The Week

MIDWEST

Last year Ohio State's Keith Byars had to sit out the last half of the Buckeyes' loss at Iowa with a bruised knee. This time, before a crowd of 89,733 in Columbus, Byars led Ohio State to a 45-26 triumph by scoring twice on the ground and once on a pass reception and by throwing a 35-yard TD pass, his first ever, to flanker Mike Lanese. "I was in oblivion until it hit Mike's hands," said Byars. Mike Stoops, the Hawkeyes' strong safety, was awed: "He's so quick, so hard to bring down. He's probably the best back I'll see in my life."

In Oklahoma's 34-15 win over Baylor, the Sooners passed a most un-Soonerly 23 times. "This is bad for my reputation," said coach Barry Switzer. "Somebody might think I like to throw the ball." Another note: Oklahoma started two freshmen, halfback Patrick Collins and fullback Lydell Carr, in the backfield. "They kept asking in the huddle what to do each play," said quarterback Danny Bradley. "No wonder we didn't score more."

Notre Dame returned to form, romping over Colorado 55-14 in South Bend as Steve Beuerlein completed 10 of 11 passes. The Buffaloes were plainly distracted by their concern for tight end Ed Reinhardt, who had been in a coma since taking a blow to the head in the Oregon game the previous week. "Something as tragic as they're going through has to take its toll," said Irish tailback Allen Pinkett, who ran for three TDs.

SOUTH

"It was like electricity going all through my body," said Georgia kicker Kevin Butler. "There has never been anything like it." With 11 seconds remaining against Clemson in Athens and the score tied 23-23, Butler had drilled an SEC-record-equaling 60-yard field goal to win the game 26-23. Earlier he had kicked field goals of 34, 51 and 43 yards but had missed a 26-yard attempt in the second quarter. "I thought I had already lost the game for us by missing that one," said Butler. "There was no way I could feel worse."

Georgia, which trailed 20-6 at halftime, survived five interceptions thrown by Todd Williams and was aided by Clemson quarterback Mike Eppley's three interceptions and four lost fumbles. Butler's kick didn't end the action. Ray Williams of Clemson fielded the ensuing kick on his 20, ran 10 yards and then shoveled a lateral across field to Terrance Roulhac, who reached the Georgia 35 before going out of bounds with—he thought—one second on the clock. However, referee Robert Aillet ruled that time had expired. The players exchanged words and a shove or two, and Clemson coach Danny Ford pushed Georgia's Vince Dooley. They quickly shook hands, and Ford later paid a call on the Dawg locker room to apologize for "conduct unbecoming gentlemen."

Before Florida State's game at Miami, Seminole coach Bobby Bowden was concerned about the fancy coverages his team had installed to befuddle Hurricane quarterback Bernie Kosar. "I was scared to death," said Bowden. "I figured Kosar would catch our guys moving and burn us but good." Instead, the defense sacked Kosar six times, intercepted him once and limited him to 154 yards passing before Hurricane coach Jimmy Johnson benched him. In handing Miami its worse loss (38-3) since 1977, FSU allowed the Hurricanes just 10 yards on the ground. On offense, the Seminoles took advantage of Miami's aggressive defense with options, fakes to tailback Greg Allen and reverses—two to receiver Jessie Hester, who went for touchdowns of 25 and 77 yards. Said Bowden, "Miami has had to claw and dig and fight for five straight weeks. There's no way a team can stay on an emotional peak. It's just one of those things. Miami was tired and we weren't."

Nobody argued with Army coach Jim Young's decision to go for the one-point conversion and a 24-24 tie with Tennessee. "When you're a 20-point underdog against a team like Tennessee, and you've been losing to teams like that for 10 years, a tie can be a pretty good thing," Young said. Quarterback Nate Sassaman directed the Black Knight wishbone to 292 rushing yards. He himself ran one yard for the final TD with 1:17 to play.

By defeating Bethune-Cookman 35-17, Grambling earned Eddie Robinson his 314th coaching victory. Robinson is now tied with Amos Alonzo Stagg and nine games behind Bear Bryant on the alltime list. His record for 43 years: 314-104-15.

EAST

"That may be the best game I've ever played," said Doug Flutie after throwing six touchdown passes in Boston College's 52-20 rout of North Carolina in Foxboro, Mass. Tar Heel coach Dick Crum agreed: "I can't feel bad about this one. You name it, he did it. He could have slam-dunked the ball if he wanted to." In all, Flutie connected on 28 of 38 passes for 354 yards. Two throws went to his brother, Darren, a freshman flanker.

With 2:19 to play in Navy's 21-9 loss to Virginia, Middie senior tailback and Heisman Trophy candidate Napoleon McCallum suffered a fractured left ankle. The injury will sideline him for the remainder of the season. "It's a severe blow to us," said coach Gary Tranquill. "I feel very badly for Nap because he's worked so hard to get where he is."

The key play in Temple's 13-12 upset of Pitt in Philadelphia came with 2:11 to play. The Owls were down by two and faced third-and-19 at their own 39. Coach Bruce Arians wanted a big play and drew up something special on the sideline chalkboard. The Panther secondary had been playing tight the entire game, and Temple's protection had been weak. This time the tight end and both backs stayed in to protect Lee Saltz, while split end Willie Marshall ran a 15-yard out pattern and then headed upfield. Saltz, who had broken his nose in the third quarter, hit Marshall on a 50-yard play, and Jim Cooper kicked a 21-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining.

Afterward, the Temple players came out to sing along with the Beach Boys, who were performing as part of a promotional package put together by the Temple athletic department. Following Good Vibrations and Barbara Ann, Arians addressed the crowd: "By no means is this an ending point. Hopefully, this is our jumping-off point. Starting now, we can take the field anywhere, anytime and feel, really feel, that we have a chance to win." For the Owls, it was the first time they had beaten Pittsburgh since 1945. For the Panthers, their 0-3 start is their worst since 1972.

Having ended his career in 1983 as Morgan State's alltime leading passer, Darrell Coulter is in his first year as an assistant coach. Early in the fourth quarter of the Golden Bears' 41-14 loss at Connecticut, Huskies fullback Greg Morrison broke off tackle at his own 29-yard line and headed down the sideline in front of the Morgan State bench with no opponent in his way. "I had my head down," said Coulter. "When I looked up and saw him running down the sideline, the first thing that came to my mind was to prevent another score, and that's what I did." Coulter lunged onto the field at the Morgan State 45 and cut Morrison's feet out from under him with a roll block. A freshman carrying the ball for the first time in his career, Morrison was credited with a 71-yard TD run, and Coulter was ejected from the game. His boss, coach James Phillips, said, "I wasn't angry at him. How could I get angry? I just told him that it shouldn't have happened. It was just instinct, I guess."

WEST

The difference in Southern Cal's 6-3 win over Arizona State was a patch of slippery turf in Tempe. As he was warming up, Sun Devil kicker Luis Zendejas slipped on an approach and bruised his knee. While Trojan Steve Jordan booted two 50-yarders, Zendejas had only one successful attempt, from 20 yards; he missed from 47 and 27. The latter was a shank with less than a minute to play. "I don't think he's ever missed one before when it counted," said Arizona State coach Darryl Rogers.

"I'm tired of being listed in the Bottom 10," said Oregon coach Rich Brooks after his Ducks beat Cal 21-14. "It feels good to be three and oh starting a season." The Golden Bears had plenty of offense—446 yards to the Ducks' 346—but bobbled the ball when it mattered. The most critical turnover was fullback Ed Barbero's fumble near midfield with 2:37 remaining and the score tied 14-14. Moments later, with the ball on the Cal 31, Duck quarterback Chris Miller hit flanker Lew Barnes, who made a leaping catch at the back line of the end zone. Next stop: Pacific. "We're not good enough to be overconfident," says Brooks. "My players remember that they lost to Pacific last year."

SOUTHWEST

Jim Wacker, TCU's coach, has said his team will play "smash-mouth football," and for now Fort Worth is believing him. After routing Utah State 62-18 two weeks ago, the Horned Frogs beat Kansas State 42-10 as veerback Kenneth Davis rushed for 239 yards. The 2-0 start is the Frogs' best since 1972, and has TCU fans dreaming. With 10 minutes left against Kansas State, toe. Frogs' home crowd began chanting, "We want SMU." The Mustangs, who won a lackluster 24-6 game over North Texas State, host TCU this week in Texas Stadium.

Jackie Sherrill sure Stump-ed 'em. Texas A&M quarterback Kevin Murray was struggling, and the Aggies were leading Iowa State only 17-10 in the fourth quarter, when Sherrill called upon freshman Craig Stump, a redshirt last season. A&M thereupon clicked on six straight third-down plays, and Stump moved the team to TDs on his first two drives. Final score: A&M 38, State 17.

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PHOTO

For Clemson's Eppley, just hanging onto the ball against the dogged Dawgs was a feat.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

OFFENSE: Ohio State tailback Keith Byars ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns, caught five passes—one for a TD—and threw a 35-yard scoring pass in the Buckeyes' 45-26 victory over Iowa.

DEFENSE: In Brown's 27-14 win over Yale, safety Keiron Bigby set records for both single-game and single-season interception return yardage with runbacks of 91, 102 (both for TDs) and 25 yards.