The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 13

The Salina Journal Sports Wednesday, December 30,1987 13 Mason reportedly in line for KU job TOPEKA (AP) Kent State coach Glen Mason will be introduced today as Kansas' fourth head football coach in eight years, according to newspaper and broadcast reports. The hiring of the longtime Ohio State assistant was reported Tuesday night by television station KSNT in Topeka and radio station WTVN in Columbus, Ohio, and in today's editions of the Topeka Capital-Journal. The reports quoted unnamed sources as saying Mason Mason would replace Bob Valesente, who was fired after compiling a 4-17-1 record in two years and failing to win a Big Eight Conference game. Mason could not be reached by phone Tuesday night at his home in Ohio. Kansas officials would not comment on the reports.

Mason also was a candidate for the Ohio State job, but reports Tuesday said Arizona State coach John Cooper will be the new Buckeyes coach. Cooper, reached at Anaheim, where his team will play Air Force tonight in the Freedom Bowl, said he would not comment on the Ohio State job until after the game. At a news conference earlier Tuesday, he said: "I have a great job here. If it happens that they choose me to go to Ohio State, so be it. If not, that's OK." The Capital-Journal said Mason received a five-year contract from Kansas worth more than $200,000 a year.

Sources told the newspaper the pact included a base salary of $79,000, a television show worth $100,000, an $18,000 housing allowance and an insurance annuity valued at $50,000. Mason, 37, was 12-10 the past two years at Kent State and would be the youngest head coach in the Big Eight. Mason played at Ohio State and was an assistant under the late Woody Hayes. His first Kent State team in 1986 was 5-6. His squad this season finished 7-4, including a 31-17 victory over Kansas in Lawrence, and placed second in the Mid-American Conference.

Earle Bruce, fired by Ohio State, was Kansas' first choice, but Bruce said he and KU athletic director Bob Frederick could not reach agreement on a contract. Frederick then interviewed Buffalo Bills assistant and former Southern Cal coach Ted Tollner, Mason, Appalachian State coach Sparky Woods and former Jayhawk quarterback and assistant coach John Hadl. Reached Tuesday night at his home in Buffalo, Tollner said he had spoken to Frederick about the job. "I talked to him on the phone and I am no (See Mason, Page 15) Georgia kicks Hogs to win Liberty Bowl MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Freshman kicker John Kasay, who had missed two earlier field goal attempts, connected from 39 yards as time expired Tuesday night to give No.

15 Georgia a 20-17 victory over Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl. Kasay's kick was set up when Georgia cornerback Carver Russaw intercepted a pass by Arkansas' Greg Thomas at the Razorback 43- yard line with 56 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs, 9-3, used three plays and 51 seconds in moving to the Arkansas 22 to put Kasay in position. After an Arkansas timeout, the left- footed Kasay split the uprights to make up for earlier misses from 49 and 47 yards. Kasay's winning kick came 1:37 after Arkansas missed an opportunity for its third straight bowl victory over the Bulldogs.

Kendall Trainer missed a 35-yard field goal attempt after Arkansas, 9-4, had driven from its 12-yard line to the Georgia, trailing 17-7 after three periods, got a 24-yard field goal from Kasay on the first play of the fourth quarter and tied it 17-17 with 10:23 left on a 5-yard run by James Jackson. Arkansas, which beat Georgia 16-2 in the 1969 Sugar Bowl and 31-10 in the 1976 Cotton Bowl, dominated for three quarters under the direction of Thomas, who scored two touchdowns and was named the game's outstanding player. Thomas led the Razorbacks 68 yards in the final minutes of the half to push Arkansas into a 10-7 lead. Thomas scrambled 25 yards to the Georgia 17, and, three plays later, scored from the 10 with 31 seconds left. The Razorbacks retained the momenteum at the start of the second half, taking the kickoff and driving 76 yards in eight plays for a 17-7 lead.

Once again, Thomas was the Razorback ringleader. The Arkansas senior hit tight end Billy Winston with a 26-yard pass on fourth-and-1 from the Bulldog 27 and then skirted right end on the next play. After Georgia came back to tie, Thomas took the Razorbacks 77 yards for the late field goal attempt. On third down from the Georgia 11, Thomas went up the middle for two yards, but Arkansas was assessed a holding penalty. Facing third down and 15 from the 19, the Razorbacks sent fullback Barry Foster into the left side of the line to move the ball to the center of the field.

Trainer's kick barely missed to the left. After forcing a Georgia punt, Arkansas made one last bid, but it backfired when Thomas' pass was intercepted by Russaw. An earlier interception, this time by cornerback Rusty Beasly off a deflection, allowed Georgia to tie the game. AP Georgia's Cassius Osborn (left) and Richard Brothers of Arkansas watch a pass intended for Osborn bounce away during the Liberty Bowl Tuesday night in Memphis. Stradf ord, Conlan named NFL's best rookies Miami runner gets offensive nod NEW YORK (AP) Troy Stradford of the Miami Dolphins, the 99th player and llth running back taken in this year's draft, was named Tuesday as the offensive rookie of the year by the Associated Press.

Stradford, a fourth-round draft pick from Boston College, led the Dolphins in both receptions and rushing and broke Jim Kiick's 19- year-old team record for a rookie with 1,076 total yards, second best in the AFC behind Eric Dickerson and fifth best in the NFL. Despite starting just five of the 12 games in which he played, he finished with 619 yards rushing on 145 carries and 457 yards receiving on 48 catches. He scored seven touchdowns. "There was no doubt in my mind I could play at this level," said Stradford, who was often injured during his college career and missed what would have been his senior season with a knee injury. "If you don't have confidence in yourself, I don't think you can succeed.

It has to come from within. If you believe in yourself and work hard, good things should happen." The 5-foot-9, 191-pounder beat out running back Bo Jackson of the Los Angeles Raiders in the voting by three writers and broadcasters from each of the NFL's 28 teams. He had 31 votes to 20 for Jackson with scattered support going to two offensive linemen, Bruce Armstrong of New England and Harris Barton of San Francisco, as well as runnning back Christian Okoye of Kansas City, wide receiver Ricky Nattiel of Denver and tight end Robert Await of St. Louis. Stradford, who began the season as a backup to Lorenzo Hampton, came on quickly after the 24-day strike Stradford was Boston College's all- time leading rusher and caught 95 passes.

He is part of a youth movement on the Dolphins, who started five first- or second-year players on defense, including his college teammate, defensive end John Bosa, who was the team's first-round draft choice. Stradford started only the final five games, but he became the first Dolphin in five years to rush for 100 yards three times in a season. His 169-yard effort against Dallas was the third-best in team history. "It was just a matter of time," said Stradford. "Fortunately, I was able to get in there early and I showed some flashes that stuck in the coach's mind." Bilk'linebacker defensive choice NEW YORK (AP) Shane Conlan of the Buffalo Bills, one of the catalysts who led the Bills back into contention, was selected on Tuesday The Associated Press' NFL defensive rookie of the year.

Conlan beat out his own teammate, Cornelius Bennett, in the voting by three sports writers or sportscasters representing each of the NFL's 28 teams. Ironically, it was the acquisition and signing of Bennett on Oct. 30 that made both Conlan and the Bills a force, allowing Conlan to move from outside linebacker to inside, where he led Buffalo in tackles with 114 in 12 games. That included 14 in a 34-21 loss to the Los Angeles Raiders. Conlan, one of the leader's on Penn State's collegiate national champions last season, earned the honor despite missing four weeks of training camp in a contract dispute.

He was the eighth player taken in the 1987 draft, which was dominated by linebackers. Bennett was the sec ond player chosen (by Indianapolis), Cleveland got Mike Junkin with the fifth pick and Brian Bosworth went to Seattle in the supplemental draft. Buffalo Coach Marv Levy compares the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Conlan to Jack Lambert, the defensive star on Pittsburgh's four Super Bowl teams of the 1970s. "Conlan's only weakness is inexperience in certain pass situations," Levy says. "Everything else is a strength his physical strength, his speed, his competitiveness, the way he hits and goes through traffic, his stamina.

He is an outstanding all-around player." KU, St. John's to square off in ECAC finals NEW YORK (AP) -Kansas Coach Larry Brown is worried about one of the teams in tonight's championship game of the 36th ECAC Holiday Festival his Jayhawks. Kansas will meet three-time defending Festival champion St. John's, which beat Marist 66-59 in the first Carnesecca round. The game will begin at 8 p.m and will be shown on KSHB (Salina Channel 7).

Kansas certainly wasn't impressive in its 64-62 opening- round victory over No. 19 Memphis State Monday night. The Jayhawks, 8-2, who entered the Memphis State game shooting 58 percent from the field, made just 25 of 66, 38 percent, against the Tigers. "This part of the year is for learning," Brown said. "I can't discourage kids from taking shots.

Certainly, we'd like to get the ball in his hands but that's the way they played us." The hands Brown wants the ball in belong to Danny Manning, who had 19 points and 16 rebounds against MSU. "I rebounded better tonight," Manning said. "I concentrated on offense but had nothing to show for it." Brown wants his team to have something to show for the tough games. "We don't worry too much about the opposition," Brown said. "We have to work on our own game.

We have to work on our players having established an understanding of we have to score." Kansas, which has won seven in a row, scored enough earlier in the year to beat the Redmen 63-54 in Lawrence. "We remember quite well what they did to us," St. John's Coach Lou Carnesecca said. "What they did was they picked our pockets well." The Redmen, 7-1, got a big break against Marist when 7- foot-4 Rik Smits was limited to just six scoreless minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. St.

John's now faces another team which relies heavily on one man. "We can try to stop Danny Manning but he'll get las," said St. John's Jayson Williams, who scored 13 against Marist, two less than Shclton Jones. "What we've got to do is not get beat by the other guys." "Manning's a very smart player," Jones said. "He has the size and quickness and he can outsmart you." Brown has some thoughts on what Manning must do for the Jayhawks.

"Danny has to be the center on defense and the quarterback on offense," Brown said. Switzer says he would play for Orange Bowl tie Miami counterpart says going for win is the better choice MIAMI (AP) Coaches Barry Switzer of No. 1-ranked Oklahoma and Jimmy Johnson of runner-up Miami had a strategy disagreement Tuesday on whether they would play to win or tie in Friday night's Orange Bowl showdown. Four years ago, top-ranked Nebraska literally threw away a national championship with a unsuccessful two-point conversion pass in the Orange Bowl against Miami, allowing the Hurricanes to win by a point and claim the national title. Switzer said he would not make the same decision as his Big 8 rival, Tom Osbornedid.

"If you're the No. 1 team in the country going in and win or tie, you think you'd be No. 1 coming out," he said. Johnson, whose club is 11-0, like Switzer's, but is ranked second behind Oklahoma, disagreed. "You play the game to win," said.

"You don't play the game to tie." On Jan. 2, 1984, a 1MJ Nebraska team that hud been ranked No. 1 all season and was considered one of the Lest in the history of college football, scored in the final minute of the Orange Bowl to cut fifth-ranked Miami's lead to 31-30. OU coach named to hall of honor MIAMI (AP) Oklahoma's Barry Switzer, the third-winningest coach in the history of college football, was one of four inductees into the Orange Bowl's Hall of Honor on Tuesday. The others were Penn State Coach Joe Paterno, former Penn State defensive tackle MiRe Reid and former Colorado center-defensive lineman Joe Romig.

Paterno, whose team meets Clemson in the Florida Citrus Bowl on New Year's Day, was unable to attend the annual Orange Bowl coaches' luncheon. Reid accepted his plaque. The induction came as a surprise to Switzer, who will be a head coach in the Orange Bowl for the ninth time when No. 1 Oklahoma meets No. 2 Miami on Friday night.

Switzer, who also was an assistant under Chuck Fairbanks when Oklahoma beat Tennessee 26-24 in the Orange Bowl 20 years ago, said he hoped to return "many, many more times in the future." His Orange Bowl record as a head coach is 6-2 and two of his three national championships came as a result of victories in the annual Jan. 1 game. "It takes a supporting cast of hundreds to make anyone's accomplishments and achievements be recognized," said Switzer, whose winning percentage of .847 (148-25-4) trails only former Notre Dame coaches Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy. Second-ranked Texas, the nation's only other unbeaten-untied team during the regular season, had lost its Cotton Bowl game to Georgia 10-9 earlier in the day. Nebraska knew it and blew it when a pass was batted away in the end zone.

"You'd have thought if Nebraska had kicked the extra point and tied, they'd have been the national champions, "Switzer said. "I'd have kicked it. Ten years from now, those Nebraska kids will have nothing to remember instead of wearing a national championship ring. "We played for a tie in Lincoln last year against Nebraska (the Sooners kicked a game-tying extra point with 1:22 left but won 20-17 anyway) because it gave us the Big Eight championship anil put us in the Orange Bowl." At the time, however, the Sooners' hopes for a No. 1 finish were slim since they had a loss (to Miami) and were ranked No.

3 behind the Hurricanes and Penn State. "If you go by the last poll and the vote difference, you'd think a win or a tie would win the championship," Switzer said. "When you have 50 of the votes vs. Aactually, it was 47-9 in the Associated Press' final regular-season poll. "If we were in Nebraska's position, I'd say we'd go for the tie because the odds are that say if you go in No.

1 and you come out with a win or tie, you're No. 1 in the poll," Switzer said. 'But you'd think so; you'd think so." Johnson, on the other hand, doesn't even want to think about a tie. "I would not anticipate a tie," he said. "I know that I would never play for a tie.

"The only way we would ever go for a tie would be well, we would have to be 30 or 40 yards out with a few seconds on the clock and three points behind. "Arid since I don't anticipate there being a tie, I don't even think about anything like that." For the record, neither Oklahoma nor its opponents attempted a two- point conversion this season. Miami was 4-for-4, its opponents 2-for-5. The national average was up from a 39.7 percent success rate a year ago to 43.5 percent. Oklahoma coach Banv await then introduction at the Ot (left) and Miami co.

anye Bowl Coaches Johnson Luncheon.