The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 17

FOOTBALL UNDAY Ken Patterson: 233-9242 Crre JVrmietmt Jtar September 27, 1998 Page 1C You (to 4 -y UUIUALL Scoreboard La- VI Mississippi St 38, South Carolina 0 Ote Miss 48. SMU41 (OT) Florida 51. Kentucky 35 Arkansas 42, Alabama 6 Tennessee 42, Houston 7 LSU 53, Idaho 20 I want hype? Got it By Phillip Tutor Assistant Sports Editor Florida at Alabama. Tennessee at Auburn. Jacksonville State in its first home game on live television.

It's a big week for football, eh? Oh, there've been bigger ones in these parts. Iron Bowl week. Whup Troy week. But it's not often that in the span of three days that two top 25 opponents arrive in Alabama and a cable television crew parks outside Paul Snow Memorial Stadium. There's just one problem: The week would have been bigger and better if the last two Saturdays had been more pleasant for the Crimson Tide and the Tigers.

Especially for the Tide. Simply, Saturday was a bummer for Tide fans. Alabama was drilled by Arkansas, 42-6, marking its worst loss since the final game of former Crimson Tide coach J.B. "Ears" Whitworth, the fellow who preceded Paul "Bear" Bryant. Save for two field goals, Arkansas shut Alabama out.

Wisely, Alabama may never wish to return to Fayetteville. Thirty-six-point losses on national television will do that. So much for a 2-0 start. Florida, meanwhile, hasn't been to Tuscaloosa since 1990. (A 17-13 Gator win.) Florida hasn't played Alabama in the regular season since 1991.

(A 35-0 Gator win.) And, next Saturday, the Gators are to appear at newly expanded Bryant-Denny Stadium for a bit of redemption by the rejuvenated Tide. Rejuvenated, you say? Please see Big Week Page 3C Alabama quarterback John David Phillips Is upended by Arkansas defensive tackle Melvln Bradley during the third quarter of the SEC game Saturday. Arkansas upset No. 22 Alabama, 42-6. It was the Tide's worst loss since 1957, which was a 40-0 loss to Auburn.

i Jacksonville SL 21, Nlcholla St 20 Northern Iowa 14, Stephen F. Austin 10 McNeese SL 65, Arkansas-Montteello7 Utah SL 47, Sam Houston SL 1 7 Northwestern SL 34, SW Texas 10 Troy SL 27, Samford 23 Around the stata West Alabama 30, Henderson SL 23 North Alabama 31, Cent Arkansas 21 Miles 27, Clark-Atlanta 22 Alabama 16, Morris Brown 7 Southern 34, Alabama SL 27 Around the nation Wisconsin 38, Northwestern 7 Nebraska 55, Washington 7 Florida SL 30, Southern Cal 10 Notre Dame 31, Purdue 30 Virginia 24, Duke 0 Oregon 63, Stanford 28 Michigan 29, Michigan SL 17 4 ir Associated Press err-0 rui LnJ Today on TV Hi Tide's defense, which gave up 31 points to BYU but had improved to allow just seven against Vanderbilt. The defense stopped the Razorbacks on three -s I i New Orleans at Indianapolis, noon, WBRC-6 Oakland at Dallas, noon, WIAX-42 Atlanta at San Francisco, 3 p.m., -WIAX-42 Cincinnati at Baltimore, 7 p.m., ESPN SHOWDOWN WEEK S.F. Austin at JSU Match your wits James The Professor Thursday at Paul Snow Memorial Stadium 6 p.m. on Fox Sports South Arkansas hands Bama huge loss By Grant Martin Star Sports Writer FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.

It was supposed to be Alabama's first real test. If so, the Crimson Tide had better hope it's graded on a steep curve. Why? Because after Arkansas thumped Alabama, 42-6, here Saturday night at Razorback Stadium, a professor would be hard pressed to give the Tide a passing grade. "They just physically beat usv" said Alabama lineman Jamie Carter. "We knew what we had to do to prepare for this team, but I think everybody was surprised." For the younger players, the surprise may have been from their first experience with a hostile crowd, as 31,763 fans made up the seventh-largest Fayetteville crowd for Arkansas' storied program.

But at night's end, breakdowns could be pinpointed in virtually every phase of Alabama's performance. Veterans and rookies alike painfully shared the blame. "I can't say it was a lack of effort, because I haven't seen the film, and I can't judge my teammates," said senior comerback Fernando Bryant. "They just physically beat us, and the scoreboard showed that. You can't say a whole lot more." In the beginning, luck appeared to be with the Arkansas 42, straigni aowns insiae ine 3, Alabama 6 then watched as Arkansas Tide is 2-1, 1-1 kicker Todd Latourette's Hogs are 3-0, 1-0 19-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.

Strangely, that's as close as Alabama would get to the end zone. It's only points of the first half came on two career-high field goals by kick-er Ryan Pflugner. The first was a 42-yarder late in the first quarter that gave Alabama its only lead. Arkansas would go ahead 7-3 in the second before Pflugner would! get another crack. The Tide drove close as the 23, but penalties moved it back to the 38.

What was going to be a 48-yarder was backed up to a 55-yarder. "When that penalty backed it up, I looked at the sidelines, but coach just pointed to me," Pflugner said. "It felt good, but I didn't know how far it would go. The second half was tough. I didn't even get close enough to try another one until the very end, and I don't think they were thinking field goal by then." As time ran out in the half, Arkansas QB Clint Stoerner completed his second touchdown, this one to Joey Davenport, who hauled in the pass and made a powerful, acrobatic dive over defen-Please see Alabama Page 4C Tennessee at Auburn Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium Time, TV to be announced Pendergrass will make his weekly prep picks Wednesday.

To make your picks now, fill out the Outsmart the Professor ballot on page 7C. Inside Top 25 fared Top 25 SEC summaries Stats summaries SEC, SFL, State 3C More on Alabama More on 5C Top 25 6C 7C -L i -tl nil'IIUlt fa- Florida at Alabama Preps i Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium Time, TV to be announced Associated Press Arkansas tight end Joe Dean Davenport (85) Is congratulated by teammate Chad Abernathy, right, after Davenport's third-quarter touchdown against Alabama Saturday evening in Fayetteville. Prairie View ends 80-game losing streak by defeating Langston, 14-12. See page 6C Last-second TD Before it can run, AU needs attitude thrills State lax By Joe Medley Cubelic for the season. Cubelic became the fourth starter-quality lineman down.

The winning pass covered 13 yards on a play that had been there all night for the Gamecocks, 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the SFL going JSU 21, Nicholls State 20 JSU Is tain? i By Al Muskewltz Star Sports Writer THIBODAUX, La. Montressa Kirby had all the faith in the world it was going to happen. Jacksonville State stood 63 yards and 98 seconds from victory Saturday night at Nicholls State, but Kirby didn't flinch. He took the offense the distance, capping the drive with his second touchdown pass of the game to Ronald Bonner with 3.9 seconds left to lift the Gamecocks over the Colonels 21-20 in the SFL opener for both teams. "Everybody felt we could do it," Kirby said.

"By looking in everybody's eyes, it didn't seem like we were worried about whether we could drive the ball or not. We knew we could. "There was no doubt in my mind and no doubt in anybody else's mind that we could win." Kirby, who continues to assault the JSU all-time total offense record, completed 15 of 38 passes for 163 yards and the two touchdowns to Bonner. He also was the Gamecocks' leading rusher with 43 yards on 11 carries and a touch- Star Sports Writer AUBURN It was the week after a shutout loss to Virginia, and Auburn offensive line coach Rick Trickett sat incredulous in his office. Besieged by questions about how Auburn's running game failed against Virginia in the season opener and this after months of offseason work to maki Auburn a running team Trickett sounded an ominous note.

"Maybe it'll take a year or so," he said. "We've been doing one tiling for two years, and now we're going the other way with it." By a year, Trickett meant a season plus another offseason of work. Auburn may indeed bridge to its roots as a power-running program in 1999, but eight games of 1998 remain. Hope for anything positive coming of 1998 hinged on Auburn developing a running game while sophomore quarterback Ben Leard grows, or so we've heard ad nauseam since February. Trickett might have spoken out of despair.

He had just learned that a broken foot claimed center Cole Auburn lost for the season or forever. Injuries claimed Mike Pucillo, who moved from guard to center when center T.J. Dunigan quit football. Tackle T.J. Meers, like Dunigan a 1997 starter, also quit.

Demontray Carter, touted as Auburn's top running back in preseason, has yet to hit stride thanks to a preseason ankle injury. Four of Auburn's top six linemen are gone, Carter has given way to true freshman Michael Burks, and, three games into the season, Auburn (1-2) appears to be-no better at running the football than after the Virginia game. Stats bear it out: 1 8 yards rushing against Virginia, the first game, and 21 against, LSU, the third game. Factpr out quarterback sacks, and Aiiburn still fell short of 100 yards rushing in either game. By contrast, Mississippi State, Please see Auburn Page6C into Thursday night's TV game with Stephen F.

Austin. Looking for Bonner to be on the right side of the end zone, Kirby lofted the pass in that direction and the receiver corralled it after it bounced off Nicholls linebacker Kovoska Robinson's pads. "I kept throwing them out of bounds and things like that, but on the last one RB made a great catch," Kirby said. "That's a great character victory for us." Bonner caught five passes for 101 yards. Three of the previous four games the teams had been decided by three points or less and this one was setting up to continue that trend.

Please see JSU Page SC SpKltl to The Star JSU's Euroslus Parker finds running room on punt return Saturday..