After picking Tommie Frazier as his starting quarterback in the Orange Bowl, Nebraska coach Tom Osborne expressed confidence in the doctor who's been treating Frazier for blood clots.
"The guy who has been treating him is the guy who operated on my heart," said Osborne, who had double-bypass surgery in 1985. "When he's got your heart stopped, laying out on a table, you tend to put a lot of confidence in what he says."But Miami linebacker Rohan Marley suggested that playing against the Hurricanes could be hazardous to Frazier's health.
"I hope he's ready," Marley said. "I'd hate to see him have to go back to his doctor after the game."
Osborne announced Thursday that Frazier will start on New Year's night instead of Brook Berringer, who was 7-0 as a starter for the top-ranked Cornhuskers after Frazier was sidelined by blood clots in late September.
Osborne said he picked Frazier because he played better in last Saturday's scrimmage, his first contact since the Pacific game on Sept. 24.
"Brook had a couple of turnovers and Tommie didn't have any," Osborne said at the Orange Bowl. "It was just the luck of the draw, almost like a coin toss."
Although Frazier will start, Osborne said Berringer also will play against No. 3 Miami. How much and when will depend on how the game goes.
"It could be a deal where one guy plays most of the time and the other guy plays a few series, or it could be 50-50," Osborne said. "We'll just play it by ear."
It will be the third Orange Bowl start for Frazier, who played in losses to Florida State the past two years. Frazier, who is 20-3 as a starter, was considered a Heisman Trophy contender before getting blood clots in his right leg.