The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 16

i- -r LJ Win kwa 2 SECTION BASEBALL FOOTBALL SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1991 USC must settle for p. Dan Foster 1 -xr 24-24 tie against Duke tit i i -J. Tigers impressive, USC disappoints CLEMSON and COLUMBIA By Abe Hardesty News staff writer COLUMBIA It might have A few observations after scrutiny been the most defeating tie in South Carolina football history. of the state two biggest college football teams in their season openers Saturday: The Gamecocks, after leading by the Devils, who trailed 17-10 when Tim Jones went into punt from his 26 late in the third period. When the snap sailed over his head and into the end zone, Jones tried and failed to pick it up, and USC freshman Norman Greene pounced on it for a touchdown that gave USC a 14-point lead until the closing moments.

Duke moved 45 yards in six plays to make it a 17-10 game. The last touchdown came on the game's final play, and Duke forged a tie when Dave Brown passed for a two-point conversion after time had expired. That stunned a Williams-Brice Stadium crowd of 71,200, which had watched Duke seemingly kill its upset chances with a third-quarter punt that turned into a USC touchdown. The punt-turned-touchdown was the most glaring of mistakes Duke throughout Saturday's season -opening game by as many as 14 noints midwav through the While Clemson looked as good as advertised, South Carolina's running game better be better than it looked. fourth quarter were dealt a 24- 24 tie when the persistent Blue THE NEWS BART BOATWRtGHT Obviously Appalachian State was Devils passed their way aown-field twice in the closing minutes.

Dave Brown (7) is corralled by USC's Ernest Dixon not the kind of test Clemson will face often this season, but that doesn't demean the Tigers' performance. In a 340 triumph that could have been worse, little could be faulted in Clemson's executions. The same can't be said for South Carolina. The Gamecocks yielded to a last second 24-24 tie after a game filled with mistakes by both teams. A k-.

Cameron on mark With respect to Clemson's open Tigers smother ASU, 34-0 er, when a heavy favorite does what's expected, things can be boring. But when it doesn't, they can be disastrous. So from the standpoint of pure excitement, the afternoon at Clemson was a no-win situation for most of the 72,000 crowd. The good news for them was the Tigers beat Appalachian State with ease. After the Tigers had a 24-0 half- time lead, what could Clemson coach Ken Hatfield say to the play ers at the intermission? Was he going to ask the defensive line who it was that let Appalachian State get away with one net yard rushing during that penod, or lash out because the outmanned Moun taineers almost made a first down but didn't the first half? There were things Hatfield didn't By Woody White News staff writer CLEMSON Since shutouts in openers are getting to be a.

habit for the Clemson Saturday's biggest question was what conclusions could be drawn from the eighth-ranked Tigers' 34-0 victory over Appalachian State. Clemson head coach Ken Hatfield, who played the entire second half with his second-string quarterback, said he thought the Tigers' offense played well in racing to a 24-0 halftime advantage but was spotty in the second half with reserve Richard Moncrief at the controls. The Tigers' defense, he said, was fine throughout. Jerry Moore, Appalachian. State's head coach and a former assistant under Hatfield at Arkansas, seemed much more impressed with Hatfield's team.

"I think the thing that really sticks out in my mind is Clemson's overall team speed," said Moore. "We can't come close to imitating that in practice, and then to come out on the field and try to stop it is impossible. "I told Ken that I think he has an improved team, a better team and one that can have a national- like. But has any team ever played a perfect football game? He wasn't thrilled at the mileage i the Tigers got on punt returns, but in a game where they were as superior was they were Saturday, that doesn't qualify as life-threatening. He almost admitted to feeling some relief at the type oversights V- -v- that would give Clemson something to work on before it plays Temple Sept.

21. Two things answered Saturday is that Ronald Williams is ready for a good season and that what Clemson quarterback DeChane Cameron has has been saying all along is true. He can pass the ball and it doesn't have to be a bowl game for him to do it. See Tigers, Page 15C THE NEWS SCOTT STEWART Before Cameron retired to the sidelines after the first half he had completed seven of 11 passes for 100 Clemson tailback Ronald Williams sails over ASU defender Avery Hall yards. Paladins debut on beam, 35-24 College standings, 2C.

Georgia blasts LSU, 3C. Mississippi State stuns Texas; Jackson leads Maryland past Virginia; N.C. State toughs one out against Va. Tech, 4C. Absolutely no Penn State 81 Cincinnati 0, 6C.

NFL previews, 7C. Baseball, 8C. Baseball stats, 9C. Clemson statistics, 10C. Furman statistics, 12C.

High schools, 15C. Outdoors, 16C. Auto racing, 17C. "They did a great job running the ball," Furman coach Jimmy Satterfield said. "We wanted to pass the ball a little better than we did, though." Furman's offense in 1990 was one of the most balanced in recent years, averaging 233.6 yards rushing and 190.3 yards passing, with senior quarterback Frankie DeBusk at the helm.

But with Swilling taking over, it's obvious the team will probably pass less in See Furman, Page 12C mores combined for nearly 230 yards rushing between them on a spectacular New England afternoon at Connecticut's Memorial Stadium. Swilling had a game-high 123 yards on the ground in his first career start, while Brownstead had 94, also in his first start. For extra credit, Carl Tremble chipped in 123 yards and a 65-yard touchdown run, as the Paladins churned out 386 yards rushing on the day, the most since Oct. 1, 1988, when they gained 408 yards rushing against Virginia Military in Paladin Stadium. By Tim Peeler News staff writer STORRS, Conn.

The questions were answered quickly. Furman's untested newcomers passed their first exam with high marks on Saturday and the nationally sixth ranked Paladins rolled to their first win of the season, a 35-24 victory over Connecticut. Any questions about the new quarterback Hugh Swilling or fullback Heath Brownstead were answered early, as the pair of sopho Seles wins Open title; Connors' ride ends NATIONAL Braves smash Mets, 6-1 Leibrandt masterful Atlanta 6, New York 1 Berryhill hits 2-run homer Chicago 2, San Francisco 1 Los Angeles at Pittsburgh It's no secret that the biggest question mark about this year's Clemson team hovered over Cameron. The spectacular performance he delivered against Illinois in the Hall of Fame Bowl left hopes high. While the opportunity wasn't there for him to be that impressive Saturday, the fact remains that he looked considerably improved over some of his regular season performances of a year ago.

Fuller effective The bothersome thing about Carolina's performance was that it bore a haunting resemblance to those a few years back when USC had big passing statistics but losing scores because it couldn't run the ball those last 10 yards of a drive. Saturday night's passing statistics were good, but a Duke team picked to finish seventh in the ACC kept the Gamecocks out of its end zone for longer than it should have. The good news is that after USC scored only three points in the first 29 minutes, Bobby Fuller gave the Gamecocks two touchdown passes in barely more than five minutes playing time with halftime coming between them. The Gamecocks reached deep into Duke territory twice in the first quarter, once after a bad Duke snap and later after Carolina's Jerry Inman blocked a Duke punt. But USC's running game stalled twice inside the 10.

The results were a field goal after the first one and a Duke interception on the second one. Carolina's third touchdown was because Duke punter Ted Davis failed to fall on a bad snap from center that wound up under Carolina's Norman Greene for a USC touchdown. Despite all Duke's miscues, the Blue Devils still managed a 24-24 tie with a touchdown and two-point play that came after the game clock had runout. Cincinnati at Montreal Philadelphia at Houston St. Louis at San Diego AMERICAN Typical Fenway game Boston 11, Seattle 10 Candiotti handcuffs ex-teammates Toronto 4, Cleveland 1 Kansas City at Baltimore Oakland at Detroit New York at Minnesota Chicago at Texas AP reports NEW YORK For Monica Seles, owner of her own personal Grand Slam, there will always be time for Wimbledon and the establishment's version of the tennis sweep.

That's how it is when you're 17 and owner of the Australian, French and U.S. Open titles. Seles swept past venerable Martina Navratilova 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 on Saturday to capture the Open and complete her three-quarter Slam. Wimbledon is missing because Monica bailed out on the shrine of tennis at the last minute, complaining of shin splints and retreating into a Garboesque cloak of secrecy for several weeks. It was no secret in the past 2 weeks about the magic that Jimmy Connors had created in the "men's draw.

But Connors finally ran out of miracles and succumbed to a young version of himself. Jim Courier, too strong and too sharp, swept into the of the U.S. Open by beating Connors Milwaukee at California MINOR LEAGUES NEW YORK (AP) The Braves' thoughts concerned a pennant race. The Mets were thinking about Dwight Gooden. When the teams took the field, it showed.

Charlie Leibrandt pitched eight strong innings and Atlanta hit three home runs Saturday for an easy 6-1 victory over New York. "I don't see the Mets backing down to anyone," Leibrandt said. "It's just one of those things for them. Every team goes through it sometimes." The fourth-place Mets learned before the game that Gooden will not need major surgery, but he has a lot of rehabilitation to do before spring training. An arthroscopic procedure revealed torn cartilage, loose fragments and a partially torn rotator cuff.

"The report on Doc is great news," manager Bud Harrelson Orlando at Greenville the TV or newspaper in the morning," Leibrandt said. "But it's not something I'm going to worry about. I try not to follow what the Dodgers are doing to closely." Leibrandt (14-11) was backed by home runs from Dave Justice, See Braves, Page 1 5C said. "The damage is minimal and exercise and rest should solve it." Atlanta entered the day trailing Los Angeles by one-half game in the NL West, but was even in the loss column. The Dodgers were to play a night game at Pittsburgh.

"I might pick up the score on THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Monica Seles and trophy almost as badly Saturday as the young Connors beat another 39-year-old, Ken Rosewall, in the 1974 final. See Open, Page 1 5C.