Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 33

i larvflairadl cNps Gophers 1 77 By Jon Roe Staff Writer they turned sloppy. i i ammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm In all, there were 18 penalties and six fumbles, and all that meant neither team was able to score in the second half. It was not the kind of performance to stir excitement in the hearts of those who paid $10 each to say they were there for the first ever. "It was the same story as in a number of our games during the season," said Coach Cal Stoll. "We denied ourselves the opportunity to win.

We were afraid that Maryland's defensive line might be too strong for us. And whenever we faced a third-down and long-yardage situation, we had troubles." The Gophers had troubles with three Terrapins in particular. Quarterback Larry Dick and wide receiver Chuck White did the most damage offensively. Dick completed 12 of 20 passes for 211 yards. Eight of those completions were to White for 126 yards.

And defensive end Charlie Johnson was a one-man wrecking crew Gophers continued on page 5D Birmingham, Ala. The first Hall of Fame Classic was a real test of Southern hospitality. Not before the game afterward. There were two losers in Thursday night's game at Legion Field. First, the University of Minnesota lost to Maryland 17-7.

Second, an estimated crowd of 47,000 didn't fare much better than the Gophers. The fans, who had tried to smother both teams in friendship and grits, were forced to sit through a chilly night and watch the Gophers and Terrapins frustrate themselves. By the fourth quarter, most of those fans had seen enough or put up with enough and headed for warmer surroundings. It was mostly a night of futility and frustration for both teams as well as the fans. After the Gophers had shown verve and polish on their first two possessions, they turned inept.

After the Terrapins had erupted for all their points in a 15-minute period of the first half, Gophers weren't toast of the town By M. Howard Gelfand Staff Writer With about 800 tickets sold locally to Thursday night's Hall of Fame "Classic" in Birmingham, Minnesota wasn't expected to have the home-field advantage against Maryland. But the Gophers didn't even seem to have the home-field advantage in local bars. Even within a football toss of Memorial Stadium, the main activity of student drinkers seemed to be to ignore the Mizlou Network telecast of the game. And those who watched the game weren't exactly screaming "Ski-u-mah" between sips.

As the Gophers were going down the tube, one drinker at Valli Pizza in Dinkytown muttered, "It took them 15 years to get to a bowl game and this is what they do." His friend replied: "Yeah, and they had to Invent a bowl to send them to." Another patron noted that the Gophers had not been the bowl's first choice. "If the Gophers had refused, they were going to invite Macales-ter," someone replied. Down the street, a sign at Bootlegger Sam's announced, "Yes, we have Bars continued on page 5D Associated Press Gophers fullback Kent Kitzmann hurdled toward the end zone from the 1-yard line but could not penetrate Maryland linebackers John Douglas (48) and Neal Olkewicz (47) In the first quarter of the Hall of Fame Classic Thursday night at Birmingham, Ala. Louisville edges No. 2 Marquette Operation on left knee sidelines McClanahan point again, but time ran out on the Warriors (5-1).

Darrell Griffith led Louisville with 23 points. Lee scored 22 for Marquette and Whitehead added 18. Marquette Coach Hank Raymonds had threatened Wednesday to take his team back to Milwaukee after he was forced to cut short practice at Freedom Hall when the lights were turned out. Raymonds was told two teams playing in Freedom Hall that evening needed the floor. Marquette continued to practice in the dark, but Raymonds finally pulled his team off the floor.

Raymonds said yesterday that the situation was a misunderstanding and that he did not blame the University of Louisville. Associated Press Louisville, Ky. Louisville snapped second-ranked Marquette's undefeated streak Thursday night with a 61-60 victory over the defending national champions. Marquette almost caught Louisville in the closing minutes when Butch Lee and Jerome Whitehead began scoring from the corners. With 14 seconds to play, Lee connected to bring Marquette within one point, 59-58.

Louisville (6-1) then called time out. When play resumed, Rick Wilson was fouled. He sank two free throws to give the eighth-ranked Cardinals 61-58 lead. With 11 seconds remaining, Ulice Payne's basket cut Marquette's deficit to one ference yesterday who would fill McClanahan's spot. "Let us live with that for a while," Grant said.

"Robert Miller, Sammy Johnson, Mark Kellar all of them can play in the spot. We'll announce our decision sometime before the game. McClanahan's knee was Injured Saturday at Pontiac Stadium in the Vikings' 30-21 victory over Detroit. "It happened in the third quarter when I went in on the return team after Manfred Moore got hurt," McClanahan said from his hospital room last night. "I got about 30 yards on the kick-off return after Eddie Payton had returned one for a touchdown.

I almost broke my return. But when I got tackled, I knew I had hurt my knee pretty bad. "I didn't say anthing then because I knew I had to finish that game." A piece of the cartilage was knocked off the knee cap. It caused the knee fb lock Wednesday morning and McClanahan did not practice Wednesday afternoon at Met Stadium. McClanahan will be In Midway Hospital for "three or four more days," said Dr.

Donald Lannin, the team physician who performed the operation. "Mac could be ready to play again if we went all the way," Grant said. McClanahan continued on page 5D By Allan Holbert Staff Writer Tucson, Ariz. Running back Brent McClanahan had knee surgery in St. Paul before the Vikings left for Tucson Thursday and will miss Minnesota's play-off game against the Rams in Los Angeles Monday.

Coach Bud Grant, who made the announcement as the team flew to Arizona, said McClanahan had a piece of cartilage removed from his left knee at 7:30 a.m. yesterday at Midway Hospital. McClanahan's likely replacement is Robert Miller, who ran in the backfield with Chuck Foreman In yesterday's drills at the University of Arizona stadium. However, Grant would not say at press con Bills fire Ringo Jim Ringo's unhappy stint as head coach of the Buffalo Bills ended Thursday when owner Ralph Wilson fired him. Ringo's teams won only three games while losing 20 the last two seasons.

Buffalo linebacker coach Jimmy Carr, former San Francisco 49ers Coach Monte Clark and Coach George Allen of the Washington Redskins are rumored to be in line for the job. Blast that Snow with a the exotic 1 4 and many warm cast Famous Gilson quality in a complete line of snowthrowers for whatever your snowthrowing problems are. There is a Gilson just right for you xmxvt. FROM ALL OF US AT QUALITY JJofiJaij HJWK NEW COMPACT 3 HP 20" wide, take-down handles for easy transport, neat out-of-the way storage, lull snow stream control power wheels and solid steel construction. $30995 Your passport MODEL 55091 Lj reeling A NEW INTERMEDIATE 5 HP 24" wide capacity two stage performance, forward, neutral and power reverse.

Big capacity for heavy snows in an intermediate size, at a budget price, lid's great llous fish ftllfll tainHV 1 l.asU'i ii $44995 MODEL 55092 Kashmir. sn L'llUA A nincnt in the Shalimar FAMOUS UNITROL 5 8 HP Ambassadors Band, Thursday, Full-size snowthrowers with 3 speeds forward, neutral, reverse and clutch, all on one single, easy-to-use clutch handle. 26" wide two-stage performance. Electric start available. iighis.

Open 7 nights a week. Friday airfl Phone 545-0441 for reservations. $64995 $54995 8 HP 5 HP See These Gilson Dealers: i Ambassador i mm 1 1." Western Quality VMERCURYSubaw 888-2271 OUR WORLD REVOLVES Best western Moiei izi: lighways 12 and 100, Minneapolis, Mn. 55416 MINNEAPOLIS Small Engin City 2612Lynoaie Ave. 80.

13091 Central Ave. N.E. FRIDLEY Frldley Our Own Hardware 214 Mississippi St. N.E. ST.

PAUL Reed's Sales Service 1260 Payne Ave. Small Engine City 1581Selby Ave. CORCORAN Lyle's Outdoor Power Cty. Rd. 10 116 1 1 ri AROUND YOU! cop ON FREEWAY 494 IN BLOOMINGTON nniiniii 1 1.