The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington • 44

6 Page CIO Sunday, October 1, 1995 'The Spokesman-Review Washington State at Nebraska Scoring summaiy WSU player of the game Ron Darling The junior linebacker from Kettle Falls led the Cougars with 11 tackles, one for a loss, and forced a fumble. He also recovered an onside kick. INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS WASHINGTON STATE Rushing Dan PelleThe Spokesman-Review Ahman Green (30) and the Nebraska rushing attack kept Brian Walker and the WSU defense at arms length for most of the game. Williams Veland Mmter Fullman Stokes Booker Vedral Legate Farley Hesse Colman C.Peter Foreman Saltsman Terwilliger Tomich Peter Wistrom A 75,777 How they scored First quarter WSU 7, Nebraska 0 Frank Madu 87 nin, Tony Truant kick 90-yard drive in 2 plays, '46. Second quarter WSU 7, Nebraska 7 Tommie Frazier 4 run, Kns Brown kick.

66-yard drive in 5 plays, 1 22. Key plays: Bnan Schuster opens dnve with 23-yard run over left tackle and adds 10 more through same hole on next play, setting up first down at WSU's 28-yard line Ahman Green then skirts nght end for 24-yard gain to the 4. Nebraska 14, WSU 7 Frazier 20 run, Brown kick. 66-yard drive in 11 plays, 4 29 Key plays. Cornhuskers convert on two short third-down plays to keep drive alive and on third-and-11 from Cougars' 44, Frazier scrambles left for 16 yards and first down at the 28.

Nebraska 17, WSU 7 Brown 33 field goal. 31 -yard drive in 6 plays, 2 06. Key play. Green runs over left guard for 36-yard gain to WSUs 11. Nebraska 20, WSU 7 Brown 22 field goal 64-yard dnve in 7 1 06 Key play On third-and-8 from his own 33, Green breaks loose up the middle for 54-yard gam to the WSU 13.

Third quarter Nebraska 28, WSU 7 Green 3 run, Bnan Schuster pass from Brown. 48-yard dnve in 8 plays. 3 50 Key plays: Frazier-to-Reggie Baul pass gains 15 yards and sets up first down at Cougars' 32. Two plays later, Green gains 13 yards over left guard. Fourth quarter Nebraska 28, WSU 14 Shawn Tims 33 pass from Chad Davis, Truant kick.

90-yard dnve In 8 plays, 3.10. Key plays: Oavis opens drive with 21-yard completion to Jay Dumas and 20-yard strike to Bryant Thomas, setting up first down at UNs 46. On third-and-8 from the 44, Davis hits Dumas again, this time for 10-yard gain to the 34. Nebraska 35, WSU 14. Mark Gilman 35 pass from Frazier, Brown kick.

71-yard drive In 5 plays, 1 26. Key plays Fraziers third-down pass from his own 30 falls Incomplete, but holding penalty on WSU gives dnve new life Damon Benning then gains 13 yards on draw play and Green adds 12 around left end, setting up first down at the Cougars' 35 Nebraska 35, WSU 21 Tims 30 pass from Davis, Truant kick. 80-yard dnve In 10 plays, 3 37. Key plays: Davis connects with Dumas for gains of 11, 12 6 and 5 yards to help move the ball down to Nebraska's 30. Cougars too late opening it up! that, I was like, oh well, if opportunity calls, youve got to take it to the end zone.

I knew once I got in the open like that, there was no chance of any of them catching me because my game is based on speed. Ahman among boys Lawrence who? Freshman I-back Ahman Green is rapidly making a name for himself in Lincoln. For the third straight game, Green a true freshman from Omaha topped 100 yards rushing, this time with a whopping 176. Included in that were runs of 24, 36 and 54 yards. He now has 525 yards rushing on the season, I A and seems to be filling the void left by the i rt suspension of troubled senior Lawrence Phillips.

-Cougars linebacker James Darling was impressed, but not as impressed as he was with UCLAs Karim Abdul-Jabbar a week ago. Jabbar is probably the best back well see all year hes the best back in the conference, Darling said. Green kind of just wants to run, 1 while Jabbar is always coming up field. I dont think hes as good as Jabbar but he will be. Hes only a freshman.

Smokin Tom The last names Frazier, which is apropos because the Nebraska quarterback can deliver a hit with power reminiscent of Joe. He got his chance on the Huskers first drive, when wingback Clester Johnson took a reverse and headed around left end. WSU defensive end Dwayne Sanders was bearing down on Johnson from the inside when Frazier blasted him from the blind side. It was designed for me to look outside and thats where he happened to be coming in on (Johnson), Frazier said. There are times when 1 Im not supposed to throw a block, but everybody' called on sometimes.

I havent seen the film yet, but it felt pretty good. i Notebook By Steve Bergum and John Blanchette Staff writers LINCOLN, Neb. There were a lot of questions raised Saturday by the conservative nature of Washington States offensive play calling in the first half of its 35-21 loss to Nebraska. Especially after WSU came out in the second half and aired it out for 203 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns against a Nebraska defense that had been brilliant in the first two quarters. The Cougars took an early 7-0 lead on an touchdown run by Frank Madu and seemed content to keep the ball on the ground.

At one point in the half, however, they ran nine consecutive plays that produced zero or negative yardage and finished the half with only 162 yards total offense. Not counting Madus run, the Cougars rushed times tor zero yardage. After intermission, quarterback Chad Davis went to the air and orchestrated a pair of long scoring drives that ended with touchdowns passes 33 and 30 yards to Shawn Tims. Several WSU players said the pass was there for taking the entire game, but coach Mike Price said he stayed conservative because of horrible field position. I felt our plan going into the game was real sound, Price said.

(Offensive coordinator John) McDonell came up with a good plan as far as throwing the football. We just needed to get into position where we could do that. Due in part to Nebraskas excellent kick coverage, WSU was forced to start drives from its 15, 10, 17, 8 and 16-yard lines in the first half. We would have liked to have (passed), but you cant question the coaches, said slotbaclc Jay 87-yard of 13 of the a own Blanchette: Frazier, Cornhuskers took WSU talk as personal affront WSU: Hangs with Huskers into fourth Dan PelleThe Spokesman-Review WSU quarterback Chad Davis Is mushed by Cornhuskers, Including Grant Wistrom (98) Still, whatever breaks the Cougs manage to get in other phases of the game, theyre still crapping out when it comes to field position. The run-v ning game, so prominent in the" UCLA win, went on vacation again after Frank Madu struck with his 87-yard touchdown run.

On nine-' straight downs in the first half, WSU had either negative or no yardage. And a final eye-opener. WSU gave up 428 yards rushing not quite half of the 886 it gave up all last season. So again: Why was this as close as it was? Answer: Because the Cougars fig- ured it should be. It was exactly what they didnt figure in 1993 when they opened the season against an opponent (Michigan) cut from a similar! cloth, and played all day with jaws' agape.

It was a different team back'1' then, said tackle Scott Sandersort. It might have been (good) for that team, but were not after moral victories. Were after wins and going to a bowl game. Added linebacker James Darling Were going to cry when we watch film and see the breakdowns. Modest victories like Nebraskas cost you votes in the polls( but Osborne says he isnt worried.

He remembers the Huskers struggling to beat Wyoming a year ago, and we turned out OK. Like 13-0. It just felt good to get in there and a full game, said defensive le Christian Peter, not knowing what the outcome was going to be. We needed this. What the Huskers really need is a 3-8 season every now and then so the citizenry might sample a life.

But then theyd really see red. Continued from Cl went on. Safety Derek Henderson suggested the Huskers didnt know what they were in for, having fattened up on weak teams like Pacific and Arizona State. Theyre not really playing teams that are trying to go out there and get after them. (That may go up on ASUs bulletin board, too, but no harm, no foul: the Cougs dont play ASU this fall.) Some of the Huskers professed that such frankness was their primaiy source of inspiration this week.

I took that personally, said quarterback Tommie Frazier. I guess they decided part of their game plan was to intimidate us, but you come to our place and you dont intimidate us. I guess they found out you should keep comments like that to yourself until after the game. Oh, like these? Talking about the lick he laid on Sanders while blocking for Clester Johnsons reverse on Nebraskas first drive, Frazier said, It felt pretty good since it was on the guy who was doing all the talking during the week. He wasnt doing much talking after I guess he wore himself out in the papers.

Said fullback Brian Schuster, One mistake they made was all the talking they did. They certainly played hard, but I dont think its to a team's advantage to talk the way they did. The obvious question, then, was why the difference was two touchdowns and not 10? Well, because the Cougars twice burnt blitzes forTDs and because the hosts came up empty a few times fumbling inside the 10 once, blowing a 20-yard field goal and fumbling again late on the WSU 6-yard line. Continued from Cl venturing into Memorial Stadium, one of the legendary environments of college football, and beating Nebraska in front of its loyal followers. And they had their chances to do just that, despite some crippling personnel losses on defense, a critical defensive holding call midway through the fourth period when the outcome was still in doubt and all of the problems created by 75,777 vocal fans most of whom were there to witness a Nebraska blowout.

Our goal going into this game was to win, coach Mike Price said after watching the non-conference loss drop his team to 2-2. We certainly caihe up short, but we didnt come up short on effort, pride or desire. 'We wanted to be in position in the fourth quarter to win the game. We had that, but we just came up short. Freshman I-back Ahman Green rushed for 176 yards and one touchdown and senior quarterback Tom-mi Frazier darted for two more scores as Nebraska (5-0) turned back WSUs inspired upset bid.

The Cornhuskers rolled up 527 yafds of total offense and won the first-down battle 27-17 in beating the Cougars for the first time in four tries. WSU, which returns to Pac-10 play at home next Saturday against Oregon State, shocked Nebraskas 205th consecutive sellout crowd with Frank Madus 87-yard touchdown run on their second possession of the game, managed to nang around until midway through the final quarter before being done in by the crucial holding call. 5 The Cougars had scored early in the period on the first of Chad Davis two touchdown passes to backup wide receiver Shawn Timms and cut Nebraskas lead to 28-14. It looked like they were going to get the ball back again with plenty of time remaining when a third-down pass thrown by Frazier from his own 30-yard line fell woefully short of its intended receiver. A late flag floated to the ground, however, and the ensuing holding call on WSU cornerback Brian Walker gave the Huskers new life and a first down at the 40.

Three plays later, Frazier lofted a 35-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mark Gilman and made all of the late-game craziness that would follow rather meaningless. Defensive Coordinator Bill Doba later confirmed that the penalty was called on Walker, who was trying to prevent Nebraska split end Reggie Baul from beating him deep. It was one of Dohas few disap- ointments on a day when some of is younger defenders came up big for fallen starters. Junior linebacker Johnny Nansen left the game in the first period with a concussion and Doba lost end Dwayne Sanders to an ankle injury and tackle Gary Holmes to a concussion early in the second half. Defensive back Greg Bums didnt play because of a shoulder injury sustained in last Saturdays 24-15 win over UCLA.

That forced sophomores Phillip Glover and Todd Nelson into duty at linebacker and gave freshman Del-mar Morais a rare stint at defensive tackle. Senior Robert Booth filled in for Sanders at defensive end and all played well, according to Doba. Linebacker James Darling, who made 11 tackles and forced a fumble, gave WSU one last chance to make things interesting when he recovered an onside kick following Davis second scoring pass to Timms a 30-yarder with 3:38 left. But the Cougar offense, which had generated 350 yards up to that point, was unable to move and turned the ball over on downs. And one last Nebraska scoring died near the WSU goal when the Cornhuskers fumbled the ball away just before time ran out.

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