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Buffalo 9 Washington 30 Tampa Bay 13 N.Y.Jets 23 Houston 38 Seattle 31
MFL Foolball Miami 6 Pittsburgh 29 Green Bay 10 Cleveland 3 LA. Raiders 35 Kansas City 10
Chicago 17 Nev Orleans 29 San Francisco 20 Denver 34 Minnesota 36 LA. Rams 17 Cincinnati 28
Indianapolis 13 Atlanta 21 N.Y. Giants 17 San Diego 3 New England 6 Detroit 10 Philadelphia 24
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Oklahoma running back Anthony Stafford leaps over the goal
For Oklahoma, 9
out of 10 ain't bad
By ANDREW PODOLSKY
Assistant Sports Editor
Okay, so North Carolina got
zapped 28-0 by Oklahoma -again.
You know the score, but
how about an explanation?
I submit two reasons for Satur
day's result: Oklahoma's speed
and Oklahoma's Option Offense
(believe me, it warrants capital
letters).
Did UNC do a good job stop
ping it? Was it clicking for Okla
homa? Will OU be able to effec
tively run it for the rest of the year?
Answers: no, sort of and probably.
Saturday's game didn't present
much of a test for the fourth
ranked Sooners. It just gave them
a chance to look at the condition
of their offense.
Notice how Oklahoma didn't
celebrate after every score, simply
looking around and trying to
figure out what worked and what .
didn't on each . touchdown . run.
They were quiet and efficient.
Yes, the Sooners executed the
option well on Saturday, and
much of their success can be
attributed to the fact they are
simply a much, much faster team
than the Tar Heels.
But Oklahoma was deceivingly
successful. Time after time, the
UNC defense seemed to have a
pretty good angle to cut off the
corner and stop the option, but
the Tar Heels kept getting burned.
It is by design that the OU
offense gets into a position where
its superior athletic ability can take
over.
As if to make the Tar Heels feel
even worse, Sooner coach Barry
Switzer said his squad is not as
fast this year as they were last year.
But they were fast enough.
On almost every one of Okla
homa's 71 running plays, the
quarterback (either Jamelle Holie
way or Charles Thompson)
flipped to a trailing tailback
(usually Anthony Stafford), or.
simply tucked the ball under his
arm and ripped upfield. Either
way, the result was the same
gobs and gobs of yards, 391 of
them by game's end.
Simply, the Sooners just
couldn't be stopped. There are
only two reasons why the-score
wasn't worse one is that the
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wishbone-set offense was slowed
by muddy, slightly wet conditions,
and the other is with seven fumbles
the Sooners missed a lot of open
field opportunities. , -
"We still need to work on some
things," Stafford said. "We're
good, but we could be better. We
really need to hold onto the ball
better."
Holieway also explained the
potential the option gives the
Sooners. "We ran the ball really
well, and the option was working
today," he said. "If we can keep
doing what we did today, no one
can stop us."
It's clear that the Tar Heels
never really stopped the option.
But what may not be clear is that
they were successful in containing
it, but with very broad boundaries.
After all, Oklahoma didn't bust
any 85- or 90-yard runs, just a lot
of 10-and 15-yarders.
But that's just the way Switzer
likes it. Consistent, but not flashy.
It seems as though Switzer has
his team operating on a much
more subtle offense. It's early, but
this year may see a change in the
way football is played in Norman,
Okla.
Switzer may finally realize that
if Oklahoma is ever going to beat
teams like Miami and win another
national championship, he's going
to have to try some new things.
They don't want to be flashy
(like Miami) and fill the air with
passes. They don't want to be
brash (like Nebraska) and jam the
ball down opposing defenses'
throats with up-the-middle run
ning. Rather! they just want to
win. The Sooners want quiet
efficiency, and the consistency to
run for about 10 yards on every
play.
If they can do that, Oklahoma
will be successful. Every Saturday
Beano Cook will cut into a game
and show a 93-yard pass from a
Miami game, or a 75-yard tackle
breaking run from a Nebraska
game. But if Switzer has his way,
every Oklahoma highlight will be
the same a Sooner option play
that picks up a first down every,
time.
So how much of that success
See SOONERS page 4
fto-sr v.-.-.- s
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12The Daily Tar HeelMonday, September 12, 1988
i -
DTHDavid Minton
line for the third touchdown of Saturday's 28-0 Sooner win
Young
UNG
By CHRIS SPENCER
Assistant Sports Editor
They Ve played at home and they've
played away. They Ve seen top pass
ing, and they've seen the best running
game in the land. And they've played
two of the top teams in the nation
in the process.
But the best thing about North
Carolina's early-season football
schedule is that it's over.
"Right now, after this game, I
consider us 0-0," Tar Heel defensive
tackle Cecil Gray said after Satur
day's 28-0 loss to Oklahoma. "That
was the opening part of our season,
and it's over. That's the thing I want
German stairs as oetters ciryise at home
By DOUG HOOGERVORST
Staff Writer
North Carolina's volleyball team
was a double-winner on Saturday,
beating UNC-Asheville in an after
noon matchup and East Carolina
later that same evening. .
The two victories, combined with
one Friday night over Appalachian
State, gave the Tar Heels a perfect
3-0 record in the All-Carolina Classic
over the weekend. Those victories
also ensured that North Carolina will
be an undefeated 4-0 heading into its
first ACC matchup at Virginia
Tuesday.
North Carolina had little trouble
defeating UNC-Asheville, sweeping
three games, 15-2, 15-3, 15-5. The Tar
Heels raced out to an early 10-0 lead
in the first game and never looked
back. ,
The Tar Heels' Sharon German set
the tone for the match when she
spiked through' a Bulldog block to
get the side-out. German was dom
inating throughout the tournament,
hitting massive kills from what
seemed to be all angles. That dom
inance earned her the classic Most
-Valuable Player award.
German wasn't the only player
causing the Bulldogs headaches;
seniors Sherri Vogel and Andrea
Wells along with sophomore Liz Berg
were causing plenty of trouble. Wells,
like German, was dominating at the
net, causing the Asheville blockers to
tremble with each UNC set.
Vogel was the prime setter for the
hard-hitting combo of German and
Wells. With near-pinpoint accuracy,
Vogel could set the ball for either
German or Wells to kill with ease.
The sophomore Berg seemed to be
wherever she was needed to earn the
Soooe
it-
team
to tell anyone who comes to see us .
play I guarantee we will be better."
Gray didn't seem too upset with
his squad's loss, which came one week
after Todd Ellis and his merry band
of Gamecocks downed the Tar Heels
31-10. He shouldn't have been wor
ried about his performance all he
did was net five tackles and the Tar
Heels' only sack. '
He sat there in a grey, sweat-soaked ;
UNC football T-shirt and game
pants, seeming disappointed with the
loss, but not too upset. After all, this
was Oklahoma, and the Tar Heels
knew that speed was going to be a
big factor in the game. They also
point; whether it was at the net for
a kill, on the floor for a dig or behind
the baseline hitting one of her
effective jump serves.
Though Vogel, German, Wells and
Berg were instrumental in the opening
run, the match was a team effort.
UNC used all 14 players, giving coach
Peggy Bradley-Doppes a good
opportunity to look at her younger
players.
"It's been a great opportunity for
me to see the younger players come
up in a starting position and to see
how they handle the pressure,"
Bradley-Doppes said. "I'm real
pleased with the performance level
and I think our intensity was real
good."
In fact, the "inexperienced" under
classmensix freshmen and three
sophomores looked very poised.
"Sometimes when you're playing
against a team that either isn't that
experienced or just isn't having a
good day, there is a real tendency to
let down," Bradley-Doppes said.
"Especially if you're playing younger
players, it's almost like 'Well come
down to your level,' and I think the
kids did a good job of keeping a high
level of play with using all the
different personnel."
Bradley-Doppes was also able to
experiment with different lineups by
using so many players. ,v
"What we're trying to do is to use'
as much manpower as we can to give
us five or six different lineups," she
said. "We want to establish a tall
blocking lineup; we want to establish
a quick defensive lineup; then we
want to establish a nice combination
of the two. That is what these matches
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9
Oklahoma rolls up 463
yards
, wins
drop
s second straight
By MIKE BERARDINO
Sports Editor
, An interesting parallel existed
Saturday between the North Carolina
football team and its home field,
Kenan Stadium.
For starters, both underwent
extensive offseason renovations, the
aim of the projects being to bring both
entities into the modenvera of college
football. 1
Moreover, on Saturday, just as the '
remodeling of Kenan was still slightly
incomplete, so was that of the Tar
Heels. In that respect, first-year UNC
coach Mack Brown and the Metric
Construction Company were in the
same boat, as fourth-ranked. Okla
homa and ESPN's national television
cameras came to town.
. And while some "cosmetic" work
in the next two weeks should finally
have Kenan up to snuff, Saturday's
28-0 loss to the Sooners provided at
least some evidence Brown's program
may look, a lot better, too, when the
hapless Louisville Cardinals' arrive
Sept. 24.
"We're disappointed in the loss, but
we played an outstanding team,"
Brown said of Oklahoma, where he
was offensive coodinator in 1984.
"The old saying, 'They dont rebuild,
they reload,' was pretty obvious. But
our young guys hung in there and
fought 'em."
North Carolina dropped to 0-2
with the loss, which came one week
after a 31-10 pasting courtesy of then
No. 19 South Carolina. Oklahoma
I ear ti i n
knew that they would see more
running plays than they would ever
want to.
But one thing that seems to set this
Tar Heel team off from past ones is
its use of young, players. Saturday,
the Tar Heels started three redshirt
freshmen and three true freshmen.
Junior-college transfer Willie Joe
Walker, a defensive tackle, could also
be counted among those new to the
program. ,
One of the true freshmen, line
backer Karekin Cunningham, had
seven tackles Saturday, giving him 18
for the season's first two games.
Pretty impressive numbers for ' a
ir T....-.-'.W.wV.v.s'-.v " '
UNC's Ann Schlldmeyer goes up
are giving us an opportunity to do."
North Carolina's matchup with
East Carolina went much the same
way the match with UNC Asheville
did. The Tar Heels swept the Pirates
in three games (15-2, 15-2, 15-7), and
Bradley-Doppes utilized all 14 of her
troops once more.
After four tune-ups, the Tar Heels
n.
28 - 0; -
won its season opener in its first game
action since losing 20-14 to Miami
in January's Orange Bowl showdown
for the mythical national
championship. X ' ; ,
The fuiai score was identical to that
, of last year's game in Norman, Okla.
The Sooners' vaunted wishbone
attack sputtered on the first series of .
the game, but Oklahoma came back
with touchdown drives of 71; 80 and
79 yards on its next three possessions.
Senior quarterback Jamelle Holie-
way led the first and last of those"
marches, while his backup, superf
quick sophomore Charles Thomp
son, supervised the middle one and
completed it with an 8-yard jaunt. X
The Sooners other two first-half
TDs came on a 2-yard plunge by Leori
Perry and Anthony Stafford's 1-yarcl
trampoline tumble on fourth and
inches.
Oklahoma's final points came on
the Sooners' initial possession of the
third period, as Holieway steered the
team 88 yards in 12 plays and capped
the drive himself with a 4-yard run
around left end.
"They have outstanding speed; it's
just unbelievable," Brown said. "We
were concerned coming into the
ballgame that you cannot near put
on the picture of their speed during
the week (in practice). ; But we had
to adjust to those angles because they
just beat us outside for the first two
touchdowns and were making some
See FOOTBALL page 1 0
freshman. v .
Eric Blount, another true fresh
man, made his-first start Saturday.
The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Ayden
native returned punts and saw plenty
of action at flanker, snaring two
passes for 37 yards. '
"I knew when I signed with UNC
that we would play teams like Okla
homa, so I wasnt really surprised,"
he said. "At first, I was kind of scared,
but as it went on, I got more
confidence. They had great team
speed on defense, and they're not
ranked third (actually fourth) for
See HEELS page 10
5 r .
. DTHDavid Minton
for a block in a volleyball win :
head into their tough ACC schedule.
Bradley-Doppes said she expects
Duke, N.C. State and UNC to be the
favorites in the race, but expects a
tough match with Virginia. The Tar
Heels "spanked" the Cavaliers in
three games last year, and Doppes
hopes to visit Charlottesville Tuesday
and repeat last year's result:
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