The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 18

THE COURIER-JOURNAL, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1986 7 'Pushover' comes to shove as Mississippi bruises UK an Ole Miss team it was supposed to be about even with, its flash-flash ground game produced 72 yards, an average of 2.6 per rush. That's against marks of 241.5 and 4.9 in the first four games. Mississippi (3-2-1) rushed for an average of 116 its first five games. It got 262 yesterday, 92 of them on 23 simple fullback dive plays by Joe Mickles and 254-pound freshman Tony Dentley. UK lost two fumbles.

It had two passes intercepted. It dropped the passes it shou.d have intercepted. It couldn't stop Ole Miss quarterback Mark Young's option, and it couldn't stay in touch with receivers when Ole Miss bad to have a completion. And the scariest thing may be that Jeff Nelson is becoming UK's chief offensive threat Nelson is Kentucky's punter. Two Saturdays ago his run and pass out of punt formation kept two drives going.

Yesterday a cloud-catching spiral was fumbled by Ricky Myers, and a kick, a couple of flops and a recovery later, Kentucky had its only touchdown that mattered. Nelson also outkicked Mr. Punting America, Bill Smith, 45.2 (including a 67-yarder) to 38.6, and that was the last thing anyone expected. But UK didn't out-Ole Miss in anything else. "I was surprised," said Myers.

"I felt our running game was established, and they did what we expected them to. But the first half we didn't get anything done at all. It really hurt us mentally. And it really helped their tempo." Claiborne was asked about the. Ole Miss option, with Young loping down the line, keeping the ball and cutting up into an open seam almost every time.

"We'd swap players, and they'd come back and say, 'Sorry, coach, I didn't take the said Claiborne. "That's what I mean. No By JIM TERHUNE Staff Writer JACKSON, Miss. Mississippi set the dynamite charges in all the lethal places. Then the University of Kentucky detonated most of them itself, stayed in the building and watched its unbeaten football record come crashing down into a numbing, embarrassing pile of rubble.

The only good thing about yesterday's 33-13 loss from the UK point of view was that it was a rumor to most of America. An estimated 28,000 folks rattled around in Mississippi Memorial Stadium. But Jerry Claiborne was a witness. "Our minds were not into the football game," said the Kentucky coach. "The intensity wasn't there.

We got beat every way you can get beat." UK offensive guard Brad Myers was there, too. "I could stand here and make excuses, but the bottom line is we didn't get anything done," he said. "Worst of the season." And UK fullback Marc Logan: "No concentration. Mental errors. Third-and-short and we'd miss a pass right in our hands.

We had about a hundred penalties." And Ole Miss strong safety Howard Moss: "We kept hearing that they were looking forward to playing LSU (next Saturday) and we had to let them know we weren't going to be a pushover." A pushover? Mississippi pushed Kentucky under when UK wasn't scooping handfuls of dirt over its own carcass. As Kentucky slid to 3-1-1 for the season in its first Southeastern Conference game, it was charged with 100 yards in 13 penalties. There were late hits, face masks and 800 illegal-procedure infractions, all of them, seemingly, coming on key third downs for both teams. As Kentucky was dominated by right and aimed for wide-open Cornell Burbage. He threw wide.

Bur-bage dove and almost caught the ball, but didn't. "We weren't on the same page," said Ransdell. Thus the disintegration began. Helped by a late hit by Carwell Gardner and a face-mask penalty on Guy Neal, Ole Miss moved to the UK 23 and got a 39-yard field goal from Bryan Owen. Three possessions later came Nelson's punt-TD.

Myers fielded the 40-yarder on his own 24, ran into teammate J. R. Ambrose and fumbled. As several players tried to land on the ball, an inadvertent kick drove it to the Ole Miss two. A Mississippi player tried to fall on it there, but it squirted two yards over the goal line, where Tony Mayes finally collected it After a quarter, UK had a 7-3 lead.

No deal. On the first play after that. Young hit a flying Myers for 30 yards. Then Willie Goodloe ran for 11 and Mayes was called for a late hit. Ole Miss was on Kentucky's 15 and scored four plays later.

10-7. UK moved to the Ole Miss 41. But on a comeback screen pass to Eric Pitts, a helmet ripped the ball free and rover Arthur Scott recovered. On the next play, Goodloe kicked out of a hand tackle at the line, swerved around one more and had an open-air 60-yard journey to make it 17-7. Kentucky had a chance for retaliation moments later after Nelson's 67-yarder was downed on the Ole Miss 15.

Mickles fumbled. UK was set up on the enemy 11. First it jumped offside were hollering out signals, a defensive tackle and maybe a linebacker, too," said Logan). A pitch to Hunter was smothered for minus-six. Joe Worley then missed his second field KENTUCKY.

MISSISSIPPI 7 10 -II -33 FIRST QUARTER Mississippi Owen 39 field goal, 2 left. Drive: 12 plays. 57 yards. Key plays: Young I run on 3rd-and-e; Mickles 4 run with 15-yard personal foul late-hit penalty added; Young a pass to Good-loe with 5-yard fact mask penalty added on 3rd-and-7 at UK 43. Kentucky Mayes recovers fumbled punt In end tone (Worley kick), 1:35 left.

Key play: Nelson 40 punt fumbled by Myers alter running into teammate, ball accidentally kicked 24 yards, squirts away again at 2. SECOND QUARTER Mississippi Goodloe 3 run (Owen kick), 14:57 left. Drive: 4 plays, 71 yards. Key plays: Mvers 31 Kiss from Young; Goodloe 11 run with 15-yard te-hlt personal foul penalty added. Mississippi Goodloe 40 run (Owen kick), 11:45 left.

Drive: 1 play, 40 yards. Mississippi Owen 41 field goal, 0.14 left. Drive: 12 plays. 35 yards. Key plays: Myers II pass from Young, Goodloe 3 run on at UK 34.

Mississippi Owen 34 field goal, 0 08 left. Drive: 0 plays. Key play: Attempted lateral from A. Gardner to Smith fumbled and recovered by Mississippi at UK 17. FOURTH QUARTER Mississippi Owen 40 field goal, 11:43 left.

Drive: 15 plays, 57 yards. Key plays: Ambrose 12 pass from Young; Myers 15 pass from Young on concentration. We got beat at the line, in the secondary, we dropped balls on offense, on defense, we couldn't block anybody, we jump offsides I don't know how many times. "We did a poor job of preparing them. We did a poor job of coaching them.

It's my job to find out why. I wish I knew the answers." Logan, who had 17 yards in six carries, disagreed. "They have a good defense. No. 1 in the conference, but it was nothing we couldn't do something against," be said.

"But we'd do something and then a penalty would bring it back. I didn't see any sign of this before the game. I've seen the same atmosphere when we've gone on and beaten someone pretty good. But the coaches definitely did their job. We didn't do ours." Defensively, Ole Miss had to replace a five-year senior at corner- lilliliiliiiiill XKlili goal of the season, a 37-yarder.

Ole Miss then made sure it was setting the tone with two field goals in a six-second span at the end of the first half. It drove to a 48-yarder by Owen at 0:14, then kicked off. Anthony Gardner fumbled, picked it up, then tried to lateral to Dee Smith. Smith wasn't looking. Ole Miss' Ricky Richardson was, recovering on the UK 17.

Owen followed with a 34-yarder for a 23-7 halftime lead. "He wasn't supposed to lateral," said Claiborne, "but we still thought we had the opportunity to come back and win." As Ole Miss opened the second half with an illegal-procedure penalty of its own, UK defensive tackle John Shannon started waving his arms and fists to get the Kentucky side aroused. It meant nothing. Two plays later Young threw a high fly ball to Ambrose for a 37-yard gain. "He tripped me and it wasn't called," said corner David Johnson, who made the tackle.

"I thought I played it very good. Sometimes things aren't what they seem to be. But today, it seemed like when we'd miss one assignment we'd blow a whole lot." Nothing came of that for1 Ole Miss, but UK was much too out of whack by then to sustain a three-touchdown rally. Owen added his fourth field goal in the last quarter en route to setting a school record for kicking points with 14. UK got a consolation TD on Ransdell's 18-yard screen to Logan and Ole Miss' second group put the final touches on the rout with Johnny Boatman's two-yard run.

And Kentucky headed home, knowing it better find some solutions to this puzzle in a hurry. Boston College rides Halloran past Maryland Associated Press COLLEGE PARK, Md. Shawn, Halloran passed for 401 yards while throwing for three scores as under-, dog Boston College held off a Maryland rally and defeated the Terpi 30-25 yesterday. A 46-yard TD pass from Halloran to Kelvin Martin, with 2:07 leff clinched the victory for the Eagles Louisville will play Boston College at 12:10 p.m. Satur- A day in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

(2-3), after Maryland pulled within' 23-17 with 2:31 left on a 2fryard field goal by Dan Plocki, The Terps (3-2) added a 17-yard scoring pass from Dan Henning to James Milling with 1:16 Halloran, who completed 26 of 36 passes, had given the Eagles a 23-7, lead in the third quarter after Tommy Neal's one-yard run pulled Maryland within 10-7. First Halloran hit Darren Flutie on a 24-yard TD pass. Then he teamed with Troy Stradford on a 90-yarder which began with a completion just beyond the line of scrimmage. The Eagles took a 10-0 lead by halftime on a five-yard run by Jim Bell and a 39-yard field goal by Brian Lowe as the Terps came away empty after twice moving inside the 20-yard line. Henning completed 18 of 33 passes for the Terps, but be was intercepted three times and was sacked six times for 53 yards in losses.

BOSTON COLLEGE 7- 30 MARYLAND I I 7 II- IS Boston College Bell 5 run (Lowe kick); Boston College FG Lowe 39; Maryland Neal 1 run (Plocki kick); Boston College Flutie 24 pass from Halloran (Lowe kick); Boston College Stradford 90 pass from Halloran (kick faiiedle Ole Miss plays like Mr. showing Kentucky no pity 3rd-and-l3; Dentley tour dive plays gaining II yards. Kentucky Logan II pass from Ransdell (2-point conversion pass fails), 5:41 left. Drive: 7 Kiays, 35 yards. Key plays: Higgs 12 run after tteral from Pitts who caught pass from Ransdell; Smith 14 pass from Ransdell.

Mississippi Boatman 2 run (Owen kick), 1 26 left. Drive: I plays, 50 yards. Key plays: Osgood 21 run; Dentley 17 run. Team statistics Kentucky Ole Miss First downs 12 21 Rushes-yards 28-72 54-262 Passing yards 131 154 Return yards 2 -20 Passes 15-33-2 11-274) Punts -45 5-39 Fumbles-iost 4-2 4-3 Penalties-yards 13-100 147 Time Possession 26:11 33:49 Individual statistics RUSHING Kentucky: Hunter 9-22, Logan 6-17, Murray 2-11, Higgs 4-4, Ransdell 6-4, Dooley 1-7 Mississippi: Mickles 13-40, Dentley 10-52, Goodloe 10-95, Boatman 5-7, Osgood 2-35, Cleveland 7-21, Young 9-12. PASSING Kentucky: Ransdell 15-31-2 131, Dooley 0-2-0 0.

Mississippi: Young 11-27-0 154. RECEIVING Kentucky: Pitts 3-11, Logan 3-35, Higgs 4-43, Curry 1-12, Jones 1-12, G. Baker 1-3, Hunter l-(minus) I. Mississippi: Ambrose 4-78, Goodloe 3-15, Myers 443. Attendance est.

back and linebacker for the game. In turn coach Billy Brewer got upgraded performances from other vets corner Stevon Moore (one interception, three passes broken up), tackle Rodney Lowe (eight tackles, two for losses, and a sack) and linebackers Robert Smith and Jeff Herrod. "We designed the defense to stop Kentucky's run," said Herrod, "and got them into a passing situation." "They run the draws and screens to death, so we had to stop that," said tackle Mike Fitzsimmons. "We didn't do anything fancy. And we didn't miss a beat." On the game's second play from scrimmage, UK tailback Ivy Joe Hunter zipped through the left-tackle hole for 11 yards and Kentucky moved 40 yards to Mississippi's 42.

Things seemed normal. They weren't. On third-and-eight, quarterback Bill Ransdell rolled xxV VW xj even on a sandlot. We've got to win, that's all. Now what we need to do is stay together.

That's the biggest thing." For those of you trying to match UK's eventual record against a modest bowl invitation, your work now is cut out. A win over Ole Miss was pivotal. Now come the likes of Georgia, LSU, Florida, and Tennessee. But no matter what happens, a guy can't forget the sight of Bill tfx? it-, ft xf 2 xTx iryy 5 15 Continued from Page One Ole Miss defensive tackle Mike Fitz immons that the UK offense was totally predictable? "I felt we mixed up our plays pretty well. He's entitled to his opinion.

But if we do that, well, that's something we need to correct" And so forth. When his dad, Bill was a UK halfback for Blanton Collier (1959-61), he didn't have to deal with the pressure that his son has toted for the last couple of seasons. Yet the older Ransdell also understands football, and expectations, well enough to be able to console his son after a bitter defeat upon which this UK season may turn. In rolling up a 3-0-1 record heading into yesterday's game, the Wildcats may have been lulled into a false sense of confidence. It just always seems to get tougher, after all, once you get into the Southeastern Conference part of your schedule.

Even so, if coach Jerry Claiborne's program has really arrived at the point that it's supposed to be, the Wildcats should have made yesterday's game a lot closer or even pulled out a win. Now, frankly, the hard truth is that if UK cant squeeze at least a minor bowl bid out of this season's schedule, the Wildcats are looking at a future more bleak than bright Consider 1988, for example. Ole Miss will be replaced on that schedule by Auburn. And with the SEC going to a seven-game league card that year, the lucky Wildcats will be able to add Alabama. By then, of course, Bill Ransdell will be long gone to pro football or graduate school or whatever pursuit comes his way.

But he also knows that this season, as a senior, he's in the legacy-building business which explains why he was so upset after yesterday's game. "We're fighting all we can to get on top," Ransdell said. "But today we didn't get any respect because we didn't earn it." The irony of Bill Ransdell is that UK's all-time leading passer surpassing the likes of Parilli, Norton and Randy Jenkins also still is mostly unappreciated. But part of the kid's trouble may be that he has never coveted nor felt comfortable with the publicity that comes with big records and big statistics. In its press releases, UK always refers to Ransdell as "Dollar Bill" (always on the money) at a time when many UK rooters have come to feel that they're being shortchanged.

After yesterday's loss, asked to talk about how all the record hype has affected him, Ransdell perhaps gave a clue. Happy about beating he records? said Ransdell, "but I'm glad it's all over. Maybe now everybody will leave it alone and stop worrying about it" Or, most important maybe Ransdell will stop worrying about it and begin throwing with the confidence and crispness that he exhibited as a freshman and sophomore. As the Wildcats head into the last half (and the toughest half, by far) of their season, they'll need to relax, lighten up and get into some risky business. So far, after all, their offense hasn't really clicked the way it should.

And what's most tragic about this, and about yesterday's loss, is that right now the SEC seems ready for a changing of the guard. Other than Alabama, which UK doesnt play, the league seems to have no world-beaters. In fact yesterday's loss notwithstanding, UK seems to have a better chance against LSU, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee than it has had in years. Bill Ransdell knows, but that only adds to the pressure. The kid wants to do well.

Wants it badly enough to shed tears with his dad after the media is gone. But maybe he wants it too much or, perhaps, has been led to have unrealistic views about the potential of UK footbalL "This was a real big game," Ransdell said. "Our first SEC game. "We go into every game thinking we can win. If you don't do that, then you're not worth a darn." He was asked if all those empty seats may have had a negative effect on UK.

After all, once the Jx fSSg is The high road, the Lowe road: Kentucky er as Mississippi's Rodney Lowe applied the quarterback Bill Ransdell looked for a receiv- pressure yesterday at Jackson, Miss. SfxxWWS? Associated Press Ransdell, his back turned to the stadium almost in an act of disdain, talking to his dad there yesterday in the fading twilight. The kid may never quarterback a Sugar Bowl champion. Yet by the way he handled yesterday's adversity, you also knew that UK and Jerry Claiborne had built another man of which they could be proud. coaches get you fired up for a big game, it must be tough to go out and see those vast reaches of unbought tickets.

Of course, as UK coach Claiborne pointed out, the empty seats didn't seem to have much of an effect on the Ole Miss adrenaline flow. Ransdell agreed. "The number of fans shouldn't have anything to do with it," he said. "We should be ready to play iya BUY A BRAND NEW 1986 SABLE GS DARE TO COMPARE Liberty Mutual Insurance challenges you to compare your current homeowners policy to our best policy. Just send in this coupon and we'll call you with a quote.

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