Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 17

Lincoln Journal Star Sunday, October 29. 1995 00. Page design: Julie Koch Colorado notes HUSKERS CU coach: Colorado quarterback John Hessler was pumped up after -wide receiver James Kidd with a 49-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-, and-two play, pulling the Buffaloes to 31-21 behind with 8:18 left in the Huskers beatable third quarter. v. Rirl ttvwi it samthi HrA tarn rfrin't not tha hal hark imti thfl fourth Quarter, and that no exagoerarjon, Hessler said.

BY STEVE SIPPLE Lincoln Journal Star Hessler was right Nebraska responded with a 14-play, 69-yard drive that took 6:12 and ended with Kris Brown's 38-yard field goal. The Huskers had the bad for 20:38 in the second half, rumng 43 plays to the Buffs' 25. Hessler's 18-yard touchdown pass to Phi Savoy in the first quarter was the Buffs' first TD through the air against the Huskers sines' 1 987. It was also CU's first first-quarter TD against NU since 1 991 Colorado middle linebacker Matt Russell said he thinks Nebras-; ka quarterback Tommie Frazier is good enough to be drafted by a Na- tional Football League team but not as a quarterback. "Maybe you'l I see him as a receiver or running back," Russell said.

jt "-7 i i 1 Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel wasn't exactly merwhelrning in 4 t. his praise of Frazier. Neuheisel said that like Frazier, Texas cor-nerback Ray Mickens and Iowa State running back Troy Davis are also top-notch players. 1 don't mean to take anything away from (Frazier) he's a good player," Neuheisel said. Saturday's attendance of 54,063 was an all-time Folsom Field re-cord; it broke the mark 53,849 set Sept.

23 against Texas 4 4 XL IAN OOfiEMUSLmcom Journal Star Saturday's setback marks the first time since 1988 that Colorado A Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel gestures to his team during its game vs. Nebraska Saturday; has been defeated twice in conference piay ounng me same season. After a season-high nine sacks last week against Iowa State, The last time the Buffs took the field from somewhere other than uoioraao naa none saxuraay. BOULDER, Colo. Generally speaking, Nebraska's football team is beatable, Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel said.

But when second-ranked Nebras-ka commits no turnovers and has no i penalties, it will be tough for any team particularly a young squad j.fike No. 7 Colorado's to beat the defending national champions, Neu-: peisel said after Saturday's 44-21 defeat "The shame of this loss would be if we give up the ship and we don't realize we played as hard as we i could today, just not as smart as we should," he said. Colorado, which fell to 6-2 overall find 2-2 in the Big Eight Conference, committed 12 penalties for 92 yards in losses. In addition, Buffalo sopho-j more quarterback John Hessler threw two interceptions that led to Nebraska scores. i The penalties plagued Colorado i throughout the game, but they were particularly damaging during Nebraska's key scoring drive completed near the end of the first half, giving the Huskers a 31-14 lead.

On a first-and-10 from the Nebraska 43-yard-line, the Buffs committed a 5-yard illegal substitution penalty. NU quarterback Tommie Frazier then threw an incomplete pass. But defensive end Daryl Price hammered Frazier's head after he released the ball and was called for roughing the passer. That 15-yard mistake gave the Huskers a first-and-10 at the CU 37. One play later, Frazier completed a pass to Clester Johnson for their offensive game plan.

Not this time, he said. "Every time we came off the field, (the CU coaches) were saying, 'Great job, you're giving (Hessler) time. That's the line's job. The offense just didn't always execute." Nebraska sacked Hessler only twice. In the meantime, Colorado had problems defending Nebraska's quarterback.

Frazier completed 14 of 23 passes for a career-high 241 yards and two touchdowns. The Huskers added 226 yards on the ground. "Going into the game, Nebraska knew our defense is designed to take away the run," Neuheisel said. "It's a very hard job to take away both the run and also take away the play-ac an 8-yard gain, and a 5-yard penalty for grabbing the facemask moved the ball to the Buffs' 24. The Huskers scored two plays later.

"You hate to go in the locker room having that kind of a momentum Neuheisel said. "That was really a well-executed drive. Tommie Frazier is a heck of a player." True enough, but the penalties gave NU a boost during the drive. Colorado was hoping for a boost to start off the game. The Buffs took the field by coming down from the stands.

Once the players made it to the field, they ran through a spirit line and then gathered at midfield, with several players encouraging the crowd. flashed on the scoreboard, and the Folsom Field record gathering of 54,063 roared its approval. the locker room was before the 1966 season finale against Air Force. "I brought the team through the stands to try to give them a little bit of a distraction so they wouldn't sit in the locker room and think all the time about what we had to do," Neuheisel said. Colorado senior center Bryan Stoltenberg said he liked Neuheisel's pre-game approach.

"Historically, they've jumped on us early and we would never recover," Stoltenberg said. "Today, we wanted to be ready right away." Stoltenberg said he was pleased with the way Colorado battled Nebraska in the trenches. In recent years, he said the Husker defense was able to take the Buffs' out of tion passes they do. They are a real machine when they get rolling." 1 TED KIRKUncom Journal Star- Nebraska tight end Mark Gilman tries to juke two Colorado defenders on a 9-yard reception Saturday at Boulder, Colo. Scoring story NU-CU How scored Time left 13:13 HuskersAfter Colorado score, Gornhuskers regrouped 8:19 2:52 6 Continued from Page 1B 49-yard touchdown on fourth down and two to cut the Husker lead to You've got 1:47 it i 9:34 5:15 1 FIRST QUARTER 7-0 Ahman Green 57 run Drive: 57 yards in one play.

Set up by 25-yard CU punt. Conversion: Kris Brown kick. 7-7 Savoy 18 pass from Hessler Drive: 85 yards in seven plays. Highlighted by Troutman 1 3 run, Carruth 15 pass from Hessler, Trouman 21 pass from Hessler, Hessler 13 run. Conversion: Vonkeritchian kick.

14-7 Green 1 run Drive: 13 yards in four plays. Set up by Terrell Farley 42-yard interception return. Highlighted by Frazier 9 shovel pass to Green. Conversion: Brown kick. 21-7 Ctester Johnson 52 pass from Frazier Drive: 52 yards in one play.

Set up by 37-yard CU punt. Conversion: Brown kick. SECOND QUARTER 21-14 Irwin recovered fumble in end zone Drive: 78 yards in 15 plays. Highlighted by Hessler 15 pass to Anderson on third-and-10. CU's Henry fumbled and ball squirted into end zone, where Irwin covered it.

Conversion'. Voskeritchian kick. 24-14 Brown 25 field goal Drive: 72 yards in 10 plays. Highlighted by Gilman 26 pass from Frazier, Fraizer 5 run on third-and-4, Frazier 35 pass to Green. 31-14 Jon Vedral 7 pass from Frazier Drive: 83 yards in nine plays aided by three Colorado penalties.

Highlighted by Johnson 12, 8 passes from Frazier, Frazier 11 run. Conversion: Brown kick. THIRD QUARTER 31-21 Kidd 49 pass from Hessler Drive: 73 yards in five plays. Set up when CU held NU on downs at Colorado 27. Conversion: Voskeritchian kick.

34-21 Brown 36 field goal Drive: 69 yards in 14 plays. Highlighted by Frazier 10 pass to Jeff Makovicka, 9 pass to Gilman, Childs 1 5 run. FOURTH QUARTER Set up by Doug Colman Interception atCU21. 44'21 Xls 12 plays. Kept alive by roughing-thefcker penalty on CU.

Highlighted by Frazier 18 pass to Gilman, Childs 10 run. 0:10 to credit our team because things could have begun to crumble. But we were able to regroup. Tom Osborne 8:18 31-21 with 8:18 left in the third quarter. "It always bothers you when that happens," Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne said.

"It rejuvenated the crowd and gave them a lot of momentum. You've got to credit our team because things could have begun to crumble. But we were able to regroup." Frazier hit Makovicka on a 10-yard pass and tight end Mark Gilman on a 9-yarder, while Clinton Childs picked up 19 yards on two carries to set up a 36-yard field goal by Brown with 2:01 left in the third quarter. Nebraska's defense, which had struggled trying to get to Hessler all day, finally grounded the Colorado quarterback. NU rush end Grant Wistrom slammed into Hessler just as he was throwing the ball, and Nebraska linebacker Doug Colman fielded the wobbling pass at the Colorado 21-yard line.

Four plays later, Brown added another field goal. "This team rises to tho challenge 2:01 11:49 2:46 IAN DOREMUS'Lincoin Journal Star Colorado quarterback John Hessler tries to get off a pass against Nebraska Saturday. He finished 21-for-43 with two interceptions. Colorado quarterback unimpressed by NU 9 zier's passing. "We felt confidept, that we could stoo them and when Individual Statistics 6 BY STEVE SIPPLE Lincoln Journal Star Yds.

3 Ave. 65 25 23 0.0 We tried to take advantage of (NU's) secondary today. John Hessler Colorado quarterback PI 2 Yds. 74 92 29 49 15 9 8 9 we started to stop the run, they wehl to the pass. We expected them to' pass, ust not as well as they did." Nebraska's victory any chance of Colorado reaching national title, but extended Husker hopes of a second straight title.

The victory also brought a smile'' to Osborne's face. "I like the chemistry of this team. I like being around them, like the" way they play, the way they prac tice and how they approach the game," he said. "Just to win on the road against a very good team is special to me." After facing two Top 10 teams, and before facing 7-1 Kansas, Nebraska plays host to Iowa State next week. "The next one is dangerous be- cause it's sandwiched between Kan- sas and Colorado," Osborne said.

"Hopefully, we can keep our focus." Fullback Jeff Makovicka said it 1 would be hard to lose the focus. "He's (Frazier) doing this every week and he wants to get back with the rest of us to a national champi- onship," he said. Holbein added, "To not win with Frazier, I think that's something he can't do. I dont know -if any of us could put up with any-thing less than the whole thing." Punt returns No. Damon Benning 2 Colorado Ave: Offense 3 Rushing 30 No.

Yds. Herchell Troutman 11 72 3 tendon Henry 11 27 2 John Hessler 3 7 Heath Irwin 0 0 Passing PI No. Co. Yds 0 John Hessler. 43 21 276 Y72 Reoeivln9 PhK Savoy 8 i Rae Carruth 7 Herchell Troutman 2 li James Kidd 1 Chris Anderson 1 1U Mattlepsis 1 Darrm Chiavehnl 1 TT Defense Tackles 1 UT AT Leomto 9 4 Black 6 5 Cunningham 1 3 1 i Rosga 4 5 I Russell 7 7 I Wilklns 3 1 5 Wtlbon 2 3 Navies 0 1 Merkerson 2 4 Washington 2 3 Peters 2 2 Olson 6 3 Jones 2 3 5 Ziegler 1 0 Maumau 1 1 Phillips- 2 2 1 Hicks 5 3 Price 5 1 Special teams A3J Punting 490 UT 4S2 No.

Yds. 0 0 Andy Mitchell 6 250 Vrf. Klckoff return vi No. Herchell Troutman 2 i Landon Henry 4v Punt returns 0 wo. Nebraska Offense Rushing No.

Yds. Ahman Green 18 97 Tommie Frazier 13 40 Jeff Makovicka 8 24 Clinton Owlds 10 44 Damon Bennmg 3 13 Brian Schuster 1 1 Joel Makovicka 1 7 Passing No. Co. Yds Tommie 23 14 241 Receiving No. Clester Johnson 3 Mark Gilman 3 Ahman Green 2 Jon Vedral 2 Reggie Baul 2 Brendan Holbein 1 Jeff Makovlcak 1 Defense Tackles UT AT Dermis 2 0 T.Williams 3 2 veiand 4 1 Mmter 5 0 Stokes 1 0 Booker 0 3 Ellis 0 2 Farley 3 4 Colman 2 3 C.Peter 3 0 Foreman 0 2 TerwUliger 1 1 J.Peter 1 1 Jenkins 1 0 Wistrom 4 0 Wilkams 3 Kelsay 2 0 Hesse 1 3 1 0 Special teams Punting UT AT No.

Yds. Jesse Kosch 2 84 Team 1 0 Klckoff returns No. CKntonChikts 2 Interception returns No. Terrell Farley 1 Doug Colman 1 and plays as well on the road as it does at home," Osborne said. "This group was not intimidated at all.

Frazier is a great player and held things together. "Colorado did some things that were different and to execute as well as we did, when it was difficult to hear and I don't know how they (NU players) knew what the play change was and play error free is hard to do." The fact Frazier was able to slice through the Colorado defense for 14 completions in 23 attempts, was pivotal, Osborne said. "We knew Colorado would be committed to the run," he said. Nebraska was held to 226 yards rushing, the second-lowest total of the season and almost 200 yards below its national-leading rushing average. "We didn't throw as much as we might have," Osborne said.

"They crowded us and moved a lot of players to the run. So we passed and passed well. Once we got up 16 points, we weren't going to throw a lot. If we had wanted more yards, I think we could have gotten them. But we wanted to run some time off and we got conservative." Colorado linebacker Matt Russell expressed the frustration with Fra- "Nebraska comes after you ev ery time, but we shut them BOULDER, Colo.

Colorado sophomore quarterback John Hessler said Nebraska has had better secondaries. "We tried to take advantage of its secondary today, and I think we did, but we were inconsistent," said Hessler, who completed 21 of 43 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns. But Hessler, making his third start, also tossed two interceptions, both which led to Nebraska scores. "I should have hit more passes, and maybe things could have went better," Hessler said. "But any time you face a team that doesn't turn the ball over and doesn't have a penalty, it is going to win." Hessler said the Buffaloes used the correct game plan against Nebraska's man-to-man defensive coverage.

The trick, he said, is to hit receivers on the run. He said you have to use quick patterns that run in front of the coverage and plenty of crossing routes. "You have to have your receivers running away from Nebraska's speed," he said. Colorado frequently went with a no-back offense, and Hessler often used a quick, three-step drop. He praised his offensive line's work.

Hessler said. "I think I only got sacked once. Actually, it was twice. 13 11 4 9 14 4 7 1 6 4 9 1 2 4 6 Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel praised his quarterback. "I told him going into the game that he needed to play error-free football and not throw the ball to the opposing team, and unfortunately we had two interceptions, Neunei' sel said.

"But in terms of grit and determination especially from a kid TT Ave. 41.7 Yds. 33 70 Yds. a who wasn't expected to play much this year I'm very proud of John Hessler..