The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 47

rrrrrr Tuesdav Jan 2 1979 THE MIAMI HERALD 7-D Osborne: No Doubt Sooners No rr NEBRASKA APPREHENSION: Tom Osborne Sees Game Slipping Aa By TERRY KELLEHER Htrald SparH wntar Mistakes? Tom Osborne made a few Regrets? He had one or two But head coach had little doubt that his Cornhuskers were beaten by the best team in the country in the Orange Bowl Classic Monday night nobody in the country better than Oklahoma from what seen on TV and what Osborne said after the Sooners had defeated his Cornhuskers 31-24 played Alabama (losing 20-3) and a heck of a team But they quite have the horses of Oklahoma got such great backs There were times when we played defense pretty well and they still gained a bunch of SUBSTITUTE i-back Craig failure to convert a fourth and one from the Sooner seven-yard line late in the game that was one of regrets Trailing 31-17 with a little more than four minutes left Nebraska could have used another score to make it interesting But fullback Andra Franklin (sprained ankle) and starting 1-back Rick Berns (aching shoulder) were unavailable to go for the critical first down would have been nice to have Berns in there at that Osborne said goes over the top When you go into the pile it's a question of where thev spot the Osborne believe the linesman spotted the ball accurately and the Cornhuskers missed by two inches people upstaifs thought he was Osborne said rom where I stood I thought he was over But I'm the one who calls the Osborne said it enough to get us in the end OSBORNE also harbored regret over a clipping penalty in the second quarter that blunted a Nebraska drive With the score 7-7 split end Frank Lockett gained six yards to the Oklahoma 11 on a reverse but the clip dragged Nebraska back to the 40 The drive ended with Billy unsuccessful 41-yard field goal attempt think that clip on the reverse was a turning Osborne said we had a good chance to score and instead we got a 15-yard or actually a 23-jard penalty being assessed from the point of the Osborne deny he made a mistake late in the third quarter when his team was assessed a five-yard penalty for calling consecutive times out while the ball was dead The penalty pushed the Cornhuskers into a fourth-and-seven and Todd kicked a 31-yard field goal on the next play called the first time out because we wanted to find out how far we had to go for the first Osborne said At first only two yards was needed and a run was contemplated with the Huskers down 24-7 our split end Lockett failed to go in and we had 10 men on the Osborne said Sorley called time Is there a rule against that? I guess there is We never ran into it before I blame myself all the Indeed Osborne seeking to blame anybody else for his failure to beat Oklahoma twice in one season really disappointed right he said many teams could beat Oklahoma but disappointed for our and fans just made too many mistakes But my job to get us ready to play voice was as soft and steady as it was on Christmas Eve when he and his Huskers arrived in Miami for the rematch they never expected 4i III vy Del'eiisie Back Jeff Hansen Tries lo Wipe Out the Frustration of the Closing Seconds Huskers Found Rematch The Unpleasant Match ORANGE BOWL 1979 Nebraska which helped force nine Sooner fumbles last time was able to make Oklahoma turn over the ball only once was a big linebacker Lee Kunz said probably hit harder the first game In this game we make the big turnover over THE HUSKERS were also hurt by the passing of Thomas Lott the wishbone quarterback whose passing was not supposed to be a factor Monday night But the Huskers allowed Lott to complete two passes one for 38 jards to set up a second quarter touchdown passing also accounted for 18 yards on a second quarter pass interference call against defensive back Jim Pillen The last time the teams played Lott threw two passes for no yards Why the improvement in Oklahoma's passing? Kunz said just played very well The first thing we have to do is stop the quarterback in the wishbone from Kunz said the Huskers were more emotional for the last game w'ith Oklahoma but did not cite the psychology of a rematch as a factor in loss loss marked the third time in 20 years that a bowl rematch resulted in a victory for the team that lost the first time around Mississippi avenged a 1959 loss to LSU in the Sugar Bowl and UCLA avenged a 1975 loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl lot of us wanted a Kunz said we could beat Oklahoma the second time in the season it would have been satisfying By JONATHAN RAND Herald Sports Writer It was late in the third quarter and Nebraska was desperately tr-ing to get back into Monday Orange Bowl Classic against Oklahoma Behind 24-7 Nebraska was forced out of character On fourth down and five from the Oklahoma 30 the Huskers went for a first down and quarterback Tom Sorley passed 13 yards to Kenny Brown for a first down lour plays later it was time to gamble again This time it was fourth and two from the seven The Huskers called timeout and when time was in Sorley noticed that his split end was missing He called time out again It was a mistake because a college team cannot take consecutive timeouts without a play in between The Huskers w'ere penalized five yards and settled for 31-ard feid goal by Billy Todd WAS my ignorance not knowing the Sorley said I figured that be penalized anyway for having 10 men on the field went over to the sideline and coach Tom Osborne told me you can play with eight if you are big enough and bad The Huskers who were 31-24 rosers were not big enough bad enough or steady enough to put together the pieces as they had in a 17-14 regular season victory over the Sooners Twice Nebraska failed to score touchdowns inside Oklahoma's 10-yard line w'hen they settled for the field goal and when Craig Johnson on fourth and one from the seven failed to get a first down with 4 24 left and the score 31-17 was the key part of the Sorley said He completed 18 of 31 passes for 220 yards for two touchdowns and two interceptions we had scored that time wre knew we had a chance to get the ball back and score again and beat them Then Nebraska would have beaten Oklahoma twice in a season for the first time in school history But Monday rematch did not resemble the first game SEEMED just about everv time we were getting in close make some mistake we make the last Sorley said last time we played them when we got down there we kept on Vhen the Huskers finally pushed it in in the closing minutes the touchdown mean much two-yard pass to Junior Miller on the final play of the game hurt mainly the gamblers who mistakenly figured that the Sooners were two touchdowns better than Nebraska The last time the teams met Oklahoma was the team that failed to score when near the Nebraska goal Tim Smilli Rejoices Viler 21-Yard Touclidoun Caleb pi iw Iron i Tom Sorev pair AebrasAn 7-0 lirsl-ipiarlor loud.