The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 137

ti mi tl 1(11 ut rfi i SECTION 14C0UTD00RS 15C PREPS The Sunday TENNESSEAN OCTOBER 23, 1988 Mississippi Mite tales VanderMlt I W- 4t 4 Editor cr- xtf fj" vy fr Commodores self-destruct at homecoming LARRY WOODY Sports Writer With Vanderbilt holding a 14-point lead over Ole Miss in the early stages of the fourth quarter yesterday at Dudley Field, the outlook couldn't have been brighter for the Commodores. A homecoming crowd of 41,276 had the stadium rocking. Old grads where cheering. Pom poms were shaking. Then suddenly the ball was bouncing and disaster was looming.

Junior fullback Mark Johnson's fumble on the Commodores' three- yard line cracked the door for Ole Miss. And the Rebels proceeded to kick it in, exploding for three touchdowns and a field goal to claim a 36-28 victory. The abrupt turn of events was as disastrous as it was dizzying, in terms of the Commodores' season. Vandy is 3-4 with an open date this weekend, then travels to Kentucky to face a team that yesterday stunned nationally-ranked Georgia. "We're living on the edge right now," said Vanderbilt safety Joe Gentry, one of the team's 15 seniors whose final shot at a winning season and bowl bid is fading fast "I was trying to get the football and go too fast; it was just a bad play," said Johnson, who, up to the fatal fumble, had been one of the offensive stars of the game.

Turn to PAGE 5C, Column 1 ltAk 1 I r. A as Mark Johnson is hit by Mississippi's Shawn Cobb in the first half. Tennessee finally ends the agony of six fl i 4 04.1 fx Down to earth experience for WSIX billboard sitter TERRY MCCORMICK Sports Writer Tennessee's 38-25 victory at Memphis State yesterday elated thousands of Vol fans, but brought WSK-AM sportscaster Duncan Stewart down to earth. Stewart, who spent 33 days atop a Division Street billboard waiting for the Vols' first win of the season, came down to a champagne celebration. More than 200 Volunteer fans cheered his descent, but no one in the crowd was as happy as Stewart "I'm really glad I did this, but I'm glad it's over," said Stewart.

"Not in any shape, fashion or form would I do it agaia This was just a one-time thing, but it was a fantastic experience." He said it might take some time to get used to being at ground zero agaia "Even though I'll be back in my bed, I don't think I'll sleep all that well. It'll be strange," said the WSK sports director. "I'll go back to work at the station. I have some work to catch up on." His work will wait until Monday. Last night, he celebrated at a party in his honor at a local night spot Tennessee had lost its first six games, its worst start in the program's 92-year history.

Stewart first I Turn to PAGE 2C, Column 1 Death knell for Vandy bowl hopes Vanderbilt's football players were grim and grimy as they trooped silently into their dressing quarters beneath the Commodore stadium. Their retreat was accompanied by a steady cadence. "Plop!" "Plop!" "Plop!" It was the sound of their helmets dropping into a huge canvas basket as the equipment personnel collected the war bonnets. The helmets tumbling from sight sounded an ominous knell, mourning the Commodores' disappearance from the bowl scene. Their chances all but vanished in a drooping finish against the University of Mississippi.

Approximately six and one-half minutes before the end cf the game, Vanderbilt was ahead, 28-21, and had the Rebels pinned on their own five-yard line. Barring some late heroics by the Rebels, Vanderbilt was within a game of a share of the Southeastern Conference lead. RUT, THE heroics came, and a u-ious finish by the underdog Rebs changed everything. At game's end it was Ole Miss enjoying the excitement of keeping alive post-season hopes. "Amid all my disappointment, I -want to remind everyone: Ole Miss deserves tremendous credit for coming back to win," Vanderbilt Coach Watson Brown said.

"We had plenty of opportunities to get this one, but Ole Miss wouldn't let us. They were behind by 1 4 points in the last quarter and they did the things they had to do and we didn't. We've lost two games this year when we were in that very same position. We couldn't do it Ole Miss did." Brown, under additional emotional strain this week because of the sudden illness of his mother, wasn't ready to pinpoint any single play as the moment of truth. "Turning point? There are any of a dozen or two.

That's the story of our defeat We were far too inconsistent to beat somebody like Ole Miss. We have a dadgummed good football team. When we play hard and play well, I believe we can beat anybody. But, we did just half of that against Ole Miss. We played hard." DESPITE Brown's commentary, the collapse leading to the dreary Vanderbilt finish was quite clear.

An abundance of blunders in the Commodore kicking game definitely spoiled another strong second-half Vandy surge. The miscues were all the rallying Rebels needed. Two poorly played kicks and a 22-yard punt hurt the Commodore cause. One of the errors came when the Commodore punt returner, freshman Derrick Payne, violated a team rule and made a fair catch of an Ole Miss kick inside the Vandy 10. One play later, Mark Johnson fumbled at the Ole Miss three.

The hungry Rebs gobbled up this opportunity and quickly scored the first of their three fourth-quarter touchdowns. Junior Tim Richardson's short punt put the Rebs at the Vandy 40 and gave them a starting point for what was to be the winning touchdown. ABOUT A half an hour after the game as his post-game interviewers dispersed, Brown sat quietly, occasionally glancing at the plastic-encased cardboard panel that was the Vandy game plan against Ole Miss "This one hurts for a lot of reasons. For one thing, they didn't do anything we didn't expect. I believe this is the first team we've played that didn't try something different on defense.

They just executed us to death. They stopped our option offense, so we went to the I-formation. For the most part our guys ran it well, but we couldn't get anything going there at the end that would let us control the ball. They ate us up on offense in the last few minutes, too. They're good.

I believe they'll be in a bowl." At the rear of the room, the door cracked open. Two representatives from the Peach Bowl stepped inside and Brown stood and shook hands: "I'm sorry, guys. I appreciate your interest" Outside, as the Peach Bowlers departed, the equipment men pushed their canvas basket up the ramp. Memphis State first victim of juiced-up Orange, 38-25 DAVID CLIMER Sports Writer MEMPHIS Using a season's worth of frustration as emotional fuel, Tennessee rolled into town yesterday. And it just so happened that Memphis State got caught in the way.

The Vols placed an exclamation point by their first victory of the season, spanking host Memphis State 38-25 and perhaps serving notice that there is still a little juice left in the Big Orange. "We weren't playing for a championship and this certainly wasn't the World Series," said UT Coach Johnny Majors, "but I thought we looked a little bit like the Dodgers out there. We were a team of nobodies that played with a lot of heart." With a Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium crowd of 55,173 watching, the Vols perpetuated a streak against Memphis State. UT has not lost to its cross-state rival in 12 meetings. The Vols built an early 1 0-0 lead, watched the Tigers pull back even at intermission and then scored touchdowns on their first four possession of the second half to secure the long-awaited first victory of the season.

Turn to PAGE 5C, Column 1 Mike DuBose Staff Middlebrooks is chased by MSU's Reggie DuBose. Rick MusaccNo Staff VU center Jim Arnouts trails. defeats Western Kentucky topples Tenn. Tech After leading early, Tennessee Tech lost 20-17 yesterday to Western Kentucky, ranked fifth in Division l-AA. Former Brentwood High player David Armstrong ted Western's comeback.

Story on 8C losing streak for TSU and extended Morehead's string of defeats to five. TSU, 2-5-1 overall and 1-3 in the OVC returns to Hale Stadium Saturday for a 6 p.m., game with Tennessee Tech. Morehead, 1-7 and 0-3, will host Austin Peay. Tennessee State Coach Bill Thomas hailed Waters' return as the catalyst the Big Blue offense needed. "Not having Melvin last week was a real handicap for us," Thomas said.

"But he violated a team rule. He understood the rules. We're glad to have him back." The fifth-year coach called the win "something to build on" and also blasted the OVC travel squad limit of 53 players, while home teams are allowed 60 players. Turn to PAGE 8C, Column 1 Vanderbilt found the going rough, COLLEGE FOOTBALL 1. UCLA 24, Arizona 3 2.

Notre Dame 41, Air Force 13 4. Miami 57, Cincinnati 3 5. Nebraska 48, Kansas State 3 6. West Va. 59, Boston College 19 7.

Florida State 66, La. Tech 3 8. Oklahoma vs. Colorado N.C. State 10, 9.

Clemson 3 12. Wyoming 61, Utah 18 13. Arkansas 26, Houston 21 20. Michigan 31, 14. Indiana 6 15.

Oklahoma St. 49, Missouri 21 Oregon 17, 17. Washington 14 19. Syracuse 38, East Carolina 14 10. Auburn 33, Miss.

State 0 Kentucky 16, 11. Georgia 10 Mississippi 36, Vanderbilt 28 Tennessee 38, Memphis State 25 Alabama 8. Penn State 3 MTSU 36, Austin Peay 0 TSU 29, Morehead State 14 W. Kentucky 20, Tenn. Tech 17 E.

Kentucky 32, W. Carolina 14 tzzin Marshall 38, UT-Chattanooga 7 Appalachian State 51. ETSU 3 UT-Martin 31, Jacksonville St. 24 Washington Lee 21, Sewanee 0 Nation, 6C State, 7C OVC.8C SEC.9C I UTs Nate TSU gets first OVC win with big ground assault Waters riddles porous Morehead defenses Blue Raiders downs Govs for OVC lead LARRY TAFT Sports Writer CLARKSVILLE, Tena Middle Tennessee grabbed a share of the Ohio Valley Conference lead yesterday with a 36-0 win over Austin Peay in perhaps the ugliest shutout victory of Boots Donnelly's head coaching career. The heavily favored Blue Raiders, 6-2 overall and 3-0 in the OVC and ranked ninth in the nation in Division I-AA, showed little signs of life until the third quarter when they took control with a fumble recovery, a pass interception and a record-tying blocked punt.

"When we got here, I knew we were not ready," Donnelly said. "We were flat. "I don't know what the problem is, but I cannot motivate my players when we come here to play." The rout spoiled the day for the Governors, 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the league, and for the homecoming crowd of 5,623. The Blue Raiders' lackluster victory, however, achieved the one goal Donnelly had established for the game. "Since Aug.

11, we've been going non-stop," said Donnelly, whose team I Turn to PAGE 8C, Column 4 TOM WOOD Sports Writer MOREHEAD, Ky. Tennessee State's most effective ground game in 20 years brought the Big Blue its first Ohio Valley Conference football victory here yesterday, a 29-14 decision over Morehead State. TSU tailback Melvin Waters bounced back from a one-game suspension to spearhead a ground game that produced 290 yards the highest single-game total in two decades. The Franklin High product rushed for 157 yards and scored two touchdowns, including one scoring sprint of 87 yards, the longest single rushing touchdown play in 20 seasons. "It certainly was the longest touchdown I've run and the sweetest" said Waters.

"We really needed a win today." Waters missed last week's game when he was disciplined for violations of team rules. "I had something to prove to myself as well as my coaches and teammates," said Waters. "I wanted to show I could contribute to the team. It was a boost for my confidence to return to the starting spot, a little extra incentive, and I didn't want to let the team down again." The victory snapped a four-game Elliott hopes itotr Dmim's Ricky Waters Mart ovtr Air Fore during th kith win. Sm SC.

Got a question for Tennessee coach Johnny Majors, Vanderbilt coach Watson Brown or any of the state's Ohio Valley Conference coaches about yesterday's games? Call the number below between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and leave your question, along with your name and phone number. We'll ask the coaches the best questions and their responses will be in tomorrow's Tennessean. Watson Brown: 259-8023.

Johnny Majors: 259-8299. Ohio Valley Conference 259-8012. Bill Thomas, TSU; Boots Dorr-nelly, MTSU; Jim Ragland, Tenn. Tech; Paul Brewster, Austin Peay. IWilpia iiiiSIirns of Nashville, 10C to maintain points.