Daily News from New York, New York • 746

world ers make Miisk INCOLN. Neb. You do not want to be Mike FILIP BONDY Bubeock today. Babcock, sports columnist 1 crowd-pleasers outside their own state borders, were not glamorous again. There wasn't even a touch of gold to their uniforms.

Their wide receivers didn't get to play the game very often. In fact, Nebraska probably did nothing yesterday to reassure Orange Bowl representatives they will have the best game on New Year's Day. But Nebraska beat Colorado badly with a little of everything: with its fullback, bullish Corey Schlesinger; with its tight ends, Mark Gil-man and Eric Alford; with a kicking game that kept pinning the Buffaloes back to their own goal line in the first half. judgment. "But I have an unlisted phone number." Poor Babcock, like so many others, figured mighty, flighty Colorado was the favorite at Memorial Stadium, the next great No.

1 fun-and-run college football team of the world. They all lacked faith in the Big Red ball-control machine, the team without a healthy quarterback, the team that definitely could have used a running back with a fanciful name. The world was wrong, for once. Nebraska was And today, as sportswriters and coaches review the latest scenes of destruction, they will have to keep Nebraska knocking at the door for the Lincoln Journal-Star, had the audacity to pick Colorado over Nebraska yesterday in his morning newspaper scant hours before the Huskers ground Colorado Into so many sixteenth-pound Buffalo burgers, 24-7. Babcock spent one paragraph on his prediction, and 20 paragraphs apologizing for his prediction.

Those 20 paragraphs will not be enough after yesterday. "There are some lunatics out there," Babcock said in the press box, after it became obvious he had committed a serious error in on the mash The Art Shell-Jeff Hostetler blowup and the alleged racist remark involved represents something more than of mighty Penn State. "I don't care much about polls," muttered Tom Osborne, a coach who knows the words by heart "I gave up on those." The Huskers, never a black-white conflict. SI UJ 1 ty-Vl iMn 'Dogs' sink teeth into No. 1 claim There's a gray area here.

A big one. Page 54 Seven I2IAYOJ If you build it, they will come. If you put Mickey Mantle's name on it, they'll come again and again. Pages G45 A LDJIG Way To Go Jets vs. Colts hasn't conjured up thoughts of a championship for many years, but Pete Carroll's crew is improving, and a victory at Indy today puts it in solid standing.

Paged By DICK WEISS I 3 Daily New Sport Wntw LINCOLN, Neb. Colorado discovered yesterday it will take more than a "Hail Mary" to beat Nebraska in Memorial Stadium. The second-ranked Buffaloes finally ran out of miracles here in Big Red country. Third-ranked Nebraska pounded out a 24-7 victory over Colorado before a sellout crowd of 76,131 the 200th straight in school history. If romping is believing, Penn State, alter swamping Ohio State in Happy Valley, looks the best team in the country.

But Nebraska can also make a case for No. 1, if only because irr -V 4, I S- Gotta Stop Slide Barry Sanders could be the most inside track on the Big Eight's automatic bid to the Orange Bowl, where they should get a chance to take on one of the Florida schools FSU or Miami. Judging from the way they dominated Colorado (7-1) on both sides of the line, they will be a worthy opponent Nebraska may not have a high-tech offense, but the Huskers showed they can sledge-hammer teams with the best of them. Big Red pounded out 203 yards behind a massive offensive line. "They did whatever they wanted." Colorado tackle Darius Holland admitted.

"They came off the ball and just blew us off the line." Join the club. Junior quarterback Brook Berringer, starting just his fourth game, completed 12 of 17 passes nine of them to tight end Mark Gilman and Eric Alford for 142 yards and one touchdown. He also utilized fullback Cory Schlesinger, whose 65 yards rushing complemented 1 back Lawrence Phillips' 86 yards on 25 carries. "We were thought of as an underdog, and we don't take that lightly, especially at home," Berringer said. Salaam, who came in the Heisman favorite, carried 22 times for 134 yards and one touchdown.

His statistics, however, rang hollow as Nebraska jumped to a 17-0 halftime lead. The Huskers scored on a 14-yard run by Schlesinger, a 24-yard field goal by Tom Sieler and a 2-yard run by Clinton Childs. The Huskers' defense closed the door on the Buffaloes' option by pressuring Stewart, who completed just 12 of 28 passes for 150 yards and no TDs. "They figured they could just turn it on at any time," Nebraska cornerback Baron Miles said. "This Nebraska team, we just keep our mouth shut and go out and play." dangerous running back in the league.

Not the person you want in your stadium if you 're trying to stop a four-game skid. 4 NEBRASKA 24 COLORADO 7 the Huskers have been able to overcome the adversity that cropped up earlier this month when star quarterback Tom-mie Frazier went down for the season. Frazier underwent surgery to correct a blood clot behind his knee. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne refused to get drawn into poll politics. "I'll let the pun PaoG7 Piium Pou.

Results In response to the RED-LETTER DAY: Cornhuskers' Terry Connealy (99) and Christian Peter celebrate after they stop Colorado on fourth down. Daily News question: dits take care of that," he claimed. Should Dave Brown keephisjobasthe Giants' starting Nebraska's underrated Black Shirt defense, now known as "The Werewolves of quarterback? Seventy-five percent Lincoln," took a big bite out of in 13 attempts. That should be enough to shut up Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart and tailback Rashaan Salaam. The Buffs' stars reportedly started talking trash last weekend immediately after the Kansas State game.

"They came into the locker room and everybody got quiet and they said, 'Let's have some fun with Nebraska, said Huskers defensive tackle Christian Peter of Locust, N.J. "That got back to us. That's not good. That's not good." Neither was the negative mail the Huskers received this week from all over the country. "There was this one letter that I remember specifically," Peter said.

"It said, 'Colorado 56, Nebraska 0. 'Nuffsaid. It was from Orlando, Fla, and you know who's down there." The Huskers (9-0) have the of callers said yes and the second-ranked offense In the country, holding Colorado scoreless until 3:40 remained in the third quarter and never 25 said there should be a change. allowing the Buffs to convert a third- or fourth-down situation.