The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 17

SATURDAY DECEMBER 30, 1995 THE SALINA JOURNAL COMMENT CRAIG DOLCH Cox News Service Sports SCOREBOARD C2 NFL C5 CLASSIFIED C5 HOLIDAY BOWL Holiday delight for 'Cats National title game won't end in a tie TEMPE, Ariz. It could be the most dramatic ending to one of the greatest college football games ever played, a national championship being decided on one play, or a series of plays. That's assuming, of course, Florida's Steve Spurrier and Nebraska's Tom Osborne ever figure out this tiebreaker stuff. Even though the NCAA has made it mandatory this year that all tied bowl games go to overtime, Spurrier and Osborne admitted Wednesday that they need to do more homework on the tiebreaker procedure. Hopefully, they will brush up on their X's and O's before their teams play for the national title in Tuesday night's Fiesta Bowl.

"Dr. Tom" Osborne belied his scholarly manner when he said he'll be relying on retired high school coach Ken Fischer, who helps out on his staff, to learn the nuances of the Kansas tiebreaker. Osborne said Fischer had seen his share of tiebreakers. "That's a terrible thing to admit," Osborne said. "Here you're playing for a national championship and you have to talk to a high school coach to figure out how to do it." Spurrier didn't sound much wiser.

He said it took a comment from CBS announcer Jim Nantz during a recent interview before Spurrier realized he'd better re-think his philosophy of always wanting the ball first. "I hadn't really thought about it until Jim Nantz said, 'You'd take the ball second, wouldn't Spurrier said. "I said, 'Well, we always receive at the beginning of the Then I started thinking, 'Yeah, you're right. It would be an advantage to know what you have to Osborne knows this: He wishes the tiebreaker procedure would have been around in the 1984 Orange Bowl, or he might not have had to wait until last year to win his first national title. To refresh the memory, Nebraska scored a touchdown with 48 seconds left to pull within 31-30 of Miami.

But instead of kicking the extra point for a tie that would have assured Nebraska the national title, he went for the win. His strategy, while admirable, backfired when Miami safety Ken Calhoun knocked down Turner Gill's two- point pass attempt to Jeff Smith. Under the tiebreaker format, each team gets a series beginning at the opponent's 25-yard line. Both series are on the same end of the field, and first downs are allowed. The team scoring the most points after completing both possessions wins.

If the score is tied, or there's no score, each team receives another possession, with the different team getting the ball first. The winner of the coin toss after regulation almost always chooses defense because a stop allows that team to win with any kind of score, usually a field goal. Moreover, it also lets that team know how many points it needs to win. The tiebreaker isn't new to NCAA football. Except for in Division I-A, all post-season football games since '73 have ended with a winner.

A tiebreaker was made optional for bowls in February by the NCAA football rules committee. In May, the higher-ranking special- events committee made it law. The tiebreaker procedure was used earlier this month when Toledo beat Nevada 40-37 in the Las Vegas Bowl. The new rule received praise from the winning and losing coach. The tiebreaker doesn't appear to favor Florida or Nebraska because both have been successful inside the "red zone" possessions that reach inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

Florida scored on 54 of 66 tries, including 49 touchdowns; Nebraska was 58 of 71 with 46 TDs. The Cornhuskers might have an edge if the tiebreaker is decided by field goals. Nebraska's Kris Brown is 13 of 16, while Florida's Bart Edmiston is 6 of 12. Some football purists dislike the tiebreaker because they don't think it's true football, but the coaches playing for the national title agree that it's what's best for the game. "At least we'll be there until somebody wins or loses," Spurrier Kavanagh guides KSU to victory over Rams in relief of injured Miller By HAROLD BECHARD The Salina Journal SAN DIEGO Brian Kavanagh has proven Kansas State's offense will be in capable hands next season.

It was in mighty good ones Friday night in the 18th annual Holiday Bowl. Kavanaugh replaced an injured Matt Miller early in the second quarter and the lOth-ranked Wildcats never missed a beat. The result was a 54-21 mugging of Colorado State in front of 51,051 fans in Jack Murphy Stadium. Miller was carted off the field on a stretcher with 11:22 remaining in the second quarter after receiving XSU 64, Colorado St. 21 a vicious hit by CSU linebacker Nate Kvamme.

After being on the ground for nearly 15 minutes, Miller was x- rayed at the stadium where it was learned he had suffered a cervical sprain. The K-State senior was then taken to a nearby hospital for observation. The 6-3, 220-pound Kavanaugh then went out and proved his point, completing 18 of 24 passes for 242 yards and four touchdowns to four different receivers. He tied Jim McMahon's Holiday Bowl record of four TD passes set in BYU's 46-45 win over Southern Methodist in 1980. Mike Lawrence added a pair of five yard TD runs.

If Cody Lee Smith is to become K-State's starting quarterback next year, he'll have to go through Kavanagh to get the job. Kavanagh entered the game with the score tied 7-7. The Wildcat junior promptly drove his team to three second-quarter touchdowns in less than seven minutes as Kansas State reached 10 wins in one season for the first time since 1910. Kavanagh, like Miller for the first 19 minutes, was on target against the overmatched Colorado State defense. Miller was 6 of 8 for 82 yards before leaving with the injury, but was sacked twice and hit hard a half dozen times.

Kavanagh came in and misfired only once in eight attempts. One throw was a 12-yard scoring strike to tight end Brian Lojka to make it a 26-7 game at halftime. It didn't take the Wildcats long to expose Colorado State's defense, which ended the regular OKLAHOMA FOOTBALL KAVANAGH The Associated Press Kansas State's Kevin Lockett (83) celebrates the Wildcats' first touchdown in the first quarter Friday. partially blocked a CSU punt. Two plays fater, senior fullback Dederick Kelly, who had gained just 20 yards rushing in his entire career, broke loose up the middle for an 18-yard TD run.

Kavanagh then found Lojka over the middle late in the second quarter for a 12-yard score and then had plenty of good fortune on his next TD pass in the third period. With the ball at the CSU 19, Kavanagh zipped a pass over the middle that was tipped by CSU free safety Greg Myers. The ball popped in the air, K-State's Tyson Schweiger caught it and pulled Ran tacklers into the end zone for a 19- yard score. Colorado State came back with a quick score of its own after a blocked punt a 4-yard score by E.J. Watson MILLER but could never get closer than 19 points in the second half.

Lawrence added another TD, an 8-yard score, and Kavanagh found Kevin Lockett over the middle for a 5-yard score as the score ballooned to 47-21 after three quarters. Nothing much went right for the Rams on the cool, calm night in southern California. They had a touchdown nullified on an inadvertent whistle blown by an officiating crew that had the worst night of anyone. The victory all but assured the Wildcats of their first top-10 finish in the major polls. Their previous high was No.

19 last year in the Associated Press poll. The victory completed a memorable season for Kansas football. Both Kansas State and Kansas won bowl games and finished with 10 victories. K-State's win also kept what will be the Big 12 Conference teams unbeaten this bowl season. season ranked No.

1 in the Western Athletic Conference. K-State's Mike Hickson returned the opening kickoff 33 yards to the KSU 39. Eight plays and 61 yards after that, Hickson scored on a 4-yard run with 11:21 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats (10-2), showing the holiday spirit early, helped CSU down the field with two personal foul penalties and an offside penalty. The Big East Conference officials then joined in by giving Jaime Blake a 2-yard touchdown at the 4:51 mark of the first quarter when TV replays showed Blake did not get into the end zone.

Colorado State (8-4) then stopped K-State on two possessions, but after Miller went down and Kavanagh entered the game, things turned one-sided in a hurry. It was K-State's defense that turned the tide when Mario Smith picked off a CSU pass and returned it eight yards to the CSU 24. A 19-yard reverse by Jimmy Dean was followed by a 5-yard score from Mike Lawrence at the 9:21 mark. K-State's Gordon Brown then Note to readers The Kansas State men's basketball team defeated California late Friday night, 65-58. The game story was unavailable at press time.

The story will appear in Sunday's edition. Sooners reportedly hire Cowboys assistant Radio station reports Blake will replace Schnellenberger as OU's head football coach By The Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY The University of Oklahoma has hired Dallas Cowboys assistant John Blake as its new football coach, according to a broadcast report Friday night. Radio station KATT-FM, citing unidentified sources, reported late Friday that Blake will be announced as the replacement for Howard Schnellenberger, who unexpectedly resigned Dec. 18. Dean Blevins, a former sports anchor at KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City who now works for ABC Television and is close to Dallas CHIEFS Cowboys coach Barry Switzer, reported the story from New Orleans.

The report said Blake, who played football at Oklahoma, would be introduced during a news conference in Norman. It did not say when the announcement would be made. The Associated Press was not able to immediately reach Oklahoma officials or Blake for comment. Switzer, the former coach at Oklahoma, had pushed for OU to hire Blake as its next coach. Switzer was in Norman on Friday, leaving the Cowboys' Valley Ranch facility at 12:30 p.m.

Blake also skipped Dallas' practice to meet in Norman with OU officials. The Cowboys have home field throughout the NFL playoffs and have a bye this week. Blake, 34, would follow a pattern of OU hiring from within its own ranks. OU has deviated only three times from that since World War II Jim Tatum in 1946, Jim Mackenzie in 1966 and Schnellenberger last year. "Having one of our own means every thing," said former OU quarterback Steve Collins.

"Schnellenberger was qualified for the job, but he didn't bleed crimson. It makes a difference in terms of the backing of past players. "Schnellenberger didn't have it. He didn't promote an atmosphere for that at all. I guess Schnellenberger felt he needed to do that to establish his own program." OU president David Boren had said earlier in the day that the school has narrowed its search for a new football coach to "two or three names" and would soon make a decision on the matter.

"Obviously we still had some good information about some people based on our look from last year," Boren said. "But we started with at least 20 that we thought were good, fresh prospects this year. "We narrowed that down to approximately eight and now we're down to two or three at the top of the list and we are closing in on a decision. I think we are very close to a consensus." OU expects to hire Schnellenberger's successor shortly after the football recruiting period resumes. Football coaches cannot contact recruiting prospects from Dec.

24 through Jan. 1. "That would be a great New Year's present if we were to get there earlier than that," Boren said. "We're ready to have a coach out recruiting. Kansas City prepared for three foes this week Chiefs could face San Diego, Indianapolis or Miami in next week's playoff round at home By DOUG TUCKER The Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo.

As hard as they worked all week, the Kansas City Chiefs might have been coming off their worst game of the season instead of their best. The Chiefs hardly could imagine how packed this unusual, abbreviated week of practice would have been if they hadn't beaten Seattle 26-3 last Sunday, wrapping up home-field advantage to go with their first- round playoff bye this weekend. "We held Seattle to 89 total yards," defensive back William White said Friday with a wry grin. "Yet, we were still out there in the cold weather going over corrections. "There's always something from a coaching standpoint that we can do better.

But the goals remain the same: Keep doing the things we do best, and try to be the hitter instead of the hittee." Without any way of knowing who they'll play in their first playoff action Jan. 7, the Chiefs spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday boning up on all three potential opponents. They take today and Sunday off, then come back in earnest Monday. This Monday, they practiced "against" the Miami Dolphins. If Miami beats Buffalo in their first-round match, the Dolphins will be in Kansas City the following week.

On Tuesday they worked as if Indianapolis were the foe, and Wednesday did the same thing with San Diego. If Buffalo beats Miami, the Chiefs will play their opening playoff game against the Indianapolis-San Diego winner. "It's difficult to focus very well when you're in the dark as to who your next opponent will be," said defensive tackle Joe Phillips. "You can't lock in on what's happening. "They have different players, different formations, different strengths, different tendencies.

You just try to concentrate on what each team does well that might give you the most difficulty. We'll all be eager to see what happens this weekend." The Chiefs are most familiar with their AFC West rival Chargers, whom they beat twice during the regular season. They would have revenge as a motivation against the Dolphins, who beat them 13-6 in Joe Robbie Stadium on Dec. 11. "I think if you took a vote of the players as TODAY'S GAMES AFC WILDCARD Miami at Buffalo, 11:30 a.m.

(ABC, Salina cable 9, 10; KSAL radio, 1150-AM) NFC WILDCARD Detroit at Philadelphia, 3 p.m. (ABC, Salina cable KSAL radio, 1150-AM on Page CS to who they'd want to play, most of them would say it really doesn't matter," Phillips said. "They're all good. The main thing is how we prepare and how we play." For some players, not knowing who the next opponent would be added spice to the week. "You have to do a little bit of everything," said defensive back Mark Collins.

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