Good News for Bruins Comes Next Season: No Nebraska

J.J. Stokes didn’t suit up for UCLA Saturday, but Jerry Rice and Sterling Sharpe could have and the Bruins still wouldn’t have put much of a scare into Nebraska.

Those people don’t play defense.

What the Bruins needed was a Cortez Kennedy in the line, a Ken Norton Jr. at linebacker and a Deion Sanders in the secondary.

Then it might have been close.

The great mismatch on the Great Plains was the Big Red’s jumbo, veteran offensive line against the Bruins’ undersized, green defense.

Tackle Rob Zatechka, guard Joel Wilks, center Aaron Graham, guard Brenden Stai, tackle Zach Wiegert and tight end Matt Shaw--reading left to right--opened holes big enough for you or me to run through.

Twelve Cornhusker ballcarriers ran for 484 yards, a 7.4-yard average, and five touchdowns.

They improved upon a 446-yard average that had been good enough to lead the nation.

This could be the ninth of Coach Tom Osborne’s 22 teams to be crowned NCAA rushing champions.

A fullback , Corey Schlesinger, is averaging nearly eight yards per carry.

His hobby is driving in demolition derbies.

Lawrence Phillips, a sophomore I-back from Baldwin Park, rushed for 178 yards during the 49-21 victory over the Bruins.

He ran 19 times. If Osborne had seen fit, Phillips probably could have run another 19 times for another 178 yards.

Phillips was virtually unstoppable on sweeps.

In other years, some Bruin defensive back about to become a first-round draft pick might have come up and nailed Phillips before he bounded into full flight.

But this time, Coach Terry Donahue started three sophomores and a junior in the secondary.

Oh yes, the Cornhuskers’ backfield also includes a bona fide Heisman Trophy candidate.

He is the double-threat quarterback, Tommie Frazier, who passed for two touchdowns, ran for another, and scored a couple of two-point conversions.

Otherwise, his numbers were nothing special.

He passed for only 59 yards.

“We’re not looking to make him into Joe Montana,” Osborne said.

He ran for only 29, but, make no mistake about it, he is the guy most responsible for keeping Nebraska rivals off balance and guessing.

Among those kept on his heels for much of a clear, 74-degree afternoon was UCLA nose guard George Kase.

“Frazier is the best player we’ve faced,” he said. “He’s smart and he reads defenses very well.”

Kase, 245, had to try to fight off the surge of a center who weighs 280, guards who weigh 300 and 280, and tackles who weigh 315 and 300.

“They’re big, strong and quick,” he said. “They beat us up today.”

Kase noticed a difference from last year when the Cornhuskers rushed for a total of 208 yards in a 14-13 victory over the Bruins at the Rose Bowl.

“It’s a lot different playing them here,” he said. “They’re so much more intense.”

The Cornhuskers put on their game face as early as Friday night.

A crowd estimated at 35,000 roared when the team was introduced during a pep rally that also served to dedicate a couple of new video boards.

On Saturday, the Cornhuskers gave those boards a workout as they scored as many points as any team ever has against Donahue-coached Bruins.

The Big Red was on the verge of scoring at least six more in the closing moments, but the Bruins put on a successful goal-line stand.

Then the strangest thing happened.

As they ran into the tunnel on the way to the dressing room, the visitors were applauded by Nebraska fans in the stands and on the ramps.

They weren’t being facetious, either.

Perhaps they have come to feel sorry for the teams who have come to Memorial Stadium since September of 1991 and lost 18 consecutive times.

In the last two weeks on national television, UCLA and USC have been outscored, 87-35, by Nebraska and Penn State.

The defeat was the Bruins’ sixth in their last seven games against the Cornhuskers.

“Now we’ve got Nebraska just where we want them,” UCLA Athletic Director Pete Dalis said. “We don’t play them next year.”