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HUSKERS: Seniors brave cold during final home practice
BY KEN HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal Star
Ralph Brown and 27 of his teammates took their last half-mile sprint across the frozen Ed Weir Track, through the snow-whitened Memorial Stadium into the tunnel from the Cook Pavilion to the Nebraska football locker rooms.
"I'm not going to miss the cold, but I'll miss everything else," said the All-American cornerback. "But even that cold in December gets to be a part of this all and I love everything about it. I guess it will hit all of us seniors, eventually."
Brown and his teammates completed their last practice in Lincoln Tuesday before leaving for the Jan. 2 Fiesta Bowl on Christmas Eve.
"The practices have been as good as any we had since I've been here," said Brown, whose class posted a 56-7 record, two national championships and two Big 12 championships. Brown started in every game since arriving at Nebraska in the fall of 1996. "I think we're ready to get down to Arizona, really focus on Tennessee and get going full speed for that game."
The No. 3-ranked Huskers, 11-1, face No. 6-ranked Tennessee, 9-2, in a 7 p.m. game (ABC-TV) in Sun Devil Stadium near Phoenix. Nebraska could finish as high as No. 2 with a victory over the 1998 national champions.
"This is our national championship game because it's the best game we could get this year," said senior linebacker Eric Johnson, who went to Alhambra High School in Phoenix. "It seems that it's the best game Tennessee could get, so we're practicing like for this like we're playing for everything."
Husker second-year head coach Frank Solich said his team accomplished everything it set out to do in the workouts since winning the Big 12 championship game over Texas Dec. 4 in San Antonio, Texas. "We've gotten to the issues on offense and defense we wanted to address in the practices here and I think, like almost all year, we got the effort and intensity we come to expect from this team."
Solich said Tennessee's improved running game, as well as a strong running quarterback (Tee Martin), heightened the need for defensive work the last two weeks. He said the Huskers offense also needed to work on timing, execution and consistency to keep live up to his expectations.
"This group has been exceptional in practices, except for the struggle in mid-year after the loss to Texas (Oct. 24) and I've been pleased with the discipline they've maintained," Solich said. "Most of that is due to our senior leadership and we have a lot of great senior leaders on this team."
Johnson has always been one of the best leaders in practice, according to Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride. "When you've got guys like Eric Johnson, everybody around him wants to practice like he does. I think he lives for practice as much fun as he has every day," McBride said.
Johnson said his motivation was simple -- don't look back and think about something you could have done. "Do it all right now as best as you can," he said. "Our defense is all like that. We get to practicing like there is no more practice. And for some of us, it's becoming a reality.
"We tell the younger guys, Randy Stella, Blanchard Johnson, Scott Shanle, that it's going to go so fast, you won't believe it. You better make the most out of every minute you've got here. I remember Michael Booker (former Husker, now Atlanta Falcons) telling me the same thing when I got here. It goes by so fast."
That's why Johnson and his teammates jumped on the chance to practice fundamentals of defense the last two weeks.
"Sure, we know it, but it's not the same as practicing the basics," he said. "Coach McBride always talks about how simple this game is -- the offense blocks and the defense tackles. It's the practicing that makes the difference between a good and a great team.
"That's why we're up for this game and all the work that leads up to it. The energy level of the whole team is up. We still get on each other like we were playing tomorrow and that's been important to our success this year and every year."
Johnson said he even solved his most severe challenge of late. A Phoenix native, Johnson had to come up with 32 tickets for family, friends and former coaches. Teammate Mike Brown, a Phoenix native, already made his trades with the defensive backs and defensive tackle Jon Clanton, also of the Phoenix area, made deals with defensive line teammates for his ticket needs.
"I made all my trades for the Big 12 championship with some of our guys from Texas and some of our freshmen, and I think I've got everybody taken care of," he said.
NOTEBOOK
-- Frank Solich, the Big 12 Coach of the Year, was named the DAC National Coach of the Year by the Downtown Athletic Club of Glenwood, Iowa. Solich is the sixth recipient of the award, joining Tom Osborne (1994), Gary Barnett of Northwestern (1995), Bruce Snyder of Arizona State (1996), Missouri's Larry Smith (1997) and Bill Snyder of Kansas State ("98). The trophy is named the "Tom Osborne Trophy."
-- The Huskers will take the next two days off and leave for the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., Friday morning. Nebraska will workout briefly Christmas Eve and have a full-pads practice Christmas Day. Tuesday, the final day of workouts in Lincoln, the Huskers worked out in sweats. Tight end Tracey Wistrom did not return to practice, but is expected to workout in Tempe.
-- Although the Huskers can't have bowl site visits from recruits in Arizona, Solich said the benefits are still important. "First, it's a prestigious bowl game, on national TV, and that has a great impact on recruiting," he said.
-- Defensive tackle Steve Warren and defensive backs Ralph Brown and Mike Brown will play in the Senior Bowl. Linebackers Eric Johnson and Tony Ortiz will play in the East-West Shrine Game and rush end Aaron Wills, punter Dan Hadenfeldt and Johnson will play in the Hula Bowl.
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