The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 33

The Salina Journal SPORTS JOURNAL Harold Bechard SENIOR SPORTS WHI'l'KK All talk aside, defenses ruled over this game MANHATTAN Nebraska Ed Stewart won't win any popularity contests in these or any place people enjoy wearing purple. Stewart pulled no punches fol- lowing Nebraska's hard-earned 17-6 victory over Kansas State Saturday at KSU Stadium. Stewart claimed Kansas State players spent much of the week putting bulletin board material up in the Nebraska locker room. "All week long they talked a lot of trash," Stewart said. "They were this, they were that and they were going to pick us apart.

"Well, people have to remember we're Nebraska and they're still Kansas State." Ouch! Kansas State quarterback Chad May, harassed much of the day by a relentless pass rush, charged the Cornhuskers with dirty play afterward. And May had the marks to prove it. His right eye was gouged early in the second quarter during pileup after a quarterback sneak. May, who didn't know who the Nebraska player was, said it was a deliberate to injure him. "I got up and tried to kick him," May said.

"Yeah, they're dirty. You don't need that kind of crap." So that's how this memorable October day in Manhattan ended, with a few players from each team launching insults at the other. It was appropriate. In the previous three hours, the two nationally ranked teams had traded barbs and blocks, talk and tackles and a few pushes and shoves. Along with very few touch' downs, and a whole lot of penal-ties.

It wasn't a pretty sight. In Tact, it was downright ugly at that's what a game turns into when both defenses dominate. And believe me, both defenses did their jobs well very well. Kansas State held the nation's tpp rushing attack 200 yards below its average and gave the Cornhuskers next to nothing through the air. "Our kids stayed inspired," K- State coach Bill Snyder after his team had fallen to 4-1 overall.

"And that's tough when you have backs to the wall much of the game." If K-State's defense had its back against the wall, then Nebraska's defenders were on top it. The Cornhusker secondary was Under siege all day long from K- State's dangerous passing game. Yes, Nebraska gave up 249 yards through the air, but it took the Wildcats 48 pass attempts and 22 completions to get those yards. The Cornhusker front four sacked May six times and hurried numerous other throws by the Wildcat senior who was hoping to impress the national media on hand as well as improve his stature in the race for the Heisman. But this wasn't the Kansas fense out there Saturday.

Those big guys wearing red and white could run, pursue, tackle and cover. "We knew as a defense, we'd have to win the game," Stewart said. It was a group effort. The Huskers up front provided the pass rush, the secondary bent, but never broke, and linebacker Troy Dumas had a huge intercep- tjpn late in the second quarter with K-State looking to erase a one-point deficit. May's throw into the arms of Dumas seemed to stun both State players and fans alike.

Af- "iter all, it had been 186 attempts since he had thrown his last in; terception. just didn't see Dumas," May Siaid. "I was throwing to Mitch Running) over the middle. I was behind a helmet when I threw it and didn't see (Dumas)." Although the Wildcats trailed by just a single point (7-6) for much of the game, Dumas' interception proved to be their last niajor opportunity to score. had terrible field posi- Jion in the third quarter and jjjapped the ball inside Nebraska 'Territory (with the NU 44 being See DEFENSE, Page 37 SPORTS NFL Page 39 Sunday.

October 16, 1994 33 Missed opportunity Photos by Greg Journal Kansas State junior linebacker Percell Gaskins hangs his head on the bench as time runs out in Nebraska's 17-6 win over the Wildcats Saturday afternoon in KSU Stadium. Huskers deny K-State national glory By LARRY MORITZ The Salina Journal MANHATTAN After Kansas State's football program invited Nebraska in for Saturday brunch at KSU Stadium, the Wildcats found it hard to swallow the fact that their offense could be flat as a flapjack and bland as dry toast. The late morning showdown between a couple of the Big Eight's best stretched into Nebraska 17 midafternoon before unbeaten Nebraska came away with a 17-6 victory. The loss was difficult to accept after the K-State defense corralled the Cornhusker running game for a season-low 210 yards and kept the Wildcats within reach until late in the game. "All losses hurt, but the greater the investment the greater the hurt and pain," Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said.

"I think the players feel terrible about the loss, because when you put so much into something whether its a game or anything in life it's painful when you don't succeed. "It was a missed opportunity but you don't have a chance to bring it back." Nebraska's No, 2 national ranking and 21- game regular-season winning streak were there for the Wildcats' taking. Instead, Kansas State came up empty on every scoring opportunity after putting its only points on the board early in the second quarter. "I can't explain how I feel right now," said K-State senior Mike Ekeler. "I'm sick.

We went out and tried to earn respect today and didn't do it. "You only earn respect when you.win. Look at it on our record; look at it on the schedule. A loss is a loss." It was a couple of Nebraska backups who ft- See HUSKERS, 37 NU running back Lawrence Phillips is taken down by a plethora of Kansas State defenders during first-half action. Jayhawks trample all over Cyclones By The Associated Press AMES, Iowa The Iowa State Cyclones figured Kansas would try to run at them on Saturday, and with a little help from Ashei- ki Preston's passing, the Jayhawks did just Kansas 41 fense that ranks 106th out Iowa State 2JF Division I-A teams against the run, Kansas rushed for 332 yards and piled up 458 total yards in beating the winless Cyclones 41-23.

Sophomore Mark Sanders ran for a career-high 135 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way and Preston accounted for two more scores as Kansas (4-2 overall, 1-1 Big Preston Eight) rediscovered its running game after being held to 70 yards in a 21-13 loss to Kansas State. The Jayhawks are 12-1 under coach Glen Mason when they rush for at least 300 yards, including 3-0 this season. "All the coach talked about was to come out and be physical," Sanders said. "Our line did a great job. I wasn't being touched until four to five yards.

It makes running fun." Four of Kansas' five interior linemen weigh at least 295 pounds and they dominat- ed Iowa State's front. Kansas scored 24 unanswered points to build a 41-14 lead early in the fourth quarter and handed Iowa State (0-6, 0-2) its eighth straight loss dating back to last season. "It's a big difference when you go from having a guy that's 260 hitting you all the time to a guy that's 300 hitting you all the time," Iowa State noseguard Troy Petersen said. "They attack a lot. They're pretty quick off the ball and they work really well together.

They worked well enough for Sanders to ft- See KANSAS, Page 37 Berringer gets job done for Nebraska By HAROLD BECHARD The Salina Journal MANHATTAN Brook Berringer's numbers against Kansas State on Saturday weren't impressive. Far from it. The Nebraska quarterback managed just 42 yards of total offense against a tenacious K-State defense 37 passing and 5 running. But who was wearing the smile of a winner afterward? Berringer, of course. The junior from Goodland, who took just two snaps from center in the first half, led the No.

2 Cornhuskers to 10 fourth-quarter points and a 17-6 victory at KSU Stadium. That Berringer played at all is a story in itself. After re-aggravating a partially collapsed lung last week against Oklahoma State, he was listed as doubtful for Saturday's game against 16th- ranked K-State. And it's doubtful the 6- Berringer 4, 210-pounder would have played had Nebraska been able to jump out to a comfortable lead. But with third-string quarterback Matt Turman having his troubles moving the Nebraska offense, there was never any threat that the Cornhuskers would break the game open.

In fact, they were fighting for their Orange Bowl lives. So head coach Tom Osborne turned to Berringer. Although Berringer had been cleared to play by the team doctors on Friday, Osborne played it close to the vest. Although the Huskers' bread-and-butter is the option, they ran little of it against ft- See BERRINGER, Page 37 Hooping it up 'Midnight Madness' ushers in college basketball season By The Associated Press Arkansas showed off championship rings and Cincinnati showed off a statue of Oscar Robertson. Indiana and Kansas introduced impressive freshmen classes, and St.

John's did the same, with a new nickname. Yet it was an electrical engineering student from Cleveland who upstaged the start of basketball practice across the nation by making a nationally televised halfcourt shot worth a college scholarship. As part of a promotion Friday night, ESPN offered one year of free schooling, including room and board, to anyone making a halfcourt shot during "Midnight Madness" activities at the University of Cincinnati's Shoemaker Center. And announcer Dick Vitale offered to "throw in the books, baby." Cory Clouse, a junior, made it, sending 11,385 fans, See SCHOOLS, Page 34 Sore ribs could limit play of Montana on Monday The Associated Press quarterback Joe Montana meets with the media on Thursday to discuss his status for Monday's game against Denver. By CRAIG HORST The Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo.

His ribs ache, his right hip is decorated with an ugly purple welt and Joe Montana did not seem all that sure that he will be able to play in Denver on Monday night. "I think the ribs are the main concern," Montana said Friday after missing practice all week because of the hits he took in the Kansas City Chiefs 20-6 loss at San Diego last Sunday. Montana was sacked twice and knocked down seven times as the Chiefs failed to do anything offensively in falling two games behind the Chargers in the AFC West. Coach Marty Schottenheimer has said all week that he expected Montana to play. But Montana cut short his normal weekly meeting with the media to go for treatment.

"If I take a good shot, then I might be out two weeks," he said. "It could happen on the first play of the game. I'm trying to weigh both ends." In Denver, Broncos quarterback John Elway said he's completely recovered from his jammed and bruised right thumb. "I knew it was healing in a hurry, he said. "I knew it would start feeling better, and it did." Backup Steve Bono has taken most of the snaps in Chiefs workouts this week.

The Chiefs are hurting with the injuries to Montana, tight end See CHIEFS, Page 36.