The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 33

vThe C-rmu)UlfNfus greenville piedmont a- Football Basketball Outdoors Sunday, November 23, 1986 Section rfo siMflless Bragging rights put on hold until next year OSC 2 1 flemini 2 1 3 i Stanford loses Wire reports BERKELEY, Calif. Like its opponent for the Dec. 27 Gator Bowl, Stanford found the going tough Saturday. The Cardinal (7-3), which will face Clemson in Jacksonville, was upset 17-11 by California in the 89th "Big Game." Freshman Mike Ford set up one Cal (2-9) touchdown and scored another in Joe Kapp's final game as the Golden Bears' coach. Page 15D.

A complete bowl lineup is on Page 7D. By Ron Green The Greenville News CLEMSON After a day of blood, neither Clemson nor South Carolina went home happy. They just went home. The Tigers and Gamecocks put a year's moratorium on their claims of intrastate supremacy when they played to a 21-21 tie in front of 82,500 fans Saturday afternoon in Memorial Stadium. In a game marked by mistakes and missed opportunities, the underdog Gamecocks saw their chance of an upset disappear when Scott Ha-gler's 41-yard field goal with 30 seconds to play missed badly to the left.

It would have been a scintillating conclusion to an often nightmarish 1 season for USC, which finished 3-6-2. it became another case of what might have been. For the 7-2-2 Tigers, who missed a desperation 62-yard field goal as time expired, there was the satisfaction of a Gator Bowl bid to play Stanford on Dec. 27. For the second consecutive week, however, the Tigers came away feeling fortunate to have dodged defeat.

This one burned deeper than last week's tie to Maryland, though. "Nobody in our locker room is happy," said Clemson wide receiver (Ray Williams. "I don't think we came out on the top end, not with the record they had and them tying us. They got more out of a tie than we did." Which isn't saying much. "No one is happy with a tie," USC coach Joe Morrison said.

Even the fans, their allegiance sharply delineated by orange or black attire, left wondering who to poke fun at in the coming year. Each side had to shake its head at the chances that got away and the I Staff ptwiof raplter Fred RoUImm See Tigers, Page 7D USC's Raynard Brown fumbles after a hit by Gene Beasley (27); Clemson's James Lott recovered the ball Hagler's golden opportunity goes awry dan 'I just missed the kick' face of victory and hooked left. "I didn't hit it real bad. I just hooked It. Some people said the snap was high, but it wasn't.

I just missed the kick. It's typical for the way our season has gone," Hagler said. "I felt good going out. I felt good about the kick. I just didn't make it.

"Kicking is like that. You make some, and you miss some. There are times when they just don't go through." Hagler had no other field-goal opportunities Saturday. He was 5-for-5 this year inside the 40-yard line and 5-for-9 beyond. See Hagler, Page 6D By Tom Layton The Greenville News CLEMSON Scott Hagler could make this kick in his sleep, but he'll miss it in his dreams.

For the second time in this frustrating season, USC trusted Hagler to pull a last-minute victory out of a tie. The glory in what would have been an immensely more satisfying year would have been his. But fate stubbed Hagler's toe Saturday, just as it did in October in the 17-17 tie at Virginia Tech. This time, with 25 seconds left and the score tied 21-21 with Clemson, he missed what he would consider a chip-shot, a 41-yard field goal from a slight angle that flew in the Enough is enough! Shoulda played it off CLEMSON That does it. They should have played it off.

Not all the ties, just this one. Not because a title or a bowl bid was at stake. They weren't. The reasons were better than that. What happened here Saturday was a monumental letdown for 82,500 people in the stands and the rest of the football fans in the state.

It should be impossible to bring together that many people on one spectacular Saturday afternoon and after three hours of football, leave nobody happy. It was no trouble at all for Clemson and South Carolina a piece of cake. All you needed was a 21-21 tie. And they did it. In the immediate aftermath Clemson coach Danny Ford had a few seconds when he found himself surveying the scene, whether or not he meant to.

"It was just sort of a froze-up stadium," Ford said wistfully. "Everybody just sat there and looked around and didn't know whether to jump up and holler or start crying. That's sort of the way our dressing room is at this point." For pure gaiety, a good funeral wake would have outdone Clemson's post-game acceptance of the Gator Bowl bid. A mediocre wake would rival the extending of it. In an uphill effort to lift the mood in the Clemson dressing room, Gator Bowl selection chairman Henry Beckwith told Ford and the players, "You'll forget about this one," and that they would "come down to Jacksonville" and everyone would have a good time.

Well, maybe. Maybe after they shake off resorting See Foster, Page 6D Inside college football to a 34-14 victory to complete an Michigan overcame a 14-3 deficit to beat Ohio State 26-24 Saturday and claim the Big 10 Conference title. With the victory, the Wolverines earned a berth in the Rose Bowl against PAC-10 champion Arizona State. Page 1 5D. Speaking of Arizona State, the Sun Devils were beaten 34-17 by arch-rival Arizona.

It effectively ended any ASU (9-1-1) hopes for the national championship. Page 15D. No. 2-ranked Penn State had some trouble early, but eventually wore down Pitt in cruising 11-0 regular season. The victory completes half of the national championship game set for the Fiesta Bowl Jan.

2. Miami still must beat East Carolina Thanksgiving Day to complete the match. Page 15D. Oklahoma had its hands full against Nebraska, but came back to win 20-17 for the Big Eight title and a berth in the Orange Bowl. Page 15D.

Georgia Southern beat S.C. State and Wofford beat Gardner-Webb, Page 14D. Stall phlgraptwr red Riillisun Scott Hagler watches as his field goal attempt misses Furman does what it can (wins) for I-AA playoff berth 14 if i XJ By Abe Hardesty The Greenville News In the beginning, it was a game with the classic trademarks of a major upset. In the end, Furman's 37-14 victory over The Citadel mirrored the seasons of both teams. Furman, trailing 14-3 after a quarter and 14-13 at the half, took charge in the last 23 minutes Saturday and in the process took a big step toward an NCAA Division I-AA playoff berth.

The victory was the fourth in a row for the Paladins, who carved it out in front of 15,465 chilled observers and against a Bulldog team that appeared intent on avenging a 42-0 thrashing of a year ago. Furman, ranked 19th among I-AA schools, buried the Bulldogs with a 21 -point fourth quarter that gave Jimmy Satterfield's first edition a 7-2-2 mark. On Sunday, the team will learn whether that is good enough to earn one of the nine at-large bids to the 16-team playoff that begins next Saturday. The loss saddled The Citadel with a 3-8 record and a fifth straight loss in its most intense rivalry. Fitting for a season that was marked at one stage with uncertainty and glaring turnovers, Furman fell behind 7-0 on the first play of the game and trailed 14- The Paladins will find out Sunday if they made it into the I-AA playoffs.

Page 6D. Furman's defense saved the day against The Citadel. Page 17D. Statistics, Page 17D. 3 when The Citadel's Gene Brown blocked a punt late in the first quarter and J.D.

Cauthen turned it into a touchdown. But Furman's defense, undaunted by Tom Froo-man's 77-yard scoring run on that opening play, remained in charge. After the blocked punt, Furman's defense yielded only six first downs two of those via penalties and just 40 total yards until the insignificant closing minutes. Three of those first downs, and 62 yards, came after Furman had muscled its way to 373 yards and 37 points on 80 workmanlike offensive plays. The highlight of the offense, stalled by five fumbles and six penalties, was the 162-yard running work of tailback Robbie Gardner.

That gave him 1,018 yards for the season and 3,118 for his career, second-highest See Furman, Page 17D MM 1 -1 i it Staff ptMMORraphn' f- rank Pram I Furman's Al Peterson (75) catches Citadel QB Tommy Burriss.