The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • 27

The News Tribune Saturday September 26 1998 C3 Top-rated Huskies defeat Wisconsin scouting oepoots Hi 9 Waskiiftn (2-0) at Ni 2 Nebraska (3-0) Memorial Stadium 12:30 pm TV Live on Channel 4 at 12:30 pm Replay Sunday at 6 pm on FSN RADIO -KOMOAM 1000 THE LINE-Nebraska is favored by 13 points THE SERIES Washington leads the overall series 3-2-1 But Nebraska won last year Seattle 27-14 The UW won in Lincoln in 1991 36-21 the last visiting team to win at Memorial Stadium Nebraska has won 44 consecutive home games since then UW also won in Seattle in 1992 29-14 The teams aren't scheduled to meet again any time soon and most of Nebraska's nonconference schedule is filled through 2007 ON THE UNE-Continued consideration for the national title for Ne- braska national respect for Washington Nebraska has won three of the last four national titles and this game represents its most significant threat of the season so for and likely its most dangerous game until playing Kansas State and Colorado to end the regular season Washington is a somewhat surprising 2-0 and can become a serious national player with a victory today More realistically for Washington though is avoiding a major and Injur yriddled blowout that could endanger the rest of the season MATCHUPS TO WATCH -UW's defensive line against Nebraska's offensive line It's a lot easier to stop the option if you can win the line of scrimmage something the Huskies couldn't do last season But the UW is mostly a year older up front while Nebraska has four new starters on the line UWs receivers vs Nebraska's secondary There's no questioning Brock Huard's talents but last week his receivers let him down in a sluggish victory over Brigham Young The receivers have to come up big for UW to win UWs special teams vs themselves The Huskies' kickers continue to struggle and Jim Skurski has yet to make a field goal in a game THE INJURIES The most worrisome for the UW is rover Nigel Burton's ankle But although he was limited in practice he is expected to start Also expected to start are wide receiver Dane Looker (thigh bruise) wide recent er JaWarren Hooker (shoulder) linebacker Lester Towns (foot) and linebacker Marques Hairston (ankle) Nebraska could get four starters back who have missed significant time quarterback Bobby Newcombe (knee out the last two games) running back DeAngelo Evans (knee hasn't played since free safety Clint Finley (knee hasn't played yet this year) and defensive tackle Jason Wiltz (ankle missed the last two games) IN THE END In many ways the Huskies seem better prepared to play Nebraska this season mostly because they got a first-hand look at the option last year And the inexperience of Newcombe and Evans who have never played in a game together -would seem to signal that the Huskers aren't quite what they were a year ago Still wirmii at Nebraska is usually only done by the elite and the Huskies in that class yet Look for Nebraska to pull away In the second half Bob Condotta Huskies Continued from Cl The Huskies often haven't been in the game in such intersectional battle the past few seasons notably the Nebraska game last year and the 54-20 debacle at Notre Dame in 1996 This time though the Huskies really expected to win going in as 13-point underdogs against the No-2 ranked and defending national champion Cornhuskers the UggBst negative spread since the 1994 game at Miami In many ways this game seems like a no-loee situation for the ninth-ranked Huskies whom most analysts figured would be happy to get through September at 2-1 Washington already has accomplished the part with victories at Arizona State and against Brigham Young And Lambright go five sentences without mentioning the youth of this team 22 freshmen or sophomores are on the two-deep for today But while the youth provides a legitimate reason for concern it also provides an attitude that might be beneficial in playing a team that has gone 63-3 the past six years team is so young it doesn't know any Lambright said adding that many of his players view their first trip to Nebraska as a chance to loose and have fun" Huard agrees that a defeatist attitude wait work today against a team that has won 44 in a row at hone dating back to a loss to UW in 1991 have to be Huard said no different than the two-minute drive at the end of the ASU game If you have fear they are going to eat you up They have eaten up a lot of opponents over the How then can the Huskies possibly prevent becoming just another item on the menu? Here's a few other reasons for hope defense might be better prepared to face option this year in part due to the experience of last year and the maturation of the line particularly tackles Mac Tuiaea and Jabari Issa Nebraska meanwhile has four new starters up front IfTbiaea and Issa can prevent Nebraska fuUback Joel Makovicka from doing damage up the middle the Huskies might have a chance Com-huskers quarterback Bobby New- combe and running back DeAngelo Evans have never played together Evans in fact hasn't played since 1996 and Newcombe has only one previous start at quarterback the season-opening victory against Louisiana Tech before missing two games with a knee injury UWs offense might match up well against defense which was toasted for 590 passing yards in the Louisiana Tech game Tfech does its passing differently than Washington which is trying more of a ball-control air attack and the Huskers have looked good against the pass in victories over Aloha ma-Birmingham and California Still Nebraska seems susceptible to the pass -UW had 299 passing yards in the game last year and the Huskies should be better than they were last week with receivers Dane Looker and JaWarren Hooker apparently back dose to 100 percent UW might have a few surprises up its sleeve The offense was mostly stagnant in last week in the 20-10 victory over BYU in part because Looker was out and the Huskies were trying to break in new running back Willie Hurst Also the Huskies have hinted all week that backup quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo who threw for 270 yards in a relief effort against Nebraska last year might play more today use him a little bit this week in some fun Huard said need his athleticism and his spark and he did some great filings (last week against BYU) We have a few things up our sleeve which obviously I let out But we will do some fun Notes Lambright expanded on the Curtis Williams situation Friday saying he believed Williams was through at the UW when he made an announcement to that effect but month were trying to help him transfer to another school but he took care of the problems he had and his academics and then decided he wanted to stay Lambright said Williams a sophomore backup free lafety ia expected to play on special teams today William has yet to play for the Huskies due to academic and personal problems and returned to the team two weeks ago Also back with the team is redshirt freshman linebacker Sam Blanche whose academic problems cleared up this week Despite the emergence of Hurst junior Maurice 8haw is still listed as this starting running back The temperature was in the mid-90 when the Huskies worked out around 2 pm Friday in Lincoln and similar weather is on tap today although there is a possibility of thunderstorms round of the Rutgers Classic at Pis-cataway Washington (2-5) suffered its third loss to a top-10 opponent The Huskies' only goal came when Theresa Wagner blasted in a rebound from 18 yards away VOLLEYBALL Loggers sweep The University of Puget Sound swept Whitman in a Northwest Conference match in Walla Walla winning 15-11 15-11 15-5 Stefanie Anderson led the Loggers with 14 kills 13 digB and two service aces Anna Dudek added 11 kills and 14 digB for UPS which improved to 4-1 in conference play Ann Crase added eight kills and six digs and Lindsi Weber contributed 31 assists and 11 digs Lutes win Pacific Lutheran swept a Northwest Conference match against Whitworth in Spokane winning by scores of 15-9 15-5 15-llThe Lutes improved to 6-5 overall 4-1 in conference play PLU rallied in the first game scoring eight consecutive points including three service aces at one point Aipy Coin had four kills as the Lutes dominated the second game PLU finished off the third game on a kill by Suzy Hooper Tuiaaoaopo leads Huskies -Leslie Tuiasosopo posted career highs in kills and blocks with her firat triple-double to lead Washington past Washington State at Hec Ed-mundaon Pavilion Game scores were 11-15 17-15 10-15 154) 15-9 Tuiasosopo had 31 kills 13 blocks and 11 digs Kristina Laffling chipped in with 18 kills and 19 digs The Huskies improved to 2-5 overall 1-2 in Pac-10 play The Cougars dropped to 4-5 1-2 Jennifer Stinson led WSU with 22 kills Wendy Rouse had 15 kills and 15 digs for the Cougars News Dhbiihe hews services Five players scored Friday in the University of 5-1 soccer victory over Wisconsin in the Nike Classic in Seattle The Huskies ranked No 1 in the nation improved to 7-0 The Huskies will play Wake Forest at 1 pm Sunday after Wisconsin and Portland play at 11 am In the other game Northwest Colleges Friday Portland defeated Wake Forest 3-0 Matt Annis scored the first goal when he knocked a penalty kick past Badgers keeper Tim Caprez at 25:46 Crisp passing by Wes Hart and Kia Carroll led to a goal by Rees Bettinger at 41:41 assist kept his streak alive in which he has recorded at least one assist each game Wisconsin came out after the break and scored just six minutes into the second period But file Huskies answered with three goals in 11 minutes Mike Casale one-touched a cross by Hart at 61:19 Then Hart booted a ball into the lower right corner of the net at 64:27 Defender Craig Waibel scored his first college goal converting a penalty kick into a score at 72:32 to finish the scoring created a lot of chances and it was good to see us finish UW coach Dean Wurzberger said was the first time we really finished our chances at home It also allowed us to get a lot of guys on the SOCCER UW loses to No 5 UConn Forward Mary-Frances Monroe scored the first goal and assisted on the other three lifting Connecticut to a 4-1 victoiy over Washington in the first Cougars Continued from Cl red zone He said freshman Joe Hollenbeck can fill the shoes of all-conference candidate Gary Holmes at defensive tackle And he said the Cougars will look for a way to beat the California Golden Bears in the game today at 4 pm think we know how to Price said haven't played well in our first three games but found a way to win We have to find a way to beat Cal We only have to win by one Cal coach Tbm Holmoe who has coached the Bears to a 5-9 record since he took over last year said he understands optimism despite the Cougars' obvious weaknesses is a residue from last year that is really impressive and that is the fact that they were the Pac-10 champs and a Rose Bowl Holmoe said "This year they have had some games where they have had to overcome some difficulties but they are playing with confidence Hie more you win the more you think you are going to Hie Bears have won twice this year and they are excited to have the first crack at dethroning the champs game iB bigger than Holmoe said of Calk 24-3 loss to the Cornhuskers two weeks ago than our opener against Houston and bigger than Oklahoma Washington State (3-0) at California (2-1) Memorial Stadium 4 pm TV Live on Channel 4 at 4 pm Replay Sunday at 3:30 pm FSN RADIO KJR-AM 950 and KHHOAM 850 THE UNE California is favored by five points THE SERIES Cal leads the series 35-21-5 and last beat WSU in 1995 WSU beat Cal 6337 last year in Pullman ON THE UNE -If the Cougars plan on going to a bowl game again this year they can't lose here The schedule gets real nasty after Cal with games against UCLA Oregon Southern California and Arizona State MATCHUPS TO WATCH Cat receiver Dameane Douglas vs WSU cor-nerback Dee Moronkola Can the WSU secondary continue its dominance against the best passing team it has faced this season? WSU defensive tackle Joe Hollenbeck vs Cal guard Yauger Williams Can young Hollenbeck of Enumdaw continue his success against the veteran artist from Tacoma? WSU offensive line vs Cal's defensive line Will WSU rediscover running success against a Cal team that has struggled to stop the run this season? THE INJURIES WSU will play without defensive tackle Gary Holmes (ankle) for two weeks Hollenbeck will start in his place Linebacker Raonall Smith is probable with a shoulder injury Cal is missing two key starters who injured their knees against Oklahoma safety Pete Destefeno and fullback Joshua White IN THE END Considering the defenses and offenses involved this should be a kwscoring game Cal's experience against tough nonieague opponents like Nebraska and Oklahoma should pay off in this game The Cougars have struggled against weaklings like Boise State and Idaho and are about to play their stiffest competition Additionally the Cougars' young team freaked out in the hostile conditions of Bronco Stadium in Boise imagine how they're going to play in 74903seat Memorial Stadium The Bears have the edge unless the Cougars' offense finally starts scoring Craig HM on the road because it It sound as impressive when Price says it but he says the same about pfeying Cal Playing Cal is bigger than playing Illinois Boise State and Idaho think we got what we needed out of our first three Bim-baum said got experience We have a lot of young guys who needed to get some game time to get ready for Cal and I think we are While the Cougars are optimistic they still seem to have a firm grasp on reality been playing Big West teams" secondaiy coach Craig Bray said we're going to be playing in the Pac-10 where every little weakness is going to be magnified I hope our guys understand how different this game is going to be Cal is by far the best team we've played this year beBt defensive lineman (Holmes) is on crutches and a lot of our guys are playing their first Pac-10 game Cal is going to try to exploit these weaknesses This is a big deal going to have to play great to have a chance to win fids Notes ftice announced this week that freshman Eric Boose the brother of former WSU lineman Dorian Boose will redshirt this season Redshirt freshman Jeremy Hiielbahr earned a job in the Idaho game as he carried the ball twice on short-yardage plays and converted both carries into first downs Price said he will use the 6-foot-l 224-pound bruiser on short-yardage plays in place of Kevin Brown and DeJuan Gilmore to give his offense another dimension Carolina Sparky Woods 1991-93 and Brad Scott in 1994 And he said athletic director Mike McGee who came aboard in 1993 has worked hard to improve academics among athletes "I knew this was just something that had to be Gunn said a widespread problem that happens all over the place not just at South Gunn talked specifically about his freshman year when during one class a tutor completed a homework and other players copied it He also said a professor allowed him to miss two tests because of road games and based his grade on a final exam and class participation that happen for a regular student? I know" Gunn said got a bigger line than any Gig Harbor team seen before We start that slow and expect to compete with them Ross Flksss Peninsula coach '4 Cheating going on ex-athlete says The Assocum Pans his two football coaches at South difficulties as his team took the field of my he replied What might have been a case of gamesmanship backfired as the Huskies came out the next night and staged a remarkable late rally (finally attuned to all those lights) and won 36-21 "They still owe us some practice time from the last time I was said Huskies coach Jim Lambright who was an assistant in 91 Surely members of the highly esteemed Nebraska program couldn't have actually planned to keep the Huskies in the dark could they? wouldn't have thought so except when we left the lights came Lambright said before the daylight walk-through Friday Happenstance? yeah that's a good way to leave Lambright said Lambright professes considerable admiration for the standing of the Nebraska program But the reputation of the Nebraska crowds as respectful worshippers at the temple of grid might be stretching it a bit Lambright says a classy classy bunch then you have a not-so-classy Lambright said don't tell me that everything is wonderful and nice it gets ugly down here" Verbal harassment got so vile during the pregame warmups that year Lambright recalled that some of the Huskies players had to be restrained from going after some of the more insulting fans has this image that nice in this Lambright said TTiere's a few people down here real dose who aren't real nice But college football They get after you test you see how poised you The level of poise ofLambright's young Husky team was impressive in its season-opening victoiy over Arizona State But Tfempe isn't I incoln so young good to come in here with expectations but (the team No 2 not Lambright said a chance for us to hang loom and have Might as well There's not much else to do around here a net yardage of minus-4 After Kurt Elliot had a 30-yard reception on third down of the opening drive Budinich had back-to-back runs of 13 and 18 yards to set up his 1-yard touchdown run less than three minutes into the game Budinich left the game late in the first quarter after getting banged up but Brett Johnson filled in without missing a beat The senior took the ball 9 yards for a touchdown on his first carry to give the Hdes a 16-0 lead in file second quarter Boling Continued from Cl For people who are looking for a place like Nebraska well here it is There is value in that The point is that unless you really harbor a passion for going inside to check out a rain forest there's not a lot of options except getting worked into a froth over Nebraska football And that more than anything else makes it a tough place to visit When the University of Washington takes on the homestanding Cornhuskers this afternoon it will be the 223rd consecutive sellout The last time you could just walk up and buy a ticket to a Nebraska game here was 1962 a time so removed that presidents could date movie stars and not trigger a single special investigation No team in feet has been able to come into Lincoln and defeat the ComhuBkers in the past 44 games not since last visit in 1991 It wasn't very hospitable then either Because the game was to be played on Saturday night the Don James-led Huskies arrived at the stadium for a Friday-night walkthrough This customary practice It allows teams to acclimate to the lights and other factors One problem Nobody ever turned on the lights for the Huskies The Nebraska people kept saying that the one guy on campus who could turn on the lights had gone home presumably to take care of some com in urgent need of husking and they find him So the UW players stood around in the dark for almost an hour While there was no light at least some heat was generated by the steam Beeping from ears Finally the Huskies packed up and headed back to the hotel Funny thing as they were pulling out what do you know the lights came on Amazingly it was just in time for the Cornhuskers to conduct their walk-through A reporter asked Nebraska coach Tbm Osborne about the technical Fish Bowl Continued from Cl got a bigger line than any Gig Harbor team seen Seahawks coqch Ross Filkens said executed much better than we did We cant start that slow and expect to compete with Tides running back Ben Budinich rushed for 65 yards in the first quartet during which the Seahawks had Rtdlaids (1-1) at Paget Soaad (1-1) 1:30 pm Baker Stadium RADIO -KKMOAM 1360 THE SERIES -This is the fourth meeting between the teams UPS leads the series 2-1 but the Bulldogs won last year 37-0 WHAT IT MEANS This could be a big boost for the Loggers if they can upset Redlands a program that's gone 13-5 in the past two years in winning its conference title This is a difficult stretch for UPS which has upstart Whitworth next weekend in Spokane THE STARS The emergence of quarterback Craig Knapp might help the Loggers maintain a necessary balance on offense especially against an attacking Redlands defense He hit 17 of 29 passes for 207 yards in a 48-14 loss last weekend to Simon Fraser with no interceptions Pat Ames will get the Loggers the tough yards on the ground However as UPS coach Gordon Elliott points out the Loggers defense -led by seniors Jeff Sakamoto Tony Puz and Nick Mullen will make or break the team's chances of winning The Bulldogs are as wide open on offense as it comes Quarterback Dan Ragsdale a receiver last year leads an explosive offense with four- and five-receiver sets THE QUESTIONS UPS took a big blow when Cody Taylor dislocated his shoulder last weekend against Simon Fraser He's the team's return specialist and is 11th in the conference in allpurpose yardage More importantly can the Loggers secondary rebound in his absence against Redlands' higfvpower passing attack? Elliott compared the Bulldogs to Pacific Lutheran or Unfieid in talent level Can UPS keep this dose enough to have a chance to win in the fourth quarter? UPS will mix up coverage and blitz schemes against Ragsdale Can the Loggers rattle the first-year quarterback? Will Knapp continue to improve Egainst better competition? DID YOU KNOW? In the three games during this series the loser has been shut out -Todd MNIes COLUMBIA SC Former South Carolina offensive lineman Anton Gunn said Friday that while he was with the Gamecocks players copied homework from tutors and looked at sample testa won't say it was expressly a push from football Gunn told The Associated Press by phone from Washington DC really a bigger problem with all of college Gunnh comments first showed up in The Wall Street Journal Harold White who heads the academic support program said Gunn's charges were false think Anton's distorted his recollections of his time at the university" White said Gunn wouldn't point fingers at tercepting Keller for the second time Keller was 6-for-17 passing but his best moment came late in the second quarter on a 29-yard touchdown pass to Collin Smith that put the Hdes ahead 23-0 Smith made an over-the-shoulder catch in the back-right corner of the end zone despite the efforts of a Peninsula defender The Seahawks scored their first points with 5:29 remaining on a 56-yard run by CWrey Bedient Carl Swanes returned a punt 30 yards to the 10-yard line in the play preceding run Coming on the heels of a first-quarter safety that touchdown was the second time the Hdes scored points as a result of the defense pinning the Seahawks deep in their own territory controlled the line of scrimmage offensively and Hdes coach Mike McKinney said "This being such a big rivalry the kids camtr up real big The offensive line conducted itself extremely well under said Brandon Porter who at 6-fbot-7 270 pounds is the team co-captain and represents the Hdes linemen was real exciting playing in this game The talk before the game was like stairs gradually leading up to today Everybody played to their full In the third quarter Porter Mocked a punt that was recovered at the Seahawks' 10-yard line But the Seahawks drilled Gig Harbor by in.