
THE WEEK
SOUTHWEST
TCU hadn't defeated Arkansas since 1958, and had lost 22 in a row to its Southwest Conference rival. And so, with 5:20 to go and TCU trailing 24-13 and pushed back to its own one-yard line, many of the 30,313 Horned Frog followers at Amon G. Carter Stadium headed for home. But, if they had turned on their car radios, they would have learned what they had missed. First, Quarterback Steve Stamp got TCU out of safety territory by connecting with Phillip Epps on back-to-back passes that advanced the Frogs to the Arkansas 47. Then Stamp turned his attention to Stanley Washington, the nation's leading receiver, who up to that point had been double-teamed and held without a reception. Stamp found Washington first for 20 yards and on the next play for 22 yards and a touchdown. Then, after a fumble recovery, Stamp hit Washington on a 15-yard scoring pass for a 28-24 TCU win.
In another Southwest Conference shocker, Houston (3-1) whipped defending champion Baylor 24-3. David Barrett, who had had only eight carries this season, came off the bench to rush for 104 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries; sophomore Quarterback Lionel Wilson, making his second college start, completed 12 of his 17 pass attempts for 142 yards and another Cougar TD. But the big difference was Houston's defense. Led by Leo Truss, who made eight unassisted tackles, forced a fumble and had a sack, the Cougars just about shut down the Bears' Walter Abercrombie—he had 34 yards on 11 carries—and squashed two first-quarter Baylor drives, including one that had gotten to about the Cougars' one-foot line. "Baylor has our conference trophy," said Truss. "And we want it back."
Texas A&M beat Texas Tech 24-23, and Rice earned its first victory, 20-16, over winless Tulane—in a game in which Tulane tried three onside kicks and the Owls fielded them all. The SWC's two remaining undefeated teams, Texas and SMU, were idle.
Also unbeaten is Southern Mississippi, which walloped Texas-Arlington 52-9.
WEST
Marcus Allen of USC rushed for 233 yards in 35 carries and set two NCAA records during a 56-22 Pac-10 romp at Oregon State. Marcus' marks: He became the first collegian to run for more than 200 yards in four straight games, and his 925 yards in those opening games surpassed the 905 by Greg Pruitt of Oklahoma a decade ago.
"What makes me feel better than setting the records is knowing the guys blocking for me are working their tails off to help me," Allen said. "I can't afford to take them out to dinner, but I might cook for them myself. I can cook everything."
Last Saturday he diced, chopped, minced and shredded defenders for almost three quarters and then sat out the fourth. On the first Trojan scoring drive, in which USC went 65 yards in six rushing plays, Allen ran five times for 56 yards, the final 30 for the touchdown. He later scored on runs of eight and 13 yards as the Trojans gained 407 of their 541 yards on the ground.
If there is anything Arizona State enjoys, it's sun. It isn't without good reason that its teams are called the Sun Devils. When they faced Washington last year in Seattle there was a downpour, one in which they took a 25-0 soaking. When the two teams met last week the weather was atypical for the locale—the Seattle sky was clear and aglow with sunshine, but this time the Huskies got their previously unbeaten hides tanned 26-7. Something else unexpected was the field-goal kicking. Chuck Nelson of Washington, who was hoping to establish an NCAA record by booting a three-pointer for the 15th game in a row, missed on a 46-yarder in the opening period. That was the only shot Nelson got. Arizona State freshman Luis Zendejas, however, put the ball over the crossbar from 39, 30, 24 and 42 yards out.
Washington State, which the week before had beaten Arizona State 24-21, upped its record to 4-0 by blowing out Pacific 31-0 in a non-conference matchup. That avenged the Cougars' 24-22 loss to the Tigers last season. It was the Cougars' best start since 1930, when they went to the Rose Bowl.
Stanford, which would have surprised few forecasters if it were 4-0, continued to confound the experts and oddsmakers by losing at Arizona 17-13. That made the Cardinals an inglorious 0-4. The Wildcats trailed 13-10 with five minutes remaining when they gambled on a fourth-and-four at the Stanford 42. Arizona got not only the four yards, it got all 42, on a pass from Tailback Brian Holland to Flanker Bob Carter, who rumbled the final 15 for a touchdown.
Four field goals by Norm Johnson, the passing of Tom Ramsey and a rugged defense led by Tackle Irv Eatman carried UCLA past Colorado 27-7. Johnson accounted for the first four scores with field goals of 30, 41, 31 and 44 yards. Ramsey passed for 258 yards and two touchdowns as he made good on 15 of 25 attempts. And the 6'6¼", 260-pound Eatman was the Bruin who led to the ruin of Randy Essington of the Buffaloes. In three previous games, Essington had passed for 770 yards while completing 61% of his throws. This time he was limited to 54 yards as he missed on 15 of his 25 passes. Although Eatman was credited with only four tackles, he hounded Essington all afternoon and personally broke up five passes.
With passing whiz Jim McMahon of Brigham Young sidelined by injured knees, Utah State showed up in Provo with high hopes for a victory in this out-of-conference matchup. The Aggies, using well-executed misdirection passes and draws, almost pulled it off. When it was all over, though, they were 32-26 losers and the Cougars had stretched their winning streak to 17 games, the nation's longest. Utah State drove 65 yards in the first quarter and took a 7-0 lead when Chico Canales teamed up with Nate Jones on a 14-yard touchdown pass. That marked the first time BYU had trailed this season. With Canales throwing two more scoring passes, the Aggies continued to make it a battle. Sophomore Steve Young, a great-great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, who took over at quarterback for McMahon, did a great, great, great job, completing 21 of 40 passes for 307 yards and one touchdown and rushing 18 times for another 63 yards. But he was also sacked six times for minus 46 yards. The play that made the difference came with 3:30 to go when BYU Linebacker Todd Shell picked off a Canales screen pass at the Aggie 10 and took the ball into the end zone.
When it came to wingdingers, San Jose State's 65-33 Pacific Coast AA triumph over Fresno State took the cake. Spartan Quarterback Steve Clarkson set a school record with six touchdown passes, and senior Wide Receiver Stacey Bailey broke the San Jose State mark for career receptions as he raised his total to 111. Among myriad other statistics were these: a combined 998 yards gained, 558 by the Spartans; Clarkson passed for 426 yards by completing 22 of 37 throws; and there were 35 penalties, San Jose State being assessed 135 yards and Fresno State 194.
MIDWEST
Behind pass-happy at tacks, Florida State rocked Ohio State 36-27 and Illinois stunned Minnesota 38-29. And so, in the fourth week of the season, the Big Ten was without a single undefeated team.
"Our plan was to throw on every down, if necessary," said Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden, "throw underneath the coverage because their young secondary and linebackers drop very deep to protect." Quarterback Rick Stockstill followed Bowden's game plan to the letter, completing 25 of 41 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns. But also credit the Seminole defense. Leading 30-21 in the third quarter but with Ohio State first-and-goal from the Florida State two-yard line, the Seminoles shut the Buckeyes down cold. All told, Bowden's defense, which had given up a dismal 464 yards on the ground to Nebraska two weeks before, held the Buckeyes to 38 yards in 31 rushes. In attendance at Ohio Stadium was Florida Governor Robert Graham, whom the Seminoles have adopted as a good-luck mascot. Afterward, Bowden—whose team faces Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Miami in the next five weeks—kidded Graham, "You're booked for the rest of the season; we ain't letting you go."
Meanwhile, Illinois Coach Mike White, who has been saying the Illini need to establish a running game, is no longer so sure after Tony Eason threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns against Minnesota. The yardage was the most ever for an Illini quarterback, except Eason's immediate predecessor, Dave Wilson. "Looks like the days of trying to impress folks with our running game are over," White said. "We're back to the old offense."
Purdue's air tactics backfired against Wisconsin, which scored all of its points in the last quarter in beating the Boilermakers 20-14. Purdue led 7-0 and was on the Wisconsin 18-yard line when Badger Safety Matt Vaden Boom made a diving interception of a Scott Campbell pass. Wisconsin then drove 69 yards for a field goal and, following a Purdue fumble, marched 38 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, Fullback Dave Mohapp ramming in from the five. Wisconsin, which has already defeated Michigan, next meets Ohio State.
Also surprising—and alive in the Big Ten race—is Iowa, which has gone without a winning season since 1961. The Hawkeyes raised their season record to 3-1 by drubbing Northwestern 64-0. Glenn Buggs returned the opening kickoff 77 yards to the Northwestern 18; three plays later Eddie Phillips scored on a 12-yard run and the rout was on. By midway through the third period, Iowa Coach Hayden Fry had used all of his bench. For Northwestern, the loss was its 24th in a row.
Michigan fumbled away the ball on its first possession against Indiana, but during the rest of the first half the Wolverines scored each time they got the ball en route to a 38-17 victory. In all, Michigan made good on 14 of 16 third-down plays, including the first 11, and ran 84 plays to Indiana's 54. Poor Indiana. After being stung by USC's Marcus Allen and Syracuse's Joe Morris in its two previous games, the Hoosiers had to contend with another outstanding back, Butch Woolfolk, who finished with 176 yards on 26 carries. "I hope this game is an example of what the rest of the season will be like," said Woolfolk.
Notre Dame and Nebraska, both with disappointing 1-2 season records, played lights-out defense to get back on a winning track. After Notre Dame defeated Michigan State 20-7, Coach Jerry Faust quipped, "I had a ticket ready for China."
With Phil Carter out of the game in the first quarter because of an ankle sprain, Faust called on sophomore Tailback Greg Bell, and Bell rang up 165 yards and two touchdowns in 20 carries. Even more impressive, the Irish held Michigan State to 21 yards rushing—the lone Spartan score coming on a 63-yard bomb from Bryan Clark to Daryl Turner. Nebraska gave up only 55 yards on the ground while beating Auburn 17-3. Led by defensive ends Jimmy Williams and Tony Felici, the Cornhuskers also forced 10 Auburn fumbles, recovering five of them. Between them, Williams and Felici had 18 unassisted tackles, four quarterback sacks and a fumble recovery. "I'm just pleased we won," sighed Coach Tom Osborne.
Oklahoma, which had five turnovers in its loss to USC two weeks ago, had seven against Iowa State—but the Sooners escaped with a 7-7 tie. The workhorse for Iowa State was Dwayne Crutchfield, who ran for 171 yards and the Cyclone touchdown in 43 carries. The rest of the Iowa State backfield had 13 carries. With 1:08 to play, Iowa State's Alex Giffords attempted a 23-yard field goal, but the kick was wide to the right. "We didn't even deserve the tie," seethed Sooner Coach Barry Switzer.
Drake beat Long Beach State 18-7, its fifth win without a loss and best start in 24 seasons. And Kansas, which must do without star Running Back Kerwin Bell (torn ligaments in his left knee) for the rest of the season, nevertheless got its fourth victory, 17-16 over Arkansas State. The Jayhawks already have as many wins as they had all of last season. Tulsa, a loser of four previous games by a total of 12 points, beat Kansas State 35-21.
EAST
Before facing Navy, Yale Coach Carmen Cozza said, "This game is more important than just another non-league game. It's Navy against the whole Ivy League and we really want to do well." His reasoning was that Yale might save some face for all the Ivies that had collectively embarrassed the league a week earlier by losing seven of eight games against non-conference opponents. Yale, a perennial Ivy power, hadn't defeated a non-Ivy foe of national prominence since it beat Army, 14-12, in 1955. Cozza's Bulldogs did well, indeed, upsetting Navy 23-19.
With Rich Diana, the nation's fourth-leading rusher, held to just 69 yards in 23 carries, Yale went to the air. Quarterback John Rogan completing 16 of 30 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-clincher, a 24-yard strike to Curtis Grieve with 3:19 to go. "Years from now," Rogan said, "this may be remembered as one of the alltime great Yale victories."
Elsewhere, however, the Ivy League lost all three games with non-conference foes. Harvard led Army 13-10 in the third quarter and had the Cadets pinned at their 21, third-and-14. But Army Quarterback Bryan Allem connected with Al Wynder on a 73-yard pass play. Three plays later Allem scored, giving the Cadets the lead, and they cruised to a 27-13 win. Cornell opened a 10-7 lead against Rutgers, but the Scarlet Knights scored two straight touchdowns—a one-yard plunge by Ted Bethune and a 17-yard pass play from Ralph Leek to Andrew Baker—en route to a 31-17 victory. Hopes never got a chance to soar in Hanover as Holy Cross's bruising running game overwhelmed Dartmouth 28-0. In intraleague play, Princeton upset Brown 20-17 behind the passing of Bob Holly, who threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns, and Columbia beat Penn 20-9, ending a 10-game losing streak.
After unbeaten Penn State trounced Temple 30-0, Owl Coach Wayne Hardin, a solid six-handicap golfer, said: "It was like me playing Jack Nicklaus." Boston College, routed 56-14 by North Carolina last week, was kicked around again, 38-10, by undefeated West Virginia.
SOUTH
Missouri Coach Warren Powers had a modest explanation for his team's fourth win in as many games, a 14-3 upset of previously unbeaten Mississippi State. "Our defense played super," said Powers, "and our offense played great, and our special teams were tremendous." It didn't hurt, either, that the Bulldogs lost three fumbles and an interception and were penalized seven times for 45 yards. Tiger Fullback Bobby Meyer rushed for 122 yards and scored both Missouri touchdowns, one on a four-yard run, the other on a two-yard pass from Quarterback Mike Hyde, who completed 20 of 34.
Clemson, too, improved to 4-0 with the help of turnovers—five—as it beat Kentucky 21-3. The Tigers, who came back from a 3-0 halftime deficit, lead the nation in turnover margin, having 13 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries while giving the ball away only seven times. "The harder you hit them, the harder it is for them not to fumble," explained Clemson Linebacker Danny Triplett, who had 12 tackles and an interception. The Wildcats got only 49 yards rushing on 39 attempts. North Carolina was also 4-0 after a 28-7 rout of Georgia Tech, which was achieved despite Tailback Kelvin Bryant's being sidelined with a knee injury in the first quarter (page 32). Junior Tailback Cyrus Lawrence of Virginia Tech, on the other hand, kept on rolling, rushing for 179 yards in a school-record 42 carries, and bulling across from the one-yard line to score the winning TD with 2:55 left as the Gobblers beat Memphis State 17-13. Lawrence has run for 535 yards on 102 carries this year.
Pittsburgh was so dominant in winning its third game without a loss, 42-28 over South Carolina, that it got yanked off TV midway through the second quarter; ABC switched to the Missouri-Mississippi State game. Quarterback Dan Marino completed 24 of 39 passes for 346 yards and six touchdowns—the latter breaking Matt Cavanaugh's school record by one—while the Panther defense held the Gamecocks to minus 52 yards rushing. Still, Carolina Coach Jim Carlen, whose Gamecocks suffered their worst home defeat since 1974, wasn't all that impressed. "I don't think they've got a running attack, and it's going to catch up with them," he said. Pitt Defensive Tackle Phil Puzzuoli, who called Gamecock Guard Cas Danielowski "the best holder in college football today," engaged in a third-quarter brawl with Danielowski, after which the officials ejected both.
Alabama rolled up 396 yards rushing in a 38-7 victory over Mississippi, the Crimson Tide's 53rd consecutive win at Tuscaloosa's Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama hasn't lost there since Oct. 12, 1963. The victory ended a difficult week for Coach Bear Bryant, whose staff had been accused of unfair treatment of black players in an article in The Atlanta Constitution. The story quoted two unnamed players as complaining about the publicity given the disciplining of blacks. "I hate to tell them, but we're all red around here," responded Linebacker Robbie Jones, a black. Miami, a 48-16 winner over Vanderbilt, yielded 281 passing yards to the Commodores' freshmen quarterbacks, Ardell Fuller and Kurt Page, but limited Vandy to 11 yards on the ground while rushing for 243.
Florida Coach Charlie Pell called the Gators' 24-10 win at LSU his most gratifying ever; last year the Tigers had knocked off Pell's then-unbeaten team in the fourth game of the season and halted what might have been a run at the national title. Senior Place-kicker Brian Clark bettered David Posey's Florida record for career field goals (33) by hitting on kicks of 22, 30 and 39 yards to give him 34. In North Carolina State's 30-24 victory over winless Virginia, Tailback Larmount Lawson piled up 112 yards on 23 carries, and freshman Vince Evans ran for 93 and two third-quarter TDs. Syracuse saved its heroics for the last minute: With 16 seconds remaining, Dave Warner tossed a 10-yard scoring pass to Wide Receiver Willie Sydnor, then found Tight End Marty Chalk for a two-point conversion to pull out a 17-17 tie with Maryland.
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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSE: Dan Marino, Pittsburgh's 6'4", 215-pound junior quarterback, threw six touchdown passes in the Panthers' 42-28 defeat of South Carolina. In all, Marino completed 24 of 39 attempts for 346 yards.
DEFENSE: Fred Leone, Yale's 6'2", 217-pound senior defensive end and team captain, made 12 tackles, including three quarterback sacks for minus 32 yards, and three fumble recoveries in the Bulldogs' 23-19 upset of Navy.