THE WEEK
MIDWEST
At Nebraska's Memorial Stadium a sign said: REDWINE GOES WELL WITH FILET OF BUFFALO. With Jarvis Redwine rushing for 206 yards and scoring on runs of 23, 56 and 13 yards, the Huskers feasted on Colorado's Buffalos 38-10. For Redwine, it was his fifth 100-yard game in a row. In all, Nebraska runners gained 452 yards. Colorado's only consolation was that it ended the Huskers' string of 13 shutout quarters with an early field goal.
Also having a big day was last year's Heisman Trophy winner, Billy Sims of Oklahoma. Sims, who has been hurt much of the season, rambled for 202 yards and four touchdowns against Iowa State. The Sooners scored on six of their first eight possessions, led 38-0 at one point and finished with 566 yards of total offense, 493 of them on the ground, as the Cyclones succumbed 38-9. Oklahoma remained tied with Nebraska for the Big Eight lead. Freshman Alex Giffords set an Iowa State record with a 58-yard field goal.
Kansas State's top two quarterbacks were both out with injuries so Coach Jim Dickey was forced to give his son Darrell, a freshman, a chance to start against Missouri. Darrell came through by connecting on 15 of 25 passes for 187 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Wildcats jarred the Tigers 19-3.
For the third game in a row, Ohio State rolled up more than 500 yards and 40 points. This time, the Buckeyes amassed 533 yards on 89 plays as they swamped Michigan State 42-0. Everything worked for State, even a planned deep pass on its second play from scrimmage—a 54-yard scoring bomb from Art Schlichter to Doug (White Lightning) Donley. Schlichter hit on half of his 16 throws for 154 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 33 more while scoring twice himself. It was the second shutout in succession for the Buckeyes, who have yielded only two touchdowns in the last 20 quarters.
Lawrence Reid of Michigan deliberately threw the ball away after catching a pass and thereby helped the Wolverines squirm past Indiana 27-21 and remain tied with Ohio State for the Big Ten lead. How come? The Hoosiers had tied the score at 21-21 with 55 seconds left. Two plays after the kickoff the Wolverines were on their own 44 with 14 seconds to go. John Wangler then passed six yards to Reid. Realizing he wouldn't make it to the goal, Reid chucked the ball out of bounds. That stopped the clock. But no penalty was assessed even though Reid's action apparently violated NCAA Rule 7-2-1, which makes it illegal "to throw the ball intentionally out of bounds to conserve time." Wangler then hit Anthony Carter with a touchdown pass as the clock ran out.
Paul Suess passed for all three Iowa touchdowns in a 24-13 Hawkeye victory over Wisconsin, one of those scores coming on a 75-yard toss to Dennis Mosley.
Purdue's huge drum—the "World's Largest Drum"—couldn't be found on the morning of the Northwestern game. Also missing was the Boilermakers' scoring punch. Purdue had three passes intercepted, was penalized for having too many players on the field, had a PAT kick blocked, was called for a 42-yard pass-interference penalty that gave Northwestern the ball at the Boilermakers' one and lost a fumble that the Wildcats fell on for a touchdown. Nevertheless, Purdue prevailed 20-16 as Mark Herrmann hit on 19 of 34 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown.
Illinois, ninth in the Big Ten in rushing, tore through Minnesota for 242 yards on the ground. Mike Holmes rushed for 195 of those yards, but the Illini had to settle for a 17-17 tie. Paul Rogind of the Gophers broke a school record with a 57-yard field goal.
Pinpoint passing in the clutch by Rusty Lisch enabled Notre Dame to beat South Carolina 18-17. With the Gamecocks leading 17-3 late in the third period, Vagas Ferguson ignited the Irish comeback with a 26-yard scoring run. Lisch then took them 80 yards in 54 seconds, completing six of seven passes, the last a 14-yarder to Dean Masztak for a TD with 42 seconds remaining. That left Notre Dame behind 17-16. Lisch then wrapped up the resurgence with a two-point conversion pass to Pete Holohan.
1. NEBRASKA (7-0)
2. OKLAHOMA (6-1)
3. OHIO STATE (8-0)
SOUTHWEST
"Somehow, if we even have to block a punt and kick a field goal, we'll win 10-7." That was what Southern Methodist Coach Ron Meyer had to say a few days before facing Texas in a Southwest Conference shootout. Final score: Longhorns 30, Mustangs 6. Unfazed, Meyer said after the game, "If we'd had a couple things go right and a few things go wrong for them, we'd have been in there." One reason SMU wasn't "in there" was that three Texas fill-ins—Brad Beck, Rodney Tate and Herkie Walls—pepped up an attack that had to get along without the injured Jam Jones and Leroy King. Beck, who had not played a down all season, ran for 78 yards. Tate gained 56 yards, 18 more than he had all year. And Walls, a freshman, carried five times for 71 yards, 30 of them on a touchdown run. On top of that. Quarterback Donnie Little hit on seven of 11 passes for 119 yards and rushed for another 73.
"They'd run the same play before but had gone outside with it all the other times. The quarterback checked off at the line, the receiver went inside and I just anticipated right." That was how Baylor Cornerback Howard Fields described the unfolding of a spectacular play: He intercepted the pass and ran it back 95 yards for a touchdown in the Bears' 16-3 victory over Texas Christian. Baylor also scored on field goals of 38, 34 and 33 yards by Robert Bledsoe.
Texas A & M's grind-it-out offense overpowered Rice 41-15. Curtis Dickey, who scored twice on short runs, had 127 of the 311 yards the Aggies gained on the ground.
1. HOUSTON (7-0)
2. ARKANSAS (6-1)
3. TEXAS (5-1)
EAST
It is no surprise that freshman Quarterback Dan Marino has already made himself right at home in Pitt Stadium. After all, he grew up within a long pass of the field. Marino took charge of Pitt's attack after Rick Trocano was shelved with a hamstring pull in the first period and led the Panthers to a 24-7 victory over previously unbeaten Navy. The Middies led 7-3 at halftime. but then Marino began unloading strikes, hitting on 10 straight passes during one stretch and finishing with 22 completions in 30 tries for 227 yards and two TDs.
As has become its custom, Penn State's offense capitalized on turnovers forced by its defense, following up three of them with scores in the course of a 31-6 win over West Virginia. Accounting for the bulk of the Nittany Lions' 339 rushing yards were Booker Moore (166 yards and three touchdowns) and Matt Suhey (124 yards).
Despite having been banged up early by Miami, Quarterback Bill Hurley of Syracuse ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 99 yards. More Orange juice came from Joe Morris, who ran for 114 yards, and Gary Anderson, who kicked field goals of 50, 44, 29 and 25 yards as Syracuse won 25-15.
With Dan Conway and Leo Smith excelling on offense and with Jim Budness harassing Army on defense, Boston College was a 29-16 winner. Conway, who rushed for 177 yards, scored on runs of one and 48 yards. Smith topped off his 114-yard effort with a 64-yard touchdown scamper. But the game ball went to Budness, a linebacker, for intercepting three passes, recovering two fumbles and blocking an extra-point kick.
Statistically, Lehigh had a vast edge over Bucknell, running off 95 plays for 358 yards and 23 first downs to the Bisons' 35 plays, 116 yards and two first downs. On the scoreboard, though, the Engineers had only the narrowest of advantages at the end: 14-13. Keeping the Bisons in contention were two long scoring runs by Hassan Abdellah, who broke loose for 91 yards and ran back a punt 83 yards. Lehigh pulled the game out when Rich Andres passed five yards to Mike Ford for a touchdown with 56 seconds left.
A 24-6 victory over Penn kept Yale undefeated and alone at the top of the Ivy League. Cornell floored Dartmouth 21-10 and Princeton sidetracked Harvard 9-7. Leading the way for the Big Red was Tom Weidenkopf, who had a 69-yard touchdown run among his 247 yards rushing. Ivy squads continued to have troubles with non-league foes, Columbia losing 24-14 to Colgate and Brown being stopped 14-7 by Holy Cross. Senior Neil Solomon of the Crusaders, who had not played since 1977, passed for 241 yards and hit Phil Johnson on a 58-yard scoring play with 1:53 remaining.
1. PITTSBURGH (6-1)
2. TEMPLE (6-1)
3. PENN STATE (5-2)
WEST
On Monday, Oregon State Coach Craig Fertig got something he feared he might get—a pink slip relieving him of his duties at the end of the season. On Saturday he got something he feared he might never see again—a victory. The Beavers, who were 0-7 and who had scored only five points in their previous four outings, stunned Stanford 33-31 with a wild finish. They won for Fertig even though the Cardinals' Turk Schonert passed for 238 yards and two touchdowns and connected on 17 of 20 throws. And State came out on top despite trailing 24-7 late in the second quarter and 31-23 with 1:15 remaining. At that point Jeff Southern finished off an 85-yard Beaver drive by slamming over from one yard out. That still left Stanford in front 31-29, a matter soon taken care of when Scott Richardson flicked a two-point conversion pass to Tony Robinson. Richardson was on the mark with 16 of 24 attempts for 168 yards.
With the score knotted at 31, Oregon State declined to try an on-side kick, fearing that an unsuccessful one might allow Stanford to get close enough for Ken Naber to boot a decisive field goal. So the Beavers kicked off long. Stanford's Rick Gervais circled under the ball, caught it on the two-yard line while moving back and then dropped to one knee in the end zone. Gervais thought he had registered a touchback. Instead, it was ruled that he had scored a game-winning safety for Oregon State because he had caught the ball while on the field of play.
"We talked all week about not letting UCLA do anything right off the bat," said Washington Coach Don James. So what happened? That's right, the Bruins took the opening kickoff and marched 84 yards for a touchdown. However, after picking up six first downs during that drive, UCLA went 36 minutes before chalking up another. In the interval, the Husky offense had opened up, its defense had clamped down and Washington was well on its way to a 34-14 Pac 10 triumph. Two touchdown passes by Tom Flick, a 62-yard scoring run on a punt return by Mark Lee and a tenacious defense enabled the Huskies to bounce back convincingly after having been upset the past two weeks.
Arizona State and Utah State both came up with long scoring plays, Mark Malone of the Sun Devils zipping 98 yards and Craig Bradshaw and Fred Fernandes of the Aggies teaming up on a 95-yard pass-run. Malone, though, was able to keep the Sun Devil offense churning throughout the game, completing 16 of 22 passes for 163 yards and rushing for 133 yards. All of which added up to 528 yards in total offense for Arizona State, which won 28-14. Ii was the second consecutive victory for Bob Owens since replacing the embattled and dismissed Frank Rush.
It took a mighty effort for Southern Cal to retain its half-game conference lead over Washington and Arizona State. Superb passing by Rich Campbell of California and the Golden Bears' resolute defense gave the Trojans, who also dropped six passes, all they could handle. Going into the fourth quarter, the game was tied 7-7, the Trojans having scored on an 80-yard drive after the opening kickoff and Cal having tallied when Safety Darnell Chapman ran back a blocked field-goal try 74 yards in the second period.
Charles White put USC ahead 14-7 when he gained 73 yards during a 68-yard march which culminated in a two-yard touchdown plunge by White. That's right, 73 yards—45 by running and 28 by grabbing two passes—because the Trojans were hit with a five-yard penalty during the march. Campbell promptly took Cal 52 yards in five plays, the last a 13-yard pass to Matt Bouza. That made it 14-14. A dropped pass stymied USC's subsequent drive, which was climaxed by Eric Hipp's 45-yard field goal with 2:46 to go. A five-yard TD run by White with just two seconds left clinched Southern Cal's 24-14 win. White had 198 yards, Campbell 266 yards as he hit on 24 of 40 passes. Rounding out the Pac 10 action was Oregon's 37-26 defeat of Washington State.
Four fumble recoveries and two interceptions by Brigham Young's defense were only partly responsible for the Cougars' 59-7 drubbing of New Mexico. As usual, the main man was Marc Wilson. In less than three quarters, he passed for four touchdowns. Hauling in eight throws for 153 yards was Split End Lloyd Jones, who made his biggest catch of the day when he married Bonnie Savage right after the game.
1. USC (7-0-1)
2. BYU (7-0)
3. WASHINGTON (6-2)
SOUTH
Undefeated Florida State usually alternates two quarterbacks during a game, but with Wally Woodham recuperating from dental surgery it was up to Jimmy Jordan alone to put some teeth into the Seminole offense. Besides, said Coach Bobby Bowden, "We wanted to have our rifle arm in there to throw the ball over the secondary." Throw, Jordan did. He completed 14 of 31 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns. Six of Jordan's completions covered 44, 40, 53, 36, 30 and 25 yards as the Seminoles kept their perfect record intact with a 24-19 triumph at Louisiana State. Six of the passes were caught by Jackie Flowers.
"It's an honor for our team to get this opportunity," said Virginia Tech Coach Bill Dooley before playing at Alabama. It may have been an honor for Tech, but it was another victory for 'Bama, 31-7. Coach Bear Bryant had his cake and ate it, too—a giant one commemorating his 200th Alabama win. Only two other major-college coaches have had more at one school, Amos Alonzo Stagg with 244 at Chicago and Woody Hayes with 205 at Ohio State.
Georgia moved half a game ahead of Alabama in the Southeastern Conference with a 20-6 verdict over Kentucky. Two touchdowns in eight seconds by Frank Mordica didn't prevent Vanderbilt from losing 63-28 at Mississippi. Mordica's scores came on a five-yard run and, after an Ole Miss fumble on the ensuing kickoff, on a 20-yard dash.
North Carolina State, which was outgained by Clemson on the ground (222 yards to 101) and through the air (134 yards to 47), nevertheless won the war 16-13. The Wolfpack took a 13-3 lead by scoring after picking off a pass at the Tiger 27 and pouncing on a fumble on the Clemson 24. State's Nathan Ritter kicked field goals of 41 and 26 yards, and added a 25-yard clincher with 9:06 left.
Field goals of 42 and 30 yards by Dale Castro of Maryland made him 15 for 15, an NCAA record for consecutive three-pointers in one season. Those kicks, plus 136 yards rushing by Wayne Wingfield and a defense that held Duke runners to minus five yards, carried the Terps to a 27-0 ACC victory.
It took a 47-yard field goal by Jeff Hayes with 13 seconds left for North Carolina to salvage a 24-24 deadlock with East Carolina. The Pirates, down 21-10 at halftime, had moved in front with 7:36 to be played when Leander Green passed 12 yards to Vern Davenport. In another out-of-conference game, Georgia Tech lost to Tulane 12-7.
1. ALABAMA (7-0)
2. FLORIDA STATE (7-0)
3. TENNESSEE (4-2)
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSE: Marc Wilson, Brigham Young's senior quarterback, tied an NCAA record by passing for more than 300 yards for the fourth game in a row. He threw for 366 yards (21 of 45) as the Cougars beat New Mexico 59-7.
DEFENSE: Grady Turner, a 6'1", 210-pound sophomore linebacker, recovered a fumble, made 19 tackles, broke up a pass and stole another to help set up the decisive field goal as Houston defeated Arkansas 13-10.