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. . 1 i~ { .. .i _* " I I I I "'ft -s 4 'ft * ft 'i" 4 9f. -fY 'I! - 'yt ft F * ft - ft ft k >f ' -ftz 4t .3, +d ftft' A1 ft.. -F } k -S reI Save The People You Call UpTo 44%.