THE WEEK

SOUTH

"No practice tonight," shouted Maryland coach Bobby Ross in the locker room following a shocking 42-40 Terp victory in Miami. Ross had threatened his team with a nocturnal workout at halftime, when the Terrapins trailed 31-0. But it was canceled after the biggest comeback ever by a Division I-A team. Senior Frank Reich, who had suffered a separation of his right shoulder a month earlier, sat out the first half and then came on to direct Maryland on six consecutive touchdown drives. He threw two scoring passes and ran one yard for a touchdown in the third period to make the score 34-21. Then the Terps scored on a 14-yard run by Tommy Neal and a catch of a tipped Reich pass that Greg Hill grabbed and turned into a 68-yard TD. That put Maryland in front 35-34 with 5:29 to go.

Two plays after the Hurricanes fumbled away the ensuing kickoff at their six, the Terps' Rick Badanjek banged into the end zone on a four-yard run to make the score 42-34. But Miami wasn't done. Here came quarterback Bernie Kosar, who would finish with four touchdown passes and 363 yards on his 30 completions in 50 attempts. Kosar connected with Eddie Brown for a score with one minute left on the clock. Then, in a try for a two-point conversion, he found fullback Melvin Bratton on a screen, but Bratton was brought down at the three-yard line by Maryland cornerback Keeta Covington.

Maryland's comeback was three points better than the previous record, which was set in 1981 by Oregon State against Fresno State and equaled last month by Washington State against Stanford.

For the first time since 1905, Virginia defeated North Carolina State in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers won the ACC game 45-0 by augmenting their powerful running game with a passing attack that netted 165 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown throw from Don Majkowski to freshman John Ford. The speedy Ford, who used to run down and catch rabbits after the sugar cane fields were burned off each year back home in Florida, has averaged 30.4 yards on 14 receptions so far this season.

Although outgained 336 yards to 220, Clemson held off stubborn Virginia Tech 17-10. The Tigers prevailed by pulling off the longest pass play of the game, 66 yards from Mike Eppley to Terrance Roulhac for a touchdown, and the longest run, a 17-yarder by Ray Williams for another six points.

There were no turnovers during the first half of the Florida State at South Carolina game, which ended with the Gamecocks ahead 17-7, but in the second half there were 13, nine of them by the Seminoles. The Gamecocks intercepted seven passes and recovered two Florida State fumbles. The Seminoles outdistanced the Gamecocks in total yardage 593 to 474, but they fell behind 38-7. A too-little, too-late resurgence merely made the final score 38-26.

While Florida was shutting out Georgia 27-0 (page 33), Auburn clobbered Cincinnati 60-0, and LSU was a 16-14 SEC winner over Alabama. The decisive touchdown came in the third quarter on a seven-yard scamper by Dalton Hilliard three plays after Tiger linebacker Michael Brooks had blocked a Tide punt and Kevin Guidry recovered the ball at the 'Bama 12.

EAST

Even for Doug Flutie it was a remarkable week. It wasn't simply that he completed 19 of 29 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns to lead Boston College past Army 45-31. And it wasn't merely that he became the Division I-A career leader in passing yardage by raising his total to 9,695. There were two other events that made Flutie's week distinctive: He received a National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame postgraduate scholarship, and he was nominated for a Rhodes scholarship.

Cadet quarterback Nate Sassaman put on a Purple Heart performance against BC by rushing for 136 yards and one touchdown and completing four of 10 passes for 38 yards while playing with three cracked ribs.

West Virginia's Mountaineers came to New Jersey hoping to wrap up the Lambert Trophy as the East's best team, but Rutgers beat them 23-19. The Scarlet Knights relied almost exclusively on their ground game, which netted 227 yards, 120 of them by Albert Smith. But two second-quarter passes by Rusty Hochberg also stung the Mountaineers. The first was a 52-yarder to Alan Andrews that set up a TD, and the second went to Andrew Baker for 36 yards and a score that made it 20-3.

Penn clinched at least a tie for its third straight Ivy League title by handing Harvard its worst loss in the schools' 55 meetings, 38-7. The Quakers, who led 10-7 at intermission, dominated the second half, which began with Penn's Steve Ortman returning the kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown.

WEST

While beating San Diego State 34-3, Brigham Young displayed defensive strength along with its usual offensive might. The Cougars picked off three Aztec passes, pounced on a fumble and limited San Diego State to 165 yards' total offense, roughly half its normal production. With Robbie Bosco putting on one of his typical shows—24 pass completions in 44 attempts for 326 yards and two touchdowns—BYU earned its 21st win in a row. For variety, Kelly Smith loped 61 yards for another Cougar score, and Lee Johnson chipped in with a pair of field goals.

Cal State-Fullerton missed a golden chance while playing at the Las Vegas Silver Bowl, losing for the first time, 26-20 to UNLV. After Greg Steinke booted a 42-yard field goal with 1:05 remaining to cut the Vegas lead to six, the Titans recovered the ensuing onsides kick at the Rebel 48, and Damon Allen drove Fullerton to the UNLV 13 with 26 seconds to play. There, on fourth-and-four, Allen fired a pass to Van Camp-field, who tripped and fell while attempting to make the reception.

John Lee's foot and Steve Bono's arm carried UCLA past Oregon State 26-17. Lee kicked four field goals, and Bono passed for 188 yards and two TDs.

Montana State, which was 1-10 last season, was expected to finish at the bottom of the Big Sky Conference again. Last Saturday, though, the Bobcats topped off a big turnaround by beating Northern Arizona 41-3 and locking up first place. In the process they ran their season record to 8-2. In 2½ periods against the Lumberjacks, Kelly Bradley completed 31 of 45 passes for 363 yards and four touchdowns.

SOUTHWEST

"We just kind of hunted and pecked," said coach Bill Yeoman after Houston bagged five Texas passes and four Longhorn fumbles during a 29-15 Southwest Conference upset in Austin. Early in the game it seemed the Cougars would bungle their way to their fifth loss. They fumbled the ball away on the third play from scrimmage, and four downs later Texas led 7-0. But as the proceedings unfolded, the Horns' Todd Dodge threw four interceptions and nine incompletions in his first 13 attempts. After finally completing two passes, Dodge threw another interception and was replaced by freshman Bret Stafford. On Stafford's first play, he fumbled away the snap. Houston dealt the once-tied Longhorns their first setback by scoring on three field goals by Mike Clendenen, a 79-yard pass from Gerald Landry to Anthony Ketchum, a seven-yarder from Landry to Carl Hilton and a 62-yard interception return by DeWayne Bowden.

SMU beat Rice 31-17, scoring 17 points in the second quarter as the Owls shanked punts of 13 and 18 yards and lost a fumble at their own 19.

MIDWEST

Despite the valiant efforts of Chuck Long, Iowa's Rose Bowl hopes were dashed 17-16 by visiting Michigan State. The Hawkeyes trailed 17-3 entering the last quarter. Then Long, who didn't play until the third period because" of a bruised knee, completed 12 consecutive throws. His last throw of the day was a three-yarder to Jonathan Hayes with 44 seconds left that whittled the Spartans' lead to one point. With Iowa needing a win to remain the Big Ten's top contender for the Rose Bowl, Long tried to run for the two-point conversion, but he came up eight inches short.

Wisconsin's 30-13 defeat of Purdue kept the Boilermakers from supplanting Iowa as the Pasadena front-runner. Marck Harrison led the Badgers' ground assault by rushing for more than 200 yards for the second time in his three weeks as the starting tailback. He ground out 225 yards in 38 carries. Mike Howard took care of Wisconsin's air attack, completing 20 of 30 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns.

A 52-3 drubbing of Northwestern put Ohio State atop the Big Ten and set up this week's war with Michigan: If Ohio State wins, it goes to the Rose Bowl. Keith Byars of the Buckeyes rumbled for 151 yards and two TDs and then sat out the fourth quarter, resting his sore left ankle. Even with the reserves playing that final period, Ohio State tacked on another 27 points.

Kansas kicked off to start its game with Nebraska, because coach Mike Gottfried hoped the Huskers might be slowed in the opening period by gusting winds of as much as 30 mph. Wind or not, the Huskers breezed to a 21-0 first-quarter lead, a 41-7 triumph and no worse than a share of the Big Eight championship. Nebraska, which entered the game ranked first in Division I-A in total defense (198.8 yards a game) and second in rushing defense (77.8 yards), gave up 246 yards in all, only 24 on the ground.

Colorado tried some Black Magic against Oklahoma, suiting up in black jerseys instead of its usual blues. The Buffaloes, however, were left black and blue by the Sooners, who won 42-17. If there was any magic, it was the speed with which Oklahoma scored. Four Sooner touchdown drives took a total of only 3:10, starting with an 80-yarder that required a mere 48 seconds; Lydell Carr, who carried 15 times for 143 yards, ended that rapid assault with a 64-yard scoring burst.

Missouri led 13-10 at Oklahoma State with 10:45 to go in the third period before falling apart. The first critical Tiger mistake came when linebacker Bo Sherrill, frustrated because he'd missed a block on Cowboy offensive tackle Paul Blair, ripped off Blair's helmet and then kicked it. This led to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that moved the ball to the Tiger two. Three plays later, Oklahoma State running back Thurman Thomas barged in from the one. Early in the fourth quarter, Cowboy quarterback Rusty Hilger handed off to Thomas, who pitched back to Hilger, who threw a 36-yard scoring strike to Jamie Harris. Oklahoma State won 31-13.

Indiana State rooters waved their Horrible Hankies, but in the end their Sycamores had to wave goodby to dreams of an unbeaten season and the Missouri Valley Conference title. Nonetheless, Indiana State, a I-AA team, put up a rousing fight before losing 24-17 to I-A Tulsa. Quarterback Richie Stephenson, who stepped in for Steve Gage on Sept. 29 when Gage suffered a broken jaw against Oklahoma State, guided the Golden Hurricane to its fifth straight first-place finish. Stephenson was on the mark with 13 of 20 passes for 227 yards and a TD, ran 25 yards for another TD and leaped one yard for a third.

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PHOTO

GENE SWEENEY JR./THE BALTIMORE SUN

Hill's 68-yard TD with a tipped pass was the highlight of Maryland's historic comeback.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

OFFENSE: Senior quarterback Frank Reich rallied Maryland from a 31-0 deficit to a 42-40 win at Miami, completing 12 of 15 second-half passes, including three for TDs, and scoring on a one-yard run.

DEFENSE: Bryant Gillard, a strong safety for South Carolina, tied a school mark with four interceptions and also made 11 tackles and recovered and recovered a fumble as the Gamecocks beat Florida State 38-26.