Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 31

Husker defense vnot to be denied' McCartney; expresses frustration i Jr yfrzrrr I- rvt fv.v -vi XJ xx By Ryly Jane Hambleton BOUDLER, Colo. Broderick Thomas admitted he was still feeling some pain after Nebraska's loss to Oklahoma last week, "But when we walked out and saw that sea of red, we warmed up quick. It was so much fun to see that all Nebraska fans hadn't given up on us," the Cornhusker defensive end said of the Nebraska contingent Saturday at Fol-som Field. "I was playing for everybody in Nebraska because we let them down last week, and we wanted to show them that we love Nebraska fans." That made it easier to make good on his promise of a year ago when Colorado defeated the Cornhuskers 20-10. It was the Buffaloes' first win over Nebraska since 1967 and the first in Boulder since 1960.

Following the loss, Thomas vowed that Nebraska would not lose again to Colorado during his college career. STWe put it all together," he said. "I wish Miami and Oklahoma the best, but we still have a chance for the national title. As long as we finish in the top five, wen be OK." SThomas rated the Cornhusker defensive performance as an "eight and a half or nine" and NU defensive coordinator Charlie McBride agreed. Didn't know what to expect "These kids hist weren't to be denied today," McBride said.

"Except for the one series in the second half, we played well At the beginning of the week, when we had all those guys on defense hurt, I was worried about this game. We are their big rivals and after the loss to Oklahoma, I was concerned. I just didn't know what to expect" 'What McBride got from his defensive players was a solid effort despite nagging injuries. Smith played the whole game hurt and he probably played one of his better games. He had a couple of big plays," McBride said.

Smith blocked Colorado's first-quarter field goal attempt and later recovered a Buff fumble. Nebraska converted both turnovers into scores. It.the ball) just hit my finger tip," Smith said of the blocked kick. "I just got enough of it to knock it down. In gen eral, I had to get out there and prove something today." Team was ready to play The Huskers were unsure of how emotionally charged they would be following the loss to Oklahoma.

Lorenzo Hicks said he couldnt tell until the defense was on the field whether the team would be ready to play. "But then I could feel it We were keyed and ready for the plays that beat us last year," he said. The loss last year wasnt the theme of the week, though. "We didn't talk about it much or emphasize it," said safety Mark Blazek. "Most of us were here last year and deep down, we knew what happened and that it shouldn't have happened We knew we couldnt let it happen again." McBride was appreciative of that "Last year was embarrassing.

I was on the last team that beat Nebraska here," he said. McBride graduated from Colorado in 1962. "I was hurting all year from that (CU's win last year). But I know Colorado is a good team and they'll get better. i "Down deep, I guess there's still a little Buffalo left in me.

I'm proud of Colorado." Officials warned players Because the emotions ran particularly high, the normal shoving and pushing of a football game was accelerated. Early in the third quarter, the officials -gathered the team captains on the field to warn them. "Everyone was so motivated to win this game Colorado wanted to win ft because it was their bowl game and we wanted to win," McBride said. "You have football players who are high-strung anyway and then that gets started. "We saw it and talked to the players and the officials caught it and told the players they were going to start calling it.

Little things like that start big things and the next thing you know, someone gets kicked out And we didn't want that." The warning came during Colorado's touchdown drive. By Virgil Parker BOULDER, Colo. Colorado Coach Bill McCartney was disappointed and. frustrated. "I just felt we could beat this team," McCartney sail "They had two quick, turnovers early in the game, but we did-: nt get any points out of either one of them.

The opportunities were there for. us to win that football game. But we just didnt convert the chances we had. It would have done so much for us to get out ahead." McCartney said that when Colorado got the ball near midfield while playing a team as big and strong as Nebraska, "you just cant let them stop yoa We" don't get that many opportunities. When we do, we've got to take advantage of them." Turning point McCartney said the turning point: came when Colorado was trailing 17-7 and had a third-and-one situation in Net braska territory.

"But we took a loss on third down and then missed the field goal on the next he said. On the third-down play, McCartney said he thought quarterback Mark Hatcher had a chance to duck up inside and pick up the first down. Instead, thel play got strung out and a last-second' pitch resulted in a loss. "That was very critical," he said. "We were still very much in the game at that point But we needed to get at least three points in that sequence." Mystery call McCartney was frustrated by a 15-: yard penalty that stopped a drive after Nebraska's first turnover.

"The officials decided they didn't want any trouble in the game," McCartney said, "so they called something in front of our bench. Nobody knows what they called. But we had the ball in good field position near midfield Yet that penalty stopped our chance at drive. "Later in the game," McCartney added, "we got a 15-yarder for kicking pylon. Boy, that kind of thing was frus-; trating.

Those two penalties I still can't believe." Another time, McCartney said, his; team was penalized before the snap for lining up offsides. "That time we wound up with third and 8 instead of third and 3," he said. "You just can't do that kind of thing and hope to beat a team the caliber of Ne braska." Typical Nebraska football McCartney said the Huskers played "just good old fashioned Nebraska foot-; ball They are big and strong and experienced. -We started four freshmen right out of high school. They (Nebraska) didn't have to do that So, we're going to keep getting better.

We just have to keep closing the gap. "I acknowlege that Nebraska is a great team," McCartney said. "They have outstanding players. That's no secret. They will always have those.

"We just have to get bigger and stronger in the off season and get better and then make another run at them next year. I'm disappointed with our 7-4 record, but not with the future." Nebraska linebacker LeRoy Etienne (47) deflects a pass from Colorado quarterback Mark Hatcher (6). Smith wreaks havoc on Buffaloes, despite continuing tendon problem Saturday's performance "showed we've gotten over last week," Smith said. It also made the Buffaloes "feel like we felt The (Oklahoma) loss was humiliating for our seniors." Colorado coul(ln't hide its frustration, according to Smith. "There was a lot of talking on both sides of the ball Guys were getting mad for some reason," he said.

Players meet As the game wore on, there was so much pushing and shoving, one official called Smith and Colorado quarterback Mark Hatcher togetherfor a brief session with 9:21 remaining in the third quarter. The official told the two captains that the extracurricular activity needed to stop, Smith said. Cornhusker defensive end Broderick Thomas said he knew Colorado had conceded the victory when the Buffaloes turned on each other, when "they started bad-mouthing each other for making mistakes." Buffaloes talk Nebraska linebacker LeRoy Etienne said the Colorado players "did a lot of talking out there," but it didnt affect him. Surprisingly, the Buffalo fans "were pretty nice for some reason," Etienne said. "Usually, they're pretty radical But they weren't getting on us or throwing things at us." Smith seemed to be oblivious to the pushing and shoving, but he apparently couldn't ignore being held.

That "affected Nell," said Etienne. And in turn, it affected the Colorado offense. A quick check of Smith's statistics will show that He didn't play like someone bothered by a sore Achilles By Mike Babcock BOULDER, Colo. Neil Smith was less than full-speed Saturday. At least the senior defensive tackle on Nebraska's fifth-rainked football team said the Achilles tendon problem that's bothered him the last three weeks was "still there." 'Convincing anyone who watched the Cornhuskes, 24-7 victory over Colorado Saturday would be difficult if not down right impossible.

A busy day -Smith was credited with 12 tackles, nine of them unassisted. He made two tackles for losses, including a 12-yard sack, re-covered a fumble and blocked a field goal attempt First, the field goal block, was kind of mad because they got in field goal range," said Smith, who deflected Dave DeUne's 39-yard attempt late in pie first quarter. Colorado had gained possession at the 50-yard line after Arthur Walker recovered a Steve Taylor "Smith's fumble recovery came at the Nebraska 29-yard line, after a 3-yard gain on first down by fullback Erich Kissick, with 9:22 remaining in the first half. The ball "rolled to my missed it, and it rolled back," said Smith, who hauled it Cornhuskers capitalized by driving 39 yards in 15 plays Set up Chris Drennan's 50-yard field goal. Better showing Smith said he was pleased with the victory, which proved "we have a better team than we showed last week" in a 17-7 loss to Oklahoma.

Buffalo notes, quotes APWIBEPHOTO Nebraska's Neil Smith (99) reaches to block a field goal attempt by Colorado kicker Dave DeLlne (3) in the first quarter. Huskers From Py1P Sunday Senior quarterback" Mark Hatcher suffered a broken right leg with 7 minutes left in the game. Hatcher, who led the Buffs to victory over Nebraska a year ago, lost his starting job early this season, but came back after after sophomore Sal Aunese separated a shoulder last week against Kansas State. Nose tackle Kyle Rappold: ''I knew I didnt have to recover for next week's game, so I gave it all I had. We thought our defense could stop them, but they made some big plays.

Keith Jones is the fastest guy I've played against. His long runs were the difference in the game." 1 Strong safety Mickey Pmitt: "They came out with a lot of fire and spunk. They came back well after the Oklahoma loss. I don't like to lose. I can't accept losing.

It's especially hard when it's your last game as a senior." Journal-Star photos It also keeps the Cornhuskers in a position for a high national ranking at season's end. That's the way Etienne approached Saturday's game. Winning' gives Nebraska "an opportunity to be No. 1, No. 2 or No.

3 in the country. Not many teams in the nation can say they're 11-1," he said. "That's still a damn good season." In order for the Cornhuskers to have a shot at finishing in the top three, they would need to beat Florida State in the Fiesta BowL One bowl down and one to go. by Ted Kirk, yard field goal, the longest of his career. The mixup just before intermission apparently had little effect on the Cornhuskers, who scored on their first possession of the second half to go ahead by a score of 17-0.

"The players responded well," Osborne said. "It was just one of those things that happen." The victory, fifth-ranked Nebraska's 10th in 11 games, "lightens up the heartache" of the Oklahoma loss and "it lets the fans know we still love 'em," Thomas -said. cross the goal line "I believed I got up and over," he said. The officials ruled he hadn't however, and before the Cornhuskers could call time, the half ended. "Maybe it was my mistake," said Osborne, who erroneously thought the clock would remain stopped after the penalty.

As a result of the confusion, Nebraska's halftime lead was 10-0. The points came on a 5-yard touchdown run by Taylor in the second quarter, Chris Dren-nan's extra-point kick, and Drennan's 50- But what could have been the Cornhuskers' most serious mistake was made in the final seconds of the first half, when they didnt get the clock stopped with the ball less than a yard from the end zone, despite having two downs and two timeouts available to them. Colorado had been penalized for being offside, and the clock was set in motion with approximately 11 seconds remaining. The ball was snapped with approximately five seconds left, and Nebraska quarterback Steve Taylor attempted to iBandy Hampton, Harald Dreimanis Statistics Scoring How scored 'J 'UrtHft-WflM NU-CU Time left Colorado Yds. 11 Yds.

2 0 13:54 Offense Rushing No. Yds. Ave. 13 49 3.8 Hatcher 17 39 2.3 Bienlemy 5 24 4.8 1 17 17.0 Wheeler 3 9 3.0 Flanagan 4 8 2.0 Simmons 1 1 1.0 Passing No. CO.

Yds PI 3:41 TT 12 Klckoff returns No. 1 Interception returns No. Blazek 1 Jamrog 1 Defense' 1 Tackles UT AT N. Smith. 9 3 Porch 5 4 Etienne 5 4 Jackson 5 2 Thomas 3 3 Marco 4 1 Pete 3 2 Blazek 3 2 Murray 2 1 -Rothen 0 2 Hicks 2 0 Pryar 1 1 Tomlack 1 1 Welnlak 0 1 Jobman 1 0 Jamrog 0 1 Croel 0 1 Punt returns No.

Yds. 1 24 Klckoff returns No. Yds. McCloughan 2 42 Nelson 21 Interception return No. Yds.

Prultt 1 0 i Defense Tackles UT AT TT McCartv 10 8 18 M. Jones 11 5 16 Rappold 5 8 13 Tate 5 6 11 Prultt 7 3 10 Rogers 4 5 9 McGee 4 5 9 Walker 3 4 7 Nairn 3 3 4 Williams 4 0 4 Koch 1 2 Salavea 1 1 2 Hayes 0 1 1 Reinhardt 0 1 Nebraska Offense Rushlna No. Yds. Ave. K.Jones 26 248 9.5 ....8 66 8.3 Taylor 18 54 3.0 Kelley 1 13 13.0 Carpenter 5 10 2.0 Bell.

1 18 18.0 Helbel 1 3 3.0 Schmidt. 1 9 9.0 Blakeman 1 -2 Passing No. Co. Yds PI Taylor 5 13 0 1 0 0 1 Receiving No. Yds.

Jones 1 3 Punting No. Yds. Ave. 3 122 40.7 i Punt returns No. Yds.

4 19 11:54 Hatcher 10 SECOND QUARTER 7" Drive' 74 yards In IS ploys. Set upbv N. Smith block of DeLlne field goal. Hl9hil9hted by Jones 12, 11 7 runs. Conversion: mw-kw orennon kick.

10-0 Orennon 50 field 9001 I Drive: 39 yards In 15 ploys. Set up after N. Smith recovery of Klsslck fumble at NU 32. Highlighted by Knox ,12 run, Taylor 13 run. THIRDQUARTER In three Plays.

K. Jones accounted for all 70 yards. Conversion: Drennan kick. it.7 Hemingway 4 past from Hatcher 1 Drive- 77 yards In 14 plays. Highlighted by Hatcher 18 pass to Blenemy, Nelson 17 run.

Conversion: DeLlne kick. FOURTH QUARTER In three plovs. Set up after Colorado missed field goal. Highlighted by K. Jones 22 run.

Conversion: Dren-. nanklck. 62 17 Wheeler. 4:57 Receiving Yds. 40 18 17 4 No.

im2 i in 1 1 Carl Bienlemy Campbell Hemingway :34 Punting No. Yds. Ave. Helton 4 4 184 46.0.