The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 10

Thursday, Jan. 3, 1991 Future cloudy for Irish's Ismail literally afford to pass up a multimillion-dollar opportunity to play pro ball. Because of talk of restructuring National Football League salaries, the millions of dollars that a talent like Ismail would attract might not be available if he waits until he graduates next year. Holtz, and those close to him, say he also wants to return but will do nothing that "hurts" Notre Dame. Next month.

Holtz will go before the NCAA Infractions Committee to explain his side in connection with three allegations that he violated rules in giving money to players while he coached at Minnesota. That is part of the harsh reality that faces Holtz 24 hours after his team completed a disappointing 9-3 season by dropping a 10-9 decision to Colorado in the Orange Bowl. The Irish had their chances against the Buffaloes, but their offense sputtered, coughed and choked, turning the ball over five times, including a fumble by Ricky Watters that Colorado turned into the winning score. Ismail almost won it with a miraculous 91-yard punt return. But the play, which occurred with 43 seconds left in the game, was called back because an official had penalized Greg Davis for clipping.

Clipping occurs when an offensive player blocks an opponent from behind. "The first time I looked at it on tape, I didn't think that was a clip," Holtz said. "Then, when you look at it again and examine it, you see that his head is in front of the other player and his shoulder is behind. Technically, that's a clip. "But I cannot fault the player for making bad decision.

I told him as long as he made the decision that he thought was right, no one could fault him and to put it behind him. "He didn't do anything for lack of dis cipline, judgment or intelligence." More than anything, Holtz hates to lose, "but we will build on this," he said in speaking to a small group of reporters in a postmortem of the season. At any other school, three losses against the tough competition Notre Dame plays would be a successful season. But for Holtz and rabid Irish fans, only perfection will do. Next season comes soon enough with another tough schedule, and the Irish could lose eight of their defensive starters.

Their entire front seven and All-Amerlcan Todd Lyght will graduate. By Joseph Tybor Chicago Tribune MIAMI Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz squinted at the Irish's future through eyes red from lack of sleep Wednesday and had to wonder if he and his star performer, Raghib "Rocket" Ismail, would be back next season. Both Holtz and Ismail say they want to return, but events could force their departure. Ismail, the most explosive element in college football, has to decide whether he, as the oldest male in his family, can Page 4B Kl GTr) Concern grows for Colorado QB 9 Canes won 't repen an tics By Dan Le Batard Knight-Ridder Newspapers UM players said their actions were spontaneous, game-day retaliation for Texas' pre-game rantings. They said they misunderstood Erickson at a Sunday night meeting during which he told them to play "Hurricane football" and "have fun." "Maybe a few of us didn't understand what he was saying," senior tight end Randy Bethel said.

"I know he didn't want all the penalties, but our emotions were sky high. We didn't mean to disrespect coach Erickson, but he can't be on the field with us holding our hands." Hurricane football, players said, is about taunting and intimidating and celebrating. That's what UM players did Tuesday, from the start, when they charged off their sideline to taunt Texas as the Longhorns sprinted onto the field. Erickson benched defensive tackle Mark Caesar after a flagrant late hit in the second quarter. The coach angrily reprimanded his team after the first quarter and again at halftime.

Written on the blackboard at halftime, in capital letters, were these orders: "NO MORE PENALTIES. CONTROL EMOTIONS, SHOW THE COUNTRY WE'RE THE BEST." Miami was flagged 10 times for 132 yards in the first half, six times for 70 yards in the second. At a Wednesday morning news conference, Erickson seemed frustrated that Miami's bad-boy image had detracted from what was easily the team's finest performance of the year. "I don't read the newspapers, but I can imagine what is in there," Erickson said. "Sometimes it's a no-win situation.

That's how it is at Miami. Hopefully, in the next couple of years, if I'm still around, we'll get it changed." DALLAS One day after shattering Cotton Bowl records for points and penalities, University of Miami football players offered no apologies for their on-field antics. Players said their 46-3 victory over Texas was a direct result of their intimidation tactics, but admitted they sympathized with Coach Dennis Erickson. "Coach Erickson made it clear, point-blank, that he didn't want the taunting, but emotions just took over," senior center Darren Handy said. "I feel bad for him because he's going to take the heat, but we were just playing Hurricane football.

"It might be embarrassing to the university and the coaches, but it's not to the players. We enjoy it. It's like a show. People from Texas came to see Miami's swarming defense, high-scoring offense and what new dances we had come up with. We gave them their money's worth." Miami was penalized a school-record 16 times for a school-record 202 yards, including nine 15-yard penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct or personal fouls.

Two of those nine were for the excessive celebrating including a bunny-hop dance by three players, and Lamar Thomas' Globetrotter-like refusal to give the ball back to the referee and letting it roll up and down his arm instead. "I was going to throw the ball at that Longhorn bull mascot," Thomas said. Erickson, who said he was embarrassed by his players' actions, didn't think any of it was funny. "It did get out of hand," Erickson said. By Craig Harper Knight-Ridder Newspapers MIAMI The University of Colorado's quarterback situation for the 1991 season has taken a turn toward the unknown.

Junior Darian Hagan, Colorado's starter most of the time during a 22-2-1 run the last two years, underwent a two-hour operation to repair a torn patellar tendon below the kneecap Wednesday following the team's return from its 10-9 Orange Bowl victory over Notre Dame that clinched a national championship. Colorado head trainer Dave Burton said Wednesday night that it won't be known until August whether Hagan will be able to play next season, "But we're approaching this like he's going to play." Hagan, apparently, isn't as convinced. Upon his return to Denver prior to surgery at University Hospital by Dr. Wayne Gersoff, the Colorado orthopedic physician, Hagan told a Denver television station he expects to be redshirted this year. Others wonder whether Hagan will ever play again.

"It's a pretty rare kind of injury," Gersoff said. "It could or could not be a career-ending injury." For example, Leon White, a 1977 All-Big Eight center for Colorado, suffered the same injury after his senior year and was never able to play pro football, though he now makes an excellent living as a pro wrestler. Colorado head coach Bill McCartney feared for Hagan's future. Before the team's Wednesday morning departure from Miami, he said, "We've just got to keep our fingers crossed and hope (the tendon) did not tear in two. If it did, that's cause for real alarm." Burton said the tendon was completely ruptured.

"We'd certainly like to say only half of it was torn. But that doesn't minimize his opportunity of coming back. "It's a very serious injury. Depending on how the tear was and how the repair goes, it could be a real problem." Hagan definitely will miss spring practices. The knee, which he injured late in the first half of the Orange Bowl, will be completely immobilized for six to eight weeks.

Gersoff said it could be four to six months before he begins rehabilitation. Burton said Hagan's injury did not appear to be caused by contact. "He said he was running and felt it pop. Nobody hit him, he just cut and it popped." Hagan has a history of tendinitis in the left knee dating back to high school. "He has received treatment for that year-round, but the last four weeks he did not complain of any pain," Burton said.

"It must have been a time bomb." Burton admitted that the rehabilitation process will be long and grueling. "The toughest part may be that he's such a competitive person, he'll try to do too much." presiden won 9t stand for it i i Associated Press surprised me. I was there. "We can do better. We must, and we will." Foote said he hopes the behavior doesn't continue to a point where he would talk to the players himself.

"We have a coach," Foote said. "That team and its performance are his responsibility directly. I will be talking to Coach Erickson when he returns." Earlier this season, Foote told Erickson that he was embarrassed by the team's on-field celebratory gyrations at the University of California. On the flight home from that game, Jankovich told players that their behavior had to be toned down. person I'm going to be seeking even more intensely today than might have been the case before." By halftime of their 46-3 rout of Texas, the Hurricanes had already set a Cotton Bowl record for yards penalized.

Athletic director Sam Jankovich, who is leaving to take control of the NFL New England Patriots, sent a message to Erickson in the locker room: The antics had to stop. "There were too many penalties, and there was too little sportsmanship," Foote said after returning from Dallas. "I am among many who are deeply supportive of the Hurricanes who are disappointed. I have had some very strong negative reactions during the day, which has not By John Wolln Knight-Ridder Newspapers MIAMI Calling his team's behavior in the Cotton Bowl "a most unfortunate end to an otherwise outstanding season," University of Miami President Edward T. Foote II said Wednesday he would meet soon with football coach Dennis Erickson and would conduct his search for a new athletic director with the Hurricanes' New Year's Day exhibition fresh on his mind.

"I want an athletic director at this university who takes those responsibilities off the field as seriously as those on the field, and who cares as much about winning right as he does winning, period," Foote said. "That's the kind of Craig Erickson joins celebration Coaches' vote From Page 1 Louisville's Nagle to play in Senior The Associated Press "It's very different. When I first got here the fan support wasn't here. The team morale was very bleak. It was very distasteful.

We worked hard and everything, but the attitude of winning wasn't here." About 1,000 students and Tech followers cheered as the Yellow Jackets got off their buses at 1 p.m. from the airport after their 45-21 Citrus Bowl victory in Orlando, over Nebraska on New Year's Day. Sophomore quarterback Shawn Jones, who threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns and scored another, was equally disheartened. "I kind of expected it not ending up with the national championship," he said. "But we had a great season.

We were the only undefeated team. They can't take that away from us. "The AP (sports writers poll) never gave us any respect ail year. It gets you upset, but I expected it," said Jones. "I just feel like we should be the national champions.

"People said our schedule was not that tough. Well, Clemson probably has the best defense in the nation and beat Illinois 30-0 yesterday. And all the Atlantic Coast Conference teams did pretty good in the bowls. They just don't respect our conference," he said. The ACC was 3-1-1 in bowl games and was 25-7 against non-conference opponents this season.

Tech, unranked in the preseason and coming off a 7-4 1989 record, finally broke into the rankings at No. 23 after beating South Carolina 27-6 in the third game of the season. The Yellow Jackets moved up to seventh after beating then-No. 1 Virginia on Nov. 3 and to fourth after defeating Virginia Tech.

They took second after beating Wake Forest on Nov. 17. "We're going to look back on the season and enjoy it," Jones said. M1 Associated PrM MOBILE Browning Nagle, the quarterback who helped Louisville trounce Alabama in the Fiesta Bowl, is headed for a Jan. 19 Senior Bowl appearance in Mobile.

Senior Bowl officials announced Wednesday that Nagle, a potential first-round draft choice, will play in the annual showcase of college football talent. The announcement followed Louisville's 34-7 Fiesta Bowl win over the Crimson Tide on Tuesday. Houston Oilers scout Glenn Cumbee said the 6-2 Nagle has a "phenomenal arm" and can throw just as well on one knee as upright. Nagle completed 20 of 33 passes for a Fiesta Bowl record of 451 yards and three touchdowns. Nagle of Largo, turned into one of Louisville's greatest quarterbacks, throwing for more than 2,000 yards in two seasons, amassing 2,150 passing yards and 16 touchdowns.

He played only two seasons at Louisville yet still finished in the top five of several school career passing charts. He also set a new Louisville school record when he finished his career with a .558 completion percentage 333 for 593. Coaches for the Senior Bowl will be announced later, along with the full rosters. The game previously pitted the North against the South, but the matchup was renamed to reflect the two pro conferences this year. Nagle joins San Diego State's Dan McGwire with quarterback duty.

Also throwing will be Southern Mississippi's Brett Favre. "In Nagle, McGwire and Favre we have three potential first-round quarterbacks," said Senior Bowl executive director Eric Tillman, "If that happens, it will be a first in Senior Bowl history." The Senior Bowl will be played at Ladd Stadium. Kickoff will be at 11 a.m. CDT. ESPN will televise the game nationally.

Tech's Darryl Jenkins holds Citrus Bowl trophy From Page 1B time a team with a loss and a tie has been named national champion. In 1985, the first year of post-bowl voting, Alabama won with a 9-1-1 record. The Southwest Conference returned to the AP top 10 for the first time in three seasons, but just barely. Houston, which didn't play in a bowl game because of NCAA probation, finished 10th. Texas, the SWC champion, fell nine spots to No.

12 after losing to Miami, 46-3, in the Mobil Cotton Bowl. Texas made the highest leap of any team In the final pollr The Aggies went from being unranked to 15th after routing Brigham Young, 65-14, in the Sea World Holiday Bowl. Nonetheless, the SWC hasn't speaking from Williamsburg, where his mother is hospitalized, gave four reasons why he thought the Yellow Jackets should be No. 1. He cited the undefeated record and the performance against Nebraska.

The-other two reasons involved Georgia Tech's schedule. However, Colorado played the most difficult schedule in the nation, according to the NCAA. "Ten of the 12 teams we played had winning records," Ross said. "I think our conference (Atlantic Coast) was vindicated by the teams' performance in the bowl games (3-1-1)." In the 23 seasons that the AP has conducted Us final poll after the bowl games, this Is not the first had a team finish higher than No. 10 in the final poll since 1985.

Georgia Tech closed the margin of first-place votes by seven (from 42-16 in the final regular-season vote) and the points by 45. However, the voters made, by historical standards, a relatively clear-cut decision. The Buffaloes' 34-point margin is only the fifth closest in the post-bowl era. The Buffaloes broke a seven-bowl losing streak over 23 years with the victory. That may explain why McCartney, in discussing the vote, said, "The margin of victory In a bowl is not the issue.

The issue is winning." The season might have ended. The controversy goes on. Attend Tho Church Of YourChoico This Week For Bible Study Worship Yellow Jackets 30 first-place votes and 847 points, three and one more, respectively, than the Buffaloes. One of Colorado's votes came from its coach, Bill McCartney. Moments before a Wednesday morning news conference, McCartney heard from AP college football writer Rick Warner that the Buffaloes had finished first.

"I thought I would stand, before you and say I'm sweating It out," McCartney said. "When you're ranked No. 1 and you beat Notre Dame, you shouldn't have to do anything more than win." Georgia Tech coach Bobby Ross, Ucscbsll Ccrd Show At Holiday Inn In Oxford Jan. 5th Jan. 6th 9:00 A.M.-G:G0 P.M.

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