THE WEEK
EAST
1. PITT (4-1)
2. DARTMOUTH (4-0)
3. YALE (4-0)
At halftime the score was West Virginia 35, Pittsburgh 8, and the mood in old Pitt Stadium was as bright as a steel mill on a cloudy day. The Panthers obviously had played a dirty trick on their fans, winning three in a row to get everyone worked up, only to come out against the Mountaineers and play exactly like those dreary 1-9 teams that have been Pitt's lot the past few years. So what happens in the second half? The Panthers score four touchdowns to win 36-35 and prove that they not only have come all the way back, but might well be the best team east of the Allegheny Mountains.
After the first half, in which West Virginia's Ed Williams scored three touchdowns, Pitt's power-I formation began clicking, and the Panthers got three TDs on short plunges by Denny Ferris, Dave Garnett and Tony Esposito. For the winning points the Panthers surprised West Virginia with a pass. With only 55 seconds left and the ball on the Mountaineer five, Quarterback Dave Havern tossed the clincher to End Bill Pilconis. Earlier Havern had passed for a pair of two-point conversions. "In all my 17 years of coaching," said Pitt's Carl DePasqua, "it was the most fantastic comeback I've ever seen." Don't count on Pitt to fold, either. The Panthers could easily win four of their last five games for a final 8-2 record. Guess who would be going to a bowl?
Well, not Penn State. The Nittany Lions lost their third game, this one to Syracuse 24-7. Coach Ben Schwartzwalder's Orangemen, despite the racial conflict that has beset them, used the running of sophomore Fullback Marty Januszkiewicz to take a 17-0 lead at the half. "They were fired up more than any team I ever had here," said Schwartzwalder later. "Our kids were yelling and screaming so much at halftime I had to tell them to shut up so we could plan the second half." Whatever the plan was, it worked. Syracuse's defense intercepted five passes and the Orangemen got another kind of break in the third quarter. Out of a pileup came State's Steve Prue, holding the ball as if he had recovered a fumble. New units came on the field, but after a conference the officials recalled the Syracuse offense and gave it the ball while State Coach Joe Paterno angrily roamed the sideline.
"The referee came over to me and said no official had seen a loose ball," said Schwartzwalder. "He apologized for making a mistake that helped us, and who was I to criticize?"
When Air Force and Navy played in Washington it seemed that at least half of the 46,414 fans consisted of brass from the Pentagon. It was enough to unnerve any cadet, but not Brian (The Muscle) Bream of the Air Force. He gained a school record 207 yards and scored two TDs as the unbeaten Falcons won 26-3 for their sixth straight.
In the Ivy League, Cornell and rushing leader Ed Marinaro were upset by Harvard, but Dartmouth and Yale remained unbeaten. The Indians thumped Brown 42-14. Quarterback Joe Massey passed Yale over Columbia 32-15. They will decide the Ivy's No. 1 on Oct. 31 in New Haven.
SOUTH
1. AUBURN (5-0)
2. LSU (4-1)
3. MISSISSIPPI (4-1)
In the first quarter Mississippi's Archie Manning threw two touchdown passes and it looked as if the unbeaten, fourth-ranked Rebels were on the way to the inevitable rout. Sure it had to be a rout, because look who Ole Miss was playing. Not Alabama, not Georgia, not LSU, but little ol' Southern Mississippi. In the hierarchy of Mississippi football Ole Miss has always lived in the big house upon the hill, while Southern has been just poor folks. Remember last year? Ole Miss 69, Southern 7. Well, it was a rout this year, too. Except the score was Southern 30, Ole Miss 14. Afterward all Manning could do was sit in the dressing room and mutter over and again, "It's a shame."
The Southerners from Hattiesburg, Miss. had a fine quarterback of their own in junior Rick Donegan, whose short passes were especially effective. The big plays, however, were made by little Willie Heidelburg (5'6", 147 pounds), one of the few black men ever to play in Mississippi at the major college level, and sophomore Gerry Saggus. Heidelburg ran only three times, but scored twice on reverses; Saggus broke the Rebs with a 60-yard punt return in the third quarter. Afterward Coach P. W. (Bear) Underwood, whose 39th birthday occurred the previous day, was serenaded by delirious Southern fans outside the dressing room.
And what happened to Archie and the Rebels? Well, some Ole Miss fans tried to blame the new $280,000 artificial turf in Hemingway Stadium (Ole Miss now is 0-3 on the ersatz carpet). The fact was that although Manning put the ball in the air more than ever (56 times, with 30 completions for 341 yards), he simply could not get the Rebels into the end zone after those first two TDs. Once Ole Miss lost the ball on downs when Archie was stopped a yard from the goal. Another time, with a first down on Southern's 11, Manning's pass into the end zone was intercepted.
On the Auburn campus for a night show, Bob Hope spent the afternoon watching the unbeaten Tigers trounce Georgia Tech 31-7. Hope got his biggest laugh of the weekend by asking Coach Shug Jordan, "Why don't you bring this team to the Rose Bowl?" Well, Bob, you had the wrong bowl but the right idea: Auburn and its marvelous passing combination of Pat Sullivan to Terry Beasley will surely wind up in somebody's. Against Tech, Sullivan, a junior, completed 16 of 29 passes for 312 yards and two TDs—including a record 85-yard toss to Flanker Alvin Bresler. He also ran seven times for 42 yards and another score. "I understand some people around here are wearing PAT WHO? buttons," said Jordan, who soon turned his thoughts to this week's important game against LSU, a team that beat Auburn last year.
In Baton Rouge LSU was extended to the last second to beat erratic Kentucky 14-7. With 28 seconds left, the underdog visitors had a first down on the LSU 12, but on the game's last play LSU Cornerback James Earley tackled Kentucky Receiver Al Godwin on the two to save the Tigers' fourth straight win. In a desperate attempt to stop the passing of Kentucky's Bernie Scruggs (25 of 39 for 207 yards) LSU Coach Charlie McClendon put his star tailback, Tommy Casanova, at cornerback for the last 10 minutes.
Leading only 7-0, Florida stopped upset-minded Richmond six inches away from the goal and went on to a 20-0 victory—the Gators' fifth in six starts. In Knoxville, Tennessee whipped Alabama 24-0 to give rookie Coach Bill Battle a 1-0 edge over Bear Bryant, his collegiate coach. "I'm real proud of Bill Battle," said Bryant. "Not happy for him, of course, but proud." In Jackson, Mississippi State upset Texas Tech 20-16, thanks to two TD passes from Quarterback Joe Reed to Flanker David Smith. In the Atlantic Coast Conference, previously winless Maryland upset South Carolina 21-15 in a comedy of errors. The last laugh went to Maryland, however, and the happy Terrapin fans revived that quaint old college custom of tearing down the goalposts.
SOUTHWEST
1. TEXAS (4-0)
2. ARKANSAS (4-1)
3. HOUSTON (3-1)
Both Texas and Arkansas took the week off, so the big game was in the Astrodome, where Houston's Cougars played host to Oregon State, an underrated visitor from the West Coast. It was Coach Dee Andros' 46th birthday, and the Beavers were primed to upset the Cougars, which they very nearly did. Oregon State controlled the ball for 45 minutes and 86 plays (to Houston's 53), and with only 1:17 to go the Beavers had a 16-12 lead. But then Houston Quarterback Terry Peel passed to Split End Elmo Wright for 22 yards and the winning TD.
Peel, who started Houston's first two games while Gary Mullins was recovering from knee surgery, entered the game only because Mullins was ejected for scuffling with Oregon State's Mark Dippel in the fourth quarter. Mullins had reason to feel frustrated, he was 1-for-14 passing. During one stretch Mullins threw 11 straight in-completions, and his receivers dropped nine perfect throws. Peel, however, completed three of seven passes, including the game winner, and he sustained the final drive by keeping for two yards on a fourth-and-inches play at midfield.
But most of the credit for victory belonged to Houston's defense. The muscular Beavers ran play after play into the line, but the Cougars invariably stiffened, turning three potential touchdown drives into field goals by Lynn Boston. Houston's Glen Lewis was in on 19 tackles, knocked a Beaver blocker into a punted ball that teammate Frank Ditta returned 52 yards for a TD and knocked down one pass. Which isn't too bad for a guy with a couple of bruised ribs.
In what many considered the best all-round game of his career Quarterback Chuck Hixson guided SMU to a 10-0 win over Rice. Hixson's reputation as a passer is well established (he already holds the NCAA career record, with 558 completions), but his running and play selection have often been criticized. Against the Owls, however, Hixson mixed his passes (13 of 19 for 130 yards and a TD) with runs by himself and junior Tailback Gary Hammond. The Mustangs' new attack befuddled a Rice defense that apparently was set only to stop the anticipated barrage of Hixson passes. Perhaps the biggest single play of the game was made by SMU's Sam McLarty, a 5'10" punting specialist. With less than three minutes to go a snap from center went over McLarty's head, and he retreated into the end zone with three Owls in pursuit. Somehow he grabbed the ball, eluded his pursuers and kicked it out to the SMU 40.
WEST
1. STANFORD (5-1)
2. USC (4-1-1)
3. AIR FORCE (6-0)
For perhaps the only time in the history of college football a game was brought to a complete halt in the second quarter so that the game ball could be presented to the visiting quarterback. Of course, nobody in Spokane's Joe Albi Stadium seemed to mind. Stanford was well on the way to its eventual 63-16 victory over the home-town Cougars. And how many times does a guy get to see Jim Plunkett break the NCAA career record for total offense?
Plunkett went into the game needing only 214 yards to beat the record 6,568 gained by North Texas State's Steve Ramsey in 1967-69. He finished the day with 275 yards. The ones that put him over the top came on a weird pass play in the second quarter. With the ball on his four Plunkett dropped back, spotted Flanker Randy Vataha out near the 48 and threw. The ball came down squarely on the helmet of Cougar defender Chuck Hawthorne. Vataha trapped it there, lifted it tenderly and ran the remaining 52 yards for what added up to a 96-yard play. That gave Plunkett 220 for the game, six more than necessary, and shortly thereafter action stopped so that he could be given the ball. "It was good to win the way we did," said Plunkett later.
The only other excitement was provided by a rather demonstrative Cougar fan. In the third quarter Stanford's Eric Cross, a sophomore, ran through the Cougar line and into the clear at the 25. But when Cross got inside the 10 he was confronted by a fan dressed in a blue shirt and denims. They collided at the two. Cross shook off the tackle and gained the end zone, giving Stanford a 50-8 lead. The fan, later identified as Terry Earl Smith, 27, was taken into police custody and booked on charges of being drunk and disorderly. "He was the toughest one to hit me all day," said Cross. Hear that, State Coach Jim Sweeney? Got any scholarships left?
In Los Angeles, Southern Cal was a heavy favorite over Washington, but Sonny Sixkiller, the Husky sophomore quarterback by way of the Cherokee nation, almost pinned the Trojans with their second straight loss. He hit on 30 of 57 passes for 341 yards and a touchdown, but an interception by USC's Ron Ayala stopped the Huskies late in the game, and Southern Cal finally prevailed 28-25.
With only four seconds left, UCLA's Dennis Dummit ran around right end for three yards and a touchdown, giving the Bruins a 24-21 victory over California. Faced with the prospect of losing its third straight close decision, UCLA had taken over at its 15 with only three minutes left. In their final drive the Bruins were aided by two pass-interference calls. The first came on a fourth-and-13 play and gave UCLA possession at the Cal nine. Two plays later the second interference call put the ball on the three, which set up Dummit's winning run.
Unbeaten Arizona State was so lackadaisical in its 27-3 win over Brigham Young that the Sun Devils were chastised by both coaches. The losing coach, Tommy Hudspeth, visited the State dressing room and told the team: "If you perform the rest of the season like you did today you're going to waste this great talent and you will not continue undefeated." State Coach Frank Kush was more harsh: "Our offense stuttered, stammered and fell. Our receivers played as though they wore boxing gloves. We stunk up the place."
MIDWEST
1. OHIO STATE (4-0)
2. NOTRE DAME (5-0)
3. NEBRASKA (5-0-1)
The week in Michigan was full of conflict and confrontation. An East Lansing newsman printed reports that Michigan State Coach Duffy Daugherty might be asked to retire, so ol' Duffy (limping along with a 1-3 record) got his dander up and barred the newsman from the team bus for the ride to Ann Arbor and the big game with Michigan. Then the game itself had to survive a legal battle on Friday. Seems that a university janitor, Joel Block, was miffed because a rock festival had been banned, so he sought an injunction to prohibit the game as a common nuisance. He argued that the pot smoking and rowdyism at a rock festival are no worse than the drinking and rowdyism at a football game. Unfortunately for Michigan State, the injunction was denied. That left Michigan free to run up its biggest point total against State in almost 25 years while winning 34-20.
Michigan's Billy Taylor scored three TDs, the first Wolverine to do that against State since 1947, and he also gained 149 yards. Glenn Doughty gained 85 yards, caught five passes and scored once. And Quarterback Don Moorhead, besides hitting 12 of 19 passes, kept Michigan moving with consistently successful plays on third or fourth down. After the hectic week Michigan's biggest celebration was at the Den of the Mellow Men, a house rented by seven Wolverine players. The specialty of the house is soul food and, as Taylor said, "Man, the Saturday night dinners are getting to be a bigger treat than the game."
In Columbus, Ohio State scored the first four times it had the ball against Minnesota, then spent the rest of the day fending off passes en route to an easy 28-8 victory. A record crowd of 86,667 watched Quarterback Rex Kern baffle Minnesota with his moves off the triple option, and Fullback John Brockington hurt the Gophers with his smashes into the line. Kern ran 20 times for 86 yards and two TDs, and he completed nine of 15 passes for 74 more yards. "Rex was remarkable with his ball handling," said Buckeye Coach Woody Hayes in a rare spasm of praise. He also had a back pat for Brockington, who ran 28 times for 187 yards and two TDs.
In Madison, Northwestern Fullback Mike Adamle stomped all over Wisconsin's defense, gaining 176 yards in the Wildcats' 24-14 win—their second straight in the Big Ten. With his team leading 17-14 and only 52 seconds left, Adamle rammed through Wisconsin's stacked defense for 43 yards and a touchdown.
In the Big Eight, Kansas got a 96-yard kickoff return from Vince O'Neil, but that wasn't enough to keep Nebraska from grinding out a 41-20 victory. The Cornhuskers, who are so deep that they have what amounts to two first-string quarterbacks (Jerry Tagge and Van Brownson) and two first-string halfbacks (Joe Orduna and Jeff Kinney), tore up the Jayhawks' defense for 295 yards on the ground and 218 in the air. In Boulder, Colorado gained 359 yards on the ground, but the Buffaloes' seven turnovers (four interceptions, three fumbles) enabled Oklahoma to spring a 23-15 upset.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
THE BACK: Stanford's Jim Plunkett accounted for 275 yards in a 63-16 win over Washington State to break the national collegiate career total-offense record. He now has 6,630 yards, with at least five games left to play.
THE LINEMAN: A couple of his ribs were bruised early in the game, but Houston's Glen Lewis still helped make 19 tackles, knocked down a pass and caused a blocked punt as the Cougars outlasted tough Oregon State 19-16.
