Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 31

DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE, ROCHESTER, N.Y., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1984 3D III I I Democrat and (Chronicle inn iff innrf III -i (i Laaaasi filhie Quarterback Willie Totten's flTHrT passing gives the Delta Devils ISPmraEiv jthe most potent offense in llVslS. 1mV college football. Vn 1 ifaimey passing Mississippi Valley State has most prolific offense in small college football Gannett News Service and Associated Press Said Devaney: "A lot of what (Valley coach Archie) Cooley does on offense is to draw attention away from Rice where he'll have only single coverage. When there is single coverage'" on Rice, it's just not fair because there is nobody who can cover him." "I think we're good enough to compete against anybody," says Totten. "We know we can score against anybody.

If we're patient and do what we do best, we're going to score on you and in a big way." "People were starting to drop eight people back to defend against our passing, so we took what they gave us," says Totten. Seldom-used fullback Carl Byrum, a 225-pound bruiser, smashed through those defensive backs for 248 yards' and two touchdowns. Valley won 55-42. As amazing as the Delta Devils statistics is the shoestring the program operates on. 'a Mississippi Valley bused 14 hours to Topeka, to play Washburn University.

Cooley and defensive coordinator Johnny Thomas are the only members of the Mississippi Valley football staff who are-on nine-month contracts. When Willie Totten and Jerry Rice walked onto the Mississippi Valley State practice field four years ago, they entered the world of small-time college football. The players had gotten the previous coach fired. Training table meals sometimes consisted of beans and franks. Bus rides to games lasted longer than an NFL TV doub-leheader.

But things have changed drastically. Sure, the Delta Devils still bus to games and franks and beans remain a training table staple, but the nation '8 eye is focused this weekend on the black, landgrant college in Itta Bena, And it took Totten and Rice to elevate the game to this magnitude. They are the heart and soul of the most prolific passing attack in college football and the main reason Mississippi Valley (7-0) averages 64 points a game. Totten has thrown 43 touchdown passes and gained 3,930 yards while completing 65 percent of his attempts. Rice holds virtually every I-AA receiving record in existence and has 86 receptions for 1,373 yards and 21 touchdowns this fall.

He has accomplished just about everything a i player on his level can. Last season, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound wide receiver was named to seven All-American teams and was voted the Black College Player of the Year. His name is attached to nearly every NCAA Division I-AA receiving record. Rice's statistics are mind-boggling: He owns the NCAA record for most Mississippi Valley opened for classes in 1950, didn't start playing football until 1953 and has only had 10 winning seasons, including this one. Since joining the SWAC.

in 1969, the Delta Devils have never fin-ished higher than third place. When Cooley took over in 1980, he in- herited a program ripe with problems. The previous coach, James T. Thomas, resigned under pressure after the team circulated a petition demanding he be fired. Cooley, a 1961 graduate of Jackson State where he was an All-American center, said: "In my first talk with them, I told them, -'I'll be fair and do what's right.

But I'm going to do what Cooley wants to do. I'm not going to have a team that's going to strike on me. The best way to kill a snake is to kill the head. Whoever it is that tries to get me fired will never play football at Mississippi The first-year record was 5-5, and Cooley was voted SWAC Coach of the Year. He literally worked the Delta Devils into being a competitive team.

During presea-son practices, they went through three-a- days while other schools were going J-through two-a-days. When the season began, Mississippi Valley was still going twice a day. The next year, only seven players returned. "A lot of them quit because of the work passes caught in a career (284), and a single game (24), and the I-AA record for recep Jerry Rice Caught 24 passes for 294 yards against Kentucky State on 91. Has caught five touchdown passes in a game three times.

Has caught 86 passes tor 1,373 yards and 21 touchdowns in seven games. Leads Divison 1-AA in scoring with 126 points. Leads all-purpose runners with 195.7 yard average. tions in a single season (102). His total yardage for 3'2 years 4,392 is another NCAA standard.

His 1,450 yards in 1983 is a I-AA record. His 21 touchdowns are seven more than last season's personal best. He needs 17 catches to establish a I-AA single-season record, and eight more touchdowns in three games will create a mark for most touchdowns (52) in a Willie Totten Completed 45 of 60 passes for 599 yards against Prairie View on I-AA career. Some say Rice will be the first pick in this winter's National Football League draft. Said Billy Devaney, a Washington Redskins scout: 1027.

0 Completed a Divison l-AA record nine touchdown passes against Kentucky State on 9184. Leads I AA quarterbacks in total "Rice is definitely an early first-round choice. Dependine a on the team that selects first and its needs, he could be the first choice. While taking advantage of Rice's 4.5 speed in the 40. Tot offense (500.6 average habits they had and the work habits brought in," Cooley said.

"A lot of them wanted to do it their way. I had more clubhouse lawyers than I had players. The ones who couldn't play were the ones who caused the most problems." Among the players he recruited in 1981 were Rice, then a 6-foot, 170-pound receiver-defensive back from Crawford, and Totten a quarterback from Coila, Miss. "We can't get complacent," Cooley said. "Sometimes you get too refined and turn people off.

It's one thing about Cooley, he doesn't forget the little people because he was a little person longer than he's been what he is now." But now he and his Devils are the most recognizable fig-tires in the state. Meanwhile, opponent Alcorn State the oldest landgrant. college for blacks in America is enjoying a rebirth. "Like anything else, it's got its peaks and valleys," said Coach Marino H. Casern, who is in his 21st year.

"We just tried to maintain a real stable program. We have all the problems everybody else has not having enough of nothing and not enough time to do nothing." The Braves, who started playing football 1922, won or shared the Southwestern Athletic Conference for six years between 1967 and 1976. Then came integration, and like most other predominantly black schools, Alcorn was unable to attract athletes. A tail-spin ensued. But Casern answered his critics with a 7-3 record last year and has brought the Braves through their first six games this fall unblemished.

Now the showdown is Sunday. 186 yards more than closest competitor. Third in nation passing efficiency (170.7). Has led Mississippi Valley State to top of national rankings for passing ten has become the most efficient I-AA passer in the nation under Coach Archie Cooley's wide open offense. Totten is only 464 yards shy of the Division I-AA record for passing yards in a season, set in 1980 by Portland State's Neil Lomax, now starring for the St.

Louis Cardinals. Totten has thrown for 8,982 yards in his 26 college games; at that rate, he will surpass Lomax's career record of 13,220 before he's through. Cooley goes with five lineman, five wide receivers and Totten. There's no running back, and the Devils don't bother SrV with huddles. Every possession is a two-minute drill.

offense (550.4, 186.9 i more than closest competitor), points (64.1, 20.8 more than closest competitor) and total offense (666.6. 154.2 more than closest competitor) Cooley's pet formation has been befuddling oppo nents to the tune of 449 points in seven games. rf-V" III I "T-V si 7 'V When rotten takes the snap, he has four wide receivers operating from a stack formation on the right side. The stack forces oppon ents into single coverage and isolates Rice in single coverage on the left side. Join Bt Democrat and Chronicle TEAM DIUISlOn 1 AA GAME HIGHS INDIVIDUAL Total Total Mississippi Valley State University Enrollment 2,400 Team (Opponent, date) Ruthing and patting Player, team (Opponent, date) Valley 929) Valley (Prairie View, 1027) St.

(Morehead State. 922) Valley 929) Cookman (Ga. Southern, 106) Valley 929) Valley (Prairie View, 1027) Valley (Kentucky State. 91) Willie Totten, Mississippi Willie Totten, Mississippi Vince Hall, Middle Tenn. Willie Totten, Mississippi Bernard Hawk, Bethune-Willie Totten, Mississippi Willie Totten, Mississippi Willie Totten, Mississippi 1 Mississippi I Memorial Stadium Capacity 62,000 4 Jacteon'mmm 79 621 716 699 -60 33 70 70 50 11 86 Boston University (Morgan State, 915) Arkansas State 915) Mississippi Valley (Prairie View, 1027) Mississippi Valley (Kentucky State, 91) Eastern Washington (Angelo State.

922) Tennessee State (Hampton, 91) Mississippi Valley 929) Texas Southern (Mississippi Valley. 929) Mississippi Valley 929) Mississippi Valley (Prairie View, 1027) Mississippi Valley 929), Mississippi Valley (Kentucky State, 91) Rushing plays Net rushing yards Rushing, passing yards Passing yards Lowest rushing allowed Fewest yards allowed Pass attempts Pass completions TD passes Points scored AII-time record 73 621 250 66 66 46 599 9 17 17 294 5 I 5 216 179 Rushing, passing plays Rushing, passing yards Nel rushing yards Pass attempts Pass completions Passing yards TO passes Receiving, kick returna Pass receptions Receiving yards TD passes -I M1 Punt return yards Kickoff return yards Alcorn State University Enrollment 2,500 Player, team (Opponent, date) Jerry Rice; Mississippi Valley (Kentucky State. 91) Jerry Rice. Mississippi Valley 929) Jerry Rice, Mississippi Valley (Kentucky State. 91) Jerry Rice, Mississippi Valley (Kentucky State, 91) Jerry Rice, Mississippi Valley (Prairie View, 1027) Willie Ware, Mississippi Valley (Washburn.

915) Melvin Bell, Ga. Southern (Bethune-Cookman. 106) BHoxi Mississippi Debbit Drtchiler Omouot ana Chrontcw NFL PICKS Philadelphia (4-5) at Detroit (3-6) Just wondering what will be the first to die (and none too soon): 'Buster' mania or the Wave? EAGLES, 16-14. UPSET Cleveland (1-8) at Buffalo (0-9) This is for the bragging rights to Lake Erie. So what did you expect, the Dolphins against the 49ers? If you pooled the talent of the Bills and Browns, it might not win the AFC Central.

BILLS. 17-9. Teddy Roosevelt's. Unless Hugh Campbell takes his team on a tour of the Canadian Football League, the only game it can win away from the Astrodome is checkers. Maybe.

STEELERS. 28-15. New England (6-3) at Denver (8-1) Nobody's going to start taking the Broncos seriously until the President calls their locker room after they win the Super Bowl. Then he'll say he's got the wrong number. BRONCOS.

23-14. L.A. Rams (5-4) at St. Louis (6-3) Los Angeles is growing restless for the Jeff Kemp-Vince Ferragamo soap opera to unfold. So far there's been only folding, by the Rams defense.

CARDINALS. 31-16. Green Bay (2-7) at New Orleans (4-5) The surprise isn't that Saints fans are threatening to wear paper bags over their heads. They're mad at Bum Phillips for messing up a potential playoff team. The real surprise is they still go out in public.

SAINTS. 31-21. Miami (9-0) at N.Y. Jets (6-3) (O -Buffalo, GD -Syracuse, 4 p.m.) I'll give you three guesses and the first three don't count DOLPHINS, 31-17. Cincinnati (3-6) at San Francisco (8-1) In the AFC Central, everybody still has a shot at the title except the Houston Oilers, Sam Rutigliano and the Salvation Army.

The way the 49ers are playing, they'll be the first Super Bowl team with a homefield advantage. 49ERS, 31-6. San Diego (4-5) at Indianapolis (3-6) The Chargers love playing indoors, especially when the air-conditioning is at their back. But this blowout won't go down-as wind-aided. CHARGERS, 32-10.

Kansas City (5-4) at Seattle (7-2) I can think of 99 reasons why this is going to be a great game just like the one in Seattle last year. SEAHAWKS, 51-48. Houston (0-9) at Pittsburgh (5-4) The last time the Oilers won a game on the road, the only Rough Riders around were the Jets in the Orange BowL The 6treak should remain intact Speaking of the Dolphins (and who isn't these their 9-0 start is the best since Minnesota opened 1975 with 10 victories. SUNDAY L.A. Raiders (7-2) at Chicago (6-3) (O CD -Syracuse, 1 p.m.) Mike Ditka says the only way the Bears will get support from Chicagoans is if they rent Cub fans for the day.

There are plenty of great deals on Bleacher Bums now. The baseball season is over and most are unemployed anyway. RAIDERS. 27-23. N.Y.

Giants (5-4) at Dallas (6-3) (03 GD -Buffalo, (3 -Syracuse, 1 p.m.) When the best team takes the field at Texas Stadium, it won't be wearing Giants or Cowboys uniforms. That's because it will make its appearance at halftime, when the Cowboys' all-time all stars are introduced. No, Duane Thomas won't be one of them. COWBOYS, 24-21. MONDAY Miami should streak past the Jets; Bills might upset Browns By Mitch Lawrence Democrat and Chronicle The Miami Dolphins have reintroduced streaking.

Hold your shirt, not that kind of streaking. The Dolphins are becoming proficient at ripping off victories, not their clothes. Miami can tie the third longest streak for regular season victories at 15 games Sunday if they defeat the Jets at the Meadowlands. Next week, at home against Philadelphia, the Dolphins can tie their club record and close to within one victory of the National Football League's all-time mark (17 by the Chicago Bears). Sneaking a peek at the following two weeks, Miami plays at San Diego then hosts Atlanta (3-6) at Washington (5-4) Hope you like Kate and Allie.

Or maybe you can throw on a tape of Ron and Walter. Any more games like this and Aon-day Sight Football will be ditched for reruns of Burns and Allen. REDSKINS. 34-20. Last week's record: 8-6.

Mitch Lawrence is the Democrat and Chronicle pro football writer..