Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 43

SCOREBOARD 3 COLLEGE FOOTBALL' HIGH SCHOOLS- THE CLARION-LEDGER I JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1991 1 1 1 mi i' jjiHMI. mi i RICK CLEVELAND Executive Sports Editor The Clarion-Ledger Bama inches past State The Bulldogs come close to knocking off the No. 7 Crimson Tide before falling 13-7. By Mike Knobler Clarion-ledger Start Writer Conference. Alabama, 7-1 and 4-1, kept alive its SEC title hopes.

After Montgomery's penalty, Michael Davis gained 2 yards on a draw play and Sleepy Robinson, under pressure, threw an interception to Stacy Harrison in the end zone. There was 1 minute, 29 seconds left. Alabama's only touchdown came when Harrison intercepted Tony James' halfback pass and returned it 64 yards with 1:16 left in the first half. State tied it on Robinson's 4-yard pass to Treddis Anderson in the third quarter, but Matt Wethington kicked field goals of 23 and 22 yards to provide Alabama's winning margin. The Tide beat the Bulldogs for 1 1th consecu- tive year and the 33rd time in 34 years.

Game coverage, 6D TUSCALOOSA Six inches, 5 yards or seven points. All three are accurate measures of how close Mississippi State came to knocking off No. 7 Alabama Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. It was third down from the 6-inch line when Michael Montgomery drew a 5-yard illegal procedure penalty that ruined State's quest for the potentially game-winning seven points. The Tide hung on for a 13-7 victory.

State, 5-4, fell to 2-3 in the Southeastern The Associated Press State's Sleepy Robinson, No. 15, is harassed by Bama's Robert Stewart. The sophomore running back from LSU leaves Ole Miss out in the cold for a 25-22 victory. By Rusty Hampton Clarion-Ledger Start Writer It was a Saturday to forget but if only we could Call it Heartbreak Saturday. Just when each of Mississippi's so-called Big Three appeared a sure winner, disaster struck in several forms.

How did they lose them? Let us count the ways. Mississippi State jumped the gun. Southern Mississippi slipped and fell. And Ole Miss, leadingby 1 1 in the second half, was beaten by a 175-pound running back with eight previous collegiate carries. Specifically: Mississippi State, needing only six inches in three plays for a monumental victory at Tuscaloosa, jumps offsides, throws an interception and loses to Alabama for the 33rd time in 34 years.

Strike one. Southern Mississippi, playing in an Oklahoma snowstorm, lines up for a 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds left that would beat favored Tulsa 13-10. But kicker Lance Nations hey, he's from Tampa, after all slips in the snow and misses. Tulsa then hits a Hail Mary pass, misses a field goal but gets a second chance because USM had 12 men on the field. (I swear I'm not making this up.) Tulsa makes good on the second try and wins.

Strike two. Needing a victory to virtually assure a bowl bid, Ole Miss leads LSU 14-3 and is driving inside LSU territory in the third quarter. A couple hours later, LSU leaves town with a 25-22 victory. James Jacquet leaves with a career rushing total of 146 yards, 125 more than he had before Saturday. Strike three, we're out.

USM, 4-5, is out of the bowl picture, that is. And, as if the Nov. 23 Ole Miss-State game needed any further hype, it looks more and more like a bowl bid will hinge on the outcome. Just a couple weeks ago, all three looked like good bets for bowls. No more, thanks to Heartbreak Saturday.

In the Ole Miss locker room late Saturday afternoon Billy Brewer wrapped a consoling arm around cornerback Chauncey Godwin's shoulders. "Coach, I don't know what else we could do," Godwin said, his eyes glistening. "We could use a little magic about now." Several Ole Miss players exited the field in tears. Surely, there were similar scenes at Tuscaloosa and Tulsa. A tale of two seasons This time last year, Ole Miss was 7-1 with an open date before finishing up the season with Tennessee and Mississippi State.

The '91 Rebels are 5-4 with the same open date and the same two teams remaining. There's a huge difference in the record, but little things have made the big difference. Last year, Ole Miss won the close ones. Not this time. Last year, the Rebels stayed healthy for the most part.

Not this year. Last year, Ole Miss made the clutch plays. Not this year. Last year, Ole Miss had go-the-distance threat Randy Baldwin on offense and dominant lineman Kelvin Pritchett on defense. Not this year.

Last year, Ole Miss was a pretty good team with two sensational players. This year, Ole Miss is a pretty good team, period. Second-guessing fans will blame it on play-calling, missed tackles and the like. But the biggest difference in Ole Miss, pure and simple, is that nobody has stepped forward to do what Baldwin and Pritchett could do. The effort is there Ole Miss hasn't lacked effort.

"My heart goes out to this team," Brewer said. "They can't play any harder." You want effort? Steve Davis, a fifth-year senior who had never completed a pass, hit 8 of 1 1 Saturday. "I didn't care what I did," Davis said, afterward. "I just prayed to God we'd win somehow." Tom Luke, playing with a painful right shoulder, threw as best he could both passes and blocks. And you should have seen the lick little Trea Southerland put on Todd Kinchen.

It hurt to watch. LSU, improving weekly under first-year coach Curley Hallman, played every bit as hard. This Ole Miss-LSU series has given us many memorable and meaningful games, but it's hard to imagine two teams ever played harder than the two Saturday. LSU, a deserving winner, was just three points better. f' III urn it vf (t Wf UfcM Vwf.OFys.jtf.wj chances of a third consecutive bowl appearance don't look very good.

"I'm sure it's (a bowl game) out," said quarterback Tom Luke. "We'll try the best we can to win these last two. If somebody wants to give us one (a bowl invitation), I'm sure we'll go." Said Brewer: "We'll have to wait and see. We had it in our grasp right there with this one." Scouts for the Liberty and Independence bowls were at the game. The Rebels are still on both bowls' lists.

More news will come Monday. What is known today is Ole Miss let another one get away. In each of the last three games, the Rebels were tied or led at halftime. In those games they have been outscored 59-21 and outgained 702-414 yards in the second half. "We just can't seem to finish things off," said linebacker Kevin Ingram.

Never was that more evident than Saturday. On Jacquet's first TD a 6-yard run with 11 minutes, 41 seconds left that put LSU ahead 19-14 he appeared to be stopped at the 5-yard line, then bulled through three Rebels to score. He broke more tackles on a 59-yard TD run with 5:05 left that made it 25-14. "That guy was determined to score and that's what he did," said Ingram. "On both plays, he wanted the end zone." See REBELS, 7D QB situation is painful, 7D Unless you're an LSU fan, chances are until Saturday you had never heard of James Jacquet.

And if you're an Ole Miss fan, you probably wish today you still had never heard of the guy. No such luck. Jacquet, a sophomore tailback, came flying out of coach Curley Hallman's doghouse and ran all over the Rebels at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, leading the Tigers to a 25-22 victory. Jacquet hadn't played since Sept. 14 for disciplinary reasons.

But Saturday he scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns and rushed for a career-high 125 yards on 13 carries. He helped the Tigers overcome a 14-3 halftime deficit and hand the hobbled Rebels their third consecutive loss. LSU evened its season record at 4-4 and improved to 3-2 in the Southeastern Conference. Three of its wins have been by three points or less. "They just hang in there and win," said Hallman.

"Games like this build character." Ole Miss, forced by injuries to play seldom-used Steve Davis at quarterback, has lost three in a row for the first time since 1988. "We're beat up and banged up," said Ole Miss coach Billy Brewer. "We're struggling." At 5-4 overall and 1-4 in the SEC with games at Tennessee and Mississippi State left Ole Miss' Michele StapletonThe Clarion-Ledger LSU's John Morgan, No. 90, Corey Raymond, No. 19, and William Crowell celebrate a safety.

Golden Hurricane gets it right 2nd time 13-10 Eric Lange's field goal with no time left defeats the Golden Eagles. By Robert Wilson Clarion-Ledger Start Writer inated the Golden Eagles from consideration for a bowl game because they have only three victories over Division 1-A teams. The NCAA requires at least six wins over Division I-A teams to qualify for a bowl invitation. USM led 10-0 before Tulsa scored 13 points in the fourth quarter. Golden Hurricane short-yardage quarterback Mark Matheson scored on 1-yard sneak with 13:26 remaining for Tulsa's first score.

USM senior tailback Tony Smith gained 125 yards on 25 carries for his fifth 100-yard game of the season. Game coverage, 9D nalized 8 yards to the 7. The game-winning field goal was set up when Chris Penn caught a 75-yard, tipped Hail Mary pass from T.J. Rubley with 1 second to play. Lange made two field goals in the final 4 minutes despite swirling snow, a snow-covered field and sub-freezing temperatures.

Lange's 41-yarder gave Tulsa a 10-10 tie with 3 minutes, 50 seconds left. USM had a chance to go ahead, but Lance Nations missed a 34-yarder on third-and-2 with 12 seconds to go. Tulsa won its third straight game and improved to 6-2. USM, 4-5, lost its second straight game. The loss elim TULSA, Okla.

Eric Lange made the most of his second chance. Lange kicked a 24-yard field goal with no time left to give Tulsa a 13-10 victory over Southern Mississippi Saturday afternoon before 20,197 at Skelly Stadium. Lange got a second chance when USM had 12 men on the field after he missed a 32-yarder. The Eagles were pe 25 T.2S0UT. INSIDE I 52! 1.

Florida St. 40 Louisville 15 7. Alabama 13 Miss. State 7 N.Alabama 14 Livingston 0 LSU 25 Ole Miss 22 Jacksonville St. 51 Wofford7 Tulsa 13 USM 10 Miss.

College 10 Valdosta 10 Alabama St. 59 Alabama 13 W. Georgia 20 Delta St. 15 Grambling 30 Texas Southern 27 No. 3 Washington 44 I I 'T TKfQ Arizona State 16 I 7 1 ujT J- No.130hioe9 'r East Carolina 38 l-H Nopio3lA 1 Miss.

Valley 41 P. View 0 NichollsSt. 21 Southern U. 7 NO WINNER, NO LOSER: Mississippi College, needing a win to 'clinch at least second place in the Gulf South Conference, wound up settling for a 10-10 tie with Valdos-ta State. 4D TURNAROUND: West Georgia got its first Gulf South Conference victory in its last 13 tries with a 20-15 victory over Delta State.

4D MAJOR POWER: Sean Brewer dominated the offensive line, Buddy Bass rushed for 175 yards and Mill-saps won a key SCAC game 20-6 overSewanee. 5D WHOLE LOTTA SHAKING: It hard to control your nerves when a deer walks into a bowhunter's range. Especially when it's his or her first shot. 14D. Sewanee 6 Millsaps 20 3.

Washington 44 Arizona St. 16 4. Michigan 42 Purdue 0 9. Nebraska 19 15. Colorado 19 10.

California 52 Southern Cal 30 11. Iowa 16 13. Ohio St. 9 12. Texas 38 Rice 21 16.

Clemson 28 Wake Forest 10 1 8. Syracuse 27 Temple 6 19. N. Carolina St. 38 S.Carolina 21 20.

Oklahoma 28 Kansas St. 7 21. Bay lor 9 24. Arkansas 5 23. UCLA 44 Washington St.

3 Utat, State 20 25. Fresno St. 1 Rhodes 24 Trinity 6 Centre 15 Ky. Wesleyan 13 6. Florida 31 Auburn 10 14.

Tennessee 52 Memphis St. 24 Kentucky 20 Cincinnati 1 7 5. Notre Dame 38 Navy 17. E. Carolina 38 Army 10 Tulane 28 Vanderbilt41 -i.