The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 28

D4 THE JOURNAL-NEWS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 2, 1990 1 i i i 1 1 Ohio State 1 wrecks ctcs up Auburn, Icicle pi kick) completed a 20-yarder to Alexander Wright to set up Taylor's first TD. Ohio State's first-half touchdown drives covered 80 and 81 yards, the latter following a 19-yard field goal by Win Lyle that trimmed the Buckeyes' lead to 7-3 with 2:14 left in the opening period. Frey, who hit eight of 10 passes for 159 yards in the first half, fueled the 81-yard march with completions of 13 and 11 yards to Graham and a short flip to Snow that the junior running back turned into a 29-yard gain. Auburn 31, Ohio State 14 during the 80-yard march the quarterback capped with his TD run on third-and-4. The drive consumed more than eight minutes and gave Auburn a 24-17 lead with 9:22 remaining.

Stacy Danley, who rushed for 85 yards on 20 carries, set up Casey's TD reception with a 17-yard run after Ohio State failed to pick up a first down on a fake punt. The loss was Ohio State's worst in a postseason game since the 1978 Sugar Bowl, when Alabama beat the Buckeyes 35-6. Carlos Snow scored on a 1-yard run and Greg Frey threw a 9-yard TD pass to Brian Stableim to help the Big Ten's leading offense to a 14-3 lead before Auburn's defense, tops in the Southeastern Conference, stiffened. Ohio State threatened once in the second half but a drive that reached the Auburn 15 stalled when Quentin Riggins intercepted Frey's pass with less than three minutes to go- Frey, whose improved play was instrumental in Ohio State's turnaround from a 4-6-1 record in 1988, was 16-for-31 for 232 yards. Jeff Graham had five receptions for 103 yards, including a 68-yarder that set up the Buckeyes' first touchdown.

Auburn, outgained 217 yards to 135 in the first half, pulled within 14-10 after Shayne Wasden returned a punt 34 yards to the Ohio State 33 late in the second quarter. Slack, who earlier wasted a 30-yard return by Wasden when he threw into triple coverage and was intercepted by Mark Pelini, threw two yards to James Joseph and The Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. Reggie Slack shrugged off a slow start to throw for three touchdowns and run for a fourth yesterday, helping ninth-ranked Auburn overcome an 11-point deficit and crush No. 21 Ohio State 31-14 in the Hall of Fame Bowl. Slack, intercepted twice in the first half, completed his last 12 passes, including an 11-yard touchdown to Greg Taylor just before halftime.

He also had a 4-yard flip to the speedy receiver that gave the Tigers a 17-14 lead five minutes into the third quarter. The senior quarterback, criticized early in the season when Auburn was winning but not by lopsided margins, put the game away with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns one on a 5-yard run HALL OF FAME BOWL that capped a 16-play, 80-yard drive, the other on a 2-yard pass to Herbert Casey. Slack finished 16-for-22 for 141 yards and was voted the game's most valuable player. The victory was the sixth straight for Auburn (10-2), which silenced critics down the stretch and won 10 games for the third time in four seasons. Ohio State, which won six of its last seven regular-season games, finished 8-4.

Slack completed his last three passes of the first half and all nine of his attempts for 67 yards after halftime. Auburn converted twice on third down and once on fourth Aub Taylor 11 past from Slack (Lyle kick) Aub Taylor 4 past from Slack (LyK kick) -J. Aub Slack 5 run (Lyle kick)" Aub Catty 3 pats torn Slack (Lytt kick) -v A 52,535. OSU a': First downs IS 21 Rushes-yards 3846 45-17 Patting 232 141 Return Yards 25 73 Comp-Att-Int 1641-1 10-234, Punts 741 Mia Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1 Penalties-Yards 5-33 2-15? Time of Possession 28:13 I INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING OMo State, S.Graham 12-53, Booed 13-42, Frey 8-(mlnus 28), Lee 2-0, Dumat 1-mtnut 1)3 Auburn, Danley 204)5, Wltiams 1046, Joseph 7-43? Strong 2-7, A.Wright 1-4, Slack Mmtnus 14). PASSING Ohio State, Fray 16-31-1-232.

Au bum, Slack 16-22-2-141, Mcintosh 0-1-04). RECEIVING Ohio State, J.Graham 5-103. OJveJ 4-55, Snow 3-30, Pakner 1-25, B. Stable 1-9, Let 1-J 5. S.Graham 1-5.

Auburn, A.Wright 4-59, Taylor 4-33a Joseph 3-20, Casey 2-15, Wasden 1-9, Danley 141 Cherry 1-(minus-3). 5 Ohio SUM Auburn 7 7 0 014 3 7 7 1431 OSU Snow 1 run (O'Morrow kick) Auto Lyle 19 FQ OSU B. Stablein 9 pass from Frey (O'Morrow FIESTA BOWL CITRUS DOWL George passes lllini to victory Att Florida St. takes air route to win The Associated Press TEMPE, Ariz. Peter Tom Willis threw for 422 yards and five touchdowns, both Fiesta Bowl records, as fifth-ranked Florida State routed No.

6 Nebraska The Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. Jeff George passed for S212 yards and three touchdowns yesterday as llth-rankedj Illinois won its first postseason game in 26 years, 31-21 over Virginia in the Citrus Bowl. George, who completed 26 of 38 passes, hit four! straight for 71 yards to open the second half and sparkj an 84-yard scoring drive. It was culminated by Howard Griffith's 3-yard touchdown run that gave the lllini aj 24-7 lead. I Illinois, runner-up in the Big Ten, finished with 10-2 record, los- "A I 41-17 yesterday.

The victory capped a 10-2 season for surging Florida State, which won its final 10 games. It was the worst overall loss for Nebraska since Oklahoma beat the Cornhuskers 38-7 in 1977. Nebraska used a blocked punt and a 2-yard touchdwn run by Mickey Joseph with 1:16 to play to avert its worst bowl defeat since losing 34-7 to Alabama in the 1967 Sugar Bowl. 1 Illinois 31, Virginia 21 7 10 7 31 11 Virginia 0 7 Florida State 41, Nebraska 17 Nebraska 7 3 0 717 Florida St 0 21 20 041 Neb Gregory 9 pass from Gdowski (Barrios kick) FSU Anthony 14 pass from Willis (Andrews kick) Neb FG Drennan 39 FSU R.Johnson 5 pass from Willis (Andrews kick) FSU D.Carter 10 pass from Willis (Andrews kick) FSU Moore 1 run (kick failed) FSU R.Johnson 8 pass from Willis (Andrews kick) FSU Anthony 24 pass from Willis (Andrews kick) Neb Joseph 2 run (Barrios kick) A 73,953. IH Williams 15 past from George (Ng-gins kick) Va Flnkelston 30 past from S.

Moore (Mclnemey kick) IH Donovan 1 pass from George (Higgint kick) la FG Higgint 34 IK Griffith 3 run (Higgint kick) Va Wilson 2 run (Mclnemey kick) II Bellamy 24 past from George (Higgint kick) Va H.Moore 4 pass from Moore (Md-nerneykick) A 60,016. ing only to top-ranked Colorado and No. 3 Michigan. The victory snapped an Illi-n i bowl drought dating back to a 17-7 victory over Washington in the 1964 Rose Bowl. The lllini had lost four straight bowl games since then.

Virginia, co-champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference along with Duke, lost for the first time in three postseason appearances and finished the year 10-3. Shawn Moore threw two touchdown passes and Marcus Wilson scored on a 2-yard run for the 15th-ranked Cavaliers, who had a six-game HI Va First downs 29 18 Rushes-yards 46-176 32-110 Passing 321 212 Return Yards 50 17,. Comp-Att-Int 26-38-1 19-30-2 Punts 3-38 641 Fumbles-Lost 3-3 2-1 Penalties-Yards 4-35 6-40 Time of Possession 34:30 25:30 The Cornhuskers, who haven't won a New Year's Day game since the 1987 Sugar Bowl, are 0-4 in the Fiesta. They lost 31-28 to the Seminoles in 1988, when Danny McManus threw for a then-record 375 yards and three TDs. Willis, named the game's most valuable player, did even better.

He finished 25-for-40 after completing 15 of 21 passes for 250 yards in the first half. He was 12 of 14 for 210 yards and three touchdowns in the second quarter alone as the Seminoles led 21-10 at half-time. Willis, a fifth-year senior who threw for a school-record 3,124 yards this season, put Florida State ahead to stay at 14-10 on a 5-yard pass Neb 18 46-115 207 5 15-26-2 3-34 5-3 6-48 32:30 FSU 18 24-72 422 42 25-41-0 3-36 0-0 13-135 27:30 First downs Rushes-yards Passing Return Yards Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession Associated Press Tennessee running back Chuck Webb rambles aound right end for 35 yards against Arkansas yesterday in the Cotton Bowl. Webb runs for 250 yards, powers Tennessee, 31-27 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Illinois. Griffith 18-63, Feagin 10-54, Lester 6-17, Thomas 4-15, Bowlay-Williams 2-10, Bellamy 1-6, Shavers 2-4, Bel 1-2, George 2-(minus 27).

Virginia, Klrby (-64, S.Moore 15-34, Wilson 8-10, Greggt 1-2. PASSING Illinois. George 26-38-1-321. Virginia, S. Moore 17-27-2-191, Bkindm 2-3-0-21.

RECEIVING Illinois, Bellamy 8-166, Williams 4-45, Griffith 643. Donovan 2-1 1, Bell 2-12, Flnke 1-23, Hartley 1-9, Wax 14, Feagin 1-(minus-3). Virginia, H. Moon 56, Finkelston 349, Kirov 2-21, McGonnigal 2-17, Wilson 2-14, Cooke 1-14, Dooley 1-10, Steele 1-7, Greggs 1-6, Ryales 1-(mlnua 2). INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Nebraska.

Clark 16-66, Flowers 4-25, Carpenter 3-6, Rogers 4-3, Bell 1-2, Gdowski 12-1, Hughes 1 -(minus 2), Joseph 44minus 2), Washington 1 -(minus 4). Florida Carter 13-72. Lee 2-6. Bennett 3-3, Moore 4-3, Dawsey 1 -(minus 4), Willis 1-(minus 8). PASSING Nebraska, Gdowski 13-23-2-154.

Stigge 1-1-0-41, Joseph 1-2-0-12. Florida Willis 25-40-0-422, Wekton 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING Nebraska, Gregory 4-67, Bell 3-46, Bostick 3-27, Carpenter 24), Dowse 1-41, Garrett 1-15, Hughes 1-5. Florida Anthony 6-88, Lewis 5-106. Dawsey 4-66.

D.Carter 3-47, R.Johnson 3-27, Baker 2-49, Bennett 1-30. Lee 1-9. MISSED FIELD GOALS Florida Mason 37, Andrews 39. Nebraska, Drennan 49. Arkansas, the Southwest Conference champions, stormed 56 yards behind Grovey to take a 6-3 lead on Foster's 1-yard run.

The extra point failed when holder Gary Adams bobbled the low snap. Before Pickens' interception, the Razorbacks drove from their own 43 to the Tennessee 2-yard line behind Rouse, who tore off runs of nine, 12, 12, and 13 yards. Tennessee 31, Arkansas 27 Tennessee 3 14 14 031 Arkansas 6 0 7 1427 Ten FG Burke 23 Ark Foster 1 run (run failed) Ten Morgan 84 pass from Kelly (Burke kick) Ten Webb 1 run (Burke kick) Ten Amsler 1 pass from Kelly (Burke kick) Ark Rouse 1 run (Wright kick) Ten Webb 78 run (Burke kick) Ark Foster 1 run (Foster run) Ark B.Winston 67 pass from Grovey (pass failed) A 74,358. The Associated Press DALLAS Chuck Webb gained 250 yards and scored two touchdowns, including a 78-yard run to ignite No. 8 Tennessee to its 600th collegiate victory, 31-27 over 10th-ranked Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl yesterday.

Tennessee, 11-1, became the 10th school to reach the 600-victory milestone. Arkansas finished the year 10-2 as it lost its second straight Cotton Bowl. Webb's rushing total on 26 carries was second best in Cotton Bowl history, trailing only the 265 yards by Rice's Dicky Maegle against Alabama in 1954. Arkansas, which trailed 24-6 in the third quarter, battled to the very end. Quinn Grovey threw a 67-yard scoring pass to tight end Billy Winston, who fumbled the ball at the 3 and then recovered in the end zone with 1:25 to play.

But Tennessee clinched the game when Alvin Harper recovered the Hogs' onside kick at the Arkansas 48. Tennessee's Andy Kelly threw two touchdown passes, including an 84-yarder, and freshman Carl Pickens helped turn the game around late in the second quarter with an interception. With Tennessee trailing 6-3, Pickens intercepted Grovey's pass in the end zone and returned the ball to the 13-yard line. COTTON DOWL Two plays later, Kelly found Anthony Morgan alone behind the Arkansas secondary for the 84-yard TD pass, longest in Tennessee's 30-year bowl history and second longest in the 54 years of the Cotton Bowl. Tennessee struck again on a 70-yard drive highlighted by Webb's runs of 15 and 36 yards before he scored from the 1-yard line for a 17-6 halftime lead.

A 1-yard pass to Greg Amsler staked the Vols to their 24-6 third-period lead. Webb's spectacular 78-yard scoring run, third longest in Cotton Bowl history, came after James Rouse had scored on a 1-yard run for Arkansas in the third period. Barry Foster's 1-yard TD run early in the fourth period narrowed Arkansas' deficit to 31-21. However, linebacker Kacy Rodgers stopped Foster for no gain on fourth-and-1 at the Tennessee 10 with 8:29 to play. Arkansas was thwarted again with 2:40 to play when it drove to the Tennessee 27 and Todd Wright missed a 44-yard field goal.

The Vols, tri-champions of the Southeastern Conference along with Auburn and Alabama, opened the scoring on Greg Burke's 23-yard field goal. winning streak snapped. The game started ominously for the Cavaliers when. Wilson fumbled the opening kickoff. Illinois' BflE Henkel recovered at the Virginia 36.

George needed five plays to get into the end zone, hitting Steve Williams with a 15-yard pass for a 70 lead. After Virginia tied the game 7-7, George drove the lllini 80 yards. His 68-yard pass to Mike Bellamy was the big play on the drive, which ended on a 1-yard scoring throw to reserve tight end Dan Donavon. zrj Bellamy caught a 24-yard TD pass from George lfi the fourth quarter as Illinois built a 31-14 edge with 12:58 left in the game. Two fumbles by Illinois freshman Steve Feagin' deep in Virginia territory stopped second-half drives one at the Cavaliers 13 and another at the 20.

George, named the game's MVP, threw two toucjF down passes and Doug Higgins kicked a 34-yard field goal on the final play of the half as the lllini took a YtK 7 lead. Illinois dominated the half, piling up 216 compared to 110 for Virginia, while running off 18" more plays. Virginia, which averaged 216 yards a game rushing during the regular season, managed just 34 yards on the ground in the opening half Virginia didn't capitalize on its first break of the game. Matt Woods recovered a fumble by Williams on a punt return at the Illinois 38 midway through the first period. The Cavaliers moved to the Illinois 8, but Moore was intercepted in the end zone by linebacker Darrick Brownlow.

Ark Ten 16 31 72-361 207 19 to Reggie Johnson with 6:55 remaining in the second quarter. It came three plays after Chris Drennan missed a 49-yard field goal. Drennan had given Nebraska a 10-7 lead on a 39-yarder six minutes earlier. Willis hit Terry Anthony on a 14-yard scoring pass 1:18 into the second quarter and found Dexter Carter on a 10-yarder 24 seconds before halftime. Paul Moore's 1-yard plunge in the third quarter put the Seminoles up 27-10 before John Davis' blocked punt set up Willis' 8-yard TD pass to Johnson 2:32 later.

Willis' fifth touchdown pass, a 24-yarder to Anthony with two seconds remaining in the third quarter, made it 41-10. The Cornhuskers led 7-0 on Gerry Gdowski's 9-yard TD pass to Morgan Gregory 3:41 into the game before a crowd of 73,953 at Sun Devil Stadium. Gdowski was 13-for-23 for 154 yards with two interceptions. He had just two interceptions during the regular season, none in his last 92 passes. Nebraska, which made only two turnovers in its last three regular-season game, had five yesterday, including three in the first half.

The Cornhuskers were held to 322 yards total offense 115 of it rushing. They led the nation in rushing this season with a 375.3-yard average. Florida State finished with 494 yards total offense. 38-320 150 39 First downs Rushes-yards Passing Return Yards Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession 9-23-2 12-22-1 5-39 3-44 0-0 4-36 22:17 3-2 3-20 37:43 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Tennessee, Webb 26-250, Moore 1-36, Amsler 1-15, Poles 2-13, Thompson 3-12, Kelly 5-(minus 6). Arkansas, Rouse 22-134, Foster 22-103, E.Jackson 9-48, Grovey 9-34, Harshaw 8-31 Russell 1- 6, Price 1-5.

PASSING Tennessee, Kelly 9-23-2-150. Arkansas, Grovey 12-22-1-207, RECEIVING Tennessee, Morgan 2-96, Harper 2- 28, Reeves 1-17, Amsler 2-7, Woods 1-6, Pickens 1-(minus 3). Arkansas, Russell 7-105, B.Winston 4-94, Horton 1-8. 1 Giants have a chance to pay back Rams for big loss opt hl fpam ntn tha onrl iina nnnln NFL playoffs schedule Wild Card Sunday, Dec. 31 NFC Los Angeles Rams 21 Philadelphia 7 AFC Pittsburgh 26, Houston 23 Divisional Playoffs Saturday, Jan.

6 AFC Buffalo at Cleveland, 12:30 p.m. NFC Minnesota at San Francisco, 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 7 NFC Los Angeles Rams at New York Giants, 12:30 p.m. AFC Pittsburgh at Denver, 4 p.m.

Conference Championships Sunday, Jan. 14 Super Bowl XXIV Sunday, Jan. 28 At New Orleans 6 p.m. they beat us," Carthon said. "Beat us everywhere.

That was the hardest loss we took since I've been here." The upcoming practices will no doubt be more focused and intense than last week's. "You go through the week and try to prepare for both teams," Carthon said. "But now we know who we're playing. Sure, it's better now. We can really prepare for them now." Center Bart Oates said the off week wasn't that hard, physically or mentally, even though the Giants were trying to prepare for two teams instead of one.

"It just gave us a chance to go back to some fundamentals and relax," Oates said. "When you've been there 22, 23 weeks, it's nice to have a week off." The Giants, who finished the year 12-4, were out of the previous meeting with the Rams by the end of the first quarter. Oates thinks things could turn out quite differently in the wintry swirls of Giants Stadium. "I think we can beat them," he said. "They play a good, solid scheme defensively, there's no doubt about that.

But we played bad out there. We didn't do anything well. We just have to go out and do it this time." The Rams did something against Philadelphia Sunday they didn't do against the Giants. They stopped scoring. After two quick touchdowns in the first quarter, Rams quarterback Jim Everett failed to By Ernie Palladino Staff Writer EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.

-The anticipation of a week ago turned into a sense of purpose for two Giants moments after the Los Angeles Rams beat the Philadelphia Eagles 21-7 in Sunday's NFC wild-card playoff game. For a week, the Giants studied films of both the Rams and the Minnesota Vikings, their possible opponents for this Sunday's NFC semifinal at Giants Stadium. They can now narrow their focus to the Rams the team that blasted them 31-10 in the sunny warmth of Anaheim, Calif, in the 10th game of the season. If the Eagles would have won, the Giants would have played the until the fourth quarter, after Greg Bell got them near the Eagles 10 with a 54-yard run. When the Giants met LA, the Rams took advantage of Jim Everett's arm and loose pan coverage to roll up a 31-3 lead by the end of the third quarter.

The Rams' failure to run away with the wild-card game gives Carthon no added optimism, though, Everett and his crew of receivers can strike at any time, as they showed against Philadelphia. "It doesn't work for us," he "They scored 31 points the last time, and they could do it again. They're a big-play team. This is the second or third time I watched them since then, and they can still cause a lot of problems." RAMS-GIANTS SUNDAY, 12:30 P.M., CH. 2 Vikings because league rules prohibit two teams from the same division meeting in the playoffs before the conference championship game.

Running back Maurice Carthon said revenge for the Giants' worst margin of defeat this year hasn't become a factor, despite the manhandling. Advancement to the NFC championship game against the winner of Saturday's Minnesota-San Francisco matchup provides plenty of motivation. Still, a big win Sunday wouldn't hurt, Carthon said. "They knocked us around when.