Section.B · Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, October 11, 2000
College Football Nebraska's trials are self-inflicted
The Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. — No. 1 Nebraska has found a way to win the few times it has been tested so far this season.
In the recent games, the tadpoles run buoys.
win the few times it has been tested so far this season.
In its second game, it took a touchdown run by quarterback Eric Crouch in overtime to finally defeat Notre Dame. Last week, the "Huskers rallied from a halftime deficit and scored four fourth-quarter touchdowns to beat Iowa State.
Coach Frank Solich wished his team would find a way to win a little earlier in each game.
"When they have been against the wall, they have generally responded," Solich said yesterday. "We also want to respond when our backs are not against the wall."
The 'Huskers (5-0, 2-0 Big 12 Conference) are happy to be back on top of the polls after spending a week at No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25. However, they say they haven't been playing up to their potential.
Iowa State contained Nebraska's offense until the second half, when the 'Huskers eventually wore down the Cyclones and consistently moved the ball.
"That's one thing that I'd like to see change." Crouch said. "I'd like to come out in the first half and dominate right from the beginning.
"We can do that. We're the type of offense that can put away games early," he said.
The 'Huskers have made fewer errors each week. In their season opener against San Jose State, they couldn't seem to tackle in the first half. Then the special teams fell apart against Notre Dame, allowing two
returns for touchdowns.
Once the kicking game was fixed, the defense gave up nearly 500 yards to Missouri.
Last week, the offense took a half to get it together. Solich said the 'Huskers stopped themselves with major breakdowns on 14 plays.
"We scored a fair number of points, but if we were really operating at great efficiency
we would have scored quite a few more points," he said. "That's the thing we want to try to make sure we get corrected offensively.
"As experienced as we are, you can't expect to throw 14 plays down the drain and expect to get the production that you feel you should have," he said.
Still. Solich felt Saturday's win against Iowa State
was more complete than the team's wins against Iowa and Missouri. That number was balanced out by 'Tuskers holding the Cyclones to only 37 rushing vards.
"It's kind of nice, but I don't feel like it affects me or the team that much," he said. "That's one of the reasons we stay focused each week. We don't think about the polls or any of those ratings."
The Iowa State win and Florida State's loss to Miami put the "Huskers back at No. 1, considerably ahead of second-ranked Kansas State. Crouch said Nebraska didn't get too stressed when they fell to No. 2.
Nebraska plays at Texas Tech (5-1, 1-1) on Saturday The Red Raiders' offensive scheme is nearly the opposite of the 'Huskers' passing the ball 64 percent of the time and averaging more than 303 yards per game in the air.
Solich said Nebraska's defense will continue to focus first on the run.
"When they get you spread out, it just takes a small crease for one of their great backs to pop through and make a big play on you," Solich said. "We're really concentrating hard on stopping or slowing down the running game, then from there controlling what they do best."
Georgia coach accused of mistreating player
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — Georgia Tech had just finished a routine practice when coach George O'Leary decided to teach a hard lesson to a second-string offensive lineman who was struggling to make his blocks.
O'Leary handed 314-pound Dustin Vaitekunas a football and told him to stand alone against four defensive lineman coming at full speed. The coach said the foursome wasn't supposed to hit Vaitekunas, only give him an idea of how a quarterback feels when blockers miss their assignments.
But Vaitekunas was pummeled by at least two of his teammates, leaving him sprawled on the ground for several minutes, gassing for breath.
Vaitekunas left Georgia Tech the following day and vows never to return, and his mother is threatening to pursue criminal charges against O'Leary. The coach said it was simply a breakdown in communication and he would never do anything to harm a student athlete.
"I think the whole thing is getting blown out of proportion," O'Leary said Tuesday. "My track record is pretty good with my players. I coach hard but I coach fair."
Still, the case comes after Bob Knight lost his basketball coaching job at Indiana after striking a player in the
"I see this as assault and battery. I want O'Leary arrested." Wanda Charpring, the player's mother, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a story published Tuesday. "He tried to kill my son."
neck and National Hockey League veteran Marty McSorley was convicted of assault for whacking an opponent with a hockey stick.
An official at the Georgia Tech police
Braine conducted his own investigation of the Sept. 25 practice and found no reason to discipline O'Leary. Thompson did not immediately return a message left at ACC headquarters in Greensboro, N.C.
athletics director Dave Braine and David Thompson, the Atlantic Coast Conference's assistant commissioner for NCAA compliance.
"George is not a brutal coach," said Braine, adding that he watches at least two practices a week. "He did not intend for that kid to get hurt."
At first glance, the incident seems tame in comparison to the harsh treatment doled out by old coaches such as Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes and Vince Lombardi. But times have changed. Coaches are expected to treat players with a degree of civility and respect. Blatant physical punishment is off limits.
"You can't put George O'Leary in the same league with Bobby Knight," Braine said. "He's never had anything like this happen before. He's never had a complaint. He's trying to do the right thing."
Vaitekunas said he thought the drill was an attempt to make him quit the team because he wasn't playing up to O'Leary's expectations.
"You expect to get hit. That's football." Vaitekunas told the newspaper. He said what O'Leary did crossed the line.
Charpring and Vaitekunas did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press at her home in Chapin, S.C.
"He just stood there," Gathers said. "I don't know if he was fatigued or what. But he didn't protect himself."
Defensive end Greg Gathers was one of the players who took part in the drill. He said O'Leary yelled at the last second for the defensive linemen not to hit Valitekunas, but only two of them — Felipe Claybrooks and Nick Rogers — had time to pull up. Gathers and Merrix Watson went through with their hits.
"He was a very soft person. He didn't have a lot of heart." Brown said. "It was nothing excessive. He hasn't been practicing very well or playing very well. It was just a little discipline thing."
"He's a human being. Some people are probably going to look at coach O'Leary and say he's a sick man," Gathers said. "But that's not the case. Coach O'Leary said to pull up, and some guys pulled up."
Gathers was more sympathetic.
O'Leary pointed out that Vaitkeunas wasn't the only offensive lineman who took part in the drill. Another backup tackle, Jason Kemble, faced the same four rushers, but only after they were told explicitly to avoid any contact
The coach said he was "annoyed" with the players who struck Vaitekaunes.
"I wanted to show what a speed rush looks like from the quarterback's stand-point," O'Leary said. "I didn't expect those guys to tackle him. That was my mistake. I should have communicated better. But we never tackle the quarterback in practice. I was surprised it happened."
Coaches center of Kansas State Oklahoma game
The Associated Press
NORMAN, Okla. — The focus this week as No. 8 Oklahoma prepares to visit second-ranked Kansas State has centered more on the coaches than the teams.
"That your job, to create interest for people who grab the paper and pick it up and read it, or for someone calling your radio show, and stir up emotions." Stoops said at his weekly news conference yesterday.
Bob Stoops, who hired three K-State assistants after becoming Oklahoma's coach, said the media have things all wrong.
"But as a staff, I think there's mutual respect. I've always said I loved my time there. I wouldn't trade it for anything."
Stops spent seven years as an assistant under Bill Snyder at K-State before leaving to become defensive coordinator at Florida. After three years with the Gators, he was chosen to take the top job at Oklahoma.
Shortly after, he hired his brother. Mike, along with
Brent Venables and Mark Mangino, all of whom were K-State assistants at the time.
"This is a great school, and to be loyal to my family and to Oklahoma, I need to hire the best coaches I can find." Bob Stoops said. "To me, that's doing the job and being loyal to what you're doing now. All I did was offer some guys some jobs and they accepted them."
The defections stung some K-State fans, however. Mike Stoops and Venables, who were defensive coaches at K-State, accepted their Oklahoma jobs within days of the Wildcats' loss to Texas A&M in the Big 12 Conference title game. It was arguably the toughest loss in school history — a victory would have sent them to play for the national championship. Instead, they wound up in the Alamo Bowl.
Mangino, who had been recruiting coordinator and run game coordinator with the Wildcats, was offered the Oklahoma job shortly after the Big 12 championship game but didn't accept it until after the bowl game.
Bob Stoops said it would likely feel different walking in the visitor's locker room on Saturday afternoon. But he said the game wouldn't be more emotional for him than any other game Oklahoma would play.
Sooner Notes
"The programs are more important than anything personally," he said. "It has nothing to do at all with the football game. It's about our players."
Stoops said Ron Calcagni, who had been working as a graduate assistant after being fired last year as Oklahoma State's offensive coordinator, has left to become offensive coordinator of the New Jersey franchise in the XFL.
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