The Manhattan Mercury from Manhattan, Kansas • 9

Sports The Manhattan Mercury Sunday. October 22, 1995 Bl OucM 9Heker pet 49-2 KSU 'just not good enough' at Nebraska 5 hurt oo Cat K-State able to mount late threat at end MarkJanssen Sports Editor Mark Scott Staff Writer LINCOLN, Neb. It's nothing new for Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne to pull his players out of the game in the second half after building a commanding lead over an opponent But seldom does he have to put them back in because he thinks the lead is being threatened. Saturday's game with Kansas State featured one of those rare occasions as K-State put a fourth quarter scare into the Huskers. No.

2 Nebraska whipped KSU by a score of 49-25 to go 3-0 in conference play and 7-0 overall. The Wildcats drop to 2-1 in the conference and 6-1 overall. With 4:33 remaining in the game, back-up quarterback Brian Kavanagh connected with Mitch Running on a 10-yard pass to reduce the NU lead to 42-19. After Nebraska failed to get a first down on its next possession, K-State's Gordon Brown blocked See No. 2 Page B2 A A xv v.

LINCOLN, Neb. You cant win big games without emotion, but it must be controlled spirit Saturday here on Homecoming Day, No. 8 Kansas State had too much spunk, but not enough discipline in a 49-25 loss to No. 2 ranked Nebraska. "Our players were probably too emo- fJt tionally charged to play this said KSU coach Bill Snyder of his 6-1 Wildcats.

"And that's my fault I maybe put them in a position where they were destined to fail. We just couldnt handle the emotion of the game. We probably took it to a little higher level than we should have or I should have." But basically, as Snyder said, "We just weren't good enough against an excellent football team." This story could end with that comment. In the first half it was a case of yesteryear's Wildcats rearing their old ugly heads. Penalties, broken tackles, non-Top 10 decisions and a lot of them.

"We weren't very good in any aspect," Snyder said. "Not very good on offense, not very good on defense, and not very good in the kicking game." Especially in the kicking game K-State was woeful in the first half. The Wildcats allowed Mike Fullman to snap tackles as he pranced 79 yards down the Corn-huskers' sideline to open the scoring. Jimmy Dean slipped and fell at own id on a kickoff return. Dederick Kelly was called for running into Fullman on a fair catch.

The 'Cats were guilty of a holding call on a kickoff return, forcing another drive to start from their own 10. And after an 18-yard Matt Miller to Kevin Lockett pass cut the margin to 7-6, Martin Gramat-ica botched the point-after kick. "You can't expect to make the mistakes we made and not expect anything to happen except what did," Snyder said. "Nebraska is too good of a football team." He then returned to the emotion theme. "There's a maturity level that to take down Nebraska's Tommie '96 kickoff at still Associated Press Frazier in a 49-25 loss Saturday.

As far as I know, no decision has been made and no deadline has been given to ICSU AD Max Urick "We have to do what's best for our program," said Urick. "We've (coach Bill Snyder and Urick) talked about it two or three times, but we just haven't focused on it real hard." Urick expressed a- concern about opening the year against a national power on the road and with a first-year quarterback. Allen indicated that the financial benefit to K-State would be an estimated $60,000 as compared to the game being televised by the Liberty Network in October. That would be above the normal share KSU would receive for being a part of the Big 12 and Steve Hanks (28) try in vain "We goofed up about as bad as you can goof up," said linebacker Percell Gaskins. K-State, the No.

1 defense in the nation having allowed only 45 points all year, had allowed 35. The Wildcats' No. 1 defense in the nation (199.8 yards per game) had already allowed 214. Not helping that was an offense that rushed for just 10 yards on 12 carries. On first down plays, K-State totaled 18 yards on 12 snaps with 11 of those coming on one play.

Still, Mitch Running said, "We still thought we were in the game." Running who ended with a career-high of 10 catches for 110 yards and backup quarterback Brian Kavanagh rallied the Wildcats back into contention with 19 straight points in the final quarter to make it 42-24 with 3:10 remaining. Kavanagh completed 12 of 22 passes for 136 yards against the Nebraska reserves. That included scoring strikes to Running and See No. 1 Page B2 shiser left after walking the first two batters in the seventh, a walk by Paul Assenmacher loaded the bases with no outs and rookie reliever Julian Tavarez gave up an RBI grounder by pinch-hitter Luis Polonia and a squeeze bunt by Rafael Belliard. Maddux, sure to win his fourth straight Cy Young Award this year, had struggled in postsea-sons past But in his first World Series appearance, the club that led baseball in hitting, scoring and home runs couldn't touch him, managing to hit just four balls out of the infield and needed errors to score both runs.

Maddux, who struck out four, improved to 3-0 in this postseason. The runs off him were unearned, set up by Belliard's error and two stolen bases by Lofton in the first inning and a throwing error by first baseman McGriff that allowed Lofton to Kansas State's Mario Smith (4) you need to reach to handle emotion and execution at the same time," said Snyder. "We talk about playing with great effort great emotion and great execution. It's the lack of execution that loses ballgames." The first half was one where programs were needed to see which 'Huskers were scoring IDs. Backup wingback Jon Vedral recovered a fumble of No.

2 I-back Clinton Childs in the end zone to make it 14-6. Third team tight end Sheldon Jackson caught an 11-yard TD pass to make it 21-6. And backup linebacker Luther Hardin had a three-yard pass interception for a score after third team linebacker Chad Kel-say tipped Miller's shovel pass. At intermission: Nebraska 35, Kansas State 6. It was a half where the 'Huskers did pretty much as they wished.

They averaged more than six yards per first down snap and converted five of six third downplays. WORLD SERIES Saturday, Oct 21 Atlanta 3, Cleveland 2, Atlanta leads series 1-0 Sunday, Oct 22 Cleveland (Martinez 12-5) at Atlanta (Glavine 16-7), 6:20 p.m. (NBC) Tuesday, Oct. 24 Atlanta (Smoltz 12-7) at Cleveland (Nagy 16-6), 7:20 p.m. (NBC) Wednesday, Oct 25 Atlanta at Cleveland, 7:20 p.m.

(ABC) Thursday, Oct. 26 Atlanta at Cleveland, 7:20 p.m., if necessary (ABC) Saturday, Oct 28 Cleveland at Atlanta, 6:20 p.m., if necessary (NBC) Sunday, Oct 2 Cleveland at Atlanta, 6:20 p.m. EST, if necessary (ABC) Pittsburgh in 1971. That's what it took to beat Hershiser, who began the game with a 7-0 record that was the greatest in postseason history. Fred McGriffs homer off Hershiser tied it at 1 in second.

Her MarkJanssen Sports Editor LINCOLN, Neb. Kansas State University athletic director Max Urick said Saturday he knew nothing about a report that the Wildcats have turned down the opportunity to open the 1996 season on ABC Television at Texas "As far as I know, no decision has been made and no deadline has been given to us," said Urick. "I have no idea when the deadline would be." Big Eight assistant commissioner Tim Allen said he thought a decision would need to come within the next 7 to 10 days. ABC has chosen the K-State vs. Texas game to help kickoff their season and to be the inaugural Big 12 Conference game on Aug.

31. favors playing the game, but K-State officials have not accepted the idea. score irtthe ninth. Hershiser made only one mis take in the first six innings, and McGriff took advantage, hitting the first pitch in the second far over the fence in right-center field. McGriff, like most of his teammates, had seen Hershiser before, but never had enjoyed much success.

McGriff was only 6-for-32 (.188) lifetime against Hershiser, although he had connected for two previous home runs. Lofton, who ruined Seattle in the playoffs with his baserun-ning, seemed to rattle Maddux and the Braves after reaching base on a lucky bounce. Lofton hit the second pitch of the game right at Belliard, and ball came up and handcuffed him for an error. Belliard was playing because See No. 1 Page B3 Maddux comes through with career game Big 8 Standings Conference All Games Pet 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 .857 0 57 1 .643 0 -286 0 .286 0 .286 Pet 0 0 1.000 7 0 Nebraska Kansas KansasSL Colorado Oklahoma Okla.St IowaSt.

Missouri 0 1.000 0 .667 0 .667 0 .333 0 .333 7 6 6 4 2 2 2 000 000 Saturday's Game Nebraska 49, Kansas State 25 Oklahoma State 30. Missouri 26 Kansas 38, Oklahoma 17 Colorado 50, Iowa State 28 up in the air Urick indicated that he has only had brief conversations with the television representatives regarding Saturday's game with the University of Kansas. The Wildcat-Jayhawk match up is one of at least three being considered. ABC will select two other games as part of their regional package. Announced during the game as a TV contest was the Nebraska game at Colorado.

The other possibilities would be Auburn-Arkansas, and, Florida-Georgia. As for being an ESPN attraction Saturday night, it's believed that the network would not want the University of Kansas on consecutive weekends. Last night, ESPN's feature game had the Jay-hawks playing Oklahoma. If a major network does not pick up the game, it will be televised by the NBC stations within the state of Kansas. the tape to evaluate this one," Lane said.

"We'll have to look at the tape to see whether Emporia just played that well or if we weren't into it or what "But the fact we got a little crippled about halfway through didnt help matters any and the fact we didnt pay attention to how hard (Emporia) played didnt help matters any either." Sandwiched on the schedule between a 21-0 Manhattan win over arch-rival Junction City and a district showdown between MHS and Washburn Rural next week, Emporia took advantage of its opportunity. "I didnt feel all week that the kids were ever really into it," Lane they were, I dont know. We were erratic one day we had a pretty solid practice and another day they were just squirrelier than heck. "I kept telling them, 'Dont look past them, don't look past You saw how scrappy they are, I feel fortunate to get out of here." The Indians came through despite playing most of the game without lineman Steve Altobello (dislocated toe) and having less-than-healthy nights by lineman Josh McVey, running back Michael Nash (bruised knee), and lineman David Wichman (sore knee and sprained ankle). "We got ourselves into some messes and we got a couple of See No.

2 Page B3 Tribe letdown, injuries lead to close contest Braves take first game of World Series, 3-2 Associated Press ATLANTA Given the stage to show why he's the best pitcher in baseball, Greg Maddux gave the performance of his life. Maddux pitched a two-hitter against the best-hitting team in the majors, outdueling Orel Her-shiser and leading the Atlanta Braves over the Cleveland Indians 3-2 Saturday night in Game 1 of the World Series. Only soft, opposite-field singles by Jim Thome and Kenny Lofton and an error by substitute shortstop Rafael Belliard leading off the game, prevented Maddux from perfection. Still, Maddux wound up with the first two-hitter in the World Series since Nelson Briles of Broncos have Associated Press Eric Turner Sports Writer EMPORIA The Manhattan Indians took care of business Friday night, but the Emporia Spartans nearly took care of the Indians' playoff hopes at Emporia State's Welch Stadium. Manhattan needed a 30-yard field goal by Jason Kazar midway through the fourth quar ter and defensive stand down the stretch to hang on to a 15-13 Class 6A District 5 victory.

Emporia, now of a 1-7 overall record, led for most of the game and outgained the Indians 236-230 in total yardage. Manhattan overcame a multitude of injuries to improve to 6-2. "I was extremely proud of our kids," second-year Emporia head coach Mark Luedtke said. "They came to play toe-to-toe and head-to-head tonight They could have gone flat after last week's second half but they came back tonight to play." Manhattan head coach Lew Lane also had nothing but praise for the SpartansAs for his team, Umereserved judgment but attributed a slight letdown and a slew of injuries for the closer-than-anticipated final score. "We're going to have to look at a awi'yjn r.

Mi- their own version of West Coast Offense DENVER You can call it the West Coast Offense, the West Coast With a Twist or the Rocky Mountain Offense. The Denver Broncos dont care, as long as you call it effective. Making extensive use of the shotgun forma- mage to take the first snap of a game against New England two weeks ago. He promptly completed a 10-yard pass, then a 15-yarder, and by the end of the first quarter the Broncos had 14 points. They scored only 16 points in their previous two games combined.

The last two weeks the Broncos generated 403 and 475 yards in 37-3 and 27-0 romps. In the shutout of the Oakland Raiders on Monday night, the Broncos were in the shotgun for 67 percent of their plays. Both of Elway's touchdown passes to Anthony Miller came out of the shotgun, and the Broncos proved they could use the shotgun and still throw the quick timing passes that are at the core of the West Coast scheme. And as run the ball, too. Elway, who has always seemed born to run the 'gun and who thrived under such a system in the late 1980s, said the formation "has changed guys' attitudes.

It takes the pressure off me, because I can see things better, and it takes (the defense) a while longer to get there. The key thing is we're good enough up front to go with the shotgun all the time." Denver practiced the shotgun only in the final workout of training camp, with the aim of occasionally using it on third down. After a slow start Shanahan decided to use it more, even though it meant abandoning the pure West Coast scheme. Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer, in fact, said what Denver is running is not a West Coast offense. "One of the basic premises of the West Coast offense, as I understand it is the quar- SeeNo.lPageB4 tion, the Broncos have taken Mike Shanahan's offense to new heights the last two weeks.

They head into Sunday's game against Kansas City with the No. 1-rated offense in the AFC, averaging 378 yards per game. It all came about when JohifElway dropped 8 yards behind the line of scrim-.