Pensacola News Journal: 1982 Nebraska vs. Auburn football

Huskers send Auburn to woodshed By JIM LINETTE News-Journal Sports Writer AUBURN, Ala. The Auburn Tigers were on the receiving end of an old-fashioned woodshed beating here Saturday at the hands of No. 8 Nebraska 41-7 as 73,900 fans third-largest crowd , in Auburn history jammed into Jordan-Hare Stadium. Junior quarterback Turner Gill and junior I-back Mike Rozier walked the tallest and carried the biggest whipping sticks for Nebraska. Rozier , ran for 88 yards and two touchdowns while Gill connected on 10 of 19 passes for 162 yards and one “touchdown, effectively complementing the bruising Comhusker ground game .that rolled up i 342 yards. ” ‘ , “There’s no need for me to do a lot of talking,” Auburn Coach Pat Dye said dejectedly. “You saw what was taking place on the field out, there. It was one of those old-fashioned ones you don’t forget for a long time.” The play that broke the back of the Tigers came with the score tied at 7-7 and less than four minutes left in the first half. On third-and-22, Todd .: Brown hauled down a Gill offering behind Auburn comerback ; David King, a sophomore from , Fairhope, Ala., for a 58-yard scoring strike and a , 14-7 lead at halftime. “We had so far to go,” explained Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne. “We just figured to throw itf’ deep and see if we could catch it. If they intercepted, it was as good as a punt.” Three fumbles and an interception proved to be Auburn’s undoing. A typical error came with Auburn trailing 21-7 midway through the third quarter. True to his name. Auburn sophomore Jim Bone delivered a bone-jarring hit on Nebraska punt returner Dave Burke, who fumbled at the 13. The opportunity was wasted, however, as junior running back Lionel James, who led Auburn with 69 yards rushing, returned the fumble favor on the very next play. ‘”The maturity and pride of the Nebraska football program showed on the field today,” said Dye. “I don’t know when a quarterback has been so effective against us as Turner Gill was. ‘””I thought if we could keep it close going into the fourth quarter, we could have a chance. Right now, I don’t know how good or bad we are, but Nebraska is the finest football team I’ve seen.” Osborne parted with kind remarks on Auburn: “Pat Dye has done a good job with this team. Auburn is much better than they were last year. The final score is not indicative of the way the game should have gone. They have the capability to play us even. I expected the score to be Something like 21-10 or 21-14, but we wore them down.” Osborne said it was a good win for his team Jebounding from a 27-24 loss at Penn State last 6aturday. It was Nebraska’s third win over Auburn in three meetings. J “Nebraska launched an impressive opening tlfive of 73 yards in 13 plays, capped by the 15-iyard TD run of junior fullback Doug Wilkening, jwho was subbing for the injured Roger Craig. Key Jrtays in the drive were a 16-yard pass from Gill to senior tight end Jamie Williams, a third-and-10 fyay that gave the Cornhuskers a first down at the ;Auburn 33. i Another third-down play faced Nebraska at the ‘.Tigers’ 30. This time Gill hit junior split end Ricky Simmons for 16 yards and a first down at Auburn’s 17. Wilkening took a handoff from Gill and blasted through the middle of the Auburn defense for a 7 0 lead with 9:54 left in the quarter. On Auburn’s first play from scrimmage, James ‘skirted untouched around right end for what appeared to be the tying touchdown, but the officials ruled he stepped out of bounds at the Nebraska 40. Stunned by the nullification, Auburn .lost yardage on a busted play and an illegal procedure penalty on its next two plays. I Even a personal foul penalty against Nebraska Jwas unable to salvage the drive for Auburn, which Jended as sophomore fullback Ron O’Neal fumbled the ball away at the 32. , – Nebraska’s next drive advanced from its own Z to Auburn’s 46 before senior free safety Mark Dorminey intercepted at the Tigers’ 28. I The interception set up Auburn’s only scoring ‘drive of the game, covering 72 yards in 10 plays. Quarterback Randy Campbell followed a 20-“yard pass completion to junior tight end Ed West ;-with a 25-yard completion to junior split end ‘Chris Woods on back-to-back plays for a first and-goal at the Nebraska seven. On third down, freshman running back Bo Jackson hurtled his 6-foot-1, 224-pound frame over a would-be Nebraska tackier for the score with 1:51 left in the quarter. Auburn stopped Nebraska at the Tigers’ 40 and began another drive, but Nebraska called a time out with the ball on their 32. The strategy effectively stopped Auburn’s momentum and Al Del Greco missed a 46-yard field goal attempt. Nebraska put the game away with touchdowns by Rozier, Mark Schellen and Tim Brungardt in the final quarter against a sagging Aubum defensive unit that saw nearly 37 minutes of action on the day. Auburn takes a 3-1 record against Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky next Saturday in Auburn.