Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 71

SPORTS Page 1, Section Albuquerque Journal Sunday, August 24, 1986 Sooners Begin Defense of National Championship With 18 Starters Back, Oklahoma Has Hopes for Back-to-Back Titles Dame, where Lou Holtz, a wisecracking disciplinarian, replaces Gerry Faust as head coach. The Irish don't have defensive depth or the type of quarterback who likes to run the option, although Steve Beuerlein is the leading passer in Notre Dame history. "We will be competitive. We want to regain some respect around the country," says Hqltz. "But I can't live up to other peoples' expectations.

Those expectations are a tribute to Notre Dame and its tradition." Elsewhere, the top teams figure to be Penn State in the East; Alabama and Miami in the South; Texas in the Southwest; UCLA on the West Coast; and Brigham Young in the Rockies. passes. Split end Cris Carter caught a school record 58 passes, eight for touchdowns. The top linemen are center Bob Maggs and linebacker Chris Spielman. "Michigan is one of a half-dozen teams that can win the Big Ten," says Schembechler.

"Ohio State is talented, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Minnesota return veteran quarterbacks. And if anybody thinks Iowa and Illinois are out of the race because they lost their quarterbacks, they have another think coming." Michigan State returns junior tailback Lorenzo White, who led the nation in rushing with 1,908 yards. Regardless of what kind of race Michigan and Ohio State wage, the Midwest spotlight will be on Notre second against the rush. Three members of that unit are gone, including All-America nose guard Tony Casillas, the Lombardi Award winner. As usual, Oklahoma's toughest competition in the Big Eight is expected to come from Nebraska, which returns 14 starters.

"Overall defensively we have a chance to be very good, particularly if (linebacker Marc) Munford is ready to go," says coach Tom Osborne, whose team has won at least nine games in each of his 13 seasons. Munford had surgery to repair knee damage last year. The big questions on offense are whether sophomore quarterback Steve Taylor can run the attack and whether Doug DuBose, the first By Herschel Nissenson THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The triple-double, which in basketball means reaching double figures in points, rebounds and assists, has come to college football. And that's what defending national champion Oklahoma will be shooting for as it attempts to become the first team in history to capture consecutive national titles for the third time. The Sooners did it in 1955-56 and 1974-75.

The only other double winner is Alabama (1964-65, 1978-79). Oklahoma returns 18 starters, including 10 of 11 from an offense that scored nearly 31 points a game. The Sooners led the nation in total defense and pass defense and was with 44 lettermen returning. Although Iowa won the Big Ten championship last year, things are expected to be back to normal, meaning a Michigan-Ohio State race. "Offensively last year, for the first time in the history of Ohio State football, we passed for more yardage than we ran for," says Earle Bruce, who returns 15 starters.

"That scares me just a little bit." Quarterback Jim Karsatos set school records with a 61.2 percent completion rate and 19 touchdown Cornhusker to rush for 1,000 yards in both his sophomore and junior seasons, will be penalized by the NCAA for a car purchase. Oklahoma State has a big defensive hole to fill with the graduation of All-American tackle Leslie O'Neal. But the Cowboys have one of the nation's top runners in Thur-man Thomas and two superb defensive backs in All-American Mark Moore and Mike Hudson. Michigan finished second to Oklahoma in The Associated Press poll last year, and the Wolverines are poised to make another run this fall arathon Men No. 1 College Eainikiiig Goes To Oklahoma Finding Time To Train Harder Than Running By Bob Julyan THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AP Top 20 The Top Twenty teams in the preseason Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 1985 record, total points based on 20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 and ranking in the final 1985 poll: Pta Pva 1,171 1 I 1 1,016 976 972 911 892 871 826 11 Record 11-1-0 10-1-1 10- 2-0 9-2-1 9-2-1 11- 1-0 10- 2-0 9-3-0 9-3-0 9-1-2 9-3-0 9-3-0 9-1-1 8- 4-0 9- 2-1 7-3-2 7-5-0 11- 3-0 10-2-0 7-5-0 I.Oklahoma (44) 2.

Michigan (6) 3. Miami, 4. UCLA (3) 5. Alabama 6. Penn State (3) 7.

8. Nebraska (1) 9. Ohio State 10. Tennessee 1 1 Florida State 1 2. Baylor 13.

Florida 14. Auburn 15. Louisiana State 16. Georgia (tie), Washington 18. Brigham Young 19.

Arkansas 20. Michigan State After the decision came the family adjustment, cramming long hours of running into the family's busy schedule. "My wife thinks I'm crazy," says James, laughing, "but she encourages me. She and the kids brought me a Duke City Marathon poster." And finally there comes the training itself. James bought a book, "The Self-Coached and began following the training schedule in it.

Like most, it recommends working up to an endurance base of sometimes 60 miles a week, including at least one long run of 10 to 20 miles. "The training was a little less difficult than I anticipated because I've worked into it. I've got the schedule posted in the bathroom; at least I'll know what I should be doing." Like many first-time marathoners, the real difficulty has not been the running but finding the time to run. Though James typically runs very early in the morning, his position as vice-president of operations for Santa Fe Pacific Mining requires him to travel frequently. "The biggest problem has been reconciling the travel with the running." Still, he's managed to run 40 to 45 miles a week James says he has a time goal for his first marathon, but he won't reveal it and admits he's already modified it several times.

"I'll be real happy to finish and I should finish close to my goal." JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT 9 1 i RAINING for your I I first marathon is like I I going to college: the I I arduous preparation seems endless, but when you finally get the degree, it's yours for life. If all goes well, Patrick James' graduation from would-be marathoner to marathoner will occur on Sept. 28. That's the date of the third annual Duke City Marathon. Though James, 41, has been running "off and on" for about 10 years, the Duke City Marathon will be his first.

And as the race approaches, his experiences have been typical of many first-time marathoners. First, there's been the decision that this will be the year of one's first marathon. For James that decision came last spring. "My wife and I got into a change of living habits. We've both lost weight, and as the weight came off I realized a marathon was within the realm of possibility for me." James picked the Duke City Marathon for his first in part because he didn't want to go out of town.

Also, he has run the event's half-marathon. "It's a well-run event," he says, "and I really enjoyed the half-marathon. There were lots of aid stations and plenty of crowd support. I remember one of the spectators about mile nine with a tape player playing the theme from Chariots of Fire." 673 14 578 4 422 15 404 17 398 5 269 -229 20 220 -220 -210 16 188 12 182 h. VA Defending national champion Oklahoma and runner-up Michigan will begin the 1986 season the way they ended 1985 as the 1-2 teams in the Associated Press college football poll.

And if history is any barometer, Oklahoma stands a good chance of being No. 1 when the final poll is taken on Jan. 2. The Sooners have been No. 1 six times in the preseason poll; on four of those occasions 1956, 1974, 1975 and 1985 they won national championships.

Oklahoma received 44 of 60 first-place votes and 1,171 of a possible 1,200 points from a nationwide panel of sports writers and sportscasters in results announced Saturday. That put the Sooners well ahead of Michigan, which had six first-place ballots and 1,016 points. The 1985 Sooners led the nation in total defense and pass defense and finished second in rushing and scoring defense. Miami of Florida, which was in the title picture until a 35-7 Sugar Bowl loss to Tennessee dropped the Hurricanes to ninth, is third in the preseason poll with one first-place vote and 976 points. UCLA, which finished seventh a year ago, is fourth with three first-place votes and 972 points.

The Bruins open the season by visiting Oklahoma on Sept. 6. Alabama, which opens the season Wednesday night against Ohio State in the Kickoff Classic, is fifth with 911 points. The Crimson Tide finished 13th in 1985. Penn State, which ended the 1985 regular season No.

1 but slipped to third after losing to Oklahoma 25-10 in the Orange Bowl, starts 1986 in sixth place. The Nittany Lions received three first-place votes and 892 points. Texas No. 6 last year, is seventh this time with one first- 11 1 'tiff: place vote and 871 points. Then comes Nebraska, 11th last year, in eighth place with one first-place vote and 826 points.

Rounding out the preseason Top Ten are Ohio State and Tennessee. The Buckeyes, who finished 14th a year ago, are ninth with 673 points. Tennessee, the No. 4 team in 1985, is 10th with 578. The Vols open at home against New Mexico on Sept.

6. A pair of Top Ten teams from 1985 No. 5 Florida and No. 10 Iowa had to settle for the preseason Second Ten. Air Force, No.

8 in 1985, did not make the preseason Top Twenty. The preseason Second Ten consists of Florida State, Baylor, Florida, Auburn, LSU, Georgia and Washington tied for 16th, Brigham Young, Arkansas and Michigan State. It marks Michigan State's first appearance in the Top Twenty since 1979. JOURNAL PHOTO GRANT THERKILDSEN First-time marathoner Patrick James prepares for the third annual Duke City Marathon, Sept. 28.

First One Tough? It Will Get Easier, Says Veteran Racer Lobo Rucker's Play Unseen in Gallup By Frank Maestas JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER 20 years later, Harris quite possibly has run more marathons than anyone in New Mexico his most recent was the 1986 San Francisco Marathon on July 20 and he's also run many races much longer, such as some 24-hour runs. From a "personal worst" of 4:48 in his first marathon he's gone to a "personal best" of 2:53, set in 1982 at the Diggers Marathon in Sydney, Australia. He's also run both previous Duke City Marathons, and he was the first runner to sign up for the 1986 Duke City Marathon on Sept. 28. For runners for whom that will be their first marathon, Harris has the following advice: "Recognize that the early part is uphill, so don't be unduly upset if your pace seems too slow.

The last part will be flat when you need it. "Take it easy. Start off well within yourself. It's really easy to start off too fast. It's OK to burn off a little adrenalin in the first half-mile, but then pull back.

Take it easy the first half of the race. "You've got to realize you've got another few decades of running in which to set a PR, so for your first marathon relax, enjoy the scenery and don't worry about your time." Bob Julyan FTER 81 marathons A (or longer races), AA Richard Harris still JL JLJl remembers his first. It was a hot day in July, 1969, and the race began at noon "perfect conditions for running!" the 46-year-old UNM psychology professor recalls with irony. It was the first Tour of Albuquerque Marathon, and the 26.2-mile course then consisted of several five-mile loops that included a- long hill. "I felt real good the first lap, but by the last laps I was walking anything uphill or even flat." Eventually Harris finished the race, in four hours and 48 minutes; of 18 finishers, he was 17th.

"I was pretty disappointed about running so slowly," he said, "but I felt pretty good about finishing. It was a challenge and I'd done it. And I certainly was encouraged to try more." In fact, he tried the next marathon he could find, one in Artesia six months later. That one also was a slow grind. Harris ran three or four marathons before he finally broke four hours.

"But you keep going, plugging away, and gradually it becomes easier." That was in 1969. Now, almost Junior college transfer Vaughn Simmons accounted for the other score as he took a handoff from Mathis and went 47 yards up the middle. Simmons was later helped off the field, but trainer Tow Diehm said the injury was just a bruised thigh. Dunn, who was the lone official for the scrimmage because the officiating crew never got the word that the team would not be going to Gallup, called it a "typical scrimmage for the end of two-a-days." Said Dunn, "You're never overly pleased with the final two-a-days scrimmage. Basically, it wsn't a bad scrimmage, but it wasn't a good one either.

"Right now the players need to get away from the coaches and forget about football for about 24 hours. So that's basically what they're going to do. "We told them to go out and celebrate tonight and report back Sunday night when we'll start preparing for Tennessee. Even the coaches are a little irritable about now, so they need to get away from the players, too." Dunn said several players who missed practice time this week because of injuries are expected to be ready to go Monday. Gallup football fans would have loved quarterback Billy Rucker's play Saturday.

Rucker passed for two touchdowns and set up another as the University of New Mexico completed two-a-days with a 1-hour, 25-minute, 65-play scrimmage that saw the offense score four times. The scrimmage originally was scheduled to be held in Gallup, Rucker's hometown, but Gallup school officials called UNM coach Joe Lee Dunn Saturday morning and reported overnight rains had left the field in unplayable condition. With UNM Stadium being readied for Saturday night's Mud Bog Championships, the Lobos scrimmaged on the practice field. But it didn't stop Rucker from putting on a fine, if not spectacular, performance in UNM's second-to-last major scrimmage before traveling to Tennessee for the season opener Sept. 6.

Rucker had touchdown passes to wingbacks Terance Mathis and Glenn Rogers covering 37 and 70 yards respectively, and later connected with wide receiver Pat Capa-tolla for 25 yards to the 1. Mathis scored on a pitchout from there. JOURNAL PHOTO JEFF ALEXANDER Richard Harris ran his first marathon in 13 years later, he ran a 2:53..