The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 18

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12. 1999 A LOS ANGELES TIMES- Pitt Makes Case for Rivalry With Penn State to Continue Nonconference: Panthers make it close for second year in a row, but they lose to No.2Nittany Lions, 20-17. From Associated Press -STATE COLLEGE, Pa Maybe Pitt-Penn State is a rivalry after all. "Pittsburgh, a 34-point underdog, gave No. 2 Penn State a scare on Saturday for the second straight year before losing, 20-17.

difference was Penn State's Travis Forney kicked a 24-yard field goal with 1:20 left, and then the Nittany Lions' LaVar Arrington blocked a 52-yard field-goal attempt by Pitt with four seconds left. "If they didn't make a statement that this is a rivalry," Arrington said, "then I don't know what a rivalry is. It was too close, but we still came through." Pittsburgh (1-1) lost to Penn State (3-0) for the seventh consecutive time, but thanks to great defensive line play, stuck with the Lions for the second year in a row. It was 2(H3 last season. Before the last two years, the series, now in its 107th year, had turned lopsided, prompting debate about whether it should continue.

The last scheduled meeting is next September. Penn State Coach Joe Patcrno was glad to see his team tested after blowouts against Arizona and Akron. "We knew a game like this would come for us because things have come so easy for us," he said. "You've got to be able to win a game like this." Penn State visits No. 8 Miami next Saturday.

Eric McCoo scored Penn State's first touchdown on a seven-yard run and Mike Ceriniele scored the second on an an 11-yard reception. Penn State started the winning drive on its IG-yard line. Kevin Thompson's 51-yard pass to Eddie Drum-moiid put Penn State on Pitt's 11, setting up Forney's go-ahead field goal. Pitt's Hank Poteat ran the kickoff back to the-50E and John Turman, who threw for 316 yards ajid.thJtC touchdowns, passed to Latef Grim for a 25-yard "gain. But David Fleischhauer sacked Turman and Nick Lotz's field-goal attempt was blocked by Arlington, "I should have thrown it away," Turman, said of the sack on third down.

"It's tough, but whole team showed a spark." Penn State had only 65 yards rushing and Kevin Thompson threw two interceptions. "Our guys played their butts off," Pitt CoachWaTl Harris said. 1 B6 TOP 25 ROUNDUP Gators Readyl 'I i for Tennessee? After 58-27 Win From Associated Press 'L: GAINESVILLE, team playedCetter, but No. 4 Florida's outlook didn't change: Tfiese first two victories of the season mean next to nothing- In the final tuneup before the Gators Doug Johnson threw for four scores anrtl'lDiidri scored seven touchdowns before halftime iaj 58-27 victory over Central Florida. In almost every way, the victory SatijrdSjf night was better than Florida's opener, a mistake-middled 55-26 victory over Western Michigan.

Bubtltwre wa little celebrating going on. tf- The real season begins next week. -o "You can throw out the first two gamess-ujd Gators coach Steve Spurrier. "All we did was WuVa couple ballgames and didn't lose anything ii 'tjie'ratik1 ings. If.

Tennessee would have played'toHay, they would have said about the same thing. Nowtho mal season starts against the real teams. EncMiaKL'd, discouraged? I don't know." 7 1 -1 i No. 6 Michigan 37, Rice 3 PAC-10 ROUNDUP Nebraska's Crouch, Defense Stun Bears From Associated Press LINCOLN. Crouch became the first Nebraska player since Johnny Rodgers in 1973 to run, throw and catch a pass for a touchdown as the No.

5 Cornhuskers beat California 45-0 Saturday. Nebraska (2-0) held the Golden Bears to 145 total yards and didn't allow an offensive touchdown for the second straight week. The Cornhusk-ers have outscored their opponents 87-7 this season. Cal (1-1) was able to shut down Nebraska's powerful running game, holding the Cornhuskers to 114 yaids on 18 carries, but penalties and big plays stopped the Bears. Cal was called for 14 penalties for 1 10 yards.

Crouch, who lost a preseason battle with Bobby Newcombe for the stin ting quarterback job, led the Cornhuskers' offense despite sitting out most of the first quarter and all of the fourth. He was 2-for-2 passing for 102 yards and a touchdown, had nine carries for 21 yards and two scores and caught one pass for a 60-yard touchdown. Rodgers ran, passed and caught a pass for a touchdown in Nebraska's 40-6 win over Notre Dame in the 1973 Orange Bowl. Rodgers was the Heis-man Trophy winner that season. Newcombe ran for a touchdown and threw a pass to Crouch for another.

He finished with 11 yards on 12 carries and completed 3-of-7 passes for 85 yards. Sam demons led Cal with 84 passing yards before leaving the game in the third quarter with an injured leg. Kyle Boiler, a freshman, was 2-forlO for 21 yards with an interception. Cal managed just 40 rushing yards, led by tailback Marcus Fields' 29 on 14 carries. Nebraska coach Frank Solich alternated Newcombe and Crouch in each series of the second and the move led to two big plays that broke the game open after a slow first quarter.

With the Cornhuskers leading 14-0 late in the second quarter, Crouch and Tracey Wistrom connected on a 70-yard scoring play to put Nebraska up 21-0. Wistrom didn't have a defender within 20 yards when he caught the ball around the Cal 35-yard line and zigzagged his way to the end zone. Newcombe took over on the next series and threw a short pass to Crouch, who had lined up at split end. Crouch caught it at the Nebraska 41-yard line Af-souateii Press Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch tries to break away from California defenders Sekou Sanyika, left, and Damian Marzett in the second quarter. The Huskers have outscored their first two opponents 87-7.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. Drew HensOnr rhaps gaining a step in Michigan's quarterback race, scored one touchdown and passed for another in a 37-3 romp over the Owls on Saturday. Anthony Thomas ran for 87 yards and two touchdowns and Jeff Del Verne, a walk-on who received a scholarship earlier in the week, kicked three field goals for Michigan (2-0). No. 9 Wisconsin 50, Ball St.

10 MADISON, Wis. Ron Dayne moved closer to a national rushing record and ffiek DVs returned a kickoff for a touchdown as No. 9 Wiscwfc sin rolled over Ball State 50-10. i The best offensive weapon for the Badgers jp0) wasn't Dayne, who needs 1,424 in Wisconsin j-'nine remaining games to beat the NCAA major-college mark set last year by Texas' Ricky Williaras finished with 31 carries that included a 2-yardfl'tor a touchdown, his fourth of the season, in the third quarter. f.

No. 11 Virginia Tech 31, UAB 10 BLACKSBURG, Va Despite throwing tf.Urij.' tercentions and losim? a fumble. Dave feated Texas- El Paso 47 28. Michael Fletcher added a 57-yard punt return for a touchdown as the Ducks (1-1) rallied from an early deficit to win easily. UTEP's Lee Mays caught seven passes for 164 yards, including a 90-yard touchdown from Rocky Perez that gave UTEP a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter.

But Oregon responded with 17 straight points to end the half, and went on to hand the Miners (11) their 16th straight loss to a Pac-10 team dating to 1974. UTEP's Paul Smith rushed for 106 yards and two late touchdowns, a 4-yard run with 5:10 to play and a 71-yarder with 2:32 left. Feeley started slowly but recovered for his second straight impressive per formance. Eight of his first 10 passes were incomplete, with two drops, before he went 8-for-9 for 134 yards in the second quarter. Feeley, who had 343 yards in his first college start last week at Michigan State, was 12-of-24 for 176 yards.

He had scoring tosses of 22, 35 and 35 yards. Tight end LaCorey Collins scored two of the TDs, and his other catch was a sensational one-handed grab in the fourth quarter. He spun around and reached high for a 27-yard pass from backup Joey Harrington that set up Allan Amundson's 2-yard TD run to make it 47-16. Perez completed 10 of 17 passes for 150 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Backup Jay Stuckey was 10-of-17 for 121 yards and a 1-yard sneak for a touchdown that cut the lead to 2416 with 6:09 left in the third.

Oregon then ran off 23 straight points. Oregon St. 46, Fresno St. 23 CORVALLIS, Ore Ken Simonton fumbled the ball away on the first play, then redeemed himself by scoring two touchdowns in Oregon State's mistake-filled 46-23 victory over Fresno State. Junior college transfer Imani Percoats added two touchdowns for Orr-gon State, the first of his Division I career, on passes of 19 and 18 yards from quarterback Jonathan Smith.

Fresno State took a 7-0 lead after Si-monton's fumble, scoring in three plays on a 25-yard pass from Billy Volek to Hanker Rodney Wright just over a minute into thr game, Simonton, who ran 31 tin.es for 178 yards, wasn't alone when it came to mistakes. Fresno State punter Joel Comfort bobbled the ball in the end zone for a safety at 7:33 in the first quarter, and a second snap sailed over his head for another safety 14 plays later with 4:31 left in the period, giving Oregon State a 13-7 lead. and went all the way for his second touchdown of the game. Crouch's touchdown on a 1-yard dive capped a 9-play, 80-yard drive midway through the second quarter and put the Huskers up 14-0. Newcombe looked shaky early, badly missing his first two passes and getting sacked twice, but he got the Cornhuskers offense going late in the second quarter when he scrambled around the right side for a 22-yard gain.

Newcombe kept the ball on three consecutive options, scoring from 12 yards out to give Nebraska a 7-0 lead. Cal had its offense going in the first quarter but blew an opportunity to take an early lead. The Bears drove from their 31-yard line to the Nebraska 14, but a holding penalty and a sack drove them back to the 25 and Ig-nacio Brache's field-goal attempt bounced off the left upright. Brache hit the same upright on an attempt in the third quarter. Nebraska freshman Josh Brown kicked a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter, and backup running back Dan Alexander had a 5-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

Oregon 47, UTEP 28 EUGENE, Ore. AJ. Feeley passed for three second-quarter touchdowns and Reuben Droughns ran for 108 yards and another score as Oregon de able to pace Tech to a 31-10 victory ovjifiKB thanks to a big effort by the defense. 7 No. 12 Georgia 24, South Carolina 9.

N' 7- ATHENS, Ga South Carolina finally scored th! first points of the Lou Holtz era, but not ertoiigh tql beat No. 12 Georgia. Quincy Carter threw a 47-yard touchdown ags" Terrence Edwards, Jasper Sanks rushed for high 130 yards and Kendrell Bell led the swmin! Bulldogs defense in a 24-9 victory. No. 17 Kansas St.

40, Temple 0 MANHATTAN, Kan Frank Murphy ran for 11SJ, yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, leadirig No. 17 Kansas State to a 40-0 victory over Temple." ''7' The Wildcats won in front of a record crpwdof 50,624, the result of a expansion, of iCSW, Stadium. IRISH: Boilermakers Hold On in Final Seconds No. 21 Alabama 37, Houston 10 'rig Aim If i i i 1 BIRMINGHAM, Alexander hadihret' touchdowns and Alabama scored three times in ju over seven minutes as the 21st-ranked Crimson Tint' beat Houston 37-10. The Tide scored on its first two possessions o'n 'the, way to gaining 505 yards.

7- Clemson 33, No.22 Virginia 14 CLEMSON, S.C.-Old coach Danny Ford imay have gotten the loudest ovation, but Bran" don Streeter showed the Tigers' future, passing for i school-record 342 yards and two touchdowns in '3 3314 victory over No. 22 Virginia. Ford, saluted at Death Valley for the first time -til 10 years as he was inducted into the school's han 'of fame, led the Tigers to a national championship and five Atlantic Coast Conference titles in with power running and ball control. No. 23 N.C.

State 38, William Mary 9 't RALEIGH, N.C No. 23 North Carolina State ami Jamie Barnette produced the offensive tune-up that was needed, building a 31-point halftime route to a 38 9 victory over William The Wolfpack (3-0) beat Texas and South Carolina the two previous weekends to crack the top 25, but had mustered only a combined 13 first. downs and 268 yards and wanted a good showing heading to Nq. 1 Florida State next Saturday. 1 't.

Continued from Page 1 with time running out. Tony Driver was stopped on first-and-goal on the 1, and Notre Dame called a timeout to regroup. The Irish then lined up in a modified wishbone formation, with Jackson lined up in front of fullback Joey Goodspeed and running backs Driver and Tony Fisher. Davie said an isolation running play was called, and Jackson stepped to the line with a planned false check to throw off the defense. Instead, it confused the Notre Dame backs.

Jackson went left, and Purdue's penetration forced him backward, where he was dropped by Mike Rose for a 9-yard loss. Time expired before Jackson could get another play off, and Purdue players and fans spilled onto 'the field. "Going into it, they were going to have two differ ent plays," Rose said. "They were going to try to run it down our throats like they were all game or try to fake and have a boot play. "I just tried to run him down." Davie said the confusion was a breakdown in coaching.

"We had the backs going the wrong way. Some thought it was a check and some thought it wasn't a check," Davie said. "I think we've all learned that we shouldn't be in a situation like that where we have to check at all." Purdue's last stand was one of the few stellar defensive showings as the teams combined for 826 yards, and the quarterbacks controlled the tempo. Jackson was 22-of-34 for 267 yards, a touchdown and an interception. But he was ineffective running the ball, usually one of his strengths, and had 1 yard rushing on 13 attempts.

He was most impressive on third down, going 9-forl2 with 118 yards and eight first downs. Drew Brees continued his assault on the Purdue record book, throwing for 317 yards and completing 24-of-40 with a touchdown and an interception. He moved into third place in career touchdown passes at Purdue with 44 and fourth on the school's completions list with 430. He has 5,047 yards total offense for his career, and is sixth on the school list for passing attempts for 695. He also made up for the two fourth-quarter inter ceptions he threw last year against Notre Dame to hand the Irish a 31-30 victory.

"Last week, I was making decisions but second-guessing myself. I just didn't want to make bad decisions," Brees said, referring to the interceptions. "I cut back on those types of things, not throwing inter ceptions in the red zone, being a little bit smarter with the football." The last-minute fireworks made up for a comedy of errors on both sides in the first half. Two of Purdue's first three plays resulted in turnovers and led to a 10-0 Notre Dame lead. The Boilermakers followed that up by jumping offsides twice one on fourth-and-inches from inside their 15 before Jackson scored on a 1-yard run.

Then Jim Sanson's extra-point kick glanced off the left upright. The Irish had a chance to score again at the end of the half, but stalled after being flagged for holding and illegal motion on successive plays. Jackson hit Javin Hunter for 17 yards to the 23 with time running out, and Jackson went to down the ball. Instead, he lined up under the wrong lineman as the kicking team lined up behind him and time ran out. "I figured the last play of the game we were going to roll the dice, and I said let's blitz them," Tiller said.

"We're going to take a shot. We're going to give our players a chance to make a play." No. 24 Colorado St. 38, Nevada 33 Jj yr FORT COLLIN'S. Colo Matt Newton threw.foi 312 yards and three touchdowns as No.

24 Colorado State overcame a slow start and then helrt'crff' Nevada 38-33. "'n The game was dominated by the offenses fefg. vada (0-2i tVniiheri with yirds, Including. 29 through the air. Colorado Mate (2-0) ga.Wd Purdue quarterback Drew Biees lofts a pass over Notre Dame's Antwon Jones hi ine ot-ectid duaiter..