Section B·Page 10
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, August 17, 1998
National champions to defend Big 12 title
By Matthew Friedrichs Kansan Sports Editor
DALLAS — Nebraska won the Big 12 Conference's first football national championship with a 42-17 drubbing of Tennessee Jan. 2, 1998, in the FedEx Orange Bowl.
Although Tom Osborne, who coached the Cornhuskers to three national championships in the '90s, has retired, the Big Red machine will try to continue its domination of fellow Big 12 teams and maintain its position as one of the elite teams in the nation.
BIG 12 CONFERENCE
Lurking only an hour from the Nebraska border are the Kansas
State Wildcats, a team that has its best chance in years of competing with the Cornhuskers.
Kansas State won its first-ever Alliance bowl when the team defeated Syracuse 35-18 in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
And, Nebraska will face other challenges from farther south. Texas A&M will challenge for the conference championship and national honors. The Aggies finished a 9-4 season with a trip to the Cotton Bowl.
Resurgent Oklahoma State also could fight its way into contention for a spot in the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship on December 5 at the TWA Dome in St. Louis.
The Cowboys have to build on an 8-4 record and a season that ended with a trip to the Alamo Bowl, the team's first bowl game since 1988.
Missouri finished the season at the Plymouth Holiday Bowl, and all five teams finished in the top 25 of Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll.
New coaches at Nebraska and Texas, Heisman trophy hopefuls in Manhattan, Kan., Columbia, Mo., and Austin, Texas, and growing conference rivalries should make 1998 an exciting season in the Big 12.
Cornhuskers endure change
1997 Record: 13-0
Coach: Frank Solich, first year
Key Players: Bobby Newcombe,
sophomore quarterback; DeAngelo
Evans, sophomore l-back
Returning offensive starters: 3
Returning defensive starters: 7
By Matthew Friedrichs Kansan sports editor
You can change drivers, but a Ferrari still should outpace the rest of the field.
Coach Frank Solich replaced Tom Osborne, who announced his retirement Dec. 10, 1997, but expectations in Lincoln and across the state of Nebraska remain high.
Osborne coached Nebraska to a national championship in his final game and finished with a 225-49-3 record in his 25 years at Nebraska. He led the team to 25 consecutive bowl games and three national championships in the last four years.
knows the importance of success.
Solich, who was Osborne's assistant for 19 years, has taken the keys to the Big Red machine and
"Iknow what the expectations are," Solich said. "Some people may have 8-3 expectations, but I haven't run into any of them."
Solich: Begins first year as Nebraska coach.
J o e l
Makovicka,
fullback said.
the team was not concerned about Solich's ability to lead the team in his first year.
"The transition has been so smooth that the team has accepted it and is working out harder this summer than any that I can remember," Makovicka said.
Although the offense will have to replace several linemen and quarterback Scott Frost, Josh Heskew, center, will lead the blocking for Makovicka and I-back DeAngelo Evans.
Evans, a Wichita native, did not play last year after suffering an injury in 1996, his freshman season.
His return is an indication of how Nebraska reloads with fresh players each season.
"We have a lot of talent in the backfield, and it's always going to be like that." Makovicka said.
Defensively, Nebraska must replace linemen Grant Wistrom and Jason Peter who were both taken in the first round of the NFL draft.
Mike Rucker is expected to pressure quarterbacks from the right rush end. He had 7.5 sacks and 15 tackles for losses last season.
Cornerback Ralph Brown anchors an experienced secondary.
Despite a new coach and new players at important positions, Nebraska is the favorite to win the Big 12.
If the team can survive the conference and conference championship game without a loss, it once again will speed into a bowl game with national-championship hopes.
Kansas State expects to finish season with perfect record
1997 Record: 11-1
Coach: Bill Snyder, 10th season,
66-37-17 in K-State
Key Players: Michael Bishop, senior quarterback; Frank Murphy, junior running back
Returning offensive starters: 9
Returning defensive starters: 9
By Matthew Friedrichs Kansan sports editor
Skeptics like to question Kansas State's scheduling. The team plays in all directions and states Northern Illinois, Northeast Louisiana and Indiana State, for example.
However, Coach Bill Snyder's strategy of paying smaller teams to come to Manhattan has paid off. The Wildcats will play seven
games at home and only four on the road this fall.
Since arriving and taking control of one of the worst programs in the nation in 1989, Snyder has coached Kansas State to a 66-37-1 record.
His first team went 1-10, but his last five teams have gone to bowl games, winning the Fiesta, Holiday and Copper bowls.
Wildcat fans already are talking about a return to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, which the team won last season. This year, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams will play for the national championship in the Fiesta Bowl.
Snyder, who has built the program by controlling everything from the team logo to media access and student seating, expressed his
usual interest in playing one team at a time.
"We are just going to do what it is that we need to do with our program whether it relates to scheduling, personnel or anything else in our program." Snyder
Snyder: Starts his 10th season with the Wildcats.
said. "Sometimes we can control it all, and if we can, we are going to to. If we can't, then so be it. I'm not going to sit back and worry about it."
He does acknowledge that he has
been building a team that he expects to improve every game and every season.
To step out of the role of regional phenom and assume the position of national contender, the Wildcats have to beat Nebraska.
The game between the two teams on Nov. 14 could determine the eventual conference champion and have national-championship implications.
The Wildcats have not beaten Nebraska since 1968.
The veteran team has its best chance of winning in recent history. Quarterback Michael Bishop is elusive with a strong arm and could be the difference in a close game with the defending national champions.
Last season, Bishop led the team to its first 11-win season, and he said the Wildcats could beat Nebraska.
"We have a good chance," Bishop said. We have a lot of players who didn't start last year but have a lot of game experience.
"We have to focus on one game and take one game at a time and not look ahead. Looking at the big picture, if we can go to the Nebraska game and everyone stays healthy and everyone does their job, then we could walk away from there with a win."
Kansas State linebackers Travis Ochs, Mark Simoneau and Jeff Kelly are among the best in the nation. They also could lead the team to a perfect or near-perfect
season.
Ochs said, "It's 11 guys who really want to go out and shut down people."
The team has progressed from the 1-10 days when Nebraska and Oklahoma routinely run over hapless defenders.
"We have a lot of speed and a lot of athletic ability that we haven't always had in the past." Ochs said. "We take great pride in going out there and shutting people down."
Wildcat fans are looking for a perfect season. Kansas State will have to play perfectly to beat Nebraska and have a shot at the national title, but if the team performs, Bill Snyder will not be taking heat for the state of his team, or the direction in which he has led it.
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