The Daily Herald from Chicago, Illinois • Page 91

Sundav September 1,1996 FOOIBAIl Section 3 Osborne says Farley's suspension could be for season Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. The problems just won't go away for two-time defending national champion Nebraska. This time, star linebacker Terrell Farley was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, and coach Tom Osborne said the indefinite suspension he handed out Friday night could last the entire season. "He's been suspended and it will be a minimum of two games, more likely three and possibly permanent," Osborne said after Saturday's practice. It just depends.

COLLEGE ROUNDUP Colorado rocks in Detmer's return Obviously it was a very, very disappointing thing to have happen." Farley, the Big Eight's newcomer of the year in '95, was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of drunken driving. Nebraska, bidding for an unprecedented third straight national title, opens the season at home Saturday against Michigan State. Farley's arrest occurred a few days after Osborne said he was tired of answering questions about last year's off-the-field problems, which included the six-game suspension of star running back Law- rence Phillips for assaulting a former girlfriend. Osborne said Farley would be evaluated for "any type of alcohol dependency that he may "I'm not going to put him back on the field if I feel he still has a problem that hasn't been addressed," Osborne said. Earlier in the week, Osborne was visibly perturbed when questions arose involving Phillips, Christian Peter, Tyrone Williams and Riley Washington, all of.

whom had legal problems last season and no longer are on the team. "I'm tired of talking about last year," Osborne said. "And those players are all gone. All those questions have been answered over and over and over again." Peter served 10 days in jail for disturbing the peace. Williams is charged with firing two shots into a car that carried two passengers, and Washington faces trial on charges of attempted second-degree murder.

Osborne said Farley's arrest was especially troubling because of the emphasis the university, coaches and players had placed on proper behavior this year. "We've talked about this at great length throughout the fall camp," Osborne said, "and that's why I suspect the problem, in view of the circumstances and in view of all that's been said and done within the team outside of the team You just wouldn't think somebody would get involved in something like this unless they didn't have complete control." From the time players arrived for media day in August, they said they were aware they would be closely watched. I-back Damon Benning described the Cornhuskers as "a new team" and said "people don't even think Associated Press BOULDER, Colo. Koy Detmer said he felt more nervous than he did in his freshman debut. He didn't show it.

Detmer passed for 3 touchdowns and ran for another, and No. 5 Colorado opened its season with a 3719 romp over Washington State on Saturday. Detmer, showing no ill effects from right-knee surgery that sidelined him for the last six games of the 1995 season, completed 20 of 33 passes for 254 yards. "I think I felt more nervous for this one because a lot of expectations were there for me and for the team," Detmer said. "I wasn't really concerned about the knee.

I was just anxious about getting back in the flow of things. I felt kind of like a freshman again, starting over." He threw TD passes of 7 yards to James Kidd, 43 yards to Chris Anderson and 25 yards to Herchell Troutman to stake the Buffaloes to a 31-6 lead early in the third quarter. Tennessee 62, UNLV 3 KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Peyton Manning threw for 298 yards and a touchdown in little more than a half and No. 2 Tennessee opened its season with a victory over UNLV.

With a school-record crowd of 106,212 in newly expanded Neyland Stadium, the Vols jumped on the Rebels 35-3 at halftone and pulled away with 2 touchdowns in the first 3:17 of the third quarter. The Vols gained 473 yards and scored twice on fumble recoveries. UNLV was held to 184 yards. Auburn 29, UABO AUBURN, Ala. Junior college transfer Jaret Holmes made all 5 of his field-goal attempts including kicks of 46, 47 and 50 yards to lead No.

16 Auburn to a victory over Division I-A newcomer Alabama- Birmingham. Florida 55, SW Louisiana 21 GAINESVILLE, Fla. Florida's defense stole the show from Danny Wuerffel and the Fun 'N' Gun offense, setting a school record with 4 touchdowns in a victory over Southwestern Louisiana. Cornerback Fred Weary returned a fumble 64 yards and an intercep- Florida's Terry Jackson (22) gets game, won 55-21 by Florida. tion 65 yards for touchdowns for the fourth-ranked Gators.

Alabama 21, Bowling Green 7 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Curtis Alexander rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown as No. 13 Alabama beat Bowling Green in a sluggish season- opening performance. Southern Miss. 11, Georgia 7 ATHENS, Ga.

The Jim Donnan era at Georgia got off to a disastrous start as the Bulldogs were upset by Southern Mississippi on 3 Johnny Lomoro field goals and a safety. Southern Miss, an 11-point underdog, pulled off another season- opening shocker against a new Southeastern Conference coach, matching its 27-24 win over Alabama and Gene Stallings in 1990. Kansas State 21, Texas Tech 14 MANHATTAN, Kan. Brian Kavanagh threw for 1 touchdown and ran for 1 and No. 21 Kansas State survived a wild finish for a hit by Southwest Louisiana's Pat Brennan during Saturday's Associated Press Photo ragged victory over Texas Tech in the inaugural Big 12 Conference game.

S. Illinois 24, Arkansas 12 CARBONDALE Steve Luce completed 13 of 25 passes for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns, 1 an 80- yarder to Damon Jones, as Southern Illinois opened its season by beating Central Arkansas. Luce, who also threw 3 interceptions, hit Jones late in the first quarter on the long play to give the Salukis an early 7-0 lead. Reggie Fowler caught a 46-yard scoring pass from Phil Shellhaas and Luce connected with Cornell Craig on a 20-yard scoring play to put Southern up 21-0 at the half. N.

Carolina 45, Qemson 0 CHAPEL HILL, N.C. North Carolina's defense handed Clemson its first season-opening shutout in 22 years, and Chris Keldorf began his Tar Heels career with 2 touchdown passes in a victory over the Tigers. Maim 30, Memphis 7 MEMPHIS, Tenn. Eleventh- ranked Miami struggled offensively before beating Memphis. Playing a day after starting tailback Danyell Ferguson and wide receiver Yatil Green were suspended, Miami had trouble hanging on to the ball with several dropped passes and 4 turnovers.

Texas 40, Missouri 10 AUSTIN, Texas James Brown threw for 2 TDs as No. 8 Texas converted 3 turnovers into scores in a game delayed 45 minutes in the third quarter by lightning. BYU 58, Arkansas St. 9 PROVO, Utah Steve Sarkisian was 16-of-23 passing for 259 yards in three quarters of action as No. 19 Brigham Young (2-0) routed Arkansas State.

The Cougars led 24-3 at halftime and Sarkisian struck 49 seconds into the third quarter with his final TD 69-yarder to KO. Kealaluhi. Special-teams play hardly consolation for Illinois BY BOB LOGAN Daily Herald Sports Writer ANN ARBOR, Mich. Illinois won the special-teams battle, but lost the war Saturday in its 20-8 opening setback by Michigan. The Illini blocked 2 Remy Hamilton field-goal attempts, limited the Wolverines to a mere 26 in return yardage and consistently gave them poor field position on Jason Higgins' punts.

But all that, plus tough defense, ILLINOIS NOTES wasn't enough. It was the Illinois offense that went home kicking itself. Coach Lou Tcpper seemed subdued after Saturday's Illini upset bid fell short. He was especially perplexed by three costly fumbled exchanges between center Chris Brown and quarterback Scott Weaver, one of them recovered by Michigan for the game's only turnover. "I can't explain that," Tepper said.

"Our offense showed me we can move the ball against good teams like Michigan." Weaver displayed patience and poise Saturday, but came up short on the game's biggest play in the third quarter. With Illinois trailing 10-5 on third-and-goal from the Wolverines' 4, he passed to tight end Matt Cushing, who got swarmed under at the 3. Weaver appeared woozy on the previous play, when he was hit hard after the snap from center went awry. "I was ready to take Scott out a couple of times, and that was one of them," said Tepper. "I told (backup QB Matt) Hoekstra to get ready, but Scott insisted he was all Michigan had to go without tailback Chris Howard Saturday, because he was briefly declared ineligible.

Howard was short one grade and couldn't locate the professor who could have given him a passing mark before the kickoff. about last year." "Nobody wants to be the next guy to get in trouble," Benning said. Ail-American defensive end Jared Tomich said: "Everyone is walking on egg shells." Tomich, fellow defensive end Grant Wistrom and Farley are pictured on the front of the Nebraska football media guide. Farley, a 6-foot-l, 205-pounder from Columbus, had 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and blocked 2 punts last season. He went to Independence (Kan.) Community College before transferring to Nebraska last season.

Irvin's 4 IDs help MSU crush Boilers Associated Press EAST LANSING, Mich. Michigan State's Sedrick Iryin may have surprised many with his sensational performance in his first college game. Not coach Nick Saban, though. "I've been telling you he's a player," Saban said after the freshman scored 4 touchdowns Saturday as Michigan State beat Purdue 52-14. Irvin, a heralded recruit from Florida, scored on runs of 17,5 and 5 yards and caught a 12-yard TD pass from Todd Schultz as the Spartans and Boilermakers opened their seasons with a Big Ten game.

The 6-foot, 210-pound tailback showed power, quick moves and sure hands as he ran for 73 yards and caught 7 passes for 59 yards more. His 4 touchdowns set a freshman record for MSU. His performance was all the more crucial because Michigan State had lost last year's top rusher, Marc Renaud, to academic ineligibiJity. "We played him exactly in the game the way I've been telling everybody, and he just happened to score 4 touchdowns," Saban said. "He did what we needed him to do to win." Irvin's quick feet and sure hands helped spark the Spartans to a first-half 28-0 lead.

Irvin said he has to get used to playing in front of large crowds. "I had to open my eyes wide and I had to pinch myself to make sure it was real," he said. "I was very nervous being in front of 70,000 fans and playing on ESPN in my first college game. "I surprised myself," he said. "But on the other hand I've been working hard since spring." Saban said it is the type of game the Spartans needed from Irvin.

"He'll have to contribute to this team now," he said. Place-kicker Chris Gardner added field goals of 37, 49 and 43 yards. Maryland needs rally to beat NIU Associated Press COLLEGE PARK, Md. Delbert Cowsette's 49-yard fumble return for a touchdown helped Maryland rally from a surprising halftime deficit, and the Terrapins pulled away for a 30-7 victory over Northern Illinois. The Terrapins' new pro-style offense sputtered and misfired for nearly three quarters, but the defense provided enough big plays to help Maryland avoid a shocking upset against a team that last year went 3-8 and gave up at least 42 points in six games.

The turning point occurred with the Huskies looking to increase a 63 advantage after moving from their 10 to the Maryland 44. The Terrapins' Brett White jarred the ball loose from quarterback Brandon Barker, and Cowsette picked it up and rambled down the right sideline for a score with 9:56 left in the third period. After a Northern Illinois punt, the Terrapins rattled off a 70-yard drive to go up 15-6. Brian Cummings got Maryland's first offensive touchdown on an 8-yard run with nine seconds left in the third quarter, and an interception by Chad Scott set up an 88-yard march capped by Kendall Ogle's 1- yard TD run. Freshman Harold Westley got Maryland's final touchdown on a 7- yard run with 3:47 remaining.

Charles Talley, who averaged 146.5 rushing yards per game last season, gained 55 on 22 carries for Northern Illinois. It was the first time in seven games he failed to reach 100-yard mark. The Huskies, playing their first game under coach Joe Novak, hardly looked like a 23-point underdog in the first half. MULLJN: Jones a master at playing NFL's money game Continued from Page 1 ket with the right deal. "What we did three or four years ago was look at our roster, and say, we can't let a Michael Irvin get out of here, we really don't want Tony Tolbert to get out of here," Jones says.

"We have tried to drive our situation rather than being driven. "People say I bought a Super Bowl by paying $40-something million out in bonuses. Well, we've lost a lot of significant free agents who were starters on our last Super Bowl team: Jimmie Jones, John Gesek, Ken Norton, Kevin Gogan, James Washington. "Free agency has not been something that we've been able to waltz through and not be impacted by. What we have done is make conscious choices as far as what we wanted to head off." Pretty good choices, too.

Not bad for the guy who says he never wanted it this way to begin with. One criticism is that Jones' private deals inflate the league revenues, which raise the salary cap, but only Jones is getting the money to pay the higher salaries. And that's a legitimate gripe; he's one of only three owners with his own stadium to sell, license, whatever. But there is a common notion that all this salary cap management is going to catch up with Jones. Maybe.

The Cowboys don't even have a full 53-man roster, just 48, right now. But for all of Jones' apparent mortgaging the future for the present, the league may be going where he already is. What if the salary cap went to $70 million? What if in a couple years, when the Fox TV deal is up, CBS comes in with both feet, and TV money goes from $4 billion to nearly $9 billion? What if, as part of the new deal, the NFL goes to an 18-game season, getting rid of two preseason games? And no bye week? And one week between conference championships and the Super Bowl? That's one vision of the NFL of tomorrow. The one Jones sees, whether or not you like his methods. COLLEGE FOOTBALL PAY-PER-VIEW HEADQUARTERS WATCH THESE AND OTHER GAMES FREE AT THESE LOCATIONS r.inai UFIPUTC Rill I INfi MEADDWa THIS SATURDAY'S GAMES ILLINOIS AT MICHIGAN CLEMSON AT N.

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