FOOTBALL'S WEEK
THE SOUTH
THE TOP THREE:
1. KENTUCKY (3-0)
2. ALABAMA (3-0)
3. LSU (2-0)
While KENTUCKY was making Auburn and the rest of the Southeastern Conference sit up and take notice, MISSISSIPPI was still in a state of shock from its losing game against the Wildcats a week earlier. Houston had Ole Miss on the run for more than a half until Quarterback Jim Weatherly threw and ran for touchdowns and the tough Cougars succumbed 31-9.
Alabama, too, sputtered for a while against Vanderbilt. After a scoreless first half Joe Namath, the quarterback the pros covet most, passed for two touchdowns and ran 15 yards for a third, leading 'Bama to victory 24-0. TENNESSEE dusted off the old Statute of Liberty play to spring Hal Wantland for a 13-yard run that put the Vols ahead of Mississippi State 14-7. Perhaps aroused by this bit of trickery, State attempted some of its own when it scored later in the game. The Maroons faked a kick for the extra point and then passed instead. But Tennessee stopped the play cold and won the game 14-13.
Maryland's Tom Nugent was another who got too cagey. After his Terps took a 13-0 lead over NORTH CAROLINA STATE, Nugent decided to try for two points "to make State go for two" if it scored. It was disastrous strategy. Maryland failed, and when the Wolfpack caught up on Charlie Noggles' second touchdown all it needed was a kick by Gus Andrews to win 14-13. Wake Forest's bubble popped. NORTH CAROLINA closed in on the Deacons' sweeps and whipped them 23-0. VIRGINIA, after eight winless years against Virginia Tech, upset the Gobblers 20-17 on Tom Hodges' two-yard pass to Larry Molinari with 20 seconds to play.
Georgia and South Carolina played to a 7-7 tie, but FLORIDA STATE'S big quarterback. Steve Tensi, flooded New Mexico State's uncertain secondary with passes as the Seminoles won easily, 36-0. GEORGIA TECH, in between fumbles and some plodding football, got a 34-yard touchdown pass from Quarterback Jerry Priestly and a 54-yard run by Halfback Johnny Gresham to beat Clemson 14-7. Clemson's old-folksy Frank Howard was philosophical about the defeat. "They just beat our squeeze play with two home runs," he quipped.
THE MIDWEST
THE TOP THREE:
1. ILLINOIS (2-0)
2. OHIO STATE (2-0)
3. MICHIGAN (2-0)
Rarely has the Big Ten done so well against outlanders, especially those from the West Coast. MICHIGAN STATE unveiled a brand-new defense that caught second-ranked USC with its blocks missing. Coach Duffy Daugherty pulled a tackle out of the line and replaced him with a fifth defensive back, giving State, in effect, a double rover. It stopped the Trojans' sprint-out passes, dulled their power plays and led the Spartans to a 17-7 upset. A 49-yard field goal by barefoot kicker Dick Kenney, a two-yard plunge by Clint Jones and Harry Amnion's 22-yard pass to Gene Washington accounted for the Michigan State scoring. "Just a case of effort transcending ability," insisted Duffy whimsically.
Just as shocking was IOWA'S 28-18 victory over 10th-ranked Washington. The Hawkeyes caught the Huskies where they hurt most, in their pass defense. Quarterback Gary Snook completed 19 of 32 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns. MICHIGAN, torn apart last year by Navy's Roger Staubach, was in no mood to let him do it again. The Wolverines knew that Staubach could not run on his ailing ankle, so they went at him with a frenzied rush, intercepting two of his passes and forcing his receivers into two costly fumbles. Meanwhile Quarterback Bob Timberlake probed the Middie defense with little passes and roll-outs, and sophomore Backs Carl Ward, Jim Detwiler and Dave Fischer pounded away on the ground as Michigan won 21-0.
Only Purdue faltered, to an old neighbor, NOIRE DAME. The "new look" Irish hustled the Boilermaker runners and passers to distraction with a pro-type 4-4 defense, and Quarterback Johnny Huarte did the rest. He threw for two touchdowns as Notre Dame won 34-15.
"Big brothers" ILLINOIS and OHIO STATE warmed up for their face-to-face combat this Saturday. The Illini, led by Quarterback Fred Custardo, squelched Northwestern 17-6. Ohio State, shocking even Woody Hayes's harshest critics with a sudden love for the pass (Don Unverferth completed 15 of 23 for 164 yards), desperately needed three goal-line interceptions by Safety Arnold Chonko, the last with 14 seconds to play, to hold off precocious Indiana 17-9.
Everyone expected the Big Eight to have an open race. Almost no one, however, anticipated that OKLAHOMA STATE, last in 1963, would be the team to beat. The Cowboys got even with Missouri on Glenn Baxter's 65-yard pass to Larry Elliott and then won 10-7 on Charlie Durkee's 49-yard field goal. NEBRASKA was still a contender after taking Iowa State 14-7, but the Huskers lost Quarterback Fred Duda with a broken leg. KANSAS STATE outscored Colorado 16-14, while Kansas lost to WYOMING 17-14.
THE EAST
THE TOP THREE:
1. SYRACUSE (2-1)
2. ARMY (2-1)
3. NAVY (2-l)
Syracuse's Ben Schwartzwalder was saying just the other day, "Eddie Anderson is one football coach I really respect. He's a real gentleman." For a while last Saturday, Schwartzwalder probably had some second thoughts about his old buddy. Anderson's Holy Cross team lit into Syracuse for a first-quarter touchdown, wrapped the Orange in a stifling defense and led 8-0 at half time. Then Tackle Gerry Everling picked off a Holy Cross pass and ran it back 18 yards for a touchdown, Fullback Jim Nance ripped the Crusader line for two scores and Quarterback Walley Mahle even threw a touchdown pass. Syracuse won 34-8.
Pitt finally won a game. With Quarterback Fred Mazurek pitching for 141 yards and running for 87 more, the Panthers smothered William & Mary 34-7. But Penn State, off to its worst start ever, lost again, this time to OREGON 22-14. Penn State led 7-6 at the half, but in the third quarter the game went down the drain. The bumbling Lions fumbled the ball away four times and Oregon Quarterback Bob Berry (who completed 17 of 32 for 208 yards and all three touchdowns) passed for two scores. "It was the most horrible 15 minutes I've spent in my life," brooded Penn State's Rip Engle.
Villanova's Dave Connell completed only two passes but both were good for touchdowns as the Wildcats beat VMI 27-7. RUTGERS edged Connecticut 9-3, while MASSACHUSETTS took Buffalo 24-22. But Delaware, another small-college power, was upset by GETTYSBURG 22-19.
The conservative Ivy League was loaded with surprises. The first time PRINCETON, an old-fashioned single wing team, got the ball against Columbia, it sent Fullback Cosmo Iacavazzi booming 61 yards for a touchdown out of a reconstructed I formation. He did it again later to set up another score. Meanwhile Archie Roberts tried to battle the tough Tigers alone. Despite a frightening rush that had him running for his life most of the time, Archie completed 19 passes for a new Ivy record. Princeton won anyway, 23-13. Harvard, caught up in a passing battle with little BUCKNELL, was outpitched 24-21. Cornell was shocked, too, by COLGATE 8-3. Otherwise things were normal, BROWN edged Penn 3-0 on Tom Mennell's 32-yard field goal; DARTMOUTH ran over Boston U. 28-6; YALE routed Lehigh 54-0 for its 600th football victory since 1872.
THE SOUTHWEST
THE TOP THREE:
1. TEXAS (3-0)
2. ARKANSAS (3-0)
3. RICE (1-1)
In Austin's steamy Memorial Stadium the eyes of 66,000 loyal Texans stared out of the darkness in disbelief last Saturday night. They had just watched Army's talented Rollie Stichweh bruise No. 1-ranked TEXAS with his running and passing while the big Cadet line, brazenly stunting in a 5-3-3 defense, pushed the proud Longhorns around shamefully in the first half. Even more startling, Army led 6-3. In the locker room Coach Darrell Royal told his team, "I don't feel you're very aggressive." In the second half things changed. The Cadets' defense was not quite as puzzling, and Ernie Koy, a 220-pound tailback, slashed aggressively away at the weary Army front. Koy scored twice, from the five and the one, as Texas pulled it out, 17-6, for its 14th straight.
Arkansas, meanwhile, had a romp. Fred Marshall picked apart TCU's loose secondary with 12 passes for 148 yards, and the Porkers turned two interceptions into touchdowns, as the helpless Frogs went down 29-6. RICE'S Walt McReynolds completed seven of nine passes for two scores to lead the Owls past West Virginia 24-0. TEXAS TECH'S flashy Donny Anderson ran through Texas A&M for 129 yards as Tech squeaked out a 16-12 victory.
Baylor could not match OREGON STATE'S brain trust. Coach Tommy Prothro, from his perch in the press box, called the plays, Quarterback Paul Brothers executed them perfectly (for 117 yards passing, 95 running), and the Beavers upset Baylor 13-6.
THE WEST
THE TOP THREE:
1. UCLA (3-0)
2. USC (2-1)
3. OREGON (3-0)
Although MINNESOTA, in the words of Coach Murray Warmath, "made a lot of little ol' mistakes like fumbles and jumping on guys who called for fair catches," the Gophers undermined California 26-20. Some 50,000 at Berkeley hoped that a win over Missouri and a narrow loss to Illinois meant the Bears were golden again. But California's defeat, its 12th straight by a Big Ten team, did nothing to sustain that illusion, even though Quarterback Craig Morton completed 17 of 29 passes for 259 yards under fearful pressure. Minnesota passer John Hankinson threw for two touchdowns, Fullback Mike Reid scored 14 points and the fast-charging line restricted the Bears to 46 yards.
UCLA'S Larry Zeno was responsible for all his team's points in a 27-20 victory over Stanford as the angry Bruins continued to defy preseason predictions. Leading by only one point with 3:22 to go, the Bruins frustrated a two-point Stanford conversion attempt, then scored an insurance touchdown.
Downtrodden Brigham Young dedicated its nice new stadium by giving WAC favorite NEW MEXICO more football than it wanted, but the Lobos still won 26-14. Leading throughout, ARIZONA STATE beat Wichita 24-18 for its 11th consecutive victory. ARIZONA let its first team watch the remainder of a 28-12 win from the bench after running up a four-touchdown lead against Washington State early in the second half. Colorado State drove to the Falcon 13 in the final minutes before conceding a 14-6 loss to AIR FORCE.
THE BEST
BACK OF THE WEEK: Quarterback Larry Zeno, UCLA's expert handyman, was the whole show against Stanford. Zeno completed 15 of 21 passes for three touchdowns, ran for a fourth and kicked three extra points.
LINEMAN OF THE WEEK: Jim Carroll, hard-hitting, 225-pound Notre Dame guard, harassed Purdue backs all afternoon. He was in on 21 tackles, led a tough Irish defense that held the Boilermakers to 82 yards.
SATURDAY'S TOUGH ONES
Army over Penn state. State lacks the quarterbacking to match Army's Stichweh.
Syracuse over UCLA. A tougher defense will hand the Bruins their first defeat.
Mississippi over Florida. Both defend tenaciously, but Ole Miss passes better.
Kentucky over Florida State. Kentucky is more adept at moving the ball.
LSU over North Carolina. The Bengals are stronger up front and quicker on the attack.
Illinois over Ohio State. But the Illini will find the Bucks' defense worrisome.
Michigan over Michigan State. The Wolverines have faster backs and more of them.
Texas over Oklahoma.* Texas' ball-control game will stifle the disappointing Sooners.
Arkansas over Baylor. The Porkers are more versatile. Baylor lacks runners.
Washington over Oregon State. The Huskies, however, must be alert against passes.
OTHER GAMES
ALABAMA OVER N. CAROLINA STATE
ARIZONA OVER NEW MEXICO
BOSTON COLLEGE OVER TENNESSEE
DUKE OVER MARYLAND
NAVY OVER GEORGIA TECH
NEBRASKA OVER SOUTH CAROLINA
NOTRE DAME OVER AIR FORCE
PRINCETON OVER DARTMOUTH
PURDUE OVER WISCONSIN
WYOMING OVER UTAH
*National TV
LAST WEEK'S PREDICTIONS
11 RIGHT, 8 WRONG
SEASON'S RECORD: 31-27-1