FOOTBALL'S WEEK

SOUTHWEST

1. TEXAS (8-0)
2. ARKANSAS (8-0)
3. HOUSTON (6-2)

TCU is the only team to play both Texas and Ohio State, but those poll watchers hoping to draw something conclusive by comparing scores were doomed to frustration. The Longhorns beat TCU 69-7, the identical margin by which Ohio State had beaten the Horned Frogs earlier in Columbus (62-0, remember?). Still, the Texas fans are stubborn animals, and they were quick to point out that 1) TCU's best runner, Norman Bulaich, had been injured on his first run against Ohio State and 2) that surely TCU's sophomore quarterback, Steve Judy, is much tougher now. So there, doesn't that show who's really No. 1? "You really don't want to beat anybody that bad," said Texas Coach Darrell Royal, neatly sidestepping the polls issue. "We substituted as fast as we thought it was completely safe."

The game was reasonably safe early, with Texas scoring the first four times it had the ball, but Royal couldn't be blamed if he felt a little cautious. He had sent an unbeaten, untied team against TCU four previous times in his 13 years at Texas, and on three of those occasions the Longhorns were upset. Even this victory was not completely painless for Texas. As TCU's Linzy Cole returned a punt 65 yards for his team's only TD, Texas Tight End Tommy Woodard suffered torn ligaments which will sideline him for the season.

Texas Quarterback James Street completed five of eight passes for 54 yards, including an 18-yarder to Cotton Speyrer for the Longhorns' fifth TD, and Halfback Jim Bertelsen rushed for 104 yards in 16 carries. Thanks to the Texas defense—which yielded only 17 yards on TCU's first four possessions—Judy had his worst day. Mercifully, he got knocked out early in the last quarter and couldn't remember much of anything.

Arkansas' Bill Montgomery was off target with many of his passes, but the Razor-backs still beat SMU 28-15. With only 4:33 left and Arkansas clinging to a 21-15 lead, the Porkers got a break when Cary Stock-dell's punt went out of bounds at the SMU one. Two plays later Arkansas monster man Bob Field intercepted a Chuck Hixson pass to set up Bill Burnett's game-breaking run, on which he dragged SMU Guard Joe White most of the way. "I could tell I had a little extra weight," said Burnett. "I could feel him back there and I could see the goal line, too." Burnett, the Southwest's leading rusher, also scored on a pass reception. "I like that," he said. "It is a lot easier to score than the way I usually make them." Hixson completed 26 of 39 passes but netted only 196 yards, his second lowest ever.

The near-freezing weather at Raleigh, N.C. didn't faze Houston, which jumped out to a 9-0 lead on the way to beating North Carolina State 34-13, the Cougars' sixth straight win.

WEST

1. UCLA (8-0-1)
2. USC (8-0-1)
3. STANFORD (6-2-1)

Both UCLA and USC were so ordinary in their final tune-ups for Saturday's game that maybe neither one should be allowed to play Ohio State's juiciest leftover in the Rose Bowl. Throw out the whole Pacific Eight, as a matter of fact, and let somebody exciting play in Pasadena, somebody like crazy ol' San Diego State. The Aztecs are 8-0, you know, and get a load of this: they beat New Mexico State 70-21 as their quarterback, a guy named Dennis Shaw, threw nine touchdown passes, breaking the NCAA record of seven, which he had tied a week earlier. Six of Shaw's TD passes went to Tight End Tim Delaney (another NCAA record), and the other three went to his favorite catcher, Split End Tom Reynolds, who now has 18 for the year (yep, another record). Altogether, Shaw has 34 TD passes for the year (you guessed it, a record) and his biggest night may be coming up: the Aztecs play North Texas State and their passing wizard, Steve Ramsey, Saturday.

Meanwhile, UCLA and USC were looking plenty smoggy. The Trojans beat win-less Washington 16-7 at Seattle, and the Bruins had an even closer scrape in beating Oregon 13-10 in Eugene. With 3:24 left in the game, Oregon was on UCLA's 15-yard line with a first down, but UCLA Safety Ron Carver leaped high to intercept a John Harrington pass and preserve the Bruin victory. "Our players were not emotional for this game," said UCLA Athletic Director J. D. Morgan, while Coach Tommy Prothro said, "Maybe we can play better...I certainly hope so." UCLA's touchdowns came on Greg Jones' 10-yard run in the second quarter and Dennis Dummit's three-yard pass to Gwen Cooper early in the fourth. In the USC game, the nation's leading rusher, Clarence Davis, was held to 84 yards in 33 carries, and the score was tied 7-7 in the last period, but USC turned a fumble into a Ron Ayala field goal and then put it away when Davis scored from the three after a fourth-down gamble by Washington at its own 15 had failed. The action was a little heavier in the stands, where a couple of scuffles broke out between blacks and whites, apparently over the troubles between Washington Coach Jim Owens and some of his black players.

If there were a bowl game especially for the best teams in the country with two or more losses, the participants surely would be Ole Miss and Stanford. The ill-starred Indians, who tied UCLA and were beaten by USC on a last-second field goal, won their third straight, beating the Air Force 47-34 and possibly knocking the Falcons out of a bowl in the process. The Academy has received two bids, but Coach Ben Martin said he probably wouldn't accept either unless his team beat Stanford or Notre Dame this week at South Bend. The Stanford game was tied until early in the third quarter, but then two Jim Plunkett TD passes and Randy Vataha's 62-yard punt return broke it open. Plunkett set three Pacific Eight records: most TD passes (18), yards passing (2,292) and total offense (2,377).

Just when Utah was thinking it had the Western Athletic Conference title in the bag, the Redskins ran into a big snowstorm in Tucson and wound up being upset by Arizona 17-16. The winning points came on Steve Hurley's 21-yard field goal with 11:28 left, but the real hero was Arizona's defense, which got two interceptions and two fumbles to keep Utah in check. Now Utah and Arizona State (which beat UTEP 42-19) are tied for the WAC lead, each with a 4-1 record, but the edge belongs to State, which plays one more league game than Utah. The early leader, Wyoming, lost to New Mexico 24-12 in Albuquerque, ending the Lobos' WAC losing streak at 25 and giving Wyoming a 1-3 record since Coach Lloyd Eaton dismissed 14 black players.

MIDWEST

1. OHIO STATE (8-0)
2. MISSOURI (8-1)
3. NOTRE DAME (7-1-1)

Earlier in the week Missouri Coach Dan Devine had regaled newsmen with his version of how the North won the Civil War—"The Union won the toss and took the wind," he said—but the Good Humor man's mood turned black early on against Iowa State. The Tigers fell behind 7-0 quicker than you can say "bowl bid" when Cyclone Linebacker Keith Schroeder scored from 62 yards out after picking off a Terry McMillan fumble in midair. On the sideline, Devine was seething or, as he explained after Mizzou's 40-13 victory, "We don't like to be behind, and perhaps I conveyed this message to my players."

Whatever it was Devine said, the Tigers snapped to attention and put points on the scoreboard seven of the next 10 times they had the ball. Sandwiched between field goals by Henry Brown, McMillan contritely ran for two TDs and passed for two more, a gaudy display that was matched defensively by Linebacker Steve Lundholm, who made 11 unassisted tackles and intercepted a pass to set up a touchdown. Afterward, bowl representatives fairly fell over each other trying to get in a word with Devine, but he was more worried about getting his team ready for its finale against Kansas, which is all that stands between Missouri and a 9-1 record. Worried? About hapless Kansas? Well, get this: the last time the Tigers were as good as 9-1 was in 1960, but their only loss was an upset by Kansas. In the last game.

One of Missouri's victims, Nebraska, remained tied with the Tigers for the Big Eight lead by letting the air out of Kansas State's ball 10-7, before a State record crowd of 41,000 in Manhattan. The home fans yelled until they were purple—matching their clothes—but the Wildcats sputtered and died on the Nebraska eight, which is as far as Lynn Dickey was able to drive them in the closing seconds before time ran out. The difference was Paul Rogers' 39-yard field goal in the third quarter. That made it 7-3, so that Van Brownson's TD early in the last period was enough. "Please let me think about this great victory for awhile," said Nebraska Coach Bob Devaney when reporters quizzed him about bowls. Kansas State's Vince Gibson said, "I can't think of anything funny to say at this point. As for bowls, I think we'll be staying at home."

So, probably, will Oklahoma, which bounced Kansas 31-15 as Steve Owens broke two NCAA career records. His three TDs gave him 54, breaking his tie with Glenn Davis' three-year record, and his 200 yards rushing (on 44 carries) gave him 3,535, beating Eugene (Mercury) Morris' 3,388. Oh yes, Owens also has gained more than 100 yards in 17 straight games. "We went out in the second half and really punished them," said Steve.

While Ohio State was dismantling Purdue (page 22), Michigan warmed up for Saturday's game with the Buckeyes by flattening Iowa 51-6. "We gotta play better," grumbled the Wolverines' rookie coach, Bo Schembechler, but it seems he doth protest too much. Even if Michigan is whipped by Ohio State, the worst the Wolverines can do is tie Purdue for second, each with two league losses, and then Michigan probably would be voted the Rose Bowl ticket for two reasons: its victory over Purdue and its longer drought between Pasadena trips.

Michigan State's band played the theme from Mission: Impossible, then watched the Spartans self-destruct against Minnesota. They fumbled two punts in the second half to set up both TDs and the Gophers' 14-10 victory. Northwestern ended Indiana's Rose Bowl hopes with a 30-27 win, but not without a fight from the Hoosiers' John Isenbarger. Besides gaining 131 yards to become Indiana's first 1,000-yard career rusher, Isenbarger took over at quarterback when both Harry Gonso and his backup, Mike Heizman, were injured, and he threw a 25-yard scoring pass with only 54 seconds left. Indiana now is 0-2 since Coach John Pont kicked off 10 blacks for missing two straight practices. Wisconsin Coach John Coatta was subjected to an unfamiliar charge—pouring it on—after the Badgers beat lame and halt Illinois 55-14. Noting that Wisconsin had beaten Iowa, Indiana and Illinois, Coatta said, "That makes us champions of the Three-I League." And just think—it wasn't too long ago that the Badgers would have had trouble with Ithaca College. Ohio's only other major unbeaten, Toledo, defeated Dayton 20-0.

SOUTH

1. LSU (8-1)
2. TENNESSEE (7-1)
3. AUBURN (7-2)

Ara Parseghian called it "Jack of class," and that was probably one of the kinder ways to describe the treatment Notre Dame got in Atlanta. Angered by the way the Irish were pushing their team all around Grant Field, Georgia Tech fans pelted Parseghian with ice and dead fish during and immediately after the game, won by Notre Dame 38-20. One Notre Dame equipment man leaving the field was hit in the head by a full can of Coca-Cola, and another—both arms full of gear—was hit in the face. It was such a brutish display of Southern hospitality that Notre Dame followers momentarily forgot all those bowl rumors that have been building around the Irish through their last four games, all victories.

The Irish have received bowl feelers every year since Parseghian came to coach in 1964, but always have declined in keeping with long-standing school policy. Last Monday, however, Athletic Director Moose Krause capped a week of rumors by announcing that the Irish had accepted a bid to play in the Cotton Bowl against the Southwest champion. To insure their chances of a bid, the Irish tried to score as much as possible against Tech. The first team, including Quarterback Joe Theismann, was still playing in the last quarter, which was probably what angered the Tech fans more than anything, especially since their own star quarterback, Charlie Dudish, had been suspended by Coach Bud Carson earlier in the week for breaking regulations.

Georgia ran in four quarterbacks against Auburn's notorious defense, but the only offense the Bulldogs could muster was Jim McCullough's field goal. Meanwhile Auburn mixed Pat Sullivan's passing with a monotonously effective running game, and the Tigers won 16-3. "Against the best personnel in the league today," said Georgia Coach Vince Dooley, "I thought we played well."

Dooley might get an argument from the folks in Baton Rouge, who watched their beloved LSU Tigers butcher Mississippi State 61-6. The Tigers beat the Bulldogs so thoroughly that Coach Charlie McClendon ordered his third-string quarterback, sophomore Butch Duhe, to kill the clock late in the game. But boys will be boys and Duhe, at the behest of his teammates, couldn't resist throwing a 37-yard TD pass to End Curtis Martin on the last play of the game. "After I threw it, I felt bad," said Duhe, apologizing in the dressing room. "I don't like to rub it in when we're far ahead." Shrugged McClendon, "It was impossible to keep 'em down."

With Tennessee's unbeaten season being shattered by Ole Archie—er, Miss (page 50)—the Tigers saw a chance to pick up points with the bowl scouts, which they did in such superb fashion that all McClendon could tell them at halftime was "continue doing what you're doing...everything is just perfect."

The first-string quarterback, Mike Hill-man, played barely more than half the game, just long enough to complete 12 of 13 passes, breaking Y. A. Tittle's LSU record for career completions (167 to 162). The defense was equally devastating, holding State to minus 13 yards rushing—the second time an LSU opponent has been in the minus column—and intercepting three Tommy Pharr passes. Said bighearted Charlie, "I just felt sorry for Charley Shira [the State coach], even though you're not supposed to pity the enemy." The team to pity now is Tulane, which is all that remains between LSU and a 9-1 year, its best under McClendon.

At Gainesville the opening kickoff was in the air, heading for Harvin Clark, a second-stringer who had never started a game nor received a kick. The other deepback, Jimmy Barr, yelled, "You take it, Harvin—take it all the way." Clark did just that, and his 96-yard return cranked up Florida for what was to be a 31-6 rout of hapless Kentucky. "What was I going to do," asked Clark afterward, "yell back that I couldn't do it?" The temperature was in the 40s—the coldest football afternoon in Gainesville in years—but John Reaves kept Gator hearts warm with 26 completions in 42 passing attempts for 280 yards. Reaves broke two more SEC records—season passes completed and attempted—and his Cuban battery-mate, Carlos Alvarez, now is only six catches behind the SEC season record of 79. "Everyone else seemed to like playing in the cold weather, but not us Cubans," said Alvarez. "My lungs felt frozen."

Auburn's not-so-friendly neighbor Alabama warmed up for next week's intrastate scrimmage with a 42-6 victory over Miami. The Crimson Tide now has a 6-3 record, and Coach Bear Bryant was moved to say, "There are times when I would have been upset to have one touchdown scored against us, but after what we've been through this year, I have to be real proud of that." Said Miami Coach Charlie Tate, "I've never been so humiliated in my life."

South Carolina won its first Atlantic Coast championship by beating Wake Forest 24-6, giving Paul Dietzel's Gamecocks a 6-3 record heading into their final game against Clemson, which fell to up-and-coming North Carolina 32-15 at Chapel Hill.

For the record: Florida A&M beat Southern University 10-7 to give Coach Jake Gaither his 200th victory at the school.

EAST

1. PENN STATE (8-0)
2. WEST VIRGINIA (8-1)
3. DARTMOUTH (8-0)

Before the game, Penn State Coach Joe Paterno was uncommonly worried about how his unbeaten Nittany Lions would perform, after a week's layoff. "I hope it doesn't hurt us," fretted Paterno. "I've got my fingers crossed." Well, thanks to Charlie Pitt-man, Paterno didn't have to keep his fingers crossed any longer than 10 minutes. The Lion halfback scored on three short runs during that span, and Penn State was off to what turned out to be its best performance of the season, a 48-0 breeze over Maryland. Pittman now has 26 career TDs, breaking the record set by his boyhood hero Lenny Moore.

As usual, Penn State's gung-ho defense was the Lions' best offense. Pittman's first score was set up when Linebacker Jack Ham blocked a punt at the 50, and his third TD came after State's Mike Reid tipped a pass for Paul Johnson to intercept. The loudest cheer of the day went up when Reid opened the second quarter by intercepting a pass and returning it 26 yards for his first college touchdown. In the third quarter, Johnson returned a punt 56 yards for a TD, with a crunching block by Reid taking out two Maryland defenders and clearing the way. All told, State's defense now has helped put 230 points on the scoreboard in the last 18 games by causing 78 turnovers. The Lions are unbeaten in 27 straight games, the first major team to go that long without a defeat since Oklahoma put together 48 straight in the mid-'50s.

State's next opponent, Pitt, made some menacing noises while upsetting Army 15-6 at West Point. It was the Panthers' fourth win of the season, one more than they had managed in the three previous years put together. The Panthers were cool, too, spotting Army a 6-0 lead on two Arden Jensen field goals, then coming back behind the passing of Quarterback Jim Friedl, whose 18-yard TD pass to his 6'5" receiver, George Medich, broke the game open.

Both Dartmouth and Princeton were supposed to go into their game Saturday with perfect Ivy League records, but—oops—Princeton slipped up and was upset by Yale 17-14. Now Dartmouth needs only to beat Princeton to wrap up the Ivy title and its unbeaten season. If Princeton wins, however, and if Yale beats Harvard as expected, then there would be a three-way tie for the championship. Dartmouth whipped Cornell 24-7, despite Ed Marinaro's 122 yards rushing, which put the Cornell sophomore only 17 yards away from the Ivy season record. Yale's winning margin over Princeton was a 23-yard field goal by Harry Klebanoff, a 5'6", 140-pound soccer-style kicker.

Navy had trouble getting a first down and was never close to scoring as the Middies fell to Syracuse 15-0, giving them a 1-8 record to take into action against Army Nov. 29 in Philadelphia. Once-beaten Boston University thumped Delaware 30-14, and Massachusetts completed an unbeaten season in the Yankee Conference by beating New Hampshire 48-7. At South Orange, N.J. there were fans in the stand and two teams, Irvington and Seton Hall on the field, but the Seton Hall athletic department had forgotten to hire officials, and the game was postponed.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

THE BACK: Ohio State's Rex Kern earned a few more Buckeye leaves for his helmet in Ohio State's 42-14 win over Purdue. The junior quarterback ran for 57 yards, passed for 104 more and accounted for three touchdowns.

THE LINEMAN: Kern's teammate, Jack Tatum, often called the most gifted athlete on a remarkably gifted team, led the crew that made Purdue boil. Tatum, a 6', 204-pound junior, made eight tackles, helped stop Mike Phipps.