Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 41

1WI HIGH SCHOOLS NFL SCOREBOARD THE CLARION-LEDGER JACKSON DAILY NEWS JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 19881 LSU wins as Ole Miss magic runs out Hodson, Tigers break "homecoming hex" as Rebs fall short in the fourth quarter. By Mike Knobler Staff Writer first comeback attempt at the LSU 31. Three plays later, Tony Bennett recovered a fumble at the Rebel 49. Ole Miss failed to get a first down. Four plays later, Hodson got hit as he passed and the ball went straight to Rebel strong safety Roger Hancock.

"We dropped I think a touchdown interception," said Ole Miss coach Billy Brewer. "If we go in right there and we go in for two, then we can kick a field goal and win it. That hurt us right there." "I was thinking about catching it and making it six points, but it didn't work," Hancock said. "I just took my eyes off the ball and missed it, and it cost us. It was thrown so high and so easy, I figured I'd just catch it and run it in, but I took my eye off of it.

It went just like that right through my hands. "I thought about this all day. I knew it was going to happen. I had this funny feeling. I could just picture it." See OLE MISS, 7D much for Ole Miss to handle.

Hodson threw for 249 yards and three touchdowns. Moss caught two of those touchdown passes and six overall. Fuller ran for 114 yards on 21 carries and caught the other touchdown pass. "They were giving us Eddie Fuller and Tony Moss," Hodson said, "and we wanted to take advantage of what they wre giving us." The Ole Miss pass defense, ranked fourth in the country, gave up an average of 23 yards per catch. "Speed, speed, speed," said Ole Miss secondary coach Ron Case.

"They've got more speed than anybody." But the Rebels trailed by just 10 points at the start of the fourth quarter and had three shots to score before LSU put the game away. The Rebels had overcome fourth-quarter deficits of 14 points to Vanderbilt, five points to Arkansas State and five points to Alabama. "I felt like we still had a chance to win the ball-game," said Ole Miss quarterback Mark Young, who threw an interception to stop the Rebels' BATON ROUGE, La. This time, Ole Miss couldn't come back. This time, there was no homecoming hex.

After three straight come-from-behind-in-the-fourth-quarter victories and two wins at other, people's homecomings, the Rebels tried for yet another. No. 13 LSU had different ideas and came away with a 31-20 win here on a hot and steamy Saturday afternoon. Ole Miss fell to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the Southeastern Conference. LSU, 5-2 and 4-1, climbed into a four-way tie for the SEC lead.

Representatives of seven bowls were among the 79,114 at Tiger Stadium who saw the nationally televised game. Tommy Hodson's passing, Tony Moss' receiving and Eddie Fuller's running were just too Rick GuyThe Clarion-Ledger Jackson Daily News LSU's Eddie Fuller (33) runs into Ole Miss' Phillip Kent (84), Darryl Smith (53) and Shawn Cobb (44). Curley's cardiac kids come back against Tigers A 2-point conversion pass from Ailrick Young to Eddie Ray j( son gave USM its final 7-poinJ; spread. Memphis State reached the Ea- gles' 42 in the waning seconds, bujt an interception by free safety Kerry ,5 Valrie at the 8 snuffed the Tigerslg last flicker of hope. USM, 8-1 with seven straight'; wins, has clinched the host spot the Dec.

23 Independence Bowl. Memphis State, the only team that had a shot at keeping the Ea- 5 gles out of Shreveport, falls to 3- 5 5. "I've never seen a team any better at finding a way to win," said USM coach Curley Hallman. "We just i find a way to win." The last 6V2 minutes of this game 5 were as explosive as the postgame fireworks show. The Eagles seemed to have things I neatly wrapped up when Chris Ser- oka kicked his fourth field goal of the game, a 26-yarder, for a 26-13 USM lead at 6:32.

"We thought we had it in con-r: trol," Valrie said. "We try to play in: 4 tense (defense) every snap, maybe we let up a little." I Memphis State, throwing underj the coverage, swiftly went 80 yards I in 13 plays to cut the lead to 26-2Q on a 5-yard pass from Rusty Trail to Ray Craft with 4:08 to play. USM clinches host role in Independence Bowl with 34-27 victory. By Mike Christensen Staff Writer HATTIESBURG Eugene Rowell was all alone near the Memphis State 15-yard line with the ball, the game and the future of Southern Mississippi's season literally at his fingertips. Then, for an anxious moment, everything was up in the air.

Rowell, a junior wide receiver, juggled a whistling pass from quarterback Brett Favre, then hauled it in and sprinted untouched toward the goal-line. In a heartpounding flash with 39 seconds left on the clock the ball was in the end zone, the game was in USM's win column and the Golden Eagles were in the Independence Bowl probably. As a season-high, homecoming crowd of 25,594 looked on, the Eagles pulled off another miraculous comeback by beating Memphis 34-27. Down 27-26 with 2 minutes, 5 seconds left, the Eagles drove 90 yards in nine plays, capped by the 45-yard touchdown pass from Favre to Rowell. Hiin'jfr 1 i "i -t fc Scott BoydThe Clarion-LedgerJackson Daily News USM's Ben Washington causes Memphis State QB Rusty Trail to fumble, setting up a fourth-quarter TD that USM needed in its 34-27 victory Saturday.

Saints-Rams in the 80s Act Saints, Rams begin battle for West State comes on too little, too late to overtake Bama Both sides agree that today's game is key to winning division. A fake by Smith turns into a big play for the Crimson Tide and another frustrating weekend for the Bulldogs. By Butch John Staff Writer 1980 Rams 27-7 Rams 45-31 1981 Saints 23-17 Saints 21-13 1982 Strike, did not play 1983 Rams 30-27 Rams 26-24 1984 Rams 28-10 Rams 34-21 1985 Rams 28-10 Saints 29-3 1986 6-0 Rams 26-13 1987 Saints 37-10 Saints 31-14 '-at Superdome By Rusty Hampton Staff Writer playoff berths were at stake. "The games had the flavor of something like this," Everett said. "This is probably one of the biggest games for both teams." Rams coach John Robinson guards against putting too much emphasis on the game.

Like Mora, said it's too early to put an all-or-nothing tag on the first of both teams' eight remaining games. "It's important, but all eight are important now," Robinson said. "It's the survival of an eight-game schedule, as opposed to a one-game schedule." The Rams have made an impressive about-face from a team that stumbled home 6-9 last season. The Saints swept the series in 1987, taking a 37-10 victory in a strike replacement game and a 31-14 win at Anaheim Stadium. "Last year was an unusual year for the Rams," Mora said.

"I think "Somebody had to make a big play." Somebody did for Alabama. i Quarterback David Smith, known as the "Computer because of his excellent command of coordinator Homer Smith's complicated offense, went to Alabama's most" reliable play of the day. Smith faked into the line, freezing State's lineback- ers. He then rolled to his right and waited for tight end" Lamonde Russell to release off his block and float open. 1 Smith lofted the ball to Russell, who picked up a I blocker, then ran 50 yards down the sideline before Dewayne King tackled him at the State 8-yard line.

On the next play, David Casteal swept left end for one of his four touchdowns. That put Alabama ahead 46-345 and put another game out of State's reach. "That was the biggest disappointment right there," said State defensive coordinator Dyer Carlisle. "The of; fense got us back in the game, and we couldn't stop 'em;" State, 1-7 overall and 0-5 in the Southeastern Confer: ence, has lost its last seven games this season and 15 of its last 16 in SEC play. Alabama, 6-1 and 4-1, kept its SEC title hopes alive: It also continued its dominance in this series.

Alabama See STATE, 6D Even Jim Mora admits the game's importance. "My feeling is, well, it's a division game," said the normally reticent New Orleans Saints coach. "If we're going to win our division, it's tant we beat division opponents." The Saints, atop the NFC West with 7-1 record, are at home against the Los Angeles Rams, 6-2, at noon today in the Superdome. The Saints hold a two-game lead over the 49ers, the only team to have beaten them in the last 17 regular-season games. Rams quarterback Jim Everett said the buildup to this game was reminiscent of Rams-49ers meetings two years ago, Everett's rookie season, when division titles and STARKVILLE Mississippi State is getting pretty good at comebacks.

The Bulldogs just haven't mastered the comeback victory. Another loss was added to their frustrating season Saturday, 53-34 by 19th-ranked Alabama, before a Scott Field homecoming crowd of 41,088. State trailed 14-0 in the first quarter and 33-9 at the half. Sophomore quarterback Tony Shell then led a comeback that pulled State within 40-34 with 7 minutes, 48 seconds to play. At that point, said State coach Rockey Felker, "We were in a position to win the game.

I think everybody in the stands felt that way. I know everybody on our sideline did." At that point, said State linebacker James Williams, you can just cross off last year. You're seeing the kind of Rams you're used to, a playoff team, a team fighting for the division championship every year." Quarterback Jim Everett, the league's second-ranked passer, leads the NFL with 19 touchdown See SAINTS, 12D Saturday sports by the numbers TV today The Best: No doubt about this one. For two games that have a great deal to do with the National Football Conference's West Division, the Saints play the Rams at noon Grambling 49 Texas Southern 7 IBA USM 34 Memphis State 27 Louisville 21 Cincinnati 6 Virginia 16 Virginia Tech 10 Tulsa 33 UNLV7 Inside The National Basketball Association is just days away from opening its 1988-89 season. Who is going to win this season? Who are the players with Mississippi ties? NBA, 8D.

No. 18 Georgia 59 Wm. and Mary 24 No. 19 Alabama 53 Mississippi State 34 No. 20 Arizona State 21 Oregon 20 SEC Kentucky 24 Southern Illinois 10 State schools Prairie View 36 Mississippi Valley 7 Miss.

College 31 Valdosta State 21 West Georgia 33 Delta State 28 SWAC Alabama State 7 Alabama 0 Florida 45 Southern 20 HOCKEY Bruins 3 Sabres 3 Whalers 3 Devils 0 Nordiques 3 Islanders 2 Rangers 6 Flyers 5 Oilers 4 Capitals 3 Penguihs 5 Canadiens 4 Blues 3 Maple Leafs 2 North Stars 3 Red Wings 2 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Top 20 Washington State 34 No. 1 UCLA 30 No. 2 Notre Dame 22 Navy 7 No. 3 USC 4 1 Oregon State 20 No. 4 Miami 3 1 East Carolina7 No.

5 Nebraska 26 Missouri 18 No. 7 West Virginia 51 Penn State 30 No. 8 Oklahoma 63 Kansas 1 4 No.9Auburn16 0 No. 10 Wyoming 48... Colorado State 14 No.

11 Arkansas 21 Rice 14 No. 12 Oklahoma St. 45 St. 27 No. 13LSU31 Ole Miss 20 No.

14 Michigan 52 Northwestern 7 No. 15Clemson38 Wake Forest 21 No. 1 7 South Carolina 23 N.C. State 7 f- and the 49ers play the Vikings at 3 p.m. on Channel 12 in Jackson.

The rest: If you're an AFC Cincinnati Bengals play the Cleveland Browns at noon on Channel 3 in Jackson. Listings, 13D. 3S4.