BIG EIGHT ROUNDUP : Gdowski Runs, Passes Nebraska Past Iowa St.

Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne says he knew all along what kind of quarterback Gerry Gdowski could be--if Gdowski got the chance to prove it.

Gdowski, a backup for Steve Taylor the last three years, ran for four touchdowns, passed for two more and set two school records as the fourth-ranked Cornhuskers defeated Iowa State, 49-17, Saturday at Lincoln, Neb.

“I can’t understand why people are surprised about him,” Osborne said. “He’s a real good player, particularly on the mental part of the game. We audible 60 percent of the time and he does this just fine.”

The victory sends the Huskers (8-0) into next Saturday’s Big Eight showdown against third-ranked Colorado, also 8-0. Both teams are 4-0 in the conference.

“I’m happy,” Gdowski said. “It sets up the matchup everybody’s been talking about.”

Iowa State fell to 3-5 and 1-3.

Gdowski, who had 112 of his 176 rushing yards in the first quarter, ran 74 yards for a touchdown on the third play of the game. He added a 26-yard touchdown run later in the quarter and had 156 yards by halftime.

His total topped the previous record of 157 yards by a Nebraska quarterback, set by Taylor against Utah last year. The four rushing touchdowns broke the school record of three for quarterbacks, set on four other occasions, once by Taylor last year against Iowa State.

Gdowski also passed for two first-half touchdowns--a 16-yarder and a 25-yarder--to Tyrone Hughes. The second touchdown was set up by an Iowa State fumble recovered by Mike Petko at the Nebraska 39-yard line.

Iowa State’s Bret Oberg tried to keep the Cyclones close as he hit 10 of 15 passes in the first half for 123 yards. He also ran for 33 yards, including a 21-yard scramble to set up Blaise Bryant’s three-yard touchdown in the first period. Bryant, a transfer from Golden West College, scored on an 11-yard run in the third quarter and finished with 89 yards in 21 carries.

Iowa State Coach Jim Walden said: “There’s not much to say. We got beat by a good team, but I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to keep trying to play against this type of competition with what I’m having to do it with.”

Oklahoma State 31, Missouri 30--Mike Gundy passed for a season-high 258 yards and three touchdowns, and the Tigers failed on a two-point conversion try in the final minutes as the Cowboys won at Columbia, Mo.

Missouri’s Tommie Stowers scored from the one with 3:48 remaining to make it 31-30. The Tigers, who had rallied earlier in the fourth quarter from a 31-17 deficit, missed a chance to win when Michael Jones dropped John Stollenwerck’s pass for two points in the end zone.

Stollenwerck and Kent Kiefer combined for 30 completions, a Missouri record, and the Tigers passed for 393 yards.

Gundy completed 21 of 30 passes with no interceptions. Gerald Hudson rushed for 138 yards in 27 carries. Oklahoma State, 3-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference, defeated Missouri (2-6 and 1-3) a sixth consecutive time, leaving the Tigers next to last in the Big Eight.

Kansas 21, Kansas State 16--At Manhattan, Kan., Tony Sands rushed for 217 yards, including touchdown runs of 59 and 62 yards, to lead the Jayhawks to their first conference road victory in almost five years.

The Jayhawks (3-5 and 1-4) had not won on the road since the 1986 opener and had not beaten a Big Eight team on the road since Nov. 3, 1984.

Kansas State, which snapped a National Collegiate Athletic Assn.-longest 30-game winless streak last month, hurt itself with several mistakes and dropped to 1-7 and 0-4.