Another disappointing week....three losses in a row (with two at home) is tough to take, and virtually unheard of for most Husker fans under 60. With a 4-4 record, and looking at several tough games ahead (and mostly away games), the Huskers' post-season play is in doubt for the second time in Callahan's tenure. Yet its amazing to see that the networks are still willing to televise our games. Not only is the Texas game on ABC this weekend (12:30 start) but Fox Sports Network is picking up the Kansas game next weekend as a regular broadcast instead of a PPV game. Not sure if the K-State game will be televised but the Colorado game was set before the season started for a broadcast on ABC at 9 a.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving. So we'll activate the watch sites the next two Saturdays and hope our die-hard Bay Area fans will turn out for the game and cheer on the Huskers against the Longhorns. On a positive note there is a lot of coverage of Tom Osborne's first week at the helm of the Athletic Department (see below), and the defending National Champion Volleyball team continues to roll, although they stumbled this last night with a loss to Texas.
The self-deprecating humor has already started for the Husker football program, and I've added a couple samples in the Husker Humor column at the end of the email. Remember that laughter and gallows humor are nature's way of getting us through the tough times, so hope these bring a smile or a laugh to all of us who are suffering.
Go Big Red (White and Blue),
Carl
Watch Sites:
The Huskers-Longhorns game is on ABC Regional TV this Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time. I checked the broadcast map and it appears it will be broadcast on the ABC-Channel 7 affiliate in San Francisco. We've been caught short on these types of broadcasts before when they decide at the last minute to show something else instead of our game, so I would still recommend visiting your favorite Bay Area Husker Watch Site (they all have the package) for some Big Red camaraderie, some great Pub Grub and a couple of ales to sooth the pain or lift your spirits depending on the outcome. Get there early for a good seat and lunch before the game. Hope to see you there!
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HUSKERS GEAR UP FOR TEXAS OFFENSE...
The Nebraska defense will be challenged by Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who threw for 220 yards last year against NU.
The Nebraska football team continued to prepare for a tough Texas offense Thursday afternoon during a two-and-a-half hour workout in Memorial Stadium in shoulder pads and shorts.
The focus of the preparation has been stopping Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy, who ranks third in the Big 12 at 278.8 passing yards per conference game and had 220 yards passing on 25-of-39 passes last year against the Huskers in UT's 22-20 win in Lincoln. McCoy, who as a sophomore ranks fifth in the Texas record books in career passing yardage, has shown the ability not only to make throws downfield, but also to make plays when the pocket breaks down.
"One of the things I see in McCoy is that, when he's executing the offense, when something breaks down, he's able to keep everything alive and he's able to keep plays growing and create out of the pocket and use his God-given athletic ability to make plays downfield, " head coach Bill Callahan said. "That's probably the most impressive thing I see in their passing game is that McCoy can extend the play. "
One of McCoy's top targets is sophomore tight end Jermichael Finley. The sophomore tight end has 28 catches for 396 yards this season and had a then-career-high four catches for 37 yards last year against Nebraska.
"He's a good tight end," Callahan said. "He has all the tools and all the traits you look for in an excellent tight end. Blocking-wise, he's complete. In terms of getting downfield, he can stretch the field. He has all the cuts."
Nebraska may be forced to face the Longhorns with a depleted linebacker corps. Neither Blake Lawrence or Bo Ruud practiced Thursday. Along with senior center Brett Byford, their status remains questionable for Saturday's game against Texas.
"Hopefully, they'll be ready tomorrow," Callahan said. "Hopefully, they'll all be on the trip. No one has been ruled out. They're still questionable right now."
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HUSKERS FALL TO AGGIES...
Marlon Lucky hauled in a school running back record 13 catches for 125 yards against Texas A&M on Saturday.
Lincoln - Marlon Lucky broke his own Nebraska running back record by hauling in 13 receptions for 125 yards, but it was not enough to offset a powerful Texas A&M running game, as the Huskers fell to the Aggies, 36-14, at Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Playing in front of an NCAA-record 288th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium on a perfect day for football, the Huskers trailed 16-14 at the half, before Texas A&M took control of the game in the third quarter.
Nebraska, which slipped to 4-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12 with the loss, watched Texas A&M produce three long scoring drives to consume most of the second-half clock. The Aggies, who improved to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference, scored on drives of 80, 80 and 76 yards in the second half, eating up 15:40 on 34 plays on those drives.
Texas A&M's Jorvorskie Lane capped all three drives with short touchdown runs, as he finished the day with 15 carries for 130 yards and four scores. Lane wasn't the only Aggie to put up big numbers on the ground. A&M quarterback Stephen McGee carried a career-high 35 times for 167 yards.
As a team, the Aggies rushed for 344 yards, while adding 100 yards through the air to finish the day with 444 yards of total offense. The Huskers also amassed more than 400 yards of total offense, led by Sam Keller's 275 passing yards. NU added 130 yards on the ground, including 60 yards and one touchdown on just nine carries from freshman I-back Quentin Castille.
Although the total offense numbers were similar, Nebraska was victimized by three fumbles, while Texas A&M did not commit a turnover on the afternoon.
For the rest of the article see Huskers.com
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HUSKERS GAME AT KANSAS TO BE TELEVISED ON FSN (regular broadcast...NOT PPV this time)...
The Big 12 Conference and Fox Sports Net have announced that Nebraska's Nov. 3 contest at Kansas will be televised by the network. Game time from KU’s Memorial Stadium is set for 9:30 a.m. (PDT - set clocks back on Sunday the 4th)
The NU-Kansas game will mark the first time in 2007 that a Husker game will be part of FSN's regular Big 12 television package. The Huskers have had games against Ball State and Oklahoma State televised by FSN on a pay-per-view basis.
This will mark the second consecutive year the Husker-Jayhawk game has been televised by FSN. A year ago, Nebraska defeated Kansas, 39-32, in overtime in Lincoln.
Nebraska's matchup with Texas this Saturday in Austin will be televised regionally by ABC, with a 12:30 p.m. PDT kickoff. A game time and television information for the Huskers' Nov. 10 home finale against Kansas State will be announced six to 12 days in advance, while NU's Nov. 23 regular-season finale at Colorado will be televised nationally by ABC beginning at 9 a.m. PST.
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GOT TOM??
Great article from USA Today (thanks Shari)...
OSBORNE'S RETURN PLEASES NEBRASKA FAITHFUL...
Former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne takes over as the school's interim athletic director and will be in charge of turning around the football team's fortunes. "If I can help, I'll try to do it," Osborne told supporters.
By Steve Wieberg, USA TODAY
LINCOLN, Neb. He stood before them, tall and still trim at age 70, glancing at notes he'd scrawled on the back of an envelope.
"If I can help, I'll try to do it," Tom Osborne said, speaking in a low, easy-going tone familiar to generations of Nebraskans. "We'll do the best we can."
On the football field where he once conducted business, things are a mess. Nebraska fell 36-14 to Texas A&M on Saturday, the Huskers' third loss in as many weeks and their third this season at home, something that hadn't happened in Memorial Stadium in almost four decades.
Hours earlier, however, some 300 boosters, fans and local dignitaries were gathered a few blocks away inside a ballroom in the school's student union. And they were utterly content. Osborne, just appointed Nebraska's interim athletics director and the featured guest at a reception hosted by Chancellor Harvey Perlman, spent nine minutes at the microphone in front of them. Telling a few jokes. Talking about his new job.
Soothing 300 souls.
"Everything is going to be better. I'm convinced it's going to be better," said Bill Poehling, a Nebraska alum and retired natural gas executive who was part of the gathering. "I'm just thrilled he decided to take this. There's no one that can do what Tom can do."
The call to Osborne, the former coach and icon who won 255 games, 13 conference championships and three national titles in 25 years with the Huskers, comes in their time of greatest need since the early '60s. Three-plus seasons under current coach Bill Callahan are all but deemed a failure. The athletics director who hired him, Steve Pederson, was fired last week over issues with his management style that were compounded by the losing.
Osborne insisted before Saturday's game that a similar fate for Callahan isn't a given. "I told the coaches, 'I don't want to make a change here. It's bad for recruiting. It's bad for the school,' " he said. "I want to see how everybody responds, the coaches, the players and then we'll go from there."
But Nebraska's performance against A&M was hardly a résumé-builder. One of the nation's lowest-rated defenses was plundered by the Aggies' option game, yielding 167 yards rushing to quarterback Stephen McGee and 130 yards and four touchdowns to jumbo running back Jovorskie Lane.
The Huskers' offense went scoreless in the second half, rushing for just 24 yards in the half and 130 for the game.
That underscored a fundamental objection to the system and mindset Callahan brought with him from the NFL in 2004: that they stray too far from the dearly held traditions of Nebraska football. Osborne's power-option teams pounded opponents on the ground. They featured Nebraska-born-and-bred players whose dreams began and ended with wearing the simple red "N" on their helmets.
Callahan's team, which counts just one offensive starter and nine of 44 first- and second-teamers from Nebraska, does neither.
The odds of a late surge by the Huskers don't appear great. Three of their four remaining games are on the road, starting with trips to Texas and Kansas the next two weekends.
Osborne has said he'll wait until the end of the season to decide on Callahan. If the choice is to change, though, that's running late in an era when many schools move quickly to get a jump on the most attractive replacement candidates and regain recruiting momentum before the February signing date.
Callahan concedes disappointment in Nebraska's slide to 4-4, which makes him 26-19 in his fourth season. But he's doing nothing to fuel speculation that he might save Osborne the trouble and resign. Pederson signed him to a new five-year, $1.75-million-a-year contract just seven weeks ago.
"We want to go to a bowl. We want to be better," Callahan said. "There's an opportunity to get better these next four games so we're going to do everything we can to do that."
Said quarterback Sam Keller, "There's nothing else to do but be men and keep working. I can't tell you why things are happening the way they are. I can't. All I can say is we just have to keep trying."
Osborne has attended practices, spoken to the coaching staff a couple of times and visited with players. What he says he's looking for, beyond wins and losses, is better effort than the Huskers showed in 35- and 31-point losses to Missouri and Oklahoma State that preceded Saturday's defeat by A&M.
What others in and around the program were looking for, they now have. As the hot new T-shirts in town proclaim: got tom!
"From the fan base perspective, there's definitely new life," said former Nebraska receiver Matt Davison, a Tecumseh, Neb., native who's now the Huskers' radio analyst. "Everybody's excited to have him back, first of all. But it's also the connection to such fond memories of Coach Osborne's last few years coaching. Everyone feels now that they're connected again to what Nebraska football used to be."
Current players also feel the vibe. "(When) he talked to us. "that's the first time I'd ever really heard him. I got goose bumps," said junior defensive end Zach Potter, who's from Omaha. "He came out to practice a couple of times. I looked and thought, 'Wow, Coach Osborne's over there. That's neat.'
"I'm not going to lie. I try harder when he's out there because he's, he's Coach Osborne. It's sweet."
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OSBORNE LIKES INCREASED INTENSITY...
Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne had his first "Talk to Tom" radio show on Tuesday night.
Lincoln - In his first radio show as Nebraska's interim athletic director Tuesday night on the Husker Sports Network, Tom Osborne offered up some encouragement for a team trying to snap a three-game losing streak Saturday at Texas.
"The thing I felt good about is the intensity level, especially when we were minus-three in turnovers," Osborne said. "I felt better about Saturday's game (against Texas A&M) because I saw more effort."
Osborne also liked what he saw of the Huskers in Tuesday's practice in full pads. "They ran it like they were undefeated," he said. "Our coaches are very professional. They've been around the block."
Osborne acknowledged that it would take a "monumental" effort for the 4-4 Huskers to beat the heavily favored Longhorns. But, he said, "We can still knock 'em off . . . these guys (coaches) are capable. They know football."
Earlier in the show, Osborne said his biggest challenge after one week on the job is "people are killing me with kindness." He said he's gotten so many phone calls, e-mails and personal visits that "I can't find the time to do things I really need to do."
Osborne said one of his highest priorities is meeting with every head coach in the athletic department and their respective teams. "By next week, I probably will have hit all the coaches in the program," Osborne said.
The link to Nebraska's Audio Archive provided above this story provides the full three hours of Sports Nightly on the Husker Sports Network. Osborne appeared on the show for an hour-long segment starting in the second hour of the program.
Osborne's hour-long "Talk to Tom" call-in show, is carried on the Husker Sports Network and available free world-wide on Huskers.com. It will air during its regular time slot on Mondays at 7 p.m. starting next week.
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RANDY YORK'S N-SIDER...
Tom Osborne: That Was The Week That Was
The minute I looked at front page feature stories on Tom Osborne in both The Omaha World-Herald and The Lincoln Journal Star on Sunday, I thought of a satirical television comedy program that originated in the 1960s on the British Broadcasting Company and later became popular in the United States.
It was called That Was The Week That Was, and David Frost used those six words to sign off after every episode.
I'm relatively sure that Tom Osborne, with a bit of satire in mind himself, would like to tell everyone that the week that was will never be again, and no one is happier about that than he is.
The Week That Was
ESPN College GameDay
Interview with Jim Rome
ESPN Radio Interview
KFAB Interview
Third Quarter Interview
Friday, as he climbed out of his car in front of the Holiday Inn before speaking to an overflow crowd at the Big Red Breakfast in Omaha, Nebraska's new interim athletic director said: "Randy, I've tried to help out (from a media relations perspective) in about every way I can this week, but I really prefer to get out of the limelight and work more behind the scenes."
I understand where Coach Osborne is coming from . . . I really do, and anyone who tried to keep up with him in his first week on the job would understand his position as well.
But after 255 wins, three national championships, six years in the U.S. House of Representatives and taking over an athletic department in one of the most crucial times in Nebraska history, stepping outside the limelight becomes a bit more difficult.
That's why, over the last six days, among other important things, Osborne has accommodated a small army of local, state and regional media. He has done national interviews with the Jim Rome Show, ESPN College Game Day, ESPN Radio with Mike Tirico and Kirk Herbstreit and with Fox Sports Radio Nationwide.
Coach Osborne even squeezed in an interview with a USA Today writer on Saturday shortly before speaking at the Chancellor's Pregame Tailgate Party at the Student Union Ballroom. On Sunday, another national publication informed us that a writer is en route to Lincoln and will be camped out here all week.
In other words, The Week That Was looks like Another Week That Will Be.
While Coach begins to rebuild the process that will produce the type of positive national attention Nebraska fans traditionally enjoy, let me make a few observations relevant to his first week on the job.
Bill Callahan and his coaching staff are embracing their relationship with Osborne, who insists that "I'm here to serve you; you're not here to serve me."
Nebraska's football players are also enjoying their new relationship with the legendary coach. They've given him loud ovations both times he's addressed the team. And Head Athletic Trainer Jerry Weber says they love having pictures of Nebraska's All-American players hanging outside the locker room.
Even though Coach was anointed a King at the recent Ak-Sar-Ben Coronation Ball in Omaha, he insists there are no magic wands for coaches or athletic directors. "I am not a genius, and I don't have a crystal ball," he says. "And I think most everyone knows that in athletics, there are no quick fixes."
Osborne will continue to talk about the only culture he knows organizational loyalty, work ethic, unity and sacrifice. He believes intensity and chemistry grow out of those four qualities.
Osborne is in the process of meeting individually with every men's and women's team in the athletic department and will speak to prospective recruits in all sports when they are on campus.
Last Thursday afternoon, Osborne addressed Doc Sadler's basketball team. Sitting at the training table for dinner that night, three of those players described Osborne's speech as "life changing." They said his insight also gave them a different focus on how to handle competitive demands.
Jack Lemke, an NU sophomore middle distance runner who won three Nebraska Class A 800-meter titles at Omaha Benson and ran the second fastest 800-meter time in Nebraska prep history, must have heard the basketball players talking about Coach Osborne. A few minutes later, he asked: "When is Coach Osborne going to talk to the track team? Everyone who's heard him this week said he makes the hair on your arm stand straight up. I grew up idolizing that man, and now he's our athletic director. How cool is that?"
I understand why Coach Osborne wants to stay out of the limelight, so he can devote more time to inspiring our coaches and to helping the more than 500 Husker athletes he now leads and serves.
I also understand why so many fans are touched when they see or hear Coach Osborne. If you've had a personal experience with him, I'm interested in hearing about it. And even if you haven't had a personal experience with Coach, I'm sure that something he has said, or done or even stands for means something personally to you.
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OSBORNE TO RECEIVE BRYANT LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD...
The Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards committee of the American Heart Association (AHA) has announced that longtime Nebraska Head Coach Tom Osborne has been named the 2008 winner of its' Lifetime Achievement Award.
Osborne will receive the award at the Paul "Bear" Bryant College Football Coaching Awards Dinner Thursday, Jan. 17 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston. The award recognizes excellence in coaching on and off the field during a career, allowing recipients to take their place in history alongside legends such as Bryant. Recent Lifetime Achievement recipients include Glenn "Bo" Schembechler, Jack Pardee and Lou Holtz.
Osborne coached for 25 seasons at Nebraska, earning three National Championships and 13 conference titles. He led the Cornhuskers to a bowl appearance in every season, and broke Bryant's record of 24 straight postseason trips. Osborne retired with a record of 255-49-3 (.836), the fifth-best winning percentage in Division 1-A history and 12th best among all-time coaching wins.
In his final five seasons, the Huskers went 60-3, winning national titles outright in 1994 and 1995 and a co-championship in 1997. Osborne coached 47 first-team All-Americans who won 55 total honors, two Heisman Trophy winners, six Outland winners (top lineman), one Butkus winner (top linebacker) and one Johnny Unitas winner (top quarterback).
Retiring after the 1997 season, Osborne was named to the College Football Coaches Hall of Fame, earning a waiver on the three-year waiting period for induction. The playing field at Nebraska was also christened that year in Osborne's honor.
After a 36-year career in college football, Osborne turned his attention to politics, winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for Nebraska's third district in 2000. Osborne served three terms in Congress. He recently returned to the college athletics arena when he was named interim athletics director at the University of Nebraska on Oct. 16.
Osborne is a fourth-generation Nebraskan, earning his bachelor's degree in history from Hastings College, and his master's and doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Nebraska.
After graduating from Hastings, he played three seasons in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers. Osborne switched to coaching in 1962, becoming an assistant coach at Nebraska under Bob Devaney and serving in various assistant positions before taking over the reigns as head coach in 1973.
Osborne and his wife of 44 years, Nancy, have three children and four grandchildren. He and Nancy founded the TeamMates Mentoring Program in 1991, in which University of Nebraska football players and other community volunteers mentor middle school students one-on-one in Nebraska public schools.
The Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards honors excellence in coaching while raising funds to fight heart disease and stroke, the nation's No. 1 and No. 3 killers. Bryant himself suffered a heart attack prior to his death in 1983. Funds raised benefit research, community education and outreach programs of the AHA.
Founded in 1924, the American Heart Association today is the nation's oldest and largest voluntary health organization dedicated to reducing disability and death from diseases of the heart and stroke. These diseases, America's No. 1 and No. 3 killers, and all other cardiovascular diseases claim over 870,000 lives a year. In fiscal year 2005 '06 the association invested over $543 million in research, professional and public education, advocacy and community service programs to help all Americans live longer, healthier lives.
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NO. 1 HUSKERS FALL TO TEXAS...
Sarah Pavan had 17 kills in NU's loss at Texas.
Austin, Texas " Sarah Pavan totaled a match-high 17 kills, but fifth-ranked Texas snapped the Huskers' 29-match win streak with a 30-22, 30-25, 30-20 victory over top-ranked Nebraska Wednesday night in Austin.
Destinee Hooker and Juliann Faucette combined for 30 kills, as Texas became the first Big 12 team to sweep the Huskers since the Longhorns accomplished the feat in 1997.
With the win, Texas (15-3, 11-1 Big 12) forged into a tie with Nebraska (19-1, 11-1 Big 12) at the top of the Big 12 standings. The Huskers swept the first meeting between in the teams in Lincoln on Sept. 12. The Huskers, the last remaining unbeaten team in the country, fell for the first time since Nov. 11, 2006, at Colorado, a span of 30 matches Since then, NU had dropped only six games in that span prior to Wednesday's sweep and none in the last 17 matches.
Pavan finished with 17 kills, but the Huskers hit a season-low .145, nearly .200 points below their national-best .343 hitting entering Wednesday's contest and were swept for the first time since the 2005 NCAA title match. Hooker tied Pavan for match-high honors, while hitting .455 on 33 swings. Faucette finished with 13 kills, seven digs and three blocks, as UT out-blocked the Huskers 12.5-7 and hit .371 against the Big Red.
Nebraska Coach John Cook said the Huskers' inability to put pressure on the Longhorns, allowed Texas an opportunity to get rolling offensively.
"Texas played well tonight, and we were out of sync," Cook said. "If you don't pass the ball and stress them with serving, they are hard to stop. We allowed Destinee and Brandy (Magee) to get free swings and they are hard to stop if you do that. We did not pressure them serving and we didn't pass well. "
Cook said the Huskers didn't match the intensity that Texas brought to the gym tonight.
"We haven't been pushed all year. We were pushed tonight, and we didn't push back," Cook said. "It was disappointing with this team that they couldn't find a way to push back."
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HUSKERS SWEEP PAST HAWAII IN FRONT OF RECORD CROWD...
An NCAA record crowd of 13,396 watched Nebraska host Hawai'i.
Lincoln : The venue was different but the result was the same as the top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team swept past No. 11 Hawaii, 30-22, 30-16, 30-24, Sunday in front of an NCAA regular-season record crowd of 13,396 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Playing a home match away from the friendly confines of the NU Coliseum for the fourth time this season, Nebraska (19-0) remained the lone unbeaten team in the country while extending its home court winning streak to 66 in a row and sweeping an opponent for the 17th consecutive match.
Hawaii fell to 16-4 with the loss and saw its 13-match winning streak snapped at the hands of the Huskers.
The crowd of 13,396 broke the NCAA regular-season attendance mark of 13,081 set earlier in the year between Nebraska and Penn State at Qwest Center Omaha.
"It's pretty awesome to sit down there and look up," Nebraska Coach John Cook said. "This was a historic crowd, and it's great for the sport of volleyball. Probably what I'm most proud of is that it's really a tribute to this team and these kids. These are all great students; they're great people. They give back to this community. They represent everything you want in a college student-athlete. It really started blossoming with this senior class."
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LARSON GARNERS BIG 12 HONOR...
Lincoln -- Nebraska outside hitter Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) was honored by the Big 12 Conference on Monday, as she was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week.
Larson earned the honor after averaging 4.33 digs and 0.67 blocks per game, while also being perfect on serve receive in the Huskers' 3-0 week. Against Missouri, Larson recorded a season-high 18 digs and in the Huskers' sweep of Missouri. Larson totaled four blocks and six digs in Saturday's win over Kansas before rebounding with a match-high 15 digs against No. 11 Hawaii.
NU held the Rainbow Wahine without an ace on Sunday, the fifth Husker opponent held without an ace against NU this season. The Huskers also held Hawaii to just .140 hitting in snapping the Rainbow Wahine's 13-match win streak.
Larson, the tri-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, is the second Husker to earn the Big 12's weekly defensive honor this season, joining Christina Houghtelling, who garnered the award on Aug. 27.
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PAVAN BREAKS RECORD, HUSKERS SWEEP KANSAS...
Lincoln : One a night where the Husker volleyball program reached one milestone, Sarah Pavan reached another, helping No. 1 Nebraska remained undefeated with a 30-16, 30-25, 30-26 sweep of Kansas Saturday night.
The Huskers, who were celebrating their 100th consecutive home sellout in the historic NU Coliseum, rolled to their 65th consecutive home win, while Pavan passed Allison Weston for NU’s all-time lead in career kills.
Pavan, who now has 1,780 career kills, passed Weston with her 16th kill of the night, a shot down the line that gave the Huskers the lead for good in the finale at 22-21. She finished with a match-high 17 kills on .406 hitting, two aces and three blocks.
"It means a lot," Pavan said, "The Nebraska program has had some great players come through it, and it's definitely one of the top programs in the country. I'm very excited to be able to do that, just follow Allison Weston, one of the greatest players to ever play at the collegiate level. It's really humbling."
"I just know Sarah wants to be one of the greatest players ever to play here," Cook said. "One way you measure that is by stats and records, and it's quite an accomplishment considering all the players who have been in this program for Sarah to pass that. It's a major accomplishment."
Weston, a three-time All-American at Nebraska and national player of the year as a senior, totaled 1,778 kills between 1992 and 1995.
"I knew I had 15 to go," Pavan said. "When I got my 16th kill, I could hear the crowd, so I figured I had probably reached 16. It was a really good feeling."
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HUSKER SOCCER LOOKS TO GET BACK ON TRACK IN ROAD GAMES...
Senior Abby Penas and the Huskers will look to rebound against Kansas and Missouri.
Lincoln-The Huskers will attempt to return to their winning ways as NU returns to the road for the final time this regular season this weekend. With two conference losses over the weekend, Nebraska (5-8-3, 1-6-0 Big 12) slipped further in the conference standings and now faces an uphill battle, as the Huskers travel to Lawrence to face Kansas (4-9-4, 2-2-3 Big 12) at 3 p.m. Friday and to Columbia on Sunday to battle No. 16 Missouri (11-4-0, 5-2-0 Big 12) at 1 p.m.
Sundays have hardly been a day of rest for the Huskers this year. Last Sunday's game against No. 3 Texas A&M was the fifth of the last six Sundays that NU has squared off against a team ranked in the top 25 in the nation. The road ahead does not get any easier either. This Sunday's game sees the Huskers face No. 16 Missouri. The Tigers started the year unranked but have clawed their way into second place in the Big 12 and a national ranking. Three of MU's four losses have been to teams ranked sixth or higher in the nation. The Tigers' youth has possibly been one of their strengths this year as several underclassmen have stepped up to the plate, including sophomore Kristin Andrighetto.
Nebraska has a chance to creat some momentum before the Missouri game, as the Huskers play Kansas on Friday. Like the Huskers, Kansas has faced several ranked opponents and, like the Huskers, have found the competition stiff. The Jayhawks currently sit eighth in the conference and hold the last bid to the Big 12 Championships. The Huskers will try and claim that spot for their own by focusing on the KU defense. The Jayhawks have forced senior goalkeeper Colleen Quinn to make 80 saves so far this season.
NU boasts an 82-30-4 all-time conference record, but is 1-3-1 away from Lincoln this year.
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HUSKER BASEBALL UNVEILS CHALLENGING 2008 SCHEDULE...
Courtesy: Scott Bruhn/NU Media Relations
The Huskers open the 2008 baseball season on Feb. 22 at Stanford.
Lincoln : An impressive home schedule, 27 games against NCAA Tournament teams and a season-opening trip to national power Stanford highlight the 2008 Nebraska baseball schedule released Thursday.
The Huskers, who reached the title game of an NCAA Regional for the sixth time in the last eight seasons in 2007, will be tested against a slate that features five teams "Arkansas, Texas, Wichita State, Texas A&M and Missouri " which were No. 1 seeds in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
According to Head Coach Mike Anderson, the Huskers' non-conference schedule, which also features NCAA qualifiers UC Riverside, Louisiana-Lafayette and Creighton, will prepare Nebraska for the rigors of Big 12 action. Anderson credited the Huskers' tough non-conference slate in 2007 as a key reason the Big Red reached postseason play for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
"We're going to challenge ourselves again with this schedule," Anderson said. "We understand that, but it was worth it to get our team ready for the postseason."
"Last year was an example where playing a tough schedule paid off in getting into the NCAA Tournament," Anderson said. "Because of the tough non-conference schedule we played and the wins against good teams outside of the Big 12, it not only helped us prepare for the conference, but also helped us in the NCAA Regional."
The 55-game regular-season schedule includes 32 home games, including a four-game series with NCAA qualifier UC Riverside to open the home schedule on Feb. 29. Other marquee non-conference tilts include a two-game series with SEC power Arkansas (March 18-19), a three-game series against Louisiana-Lafayette (May 2-4) and single games against Wichita State (April 15) and Creighton (April 22).
The Huskers open the 2008 season at Stanford's Sunken Diamond for a four-game series with the Cardinal Feb. 22-24. It marks the Huskers' first trip to Stanford since the 2000 Super Regional. One week later, the Huskers will open the home campaign with another familiar foe, as UC Riverside visits Hawks Field for a four-game series. The Huskers took on the Highlanders, who won the Big West Conference title in 2007, at the Tempe Regional last June. The four-game set begins a 10-game homestand prior to the Huskers' Big 12 opener at Kansas State on March 14.
Following the series at K-State, Nebraska begins a seven-game homestand with a bang, as Arkansas makes its first-ever visit to Hawks Field for a two-game series on March 18-19. The week continues with a key Big 12 Conference series against Oklahoma and two games against Northern Colorado. The Huskers wrap up the month with a series at defending Big 12 regular-season champion Texas.
The month of April is heavy into conference action, as NU hosts Texas Tech (April 4-6) and Kansas (April 18-20) and travels to Oklahoma State (April 11-13) and Baylor (April 25-27). The Huskers will play several midweek contests including the first two games of a three-game series with Creighton (April 1 and April 22) as well as matchups with Iowa (April 8), Wichita State (April 15) and two games against Western Illinois (April 29-30) which begin NU's final homestand of the year.
The Huskers will spend the first two weekends of May at Hawks Field, hosting Louisiana-Lafayette (May 2-4) and Big 12 Tournament champion Texas A&M (May 9-11) in the final home weekend of the regular-season. NU wraps up its three-game series with Creighton in the annual game at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium on Tuesday, May 13, before closing conference play at Missouri on May 16-18.
Postseason play begins with the annual Big 12 Tournament at the Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City from May 21-25 before NCAA Regionals (May 30-June 2), NCAA Super Regionals (June 6-9) and the College World Series (June 14-25) at Rosenblatt Stadium.
For the list of games see Huskers.com
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HUSKER HUMOR...
(Yes...its started....folks are using all of the well known sports jokes and are now substituting Nebraska where other stumbling teams were once listed as the brunt of harsh humor)...so here goes...enjoy!
Frustrated Bride...
A woman walked into a bridal shop one day and told the sales clerk that she was looking for a wedding gown for her fourth wedding.
"Of course, madam," replied the sales clerk, "exactly what type and color dress are you looking for?"
The bride to be said: "A long frilly white dress with a veil."
The sales clerk hesitated a bit, then said, "Please don't take this the wrong way, but gowns of that nature are considered more appropriate for brides who are being married for the first time - for those who are a bit more innocent, if you know what I mean? Perhaps ivory or sky blue would be nice?"
"Well," replied the customer, a little peeved at the clerk's directness, "I can assure you that a white gown would be quite appropriate. Believe it or not, despite all my marriages, I remain as innocent as a first-time bride. You see, my first husband was so excited about our wedding, he died as we were checking into our hotel. My second husband and I got into such a terrible fight in the limo on our way to our honeymoon that we had that wedding annulled immediately and never spoke to each other again."
"What about your third husband?" asked the sales clerk.
"That one was a Nebraska Football Coach," said the woman, "and every night for four years, he just sat on the edge of the bed and told me how good it was going to be, but nothing ever happened."
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Vandalism in Lincoln, Nebraska
A late model automobile, with two U of N football tickets visible on the dashboard, was vandalized in Lincoln sometime between midnight and 7am this morning. The vandal caused little damage to the vehicle, but did leave two additional football tickets on the dash.
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And this from a travel agency I know in Lincoln...
Sad thing happened after the Husker football game
I heard that a father gave his two children tickets to see the Nebraska - Texas A&M football game on Saturday. Sunday the police were at his door. It appears that the Huskers played so poorly that the authorities said that any father that made their children watch the Huskers could be cited for child abuse.
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