The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 6

3 this iilillMI I 4 jJOSERIJO Series standout $3 million man I JPage2C FORI TVtickets 2C NBA 3C Scoreboard 5C WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1991 nm David Ciimer femtiuicky bars path to SEC title i I fix -y I In SEC All Kentucky 11 3 19 5 Mississippi State 10 4 17 6 Louisiana State 10 4 17 6 Alabama 10 4 16 7 Vanderbilt 9 5 15 9 7 7 11 12 Georgia 5 9 12 11 Auburn 5 10 12 12 Tennessee 3 12 9 17 Mississippi 1 13 7 16 "Ineligible for SEC title or SEC Tournament berth. Auburn 74, Tennessee 65 Air Houston undergoing adjustment KANSAS CITY, Mo. John Jenkins, the mad scientist of college football, has not yet begun to take flight. Always willing to throw caution and the football to the wind, Jenkins warns of a renewed assault on the record book and opposing defenses when his Houston Cougars hit the launching pad next season. "To me, the passing game is like research at NASA," he says.

"The airways are still full of areas to explore." And Jenkins is just the man to boldly go where no one has gone before. Disarming and polite while speaking with members of the media at the NCAA Football Forum here, Jenkins' eyes dart this way and that as he discusses the variations which have yet to be added to his lethal run-and-shoot offense. He lives in a world of Xs and Os, constantly experimenting with new ways to get the football from Point A to Point at the expense of a confused defensive back. "There's nothing out there that really worries me," he says. "We have multiple adjustments that are dictated by the reactions of the defense.

If we adjust, there shouldn't By LARRY WOODY "Sports Writer Kentucky, a team with nothing to tonight plays Vanderbilt a team with perhaps everything at stake. Vandy's Southeastern Conference championship hopes, as well as its NCAA tournament ambitions, well hinge on beating the Wildcats, who are 12th-ranked but ineligible for the SEC championship. The Memorial Gym tipoff is set "for 7 p.m., CST, with the game carried live on WLAC radio (1510-AM) and WSMV (Channel 4). "It's a big game for both teams; all games are big at this time of year," said Vanderbilt coach Eddie Fogler, whose team is 9-5 in the SEC, a game behind deadlocked co-leaders Mississippi State, Alabama and LSU. A Commodore loss tonight, coupled with a win by any of the three po-leaders, would drop Vandy two games off the pace with just three games to play.

Overall, Vanderbilt is 15-9 and flirting with a possible NCAA Tournament bid. An upset of natiohally-tenked UK would be a major boost to the Commodores' post-season stock. i "Our team has the potential of a bid at this point," said Fogler. Kentucky owns the SECs best record at 19-5 overall, 11-3 in the league, but the Cats are last in the Official standings released by the SEC. They are ineligible for the Kentucky at Vandy, 7 p.m.

(Ch. 4) Alabama at Georgia Florida at Mississippi State Louisiana State at Mississippi championship, the result of current NCAA sanctions denying them the opportunity of post-season play. Kentucky coach Rick Pitino earlier this week said his team is "playing for a championship," but SEC assistant commissioner Brad Davis said the Cats can win it only "in their own minds." The Wildcats definitely can play the role of the spoiler. Vandy has already lost to UK once this season a 58-50 setback that currently separates the Commodores from first place and another defeat to- i Turn to PAGE 2C, Column 1 Ricky Rogers Staff SCREAM PLAY Tracy Head of Cheatham County tries to harass Hendersonville's Amy Lazenby on defense last night. Cheatham won 64-47.

Prep summaries, 4C. Cheatham girls roar to 25-1 By MAURICE PATTON Sports Writer Auburn continues Vols' slide 74-65 lose all of theirs. Look at the track record we go to LSU and Ala bama so it looks like we'll be in the first tournament game. "That isn't so bad. You'd just about have to say that it would take a miracle for us to win the tourna ment, so why not start a miracle tournament with an extra game." Auburn, which hosts Georgia on well." Rutherford was aided offensively by teammates Kelly Perry (12 points) and Denise Underwood (11 points, including three 3-pointers).

Hendersonville's Lady Commandos got a game-high 21 points from LeAllison Smith. "This was not one of our better performances," Hendersonville assistant Regina Lewis said. "We weren't well prepared. Cheatham County's got an excellent team; their record speaks for itself." Elsewhere last night: District 11-AA girls runner-up Tullahoma ended district champion Harpeth Hall's attempt at an unbeaten season, 66-56. Es-telle Williams and Latessa Hick-erson had seven steals apiece as Tullahoma (16-10, 9-3) stopped the Honeybears' 22-0 run.

Gallatin boys gave nationally-ranked Whites Creek more than the Cobras' usual challenge, but still fell short, 81-66. Marlin Simms scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and David Vaughn had 23 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots for the unbeaten Creek (27-0), ranked No.l by ESPN and No. 7 by USA Today. Brothers Marlin and Mark McMurry scored 30 and 25 points, respectively, for the Green Wave (20-6), seventh in the AAA Mid-state Coaches Poll. Marlin McMurray hit three of his four 3-pointers in the final quarter for Gallatin, which trailed 50-33 at the half.

Defending Class A state boys champion Pickett County won the District 5-A title in glowing fashion, 104-71 against Upperman, and rolled to 27-1 on the year. Once-beaten AA Smith County boys won their 24th game, 41-29 against AAA Lebanon. East Robertson girls got their first win of the season, 43-37 at Clarksville Academy, after 20 straight losses. It was double celebration: East Robertson's boys landed the 8-A crown. Shelbyville's nationally No.

1-ranked girls (24-0) are only five away from 100 victories in a row after beating Dickson County 81-41. White County (23-2) girls, ranked No. 21 in USA Today, were led by Ginger Jared's 22 points and Jennifer Willhite's 10 rebounds in an 81-40 victory over Rhea County. ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. Jean Rutherford scored 10 third-quarter points to help host Cheatham County break away to a 64-47 win over Hendersonville in girls high school basketball last night.

The District 10-AAA champion Lady Cubs, ranked fifth in The Tennessean's Midstate Coaches Poll, improved to 25-1 by beating 9-AAA titlist and No.6-ranked Hendersonville (18-5). Cheatham County took a 29-22 lead at intermission before Rutherford nailed a pair of three-point baskets in the first 1:39 of the third period. Later in the quarter, she converted a couple of steals into layups as the Cubs went up 47-27 with 22 minutes left in the third. Rutherford, a senior, finished with a team-high 1 7 points. "Jean got off to a good start in the second half after not getting off to one in the first half," Cheatham County Coach Phil Carr said.

"Hendersonville's got a fine team. I was impressed with how they played. We played real well early, although we didn't finish it Saturday, put two games between itself and Tennessee last night. The Volunteers are 9-17 overall and 3-12 in the league heading into Satur By LARRY TAFT Sports Writer AUBURN, Ala. Tennessee's stuggling basketball team lost to the Battle and lost the war last night.

Sophomore guard Ronnie Battle scored 18 points and sparked Auburn to a 74-65 win over Tennessee in game between two second-division Southeastern Conference teams. Auburn, playing before a Joel Eaves Memorial Coliseum crowd of 6,114 fans, improved to 12-12 overall with the victory. More importantly, the Tigers upped their SEC record to 5-10 and all but clinched a seventh-place finish in the league standings. That would allow them to avoid the dreaded out-bracket game in the SEC tournament next month in Nashville. 1 "Well, it looks like we'll open the tournament," said Tennessee sophomore guard Lang Wiseman.

"Sure, it is possible for us not to play the first game, but we've got to win all of ours and they've got to day's game against LSU at Baton Rogue. Last night's victory allowed Au burn to sweep Tennessee for the first time since the 1969-70 season, and while the Tigers weren't exact ly convincing, they never trailed. be a problem." You don't usually get this kind of candor from a head coach. More often, this unique species prefers to do more shrugging than bragging, more listening than talking. And more running than passing.

But Jenkins is the odd man out. At the age of 38, he is the hottest offensive mind in the nation, the new kid on the biock and tackle, the guru of high-tech football. Conventional wisdom says you must offset the run with the pass, but Jenkins' idea of a balanced offense is 40 passes to the right and 40 passes to the left. It's not that everybody else is wrong; it's just that Jenkins believes he is right. "People say, 'They're just throwing the ball all the but there's more to it than that.

You can't just throw it. You've got to complete it, and that takes a great deal of mental preparation, practice and repetition," he says. Last year, Jenkins' first as head coach at Houston, the record book was under siege from the very start as Cougar quarterback David Klin-gler took the ball and refused to run with it. Although Houston did have a rusher, Chuck Weath-erspoon, the offense preferred to follow the path of least resistance and fill the air with footballs. With Klingler coming back for his senior season, Jenkins is ready to add to the arsenal as he stays one step ahead of the competition.

"You can't sit still with your offense. You've got to evaluate it constantly and make changes," he said. "You can't expect defensive coaches to take the same whipping the same way over and over. I study the defenses to see if there is a constant pattern building up, if they're developing things that might give us problems, like the way they caught up to the option. "There's an old Texas saying that I go by: 'If the posse is getting close, you need to ride off and Jenkins' great escape comes in the form of a new chapter to his playbook.

"I've got a master plan," he says. "There are things on the top shelf collecting dust that I haven't needed to use yet. There are numerous extensions to be added, a multitude of new play designs." And more passes to be thrown. And, Tennessee never got within a basket of the lead after the Tigers went on a 10-0 scoring spree mid way of the first half. Tennessee, trailing 13-11 after sophomore I Turn to PAGE 2C, Column 4 Jamison voice of Angels Schultz rips coaches for tearing into cuts Ll2 broadcasts.

"It'll be hard to replace that kind of continuity," Schmittou said. "You can't replace histo JAMISON scene of some of the happiest and saddest moments of my life," said Jamison, who married, experienced the birth of two sons and the death of one during his years in this area. While Nashville Sounds President Larry Schmittou said he would begin an immediate search for a replacement, it is expected that he will go no further than to his Class AA Southern League Huntsville (Ala.) Stars where Steve Carroll is the play-by-play announcer. Carroll is a veteran of American Association broadcasting, having gone to Huntsville from Iowa. The late Monte Hale of Murfrees-boro was the first Sounds broadcaster.

Jamison followed him and has delivered more than 1,500 Sounds Sounds announcer heads to California By LARRY TAFT Sports Writer Bob Jamison, Nashville Sounds play-by-play broadcaster for 12 years, is leaving the Class AAA baseball club for a similar position with the California Angels. The appointment of the 41-year-old Jamison was announced yesterday afternoon by the Angels. He is to replace Ken Brett, who is leaving the Angels' radio booth to fill the television spot which opened last fall when Joe Torre left to become manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. "It has been really special being in Nashville all these years.

It is the put and cooperation from the individuals out there." Coaches such as Tennessee's Johnny Majors, Penn State's Joe Pa-terno and Brigham Young's LaVell Edwards spoke out in opposition to the cuts during the two-day forum here, suggesting that the level of play may be lowered due to such reductions. Schultz disagreed. "If I were a coach, and I was a coach for 25 years, I'd probably be concerned with losing scholarships and assistant coaches," Schultz said. "But coaches are very resourceful I Turn to PAGE 2C, Column 6 By DAVID CLIMER Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. Hesitant college coaches should get with the NCAA's cost-cutting program instead of criticizing it, NCAA Executive Director Dick Schultz said yesterday.

Speaking at the final session of the NCAA Football Forum here, Schultz took some of the panelists to task over continued criticism of action at last month's NCAA convention which reduced scholarships and the size of coaching staffs. "Coaches need to be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem," Schultz said. "We have to have in ry, and Bob lived much of it with the Sounds. He's a man who has paid his dues, and I am pleased that he has the major league opportunity. When you hire a guy like that, you expect him to leave sooner than later, and he has been on the edge for a number of years.

"What I'll look for in a replacement is not a Bob Jamison clone, Turn to PAGE 2C, Column 1 MM BREAK r-'mm I RESULTS NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION Ind. 115, Charlotte 102 Chicago 118, Wash. 113 FOOTBALL Colorado's national champion Syracuse, ranked BEST ON TV Big East leader fifth, will be tested by No. 18 St. John's (6 p.m., ESPN).

ACC co-leader Duke faces N.C. State (8 p.m., ESPN). Both of Van-derbilt's teams will be on the tube today: the Lakers 112, Houston 103 Milwaukee 116, Miami 90 Dallas at Portland N.J. 97, Sacramento 83 Atlanta 110, N.Y. 102 Phila.

107, Seattle 104 TUUti it. ELSEWHERE Knights' center Trevor Jobe recorded a three-goal hat trick in a 9-5 hockey victory over Erie at Municipal Auditorium last night. Nashville has now won three straight after starting a five-game homestand 0-2. On 2C TSU receiver Anthony Owens had to sit out scheduled workouts before pro football scouts when physical exams uncovered an irregular heartbeat. Owens, who was hooked up to a monitor for 24 hours, says he's OK now.

On 3p ship contribution to Vanderbilt new head coach Gerry Di-Nardo and three others from the CU staff were welcomed at a reception last night. Said recruiter Rick George: "At Colorado we weren't the big kid on the block at first." On 3C yo 0 rj t3 WHAT'S UP TODAY Tennessee Tech's ovc champion women challenge eighth-ranked Western Kentucky and its nation-leading 20-game win streak in Bowling Green, Ky. Vander-bilt's Lady Commodores visit UT-Chatta-nooga. On 2C Phoenix 109, Boston 105 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Pitt. 6, Buff.

3 Detroit at Calgary St.L3,Tor.2 COLLEGE BASKETBALL No. 16 Oklahoma State 76, Kansas State 65 Georgia Tech 73, No.20 Virginia 60 No.24 Seton Hall 76, Niagara 61 men's game will be live at 7 p.m., Channel 4 vs. No. 12 Kentucky; the women's game with Auburn last Sunday will be shown at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Listings, 5C 4 DINARDO.