Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 37

SEC 3 SCORECARD 16 NFL 18 (Pie (Clariati-jrertger Daily News November 4, 1984 Sunday Rebs turn(over) victory into defeat against Tigers somewhere between a rout and slaughter by the now 6-1-1 Tigers, who move to 3-0-1 in the SEC. Ole Miss, which received two touchdowns from freshman wideout J. R. Ambrose and a pair by Nathan Wonsley, led through three quarters and had a chance until late in the fourth. It was then, just two plays after Garry James' 1-yard run and Ronald Lewis' PAT gave LSU a 25-22 lead at 3:52 of the game, that Tiger strong safety Jeffery Dale sealed it with a 37-yard interception return for the TD.

Dale cut in front of an Austin pass intended for tight end Mario Perry in the left flat, then re "There were 1 1 guys on the other team out there who had a lot to say about things like that." It was an unfortunate end for the Rebels and Austin, who set an Ole Miss standard for career completions (454) by hitting 21 of his 32 passes for 280 yards of a season-best 466 total offense. Defensively, the effort was also there. The SEC's leading runner, Dalton Hilliard, was held to 78 yards on 24 carries before leaving in the final period with a sprained ankle. He came in averaging better than 128 yards a game. See Ole Miss, page 5D Complete coverage, Page 16 By BUTCH JOHN Clarion-Ledger Sports Writer BATON ROUGE, La.

Ole Miss had the plan all set up. Come out with Kent Austin running a seldom-seen option, control the ball and above all else, avoid the turnovers that could give LSU a shot at a runaway. Two out of three didn't get it. Committing an uncharacteristic six turnovers, the Rebels barely missed the upset of 15th-ranked and heavily-favored LSU. Tigers 32, Rebels 29 in front of a boisterous 77,649 in Ti i me turned it untouched for a 32-22 lead with 3:00 to play.

"We had some trouble in the flats last week (a 30-22 loss to Notre Dame) and I think he knew that," said Dale, who also recovered two Ole Miss fumbles. Even then, the Rebels came off the ropes with a 76-yard, seven-play drive that ended in Wons-ley's second 1-yard touchdown plunge at 1:36. Ole Miss went for the onside kick, but LSU's Chris Cruz covered it for LSU. "We were never in a situation where we could put it away," said LSU coach Bill Arnsparger. CHRIS TODDThe Clarion-Ledger Jackson ger Stadium.

"I'd give anything in the world if this team could have won tonight," said Rebel coach Billy Brewer. "I thought we played well enough to win. One thing we couldn't do tonight was turn the ball over. We did that and still almost won the game." It was the fifth straight loss for the Rebels, 3-5-1 and 0-4 in the Southeastern Conference, and the eighth consecutive defeat in the stadium they call Death Valley. Despite the inability to hang on to the ball, it was not at all what most expected which was It's same old story for State Statistics, Page 16 By RUSTY HAMPTON Clarion-Ledger Sports Writer It was a first for Alabama flanker Greg Richardson and a first for Mississippi State cornerback Bruce Plum-mer, but the end result Saturday in front of 45,868 at Mississippi Memorial Stadium was the same old story for the Mississippi State football team.

Richardson, a 5-foot-9, 166-pound sophomore, stole a pass from Plummer and converted it into a 67-yard game-winning touchdown with 7:37 remaining, giving Alabama a 24-20 Southeastern Conference victory. The win was the first in SEC play after three defeats for the Crimson Tide, 3-5 overall. State, 3-6 overall, dropped to 0-4 in the SEC. "He ran a straight streak, and I was running with him," said Plummer, who was in man-to-man coverage. "I turned around and tipped the ball up, and I thought it was going to fall to the ground.

But somehow, he tipped it again and he caught it and he was gone. That's never happened to me before." "Man, that's the first time that's ever happened to me," said Richardson, who caught a 68-yard TD pass two weeks ago against Tennessee. "We both went up at the same time, he tipped it, it went over to my left and I saw it and was still concentrating. I just batted it, I caught it, and then tried to find my way to the goal line. "I was surprised.

But it came to me just like it was something meant to be." In a season of disaster, maybe Richardson's catch was what the Tide needed to turn things around. It was the last thing, however, the young Bulldogs needed. State has led at half time in all four of its SEC losses, the last three of which have been by four, three and four points. Unlike last week, though, when State blew a 21-7 half time lead and lost 24-21 to 12th-ranked Auburn on a field goal on the game's final play, this was a game the State players knewthey could win. When it was over, and they hadn't won, they also knew why.

"The whole season, the third quarter has been a bad quarter for us," said Plummer. "I think if we can get up in the third quarter, we'll be a hell of a football team. But we've gotta play a whole game for 60 minutes." "It's gotta be inexperience, why else can't we win the close games?" said junior safety R. J. McKenna.

"We've gotta win one of the close ones, but until we do, how are we gonna cross that threshold?" See State, page 4D State's Hi By JOE Daily News Jackson Saturday Behind quarterback NW State leaves USM red Complete coverage, Page 6 By VICTOR LEE Clarion-Ledger Sports Writer HATTIESBURG Some fans left with bags over their heads. It was that bad. Southern Mississippi's Golden Ea-; gles suffered the ultimate embarrass-; ment here Saturday night, getting shut out 22-0 by NCAA Division I-AA mem-: ber Northwestern State on homecom- The loss left USM with a 2-7 record while Northwestern raised its to 6-3. The fans numbering 24,682 when the game began, far fewer by the fourth quarter the coaches and the players were totally disgusted. "It is very difficult to say a lot about this game," said USM coach Jim Car-mody.

"Northwestern definitely played an outstanding football game. We played very poorly, and it was difficult to get our football team rallied." Impossible, in fact. Case in point, the beginning of the fourth quarter: Trailing 16-0, USM's John Baylor recovered Northwestern quarterback Wayne Van's fumble at the Northwestern 30. Plenty of time remained. It was USM's big opportunity.

But quarterback Andrew Anderson, who replaced starter Tommy Compton early in the third quarter, was sacked for a loss of 7 yards on the first play. He threw behind receiver Andrew Mott on the second. He stumbled and fell for a loss of 8 on the third play. USM was forced to go into punt formation, but the charade wasn't over Punter Billy Knighten was delivered a low snap by center Scott Short, and he went to one knee to retrieve it. You can't do that, Billy Northwes-tern'sballattheUSM41.

The damage was done. "We thought we could play with them and we thought we could win," said Northwestern coach Sam Goodwin, who called the win the biggest in Northwestern football history. "But you just don't plan on a 22-to-nothing shutout. We wanted to play our best against them and I believe this was definitely our best game of the year." It was also the first shutout of USM since Auburn won 31-0 in 1980, and the See USM, page 6D Daily News Don Smith quickly unloads a pass 'a" If ifc, i rj If zc A 7X- li ii I IliC iff iJlf'- f. I Millsaps wins I finale i 9.

Page2 Florida dumps Auburn Page 3 Oregon beats UCLA Page 9 Texas escapes again Page 11 No.l Gulf Coast tops Hinds Page 12 Grigsby takes Red Man age 15 Packers visit Saints today Page 18 Index before Alabama's Jon Hand arrives. Jackson State romps past Texas S. 47-0 tween Lewis Tillman, James Demerritt, Lerone Brown, Stacy Mobley, Shannon Boyd and Eric Dozier in what was easily the Tigers' best showing of the season. Jackson State, with an open date coming up before concluding the season Nov. 17 at Alcorn, improved to 4-4-1 overall, 3-3 in the rugged Southwestern Athletic Conference.

See JSU, page 7D ing from tailback Carl Blue, the Tigers took weeks of frustration out on unsuspecting Texas Southern before a disappointing Mississippi Memorial Stadium crowd of 17,521. Senior wide receiver Chris Burkett of Collins was on the receiving end of two of McKenzie's scoring strikes, covering 61 and 46 yards. The rest of Jackson State's scoring was spread be Complete coverage, Page 7 CULPEPPER Sports Writer State football coach W.C. Gorden called night's 47-0 blowout of Texas Southern "tremendous tonic" for his Tigers. the four-touchdown pass performance of John McKenzie and the 102 yards rush jr 1 Vt Wl: ss WW Alcorn-Valley will answer offense vs.

defense question WHO: Alcorn State vs. Miss. Valley. WHERE: Miss. Memorial Stadium.

WHEN: Today, 2 p.m. A few available at gate for $8 beginning at 10 a.m.,60,000 BROADCAST: WLBT TV (Channel 3); Alcorn State Radio Network, WMPR-FM (90.1) in Jackson. Miss. Valley Radio Network, WOAD-AM (1400) in Jackson. WEATHER: Partly cloudy, 20 percent chance of rain, high in the upper 70s.

WLBT to televise game, Page 7 By ROSCOE NANCE Clarioo-Ledger Sporti Writer A good defense will beat a good offense every time. Or is it the other way around? A good offense will beat a good defense. That question will be answered today when Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State meet in a battle of unbeaten NCAA Division I-AA clubs at Mississippi Memorial Stadium. The winner will have the inside track for the South- -f western Athletic Conference championship and an automatic berth in the I-AA playoffs. In case the two teams finish with an equal record, co-champions will be named and the winner of today's game will receive the automatic playoff berth.

Should they play to a tie today and finish with identical records, the team with the greatest point differential in conference play will receive the automatic berth. If it remains tied after than, the team with the best overall record will be chosen. The final step is a coin flip. Mississippi Valley, ranked fifth in I-AA with a 7-0 record, is the nation's leading scoring team at 64.1 points a game and averages 666.6 yards a game total offense. The Delta Devils feature the record setting pass-catch combination of quarterback Willie Totten and wide receiver Jerry Rice.

They also have a flock of other receivers who can run like the wind and catch anything from a grape seed to beach ball. See Alcorn-Valley, page 7D GORDEN 'This is one instance where a game that's supposed to be big will W.C. Gorden Jackson St. HAYMAN 'It's going to take a helluva team to beat Mississippi Valley. If there is a team that has a chance to beat them, it's Conway Hayman Prairie View PARKER offenses are constantly changing.

If you can stop people from scoring, you can eventually find a way to score Jim Parker Ala. State State colleges 2 SEC 3 Miss. State 4 Ole Miss 5 USM 6 JSU 7 Big Eight 8 9 Independents 10 Big Ten 10 ACC 10 WAC 10 Southwest 11 Others 11 Jr. Colleges 12 NBA 12 Basketball 12 Tennis 12 Golf 12 Digest 13 Crosscountry 13 Auto racing 14 Outdoors 15 Scorecard 16 For the record 17 NEJ, 18.