Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • Page 81

Sunday, October 8, 2000 THE HARTFORD COURANT E9 COLLEGE FOOTBALL YALE I 1-. I ft I XHw i.i Wesleyan No Match For Colby There's No Stopping ConleyTo Noyes By WOODY ANDERSON Courant Staff Writer WATERVTLLE, Maine It wasn't just one receiver that bothered the overworked Wesleyan defense, it was six in a myriad of patterns. Everything clicked Saturday for Colby in a 29-7 victory, including a 58-yard halfback option touchdown pass and a fake Sophomore quarterback Pat Conley (21-for-34, 252 yards, two touchdowns) and junior wide receiver Danny Noyes (nine catches for 125 yards) struck up the band on Homecoming for Colby, which is 34) for the first time since 1972 and leads the New England Small College Athletic Conference. It was never close. Colby outgained Wesleyan 444 yards to 222, had a 22-11 advantage in first downs and held the ball for nearly nine minutes longer.

In the second half, the White Mules ran off a 21-play drive that took 9:18 and culminated in a Conley-to-Ian McPherson 2-yard touchdown pass for a 294) lead with 11:57 remaining. The key was a fake punt that running back Don Williams turned into a 17-yard gain. The White Mules and Cardinals came into the game with 2-0 records but even that wasn't the same. "We snuck by the last two weeks against teams who weren't very good offensively," Wesleyan coach Frank Hauser said. "And we were able to get away with us not being good offensively.

We couldn't do that today. We knew we had to play better and we didn't." The Cardinals gave freshman Brennan Carney his first start after two by junior Kevin Cornish. But Carney's first play was an interception. Wesleyan fumbled away its second possession and never recovered as penalties, a dropped touchdown pass and a lack of first downs compounded their problems. "We're not doing anything offensively and it's hurting our defense.

It's on the field too long," Hauser said. "We're trying to make plays, trying different things and it's not happening." The Cardinals had fits trying to defend Conley's passes, especially the Conley-to-Noyes connection. "They had two, three guys in a zone and you can only cover one of them," said Wesleyan defensive back Derrick Brantley, who had one interception. "Guys were open all over the place. We didn't get enough pressure on the quarterback." Conley, a sophomore, has had plenty of time to throw.

In three games, he is 55 of 94 and been sacked five times twice by the Cardinals. "We knew they liked to blitz so we went to screens and short stuff," said Conley, the top passer in the NESCAC. Noyes, who leads NESCAC in receiving, said the offense was given added incentive by quotes from Wesleyan players who said they had a great defense. "We looked at that every day in the locker room," Noyes said. "They worried about us going deep so they sat 15 yards off the ball.

All I had to do was get by a linebacker. Last week it was all big plays. This week it was drives." The White Mules also had short drives. Two plays after recovering a Wesleyan fumble in the first quarter, Noyes lining up in the backfield rolled to his right and connected with wide receiver Lee Carlson for the halfback option touchdown. "That play is in for every game, Noyes said.

"I practice it once a day." Once was enough. San Diego Defeats Central Associated Press Mike Stadler passed for two touchdowns and ran for another Saturday, lifting San Diego to a 38-20 victory over Central Connecticut in San Diego. Stadler threw touchdown passes of 6 yards to Kenny Villalobos and a 36-yarder to Mark Pappas. Stadler also scored on a 10-yard run as the Toreros rebounded from last week's 52-12 loss at Drake. San Diego (3-3) also got two rushing touchdowns from Oscar Arzu, who gained 141 yards on 29 carries.

Rafael O'Campo added two 25-yard field goals. Stadler completed 18 of 27 passes for 233 yards, leading a San Diego offense that gained 441 yards. Quarterback Brian Shubin had a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Yorke and scored on a 31-yard run for Central (2-3). A 3-yard Clinton Dunston run cut Toreros' lead to 25-20 late in the third quarter, but Pappas' 36-yard touchdown reception helped put the game away. New Haven 55, Central Washington 33: Dawud Hanif ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns, including a school-record 92-yarder, to lead the Chargers in West Haven.

Jason Barnett was 12 of 23 for 170 yards and four touchdowns for New Haven. The senior set a school record with his 58th touchdown pass. New Haven (3-3) trailed 13-0 early "in the second quarter. But the Chargers capitalized on six Wildcats turnovers and went on to end a three-game losing streak. Linebacker Idris Price finished with two fumble recoveries, an interception and 11 tackles for New Haven.

Central Washington (2-4) put together drives of 65 and 63 yards to take an early lead. But New Haven came back with three unanswered touchdowns and led 21-13 at halftime. Zak Hill completed 26 of 46 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns for Central Washington. Emilio Iniguez rushed for two touchdowns for the Wildcats. Trinity 16, Hamilton 0: Skip Sullivan kicked three field goals and Greg Ward threw a 43-yard touchdown pass as Trinity won in Clinton, N.Y.

Sullivan kicked field goals of 37, 25 and 29 yards for Trinity (2-1). Ward's TD pass came in the fourth quarter when he hooked up with Kevin Waters to Finish the scoring. Hamilton was 2 of 15 third down conversions and held to 112 yards of offense. The Bantams converted on 7 of 11 third downs. Hamilton (0-3) has lost 11 straight going back to last season.

Fairfield 56, Siena 28: Adam Ferreri scored three times as Fairfield routed Siena in Colonie, N.Y. Ferreri scored on three, 1-yard runs to lead the Stags (2-2, 2-1 MAAC). He finished with 97 yards on 23 carries. Fairfield also got two touchdown passes each from Mike Cerchio and Paul Gorra and 40-yard interception return for a TD by Steve Dogmanits. For Siena (0-5, 0-3), Don Record threw touchdown passes of 26, 10 and 7 yards.

Record was 19 of 29 for 298 yards. Coast Guard 37, Mount Ida 0: Mike Benson and Andy Behnke scored two touchdowns each to lead Coast Guard in Newton, Mass. Behnke scored on runs of 6 and 10 yards in the first quarter around a 27-yard field goal by Chris Cumberland to give Coast Guard (2-3) a 17-0 halftime lead. Benson scored on a 35-yard punt return and a 10-yard run and Matt Colebourn added a 17-yard score in the third quarter. Mount Ida (0-5) has now been outscored 188-8 in its last four games.

ASSOCIATED PRESS YALE'S PETER MAZZA of Cheshire pulls down Dartmouth's Aaron Pumerantz of Simsbury, who led the Big Green with 78 yards rushing. Nice Gain On History Ivy League Conf All PF PA Cornell 2 0 2 2 84 124 Penn 1 0 2 2 120 93 Princeton '1 0 1 3 68 102 Yale 1 1 3 1 122 71 Harvard 1 1 2 2 137 112 Brown 0 1 3 1 146 98 Columbia 0 1 2 2 124 87 Dartmouth 0 2 0 4 73 156 opening kickoff and driving 68 yards. Mann threw the final 7 to Damien Roomets. The Elis responded with a 29-yard scoring pass from Peter Lee to Billy Brown early in the second quarter. Dartmouth took a 14-7 halftime lead when Mann threw 8 yards to Matt DeLellis with 8:04 left in the second quarter.

"We weren't sharp on offense," said Bartholomew who had 48 yards on 10 carries in the first half. "Mind and body weren't all in sync." Yale drew to 14-10 on Mike Murawczyk's 25-yard field goal with 1:23 left in the third. The Elis then had their best drive of the afternoon. They used up 7:03 on 18 plays for yards. The touchdown came on fourth-and-goal from the 5.

Wide receiver Eric Johnson, on the left side, cut across the middle. Lee, who was 21 34 for 254 yards with one interception, threaded a pass between three defenders to Johnson, who turned and dived over the goal line. With a 17-14 lead and 6:36 left, Yale's defense needed to stop the Big Green. Ray Littleton made the big play, intercepting Mann the Yale 26 on fourth-and-6. "He threw it out of desperation against a strong pass rush," said Littleton, who also had a fumble recovery in the first half.

There was still 4:10 left. Bartholomew bulled up the middle for 5 yards. Jay Schulze then managed 1 yard. The play clock was winding down, and Lee had to call a timeout. Yale did not want stop the clock, but the Elis got results.

"They were coming hard with their blitz and should have stopped Rashad for a loss," Siedlecki said. "They ran right by him." Bartholomew veered a little right, then cut back to the middle. There was only green grass ahead of him. "It was a great run by a great back," Siedlecki said. Give Bartholomew Another 188 Yards By TOM YANTZ Courant Staff Writer HANOVER, N.H.

Rashad Bartholomew continued his run past the premier runners in Yale football history Saturday at Memorial Field. His 79-yard touchdown with 2:35 left sent him past John Pagliaro (2,476 yards) and into third on the Elis career list. "There was no one by me; I just took it to the house," Bartholomew said. His touchdown on a third-and-4 play dashed the last hope of Dartmouth as Yale won, 24-14. "We had done a pretty good defensive job until that last run," Dartmouth coach John Lyons said.

"He just popped it and hit the crease." The run came on a draw play against a blitz. "He should have had his eyes knocked in, but they missed him and he was gone," Yale coach Jack Siedlecki said. Bartholomew's last of 26 carries gave him 188 yards. For the year he has 727, and for his career, 2,510. Dick Jauron is the career leader with 2,947, followed by Rich Diana Yale (3-1, 1-1 Ivy League) needed all of his contributions against the Big Green (0-4, 0-2), who had allowed an average of 44 points in their first three games.

Dartmouth gained 407 yards and caused Yale problems on offense, particularly with its nickel pass coverage. Dartmouth quarterback Brian Mann was 28 of 46 for 285 yards and two touchdowns. BIG EAST Saturday Yale 24, Dartmouth 14 Cornell 29, Harvard 28: Rickey Rahne threw four touchdown passes, including a 44-yarder with 2:45 left, to bring Cornell back from a 28-0 halftime deficit. Robbie Wright's 27-yard field goal attempt with 4 seconds left was wide right for Harvard. Brown 44, Fordham 17: Brandon Buchanan returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and Brown went on to rout Fordham.

Mike Malan rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. Colgate 34, Princeton 6: Tom McCune threw touchdown passes of 28, 28 and 15 yards and had scoring runs of 4 and 26 yards to lead Colgate (4-1). Holy Cross 34, Penn 17: Penn trailed 27-3 at halftime and didn't score a touchdown until late in the third quarter against Holy Cross (4-1). Penn had five turnovers. Columbia 47, Lafayette 22: Johnathan Reese rushed for a career-high 201 yards and three TDs and Columbia had its most points since a 50-0 victory over Brown in 1961.

Oct. 14 Yale at Fordham Brown at Princeton Columbia at Penn Colgate at Cornell Holy Cross at Dartmouth Lehigh at Harvard Tailback Aaron Pumerantz, a graduate of Simsbury High School, rushed for 78 yards on 17 carries. The Big Green scored after taking the Standings Conf All 81 of at to NO. 25 NOTRE DAME 20, STANFORD 14 A Dash Of Flash For Irish Green Helps Tech Hold On Syracuse sOT Win Gives Pitt First Loss PF PA Virginia Tech 3 0 5 0 229 98 Miami 2 0 4 1 228 83 Syracuse 1 0 3 2 156 84 WertVirginia 2 1 4 1 131 118 Pittsburgh 1 1 4 1 122 64 Temple 0 2 3 3 144 141 Boston Coll. 0 2 3 2 206 109 Rutgers 0 3 2 3 116 163 Saturday Virginia Tech 35, Temple 13 West Virginia 28, Idaho 16 Boston College 55, UConn 3 Miami 27, Florida State 24 Syracuse 24, Pittsburgh 17 (OT) Thursday West Virginia at Virginia Tech Saturday Syracuse at Boston College Temple at Rutgers utes and scored on sophomore Chris Lewis' 14-yard TD pass to Darin Naatjes with 1 minute left, but tight end Jabari Holloway sealed the victory by pouncing on Stanford's onside kick.

"We definitely made it interesting a the end," Davie said. "But anytime you can win a major college game you better appreciate it. Our freshman quarterback stepped up. We didn't play as well as we're capable, but this is a big win for us." On their first possession, the Irish spread the field with four and five-receiver sets, ran an end-around, draws, sprint-outs, options and drove 91 yards in 11 plays in a push that lasted a little under five minutes and climaxed with LoVecchio's 17-yard pass to Davie Givens. LoVecchio wound up with lO-of-18 passing for 100 yards after the flashy start, while Lewis was 19 of 43 for 242 yards.

"We still need to throw the ball better," Davie said. "We didn't get the points we should have and that made me nervous. We break down on offense sometimes and shoot ourself in the foot. sill a work in progress on offense." Detroit Free Press SOUTH BEND, Ind. Notre Dame opened up its playbook with a freshman quarterback, got a quick touchdown, then turned it over to its vastly improved defense to outlast Stanford 20-14 on a brisk and breezy afternoon in Notre Dame Stadium.

Matt LoVecchio, the third Irish starting quarterback in five weeks, looked like the second coming of Joe Montana for eight minutes, then the Irish returned to their close-to-the-vest offense and made it stand up, thanks to a defense that forced three Cardinal turnovers, including a blocked punt and an interception that Notre Dame turned into its other touchdowns. The victory improved the Irish to 3-2 and was the sixth straight time coach Bob Davie's teams have won following an offweek. Stanford is 2-3. The Irish missed a field goal, missed an extra point (Mocked) and missed a dozen opportunities to add to their lead, putting added pressure on its defense, giving Stanford a chance to the very end. The Cardinal drove 90 yards through the aii in the final three min in the two-point conversion.

Pitt took the ball first in overtime, but stalled at the 13 and Lotz missed a 30-yard field goal attempt. Syracuse returned the favor as Shafer missed from 36 yards, his fourth miss of the game. After Nunes' TD pass to Tyree, the Panthers faced fourth-and-4 on their drive. But Turman's pass to Antonito Bryant fell incomplete. West Virginia 28, Idaho 16: The Mountaineers (4-1) racked up 12 sacks and four interceptions two by Grant Wiley to rally past the Vandals (24) in Morgantown, W.Va.

It was the first meeting between the schools. John Welsh (35 of 50, 365 yards) threw a 19-yard TD pass to Willie Alderson in the first quarter to help Idaho take a 9-0 halftime lead. But Wiley helped West Virginia turn the momentum when he intercepted Welsh at the Idaho 15-yard line and went into the end zone untouched to cut the deficit to 9-7 midway through the third quarter. A short Idaho punt into the wind set uihhe Mountaineers at the Van- Associated Press Freshman cornerback Eric Green intercepted two passes to help No. 3 Virginia Tech hold off Temple 35-13 Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.

With the Hokies (5-0, 3-0 Big East) holding onto a 21-13 lead in the third quarter, Green intercepted Mike Frost and returned the ball 41 yards. That set up Michael Vick's 5-yard run, giving Tech a 28-13 lead with 7:25 left in the third quarter. Green also intercepted a pass in the end zone with nine minutes left to play. The Owls (3-3, 0-2) quickly found themselves behind 21-0 but began to rally, taking advantage of numerous mistakes by Vick, the Hokies' Heisman hopeful quarterback. Vick turned the ball over three times, was sacked four times, and was held to 55 yards rushing.

Temple scored with 1:18 left in the first half when linebacker Chonn Lacey intercepted Vick and ran 65 yards for a touchdown. Vick then fumbled on the first play of the third quarter and Temple er Taylor SunXin recovered, setting up Frost's 26-yard TD pass to Charles Cobb. Syracuse 24, Pittsburgh 17 (OT): In Syracuse, N.Y, Troy Nunes hit David Tyree with a 23-yard TD pass on the Orangemen's second to hand the Panthers their first loss. Pitt (4-1, 1-1), off to its best start since 1991, lost its 10th in a row against Syracuse (3-2, 1-0). Tyree's TD finally ended a game that saw both teams miss numerous chances.

Each kicker missed a field goal on the first OT possession, and they combined to miss three field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. Syracuse's Mike Shafer missed a 40-yarder on the final play of regulation, and Pitt's Nick Lotz missed a 37-yarder that would have cut the Panthers' deficit to 17-12. The Panthers managed a tie in regulation when John Turiiian threw an 8-yard TD pass to R.J. English with 1:17 left. Turman ran dais 32.

and West Virginia took a 14-9 lead when Brad Lewis hit Kho-ri Ivy from 22 yards on the first play of the fourth quarter. On Idaho's next possession, Wiley intercepted a tipped pass just above the turf at the West Virginia 40 and the Mountaineers embarked on their longest scoring drive of the game. Cooper Rego ran 34 yards on the first plav and later scored from 1 vard out lAr a 21 9 lead..