COLLEGE FOOTBALL : For the No. 1 Cornhuskers, It’s Easier Said Than Done : Orange Bowl: To win the national championship, Nebraska has only to defeat Miami. But it has wasted similar chances three times.

It is an equation that Nebraska knows painfully by heart, but has yet to master.

Orange Bowl victory equals national championship.

Three times since 1984, the Cornhuskers arrived in Miami with the top ranking . . . and three times they have left with something less. In each of those games, a victory would have guaranteed Nebraska its first national title since 1971. Even a tie might have resulted in one, maybe two championships.

Instead, the Cornhuskers can’t seem to get it right once they cross the Florida border. They seem as out of place as corn silos on Miami Beach.

Now, in the first Sunday Orange Bowl played in the game’s 61-year history, Nebraska gets another chance. It’s simple, as always.

If the unbeaten Cornhuskers, ranked once again atop the polls, can beat No. 3-ranked Miami, the national championship is theirs. If that happens, chances are it won’t matter what No. 2 and undefeated Penn State does against Oregon on Monday in the Rose Bowl. That’s because no team has failed to earn a national title after finishing the regular season No. 1 and winning its bowl game.

So there you have it. History waits to shake Nebraska’s hand, or ignore it. Everything is up to the Cornhuskers.

Now then, the matchups that matter most:

--Miami defensive tackle Warren Sapp vs. Nebraska guard Brenden Stai.

Hurricane defensive coordinator Greg Mc Mackin said he expects the Cornhuskers to flip their offensive guards, which means Stai, who played at Esperanza High in Anaheim, will face Sapp. It also means All-American vs. All-American--the 6-foot-5, 300-pound Stai against the 6-3, 280-pound Sapp.

Earlier in the week, Stai was quoted as saying that Sapp’s career was made nearly three months ago, when Miami beat Florida State. Since then, Stai suggested that Sapp hadn’t always played “110%.” Told of the comments, Sapp later said he hoped to have an opportunity to personally introduce his forearm to Stai’s thorax, or something like that.

Anyway, keep a close watch on Nebraska’s blocking strategy. Sapp hasn’t gone a game all season without a double team on him. But these are the Cornhuskers, whose offensive line is the best Miami Coach Dennis Erickson said he has seen in his career. If Stai can block Sapp, then Nebraska’s running attack could have a huge night.

Don’t count on it, the Hurricanes said.

“I don’t think nobody can block Warren with one guy,” safety Malcolm Pearson said. “If they try, then I think Sapp is going to make a hell of a lot of plays.”

And this from Mc Mackin: “I haven’t seen anybody block him one on one.”

Just to make things interesting for the Cornhuskers, Mc Mackin said he plans to move Sapp up and down the line during the game.

--Tommie Frazier and the option attack vs. Miami’s speed.

With Frazier replacing Brook Berringer as the starter, expect the Cornhuskers to run the option more than usual. Frazier is probably the best option quarterback in the country, but he’ll have his problems with the Hurricanes, who have 17 defensive players in the rotation who run 4.64 or better in the 40-yard dash.

“Speed kills the option,” said Pearson, who added that once the Hurricanes force Nebraska to throw, “then I know we got them.”

The No. 1-ranked Miami defense has faced the option three times this season: against Division I-AA Georgia Southern, Syracuse and Virginia Tech. The Hurricanes gave up a combined nine points in those three games.

As for the switch from Berringer, who was 7-0 as a starter, to Frazier, who was 4-0 before being sidelined because of blood clots, Sapp offered a new twist to the controversy.

“We’re still going to line up and play the 4-3 (formation),” he said. “I don’t believe the challenge is solving their offense. I believe the challenge is them solving our defense.”

--The law of averages vs. the law of the Orange Bowl.

It isn’t fair, but Nebraska has to play for a national championship on the Hurricanes’ home field, where Miami has lost only once in the last 67 games. In fact, the Cornhuskers are winless in their last five Orange Bowl appearances, with three of the losses coming to the Hurricanes and the others to Florida State.

No wonder Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne is counting the minutes until the new bowl alliance takes effect and the Big Eight/12 Conference champion no longer receives an automatic Orange Bowl berth. Until then, the Cornhuskers are stuck.

“The odds are for them to win a game in the Orange Bowl sooner or later,” Miami free safety C.J. Richardson said. “Psychologically, this is our home field, our home stadium with our home fans. So, I think it’s an advantage.”

Thinks it’s an advantage? Imagine the Nebraska equivalent, which would be playing the game at Lincoln in the dead of winter.

Two psychological glimmers of hope for the Cornhuskers: Despite losing to Florida State here in last season’s national championship game, Nebraska outplayed the Seminoles, and Washington, which isn’t nearly as talented as Nebraska, beat the Hurricanes by 18 points at the Orange Bowl this past September. Miami also struggled at home against Pittsburgh and trailed at halftime against Boston College.

“If I had my druthers, I’d play them somewhere else,” Osborne said. “I’m not entirely stupid.”

--Nebraska’s defense vs. Miami’s offense.

The Cornhusker quarterback controversy received all the headlines this week, but Nebraska is undefeated because of a defense that emphasizes speed and quickness, just like the Hurricanes’.

Linebacker Ed Stewart is a star, the secondary is solid and the line underrated. Together, the Cornhuskers give up only 2.4 yards per rush, 79.3 yards per game, 179.6 passing yards per game and 12.1 points per game. Only Miami gives up fewer points.

On offense, the Hurricanes are less impressive. Quarterback Frank Costa has 15 touchdown passes, but also 15 interceptions. The rushing attack is by committee, though James Stewart has shown flashes of brilliance. The wide receivers, most notably Chris T. Jones and Jammi German, are Miami’s strength.

--Frazier vs. Berringer.

Osborne said he expected to be second-guessed when he announced Frazier had won the starting job. But to Osborne, the decision makes perfect sense.

Frazier performed better in the practices and scrimmage leading up to the Orange Bowl, so that’s that. Anyway, he said, the Cornhuskers rotate safeties and rotate guards. “And nobody cares,” he said. Why not rotate quarterbacks?

“I know that’s disconcerting to (the media, which asks), ‘Why would you go into a game like this and play it by ear?’ ” Osborne said.

Good question. For Osborne’s sake, he had better have made the right choice.

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Looking Out for No. 1

A battle for the mythical national championship comes down to: --IF NO. 1 NEBRASKA WINS

Cornhusker victory over Miami in tonight’s Orange Bowl gives Cornhuskers their first national championship since 1971.

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--IF NEBRASKA LOSES AND NO. 2 PENN STATE WINS

Bowl coalition’s worst nightmare sees the national championship decided in the granddaddy non-coalition bowl.

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--IF NEBRASKA AND PENN STATE LOSE

No. 3 Miami gets one of those “other” national championships Hurricane Coach Dennis Erickson keeps talking about when he denies interest in the Seattle Seahawk coaching vacancy.

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--IF NEBRASKA TIES AND PENN STATE LOSES

In the unlikeliest of scenarios, No. 4 Colorado could claim the championship with an impressive victory over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. And proponents of a playoff system would ask: How do you like your bowl coalition now?