 5 gave the Huskers a chance to get a feel of things before meeting a team of UCLA's caliber. Without that warmup game, Nebraska would have been in a lot of trouble against the Bruins.

Secondly, in case Taylor needs a few days to recover from his shoulder and hip bruises, the open weekend just ahead and the chance to even more fully prepare for Arizona State and South Carolina may be the best news of alL Nebraska wingback Dana Brinson (33) takes off after catching a pass from quarterback Steve Taylor early in the second quarter. UCI, defensive back Darryl Henley (2) lunges at Brinson but couldn't bring him down as Brinson completed a 24-yara piay to xne uuua i t. Husker defensive tackles go wire-to-wird playing their hearts out" he said. 'Winning helps' Smith said he was slowed by an upset stomach and queasiness throughout the game. "I dont know what it was, but this was not one of my great days for feeling good Winning helps, but I know I got tired out there," he said.

The pressure on the Nebraska defense was oppressive from the beginning. The Cornhusker offense lost a fumble on its first two possessions the second at its 29 and was forced to punt from its 11-yard line to the NU 41 in the first eight minutes of the game. "That's our job," Cornhusker free safety Mark Blazek said. "We just had a few more chances than usual on defense early in the game." Nebraska's defense made the most of its chances, holding UCLA to 42 yards rushing in the first half and stopping the Bruins in Cornhusker territory three of five times in the first half and two more times in the third quarter. "We all got our hits today," Blazek said.

"The backs were up there for run support We got burned a couple of times, like the time when I tripped and then tripped Charles Fryar (on a 59-yard pass from Aikman to Charles Arbuckle in the third quarter.) "But we had plenty Q' passes tipped and, that was good, except we didn't get anyintercerHipn8.n Cqmertwdt Fryar and Blazek broke up two passes each and safety Brian Washington and cornerback Lorenzo Hick! each batted down one pass, Almost lost in the pressure on the UCLA quarterback wss, the fact that Bruin Heisman Trophy candidate Gaston Green was held to 58 yards on It carries. It was the first time In nine games Green gained less than 100 yards. "Gaston will get his stats, but I was glad he didnt get them here," Nebraska defensive end Broderick Thomas said. By Ken Hambleton It's no wonder one of the biggest defensive plays of the game was like a blur in Tim Rother's mind. "I don't remember when it was.

But Neil Smith and I got going and didnt stop until their quarterback was on the ground and the ball was bouncing loose," the senior Nebraska defensive tackle said. The play was the second of the second half. UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman was scrambling out of the pocket and Nebraska defensive tackles Smith and Bother smothered Aikman. The ball bounced loose and Corn-husker linebacker Doug Welniak recovered the ball at the UCLA 12-yard line. Four plays later, NU I-back Ken Clark dove over the goal line to score and put Nebraska ahead 21-10.

"I dont remember when it was, but it seemed like a big play at the time," Rother said. "Stopping them right there and letting our offense take over was a break." Busy day Rother and Smith played almost all 82 defensive plays for Nebraska. Rother had two quarterback sacks and another tackle behind the line for a total of 23 yards in losses. Smith had five tackles, including one for a loss of seven yards. "Neil and Tim are played out; you cant ask for more from a player," Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBridesaid.

''They got to the passer enouglfin the first half and in the third quarter. By the fourth quarter, there was a mental and physical fatigue and a very good team we were pjayjng against that hurt he said. UCLAfhad 52 offensive plays to Nebraska's 30 in the second half. "We ran out of people. We tried Lee Jones and he only made it one play, McBride said of Jones, who had a sprained ankle.

"Lawrence Pete (middle guard) had a sprained ankle and got some plays, and Mike Murray (middle guard) played a lot But we just couldn't get much of a break for Rother and Smith at the tackles. "And by the end of the game, we were going with a three-man rush and hoped those kids on the interior could keep 1. .1 Nebraska's Nell Smith sacks UCLA's Troy Aikman with 10:14 leftS in tne tirst quarter. I Photos by Randy Hampton Ted Kirk Harald Dreimanis Gail Folda David Fahleson Dan Dulaney y' -ny 1 -c 1 if? '-y 7i xkws iMB3g' Smmsi -met JmM fcimomniimw tUmi-i Husker Broderick Thomas celebrates sack in the second quarter. From Huskers enough for a Heisman candidate.

Nebraska defensive end Broderick Thomas cast an unofficial Heisman Trophy vote for his former roommate, Taylor, who set the school single-game rushing record against Utah State last Saturday. Oklahoma's Jamelle Holieway, the All-Big Eight quarterback last season, also has gotten pre-season attention as a Heisman possibility. But "look out Jamelle. Steve's on the way," Thomas said. "I'd like to see Steve at the top of the charts.

He showed everybody he's a runner. Now, he showed everybody he's a passer." The Cornhuskers went ahead 28-10 on Taylor's touchdown pass to Smith, a 48-yarder on the first play of Nebraska's second series in the third quarter. UCLA responded with Eric Ball's 6-yard touchdown run, which capped an eight-play, 60-yard drive with 3:11 remaining to make the score 28-17 going into the fourth quarter. Taylor and Millikan hooked up on touchdown passes of 35 and 33 yards in the fourth quarter before Green completed the scoring on touchdown runs of 5 and 2 yards and adding both two-point conversions. Even so, that may not havy been good fourth play after linebacker Doug Welniak recovered a fumble by UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman at the Bruin 12-yard line.

Aikman, who gave Nebraska some anxious moments by completing 14 of 22 passes for 211 yards, and his backup, Brendan McCracken, were sacked a combined six times by the Cornhuskers. Linebacker LeRoy Etienne led Nebraska's defense, making 13 tackles, 10 of them unassisted. Steve Fbrch, the other linebacker, and tackle Tim Rother each was credited with nine tackles. Retjier, who started in place of an injured Lee Jones, had two sacks for losses of 18 yards. -J- V- rir.r..

in --irn Jl An official signals touchdown as NU's Todd Millikan cradles a 35-yard touchdown pass from Taylor on the first play of te fourth quarter. That gave Nebraska a 35-1 7 lead. 1.