THE WEEK
WEST
Five years ago, Tony Adams of Utah State established an NCAA single-game mark by passing for 561 yards against Utah. Last week, Marc Wilson of Brigham Young topped that feat by 10 yards. Once again the victim was Utah. Wilson, a sophomore, did almost all his damage in the first and last quarters. In the opening period he passed for two touchdowns as BYU built a 17-0 lead. But by the end of the third period that advantage had been cut to 17-8, so Wilson really went to work, throwing for 209 yards and three more TDs in the final quarter as the Cougars won 38-8. All told he completed 26 of 41 passes.
Overpowering, too, was Arizona State, which stayed half a game behind BYU in the WAC standings with a 45-0 drubbing of Wyoming. The Sun Devils gained 635 yards, Dennis Sproul passing for 262, Mike Harris running for 120 and George Perry for 110.
While the rain that had been falling stopped five minutes into the game at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Southern Cal's offense poured all over Stanford. When the deluge was over, the Trojans had gained 592 yards, 453 of them on the ground, and had won 49-0. Charles White of USC gained 126 on 16 carries, Dwight Ford 124 on 11 and Mosi Tatupu 101 on 13.
Three touchdowns in the third period, two on runs by Quarterback Warren Moon, helped Washington defeat California 50-31. The Huskies gained 490 yards, more than offsetting the efforts of Tight End George Freitas, who caught nine passes for Cal.
With the "men upstairs" tipping him off about what play to expect, UCLA Safety Mike Molina anticipated an Oregon pass shortly before halftime. When the ball was in fact thrown, Molina picked it off and raced 52 yards for a touchdown to put the Bruins in front 14-0 and well on their way to a 21-3 victory. Of his interception, Molina said, "Our coaches called it. All I had to do was react to the ball."
Washington State defeated Oregon State 24-10. With two games to go for each team, Washington, UCLA and USC were tied for the Pac-8 lead with 4-1 records.
Army assured itself of its first winning season since 1972 by subduing Air Force 31-6. Cadet Greg King, who scored on runs of 15 and 44 yards, rushed for 165 yards.
While many of the nation's Top 20 teams racked up big scores in hopes of improving their rankings, none matched the output of Valley City (N.D.), an NAIA Division II school. The Vikings finished the season undefeated by crushing Huron 83-0.
1. USC (6-3)
2. UCLA (6-3)
3. BRIGHAM YOUNG (7-1)
SOUTH
There's nothing quite like being an old Bear Bryant pupil—unless one is coaching against Alabama. For the 21st straight time, Bryant beat one of his students, trimming Charlie McClendon and LSU 24-3. LSU recovered four Tide fumbles and got 110 yards rushing from Charles Alexander, but Johnny Davis of the Tide bulled his way for 126 yards and Tony Nathan scored two touchdowns. Coupled with an Auburn loss, Alabama's win locked up first place in the Southeastern Conference and a berth in the Sugar Bowl.
It was Mississippi State that stunned Auburn 27-13. Defensive Back Kenny Johnson set up two State touchdowns with interceptions, and Bruce Threadgill (17 of 31 for 256 yards) passed for two others. Florida rallied past Georgia 22-17 and Tennessee beat independent Memphis State 27-14.
"Chuck [Fusina] was verbalizing at the line because we were out of time-outs. He improvised the touchdown play." That was Penn State Coach Joe Paterno's explanation of how his quarterback concluded an 83-yard desperation drive at North Carolina State that took 13 plays and 97 seconds. What Fusina did to pull out a 21-17 win was to uncork his sixth completion of the march, an 11-yarder to Split End Scott Fitzkee with 58 seconds to go. Fusina completed 22 of 36 passes for 315 yards against a defense that had allowed 74.6 yards passing a game.
In the Atlantic Coast Conference, North Carolina (3-0-1) solidified its grip on first place by tying Clemson (4-1-1) 13-13. Tar Heel Amos Lawrence zipped 59 yards for one score (and for 150 yards in all), and a 30-yard field goal by Tom Biddle with :58 left deadlocked the game. Maryland took a non-conference tussle from Villanova 19-13 as George Scott tore through the Wildcats for 237 yards and three touchdowns.
During a 65-0 drubbing of Langston, Doug Williams of Grambling hit on 23 of 30 passes for 378 yards and seven touchdowns.
With Wide Receiver Mike Schumann catching five passes, running three reverses for 99 yards and passing once for 39 yards, Florida State held off Virginia Tech 23-21.
Independent East Carolina (8-2) walloped Appalachian State 45-14. Louisiana Tech took charge in the Southland Conference by stopping Lamar 23-6.
1. ALABAMA (8-1)
2. KENTUCKY (8-1)
3. CLEMSON (7-1-1)
MIDWEST
Two Oklahoma State players did not seem to know which end was up when they positioned themselves behind Oklahoma's kickoff team in the third period. Perhaps it was an omen. Earlier in the period, the Cowboys had taken a 28-21 lead after scoring a pair of touchdowns in just 15 seconds, but that only spurred the Sooners into scoring the next 40 points and winning 61-28. State's Terry Miller romped for 120 yards and three touchdowns. But Sooner Quarterback Thomas Lott passed 48 yards for one score and broke three tackles as he ran 80 yards for another to keep Oklahoma atop the Big Eight.
A leg injury to I.M. Hipp gave Rick Berns of Nebraska a chance to regain his I-back job against Missouri. Making the most of the opportunity, Berns rushed for 81 yards, caught a 24-yard pass and scored both Corn-husker touchdowns on a pair of one-yard plunges in a 21-10 victory.
Colorado's first-and second-string quarterbacks were hurt against Iowa State, but Fullback James Mayberry and Tailback Mike Kozlowski were healthy enough to provide a 12-7 win. Mayberry ripped off 111 yards and Kozlowski, who had missed six games because of a punctured lung, ran 42 yards for a TD and unfurled a 55-yard pass. Kansas forged a 21-0 lead, and then hung on for a 29-21 verdict over Kansas State.
Notre Dame players, still smarting from last year's loss to Georgia Tech and comments that they were "fat and slow," squashed the Yellow Jackets 69-14. Irish Quarterback Joe Montana hit on 15 of 25 passes for 273 yards and three TDs. Altogether, the Irish gained 667 yards, Vagas Ferguson rushing for 116 of them in 11 carries during a 10-minute span.
At halftime of their Big Ten games, Ohio State and Michigan each led by only seven points. Then the Buckeyes scored 14 points in 13 seconds and cruised past Illinois 35-0. Even more devastating were the Wolverines, who shredded Northwestern with 28 third-quarter points to win 63-20.
Purdue's Mark Herrmann hit on 10 of 20 passes for 174 yards during a 22-0 blanking of Wisconsin. A 23-yard field goal by David Freud with 16 seconds left gave Indiana a come-from-behind 24-21 win over Iowa. Quarterback Ed Smith teamed up with Flanker Kirk Gibson on scoring passes of 51 and 85 yards as Michigan State, down 10-0, overcame Minnesota 29-10.
For the fourth year in a row, St. John's won the Minnesota IAC title. The defending NCAA Division III champions toppled St. Olaf 21-7 behind Tim Schmitz, who ran for 189 yards. Two other Division III squads remained unbeaten, top-ranked Wittenberg downing Heidelberg 31-6 and Central (Iowa) stopping Upper Iowa 32-0.
An NAIA record was set by Central (Mo.) Methodist's Tom Stine, who passed for 571 yards as he completed 24 of 34 attempts during a 56-43 defeat of Culver-Stockton.
Macalester lost its 33rd game in a row. The Scots, outscored 532-39 this season, dropped their final game of the year to Hamline 71-6.
1. OKLAHOMA (8-1)
2. OHIO STATE (8-1)
3. MICHIGAN (8-1)
EAST
For Bob Relph of Colgate, Matt Cavanaugh of Pitt and Bill Hurley of Syracuse, it was like an afternoon of target practice as they repeatedly bull's-eyed their receivers. Four of Relph's passes were good for touchdowns as the undefeated Red Raiders peppered Bucknell 49-17. Relph completed 13 of 19 for 181 yards as Colgate amassed 623 yards.
West Virginia took an early 3-0 lead over Pitt, then was blanked the rest of the way. With Cavanaugh riddling the Mountaineers with his passes (16 of 29 for 217 yards and two touchdowns), the Panthers won 44-3.
Also bolting to a quick lead was Navy, which led Syracuse 7-0 after Phil McConkey ran back a punt 67 yards. Then Hurley got his act together, connecting on 20 of 31 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns as the Orangemen upset Navy 45-34.
Mitch Brown, a defensive back for NCAA Division III St. Lawrence, also put on an offensive show during a 50-6 rout of RPI. In addition to kicking field goals of 44, 47 and 36 yards, Brown sacked the quarterback in the end zone for a safety, recovered a fumble, made 16 tackles and stole two passes, one of which he returned 31 yards for a touchdown.
After blowing a 14-0 lead, Temple came back to defeat Rutgers 24-14.
A pair of touchdown runs were included in a 151-yard performance by Yale's John Pagliaro as the Elis bumped off Princeton 44-8 and took over the lead in the Ivy League. Dartmouth, which had been tied for first place, lost 13-10 as Brown came through with 10 points in the fourth quarter. A Mark Whipple to Charlie Watkins pass covering 32 yards had tied the score at 10-10. With six seconds remaining, Ruben Chapa kicked a 32-yard game-winning field goal for the Bears. In defeating Penn 34-15, Harvard set a school total-offense mark with 550 yards. Larry Brown of the Crimson accounted for 375 of those yards, 349 with his passes. Cornell disposed of Columbia 20-7.
In addition to Colgate in Division I, two Eastern small colleges remained undefeated. Middlebury downed Union 31-20 and Clarion State knocked off Shippensburg 26-6.
1. PENN STATE (8-1)
2. PITTSBURGH (7-1-1)
3. COLGATE (9-0)
SOUTHWEST
When top-rated Texas arrived in Houston, a crowd of 72,124, the Cougars' largest ever, was on hand. In the opening period, while Texas rooters taunted Houston with cries of "probation," Alois Blackwell answered back by zipping 44 yards for a Cougar touchdown, the first scored on a run against the Longhorns' starting defensive unit this season. Field goals of 43 and 26 yards by Kenny Hatfield gave Houston six more points in the second period.
But Texas Halfback Earl Campbell, who had been bedded down on Friday night with a sore throat and a fever, crunched out touchdown runs of six and two yards, which gave the Longhorns a 14-13 edge at halftime. Campbell, despite "feeling weak," scored again on a 40-yard run, ending up with 173 yards on 24 carries in the Longhorns' 35-21 win. The victory put Texas half a game ahead of idle Texas A&M in the Southwest Conference.
With a week off to prepare for Arkansas, Baylor had concentrated on refining a 4-3 defense to contain the Razorbacks' running, which was averaging 283.9 yards a game. And the work paid off as Arkansas was limited to 97 yards on the ground. Still, the Hogs won 35-9 with three TD passes and two Steve Little field goals.
Fullback Billy Taylor set a Texas Tech record by scoring five touchdowns during a 49-17 romp over TCU. The passing of Mike Ford (17 of 21 for 205 yards and three touchdowns) carried SMU past Rice 41-24.
Independent North Texas State (8-2) beat New Mexico State 45-17. Texas A&I, last season's Lone Star Conference champion, was upended by East Texas State 7-6.
1. TEXAS (8-0)
2. ARKANSAS (7-1)
3. TEXAS A&M (7-1)
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSE: Art Monk, a 6'2", 201-pound sophomore running back for Syracuse, latched onto 14 passes—an NCAA high this season—gained 188 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Orange upset Navy 45-34.
DEFENSE: As Kansas defeated Kansas State 29-21, 6'3", 220-pound Jayhawk freshman Linebacker Scellars Young broke up two passes, set up the winning touchdown with an interception and took part in 16 tackles.
