Horns-Aggies change shouldn't affect NU-CU
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By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
With this year’s Texas-Texas A&M football showdown moved to Thanksgiving night for an ESPN broadcast, some wondered what this meant for the Nebraska-Colorado game.
Like the Horns and Aggies, NU and CU have clashed on the Friday after Thanksgiving since 1996, the games being nationally televised by ABC.
As of now, it looks like the Huskers and Buffs will continue with their day-after-turkey ritual.
Tim Allen, associate commissioner for the Big 12, said it’s safe to say “the Nebraska-Colorado game will remain on Friday for telecast by ABC.”
Bob Burda, the Big 12’s assistant commissioner for communications, said despite the UT-A&M move, the Big 12 still maintains one of its Friday game slots with ABC.
“Our understanding from ABC is that it plans to cover Nebraska-Colorado in the foreseeable future,” Burda said.
Nebraska has played on the Friday after Thanksgiving since 1990. For six years, the Huskers played Oklahoma in that slot before the emergence of the Big 12.
In 2009, Nebraska does not have a bye week heading into the Colorado game (the Huskers are slated to play Kansas State the Saturday before), which would make it a short week if the NU-CU game remains on a Friday.
Bowman shows speed
Zack Bowman might have made himself a decent chunk of change on Tuesday at the NFL combine in Indianapolis.
The former Husker cornerback posted a 40-yard dash time clocked by some scouts at 4.38 seconds, one of the faster times at the combine. He also bench-pressed the standard 225 pounds 18 times, which is a formidable showing by a defensive back.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Bowman was thought by many scouts to be a first-round talent after the 2005 Alamo Bowl, where he had five pass breakups and one interception against Michigan.
But two serious knee injuries dampened his college career and his draft stock wavered.
Despite that, he got an invite to the combine, where many scouts were anxious to see exactly how fast he could run after the injuries.
While preparing for the combine, Bowman recently wrote a diary for nflplayers.com.
About his injuries, Bowman wrote: “It actually made me value football a lot more. It wasn’t just a game to me. It was something that I loved doing and that I had a passion for. There are guys who go out here and actually think it’s just for fun, but once you’re taken away from it, then you really respect it. When you get injured like that, it’s tough.”
Bowman didn’t hide the fact that the combine is an intimidating thing for a football player.
“With the NFL combine just a few days away, I’m actually getting nervous,” he wrote. “I’ve had dreams about it, which could be a bad thing, but overall I’m pretty excited about going there and showing teams, scouts and coaches what I can do. One of the main things I want to do is go out there and run and show everybody that I still have my speed. I’m sure I’ll end up doing well so stay tuned.”
Dealing with ESPN
It was announced this week that ESPN will continue televising regular-season Big 12 football games, part of new a two-year agreement with Fox Sports Net.
According to the agreement, seven games will be broadcast by ESPN or ESPN2 during the 2008 season. Only two of the seven have so far been decided, one of them being the Texas-Texas A&M Thanksgiving game.
The other game selected is a Thursday contest in Boulder between Colorado and West Virginia on Sept. 18.
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
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