Always leave 'em laughing

The pursuit of victory by America's football coaches produced a triumph for martyred causes last Saturday. Turning a season's adversity to their own advantage, Duffy Daugherty, Tom Harper and Al Conover inspired their teams to unlikely victories on an afternoon with more than its share of upsets.

Two weeks ago, when Daugherty announced his retirement, his aroused Spartans went out and dumped Purdue 22-12. Last Saturday they did it again, upsetting Ohio State 19-12. Maybe Duffy should have let them know in August. Wake Forest ended its string of seven losses with a 9-7 win over Duke after the news leaked out that Harper had been fired. And Rice followed a pre-game soul-letting by Conover with its first victory in six games, 23-20 over Arkansas. To put his boys in the proper spirit, Conover hurled a chair through the dressing-room window.

The nation's other unexpected results seemed tame by comparison. So what if Iowa State tied Nebraska 23-23 or Washington stunned UCLA 30-21? What, other than the usual week of practice and strategy sessions, did their coaches do? They didn't quit. They weren't fired. No chairs through the window. Come on, you guys, get with it.