The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana • Page 13

The Friday. December 11. 1998 B-3 COLLEGE FOTDALL Baldwin named USL head coach; Bruchhaus takes over at McNeese Associated Press End of year football coaching changes continued Thursday at Louisiana colleges as LSU defensive line coach Jerry Baldwin was named head coach at Southwestern Louisiana, while McNeese State promoted its defensive coordinator, Kirby Bmchhaus, to head coach. Baldwin replaces Nelson Stokely who "resigned after posting a 2-9 record this year and 1-10 the year before. assistant at LSU for the past six years, Baldwin coached at the high 'school level from 1976-83.

He was an assistant at Louisiana Tech from 1983-93, then went to LSU. Durin his six years on the LSU staff, he helped tutor such notables as Gabe Northern, a two-time first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection and a second-round NFL draft selection by the Buffalo Bills in 1996; ex-Pineville standout Kenny Mixon, a second-round draft pick by the Miami Dolphins in this year's NFL draft; and James Gillyard, who teamed with Northern to make up one of the nation's top defensive end tandems and nose guard Anthony McFarland, who completed his LSU career during the past season. In the prep ranks, he began his coaching career as an assistant at Zachary' High in 1975 and then coached at Davidson High as head coach and athletic director for three seasons. He moved from there to Ferriday High, where he coached and served as athletic director from 1979-82 and led the Trojans to three district championships and a state semifinal berth in 1981. For his efforts, he was named the 2A' All-State Coach of the Year.

He left the following year to join the collegiate ranks at Louisiana Tech. Baldwin was a three-year letterman at Mississippi Valley State University, where he got his bachelor's degree in 1975 before going on to get a master's at Alcorn State. At McNeese, a Division I-AA university in Lake Charles, Bruchhaus moves up to the spot vacated earlier this week when Bobby Keasler accepted the head coaching job at Northeast Louisiana, a Division I-A school. Keasler replaced Ed Zaunbrecher, who was fired last week. In 1997, the Bruchhaus-coached McNeese defense was No.

1 in passing defense and scoring defense. He began coaching at the high school level and then spent three seasons as an assistant at Northeast before joining McNeese as defensive coordinator in 1990. The changes at McNeese, Northeast and USL followed the surprise at Tulane earlier this week, when Georgia assistant Chris Scelfo was the surprise choice to replace Tommy Bowden, who departed last week for Clemson after an undefeat-ed season. Town Talk, Alexandria-Pineville, La. LSU recruits not (Williams itakes home SO two awards fazed by subpar football season By Dave Moormann Recruiting Staff reporter BATON ROUGE LSU's sub- par 4-7 football season may have disappointed its fans, but appar ently it hasn't adversely affected recruiting.

The Tigers still hold firm on the 17 oral commitments they Iv'JrftiAi -'--lIinilill'MiiliiSaWTim ii have received for next season, and welcomed seven recruits, including six Texans, to campus last weekend. The Tigers won't be hosting any recruits this weekend, as the coaches attend the state championships in the LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) Ricky Williams, the favorite to iWin the Heisman Trophy, picked up two other college football awards Thursday night. -The Texas standout won the Award as the best all-around player, beating out Michael Bishop of Kansas State Cade McNown of UCLA in voting by the Football Writers Williams also won the Doak I Walker Award as the outstanding running back for the second straight year. Michael Cloud of Boston College and Ron Dayne of Wisconsin were the other finalists.

2) Williams became major college football's career rushing leader with 6,279 yards, breaking Tony mark by 197. He ran for 2,124 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. Earlier this week, he won The Associated Press' first College Player of the Year Award. In other awards, Texas lineman Dat Nguyen, the Aggies' leading tackier with 517, won the Chuck Bedarnik Trophy 2tlas the defensive player of the year, beating out Andy Katzenmoyer of Ohio State and Jevon Kearse of Florida. Other winners included UCLA interior lineman Kris Farris, Outland Trophy; Louisiana Tech wide receiver Troy Edwards, Biletnikoff Award; Northwestern's Matt Hartl, n- Sports Spirit Award; Georgia's Matt Stinchcomb, Princeton's Alex Sierk, Mesa State's Josh Penry, and Western Maryland's Tom Lapato, scholar athletes of the year; Florida State kicker Sebastian Janikowski, Groza Award; and Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer, the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year.

lines as he tore of his ACL on the first play of the spring game last spring. Kentwood will face St. John of Plaquemine in the Class 1A final Saturday, while Independence will face defending Class 3A state champion Evangel of Shreveport on Friday. Featured on campus last weekend were tailback Reggie Duncan and center Greg Barnum of Ellison High School in Killeen, Texas, wide receiver Jerel Myers and defensive back Eric Cooper of Madison High in Houston, Cy Falls running back Kenny Hayter, tight end offensive lineman Terry Phillips of Houston's Forest Brook and offensive lineman Casey Gilbert of Pascagoula, Miss. Myers already has committed to LSU.

While LSU's poor season doesn't seem to have had a negative impact on recruiting, neither has it led to an anticipated coaching shaekup. Vern Banks quit as strength and condition-ing coach three days after the season. Defensive line coach Jerry Baldwin was named as USL's head football coach on Thursday after interviewing twice. Baldwin and LSU recruiting coordinator and linebackers coach Bill Elias had been considered for the opening that was left vacant when Nelson Stokely, a former LSU quarterback, resigned after back-to-back losing seasons. He had served as the Cajuns' head coach for the past 10 years.

Todd Dromwrighl Staff photographer NSU head football coach Sam Goodwin looks to lead his Demons into the l-AA championship game in Chattanooga, Tennessee for the first time in school history when NSU takes on UMass Saturday at Turpin Stadium at 2 p.m. Superdome on Friday and Saturday. Among the early committments scheduled to compete are West Monroe offensive lineman Rodney Reed and defensive endlinebacker Jason Ledoux, who will face district 2-5A rival Ruston in the Class 5A final Saturday. Acclaimed West Monroe linebacker Bradie James has yet to commit but is said to be looking at LSU and Texas among others. Former West Monroe linebacker Adam McConathy signed with LSU last February after having been named the state's Mr.

Football. McConathy quit school during preseason drills last summer and has since walked on at Texas. Other LSU committments headed for the Superdome this weekend include Kentwood defensive back Demetrius Hoofkin and Independence tailback back LaBrandon Toefield. Toefield, though, will be cheering his team on from the side- head imdoors, dlodge rims to practice iWhipple ii Continued from B-l from the San Diego area has LSU's McClure named first team All-America While, frustrated about having to practice indoors Thursday. Goodwin wasn't concerned.

"This is a day to polish things, and walking through our game plans is essentially what a Thursday practice comes down to, anyway," he said. "There's no point in practicing in that kind of weather. A younger team might tend to lose focus going inside and having its routine disrupted, but this group has the maturity to go in, get the business done and not allow it to be a wasted day." Northwestern (11-2) is aiming its first berth in the I-AA national championship game. Massachusetts (10-3) was a finalist in the 1978 I-AA tournament, losing to Florida in the division's first-ever championship contest. Kickoff is 2 p.m.

Saturday at Turpin Stadium, where the Demons have won 12 of their last 13 games. Massachusetts has won its last three road games, including a 21-19 victory in the first round at McNeese State. "We know that going to McNeese and winning is difficult, so that speaks volumes to us about the quality of team we are facing Saturday," Goodwin said Thursday in Shreveport at the Demon Quarterback Club meeting. "It should be an exciting game." Town Talk sports services NATCHITOCHES Northwestern State defensive stars Robert Daniel and Jermaine Jones got to play offense during Thursday's practice as the Demon football team continued preparing for its Saturday afternoon NCAA Division I-AA semifinal playoff game at home against Massachusetts. It wasn't a new, unreported wrinkle in Coach Sam Goodwin's game plan although Jones has scored five touchdowns this year on returns, and spent his freshman season on offense as a wide receiver.

Instead, Jones, Daniel and a number of other defenders were able to try their hands at offense with a basketball because cold, rainy weather forced the Demons inside the Health and Human Performance Department gymnasium for their Thursday practice. Daniel (6-6, 273) was a powerful rebounder for one of the top prep basketball teams in the country in his junior and senior season at Spruce High School in Dallas. In fact, his prep basketball coach persuaded him to give football a try before his senior season. Jones (5-8, 180) also played only one year of high school football and was a high-scoring basketball star at Central Catholic of Morgan City. This is a day to polish things and walking through our game plans is essentiually what it comes down to anyway.

Sam Goodwin NSU head football coach r- 99 Five years later, they are two of the standouts on a Purple Swarm defense which will try to slow down a Massachusetts offense ranked third nationally with a 476-yard per game average. Both players were first-team All-Southland Football League picks, with Jones winning conference Player of the Year honors and Daniel receiving invitations to play in the Blue-Gray All-Star Classic and the East-West Shrine Bowl. "Although I don't think either of them would have believed it coming out of high school, they are much better football players than basketball players now," said Goodwin. "We saw their potential and gave them the opportunity and they certainly made the most of it." thrived in Whipple's offense; i completing 57 percent on his passes for 3,530 yards and 32 touchdowns with 18 intercep-l tions. His main target, SMU jitransfer Jimmy Moore, has established single-season records for 'receptions (80), yards (1,333) and touchdowns (15) this year.

Don't let the incredible passing I stats fool you UMass can run the ball, too. The Minutemen aver- aged 191 yards per game on the ground this year behind dynamic Marcel Shipp (2,108 yards and 14 touchdowns). The UMass defense has not been as impressive, yielding 403 yards I'and 27 points per game. But it has steadily improved and does have some talent, notably 6- foot-3, 240-pound middle line-l backer Khari Samuel, a senior 51 who has been watched closely by NFL scouts this season, jjp "The defense has really played well the last six or seven games," Whipple said. "The kids are startling to carry themselves like we have a championship defense." Postseason honors News last month.

Following is the complete 1998 Burger King Coaches' All-America Team: OFFENSE: WR Troy Edwards, Louisiana Tech, Torry Holt, North Carolina State, TE Rufus French, Ole Miss 0L Matt Stinchcomb, Georgia, Aaron Gibson, Wisconsin, Todd McClure, LSU, Jon Jansen, Michigan, Anthony Cesario; Colorado State; QB Cade McNown, UCLA, RB Ricky Williams, Texas, Mike Cloud, Boston College DEFENSE: DL Jared DeVries, Iowa, Montae Reagor, Texas Tech, Corey Moore, Virginia Tech, Tom Burke, Wisconsin; LB Dat Nguyen, Texas Al Wilson, Tennessee, Adalius Thomas, Southern Miss, Chris Claiborne, Southern Cal; DB Antonie Winfield, Ohio State, Champ Bailey, Georgia, Chris McAlister, Arizona SPECIAL TEAMS: Joe Kristosik, UNLV; PK Martin Gramatica, Kansas State; RS Kevin Johnson, Syracuse. Town Talk sports services BATON ROUGE LSU center Todd McClure is among the 25 players named Thursday to the 1998 Coaches' All-America Team as selected by the American Football Coaches Association. The team, sponsored by Burger King, is made up of players from NCAA Division I-A institutions. The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all four of its divisions. McClure and his 24 All-America teammates will be introduced on the 1998 Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN2 Thursday at 7 p.m.

The show will air live from MGM Studios on Orlando, Fla. McClure is the second LSU player to be named a first team All America performer in 1998. Noseguard Anthony McFarland earned All-America honors from The Football Williams ready to claim the Heisman Trophy Heisman Trophy i Oi 'r i "i i rj if 8c -f ft. v- J- rt k'-'' 8', Ii es XI iV V( SI strung together a six-game winning streak, including the 20-16 stunner at Nebraska on Oct. 31.

When the game ended, and Williams had led the 'Horns on the game-winning drive, thousands of Husker fans stood and applauded as he left the field. With three games to go, Williams needed nearly 300 yards for Dorsett's record, and his teammates figured he could get then all against Oklahoma State. But when the Cowboys put nine men on the line and shut down Williams in the first half, Brown went over to console his tailback. "I walk over and say, 'Ricky, I'm sorry but they're all on the line of and he said, 'You've already talked too much about my Brown recalled. "He said, 'What we need to do is win the game.

We're throwing the ball well and we need to continue to do Texas did, and Major Applewhite came through in a big way, passing for 408 yards and three TDs in a 37-34 win. Williams ran for 141 yards the next week in a loss to Texas Tech, and now needed 63 yards to pass Dorsett. He had two long weeks to wait. NEW YORK (AP) The fans cheered Ricky Williams in Lincoln, even though he was the reason Nebraska's 47-game home winning streak had just ended. Hoping to see him break Tony Dorsett's career rushing record at home in Austin, they inundated Texas coach Mack Brown with e-mails, begging him to pull Williams out of the Texas Tech game at Lubbock if he got too close to the mark.

And on that final weekend before the home folks, Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Archie Griffin and John David Crow Heisman winners all stood on the sidelines and cheered as Williams smashed the record in grand style. He ran for 259 yards, including a 60-yard TD run for the record-breaker, and led the Longhorns to a 26-24 upset over rival Texas It's been a remarkable ride for Williams, the gifted 6-foot, 225-pound tailback with the dreadlocks who came back to school for one more year to "win games and have fun." On Saturday, Williams' sensational season is expected to come to a fitting conclusion: He's the overwhelming favorite to take home the Heisman Trophy, college Last year, Heisman week was filled with suspense as Tennessee's Peyton Manning appeared to be the favorite, but Michigan's all-purpose star Charles Woodson became the first primarily defensive player to win the award. Williams would become only the third running back in the 1990s to win the Heisman. Eddie George of Ohio State won in '95 and Rashaan Salaam of Colorado won in '94. Campbell was the only other Longhorn to win the Heisman, in 1977.

Williams was stopped cold a few times this season. He had 43 yards on 25 carries in a loss to Kansas State and 90 yards on 23 carries in a win against Oklahoma State. But that only made him more determined. In the two games after K-State, he had his two 300-yard games 318 against Rice and 350 against Iowa State. "After the Kansas State game, the first thing people said to him is, 'Are you out of the Heisman Texas coach Mack Brown said.

"And he says, haven't even put myself in the Heisman race. What we've got to do is become a better football After the Longhorns opened 1-2, they football's most prestigious award. Among the other contenders are quarterbacks Michael Bishop of Kansas State, Tim Couch of Kentucky and Cade McNown of UCLA. All three said they'd vote for Williams if they could, and would be shocked if anyone else walked to the podium at the Downtown Athletic Club to accept the trophy. "There was a lot of pressure about the Heisman at first," said Williams, who carried 361 times for 2,124 yards and scored 28 touchdowns this season.

"Everyone was looking at you and every team was trying to stop you. But as the season went on, I didn't think about it as much. I just went out and played hard." And when he. finished, Williams found himself with 16 NCAA marks and 40 school records. In addition to breaking Dorsett's 22-year-old standard of 6,082 yards Williams has 6,279 yards the 21-year-old back from San Diego also has NCAA career marks for touchdowns (75), points (452) and all-purpose yards Associated Press Texas running back Ricky Williams (right) i talks with Tony Dorsett after Williams broke i Dorsetf rushing record last month.

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