FIESTA BOWL / Nebraska 62, Florida 24 : Practice Helps Donahue in the Big Game

TEMPE, Ariz. —  Terry Donahue had just come out of a morning production meeting at the CBS hotel here, and he was a nervous wreck.

“Boy, will I be glad when this night is over,” he said, shaking his head. “I just hope I do a good job.”

Donahue by nature is a nervous type. He worries about everything. But on this day, the Wizard of Worry, as he has been called, had reason to worry.

How would you like to break in on a new job with 40 million people looking on? Now, that’s what you call tough on-the-job training.

But all things considered, CBS’ new college football commentator, after overcoming his pregame jitters, had a good night at the Fiesta Bowl. At least a better one than Steve Spurrier.

CBS was asking a lot of Donahue, who Dec. 25 was still a football coach. The network let him do one practice game, Friday’s Sun Bowl. Then it was on to the big time in prime time.

So, was he more nervous Tuesday than he was before his first game as UCLA’s head coach?

“No, not that nervous,” he said. “Well, maybe I am.”

Donahue said his first game as the Bruins’ coach, coincidentally, was also here at Sun Devil Stadium. On Sept. 9, 1976, the Donahue-coached Bruins defeated a Frank Kush-coached Arizona State team that had finished the previous season undefeated and ranked third in the nation.

“Hey, we got our opening,” play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz said.

And sure enough, when CBS came on the air with its game coverage Tuesday night, Nantz mentioned that Donahue had had a successful coaching debut at Sun Devil Stadium.

“I’m just as nervous now as I was back then,” Donahue said, wisely not trying to hide it.

And he immediately showed it by calling Nantz “Steve.”

Donahue appeared more nervous for Tuesday night’s game than he did for his CBS debut on Friday. But once he settled down, he began to click.

He made a number of good points, such as Nebraska believing it could win if it stopped Florida’s running game.

And he showed more zest than he did in his debut. He was a bit bland during Iowa’s lopsided victory over Washington in the Sun Bowl. But that was by design.

“I wanted to concentrate on the fundamentals,” Donahue said. “I’ve got so much to learn.”

Production chief Rick Gentile, who made the decision to hire Donahue and start him on a national championship game, said, “We got everything we expected to get out of him.”

One thing it got Tuesday night was an improved voice from Friday. It wasn’t nearly as raspy.

“I don’t know what the problem was,” he said. “I think I was just tired, what with all the travel.”

Donahue returned with the Bruins from the Aloha Bowl in Honolulu on Dec. 26, went to El Paso the next day, and 36 hours later officially began his new profession.

“This has been the wildest eight days of my life,” said Donahue, who said he has not had any contact with anyone about a return to coaching.

Saturday night, after arriving in the Phoenix area, Donahue, Nantz, producer Craig Silver and other members of the crew that warmed up for the Fiesta Bowl by working the Sun Bowl spent more than six hours critiquing their work.

“They seemed to be pretty pleased, but they also told me to take it up a notch,” Donahue said.

And that’s what he did.

“He’s going to be tremendous,” Nantz said. “By the middle of next season, no one will be able to say otherwise.”

Said Gentile: “Terry was fine. Everyone was fine.”

Well, sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who generally did OK, came up with a pretty good gaffe in the second quarter, when she continued to talk about something or other during most of Lawrence Phillips’ 42-yard touchdown run.

Maybe the most impressive thing Donahue did during his first two CBS telecasts came Friday, when he stopped in mid-sentence after an official turned on his microphone to explain a call.

Donahue was not the only impressive CBS rookie. So was Boomer Esiason. But Bill Cosby stole some of his thunder during a pregame skit.

After Cosby made a nifty catch of an Esiason pass, the New York Jet quarterback said, “You can play on my team any time.”

Said Cosby: “OK, and what is that team you’ll be playing for?”

Overall, it was a pretty good night for CBS. The only really bad part was the final score.

“We may have seen the greatest team in the history of college football,” CBS’ new commentator concluded.