THE WEEK
SOUTH
1. AUBURN (2-0)
2. ALABAMA (3-0)
3. GEORGIA (3-0)
Oddsmakers had made Georgia Tech a 20½-point favorite over visiting Army, and one sportswriter-seer predicted Tech would win 34-3. Army Coach Tom Cahill chose to read that clipping to his team before the game. "We had our pride hurt," said Cahill afterward, "and you'd better not catch us when our pride is hurt. That's what happened today, and we played a heck of a game." Cadet sophomore Jim Barclay had kicked two field goals when, with four minutes left, two 15-yard penalties against Tech put Army within range again. Out trotted Barclay to boot a 40-yarder, the longest of his short career, for a 16-13 victory.
In Tallahassee, Fla., Frank Fontes also kicked three field goals, but his were without benefit of shoes and gave Florida State all the points it needed in a 30-7 thrashing of Kansas. The kicks were from 31, 42 and 47 yards. Just for a little icing, junior Quarterback Gary Huff threw three TD passes before taking the rest of the night off.
Florida players were called "peons" and "aardvarks" by their own fans Friday night during an appearance at a Gainesville movie theater. The name-calling might get more vicious soon, for on Saturday Alabama's Johnny Musso sat out most of the second half yet still scored four touchdowns, tying a school single-game record, as the Tide rolled 38-0. "We got a sound beating from a superior football team," said Florida Coach Doug Dickey.
Duke warmed up for Stanford by trouncing Virginia 28-0, and Coach Mike McGee has more Duke grads talking about him after three games than he did when he was an All-America lineman for the Blue Devils a little more than a decade ago. McGee has stressed attitude and fundamentals and it has paid off so far.
Kentucky fell to Mississippi 34-20, its 19th loss against only five victories since John Ray became coach in 1969. "We Believe" pennants, buttons, bumper stickers and signs have been displayed in the bluegrass country for two years, but the Wildcats' defense would make nonbelievers out of anybody. Rebel Quarterback Kenny Lyons didn't help. He was almost unstoppable on the option play in the first half, when he ran for 64 yards and passed for 100.
Georgia punter Jimmy Shirer set up two touchdowns with his precise kicks as the Bulldogs beat Clemson 28-0 and improved their record to 3-0. Shirer punted to the one and the five, and when Clemson subsequently had to punt from its end zone Georgia got the ball in scoring position.
MIDWEST
1. NOTRE DAME (2-0)
2. NEBRASKA (3-0)
3. MICHIGAN (3-0)
Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes usually refers to nonconference games as "exhibitions," but the visit from Colorado was different, not only because the Buffaloes had previously whipped LSU and Wyoming but because the Big Eight had won 17 straight victories over Big Ten teams. Growled Woody, "The Big Eight has been rubbing our noses in it." Before the usual packed stadium in Columbus, Hayes put on quite a show, especially when he hurled his baseball cap to the ground, jumped up and down on it and then, to further vent his rage, fell on it—all this to protest a referee's call. But Colorado put on an even better show, twice making successful stands inside its five-yard line and displaying an excellent triple-option offense as it upset the Buckeyes 20-14.
The play that hurt the most was a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown by senior Cliff Branch, the sixth time in two seasons the sprinter from Houston has gone the distance with a kick. Colorado Quarterback Ken Johnson clinched the game with a 39-yard bolt up the middle. Hayes' eruption came when he thought Colorado should have been called for pass interference in the end zone (Ohio State was trailing 13-0 at the time), but he staged a couple of more hat dances before the final gun as Quarterback Don Lamka almost brought the Buckeyes back. Despite suffering a separation in his left shoulder on OSU's first scrimmage play, Lamka hit 20 of 33 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown.
"Fight Ara Pollution," said the buttons Purdue students wore all week as they got themselves stirred up for the intrastate battle with Coach Ara Parseghian's Notre Dame powerhouse. But it was just plain rain, not any sort of pollution, that did in the Boilermakers. With 2:58 left in the game and Purdue leading 7-0 courtesy of Gary Danielson's 26-yard TD pass to Otis Armstrong, Purdue's Scott Lougheed stood in the end zone ready to punt. The snap was low, the ball was as slippery as a cake of soap and he dropped it. Irish Defensive Back Clarence Ellis hit him as he tried to retrieve it and the ball squirted away to where Defensive End Fred Swendsen could cover it for an Irish touchdown. Then, on a call that may bury memories of the time Parseghian once played for a tie, Quarterback Pat Steenberge passed to Tight End Mike Creaney for the two-point conversion and an 8-7 victory. It was Notre Dame's first win at Lafayette since 1961.
LSU traveled north to play a Big Ten team for only the second time in its history and beat Wisconsin 38-28. Quarterback Paul Lyons ran for three touchdowns, passed for another and gained a school-record 304 yards total offense. Penn State ignored the wet turf and chilly rain, relied on runners Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell and defeated Iowa 44-14. Northwestern Coach Alex Agase did not even bother to show his team the film of the previous week's slaughter by Notre Dame. The Wildcats forgot about their 0-2 record and beat Syracuse 12-6 with simple, brute-force football. Duffy Daugherty enjoyed his 100th career win as Michigan State beat Oregon State 31-14, and Michigan pummeled UCLA 38-0.
Nebraska won its third straight by a margin of five touchdowns to one, this time picking on Texas A&M 34-7. The Aggies' lone score was a 94-yard kickoff return by little Hugh McElroy. Houston's Robert New-house picked up more than 100 yards for his eighth straight game and the Cougars beat Cincinnati 12-3.
EAST
1. PENN STATE (2-0)
2. ARMY (1-1)
3. DARTMOUTH (1-0)
While other Big Eight teams were punishing the Southwest Conference and the Big Ten, Oklahoma traveled east to play Pitt and display its best weapon, Quarterback Jack Mildren. The ex-Texas high school star did not amass a load of gee-whiz statistics, but he ran the Wishbone-T attack beautifully, especially on quick pitchouts to Halfbacks Joe Wylie and Greg Pruitt, and Oklahoma battered the Panthers 55-29. Mildren drew raves from Pitt Coach Carl DePasqua, who called the Sooners "the most explosive machine I've seen." Winning Coach Chuck Fairbanks was not about to disagree, and in a moment of uncoachly euphoria said, "It is possible we can be No. 1." A brave statement, what with USC, Texas and Colorado coming up on the next three weekends.
Princeton and Rutgers renewed the oldest rivalry in college football, the Battle of New Jersey Route 1, and underdog Rutgers won 33-18, taking advantage of the Ivy Leaguers' porous first-half pass defense. There was no scoring in the second half, even though Princeton three times got inside the Rutgers five-yard line. Dartmouth opened its season with a 31-7 romp over Massachusetts and Penn beat Lehigh for the 32nd straight time, 28-14.
Poor Holy Cross, the only team Army could whip last year, had gone 1,036 days without a victory before it upset Harvard 21-16 Saturday. The last Crusader win was over Connecticut on Nov. 23, 1968. "Sometimes you have to win to show people you exist," said Holy Cross Captain Ed Jenkins. "We've had our faces in the mud for some time. We proved we're a team today." The victory marked Eddie Doherty's debut as head coach. The last time he appeared at Harvard Stadium was in an "informal" game for Boston College against the Crimson, and he was injured. This time his players tried to carry him off the field and he fell off their shoulders. He should have them practice that play all week in case it is ever needed again.
Lafayette twice stopped fourth-quarter drives inside the one-yard line to beat Columbia 3-0.
SOUTHWEST
1. TEXAS (2-0)
2. HOUSTON (2-1)
3. ARKANSAS (2-1)
When Arkansas left the field at halftime leading Tulsa 20-0, nobody in Razorback Stadium was the least bit surprised. After all, the seventh-ranked Hogs were the Southwest Conference total-offense leaders and had routed both Cal and Oklahoma State. No doubt they would prance out in the second half and continue to reduce the Golden Hurricane to a light breeze. Instead, Quarterback Todd Starks passed for three touchdowns within a space of 9:22 in the last quarter to give Tulsa a 21-20 victory and embarrass Arkansas with perhaps the most shocking upset in its 78-year football history.
The climax came with 3:46 left and Tulsa at the Arkansas 21. The Hogs had been dropping off their linebackers to defend in various zones, but this time all three blitzed. Starks calmly watched them bear down on him, then lobbed the ball out to Tailback Larry Frey who galloped through a convoy of blockers to the goal line. Sam Henry kicked his third extra point, and an interception in the last minute and a half clinched Tulsa's first win of 1971.
"This is the greatest victory of my career," said Tulsa Coach Claude Gibson. Gibson is 32. It may still be when he is 92.
"I'm brokenhearted," said Arkansas Coach Frank Broyles. "Tulsa deserves all the credit. We didn't underestimate them, but they outexecuted us in the second half."
The largest crowd ever to watch a college game in the Southwest, 76,639, turned out to see Texas beat Texas Tech 28-0 in Austin. Quarterback Eddie Phillips was on the sidelines because of a pulled hamstring muscle and a bruised toe, but 5'8", 167-pound sub Donnie Wigginton, who had been dreaming about starting for five years, filled in ably. "It was even better than I thought it was going to be," he said happily.
It was not an altogether sparkling performance for the Longhorns, who operated much of the time in a manner befitting the half-finished upper deck at Memorial Stadium. They cashed in on a fumble recovery and two pass interceptions for their three second-half TDs. To further curb Coach Darrell Royal's optimism, Running Back Jim Bertelsen suffered a bruised shoulder, although it does look as if he and Phillips will play this week against Oregon. Still, Texas is now unbeaten in 30 straight regular-season games.
Junior college transfer Godfrey White was going to let the second-half kickoff roll out of bounds, but he changed his mind, picked it up and raced 94 yards for a touchdown, giving Baylor the spark it needed to defeat Indiana 10-0. Mike Conradt added a 25-yard field goal and the Bears had more points than they needed to end their losing streak at six. "We were just determined we were going to get a shutout," said Baylor Defensive Coach Pat Culpepper. "It's like when there is a sickness in the family. If the father is sick, then the mother goes to work. Our offense has been having trouble, so we went to work...."
Rice edged Tulane 14-11, then presented the game ball to newly inaugurated university President Dr. Norman Hackerman. "I hope you can play as well for the next eight," said the pleased prez. With LSU, Texas and Arkansas left on the schedule, that may be difficult.
WEST
1. ARIZONA STATE (2-0)
2. WASHINGTON (3-0)
3. STANFORD (3-0)
USC Coach John McKay always finds something to fear in an upcoming opponent, and with Illinois—twice-beaten, scoreless Illinois, which could not find the end zone with a seeing-eye dog—it was the defense, which he described as "vastly improved." Nobody noticed his cigar trembling in his hand when he said it. Well, the Trojans won 28-0 and rolled up 502 yards running and passing, 234 of the yards being earned by Quarterback Jimmy Jones, who moved past O.J. Simpson into first place on the all-time USC total-offense list. But that Illini defense was noticeable in one category, hard tackling. Seven times USC fumbled, twice within scoring range.
For Illinois Coach Bob Blackman, formerly the head man at Dartmouth, it was a disheartening California homecoming. He was co-captain of the USC freshmen in 1937, but polio ended his playing days and he served as a student assistant for three years. "I had the feeling they were 10 touchdowns better than us," he said. "If you were a boxing promoter, you'd lose your license for a mismatch like that." The Illini's balance-of-points deficit for three games this season: 0-65.
With Quarterback Dan Fouts sitting out the second half because of strained knee ligaments, Oregon had no choice but to try to run, and there happily waiting were Stanford's Jeff Siemon, Pete Lazetich and others. Still, the Ducks' Bobby Moore carried 14 times for 100 yards, demonstrating once again why Coach Jerry Frei calls him "the finest athlete we have ever recruited." Otherwise, Stanford dominated when necessary and won its Pacific Eight opener 38-17. For the second straight week Quarterback Don Bunce threw two touchdown passes to Miles Moore. "He was fantastic," said Stanford Coach John Ralston of Bunce.
Utah trailed Arizona State by only 24-21 with 6:34 remaining, but the Sun Devils recovered a fumble to stop a Ute drive and it was all over. Don Ekstrand kicked his second field goal, a 31-yarder, sophomore Woody Green zipped up and down the field the way ASU backs usually do and host Utah fell 41-21. Sonny Sixkiller (page 34) led Washington to a 44-26 victory over TCU, but the Frogs' Steve Judy got some attention, too. He broke Sammy Baugh's 35-year-old school pass-completion record.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
THE BACK: Tulsa Quarterback Todd Starks, a Californian who was the national junior college passing champion two years ago, beat favored Arkansas 21-20 with three touchdown passes and 22 completions in the second half.
THE LINEMAN: Colorado Defensive Guard Bud Magrum made nine solo tackles and assisted on 11 more against Ohio State. The sophomore from Nevada was the most stubborn Buffalo in two successful goal-line stands.