College Football 1924

Ed Weir, Nebraska T

Red Grange

"October brought the rooting season. On college football fields, great numbers of burly U.S. males flung their weight about,uprooted one another in scrimmages, ran, shouted, grunted, 'rooted' punts. In grandstands, throngs of less burly males and galaxies of highly agitated females 'rooted' vocally."

• Princeton "set about her work most impressively. When Coach [Bill] Roper's men had done, Amherst's line was little more than a ragged fabric of perforations and the score was 40 to 6. Coach Roper employed straight plays and three complete teams. Amherst's score was the work of RG Pratt who intercepted a pass and lumbered 30y."
• The other two "Big Three" Eastern schools also won. Yale "chastened" North Carolina 27-0 "rather clumsily except when forward-passing." And Harvard "fell upon" Virginia14-0 behind QB Cheek, "a line-knifer," RB Zarakov, "an artful, eel-hipped dodger," and HB Gehrke, whose "punts sail far."
• For Cornell, "backs Whetstone, Wade and Isaly smashed into the Niagara eleven with commendable violence" 27-0. "The Big Red line had heft."
• Dartmouth "flattened" McGill 52-0 behin QB Dooley – "a casual performance, for the Canadians are just discovering football." Staying in the East, Rutgers "accumulated the week's hugest score, 56-0, by commuting steadily through eleven scoreless sons of Lebanon."
• "Southward, Valparaiso and Centre Colleges wrangled into a pointless tie. Centre is but a wraith of the little giantess she was in the day of 'Bo' McMillan, her bold, brash back of two seasons ago."
• "In the Middle West," only one Big Ten game was played. Ohio State downed Purdue 7-0 in Columbus. Missouri Valley Conference members Nebraska and Missouri traveled north and east. Illinois was a rude host to the Cornhuskers, 9-6, while Missouri took a 3-0 struggle from Chicago. For Illinois, captain Red Grange "twinkled again like a bright particular Conference star."
• Continuing in the Middle West, "Notre Dame's 152 lb backfield scurried up and down the field" to thrash Lombard 40-0.
• "The first broken neck reported this season, not immediately fatal, was that of George Stevens of Sherril NY playing for Cortland Normal School against St. John's Military Academy."
• Unreported by Time was LSU's 31-7 victory over Southwestern Louisiana (known today as Louisiana Lafayette), the Tigers' second victory after defeating Spring Hill 7-6. (Southern teams generally started their seasons the last weekend of September.) Alabamatraveled to Furman for a 20-0 victory, the Tide's second of the young season. Tennessee upended Emory & Henry 27-0.
• In the Southwest, Texas achieved its second straight 27-0 win, this one at the expense of Phillips. The rival Aggies scored their third straight shutout win, over Southwestern 54-0. Struggling Oklahoma, coming off a 3-5 season, fell to Central Oklahoma 2-0.
• On the West Coast, Washington, fresh off a Rose Bowl season, blanked its third straight foe, Willamette in this case, 57-0. Southern Cal defeated Pomona 14-0, not coming close to the 78 points the Trojans rang up against Cal Tech last week. UCLA, starting only its sixth season on the gridiron, battled Loyola of Los Angeles to a scoreless tie.

The 1943 college football season began with approximately 300 schools who fielded teams in 1942 not putting forth an eleven this season. Some well known casualties were Stanford, Fordham, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgetown. By contrast, the 181 colleges with Navy V12 programs added some excellent players to their rosters. The spoilsport Army, on the other hand, refused to allow any of its 100,000 in A-12 training at colleges to participate in sports.

• Minneapolis: Minnesota inaugurated a new grid rivalry in auspicious style, trouncing Missouri 26-13. Red Williams, one of two holdover backs from last year, reeled off long gains, throwing one TD pass and scoring another himself. He was ably aided by QB Bill Garnaas, who scored two TDs and kicked two extra points. Don Reece, all Big Six FB, spearheaded the Tiger attack on the ground and through the air, setting up the first TD in Q2 when, on a sleeper play, he shot a pass to Morton for a 52y gain. In Q4 Reece threw another one to Morton for a TD. Gopher G Bob Graizinger, who joined the squad this week after leaving Northwestern, recovered three fumbles, two of which led to Minnesota scores on the very next play.
• Rockford IL: As the crowd of 11,000 watched breathlessly, Bob Orlando, RG on the Camp Grant team, who played college ball at Colgate, booted a 30y FG in the last five seconds to give the Warriors a 10-7 victory over plucky Wisconsin. A shadow of the 8-1-1 eleven of 1942, former "Four Horseman" Harry Stuhldreher's Badgers lost to Marquette 33-7 last week.
• Norman OK: A fast, hard-punching Oklahoma team plastered the Norman Naval Air Station Zoomers 22-6 before a crowd of 10,000. Bob Brumley, former Rice ace, led the assault with two TDs. The far heavier sailors were actually favored because they included former college players, including Big Steve Andrejko, all-American C from Ohio State and the Washington Redskins, who suffered a broken leg.
• Pittsburgh: Navy-buttressed Notre Dame ran roughshod over the Pitt Panthers, 41-0, before a record opening crowd of 60,000 lured by the magic name of Notre Dame and the debut of Clark Shaughnessy as Pitt coach. Unfortunately, the Irish have a power-laden, smooth-functioning outfit while Pitt is, as Shaughnessy termed it, "a fine high school team."
• Milwaukee: Purdue's steamroller ground attack flattened a game but outclassed Marquette team, 21-0, before a record "Industrial Night" crowd of 22,000 in Hilltop Stadium. Running off a "T" formation, Purdue scored in every period except the third and gained 13 first downs to 5 for the Warriors. After a 1-8 debacle in '42, the Boilers are off to a 2-0 start, having beaten Great Lakes 23-13 last week.
• Evanston IL: Indiana's game but out-gunned gridders, fielding eight freshmen, was defeated by Northwestern's V-12 power, 14-6, under floodlights. Inspired by the running, passing and punting of freshman Bob Hoernschemeyer of Cincinnati, the Hoosiers scored a TD in Q2 and threatened repeatedly. Northwestern scored on Don Buffmire's 4y plunge and on Otto Graham's 32y pass to Jerry Carle, a Navy transfer from Minnesota.
• West Point NY: Army upheld its ranking as one of the nation's football powers by walloping power-packed Villanova 27-0. Galloping Glenn Davis, a slim 19-year-old plebe from Los Angeles, spearheaded the Cadets' smashing attack with a Q2 TD and a Q4 pass interception and 41y return that set up another score. West Point amassed 425y, of which 279 was on the ground.
• Berkeley CA: California opened with a 27-12 victory over St. Mary's. The Bears scored in the first five minutes as RHB Art Honegger plunged over from the 2 after a 47y march. Then Cal scored TDs in each of the final two periods.
• Columbus OH: A power-laden and professionally smooth Iowa Seahawks eleven handed Ohio State a smashing 28-13 defeat, snapping a 49-year span in which the Buckeyes had never been defeated in their opener. The victory avenged a 41-12 defeat that OSU administered last fall. A trio of former professional stars, Perry Schwarz, Dick Todd, and Frank Maznicke, sparked the Seahawks.
• Great Lakes IL: Great Lakes Naval Air Staton struck with suddenness and explosive power to roll to a 21-7 win over Iowa. The Sailors' Steve Lach, former All-American at Duke, dashed 75y for a TD in the first five minutes. Two minutes into the second half, Dewey Proctor, former Furman performer, dashed 44y to pay dirt. The third Bluejacket TD came on a Lach 20y pass to Steve Juzwik, former Notre Dame ace, who ran 27y.
• Atlanta: Georgia Tech made up in scrap what it lacked in strength and toppled North Carolina 20-7 before an astounded opening day crowd of 20,000. Tech, a two-TD underdog after losing its captain, C George Manning, and two other key players to injuries, capitalized on breaks, including three fumbles, two of which led directly to GT TDs. The other TD came on an 80y run by Eddie Prokop.
• Los Angeles: Southern California's hard charging line bottled up UCLA, and the Trojans, employing the "T" formation for the first time, swept to a convincing 20-0 victory. The crosstown rivals moved their annual season-ending clash to the beginning of the season this year. 50,000 watched Eddie Saenz, former HB at Loyola at Los Angeles, break loose for an 86y end run for the Trojans' third TD early in Q3.

 

 

 

 

 

Clark Shaughnessy

Bob Hoernschemeyer

Glenn Davis

Steve Lach

 

 

 

 

Angelo Bertelli

The upset of the day was Pacific over Del Monte Pre-Flight. Read about that one below.

• Jim (Babe) Hallmark engineered two prodigious pass plays in Q3 to bring the youthful Texas Aggies a 13-0 victory over Texas Christian before a crowd of 16,000. The two TD passes, for 43yd to Bob Butchofsky and 60yd to Marian Flanagan, came after the gallant but punchless Horned Frogs had stymied the A&M ground game any time it pierced TCU territory.
• The rabbit feet of captain D. Allen and a neat pass play carried Southern Methodist to a 12-0 victory over Rice. Allen, a nine-toed FB, took the pass from center on the SMU 33 and whipped around LE 67yd for a Q3 TD. The second Mustangs score was set up by Lloyd Parker's punt out of bounds on the Owl 8. When SMU regained the ball at the enemy 37, Parker spiraled a pass to Billy Walling for the clinching TD. Both PAT tries were low.
• Mighty Notre Dame scored another one-sided victory at the expense of an outclassed but game Wisconsin eleven, 50-0. Hardly had the 18,000 spectators arranged their stadium robes about them when the Irish, the nation's #1 team, scored the first of eight TDs – three in Q1, one in Q2, two in Q3, and two in Q4. This despite Coach Frank Leahy inserting substitutes freely. Angelo Bertelli, ND's human bombsight passer, played less than half the game, completing two passes and scoring one TD.
• Another powerhouse, the U.S. Military Academy, made mudpies on the Columbia goal line most of the afternoon and easily mastered the Lions, 52-0, to remain both undefeated and unscored on this season. After leading only 13-0 at the half, Army romped to 19 Q3 points and 20 more in the final. HB Glenn Davis elicited gasps from the 23,000 spectators with his sideline jaunts.
• The other service academy received a terrific scare from Penn State before 18,214 in muddy Thompson Stadium in Annapolis. However, the Middies remained unbeaten when little Bill Baron's 38yd TD gallop in the final quarter clinched a hard-earned 14-6 victory. Fumbling frequently, Navy's lighter backs failed to unloose the spectacular offensive displayed in earlier tilts and showed that the Sailors obviously prefer dry-ground oeprations.
• Georgia Tech had Eddie Prokop, and Eddie Prokop had the TD touch. So while 10,000 fans looked on, the Navy-activated Engineers thundered over Fort Benning's 300th infantry 27-0 on wind-swept Grant Field. The infantrymen, unbeaten in three previous starts and boasting 3/4 of Tennessee's Sugar Bowl backfield, held off the Tech tidal wave to trail by a bare six points at the half. But in Q3 Prokop and company piled over three TDs.
• Purdue's undefeated Boilermakers turned on their vaunted power on a soaking wet field to come from behind and hand Ohio State's youthful Buckeyes their third loss in four games, 30-7, before a crowd of 41,509 in Cleveland. Purdue scored all its TDs in the last half after Ohio took the lead with one in Q1.
• Minnesota pulled a 13-7 victory out of the fire from Camp Grant, stopping two TD drives in Q4 when the Soldiers seemed unstoppable. It was the Gophers' third straight win to wind up their pre-Big Ten season. With two and a half minutes to play, Minnesota began taking stalling penalties which put the ball on the one-half yard line. Then QB Bill Garnaas started to do what everyone expected – take a safety. But when the Soldiers didn't rush, Garnaas instead ran the ball 21yd for a first down. A few plays later, the final whistle sounded.
• In Los Angeles, California alternately passed and ran UCLA dizzy with reverses and spinners to score an easy 13-0 victory over an unusually weak Bruin team. 20,000 saw the Golden Bears scored a TD in six plays after taking the Bruins' first punt. Art Honegger, speedy 165lb HB who was the game's leading ground gainer, tore off two nice gains and FB Bill Joslyn fired two long passes to put the ball on the UCLA 9. Here Joe Stuart spurted off the Bruin RE to the goal, and Joslyn added the extra point. Cal's other score in Q2 was registered on a bullet pass from sub FB Bob Weeks to Honegger. The play was good for 47yd.
• Other scores: Vanderbilt 20, Tennessee Polytechnic Institute 0; Iowa State 27, Nebraska 6; West Virginia 6, Maryland 2; Texas 34, Arkansas 0; Southern California 24, San Francisco 0; Duke 14, North Carolina 7; Tulsa 20, Oklahoma 6; Iowa Seahawks 21, Missouri 6; Wake Forest 33, North Carolina State 6; Texas Tech 14, South Plains Army Air Field 12.

• The oldest continuous intersectional rivalry was renewed on Knute Rockne Memorial Day – 25 years after the coach's last season. A record crowd of 59,475 at Notre Dame Stadium watched the 4-1 #9 Irish take their tenth in row from 5-0 #4 Navy, 21-7. QB Paul Hornung passed only six times, completing three for 18y and a Q3 TD to E Gene Kapish. Hornung also scored on a 1y sneak in Q2 and intercepted two passes from QB George Welsh. The Midshipmen finally scored in Q4 on a 2y run by HB Ned Oldham.
• It was no surprise that the Miami Hurricanes would feel at home in the rain in Pittsburgh. But they also survived the chill thanks to three northern-born players: HB John Varone (MA), HB Jack Losch (PA), and QB Sam Scarnecchia (OH), each of whom scored TDs in a 21-7 victory over the Panthers.
• In the three-year-old Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson subdued visiting Wake Forest 19-13 thanks primarily to FB Billy O'Dell who ran 21 times for 103y, including two TDs of 2 and 1y. The Tiger D made life miserable for QB Nick Consoles, who lost his #2 national passer ranking after a 4-17/44y performance. Nevertheless, the Deacons led 13-12 in Q4 on Consoles' 9y pass to E Ralph Brewster. Clemson then marched 82y in 11 plays culminating in O'Dell's second TD.
• Another ACC team, Duke, spent an unpleasant afternoon in Atlanta losing to Georgia Tech of the SEC, 27-0. Bobby Dodd's O line blasted holes in the heavier Devil front wall for Tech's speedy backs to score two early TDs. The nail in the visitors' coffin came on HB Johnny Mengers' 49y INT TD return in Q4. Duke made but a single first down in the first half, never moving past their own 36, and only 133y for the game.
• In another 27-0 game, Duffy Daugherty's #5 Michigan State Spartans had no problem at Wisconsin. Soph HB Walt Kowalczyk ran 72y for a Q1 score, then his INT set up Clarence Peaks' TD on the first play of Q2. The Badgers' only threat came in Q3 when they drove to the 3. However, HB Danny Lewis slipped down on the wet grass on fourth down. Kowalczyk scored again in Q4 on a 24y scamper.
• Two weeks ago, #10 USC knocked visiting Wisconsin from the ranks of the unbeaten. However, on this day the Trojans didn't fare as well on the road against another Big Ten team, Minnesota. The 1-4 Golden Gophers ordered the perfect weather to confound their Golden State visitors: blustery winds and driving snow. Attempting only two passes and completing neither, the home team used soph HB Rich Borstad to hammer for two TDs and blocked a punt to set up another score. "Skidding and bumbling," the Trojans managed only a solitary first down in the first half but broke through in Q3 on FB Gordon Duvall's 73y kickoff return and HB Ernie Merk's 92y punt return. However, in between Gopher QB Don Swanson sped 65y on a keeper for a 19-6 lead. Borstad's second TD, from the 3 in Q4, extended UM's lead to 25-12. They held on, 25-19.
• In the Big Seven, Colorado celebrated homecoming against 0-6 Missouri. However, the Buffaloes, suffering from week-after-playing-mighty-Oklahoma syndrome, lost 20-12. The Tigers scored all their points in the first half behind split-T QB Jimmy Hunter's crafty ball-handling and consistent passing. CU finally awoke in Q4 on two passes: 28y from TB Bob Stransky to E Frank Clarke and 24 from TB Homer Jenkins to E Jerry Leahy. But it was too little, too late. The Tigers had refused to shave until they won their first game. So coach Don Faurot had razors ready for his 36-man traveling squad in the post-game locker room.
• The highest ranked Southwest Conference team, 5-0-1 #11 Texas A&M, managed only a 7-7 tie against 3-3 Arkansas. Bear Bryant's Aggies, on probation and ineligible for the Cotton Bowl, outgained the Razorbacks 134 to 52 in Q1 behind the running of soph HB John David Crow but failed to score. In Q2, the visitors marched to within one-foot of the Aggie goal line but could not punch it in on three tries. A&M broke the scoreless deadlock in Q3 when QB Jimmy Wright threw 10y to HB Loyd Taylor to culminate a 59y drive. Finally, in Q4, Arkansas drove to the Aggie 31 where QB George Walker rifled a 28y fourth-down pass to HB Preston Carpenter. The D held for three downs, but Walker finally sneaked over the tying TD. UA drove back to the 31 in the last minute but two penalties as they tried to get the K into the lineup moved them out of FG range. Afterward, Bryant lamented, "We spent too much time reading our press clippings."
• In the Pacific Coast Conference, Oregon State defeated #19 Washington 13-7 in gusty Seattle. The Huskies dominated the statistics but scored only once on a 19y INT return by DE Jim Houston. In Q3 the home team fumbled the ball away at the Beaver 3. Then catastrophe stuck twice. OSU FB-DB Tom Berry collected an errant pitchout and raced 72y for tying TD. The Beavers recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and scored 6 plays later on Berry's dive.
• #8 Auburn took its 4-0-1 record into Sugar Bowl Stadium against SEC foe Tulane (3-3). For three quarters, the Green Wave dominated, building a 21-0 lead on QB Gene Newton's TD passes to E Will Billon and HB Otis Gilmore and FB Ronnie Quillan's run. However, a 14-year-old boy, who attended every Tulane home game while he was in high school, watched anxiously from the North end zone on a glorious fall day as the Plainsmen cut the margin to 21-13 right in front of him on a 3y plunge by FB Joe Childress and a Fob James' run on the first play after a fumble recovery at the 4. Then the visitors cranked up another drive against the exhausted Greenie D, moving to the 20 with 5 minutes left. However, HB Tommy Warner picked off QB Howell Tubbs' pass and zig-zagged 87y for the clinching TD. 27-13 Tulane.

Paul Hornung

Walt Kowalczyk

Don Faurot

John David Crow

Joe Childress

John Brodie

Johnny Majors

Tommy McDonald


Jon Arnett

• "The first half was as pretty a contest as you would want to see. As advertised, it was Michigan State's multiple offense against Stanford's aerial gyrations." With 11 minutes left in the Q1, MSU "crushed" 65y in 14 plays to lead 7-0 despite missing hard-running HB Walt Kowalczyk with a broken ankle. Back came Stanford with 68y in 18 plays, including six completions and two runs from QB John Brodie. The 7-7 tie prevailed at halftime. However, the second half belonged to the Spartans. Brodie, who had been stunned by hard hits, did not play any more. Duffy Daugherty's visitors ate up the first 9:32 of Q3 with a 68y drive to take the lead. Then Brodie's replacement fumbled a handoff and 225lb G Ellison Kelly recovered on the Indian 18. Six runs punched the ball into the end zone for a 21-7 opening win for MSU.
• Tennessee's Triple Threat TB Johnny Majors played only half the game as the Vols blasted Auburn 35-7 to start Bowden Wyatt's second season since take over for legendary coach Bob Neyland. 44,000 shirt-sleeved spectators at Legion Field in Birmingham watched Johnny run for 48y and one TD and pass for 188 and two TDs. The UT line, "though outweighed 18 pounds per man, opened up good holes in the Auburn defense by trapping the guards effectively."
• "You could hear the licks out there tonight," drawled Georgia Tech coach Bobby Dodd to summarize his team's 9-7 squeaker over SMU in the Cotton Bowl. The winning points actually came early in the game when G Don Miller crashed through to block a Mustang punt for a safety. Then in Q3, the visitors put together a 72y 10-play drive that culminated in a 4yd sweep by 5'5" Jimmy Thompson. Early in Q4, a fumble recovering set up the SMU's tally on QB Charlie Arnold's 30y pass to HB Lon Slaughter. The Tech D then fought off late charges at its 8 and 17.
• Syracuse's unbalanced line split-T upset Maryland in its opening game last week. Pitt coach John Michelosen, who learned his football under legendary Panther coach Jock Sutherland, called the Orangemen's "weak side" the "short side" as he prepared his D to stop the unusual attack. And stop it they did, holding the Syracuse O scoreless while yielding only a 55y INT return by Ed Coffin. Pitt's own O, "blocking with the power of a single wing team and passing with sparing wisdom," pushed across two scores for a 14-7 victory.
• Preseason #1 Oklahoma opened its 1956 campaign with its 31st straight victory, upending North Carolina 36-0 in Norman. The two teams had met in the first game of the 1955 season in Chapel Hill, and OU escaped with a 13-6 triumph. After a slow start, the Sooners got in gear in Q2 with a 17y TD run by QB Jay O'Neal. Later RB/DB Clendon Thomas intercepted a pass and lateraled to fellow HB Tommy McDonald, who ran 40y to the 11. It was fitting that McDonald score the TD on a 4y pass from QB Jimmy Harris.
• In the only curtain raiser involving two Big Ten teams, Iowa's Forrest Evasheski unveiled his new O, a balanced-line wing T. Even though they were ragged at times, the Hawkeyes rushed through the unprepared Indiana Hoosiers for 242y on the ground in a 27-0 victory.
• Georgia ran 55 plays for 214y. Florida State ran 55 plays for 214y. However, Georgia kicked a 43y FG, the longest yet seen in Sanford Stadium, in the final minutes to escape with a surprisingly tough 3-0 victory over the Seminoles, who are in only their fifth year of major college football. FSU QB Lee Corso completed 3-of-8 passes for 16y and ran 13 times for 43y. It was Billy Hearn's leaping INT of Corso's pass that set up the FG drive.
• Paul Dietzel's LSU Tigers hosted Bear Bryant's Texas Aggies in a defensive slugfest. Eight minutes in, A&M scored on QB Bobby Joe Conrad's pass to HB Carlos Esquivel from the 14. After a fine punt deep into LSU territory in Q3, C Dee Powell blocked a punt out of the end zone for a 9-0 lead. Tiger QB Win Turner led an 83y drive that ended with a 10y TD run by soph HB J. W. Brodnax to make the final tally 9-6.
• On the West Coast Friday night, USC defeated visiting Oregon State 21-13. Beaver WB-DB Sam Wesley didn't play because it was discovered just before kickoff that he may have attended little Lincoln University and OSU feared a Pacific Coast Conference eligibility problem. Trojan HB Jon Arnett scored from the 10 on the game's opening drive and scored again right before the half to build a 21-7 lead at intermission. Two players from the L.A. area, TB Paul Lowe and WB Earnell Durden, nearly brought OSU back in the second half, but three fumble recoveries helped USC hold on.

• #1 bit the dust in Minneapolis as 4-1 Minnesota cut down Michigan State 13-0. Gophers struck midway through Q1 on an 8y run by HB Bill Munsey. The Spartans moved up and down the field but could not dent the scoring column. After its offense went without a first down in the first half following the TD, the home team cranked up three drives to give its beleagured D some rest. After a fumble recovery at the MSU 40, QB Sandy Stephens fired a 23y pass to Munsey to clinch the victory. All doubt was removed when Stephens, doubling as a DB because of limited substitution rules, intercepted in the end zone in the last minute. The victory kept the Gophers in a first place tie with Ohio State in the Big Ten.
• The last three seasons, Ole Miss came into the LSU game with a perfect record. And each time the Rebels left imperfect – defeats in Baton Rouge in 1958 and 1959 and a tie in Oxford in 1960. Make that four in a row now as Paul Dietzel's 5-1 Tigers prevailed 10-7 at Tiger Stadium. Knowing that Michigan State lost earlier in the day, Johnny Vaught's squad could move up a notch to #1 with a victory. And they did outgain the home team 322-213, but #6 LSU made each of its scoring opportunities count. Wendell Harris's 37y FG started the scoring on the first possession. Sub QB Glynn Griffing put the Rebs ahead right before the half with a 2y pass to E Wes Sullivan. The turning point came midway through Q3. Two plays after Ole Miss missed a FG try, HB Jerry Stovall scampered 57y on a counter play to the 23. A 4th down catch by E Billy Truax at the 12 kept the drive alive for Harris to circle LE from the 7 behind cutdown block by G Monk Guillot. The Chinese Bandits preserved the win with two turnovers in Q4 – an INT by LB Steve Ward at the 16 and a fumble recovery by E Gene Sykes at the 34.
• The ball bounced Navy's way as the opportunistic Midshipmen defeated Notre Dame in South Bend. Behind 3-0, Middies backup QB Bob Hecht tossed a long pass that turned into a jump ball among two receivers and two defenders. The deflection came down to HB Jim Stewart who ran to the 3 to set up the go-ahead TD. Navy added a FG before the half. Then the Irish tied the contest by taking the second half kickoff and moving 63y. Q4 saw another break favor the visitors. QB Darryl Lamonica fumbled under a heavy rush, and Navy G John Hewitt recovered at the 9. This led to a 22y FG to regain the lead. In the last minutes, Lamonica completed 30y and 20y passes to E Les Traver. However, on the second reception, Traver fumbled when clobbered at the 10, and E Dave Sjuggerud recovered to save the victory.
• Colorado, 6-0 but ranked only #8, edged #10 Missouri (5-0-1) in Boulder, 7-6. Buffaloes QB Gale Weidner hit FB Bill Harris on a 21y TD pass in the waning moments of first half. The visiting Tigers finally mounted a drive early in Q4. Mike Hunter tossed a HB pass to E Don Wainright from the 10 to culminate a 63y march. Coach Dan Devine decided to repeat that play for a 2pt conversion, but this time the ball sailed out of the end zone. Mizzou had another crack at victory, but Bill Tobin's 44y FG fell short in the waning moments. The victory gave Colorado the Big 8 lead all to themselves and, with it, the inside track to the Orange Bowl.
• A record crowd of 83,795 in Columbus watched #5 Ohio State (4-0-1) thump #9 Iowa 29-13. The Hawkeyes opened the game with 24 consecutive plays lasting 11:53. However, OSU actually led 7-0 because DE Tom Perdue raced 55y with mid-air fumble. Entering Q4 leading only 12-7, the Buckeyes scored 17 unanswered points, inspired by E Charles Bryant, who took a short pass from QB Joe Sparma and ran through six defenders on a 63y trip to the end zone.
• In the ACC, Virginia upended South Carolina 28-20 in Charlottesville. The victory was sweet revenge for last year's 26-0 licking in Columbia when the Gamecocks played linemen in the backfield at the end of the game. Cavalier HB Carl Kuhn somehow slithered past four tacklers on a punt return and caught a pass to set up a TD as Virginia led at the half 21-7. SC completed only 11 of 26 passes, although two went for TDs to E Henry Crosby.

Sandy Stephens

Jerry Stovall

Dan Devine

Greg Pruitt

Johnny Musso

Pat Sullivan

• While #1 Nebraska slaughtered Kansas 55-0 in Lincoln, #2 Oklahoma kept pace with a 45-17 shellacking of undefeated #6 Colorado in Norman. The Sooners set a school record with 670yd of wishbone O, including 172 through the air. HB Greg Pruitt ran 14 times for 193y, and QB Jack Mildren fired TD passes of 54y to WR Jon Harrison and 68y to WB Joe Wylie. It's hard to imagine anyone beating the top two teams before their November 25 meeting in Norman.
• #4 Alabama went to 6-0 with a 32-15 win over Tennessee in Birmingham. The Vols contributed an astounding eight turnovers to the Tide cause. Bama QB Terry Davis threw only five passes, completing three, because the rushing attack, led by Johnny Musso's 115y, amassed 283y. Victory was the first for the Crimson Tide over the Vols since 1966.
• #5 Auburn romped over Georgia Tech in Atlanta, 31-14. Leading 7-6 entering the final quarter, the Jackets, who had hung tough thanks to Tiger turnovers on their first four possessions, drowned under deluge of 25 fourth-quarter points by the visitors. It started with a 9y run by TB Tommy Lowry, who added the 2-point conversion. QB Pat Sullivan set an SEC record with 13 straight completions as part of his 281y/3 TD day.
• #7 Notre Dame shutout the visiting Tar Heels of North Carolina , 16-0. Soph K Bob Thomas tied a 58-year-old school record with three FGs, all in the first half. NC sported a 400y O average per game but could eke out a measly 149, with only four 1st downs after Q1. The Irish D extended its TD-free streak to 14 Qs.
• #9 Penn State blasted Syracuse 31-0 in Happy Valley. QB John Hufnagel scored twice, rushing for 71y before taking a seat in Q3. HB Lydell Mitchell added 94y to the ground total of 245. The Nittany Lion D posted consecutive shutouts for the first time since 1948.
• #10 Texas bit the dust at the hands of #16 Arkansas 31-7. One week after being torched for 435y by Oklahoma in the school's first regular season defeat in 33 games, the Longhorn D surrendered 451y to the Joe Ferguson-led Razorbacks. Ferguson went 14-24/249y and 3 TDs. Another Texas streak was broken, this one the 21-game Southwest Conference win skein.
• Oregon State of the Pacific Eight upended #11 Arizona State of the Western Athletic Conference 24-18 in Portland to end the Sun Devils' 21-game winning streak. OSU FB Dave Schilling ran an amazing 47 times for 157y and all three Beaver TDs, becoming the school's all-time leading rusher with 2,352y. Victory was OSU's fifth straight over ASU.
• #12 LSU survived its trip to Lexington with a 17-13 win over the Wildcats. Leading 10-0 after their first two possessions, the Tigers didn't score again until Q4. With the score 10-7, Bengal S Joe Winkler's INT set up a 3y scoring run by QB Bert Jones for what proved to be the clinching TD.
• Florida edged #19 Florida State 17-15 in Gainesville. The expected shootout between rivals QBs John Reaves of the Gators and Gary Huff didn't materialize. Instead, UF coach Doug Dickey practiced ball control with 54 rushes to only 11 passes. The plan worked for a 17-7 lead, helped by a fumble return for a TD by S Jimmy Barr on the kickoff following TB Mike Rich's opening TD. Huff (22-40/184y, TD, INT) led late rally with 6y TD pass to WR Rhett Dawson but couldn't get the Seminoles back into FG range.

• #6 West Virginia went to 7-0 with a 59-19 romp over fellow Eastern independent Boston College. Don Nielan's QB Major Harris, 18-21 for 297y, led 8 TD drives. He ran in two and threw for three as he set a school record with 372y in total offense.
• In other Eastern independent action, Army continued its resurgence, defeating Rutgers 34-24. The 6-1 Cadets scored three straight TDs in Q2 as HB Mike Mayweather rushed for 115y and 3 TDs. Army, fittingly, amassed 378y on the ground.
• In ACC action, North Carolina State (6-1) beat visiting #9 Clemson for the third straight year, 10-3. The winning TD early in Q4 was set up by a botched punt snap that resulted in a 35y loss to the Tigers 21. TB Chris Williams scored from the 5. Clemson K-P Chris Gardocki booted a 35y FG in Q1 but missed two from 40.
• Another QB set a school total O record. Virginia's Shawn Moore completed 14-22/315y and ran for 81 more. He threw a 28y TD to WR Herman Moore and a 19y TD to WR Tim Finkleston. The Cavaliers beat Wake Forest 34-14 in Winston-Salem. One of the Deacons' scores was a 36y TD pass from QB Mike Elkins to WR Ricky Proehl.
• With neither team ranked in the Top 20, Alabama downedPenn State 8-3 in Birmingham. The Tide D thoroughly frustrated JoePa's O. A Q1 Tony Sacca pass to WR Michael Timpson in the EZ was nullified by a penalty. The Crimson O wasn't much better but did manage 2 Phillip Doyle FGs, and LB Derrick Thomas added a safety on a sack early in Q4. After falling behind 6-3, PSU managed only -9y the rest of the game for a total of 169 for the day.
• Kentucky TB Alfred Rawls, a Georgia native, originally signed with the Bulldogs but was rejected due to his grades. So after two JC years, he switched to Lexington. He burned the #11 Dogs with 128y including the 48y winning TD in Q3 as the Wildcats (3-4) upset the visitors (5-2). KU survived four sacks by French LB Richard Tardits.
• Illinois couldn't muster a running attack. So QB Jeff George tossed 55 aerials, completing 34 for 316y. But it wasn't enough as Michigan State scored 28 straight to win in Champaigne, 28-21. Spartan QB Bobby McAllister threw 2 TDs, one of which was a 63y bomb to Andre Rison. Workhorse TB Blake Ezor (30/113y) scored twice as MSU rallied from a 14-0 deficit.
• Arkansas, undefeated but ranked only #13, advanced its cause with a 26-21 triumph at Houston in a Southwest Conference thriller. It took a 95y Q4 drive culminated by a 9y run by Joe Johnson to survive. Cougar QB Andre Ware hit on 20 of 32 for 245y but 2 INT hurt. Hogs controlled the ball an amazing 42 minutes, and K Kendall Trainor booted 4 FGs to move his consecutive streak to 15.
• #8 Oklahoma survived the first night game in Folsom Field history, 17-14, when Colorado's Ken Culbertson missed a 62y FG in the thin air to end the contest. OU's R.D. Lashar had kicked a 22y FG with 8:15 to take the lead. The Buffaloes got the late chance because Sooner QB Charles Thompson fumbled at midfield while trying to run out the clock. A sack pushed back CU enough to make the difference.
• Hawaii scored twice in the final 4 minutes, converting fumbled punt and then onside kick. Rainbows went for two after the second TD, but running play was foiled to make the final score 24-23. The visiting Brigham Young Cougars (6-1) built an early lead behind two TD passes from QB Sean Covey. After he was knocked out of the game with an injury, backup Troy Detmer added a 71y TD to WR Chuck Cutler.
• UCLA's Bruins celebrated their first #1 ranking since 1967 with a solid victory over Arizona 24-3 in the desert. QB Troy Aikman, as usual, led the attack with 20-29/283y, 3 TD, the fifth time this season he has thrown 3 TD passes in a game. The Wildcats extended their scoring streak to 187, which is second in the nation only to UCLA's 200.

Major Harris

Derrick Thomas

Andre Rison

Troy Aikman

 

Shawn Moore

Herman Moore

 

Eric Bieniemy

• The Game of the Year pitted #16 Georgia Tech (6-0-1) against #1 Virginia (7-0) in Charlottesville. Cav QB Shawn Moore set a school record with 344y passing (18-for-28) and WR Herman Moore caught nine passes for 234y, including a fake-reverse 63y TD in Q3. However, the Moores needed more as their combined effort wasn't enough. Bobby Ross' Tech squad won 41-38 by taking advantage of two Q3 mistakes to tie 28-28. After Virginia regained the lead, Tech tied again at 35 on RB William Bell's 8y run. The Yellow Jackets took their first lead on Scott Sisson's 35y FG with 7:17 to go. But a 48y Moore-to-Moore pass put UVa on the six-inch line. However, two penalties, one of which nullified a TD pass, forced George Welsh's Cavs to settle for a tying FG at the 2:30 mark. Tech then went 56y in five plays to set up Sisson's game-winning FG with 0:07 left.
• Another undefeated team bit the dust when Colorado State upended visiting Wyoming 17-8. The Ram D deserved the game ball, notching a safety in Q1 and recovering a fumble in the end zone in Q4 after DB Adolf Reneaud's big hit on RB Jay Daffer at the 3. The Cowboys outgained the home team but botched 3 FG attempts.
• Auburn was the underdog in Gainesville despite being ranked #4 to Florida's #15. The outcome proved the oddsmakers correct as the home team exploded for 41 unanswered points, including 27 in Q2, following a 7-7 tie. Tiger QB Stan White was intercepted twice and sacked four times. Gator WR Terence Barber ran back a punt 73y. With -14y rushing, Auburn suffered its worst defeat in 40 years. Florida remained tied with Ole Miss atop the SEC but the Gators' probation prevents any official claim to the title.
• 8-1 Ole Miss stayed on top and kept its hopes alive for its first SEC title since 1963 by defeating LSU 19-10 in Baton Rouge. RB Randy Baldwin ran for 3 first half TDs, two coming on the Rebels' first two possessions of the contest. The Tigers scored their first TD when RB Harvey Williams passed to WR Marcus Carter from the 43. FG by LSU K Pedro Suarez provided the only points of the second half.
• Visiting Iowa trampled Illinois 54-28 behind the running of TB Nick Bell (22/168y). Iowa led 28-0 before the Illini secured their second first down. QB Jason Verduzco threw 4 TD passes for the home team, but it wasn't enough to overcome the 540y Hawkeye onslaught on what had been the Big Ten's top D.
• The Big 8 title may have been settled when Colorado defeated Nebraska 27-12 on a windy afternoon in Lincoln. Buffs RB Eric Bieniemy (38/137y), the nation's leading rusher, scored 4 TDs, all in Q4. TE Johnny Mitchell's 46y TD reception from QB Mickey Joseph gave the Cornhuskers a 12-0 lead near the end of Q3. But the visitors came alive in the last period to take a 13-12 lead. Then Huskers coach Tom Osborne gambled on a fake punt at his own 31 and failed. "I began to see that we weren't stopping them very well," he explained. After Colorado made it 20-12, a turnover at the 10 led to the clinching Bienemy score.
• If, before the Houston-TCU game in the Astrodome, you had been told that an NCAA passing record would be set, you would have bet anything that the QB who did it would be David Klingler of the Cougars' run-and-shoot attack. Instead, it was the Horned Frogs' sub QB Matt Vogler who threw for an astounding 690y (44-79) and 5 TDs. Klingler didn't do badly, tossing 7 TD passes and contributing to the 1,563y of total offense that broke the 1981 record of Arizona State-Stanford. Houston prevailed 56-35.
• Oregon upended UCLA for the first time at Autzen Stadium since it was constructed in 1967. The Ducks rallied for 2 TDs late in Q4 for a 28-24 win. Led by QB Tommy Maddox (21-34/332y, 3 TD), the Bruins dominated most of the first half to lead 17-7 at the break. The visitors extended their lead to 24-13 near the beginning of Q4 when Maddox connected with WR Scott Miller for 62y TD. A questionable pass interference call with 6:25 left gave the Ducks the break they needed to surge back. A 2y TD run by FB Juan Shedrick followed by a 2-point conversion cut the lead to 24-21. After forcing a Bruin punt, Oregon mounted the winning drive as QB Bill Musgrave (14-23/224y, TD) hit a 28y screen pass to TB Sean Burwell and, from the UCLA 16, faked a screen pass and hit TE Vince Ferry for the go-ahead TD with 2:01 to play.