THE WEEK
EAST
"No way we figured to do it this easily," said Penn State Quarterback Chuck Fusina, after directing a 49-7 defeat of Miami. A lopsided victory had seemed unlikely because the Hurricanes had been first in the nation in pass defense (56.2 yards a game) and fifth in overall defense (211.5 yards). But Fusina connected on seven of 11 throws for 192 yards and two touchdowns (a 56-yarder to Ed Guthrie and a 72-yarder to Scott Fitzkee) while playing slightly more than two periods. All told, the Nittany Lions amassed 461 yards of total offense, including three short touchdown runs by Matt Suhey.
It was an easy week for Pennsylvania quarterbacks. Matt Cavanaugh of Pittsburgh also got plenty of rest. After hitting on 10 of 16 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns to Gordon Jones, Cavanaugh sat down and watched the Panthers finish off Tulane 48-0. Pitt's Eliott Walker rushed for 119 yards, including scoring runs of 16 and 21 yards.
While Coach Frank Burns was at home recuperating from a heart attack, Rutgers pulled off a get-well triumph for him at William & Mary. Just barely. The Scarlet Knights trailed 21-3 in the third period. Then Quarterback Bert Kosup got rolling with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Walt Hynoski—which, after Rutgers missed the extra point, cut the deficit to 21-9—and ran two yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. There were just 40 seconds to go when Defensive End Phil Parkins pounced on a fumble, but Kosup wound up with time to spare, connecting with Freshman Tim Odell on a 28-yard scoring pass at the 13-second mark. Another missed conversion made the final score 22-21 Rutgers.
Dartmouth and Yale remained tied for the Ivy League lead, with the Elis getting 174 yards rushing and two touchdowns from John Pagliaro in a 28-0 victory over Cornell while the Big Green struggled past Columbia 14-7. Brown overcame Harvard 20-15 as the Bruins' Mark Whipple opened the scoring with a 76-yard pass to Charlie Watkins in the first period and closed it with a one-yard plunge in the fourth quarter. Despite attempting only three passes—and failing on all three—Penn defeated Princeton 21-10, the Quakers rushing for a season school-record 331 yards.
Four other Pennsylvania teams came through with impressive wins. The big man in Lehigh's 47-13 conquest of Bucknell was Mike Rieker, who hit on 16 of 28 passes for 384 yards and four touchdowns. Fullback Vince Thompson ran for 162 yards and freshman Quarterback Pat O'Brien for 146 as Villanova built a 28-0 advantage and held on for a 41-36 upset at West Virginia. Mountaineer Quarterback Dan Kendra completed 21 of 34 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns. Clarion (Pa.) State (7-0) knocked off California (Pa.) State 45-10, and Westminster (8-0), the top-ranked team in NAIA's Division II, blanked Geneva 30-0.
Army smothered winless Holy Cross 48-7 as Greg King broke loose for a 97-yard scoring run. In a battle of field goals, Syracuse, despite gaining 443 yards, settled for a 6-3 decision over Virginia. C.W. Post's 16-0 defeat of Kings Point was its fifth straight shutout. Knocked from the unbeaten ranks was NCAA Division II's New Hampshire, a 21-20 loser to Rhode Island.
1. PENN STATE (7-1)
2. PITTSBURGH (6-1-1)
3. COLGATE (8-0)
SOUTH
Two football maxims held up during the week. Louisiana State proved that a game is never over until the last tackle is made. Alabama established that it is curtain time as soon as Bear Bryant starts running in the substitutes. In the first encounter, Mississippi had pounced upon LSU in the second period, scoring three times in seven minutes and 40 seconds for a 21-0 lead. Freddie Williams scored first for the Rebels on a 42-yard bolt off left tackle. Tim Ellis added a one-yard sneak and Leon Perry went 69 yards down the middle. LSU's Charles Alexander countered with a one-yard smash to get his team on the board, but the Tigers still trailed 21-7 and had been outgained 258 yards to 109 in the first half.
A nine-yard pass from LSU's Steve Ensminger to Mike Quintela and the score was 21-14. Alexander, who entered the game as the nation's leading rusher with an average of 158 yards a game, was held to 61 yards, but set up LSU's third score by grabbing a 32-yard pass. On the next play—the first of the fourth period—Ensminger went over from the four to tie the score at 21-21. Willie Teal then stole a Rebel pass and ran it back 29 yards to the Mississippi 10. Alexander barged ahead for seven and, with 1:25 left, Ensminger went over from the three to make it LSU 28-21. And now for Maxim No. 1: Ellis completed two passes for 33 yards and the ball was on the Tiger 38 with 17 seconds to go. On the game's last play, Ellis faded back—and was sacked.
In the other contest, Alabama gained only 20 more yards than Mississippi State (231 to 211) in the first half, but held a 21-7 lead. Tony Nathan of the Tide rumbled for 104 yards in the first quarter, added 11 more in two second-period carries and then was given the rest of the evening off as Bryant sent in his backup troops to complete a 37-7 romp. Southeastern Conference leader Alabama (5-0) meets LSU (3-1) this week.
And to prove there are notable field-goal kickers outside the Southwest Conference (page 26), Jorge Portela of Auburn (3-0) booted five three-pointers during a 29-14 upset of Florida. Kentucky and Georgia took on non-conference opponents, the Wildcats beating Virginia Tech 32-0 and the Bulldogs defeating Richmond 23-7.
Maryland's three-year Atlantic Coast reign was almost assuredly ended with a 16-7 loss to North Carolina. The Tar Heels, who trailed 7-0 at the half, tied the score on a 36-yard pass from Matt Kupec to Mel Collins and turned three Terp turnovers into Tom Biddle field goals. The win left Carolina 3-0 in the ACC and dropped Maryland to 3-2.
Second-place Clemson beat Wake Forest 26-0. North Carolina State held off outsider South Carolina 7-3, and Duke, down 24-9 in the fourth period, stunned independent Georgia Tech 25-24 on a seven-yard Mike Dunn-to-Tom Hall pass with 13 seconds to go.
Florida State ended North Texas State's seven-game winning streak with a 35-14 triumph. The Seminoles scored twice in 44 seconds as Defensive Back Ivory Joe Hunter ran a blocked punt back 19 yards and Defensive End Willie Jones recovered a Mean Green fumble in the end zone.
1. ALABAMA (7-1)
2. KENTUCKY (7-1)
3. FLORIDA STATE (6-1)
SOUTHWEST
Texas and Arkansas romped to Southwest Conference wins, but Texas A&M and Houston needed big fourth quarters to come out on top. The Johnny Joneses of first-place Texas ran in all three Longhorn touchdowns in a 26-0 defeat of Texas Tech. Olympic Sprinter Johnny (Lam) Jones scored on a 57-yard pass play and Johnny (Ham) Jones tallied on runs of three and 11 yards, while Earl Campbell gained 116 of the Longhorns' 210 yards rushing. Arkansas rushers picked up 432 yards in a 30-7 rout of Rice, more than half that total coming from Ben Cowins (123 yards and a two-yard TD) and Micheal Forrest (114 yards, including scoring jaunts of 23 and two yards). Steve Little of the Razorbacks was in his usual fine foot, kicking field goals of 52, 44 and 29 yards and averaging 52.3 yards on three punts.
Alois Blackwell ran for three touchdowns and Delrick Brown passed to Willis Adams for two more as Houston knocked off TCU 42-14. The Cougars needed 21 points in the fourth period to lock up the victory. Texas A&M had an even tougher time with SMU, snapping a 21-21 deadlock with a 17-point fourth quarter. Quarterback David Walker made the Aggies 38-21 winners as he ran for 182 yards and connected with Darrell Smith on scoring passes of 30 and 34 yards.
In a showdown between the top two teams in the NAIA's Division I, No. 1 Texas A&I whomped No. 2 Angelo State 35-7.
1. TEXAS (7-0)
2. ARKANSAS (6-1)
3. TEXAS A&M (6-1)
WEST
For the first time in 25 years Berkeley drew a sellout crowd for an opponent other than Stanford. A total of 76,780 fans showed up and chipped in an extra dollar for each ticket. California was taking on Southern Cal and the game was being played in honor of the late Bear quarterback, Joe Roth, with the added revenue going into a scholarship fund named after him. The emotionally charged Bears led 7-0 at halftime and went on to win 17-14. Although the Trojans ran for 301 yards (164 of them by Charles White), they were repeatedly stymied on third-down plays, converting only four of 17. An 18-yard field goal by Jim Breech put Cal in front 10-7 in the third period and Quarterback Charlie Young climaxed an 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter with a one-yard sneak. Safety Anthony Green's first interception set up Cal's first quarter TD, and his second stopped a USC drive in the last minute.
When the score of the Cal upset was flashed on the Coliseum scoreboard in Los Angeles, it seemed to give UCLA a lift. The Bruins had a fourth and one on the Washington 13 and were leading 13-12. They decided to go for the yardage. Halfback Theotis Brown got the key yard and more—a touchdown. That sealed a 20-12 win over the Huskies, whose points all came on four field goals by Steve Robbins.
Stanford and Washington State had an easier time of it. With Guy Benjamin passing for three touchdowns, the Cardinals bumped off Oregon State 26-7. While downing Oregon 56-20, the Cougars gained 603 yards, 377 on the ground and 202 on the passing of Jack Thompson. All of which left Stanford (4-1) in first place in the Pac-8, Washington and USC (both 3-1) tied for second.
High-powered offenses propelled Arizona State and Brigham Young to Western AC wins. The Sun Devils amassed 630 yards as they beat Utah 47-19, with 290 credited to Dennis Sproul, who hit on 12 of 17 passes. Six of the passes were hauled in by John Jefferson, who scored on plays of 61 and 91 yards and gained 180 yards. Arizona State Linebacker Tim Petersen also had some impressive statistics: 11 tackles, one fumble recovery, one interception and a pass deflection. BYU's Marc Wilson was on target with 23 of 43 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns in the 554-yard attack by the Cougars, who beat Arizona 34-14. The victories left the Sun Devils and Cougars as the WAC's only undefeated teams and set up next week's confrontation between the two in Tempe.
Dan Christopulos kicked five field goals as Wyoming beat Colorado State 29-13. Christopulos, who had missed six of eight attempts in previous games this year, made good on kicks of 41, 22, 26, 19 and 62 yards.
Boston College's big gun, Ken Smith, brought down Air Force 36-14, throwing four touchdown passes, three of them to Mike Godbolt. Two NAIA Division II teams remained unbeaten, Dakota State (9-0) toppling Dakota Wesleyan 21-6 and Linfield (7-0) breezing past Willamette 41-10.
1. CALIFORNIA (6-2)
2. USC (5-3)
3. UCLA (5-3)
MIDWEST
Things just hadn't gone right all week for Wisconsin Coach John Jardine. First came the indignity of that photograph in The Milwaukee Sentinel. It showed Ohio Stadium and the caption was BADGER GRAVEYARD, a none-too-subtle reminder that Wisconsin had never won in the stadium in its 19 visits in the last 55 years. Then, after Jardine had assembled his team at the stadium for a practice session, he angrily pulled them off the field to protest the antics of local television crews. "This place is a zoo," he growled. And all that was before the game. Actually, Jardine insisted, the Badgers were "never more ready."
Ah, but what the Badgers were not ready for was an uncharacteristic start by the Buckeyes. After Quarterback Rod Gerald's long pass on the first play of the day was deflected at midfield, he came right back with the same call, this time passing to Jim Harrell for a 79-yard touchdown. When the game at the graveyard was over, Ohio State had a 42-0 victory and retained its one-game lead in the Big Ten.
Another quick start through the air came from Michigan in a 23-6 defeat of Iowa. On the game's third play, Rick Leach hit Russell Davis on a broken pass play that the fullback lugged 63 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. Leach wound up with nine completions in 12 passes, good for 202 yards and three scores. His last touchdown pass was the 25th of his career, a Wolverine record.
Freshman Mark Herrmann raised his touchdown pass total to 17, unleashing three as Purdue stopped Northwestern 28-16. Herrmann's 12-for-24 passing netted 183 yards and brought his season total to 2,041. Minnesota, which had shocked Michigan 16-0 the week before, led Indiana 16-13 at the fourth quarter. But the Hoosiers scored 21 points in 8:35 for a 34-22 win, as Indiana's Ric Enis rambled for 207 yards. Michigan State freshman Bruce Reeves, best known as a kickoff-returner, took over at tailback, ran for 119 yards and tallied on three short runs during a 49-20 drubbing of Illinois.
Oklahoma stayed atop the Big Eight by sending Kansas State to its 18th consecutive league loss, 42-7. Fullback Kenny King pounded out 99 yards, and Quarterback Thomas Lott added 96 more and scored three times as the Sooners plowed through the Wildcats for 483 yards.
The week's best tip came from Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne. He had noticed that Oklahoma State's defensive ends backed off from the line whenever the Huskers went into a wide formation. Osborne informed Quarterback Tom Sorley, who knew precisely what to do—run the ends. "I'd yell 'block' and our guys would know then to block for me," said Sorley, who got enough blocks to scamper for 55 yards. Sorley also scored a touchdown while guiding Nebraska to a 31-14 victory. Even though the Cowboys keyed on him, I. M. Hipp of the Huskers scored twice and gained 71 yards. When Sorley and Hipp were not strutting, Wingback Curtis Craig was, ripping off 82 yards in just five carries. For the 16th game in a row, State's Terry Miller gained more than 100 yards rushing, this time getting 116. Miller also became the fourth major-college player ever to rush for 4,000 career yards.
"I've never seen a touchdown run like that by a small back," Iowa State Coach Earle Bruce said after his team had downed Kansas 41-3. The runner was State's Dexter Green, a 5'9", 160-pound halfback, who broke five tackles during the 14-yard scoring play. Green rushed for 149 yards in 26 carries, caught three passes for 18 yards and scored twice. Another standout for the Cyclones was Cornerback Kevin Hart, who made 12 tackles, recovered two fumbles, forced another and broke up three passes.
Coach Al Onofrio was asked if there was a reason why Missouri had been so successful in running to the left against Colorado. "Well, I think you know who our left tackle is," he said. The player in question was 270-pound James Taylor, recovered sufficiently from a recent knee injury to make the left side the right side for Tiger backs. Two other well-healed players also excelled as the Tigers, down 14-0 in the first period, rallied to beat the Buffaloes 24-14. Quarterback Pete Woods passed for two touchdowns and sneaked over for a third, and Tailback Earl Gant rambled for 112 yards in 14 carries.
For the record, Notre Dame beat Navy for the 14th straight time. Joe Montana (11 of 24 passes for 260 yards) and Ken MacAfee (five catches for 130 yards) left the Middies awash 43-10.
Miami of Ohio held on to first place in the Mid-American Conference by beating Toledo 27-3, and second-place Central Michigan scored three touchdowns in the final 12 minutes to down Bowling Green 35-28. Western Michigan scored four times in seven minutes to stop Ohio U. 28-22. Three touchdowns and 239 yards rushing by Bobby Windom enabled Eastern Michigan to defeat independent Akron 42-28. Temple, down 17-7, rallied behind the 11-for-21 passing of sub Quarterback Pat Carey and earned a 17-all deadlock with Cincinnati on Wes Sornisky's 33-yard field goal with five seconds left.
A 31-20 victory over Indiana State moved West Texas State into a tie for the Missouri Valley Conference lead with Wichita State and New Mexico State. Tennessee Tech remained undefeated in the Ohio Valley Conference, crunching Tennessee State 63-20.
1. OKLAHOMA (7-1)
2. OHIO STATE (7-1)
3. MICHIGAN (7-1)
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSE: Sophomore Jorge Portela established a Southeastern Conference record by kicking five field goals as Auburn toppled Florida 29-14. Portela booted his three-pointers from 24, 35, 37, 45 and 51 yards out.
DEFENSE: Ron Simmons, a 6'1", 220-pound freshman nose guard, made 19 tackles (10 unassisted) and sacked the quarterback five times for a total of 52 yards in losses as Florida State defeated North Texas State 35-14.