The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 19, 1996 - 13A
.Von der Ahe paces Arizona State defense against 'Huskers
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Arizona
State middle linebacker Scott Von
der Ahe usually plays best in big
gaies.
the Sun Devils can only hope that
is :te case Saturday night when they
will try to avoid becoming top-
nked Nebraska's 27th consecutive
ctim.
He has come up big in the past,"
ltnbackers coach Lyle Setencich
soi4. "We need him to come up big in
this game, too."
Yon der Ahe had 10 solo tackles
a~1d3 overall, both career highs, last
year against eventual Pac-10 champi-
oiSouthern California.
His next-best game - 11 tackles,
seminoles
battle
Wolfpack
bn road
°ALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Florida
Siate is itching to play another game,
which could mean additional trouble
foi North Carolina State.
::hile some teams in college foot-
bl:have played three games and a
n1gJority have played two, the third-
ed Seminoles are 1-0 and have
Ito wait 11 days before playing the
Wolfpack tonight.
To make matters worse, Florida
State has had terrible practice weath-
er this week, with outside workouts
called off Monday and shortened
Tuesday because of heavy rain.
"It seems like the season is halfway
over and we haven't got but one game
under our belt," Florida State coach
*obby Bowden said yesterday.
"I think our kids would go
absolutely crazy if we had another
open date, and there probably would-
n't be any room in the crazy house
because the coaches would already be
there," Bowden added.
Bowden said he and his staff have
tinkered with the team's offense since
a 44-7 win over Duke on Sept. 7 in
which the Seminoles gained an
ncbaracteristically low 221 yards
d averaged 3.8 yards a play.
"We need to try (the offense) again
against another football team and see
if we're on the right road," Bowden
said.
The Seminoles, who have
outscored the Wolfpack 173-23 in the
last-three Atlantic Coast Conference
meetings, might also want to look
sharp in front of a national television
dience and poll voters, considering
o. 2 Tennessee plays No. 4 Florida
Saturday.
"I would like to be impressive
eyery time we play. I don't know how
much our kids think about it, I think
about it because people call me and
ask me about it, but I'm more con-
cerned about LSU and Auburn," said
Bowden, whose son coaches at
Auburn.
The Wolfpack (0-1) hasn't been
mpetitive against the Seminoles
since a 34-13 loss in Raleigh in 1992,
coach Dick Sheridan's last season at
k.C. State.
"I can see a difference in maturity,
het I don't see a difference in their
lHeart and in their fight," Bowden said
rvhen asked about the Wolfpack's tal-
ent level.
N.C. State has turned the ball over
17 times in the last three games against
Seminoles, including six lost fum-
bles in an embarrassing 77-17 loss last
season in Tallahassee, Fla. The loss
vas the most lopsided in ACC history.
"There shouldn't be any pressure,
nobody gives us a shot to win the
thing," Wolfpack coach Mike O'Cain
laid. "A pregame speech is not going
to beat Florida State. We talk all week
4bout the little things that you have to
lo.
"The first thing that I did talk to
the team) about was believing that
you can win. As far fetched as that
deems, you think people thought
Wake Forest was going to beat
Northwestern? Heck no, but they did.
How about Southwest Louisiana and
Texas A&M? So every week there is
one, why can't it be us?"
4iOLF
otned from Page 11
not sure that we are strong enough
top to bottom to win this year.
If individual performances are
good, than we will place well,"
Teichert added.
including seven solo - came
against the Cornhuskers.
But that was something like doing
a sand painting in a twister: Nobody
noticed afterward because Nebraska
gained 680 yards, scored 10 touch-
downs from scrimmage and beat
Arizona State 77-28.
"We were kind -of shaking our
heads, saying, 'Man, this team is
good,"' quarterback Jake Plummer
said.
"They knew we could move the
ball offensively, and they didn't even
care about that. Their offense was so
powerful it didn't matter if we scored
55 points. They still would have
beaten us."
The game accelerated Arizona
State's descent to the bottom in Pac-
10 defensive statistics, where the Sun
Devils finished last
in rushing and
passing yardageW
allowed, scoring We
defense, sacks and
preventing other rey n
teams from suc-
ceeding on thirdd
down.
The Sun Devils
return nine defen- Arizor
sive starters, and
Von der Ahe says they are "faster,
stronger and bigger.
"But the main difference is you
know what to do. I mean, the first
game last year, I was just running
around half the time and never knew
what to do
ve got to
our
Pe to win"
Scott Von der Ahe
na State linebacker
a better defense helped
until way
into the
season.
Now it
seems like
the whole
defense has
the con-
cept."
T h e
prospect of
Arizona State
After two wins, they have moved
from No. 20 to No. 17.
Still, the improvement isn't readily
apparent. The Sun Devils allowed
Washington to score three TDs in the
last eight minutes before beating the
Huskies by a field goal. And they
have yielded 49 points to 43 at this
stage a year ago.
But Von der Ahe believes his unit
will make a better showing against
Nebraska, a 55-14 winner over
Michigan State so far.
"We've got to rely on our defense
to win," he said. "I mean, to beat
Nebraska you've got to outscore
them, and that means you've got to
do something to their offense."
Forcing turnovers may help
although he said the Huskers are so
productive turnovers don't always
affect their games.
"Even if they put the ball on the
ground one time, they can still have
nine times where they don't," Von
der Ahe said.
Still, Von der Ahe hopes almost
everyone will be able to run with the
Huskers, who taught Arizona State'
new meaning for speed last year.
"Nebraska is like a different kind
of speed," he said. "You've got to be
on your horse and running, or you're
going to be on the ground some-
where. You've got to make quick
decisions."
to a preseason ranking for the first
time in nine years.
.
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