Section B·Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Friday, August 22, 1997
Big 12 football ready for the season
Longhorns expect to be contender for championship
The Associated Press
DALLAS — Texas has a new tailback, a new defense and the confidence that only a Big 12 championship can bring.
The Longhorns think the mix can help them rejoin the top teams in the country, put them back into the Big 12 title game and carry them to an elusive bowl victory.
Ricky Williams, last year's star fullback, is the new tailback. He makes the same move Earl Campbell did in 1977, the year he won the Heisman Trophy.
Williams would like the Heisman, but he'd rather see Texas win a national title.
"Sure, winning the Heisman Trophy would be great," said Williams, who ran for 1,272 yards last year. "But helping a team play for a national championship would be incredible."
Nebraska 37-27 to win the Big 12 title, enter the season ranked No. 12.
National titles have been a long way off for Texas. The last time the Longhorns were among the most prominent teams was in 1983, when Fred Akers led them to an 11-0 record before a 10-9 loss to Georgia in the Cotton Bowl crushed their title hopes.
In the 13 years since, Texas has had only two seasons with more than eight wins
"Both Rutgers and UCLA throw the ball a bunch," said new defensive coordinator Bobby Jack Wright. "We might have been strong favorites in those games with the secondary we had last year, but this year we are virtually untested back there."
The Longhorns, who stunned
and 65th in
Gone are NFL draft picks Bryant Westbrook and Taje Allen at the corners, and Chris Carter and Tre Thomas at the safeties. Fighting for cornerback positions are senior Quinton Wallace and junior Tony Holmes, along with three freshmen.
Texas coach John Mackovic thinks his defense should improve off its poor showing last season — 86th (of 11 teams) against the run
and 65th
to t o t a l
defense.
Overall,
the Big 12
was a bust
in its first
season
although
two teams cashed in by playing ... alliance bowl games — Nebraska in the Orange and Texas in the Fiesta.
Colorado could be the team to beat in the Northern Division.
"We've got a good team, and I'm excited about it," said Buffalooes' coach Rick Neuheisel. "Everybody would like to be at a university where you expect to win and you hope you can be in the hunt for a national championship. I'm not going to shy away from that."
Now, if Neuheisl could only beat Nebraska.
Neuheisel said. "They have a string of 29 years of nine wins or more per year. That rivals Joe DiMaggio's hitting record. We keep getting closer every year."
"We aren't the only team that has problems with the Huskers."
John Hessler will be the Buffs' new quarterback, replacing Koy Detmer.
Nebraska will try to overcome the disappointment of losing to the Longhorns.
"I think we might have lost a little mystique to some of the other teams around the nation," guard Aaron Taylor said of the Huskers, shut out by Arizona State 19-0 early last season then undefeated before falling to the Longhorns.
Kansas will have a new leader in coach Terry Allen, who said that the Jayhawks had more questions than answers because they were only returning five starters on offense.
Defensive back Tony Blevins said he liked the change from Glen Mason to Allen.
"Coach Allen is a more positive, player-type coach," Blevins said. "Coach Mason coached out of fear."
Kansas State will have Jonathan Beasley, Michael Bishop and Adam Helm fighting for the quarterback job, while Missouri and Iowa State will try to improve their programs.
Troy Davis is gone at Iowa State, but his brother, Daren, wants to fill the void. Missouri coach Larry Smith thinks quarterback Corby Jones can spring some surprises for the Tigers.
In the Southern Division, the Longhorns are heavy favorites to return to the title game, set for Dec. 6 in San Antonio, Texas.
Texas A&M was a big disappointment last season. The Aggies lost to Brigham Young in the Pigskin Classic and never returned to form,
"Everybody would like to be at a university where you expect to win and you hope you can be in the hunt for a national championship."
Colorado football coach
Rick Neuheisel
finishing 6-6 as quarterback Brandon Stewart failed to live up to his promise.
Coach R.C. Scolum shook up his staff and got a quarterback coach for Stewart.
"I had to send out a signal that the season wasn't acceptable to our fans." Slocum said.
Oklahoma, which opens the season tomorrow against Northwestern in the Pigskin Classic, hopes to become a winner again.
"I expect to compete for the division title," said coach John Blake, whose first year ended at 3-8. "We have a year behind us and we have more talent and we have a chance to win it."
Texas Tech lost Byron Hanspard to the NFL, and coach Spike Dykes is trying to find another running back because top prospect Clint Robertson tore his knee on the last scrimmage of the spring.
Still, Dykes said with a quarterback like Zebbie Lethridge they have a chance to post good numbers.
Dykes said the Texas win against Nebraska was inspirational.
"I think it woke a lot of us up," he said. "It's sort of like when Superman's cape doesn't open up all the way, owl' Batman has a chance."
Realignments impact old football rivalries
The Associated Press
STANFORD, Calif. — When Stanford and California meet in the 100th Big Game this season, the schools will be renewing one of college football's most storied traditional rivalries.
Whether it's UCLA-USC or Army-Navy, rivaries are at the heart of college football, providing a stage for the players, a forum for bragging rights and a sense of history for alumni and fans.
"They're absolutely critical," said Stanford athletic director Ted Leland. "In pro football, it's the Super Bowl everybody points to. In college football, almost all of us have at least one, maybe two, particularly emotional rivalries that give the college football experience special meaning."
Many traditional pairings remain a fixture and the rivalries are thriving. Others, though, have fallen by the way-side in recent years as conferences realigned or expanded.
Texas and Arkansas, whose long-standing rivalry included a famed 1969 meeting that drew President Richard Nixon, haven't played each other for five years.
Their rivalry died when Arkansas, seeking better TV exposure and increased revenues, left the old Southwest Conference for the Southeastern Conference in 1992.
"Overall, the SEC has been
just wonderful for Arkansas and its fans," said Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles, who coached the '69 Razorbacks. "But when you have played someone for 70 years, like we did Texas, it's not replaced overnight. You know, when you move away from your neighborhood, it takes a while to make new friends."
Just ask Miami.
Despite the breaks with tradition, many say realignment can energize college football and spark new competition.
"The most significant effect conference realignment has had on college football is it has developed new rivalries," said Texas coach John Mackovic, whose Longhorns upset Nebraska in last season's Big 12 title game.
"In the Big 10, Penn State has developed league rivalries with the Michiganans and Ohio States, and in our case, we have become rivals to Nebraska and Colorado," Mackovic said. "Across the board in the new leagues, everyone is finding new rivals. I don't think realignment has hurt anything. It has only expanded the rivalries around the country."
Stanford's Leland, however, is wary of changes that take away from tradition dear to schools.
"When we in college athletics fool around with traditional events and rivalries, we do so at our own peril."
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