The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 21

THE Bruce Davidson of the United States is the individual leader while. Canada is the top team after the cross country competition of the World Three Day Event at Lexington, Ky. Page C-6. section Sunday, September 17, 197 UC Gets It Together For 26-14 Opening CINCINNATI ENQUIRER ZLJ Win BY TIM SULLIVAN Enquirer Sports Reporter Passes which finally clicked in the night helped University of Cincinnati open the 1978 football season with a 26-14 victory over Southern Mississippi at Nippert Stadium. Stubborn defense gave the Bearcats time to adjust the fine tuning on the aerial game and it all came together in the final period.

Mike Cusumano caught a tipped 59-yard touchdown pass with 3:36 remaining Saturday night to clinch the issue. Cusumano's touchdown came barely two minutes after the Golden Eagles had made their only noise since the first period a 35-yard touchdown drive culminated in an eight-yard pass from quarterback Dane McDaniel to Marvin Harvey. That cut the Bearcat lead to 19-14. The pass which set up that score represented just the second first down since the first quarter and fourth in the game by Southern as UC's defensive unit passed its first test in standout fashion. CINCINNATI HAD 18 first downs and 356 total yards against Southern's 92-yard output.

UC quarterback Tony Kapetanis scored early in the final period to' give the Bearcats a 19-7 lead. His one-yard run came with 11:23 remaining in the game and ended a 15-play, 59-yard drive. Kapetanis finished with 10 completions in 20 attempts for 177 yards and two interceptions. Cusumano caught three for 99 yards. Freshman tailback Allen Harvin rushed 21 times for 72 yards.

Southern Mississippi is 2-1 this season. Golden Eagle coach Bobby Collins mourned some early wastefulness by his team. "We got the ball in excellent field position in the first quarter and didn't score when we had the opportunity. We were in the ball game all the way, but I think they have an excellent defensive team. I think they're going to give a lot of people problems," Collins said.

Cusumano was elated with the game. "Southern Mississippi is a great' team," he offered. "We just beat the pants off 'em. There isn't anybody who is going to move the ball on our defense." SOPHOMORE KAPETANIS, whose paltry passing accomplishments of last season did not deter Bearcat coaches from adding more dropback passes to the attack, didn't immediately convince anyone of the wisdom of that move. Kapetanis' first two passes of the season were intercepted, the first setting up a Southern Mississippi touchdown.

"After two interceptions, I knew I had to get myself going. This is the game where I had to prove myself," said Kapetanis. He complained of trouble gripping the footballs. "I'll have to ask the coaching staff if they'll let me work with them," he decided. ON THE first play of UC's second offensive series, a Kapetanis throw was picked off in the flat by Southern linebacker Cliff Lewis.

Lewis returned the ball 35 yards to UC's Money Puts Magic Back In Muhammad NEW ORLEANS When Muhammad All wants to see card tricks, everyone sees card tricks. "Here goes more magic," All said breathlessly. "Show them another, Jimmy." The way Dick Gregory takes care of the snake oil for this traveling medicine show, Jimmy Grippo handles the magic. "How's he doing it?" All squealed in childish wonder each time the right card reappeared inside a sealed envelope in Jimmy Grippo's pocket. "Ma-a-a-an-n." This was Saturday morning in the hotel suite of the only heavyweight champion besides Larry Holmes in the world.

"I always find a way," Muhammad had been saying. "Wait until the money's in. the bank. Then watch the professional. That's when I go.

Did you see that crowd Paying that price ($6 million)? Ma-a-a-a-n-n." For a fight, it had been a poor fight. For a resurrection, it had been stirring. That sweet Neanderthal, Leon Spinks, offered the outrageous excuse: "My mind wasn't on the fight." What a capacity this fellow's mind has for wandering. ALI CREDITED Gregory's gooey green daily concoctions of potassium, iron and 93 vitamins, plus a dollop of honey ice cream a half hour before the fight. But the difference between this fight and the last, for All's part, was this time he boxed a full 15 rounds.

He boxed so beautifully that the difference in Spinks wasn't considered consequential, but there may have been intrigue connected with it. After the sixth round, consultant George Benton was crowded out of Spinks' corner. He walked away. Benton's strategy had solved the rope-a-dope last February, but the trainer of record, grandfatherly Sam Solomon, resented Benton's interference. The more cornermen screaming at Spinks between rounds Friday night, the more alone he looked.

"No sense in taking any cheap shots; Leon Spinks is a nice guy," Said Benton Saturday morning. "Those in his corner were unexperienced non-pros who didn't know what they were doing. One man in charge (Solomon) might be trying to protect his own position." Benton's advice to Spinks, never delivered would have been; "Move in behind the jab. Dog him. Stay on top of him.

Don't just Jab three times and then back out." Benton sighed Saturday: "Leon was flailing his arms like a disco dancer." EVEN ALI seemed touched by il llsaStSiLskss Mill imihh iiimb ti ii Miii'iMiiiiMiii 11 lifif ffnnif -Trunin "imm niiiinrm-r n.B!!i!?!!W. UC FULLBACK Jim Daley carries the ball into end zone from three yards out back Gary Holt makes the stop, too late. for Bearcats' first touchdown of the 1978 AP Photo BY JEFF HINCKLEY season. Southern Miss defensive played field-position football for the remainder of the half. They were threatened only through a 46-yard field-goal try Randy Boyette missed with 2:38 left in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Kapetanis' confi-' dence was unshaken. He continued to pass into the teeth of the Southern defense and eventually located its cavities. Kapetanis found split end Mike Frisina for a 14-yard gain which put UC in Southern territory for the first time three plays from the end of the first quarter. The Bearcats moved the ball smartly, but were stalled when fullback Jim Daley was stopped for no gain on fourth and goal at the two-yard line. Nittany Lions Prove King Of Buckeye Beasts, 19-0 BY DICK FORBES Enquirer Sports Reporter COLUMBUS, Ohio-At halftime, with Penn State holding an inconsequential 3-0 lead over Ohio State, several Nittany Lion offensive linemen came to their coach, Dick Anderson, and insisted, we can run three-yard line.

He would have scored but for a flying lunge by Kapetanis which knocked him out of bounds. But the Golden Eagles were only denied momentarily. Junior taillack. Tiko Beal found a big hole off the right side to put his team ahead just 3:58 into the game. Trailing, 7-0, Kapetanis was nonetheless resolved to throw on the Golden Eagles.

Cusumano found a suitable gap and got behind the de- fense on UC's next possession, but Kapetanis' pass was woefully underthrown and intercepted by cornerback Hanford Dixon on the Southern Miss 49. WITH NO room to operate, the Bearcat defense stiffened and the ball on 'em. We can run right at 'em. "It was the kids who suggested it, so we thought we'd try it," head coach Joe Paterno later explained. "We didn't do much the first series, but then we started moving the ball.

We got some momentum and controlled the line of scrimmage." AP Laser photo The Bearcats settled for the field goal on their next possession, junior Steve Schultz putting three points on the board with a 29-yard effort, 7:1 1 remaining in the half. ON SOUTHERN'S next play from scrimmage, McDaniel was stopped for a loss and fumbled at his own 14-yard line. UC's senior noseguard Howie Kurnick pounced on the ball and three plays later the Bearcats went ahead. This time, Daley found the opening designed in the play-book and scored from three yards out. Schultz, however, missed the conversion and UC led, 9-7.

Things stayed that way until the third quarter when Schultz added a 45-yard field goal with 4:03 remaining in the period. Buckeyes Bahred mn St Ohio St 17 19 59-139 43- 89 148 247 113 37 11-22-1 16-34-5 7-40 5-46 5-3 5-4B 4-40 First downs Rushes-yards Passing yards Return yards Passes Punts Fumbles-iost Penalties-yards real surprise, mistakes and turnovers had done the Bucks in. Penn State's alert secondary, which Hayes felt "we could throw against since they lost most of their regulars from last year," Intercepted Schlichter five times. The Bucks also fumbled five times, losing the ball three times, twice after long gains by receivers who coughed it up when hit by the rugged Lion tacklers. Hayes was surprisingly compassionate.

"We think Schlichter will be as fine as a passer as there is in college football some day," he said. "I think we were asking too much of him right now, but you can expect this sort of thing when you get into the passing game." NOTHING HAD leaked out of the practice field, but Hayes had decided long since to start his freshman at quarterback. "It sort of made up our minds for us when we lost Rod (Gerald) for two weeks," he said. "We knew he (Schlichter) would start last week. We'll stay with him, but we'll also use Rod." The choice, however, surprised Paterno, who said, "I had said before the game I thought it would be Gerald.

But we were ready for both of them. Our defense put a lot of pressure on the freshman, and we showed him some coverages he'd never seen." For the record, the Bucks' defense was enough itself to hold Penn State to just one touchdown, that an 80-yard, third-period drive ending with Matt Suhey's yard run. All the other points, including the one after touchdown, were by Matt Bahr. He's the brother of the Bengals' acquisition from Penn State, Chris Bahr. Matt kicked four field goals measuring 30 (twice), 41 Southern, was going nowhere offensively and tiring on defense.

The Golden Eagles picked up only-one first down in the second quarter and none in the third. Kurnick, UC's stout middle guard, said, "The offense was what we were worried about. But in the third quarter they (the offense) had the ball so much we could rest I guess their last touchdown caught us a little off guard. There's still a lot of room for improvement." Cincinnati 0 3 W-26 So. Miss 7 0 0 7H Beal 2 run Boyette kick 15 -t UC: FG 29 Schultz UC: Daley 3 run kick failed UC: FG 45 Schultz UC: Kapetanis 1 run (Schultz kick) 4.

Harvey 8 pass from McDaniel (Boyette kick? UC: Cusumano 59 pass from Kapetanis (Schultz kick) Attendance: 10,500 estimated. and 25 yards, and in doing so tied his own record of four in one game, set last week against Rutgers. THE LONE touchdown drive Itself had a questionable taint, although there was no doubting, this one belonged to the Lions. Running it down on the OSU 30, quarterback Chuck Fusina connect- ed on a 17-yard pass to Bob Bassett, but just before the ball was snapped, Bassett definitely made movement. Hayes protested, although mildly, but in vain.

Bassett admitted his I took one step, and knew I was6ff-the count," he said in the uproarl- ous Lion locker room. "But I dropped the other hand and froze. I just hoped it wouldn't be called since they (the Bucks) were in perfect coverage for us to complete tb.e pass." The head linesman, standing no more than five yards away, was right on the play. His only signal was to stretch out the palms of his hands. The offensive line that Paterno has to some extent rebuilt Included sophomore right tackle Bob Brown from Moeller High in Cincinnati, who came to Penn State "because of all the nice things I had heard about Paterno, most of them better, than I had heard about Woody." THE GAME, he said, had "some significance to me because when I go home, everyone asks, "Why dldrl't you go to Notre Dame?" I knew it was going to be on TV, and now they" can answer the question them-: selves." Paterno thought "the hero of the game was tight end John Scovill, a sophomore walk-on who isn't even-, listed in the Penn State press guide: "He not only caught two passes," Paterno said, "but he blocked well, and did everything we asked of him.

We had to not just use him, but start him because of injuries. He's done a great job to build himself up to 203 pounds." Penn state 3 0 7 919 Ohio Stale I I 1 H'. Penn FG Bahr 30 Penn Suhey 3 run (Bahr kick) Penn-FG Bahr 41 Bahr 25 -Penn-FG Benr 30 1 "5 I -v a the forlorn specter of Spinks, predicting: "Spinks will be champion again someday. As to what I said to him in the ring, I'm not going to talk about that. He's a Proudly, Muhammad disclosed: "The President called me.

Can you imagine that? Sadat, Begin and the President watched the fight. The whole world was actually conscious at that hour that a fight was going on." For eight months, he will cherish the third championship before announcing whether he will fight again at 37, but his tired sigh augured for sanity when he sneered: "After Holmes, whom do you want me to fight then?" His room was clogged with movie producers and importers. "Old for boxing, young for business," All winked. "My purpose in boxing was just to get the world's attention anyway. It was Just the dressing room to the world." OUTSIDE SPINKS dressing room Friday night, a white Continental had waited with the engine running, the getaway car.

But Spinks didn't get in right -away. Once Floyd Patterson had left in a disguise, but not Spinks. He hardly spoke, but waited until all the ladies with Instamatic cameras had their pictures. "It didn't take," one came back after the others were satisfied and he had stepped into the car. Slowly, he climbed out again.

"Smile," she said. He tried to. "Never mind, I've got it in upside down," she fretted. "I'm too nervous." "Next time," said Leon as the car pulled away. (c )1978, Combined News Service index Sports Editor JIM MONTGOMERY Tel.

721-2700, Ext. 240 (After 4 p.m.) Scores 721-0600, 721-0616 (24 hours) Control it, indeed. They monopolized it. At the same time, the Penn State defense was magnificent, and at the end the whole story Saturday was simply Penn State, 19, Ohio State 0. Records fell like Buckeye tack-lers and running backs.

It was only the sixth shutout in Ohio State's football history (another of them also by Penn State in 1964). And not since the long-since-forgotten matches with Oberlin (40-0 in 1892) and Otterbein (0-0 in 1901) had the Buckeyes been unable to score in their opening game. It was only the 10th opening loss in OSU history, and its first since 1967 when Arizona accomplished it, 14-7. IT PUT a complete damper on a crowd of 88,203, third largest in Ohio Stadium history, and made you wonder. If Ohio State was ranked sixth nationally going into the game, where do they rank Temple and Rutgers, who lost to the Lions, 10-7 and 26-10, earlier in the young season? As a matter of fact, who ranks the rankers? The question had been, all last week, who would Woody Hayes start at quarterback? Would it be Ron Gerald, the man who guided the Bucks last year when they had one of the most powerful running games in football? Or would it be Art Schlichter (pronounced Schleester), the highly-touted freshman from Miami Trace High in Blooming-burg, Ohio, ranked the best passer ever to put on a scarlet and gray uniform before he had ever played a game? Dramatically, Woody sent both of them on the field together after the kickoff, but Schlichter went to-quarterback, Gerald was stationed at flanker.

The crowd loved it. ON THE third play of the game, after Schlichter opened with a six-yard pass to Doug Donley, he connected to Gerald for a 13-yard gain. But those were the very few happy minutes and successful plays Schlichter and the Buckeyes were to enjoy. At the end, maybe not to Woody's BENGALS HOST STEELERS C-3 BIG LEAGUE BASEBALL C-2, C-4 COLLEGE FOOTBALL C-5, C-7-10 GOLF C-14 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS C-12 HORSE RACING C-14 HORSE SHOW C-6 REDS LOSE C-2 STINGERS C-13 OHIO STATE quarterback Art Schlichter (No. 10) fumbles as Penn State linemen put on big pass rush in second quarter..