Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 14

4B Lincoln Journal Star Sunday. October 15. 1995 HUSKERS Page design: JuM Koch QB takes Huskers get lucky deflection? challenge '-Cx frv (ft to heart BY KEN HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal Star The answer seemed simple for the Missouri football team. "Frazier is the key to their offense," said Missouri cornerback Clayton Baker. "If you contain Frazier, they have a hard time running the ball" Oops.

Nebraska senior quarterback Frazier ran for 71 yards and three touchdowns, and threw for .133 yards and two more touchdowns Saturday against the Tigers. "It could have been better, much better," Frazier said. "We were up and down the whole day; we just weren't very consistent" Frazier took the Missouri challenge personally. After he FRAZIER proves himself 1 if wWV, A Nebraska tight end Mark Gilman heads upfield in a crowd of Missouri defenders after pulling down a 24-yard pass from Tommie Frazier in the third quarter Saturday. 5 Vedral had his back to Holbein and at first didn't realize what had happened.

"I turned around and heard the crowd yelling. I thought they threw a flag because I thought he (Baker) might have interfered with me," Vedral said. "Then I see Brendan with his arms up and I'm like, 'Oh, we just scored a "It was a total fluke, but Brendan made a great play. That ball can do some funny things in the wind." Holbein, a junior from Cozad, now has three touchdowns in his Nebraska career. Two have come against Missouri, as last season he caught a 30-yarder.

Holbein was convinced there Scoring story 'was stopped at the goal line on a third-down try, he came back on another quarterback sneak and leaped over the line for a touchdown. "I pulled the offense to the side and said we're going to have to get into the game," he said. "We were all Just trying to play whatever we are capable of playing but we needed some more consistency. "The passing game is not where it needs to be," he said. "Part of the problem was concentration on my part and part of it concentration on TED KIRKLmcom Journal Star Nebraska split end Brendan Holbein celebrates after snagging a pass deflected by teammate Jon Vedral for a touchdown on the last play of the first half Saturday against Missouri.

QjWhat were those orange RANDY HAMPTONAssoaated Pratt wouldn't be a lot of opportunities Saturday for receptions because the wind was gusting up to 29 mph. "I thought we're probably only going to throw 10 to 15 balls when I get up and see the wind howling like that," he said. "And we're only going, to throw with (the wind). On a day like this, you've really got to concent trate and look the ball all the way; in." The Huskers completed 7 of 15 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns. As usual, Nebraska's offense was keyed around a rushing attack that netted another 342 yards.

"We haven't been forced to pass it, but our time will come," Holbein said. "Although our defense was playing well, 21-0 is not a whole lot of points, so that play helped." Erie Stokes 1 0 1 Missouri Offense Rushing No. Yds. Ave. Ernest BlackweH 6 20 3.3 Ron Janes 4 16 4 0 KentSkomia 5 11 2.2 Brock Olivo 11 .10 0.9 Corby Jones 8 7 09 DevinWest 1 5 50 Brandon Corso 4 -30 Passing No.

Co. Yds PI Brandon Corso 12 8 59 0 Kent Skomia 10 3 24 1 Corby Jones 2 0 0 1 Receiving No. Yds. Bill Ungerfelt 3 29 Frank Jones 3 25 Miguel Gonzales 1 15 Martez Young 1 10 Eddie 1 4 Punting No. Yds.

Ave. Jason Smith 10 380 38 0 Team 1 0 Klckotf returns DevinWest 3 Kenyatta Williams 2 30 Randy Potter 1 22 Defense Tackles UT AT DeMontle Cross 6 Darryl Chatman 5 4 Steve Martin 2 Clayton Baker 1 5 Joe Love 1 4 Shad Crtss 4 1 Kay Blake 2 2 Mark AInutt 0 3 Tim Mlttelstadt 0 3 Bo Adams 0 3 Terrenes Binlon 0 3 Brian 0 2 Justin Wyatt 0 2 CaWrtnofl Easter 1 1 Randy Potter 1 1 Pat rvey 1 1 Kevin Ford 0 2 Harold Pleraey 1 0 Bill 0 1 Jonathan 0 1 Donne Jones 0 1 Eric Douglas 0 1 JakeStueva 1 0 Vic Faust 0 1 Ramone Budgetts 0 1 8leveHaag. 0 TT 11 mm MU-NU How scored Time left FIRST QUARTER 0-7 Tommie Frazier 29 run 7:08 Drive: 31 yards in two plays. Set up by 29-yard Missouri punt. Conversion: Kris Brown kick.

SECOND QUARTER 0-14 Frazier 1 run 5:24 Drive: 27 yards in six plays. Set up by Jared Tomich recovery of MU fumble at Tiger 27. Highlighted by four Green runs for 27 yards. Conversion: Brown kick. 0-21 Frazier 1 run 3:00 Drive: 64 yards in five plays.

Highlighted by Jeff Makovicka 11, 17 runs; Mark Gilman 33 pass from Frazier. Conversion: Brown kick. 0-28 Brendan Holbein 29 pass from Frazier 0:00 Drive: 38 yards in four plays. Set up by Doug Colman recovery of Tiger fumble at MU 39. Highlighted by Clinton Childs 9 pass from Frazier.

Conversion: Brown kick. THIRD QUARTER 0-30 Safety, Terrell Farley blocked punt out of end zone 9:42 0-36 Green 9 run 8:22 Drive: 60 yards in five plays. Highlighted by Green 16 run, Frazier 11 run, Gilman 24 pass from Frazier. Conversion: kick failed. 0-43 Sheldon Jackson 6 pass from Frazier 4:40 Drive: 58 yards in five plays.

Set up by 37-yard MU punt. Highlighted by Jon Vedral 36 pass from Frazier; Green 6, 10 runs. Conversion: Brown kick. 0-50 Matt Turman 1 run 1:01 Drive: 68 yards in five plays. Highlighted by Brian Schuster 22 run, Riley Washington 40 reverse, Green 5 run.

Conversion: Ted Retzlaff kick. FOURTH QUARTER 0-57 Damon Benning 16 run 11:26 Drive: 28 yards in three plays. Set up by Mike Fullman 22 punt return to Missouri 28. Highlighted by Benning 10 run. Conversion: Retzlaff kick.

BY CURT MCKEEVER Lincoln Journal Star Tommie Frazier couldn't care less about earning style points with his passes. To him, it's the final result that counts. Take, for instance, the last play of the first half in Nebraska's 57-0 victory against Missouri Saturday. Frazier attempted to connect with wingback Jon Vedral for a 29-yard touchdown play, but the ball deflected off Vedral's hands and Nebraska split end Brendan Holbein hauled in the tipped pass to give the Cornhuskers a 28-0 lead at intermission. "It's not the way we practice it, but I'll take it," Frazier said.

The play was not the first time Frazier has gotten a fluke touchdown pass. In the 1994 Orange Bowl game against Florida State, split end Reggie Baul hauled in a tipped pass and raced 34 yards for a score. "Weird things happen out there," Vedral said, smiling. Saturday, Frazier's pass into the end zone was high and Vedral made an attempt to catch it with Missouri cornerback Clayton Baker in good position to defend. The ball glanced off Vedral and went toward the back of the end zone, where Holbein had run his route.

"We run a double takeoff deep and the defensive back who was on me turned to the inside playing in between me and Vedral," Holbein said. "I felt like I got out pretty well, but Tommie went to Jon It was a little difficult to catch because of the wind and I'm glad I got it. If I wouldn't have caught the ball, I probably would've been booed out of the stadium." HuskersDefense gives NU big lift Continued from Page 1B blocked punt by Terrell Farley that turned into the Huskers' first safety of the year, Tony Veland's first interception of the year, and fumble recoveries by Doug Colman and Jared Tomich. "We turn it up when we play the Big Eight," Husker defensive tackle Christian Peter said. "I don't know why exactly.

But it could be because we feel this is our conference. The defense picked it up last year when we got into PETER turned it up the Big Eight. We're going to have to play like this and better to' win the conference." The same goes for the offense, Frazier added. "Every game is meaningful. How well you play depends on how you go out on Saturday and execute," he said.

"We'll have to play better next week and the week after and the week after that." Frazier said Nebraska picked up the momentum against Missouri after stalling on the Tiger 3-yard line on the first drive of the game. Missouri stopped Nebraska on fourth-and-1, when freshman I-back Ahman Green tried to power through the middle of the line. Nebraska scored quickly when the Huskers started their next drive on the Missouri 31. Frazier ran for two yards, then 29 on an option around the left end behind blocks by tight end Mark Gilman and wingback Brendan Holbein. Three possessions later, Tomich recovered a Missouri fumble at the Tigers 27, and four consecutive runs by Green moved the ball to the 1-yard line.

Frazier tried to sneak in and was stopped on third down. He flew over the line on the next play to give Nebraska a 14-0 lead. "That time they stopped me, I saw the defensive line was diving low, so I figured I just had to get up in the air," Frazier said. Two minutes later, after two runs for 28 yards by fullback Jeff Makovicka, Frazier hit Gilman on a 33-yard pass. That set up a touchdown by Frazier on a 1-yard keeper.

Frazier completed the first-half romp with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Holbein, intended for teammate Jon Vedral, who deflected the ball into the end zone and Holbein's hands as time expired. Offensive efficiency was much improved in the second half, as the Huskers stalled on their first possession of the third quarter but scored on the next four drives. Green, who ran for 90 yards in his first collegiate start, scored on a 9-yard run, tight end Sheldon Jackson took in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Frazier. Backup quarterback Matt Turman scored on a 1-yard keeper and Damon Benning scored on a 16-yard run to complete the demolition. "Just think if our offense and our defense play at the same level what we can do in this conference," Graham said.

i IT1 the receivers. We re going to get better. And it wasn't as bad as not getting the victory." Frazier scored on a 29-yard op- tion keeper around the left end to open the scoring. Later, he scored on the 1-yard plunge after freshman I- back Ahman Green carried five times from the Missouri 27 to the 1. Frazierscored on another keeper from the 1, after two long runs by Jeff Makovicka and after he hit Mark Gilman on a 33-yard pass.

Then, he passed to Jon Vedral at the goal line, the ball was tipped and teammate Brendan Holbein caught it for a 29-yard touchdown play at the end of the half. "That was not in any practice, but I'll take it," Frazier said. For his efforts, Frazier improved to 26-1 as a starter, snapped the career total offense touchdown record of Steve Taylor (Frazier now has 64 touchdowns), and bulled his way back into the Heisman Trophy race. "I don't think about records and honors." he said. "Maybe five or 10 years from now, it'd be fun to say you hold the record for career touchdowns at Nebraska.

But for now, that doesn't matter." Matt Turman, who backed up Frazier, said he was impressed by the senior starter. Turman, subbing in place of Brook Berringer, who was out with a knee injury, said there was room for improvement on the offense. "The offense was not at full speed today and part of that was Missouri's defense," he said. "But Tommie made them pay with some great runs and some good passes, didn't get that much of a chance to do much because Brian Schuster (backup fullback) and Damon Ben- nmg (backup I-back) were running so well when I was in there. "That's OK.

as long as we're get ting it in the end zone." a semi-circle on the turf on the Missouri sidelines? The disks are used sometimes by the Missouri coaching staff to make sure they have the right personnel in the game on kicking plays. Players are told to stand on the disks so the coaches can keep track of them. The arrangement of the disks also makes it easy for the coaches to give instructions. Judging by press box observation, the disks may be an innovation that is losing favor. They didn't get much use.

Why was the pass play in the end zone at the end of the first half, which went off the hands of Nebraska wingback Jon Vedral into the arms of split end Brendan Holbein, called a touchdown? Isn't it illegal for two players from the same team to touch a forward pass? Al According to Bill Jennings, who is a Big Eight Conference observer and former official, it is legal for two receivers to touch the ball as long as they make a legitimate attempt to catch it and not try and bat it forward to the other player. Was that Lawrence Phillips on the Nebraska sidelines? Al Yes it was. This was the first time since he was suspended indefinitely on Sept. 10 after the Michigan State game that he attended a game. Phillips was recently cleared by the NCAA after a long investigation into gifts, a car and cash he received from the group home where he was raised.

Tom Osborne said Phillips still has to be cleared in the courts, by the Nebraska student judiciary committee, the team and by doctors monitoring his anger control counseling before he can return to the team. Phillips has a hearing before the student judiciary committee next week to determine his status as a student. He has a court hearing on Dec. 1 for the charges of misdemeanor assault and trespassing. How does Terrell Farley block punts? Al "Any time we have a return to the left, I try to block the kick.

You have to get a good angle, about nine yards away from the kicker and go straight for him. This one, I got with my arm around the elbow. By the time I looked up, I was scrambling to get to my feet and get the ball in the end zone, but it was almost in the stands by then and we got a safety. Something tells me when to take off and lay out, arms way out there to block a punt." Individual statistics disks that were arranged in sort of Missouri running backs, was the only one asked to compare the two teams who avoided picking a winner. "Both have their strong and weak points, but there are very few weak points," he said.

"They run similar types of defense, with big people who stunt. Nebraska's offense is a little stronger. They are both good teams, but it would be tough to pick." Vahe Gregorian, a sportswriter who covers Missouri for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, also gave Nebraska the edge. "Kansas State has an excellent defense, but its offense is spotty," he said.

"Nebraska's offense in inevitable. Nebraska may have a scrap early, but should pull away." Jennifer Kuester of the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune agreed, giving the Huskers the nod next Saturday against the Wildcats. "In its last two games Missouri has gained all of 240 yards total offer, said Jennifer Kuester of the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune. "It's tough to say if Kansas State or Nebraska's defense is better. But one thing is certain: Missouri's offense Is offensive." Tiger players, coaches, writers give NU the edge against KSU Nebraska Offense Rushing No.

Yds. Ahman Green 15 90 Tommie Frazier 8 71 Riley Washington 2 40 Damon Benning 8 37 Jetf Makovicka 5 33 James Sims 2 29 Brian Schuster 2 24 Clinton Childs 6 22 Matt Turman 3 1 Passing No. Co. Yds Tommie 14 7 133 Matt Turman 1 0 0 Receiving No. Mark Gilman 2 Jon Vedral 1 Brendan Holbein 1 Cfmton Childs 1 Sheldon Jackson 1 Ahman Green 1 Punting No.

Yds. Jesse Kosch 4 137 Billlafleur 1 30 Punt returns No. Mike Fullman 7 Octavlous McFarlin 1 Reggie Baul 1 Terrell Farley 1 Kickofl returns No. Damon Benning 1 Interception returns No. Tonyveland 1 Darren Schmadeke 1 Defense Tackles UT AT Doug Colman 4 4 Ryan TerwWiger 3 1 3 Christian Peter 0 6 TyreN Farley 3 2 JayForman 1 4 Jon Hesse 2 2 Jamel Williams 3 0 Grant Wlstrom 1 2 TonyVeland 1 2 Mike Fullman 2 0 Aaron Penland 1 1 Jason Peter 0 2 Jared Tomich 0 1 Luther Hardin 1 1 ChadKesiay 1 1 QumtHogrel 1 1 Mikeflucker 1 Jason Jenkins 0 1 Scott Saltsman 0 1 JelfOgard 0 1 ChadSiahak 1 0 Adam Skoda 0 1 Billy Legate 1 0 ErlcWalther 1 0 Travis Tolina 0 1 Mike Mtnter 1 0 Ave.

60 8.9 20.0 4.6 6.6 14.5 12.0 3.7 0.3 PI 0 0 Yds. 57 36 29 9 6 -4 Ave. 34.3 30.0 Yds. 61 9 5 5 Yds. 21 Yds.

43 0 TT 8 6 8 5 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 ka's) offense. You just have to limit the running game. "With that line, I'd give Nebraska a plus and go with Nebraska's running attack." Nose tackle Steve Martin, who finished the game with seven tackles, said the Husker offensive line may be the key. "You really can't compare their offenses," he said. "Kansas State is a stationary blocking team and Nebraska blocks on the move.

It's more difficult to defense a team that blocks on the move." Missouri Coach Larry Smith said the relative strengths of the teams will go head-to-head. "It ought to be a pretty good football game," he said. "Kansas State has a great, great defense and Nebraska has a great, great offense," he said. "Kansas State does what they have to with their offense." That accounted for that matchup. But what about Nebraska's defense against Kansas State's offense? "If Nebraska's offense is great, great, then their defense is great," Smith said.

"I'd give Nebraska a big edge there." Curtis Jones, who coaches the BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal Star Back-to-back shutouts at the hands of Nebraska and Kansas State give Missouri players and coaches an up-to-date perspective. And the Tigers gave Nebraska the edge in the showdown between the Big Eight's No. 2-ranked Huskers and No. 8 Kansas State Saturday at Memorial Stadium. "I'd put my money on Nebraska," said junior cornerback Clayton Baker.

"They have four good tailbacks. Any one of them could go to a Division I school and start. When you have the kind of program to draw four top-quality tailbacks, they know they may not get to play. But they have the opportunity." The four Nebraska running backs combined for 178 yards Ahman Green had 90 yards and a touchdown, Damon Bcnning had 37 and a touchdown, James Sims had 29 and Clinton Childs had 22. "Nebraska doesn't do anything tricky.

You know where they're going. It's just a matter of if you can stop it," Baker said. "Kansas State has a lot of defense back, but I don't think you can stop their (Nebras 4.