News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 9

Scorecard 2B 3B College Football Pro 8-9B Vince Smith Pro Basketball 12B NEWS-PRESS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1987 WWW II i VICTORY Andy Bean won his second straight Kapalua International on Saturday2B ROSES Michigan St. clinched the Big Ten PREVIEWS Take a look at the matchups between the Colts, Dolphins and Bucs, Vikings8-9B title and a Rose Bowl tsa bidwithawin 2 against IndianaSB ON SPORTS SCOTT KORZENOWSKI mi 7-13 BSEiTD straggles pasfi VPS, 2 Paradise arrives for lucky Gators ByGLENN MILLER News-Press Staff Writer AINESVILLE You have your trophies, ir conference championships your rings, your pride, school spirit, your family narr le all those into the end zone from a yard out. As he dove over the line, Virginia Tech's Leslie Bailey and Carter Wiley slammed Bratton hard, knocking the ball loose. Virginia Tech recovered in the end zone. The Hokies apparently had a first down at their own 20 with a tie game and less than five minutes left.

"I was scared," said Miami running back Warren Williams. "I thought our bowls were goingdown the drain." But Virginia Tech was offsides on the play. The Hurricanes got the ball back and another chance to salvage their perfect season. This time Bratton didn't fumble. "The big play in the game came when Miami fumbled into the end zone, but retained the ball," said Hokie coach Frank Beamer.

"The officials said we lined up offsides. That cost us possession at the 20-yard line. "The outcome certainly would have been different had we come up with that ball." During the week leading up to Saturday's game, Hurricane coach Jimmy Johnson tried telling his players to react Virginia Tech. "I knew it would be a difficult game with the situation as it is," Johnson said. "With everybody saying we were going to run away with it, I said it wasn't going to be that way." Johnson was right.

Hurricane fans couldn't relax unil the final two minutes, when the Hurricanes stopped a desperate VPI drive deep in Hokie territory. Miami added an insurance score with 34 seconds remaining on a two-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Steve Walsh to tight end Alfredo Roberts. The Hokies played the Hurricanes even nearly all through the night, to the surprise of 40, 1 05 fans in the Orange Bowl. The teams were 10-10 at halftime. Through three quarters it was 1 3-13.

"In the second half we needed to execute and it seems body wanted to get off the blocks," said Miami defensive end Dan Stubbs. "In the second half, we picked up the pace. It seemed like we were not having fun emotionally. In the second half, we started to congratulate one another and have fun." Running back Warren Williams said Bratton helped instill the right spirit in the told us to get ours head out cf our (rear ends) and play Hurricane football," See MIAMI, page6B MIAMI According to the pre-game line, the Miami Hurricanes were supposed to dine on the Virginia Tech Hokies Saturday night. It didn't turn out that way.

The Hurricanes swallowed several times before gulping down the surpisingly tough Hokies 27-13. The mighty No.3-ranked, undefeated Hurricanes were favored by 37 points over the 1-9 Hokies. Miami didn't take the lead for good until 4:51 was left in the game when Hurricane fullback Melvin Bratton scored on a 1-yard run. On the previous play the Hurricanes appeared in deep trouble. Bratton tried leaping Gators Una9 Simmons' scoring run sends Florida past Kentucky and toward Hawaii, 27-14 i v.

i ByMIKEBIANCHI Gannett News Service GAINESVILLE Stacey Simmons bid the Kentucky Wildcats an early Aloha with a 94-yard game-opening kickoff return, and the Florida Gators surfed the resulting momentum to a 27-1 4 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats Saturday afternoon. With a Christmas-day vacation to the Aloha Bowl on the line, the Gators walloped Kentucky with a mighty 1-2-3 Hawaiian punch consisting of Simmons, quarterback Kerwin Bell and tailback Emmitt Smith. True, the Gators (6-4, 3-3 in the Southeastern Conference) didn't exactly lay waste to the Wildcats (5-5, 1-4), but they took care of business, much to the delight of the estimated crowd of 73,021. Bell, who completed 12 of 20 passes for 160 yards T-ZZ3 'lg Vy I I jjr Jsr A v. Wf enough for Galen Hall," he joked in reference to UF's rotund coach.

"We have a lot of large people here." Obviously, Florida's locker room was more jubilant than a Don Ho-hosted beach party after the game in vast cor rast to UF's previous two losses to Aubur Georgia. Sir Tons' kickoff return snapped the Gators out of their two-game funk. Simmons, who has become known for his patented east-west jitterbug runs, took the straight-line route this time. He busted through the wedge, cut outside, eluded four tacklers, ran into his own blocker (Mark McGriff) at about the 10 before finally reaching the end zone. "I felt like I had baby legs by the time I reached the end zone," said Simmons.

"I had it in my mind before the game even started that I wanted to make a big play. We needed something to get fired up." Added Bell: "I didn't know how to react after Stacey's run. We haven't had any excitement or enthusiasm for two games. That run really woke us up and got us going." Simmons kept it going later in the half when he made an acrobatic catch for a 39-yard touchdown and a 17-0 Gator halftime lead. Bell, who broke the SEC career TD pass record on the throw to Simmons, was pulverized by Jerry Reese as he delivered the pass.

Kentucky cornerback Chris Tolbert played the ball perfectly and tipped it into the air. Simmons kept his eyes locked on the ball and came down with both feet in bounds. "When he (Tolbert) tipped it, I thought the ball was gone. Next thing I know, it was falling into my hands." With such catches, Simmons and his fellow receivers quieted some of their many critics Saturday. Ernie Mills, who dropped a sure TD bomb on UF's first play of the game against Auburn, caught three passes Saturday, including an 11-yard TD in the third period to give UF a 24-0 lead.

"I needed to redeem myself," Mills admitted. "Even though I caught some passes against Auburn, the fans remember me for BELL rather insignificant incentives that young upstanding college players sipposedly risk life and limb for each week. And then you have your real incentives. Things like 80-degree temperatures, white sandy beaches, flowing grass skirts and the beautiful girls hula-ing around inside those flowing grass skirts. NOW WE'RE TALKING REAL incentives here, not the kinds of incentives coaches, parents and the media esteem, but the kinds of incentives young upstanding college football players even ones from the nearly tropical climes of Florida will not only esteem, but for which they will kill.

We're talking Hawaii. Hula girls, surf boards, cool drinks in pineapple carafes, beach bonfires paradise. We're talking about the Aloha Bowl on Christmas Day, and the Florida Gators thanks to their 27-1 4 win over Kentucky here at Florida Field Saturday will be there aloha. Book the Gators, Dano. "I don't even know which way Hawaii is," said Gator defensive tackle and Fort Myers High School product Henry Brown, a blue lei hanging from his locker peg, "but I know one thing, I'll be the first guy on the plane." And why not, the Florida Gators have made off with the big prize of this collegiate bowl season.

When it comes to tradition, the Aloha Bowl may not rate with some of those New Year's Day biggies, but when it comes to pure glamour and romance, the Aloha Bowl is undoubtedly "The Big Pineapple." Miami? LSU? Auburn? Georgia? Let them play for a spot in the coveted wire-service polls, the Gators will be enjoying the vacation of a lifetime all expenses paid. "Hawaii?" asked tackle Rhondy Weston. "Have I ever thought about going to Hawaii? It's only been a dream of mine all my life. Now I have a chance to go and I don't have to pay for it." Not directly anyway, for once the Aloha Bowl committee officially invites the Gators next Saturday afternoon, the University of Florida will be committed to picking up the entire tab. But indirectly, the Gators especially the seniors have more than paid the price for this trip.

Consider that for their first two seasons here 1 984 and '85 the 1 987 Gator seniors were considered cheaters, the undeserving victims of Charley Pell's regime. "Here we were suffering," said Florida QB Kerwin Bell, 'And it wasn't our fault." STILL, THE GATORS were without hope. Despite 1 8 wins, they enjoyed no exposure, no bowl bids, no nothing. "You know," said Bell, "I don't think any senior class in the istory of the NCAA has had it as together as we've had it." And then last year, although finally eligible for a bowl game, the Gators couldn't qualify for one. With a Hall of Fame Bowl bid all but in hand, the Gators threw it away with an inexplicable 1 0-3 loss to a clearly inferior Kentucky team.

"The worse feeling I've ever had walking off the field," Bell had said earlier this week. And to think that was after throwing away a free trip to Tampa, a place most the Gator players drive through every semester on their way to campus. Imagine how Bell and the Gators would have felt Saturday afternoon had they blown a free trip to Honolulu? And as if that wouldn't have been bad enough, imagine how Bell and the Gators would have been made to feel after the administration, boosters, media and other assorted hangers-on had been denied their big chance to see Diamondhead, Pearl Harbor and the mansion used in the filming of Magnum P.I.? No wonder the Gators came out so fired up Saturday. For the first time in three weeks they had something really important for which to play. Two weeks ago against Auburn, for example, the Gators were playing only for a possible Sugar Bowl bid.

No need to get excited there. And then last week against Georgia, the Gators were playing for a spot in the All American Bowl. Of course with a trip to Birmingham, Ala. a nice town for a civil rights parade but no vacation hot bed on the line, it's easy to see why Florida played its worst game of the year. BUT GIVE THE GATORS a chance at Hawaii, and watch them go.

Saturday it took them all of one play a Stacey Simmons' 94-yard TD return on the opening kick to get started. And once started, the Gators didn't stop at least not until a 27-7 lead and thoughts of luaus slowed them the last 22 minutes. "About then I started thinking of the waves and stuff in Honolulu," said defensive back Louis Oliver. Think about them no more, Louis, the trip to the Islands is yours. and two TDs, broke the all-time SEC touchdown pass record.

Smith ran for 1 1 2 yards on 24 carries. And Florida's defense, led by free safety Louis Oliver's two fumble recoveries one which set up a TD knocked Mark Higgs, Kentucky's runner, out of the game early with a concussion. As a result, you can book 'em, Dano. Although bowl invitations can't officially be extended until next Saturday, Florida's athletic officials have already began booking the team's plane reservations to Honolulu. It has been speculated that Florida will play Oklahoma State in the Aloha Bowl, which kicksoff at 3:45 p.m.

Dec. 25. Dick Fishback, the Aloha Bowl's executive director, wouldn't say outright that the Gators locked up a bowl bid with their win Saturday, but he hinted strongly. "Florida and the Aloha Bowl are a good combination," Fishback said. "I've got good vibrations about the combination.

Associated Press Florida's Stacey Simmons was off and running for a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the opening play of the game Saturday. See GATORS, page 7B "I think we can find a grass skirt big SiTiBto ci as 's 95-yar ts rom gh Unofficial bowl matchups Notre Dame will play in the Cotton Bowl against either Texas or Texas. Syracuse is headed to the Sugar Bowl vs. the SEC champion. FSU is in the Fiesta Bowl against the Oklahoma-Nebraska loser.

The Big Eight champ is headed for the Orange Bowl, probably against Miami. Clemson is headed for the Citrus Bowl against either Penn State or the Alabama-Auburn loser. Florida is headed for the Aloha Bowl to face Oklahoma State, Arizona State, or the USC-UCLA loser. No. 1 0klahoma(10-0-0)beat Missouri 17-13.

No. 2 Nebraska(9-0-0)wasidle. No. 3 Miami (8-0-0) beat Virginia Tech 27-13. No.

4 Florida State (9-1-0) beat Furman 41-10. No. 5 UCLA (9-1-0) beat Washington 47-14. No. 6 Syracuse (10-0-0) beat Boston College 45-17.

No. 7 Notre Dame (8-1-0) beat No. 1 1 Alabama 37-6. No. 8 Georgia (7-3-0) lost to No.

1 2 Auburn 27-1 1 No. 9 Clemson (9-1-0) beat Maryland 45-16. No.10 Louisiana Mississippi St. 34-14. No.1 1 Alabama(7-3-0)lost to No.

7 Notre Dame 37-6. No. 12 Auburn (8-1-1) beat No. 8 Georgia 27-11. No.

13 Michigan State(7-2-1) beat No. 16 Indiana 27-3. No. 1 4 South Carolina (7-2-0) beat Wake Forest 30-0. No.15 Penn State (7-3-0) lost to Pittsburgh 10-0.

No.16lndiana(7-3-0)losttoNo. 13 Michigan State 27-3. No. 1 7 Oklahoma State (8-2-0) beat Kansas 49-1 7. No.

1 8 Tennessee (7-2-1 beat Mississippi 55-13. No. 1 9 Texas (7-2-0) beat No. 20 Arkansas 1 4-0. No.20Arkansas(7-3-0)losttoNo.

14-0. seconds left in the game. The NCAA's all-time scoring leader, Derek Schmidt, sandwiched field goals of 36 and 44 yards around Smith's 20-yard scoring run and Day-ne Williams' 13th touchdown of the season gave the Seminoles a 20-7 halftime lead. Schmidt also kicked five extra pointsandnowhas381 careerpoints. Smith's 95-yard scoring burst boosted the Seminoles into a 27-7 lead early in the third period.

The run came on the first play after the Seminole defense stopped a Furman drive that reached the Florida State one. Furman (6-4) had driven 70 yards on a dozen plays before Ken-net Goldsmith was thrown for a four-yard loss by Florida State's Greg Newell on fourth down. A member of the Fiesta Bowl selection committee, Bill Shover, said Florida State would receive a bid to play in the New Year's Day game against the Oklahoma-Nebraska loser. Bids cannot be officially extended until next Saturday. Florida State, which suffered a 26-25 defeat to Miami when it failed to on a two-point conversion in the final minute of the game, closes out its regular season Nov.

28 at archrival Florida. Marion Butts scored on a 12-yard run as Florida State took a 34-7 lead with 12:20 left in the game. A 26-yard scoring pass from Chip Ferguson to Terry Anthony completed the scoring. Smith's 95-yard run was the second-longest in school history. Larry Key scored on a 97-yard run in 1976 against Virginia Tech.

Smith has gained 1,114 yards on the season and averages 7.2 yards a carry. By BRENT KALLESTAD Associated Press TALLAHASSEE Tailback Sam-mie Smith scored on a 20-yard run and a "95-yard gamebreaker Saturday night to lead fourth-ranked Florida State to a 41-10 victory over Fur-man. Smith, a 222-pound sophomore and defending Metro Conference 100 and 200-meter sprint champion, finished the game with 176 yards on 15 carries. Furman, a Division I-AA school, took a 7-0 lead when Dwight Sterling scored less than five minutes into the game on a 1-yard run. That capped a 57-yard drive highlighted by his 39-yard run.

The Paladins then watched Florida State (9-1) counter with 41 unanswered points, until Mike Wood kicked a 46-yard field goal with 25 EZZL.