COLLEGE FOOTBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : Down Goes Frazier, Putting Nebraska’s Hopes on Ropes

Had everything gone as planned--and it hasn’t for poor Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier--the Cornhusker star would have sat out Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State, maybe would have played the next week against Kansas State and most definitely would have started against Missouri Oct. 22.

“If nothing unusual develops,” Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne had said.

But then came the news Tuesday that Frazier had developed a second blood clot in his right leg, once again requiring hospitalization. On Wednesday, a doctor recommended surgery and said Frazier should have no physical contact for three to six months, meaning he is lost for the season.

A full recovery, of course, is what matters most.

But the fact remains that Nebraska is a significantly less dangerous team without Frazier in the lineup. Nothing against backup Brook Berringer, who is recovering from a partially collapsed left lung (he’s fine now; no rib damage was discovered), but Nebraska can’t beat Colorado Oct. 29 in Lincoln without Frazier.

Berringer, who was hurt despite wearing a football flak jacket, scored three touchdowns in a 10-point victory against Wyoming last Saturday, but that’s the problem--it was against Wyoming , now 2-3.

Of course, don’t tell Osborne that.

“It was one of the most brutal games I’ve been around in a long time,” he said of the hard hitting.

Berringer, who spent last Saturday night and then Sunday in the hospital, is back at practice and is expected to start against Oklahoma State . . . and Kansas State . . . and every other game remaining on the schedule.

And pity the Cornhuskers if Berringer goes down. Two of Nebraska’s best prospects, scholarship quarterbacks Ben Rutz and Jon Elder, transferred to other schools in the last year because they didn’t want to wait for playing time. That leaves Osborne with the following choices: 1) Berringer; 2) non-scholarship player Matt Turman, a sophomore; 3) safety Tony Veland, a former quarterback switched to defense early in the 1993 season; 4) walk-on Monte Christo, who is recovering from hand surgery; 5) Adam Kucera, a former team trainer; 6) Ryan Held, a converted wide receiver; 7) retirement.

LET’S GET READY TO RUMBBBBLLLLLEEEEEE!

On its way to an NCAA-record 58-game home victory streak, Miami was an underdog a grand total of two times, according to the best guess of the Hurricane sports information department. The games: Against No. 1 Florida State in 1988, against No. 2 Florida State in 1990.

Guess what? They’re dogs again, this time three points . . . at home . . . against No. 3 Florida State.

“It’s like a slap in the face,” Miami defensive lineman Dwayne Johnson said. “Those oddsmakers are funny people. It really doesn’t matter though. The Orange Bowl is our home.”

True to form, the 13th-ranked Hurricanes are doing all the necessary pregame woofing, but facts are facts: Miami is 3-1, doesn’t even lead the Big East Conference, got whipped by Washington at the Orange Bowl and is one loss away from being totally eliminated from the national championship race.

“This game is the one for us to make it or break it,” linebacker Rohan Marley said. “This will decide whether we’re a great team or a mediocre team--and we know we’re not mediocre.”

And this from Hurricane guard Tirrell Greene: “The streak is over. It’s time to start our own streak. We have to put (the Washington loss) behind us. We can’t lose two in a row in the Orange Bowl. We won’t.”

Star defensive tackle Warren Sapp said he became a believer in Miami mystique in 1984, the year he bet $20 on the Hurricanes to lose to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Miami won; he lost. “And I said then I’d never go against the Hurricanes in a big game again in my life.”

According to Sapp, there is no bigger game than the one against Florida State.

“There’s not a day I go without thinking of this game,” he said. “It’s what you live for. It’s what men are made of. You’ve got to be a real man to step out on that field and go four quarters with Florida State.”

Miami has won seven of the last nine games against Florida State, but lost last year at Tallahassee. The Hurricanes, though, are 4-1 against the Seminoles when Florida State is ranked higher.

WILL YOU BE MY FRIEND?

Does anybody like Lou?

Last week it was Stanford Coach Bill Walsh who nearly backpedaled his way into San Francisco Bay after someone asked him about calling Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz “a spoiled brat” in a recently published book. Now the intrigue continues.

During his weekly Sunday news conference, Holtz was asked about first-year Boston College Coach Dan Henning, whose Eagles play the Irish Saturday at B.C.’s Alumni Stadium. That’s when Holtz, after calling Henning “an intelligent individual,” mentioned their relationship years ago at William & Mary. Holtz was an assistant coach, Henning was a quarterback.

“You know, I read a comment the other day where he said we didn’t get along then,” Holtz said. “I didn’t realize that. But I have tried to help him every way possible.”

Holtz then listed the favors, including a job offer and job recommendations.

“Dan was out of coaching and working as a night watchman at the World Trade Center and he called me and I hired him,” Holtz said of the offer that brought Henning to the New York Jets.

When told of Holtz’s remarks a day later, Henning said he recalled making no such derogatory statements, praised the Notre Dame coach, but also never exactly called Holtz one of his favorite pals.

“He’s one of the most clever people I’ve ever met, one of the most committed coaches I’ve ever met,” said Henning, whose career included a so-so stay with the San Diego Chargers.

Pressed later about the relationship, a testy Henning added: “As I said, he’s one of the cleverest individuals I’ve ever met. Self made. When I first knew him he didn’t do all that magic. Then when I went to work for him with the Jets, he’d escalated to the point where he could fool anybody with the magic tricks. Tremendous speaker. I don’t think he was a great speaker when I first met him. He is motivated. He has a way with words. He’s very clever as a football coach, as an individual and a very difficult opponent to figure out and I wouldn’t even begin to (try).”

Memo to Holtz: Walsh isn’t making many friends himself these days. The guy spends half his time apologizing to other coaches (Jim Lambright at Washington, John Robinson at USC and now Holtz) for things he insists he didn’t say or were taken out of context. And trust us, Henning is no prize, either. His personality is as sour as three-month-old milk.

THE REST

Colorado running back Rashaan Salaam insists he isn’t a Heisman Trophy candidate, but his statistics and his coach say otherwise. Salaam is third in total rushing yards (727), third in yards per carry (6.8) and first in yards per game (181.7). Against Texas last week he gained 317 yards in 35 carries and also caught five passes. All this from someone who played eight-man football at La Jolla Country Day. “With Salaam, when I first saw him in person,” Colorado Coach Bill McCartney said, “I just said, ‘ That is a good-looking child.”’ . . . It’s official: You now can take Syracuse’s Paul Pasqualoni off the endangered coaches list. The Orangemen are 4-1, just beat then-14th-ranked Virginia Tech and will enter their next two games--Pittsburgh and Temple--as considerable favorites. Syracuse could have been undefeated but blew a late lead in the season opener against Oklahoma. Pasqualoni isn’t complaining. After some experts chose the Orangemen 1993 preseason No. 1s, Syracuse finished 6-4-1, which prompted rumors of Pasqualoni’s firing and the return of popular former coach Dick MacPherson. “We wanted to show, ‘Hey, this is Syracuse and we can still play football around here,’ ” Pasqualoni said. . . . When Notre Dame plays Boston College Saturday at 44,000-seat Alumni Stadium, it will mark the smallest crowd the Irish have played in front of since 1982, when they traveled to Oregon in 1982--announced attendance, 40,381. It could have been worse, Alumni Stadium was recently expanded by 12,000 seats.

With conference games remaining against the likes of Ohio State and Wisconsin on the road and Penn State and Michigan at home, go ahead and kiss Illinois’ Rose Bowl chances goodby. “No one is going to the Rose Bowl with two losses,” Illini Coach Lou Tepper told reporters after last week’s upset defeat to Purdue. “We’ve wasted one already.” Illinois, one of our preseason longshots for stardom, has the nation’s best defense, but has an offense from the Dark Ages. . . . Taking advantage of an invitation by Stanford’s Walsh, director, actor and New York Knick nut Spike Lee, who can’t stand Notre Dame, spent last week with the Cardinal, going so far as to eat meals with the team and walking the sideline during Saturday’s loss to the Irish. Notre Dame players weren’t amused and afterward started shouting, “This is where it’s at! This is where it’s at!” . . . No. 1-ranked Florida continues to astound and amaze. The Gators have yet to give up a second-half point. Against Mississippi last Saturday, they didn’t allow the Rebels past the 50-yard line in the last two quarters. Ole Miss offensive tackle James Holcombe, a fifth-year senior, said Florida defensive end Kevin Carter was the best player he had ever seen and ever played against. And Ole Miss defensive back Derek Jones said Jack Jackson, who caught six passes for 120 yards and two scores for the Gators, was the best receiver he had ever defended.

Add Jackson: The junior wide receiver played at Moss Point High in Mississippi, but never once considered signing with the Rebels. The reason: the sight of Confederate flags on campus and at games. “How can they say the school has banned the flag when you see them everywhere?” Jackson told Rick Cleveland of the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger. “If it were up to me, they would be 0 and 11 every year and they’d never get a black player.” . . . After three consecutive victories against ranked opponents-- Wisconsin, at Michigan and at Texas--Colorado gets a one-game reprieve against miserable Missouri on Saturday and then faces three more teams currently ranked in the Associated Press top 25--Oklahoma (12), Kansas State (19), at Nebraska (2).

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Rec. 1. Florida 4-0 2. Nebraska 5-0 3. Colorado 4-0 4. Penn State 5-0 5. Florida State 4-0 6. Arizona 4-0 7. Notre Dame 4-1 8. Michigan 3-1 9. Auburn 5-0 10. Washington 3-1

Waiting list: Texas A&M; (4-0), Alabama (5-0), Miami (3-1), Colorado State (5-0), Oklahoma (3-1).