THE WEEK

EAST

1. PENN STATE (10-0)
2. BOSTON COLLEGE (8-2)
3. DARTMOUTH (8-1)

"This may be our best team yet," said Penn State Coach Joe Paterno, and this was before his Nittany Lions chewed up Pitt 55-18 for their 15th straight victory. Lydell Mitchell scored three more touchdowns to extend his NCAA single-season record to 28. He gained 181 yards in 21 carries despite sitting out most of the second half.

Paterno did not take any chances when the Panthers drew to within 36 points in the third quarter. He sent his first unit back in "because Pitt started to get a lot of momentum." Penn State, as expected, held on, even extended its lead, and accepted a Cotton Bowl bid.

Princeton had the Ivy League's leading offense and defense, but once again Dartmouth had the best team. The Indians stomped the Tigers 33-7, intercepting five passes, forcing two fumbles and not allowing a touchdown until the last play of the game.

Cornell, although it lost to Dartmouth a week earlier, earned a share of the Ivy title by walloping Penn 41-13. The Marinaro Era came to a glorious conclusion as Ed scored five touchdowns and gained 230 yards in 42 carries. As for the Heisman Trophy, the leg-weary Marinaro said, "I'll be happy if I get it. I'll be disappointed if I don't. But I'll be able to live with it."

Harvard and Yale met in the 88th renewal of their series. The Crimson, with an early three-touchdown splurge in three minutes 12 seconds, won going away, 35-16, before the largest Ivy League crowd this season, 51,238. Harvard's first-year coach, Joe Restic, was glad The Game was finally behind him. "I started receiving correspondence early in the year that I wasn't concentrating enough on Yale," he said.

Columbia concluded its finest season in 10 years, finishing 6-3 with a 24-6 win over Brown despite the absence of Quarterback Don Jackson, who was injured. The Bruins led 6-3 at halftime before the Lions started to roar. Boston College routed Massachusetts 35-0 as John Kline kicked two 45-yard field goals and the defense produced touchdowns on a blocked punt and a pass interception.

Syracuse ended a three-game losing streak by overcoming a 21-7 third-quarter deficit to defeat West Virginia 28-24.

Delaware, the nation's top college-division team, romped past Bucknell 46-0 by scoring in every quarter. Gardy Kahoe had four touchdowns, and his 145 yards rushing in 20 carries gave him a school record 1,216 yards for the season.

SOUTH

1. ALABAMA (10-0)
2. AUBURN (9-0)
3. GEORGIA (9-1)

North Carolina capped its finest regular season since 1948 by defeating Duke 38-0. The ninth win in 11 games clinched the Atlantic Coast Conference championship for Coach Bill Dooley's Tar Heels and a Gator Bowl clash with Georgia. And who will Dooley's relatives root for come game time?—the Bulldogs' coach is Bill's brother, Vince. Lewis Jolley was the offensive standout for North Carolina, scoring three touchdowns and gaining 159 yards in 24 carries. "Most of the time," said Jolley, "I'd hit the hole, look up and discover a clear path between me and Duke's safety man."

In a couple of ACC upsets, North Carolina State defeated Clemson 31-23, and Virginia edged Maryland 29-27.

South Carolina switched Defensive Back Dickie Harris to offense against Wake Forest, and the outstanding punt returner scored three touchdowns, becoming the first Gamecock to rush for 100 yards this season, as South Carolina won 24-7.

Kentucky was driving for a touchdown and the possible go-ahead two-point conversion late in the game against Tennessee when Defensive End Carl Johnson intercepted a pitchout and ran 87 yards for a TD. The 21-7 victory insured a Liberty Bowl bid for the Volunteers.

Florida State, headed for the Fiesta Bowl against Arizona State, got a running game to go with its passing in a 45-10 romp past Tulsa. Richmond won a Southern Conference showdown with William & Mary, but the prize was dubious: Toledo in the Tangerine Bowl.

SOUTHWEST

1. HOUSTON (8-2)
2. TEXAS (7-2)
3. ARKANSAS (8-2-1)

Miami Coach Fran Curci, ignoring the fact that Alabama had crushed Houston 34-20 four weeks earlier and that his Hurricanes had lost 27-6 to Houston and 31-3 to Alabama when the Tide was without its top running back, was full of comparative praise for the Cougars Saturday night. "Their offense is much more explosive than Alabama's and they are much harder to defend against," he said. Certainly, Miami had trouble defending against Robert Newhouse, who gained 145 yards on 30 carries, and Tom Mozisek, who had 122 in 22. Newhouse is now Houston's single-season rushing leader with 1,553 yards.

Arkansas seemed headed for the Liberty Bowl and a pairing opposite Tennessee after its 15-0 win over Texas Tech. The Razorbacks' chances for the Cotton Bowl depend on a Texas loss or tie against Texas A&M on Thanksgiving Day. The expected showdown between the nation's leading pass defense and one of football's most explosive passing games never came about. Arkansas Quarterback Joe Ferguson, his injured throwing shoulder deadened by novocain, lasted only one quarter. So the Razorbacks threw only eight times, completing two, and enjoyed their best game of the season on the ground with 318 yards. "We worked on the Wishbone all week because Ferguson couldn't practice," said Coach Frank Broyles. Mike Saint, finding room up the middle, carried 29 times for 160 yards. Tech, stunned by six turnovers, never threatened.

Texas Christian scored a dramatic victory when Berl Simmons' 41-yard field goal in the last half minute defeated Rice 20-19. Simmons was anything but the calm and collected hero. "I've never been so nervous in my life," he said. Quarterback Steve Judy, who set up the winning kick with a 20-yard pass completion on a fourth-and-18 situation said, "It took me 31 games to pull one out in the last seconds."

Baylor clinched the Southwest Conference cellar for the second time in Coach Bill Beall's three years, but reports are it won't happen again. Southern Methodist's 20-6 victory may have been Beall's last gasp. The Mustangs scored on two short Gary Hammond to Louis Scott passes and on field goals of 51 and 31 yards by Chipper Johnson. Sophomore Tailback Alvin Maxson took over the conference rushing lead with 120 yards gained for a total of 916 yards.

WEST

1. ARIZONA STATE (9-1)
2. STANFORD (8-3)
3. WASHINGTON (8-3)

Stanford settled the question of which Paccific Eight team gets the Rose Bowl bid and eliminated the need for a legal solution by defeating California 14-0. Indian Coach John Ralston, willing to concede that the Golden Bears had at least an outside shot at the title, said before the game, "This is how it should be, Cal and Stanford going down to the final game."

There never was much doubt once it got under way. Stanford, with a losing record at home, came out in its road uniform, and the change was for the better. Quarterback Don Bunce completed 18 of 24 passes for 211 yards, one of his seven completions to Jackie Brown going for a touchdown. The Thunder Chickens' defense was overpowering, allowing Cal only 123 yards on offense and intercepting a pass the only time the Bears moved inside Stanford's 40.

"It was a stinking tie...a big fat nothing," said Southern Cal's John McKay. Furthermore, it was meaningless and far from a sellout as USC and UCLA stumbled to a 7-7 draw. Of course, you could take Pepper Rodgers' point of view. "I really feel like we won," said the UCLA coach. "We didn't, but it was very important that we didn't lose."

The game was devoid of offense, which may be another way of saying the defense was very good. UCLA's touchdown was set up by a short punt that gave the Bruins possession on the USC 30. Otherwise, they never drove beyond the Trojan 48. Southern Cal had nearly twice as many offensive yards (295 to 158), but its only impressive thrust came on an 89-yard scoring drive in the second quarter.

Washington did not become the nation's second-best passing team by running, but that's exactly what the Huskies did against Washington State, winning 28-20. Sonny Six-killer and Greg Collins threw only 14 times, completing eight for 145 yards, while the ground game accounted for 238 yards. Six-killer even scored on a 32-yard romp around right end. The Washington defense was impressive, yielding only 52 yards on the ground to the Pacific Eight's best rushing team. Bernard Jackson was stopped for 11 yards in 13 carries.

While Jackson was having a bad day, Bobby Moore was having no day at all. He was on the sidelines as Oregon lost its eighth straight to Oregon State, 30-29. The Beavers, meanwhile, had their running star, Dave Schilling, make his first start in a month. Schilling scored three touchdowns and gained 114 yards in 24 tries. He was especially effective in the second half when Oregon State shifted into an unbalanced front and scored 20 points after trailing 14-10. The last touchdown came with 1:40 left, on a six-yard run by Billy Carlquist.

Until San Jose State stunned Stanford two weeks ago, the school was not known as a football giant killer, but with powerful Arizona State coming in, there were visions of another upset. And so a crowd of 23,500 turned out, the largest in the history of Spartan Stadium, but the smallest Arizona State has played before this year. Alas, they saw the visiting Sun Devils roll as expected, 49-6. Quarterback Dan White passed for three touchdowns, and Woody Green gained 173 yards.

New Mexico, whose Wishbone would be the most effective in the country if Oklahoma disappeared, ran all over Wyoming 49-14. The Lobos added to their 386-yards-a-game average with 428, and Fred Henry became the first New Mexico back to gain 1,000 yards in a season.

MIDWEST

1. OKLAHOMA (9-0)
2. NEBRASKA (10-0)
3. MICHIGAN (11-0)

"We'd rather have an immoral win than a moral victory," said Ohio State's Woody Hayes after his Buckeyes fell short of Michigan 10-7. The Wolverines, who are Big Ten champions and Rose Bowl bound, managed to win when Billy Taylor capped a 72-yard fourth-quarter drive with a 21-yard touchdown run. Ohio State tried to come back in the final two minutes, but a pass interception ended the threat and so infuriated Hayes that he drew a 15-yard penalty for ranting at the officials. "It was interference but the referee didn't have the guts to call it," said Hayes.

Northwestern took second place behind the Wolverines by defeating Michigan State 28-7. The Wildcats drove for a touchdown on their first possession and controlled the ball for nearly 10 minutes of the first quarter. Minnesota ended its 4-7 season successfully by edging Wisconsin 23-21 as Mel Anderson caught a scoring pass with nine seconds left. "I thought I was going to graduate before I caught a touchdown pass," he said. "That's cutting it pretty thin—down to the last nine seconds in my last game." Speculation is that it was also Coach Murray Warmath's last game.

Illinois blasted Iowa 31-0 for its fifth straight win—this from a team that couldn't score at all early in the season and lost its first six games. Purdue lost its fifth straight, to Indiana 38-31.

Nebraska and Oklahoma, headed for the Orange and Sugar Bowls, respectively, are not the only Big Eight teams going to a bowl; Colorado takes a 9-2 record to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl after walloping Air Force 53-17. Cliff Branch, who scored twice on a 34-yard end around and a 65-yard punt return and set up another TD with a 50-yard runback, drew all the raves. "I've never seen a football player with that much speed," said Air Force Coach Ben Martin of the 9.2 sprinter.

Iowa State's George Amundson scored four touchdowns in a 54-0 romp over Oklahoma State. The Cyclones, who have won seven games while losing only to the Big Eight's Big Three, will play in the Sun Bowl. Missouri, whose football fortunes have hit bedrock, lost to Kansas 7-2 and finished 1-10. Kansas State went out of the conference against Missouri Valley champion Memphis State and came back with a 28-21 victory. Toledo had no trouble winning its 34th in a row, 41-6 over Kent State.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

THE BACK: Ed Marinaro's magnificent performance against Pennsylvania in his final game gave him NCAA major-college rushing records for career (4,715 total yards, 174.6 per game average) and a season (1,881; 209-yard average).

THE LINEMAN: Ronnie Estay, a 6'1", 225-pound tackle, led LSU's determined defense, making 13 tackles. Estay also punted seven times for a 36.4 average, with only three of his kicks being returned for a total of five yards.