FOOTBALL'S WEEK
THE EAST
THE TOP THREE:
1. SYRACUSE (7-2)
2. PENN STATE (5-4)
3. PRINCETON (8-0)
Syracuse was almost ready to count its bowl bids. The Sugar and Gator people had expressed more than casual interest and the Liberty Bowl was panting. Virginia Tech, however, very nearly put a clinker in Syracuse's travel plans. Quarterback Bobby Schweickert and Sonny Utz, a booming 205-pound fullback, hammered the Syracuse line, and before long Tech had a 9-0 lead. When Schweickert went out with an injury in the second quarter, Utz continued the assault alone, and the effusive Gobblers were ahead 15-13 with only 1:26 left to play. Then Coach Ben Schwartzwalder reluctantly went to his best passer, Rich King. King overtook Tech, gaining 54 yards with four passes in 36 seconds, the last one an 18-yarder to End Harris Elliott for a touchdown and a 20-15 victory. Passing is a "desperation" game to Schwartzwalder, and so is inviting the right team to Sugar Bowl President Monk Simon. "We're still interested," he said, but he looked like a man who was not really sure.
Navy, with nowhere to go but Philadelphia's Kennedy Stadium to meet Army November 28, beat Duke 27-14. Roger Staubach, over his hobbling ankle injury, was never better. He ran and passed for 308 yards, his best ever for a single game, completing 21 of 30 passes for 217 yards and running for 91, and scored on a nine-yard run.
Army, meanwhile, looked as drab as a used-up dray horse while losing to PITT 24-8. Except for some exciting last-quarter maneuvers by Rollie Stichweh, who set a new Cadet total-offense record (1,354 yards), Army went down easily. While the big Pitt line pushed the outmanned Cadets around, Freddy Mazurek tormented them with his little passes and quick sprints and Barry McKnight and Eric Crabtree pummeled them inside and out.
The big news in the Ivy League, of course, was PRINCETON'S 35-14 thumping of Yale for the championship, but the also-rans had their also-fun. COLUMBIA'S Archie Roberts showed off his running skills, along with his superb passing, as the Lions routed Penn 33-12. CORNELL whipped Dartmouth 33-15. HARVARD stunned Brown with a safety and an 82-yard punt return by Halfback Wally Grant, all in the last 15 seconds, to win 19-7.
Rutgers saw its six-game winning steak broken. DELAWARE'S Tom VanGrofski bombed the Scarlet with four touchdown passes as the Blue Hens scored a 27-18 upset. Villanova, unbeaten before last week, lost again, to GEORGE WASHINGTON 13-6. HOLY CROSS gave retiring Coach Eddie Anderson his last hurrah—a 32-0 trouncing of Boston U. and his 200th victory. COLGATE stopped Buffalo's last-minute, two-point try and beat the Bulls, 7-6. In a battle of unbeatens AMHERST defeated Williams 20-7 for the Little Three title.
THE SOUTH
THE TOP THREE:
1. ALABAMA (9-0)
2. LSU (6-1-1)
3. FLORIDA STATE (7-1-1)
Not all the incentive was gone in the Southeastern Conference. ALABAMA already had the championship and a place in the Orange Bowl, too, after its 24-7 win over Georgia Tech (page 24), but there were still presents for losers. LSU was almost sure of going to the homebred Sugar Bowl—although it had to get past worrisome Mississippi State. The Bulldogs started trouble on the first play, as sophomore Marcus Rhoden took off on a 76-yard scoring sprint. LSU, however, came back on Billy Ezell's two touchdown passes to Doug Moreau to win 14-10.
Two notable SEC failures won. MISSISSIPPI finally had one of those days Coach Johnny Vaught dreamed about last spring. Jim Weatherly completed 11 passes for 126 yards, the defense pounced on three Tennessee fumbles and blocked a kick, and Ole Miss turned them into touchdowns to beat the Vols 30-0. Georgia Coach Vince Dooley, who used to be an assistant at AUBURN, gave his old buddies a shock with a tackle-eligible pass play, but it was not quite enough to upset the Tigers. Tucker Frederickson blasted the Bulldogs for 101 yards and Auburn took the game 14-7. Kentucky, expecting a flood of passes from BAYLOR, got a smashing running game instead and lost 17-15.
Florida's independents had a ball for themselves. FLORIDA STATE'S Magnificent Seven choked off North Carolina State's running game, leaving the distressed Wolfpack with just six yards rushing. Meanwhile, Quarterback Steve Tensi and Flanker Fred Biletnikoff teamed up on two touchdown passes and State romped 28-6. MIAMI'S Bob Biletnikoff was even more spectacular. He ran for two scores, set up another with three long passes and the improved Hurricanes shocked Boston College 30-6 for their third straight.
It was no contest when those two old blood rivals, MARYLAND'S fastidious Tom Nugent and Clemson's rotund Frank Howard, got together at College Park. While Nugent gloated gleefully on the sidelines, his young Terps crawled over Howard's toothless Tigers for a 34-0 win. VIRGINIA'S Bob Davis and North Carolina's Gary Black traded touchdowns like so much worthless wampum—two running and one passing for Davis, three passing for Black—but Virginia knocked the Tar Heels out of the Atlantic Coast race 31-27.
West Virginia's Southern Conference champions nailed down a 24-14 win over William & Mary on Quarterback Allen McCune's second touchdown pass.
THE MIDWEST
THE TOP THREE:
1. NOTRE DAME (8-0)
2. NEBRASKA (9-0)
3. OHIO STATE (7-1)
Somebody, but not Duffy Daugherty, boasted before Michigan State played Ara Parseghian's unbeaten NOTRE DAME team, "We'll pluck that magic carpet from under the Armenian rug peddler." It is just as well Daugherty denied authorship, else things might have been worse than they were. His Spartans never had a chance. Parseghian sprang a new double-wing T on Michigan State, and Halfback Nick Eddy broke loose for 61 yards on Notre Dame's second play. After that the Irish just poured it on. While old Coaches Frank Leahy, Hughie Devore and Terry Brennan looked on wistfully, Quarterback Johnny Huarte passed for one touchdown, ran 21 yards for a second and Notre Dame won going away, 34-7. "Once we got rolling," explained Parseghian, "well, it just felt too good to stop."
When MINNESOTA throttled Purdue 14-7, the Big Ten race was down to two teams—OHIO STATE and MICHIGAN. The Bucks, their defense turning tough again under prodding by End Tom Kiehfuss, came up with an I formation and some other unlikely Woody Hayes tricks, like a fake punt, and whipped Northwestern 10-0. Michigan started slowly against Iowa. Quarterback Bob Timberlake raked the Hawkeyes with his passes and runs, Fullback Mel Anthony shredded them for three touchdowns and Michigan won 34-20. The two teams meet Saturday at Columbus, and the winner goes to the Rose Bowl.
Indiana, in a scoring free-for-all with OREGON, came off second best, 29-21. Tom Nowatzke scored all 21 points for the Hoosiers, but Oregon's Bob Berry was equally effective, passing and running for three touchdowns. ILLINOIS' Jim Grabowski scattered old records all over Memorial Stadium as the Illini ran over Wisconsin 29-0. He carried 33 times for 239 yards to break Red Grange's 1924 school mark as well as a 21-year-old Big Ten record.
Oklahoma State, surprisingly, found a soft spot in NEBRASKA'S usually staunch middle and exploited it for two touchdowns. But it was not enough to flag down the undefeated Huskers. Kent McCloughan roamed through the Cowpokes, little Frankie Solich ran back a kickoff 89 yards and Nebraska won 27-14 to stretch its winning streak to 16. Then the Huskers, who clinched a tie for the Big Eight title, accepted an invitation to the Cotton Bowl. In other games OKLAHOMA and MISSOURI played to a 14-14 tie and KANSAS edged Colorado 10-7.
Tulsa's Jerry Rhome and Howard Twilley added up their new NCAA records after a 47-0 shelling of North Texas State. For Rhome, who completed 17 of 23 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns: most completions—185; touchdown passes—27; yardage passing—2,320; total offense—2,541; most yardage in career—4,932. For Twilley, who caught six passes: most catches in a season—74.
Bowling Green's hopes for a perfect season went down the drain as OHIO U., with sophomore Wash Lyons bashing the Falcons mercilessly, upset BG 21-0.
THE SOUTHWEST
THE TOP THREE:
1. ARKANSAS (9-0)
2. TEXAS (8-1)
3. TEXAS TECH (6-2-1)
Perhaps Darrell Royal wanted to impress Orange Bowl scouts in the press box. Whatever the reason, his TEXAS Longhorns opened up against TCU. Quarterback Marv Kristynik ran roll-outs and options (for 107 yards and two touchdowns) and even passed 11 times (completing six). But there was still an old Royal touch to the Texas attack. When the perplexed Frogs moved out to shut off the wide stuff, Fullback Harold Philipp ripped inside for 106 yards and two scores. The Longhorns beat TCU 28-13 and then accepted an invitation to play Alabama in the Orange Bowl.
Unbeaten ARKANSAS did not have to resort to new tricks to get to the Cotton Bowl (where it will play Nebraska). The Porkers went at SMU with their same old solid game—passes and runs by Quarterback Fred Marshall and a 78-yard punt return by Kenny Hatfield, who leads the nation in runbacks—and the poor Mustangs succumbed 44-0. SMU Coach Hayden Fry, asked if his team did anything differently, said sadly, "No, we did the same thing we've been doing. We lost."
Texas Tech, too, was still alive and very much available for a bowl. Donny Anderson slashed Washington State for 119 yards as Tech won 28-10. RICE, merely playing out the season, battered Texas A&M 19-8.
Houston came out passing against PENN STATE and found it was a mistake. The alert Lions picked off four passes, and the Cougars never had a chance. Fullback Tom Urbanik smashed for 122 yards and a touchdown, and Safetyman Joe Vargo ran a punt back 78 yards for another as Penn State took its fourth straight, 24-7. ARIZONA shut out Texas Western 14-0.
THE WEST
THE TOP THREE:
1. OREGON (7-1-1)
2. OREGON STATE (7-2)
3. USC (5-3)
It was taking some doing for the West Coast to get a Rose Bowl team. Oregon State, the front runner last week, was upset by STANFORD 16-7, and now Oregon, USC and UCLA have a chance again. Happily, it will all be decided Saturday when Oregon State and Oregon meet and USC faces UCLA.
Spoiler Stanford, the only team to beat Oregon, gave Oregon State the same business. With sophomore Dave Lewis at quarterback and Coach Johnny Ralston calling the I formation plays from the bench, the Indians played impeccably—no fumbles, no interceptions and only five yards in penalties.
Washington, straightened out after some early problems, still had its hands full with UCLA. The Huskies, ahead 22-14 on Fullback Jeff Jordan's heavy pounding, had to turn back a two-point play after UCLA pulled up to 22-20 in the last quarter. California, even though it threatened half a dozen times, could not pierce UTAH'S strict defense and lost, 14-0. The tough Utes gave Cal's Craig Morton the short pass (he completed 22) but latched on to his receivers when it counted. Little Ron Coleman's two touchdowns gave the game to Utah.
Wyoming and Air Force battled to a 7-7 tie, but the other Western AC teams had better luck, NEW MEXICO routed Colorado State 42-0, BRIGHAM YOUNG trounced Western Michigan 43-8 and ARIZONA STATE out-scored San Jose State 28-16. Utah State got a real shock, a 27-22 beating from IDAHO.
THE BEST
BACK OF THE WEEK: Columbia Quarterback Archie Roberts, having his finest day in three years, completed 14 of 19 passes against Penn for 175 yards and three touchdowns, ran for 202, scored once, gained 377 yards.
LINEMAN OF THE WEEK: Howard Twilley, elusive Tulsa end, caught six passes during rout of North Texas State and now has a record 74. He also scored twice, kicked five extra points to lead all scorers with 92 points.
SATURDAY'S TOUGH ONES
Ohio State over Michigan. A wounded Woody Hayes will not be stopped again.
Illinois over Michigan State.* The Illini will atone for a disappointing season.
Notre Dame over Iowa. But not before Snook's passing gives the Irish fits.
Nebraska over Oklahoma. The Sooners are not likely to spoil Nebraska's unbeaten year.
Kansas over Missouri. An even game, with Sayers the difference for the Jayhawkers.
Florida State over Florida. Tensi gives State the edge in this neighborhood rumble.
Oregon over Oregon State. The Ducks are ready to spoil State's Rose Bowl hopes.
California over Stanford. Cal has lost some close ones. Morton will change the routine.
USC over UCLA.* The UCLA defense is too loose to stop stubby Mike Garrett.
Yale over Harvard. The Elis, better at a pounding game, will fight more fiercely.
OTHER GAMES
AIR FORCE OVER COLORADO
ARKANSAS OVER TEXAS TECH
DUKE OVER NORTH CAROLINA*
N. CAROLINA STATE OVER WAKE FOREST
PENN STATE OVER PITT
PURDUE OVER INDIANA
RICE OVER TCU
TENNESSEE OVER KENTUCKY
UTAH OVER UTAH STATE
VILLANOVA OVER BUFFALO
*Regional TV
LAST WEEK'S PREDICTIONS: 13 RIGHT, 6 WRONG, 1 TIE
SEASON'S RECORD: 101-71-7