R E D C L A D L O O N
LOON DROPPINGS, VOL. 12
Nebraska 22, Texas 6
12/5/99
If Saturday's mechanical, methodical, meticulous demolition of the
Texas
Longhorns would have been an episode of "Sesame Street," it most
certainly
would have been brought to you by the Letter D. No other alphabetic
candidate
would have even been eligible for sponsorship. The Huskers D-ciphered
the
potent Texas offense and played like D-mons, using masterful D-coy
maneuvers
with its safeties, D-stroying the Horn front line and D-moted the Major
to an
average grunt. As a result, Texas was D-throned as the team to beat in
the
Big XII, and the Husker Nation went into a state of D-lerium and
D-light.
Because after Saturday, we all know that it's not the victory but the
action;
not the goal but the game; in the D, the glory.
A few takes:
OFF THE HOOK: Make no mistake about it. On Saturday, Austin Powers was
as
dead as an Oktoberfest celebration in downtown Havana. Turns out that
the
best way to nullify Texas' supernatural ability to pull off unlikely
pass play
s is to knock down their quarterback a whole bunch. Who knew? The
Blackshirts
were everywhere, ensuring there would be no late-game heroics for the
burnt
orange today. No early- or mid-game heroics, either, really. In fact,
the
doberman-like Husker D was so cruel to poor Opie that it made Charles
Manson
look like Father Flanagan. Game stats show that Kwame Cavil was
Applewhite's
favorite receiver (five catches); followed by that fat guy in the third
row
of the stands along the Alamodome's east sideline (four catches); and
then
the Cornhusker defensive backfield (three catches). Simply put, this
was a
masterpiece by McBride.
BUCK-HALTER TOPS: More than one Loon out there winced when news came
that
NU's Dan Alexander had sliced open the palm of his hand, the one he
usually
fumbles with, and would not be able to return to the game. But not
Solich.
Frank just stuck another I-back in there that looked just like him,
'cause
when it comes to reproducing great players, Nebraska is an all-night
Kinko's,
baby. True to form, Buck ran like a man possessed, slashing through the
Cows'
defense while bouncing off tackle after tackle. The Big Train's yards,
especially those 55 big ones to start the second half on NU's way to a
22-0
cushion, were key to this win.
REPEAT AFTER ME: By pounding the Orangebloods, Nebraska becomes the
first
two-time champion in the Big Red Conference ... er, the Big XII
Conference.
Sorry, Freudian slip. And now is the time to cheer for all other
conference
schools in the post-season. Adhering to that sense of brotherhood,
Solich
naturally wished UT coach Mack Brown good luck with his team's annual
visit
to the Cotton Bowl. But methinks those sentiments had all the sincerity
of a
defense attorney's tie rack. Frankie should have just spouted: "You
know,
your quarterback was right -- figuring out my defense WASN'T calculus.
It was
more like trigonometry with a dose of rocket science, mixed in with a
little
brain surgery and four years of med school all rolled into one. Enjoy
your
big vacation in Dallas against fellow SWC defector Arkansas." You just
know
that's what he really wanted to say.
TICKLE ME, ALAMO: The pre-game scuttlebutt said this game was basically
a
home contest for the Cattle. True, UT had about a 2-to-1 edge in the
number
of butts in the seats. But aside from the first few series, it appeared
that
the Big Red backers in the Alamodome were the ones making all the
noise.
'Course, you actually have to have something to cheer about in order to
make
some noise. When Eric The Red bolted into the endzone in the first
quarter,
it was hard to tell what was louder -- the roar from the NU fans or the
sound
of all the motor homes outside the Alamodome with Texas plates getting
revved
up for an early exit back to Arlen.
LATER, GATORS: It appears that since Bob Stoops left Steve Spurrier's
staff
to coach the University of West Florida Sooners that the Florida Gators
have
regressed to their old ways on defense. Saturday, a kid wearing a red
No. 15
jersey broke about two million Gator arm-tackles, then raced away down
the
right sideline for a 70-plus yard TD run. Sound familiar? Looks like
the
spirit of Tommie Frazier possessed Alabama's Freddie Milons on that
play,
which helped ice Bama's 34-7 SEC title game win. This laugher showed us
that
A) Florida, despite its rabid yet mostly shoeless fan base, does not
deserve
a BCS bowl; and B) A 10-7 game with Alabama might be kind of fun see inTempe. Guess we'll find out who the Big Red faces soon enough.
THE BOTTOM LINE: In Tom Clancy's "Op-Center: Acts of War," there is a
very
helpful passage where one of the characters explains how to survive
physical
torture after falling into the clutches of the enemy. "The key was not
to be
tense. Tension only tightened the flesh and focused the mind on the
pain.
Victims were told to try to count to themselves, to divide the
suffering in
manageable segments of three to five seconds. They had to think of
making it
to the next plateau rather than to the end." This is good advice,
fellow
Loons, on how to survive the next four-and-a-half weeks, in which I
have
noticed there are no Husker games to sustain us. Don't worry, though,
Jan. 2
is not that far away. So let's all relax, kick back and savor NU's job
well
done -- the '99 campaign might be one October fumble from perfection,
but I
still declare it very, very good. Nebraska 11, Opponents 1.
==STEVE==
Baud to the Bond. Play Husker Trivia in THE POND,
Home of Nebraska's RED CLAD LOON.
http://www.redcladloon.com