The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 115

THE TIMES SUNDAY. DECEMBER 16. 1990 Oi r-111 11 111 i ii ii ii.ji,iMii!.ii.i,, -Wirt wiVW 7 Vv Alv ..5 1 v.L.. tAhx.aar. Maryland running back Mark as Tech linebacker Lorenzo Baker dives after him in Independence Bowl XV toed MM Bulldogs tried to turn Boniol's last-second field goal saves Tech adversity Times photoMIKE SILVA advantage; stadium and get on the field to do what I love to do," he said.

"Coach; football." The Bulldogs had taken adversity and tried to turn it to their advant tage. Offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger said he was pleasantly surprised by how the team rallied. "They took something bad and turned it their way," Ensminge said. "Eric's their friend, they're; close to him and they wanted to wirr it for him." Shaw's suspension wasn't the only, distraction that affeaeu the Bull-; dogs this week. The whole affair puu athietic director Jerry Stovall and' Peace on the defensive.

The Monroe' paper in its Saturday editions called; for Peace's firing. Peace isn't even sure what will, happen next. When asked his he responded, "I'm going to work; Monday morning and see what's go-" ingon." Ensminger has been the subject of rumors that he is leaving Tech to; join Curley Hallman's staff at LSU.I "About 50 people have tome up to me and asked me about it," Ensm-J inger said. "I don't have any com- ment on it. I love my job and I'm! happy at Louisiana Tech." And the Bulldogs thought bowl games were supposed to be fun.

4 "I'd rather not talk about any4 thing but the game," said Tech's! leading receiver Bobby "Just the game." But there was more. Tech was snubbed at first by Inde-J pendence Bowl people for fear that," the team wouldn't bring any fans.j The results of Tech's first bowl ap-! pearance since 1978 was an I-BowK record 48,325 fans. "It was unbelievable, I think the fans might have even changed their! said Peace. "I've been at! places like Auburn before and this' was even better." As long as the Bulldogs were on! the playing field. A wav from it is another storv.

Mason tries to keep his balance Maryland 39. Quarterback Gene Johnson drove the Bulldogs down to the Terps 11, but with four seconds left, Peace went to the field goal. "I never had any second thoughts at all," Peace said. "The guys had played too hard to have them walk off the field with their heads down." "It's a disappointment not to win, but I agree with the coach's decision," said senior running back Michael Richardson, who ran for 81 yards and scored two touchdowns. In the first quarter, it looked like a tie would have been a pipe dream for the Bulldogs.

On Tech's first possession, Johnson scrambled out of the pocket on a third-and-nine play. Maryland linebacker Jack Bradford swatted the ball out of his hand and Scott Whittier fell on it at the Tech 24. It took the Terps six plays to turn the fumble into a lead. On fourth-and-goal from the Tech 1, tailback Troy Jackson ran around the left side of the Maryland line and was just able to reach the ball inside the pylon on the goal line. Maryland pushed its lead to 14-0 on its next possession, driving 78 yards on a 13-play, five-minute drive.

The drive, sparked by freshman Mark Mason's 34 rushing yards, appeared stalled at the Tech 21. However, the Terps got a break when Tech safety Doug Evans was called for pass interference on an incomplete Maryland pass off a fake field goal. The penalty moved to the ball to the 6-yard line. Three plays later, Jackson scored from the 2, making the score 14-0 with 5:06 left, in the first quarter. "I never felt like we were out of it," Peace said.

"It was just a matter of us getting our offense going." it Tech, which didn't make its first first down until the 4:40 mark of the first quarter, got its first break when Maryland's third drive ended See TIE, Page 4 to By KENT HEITHOLT The Times Slapped down earlier in the week, the Nasty Boys of Louisiana Tech came out as pugnacious as they had ever been Saturday night in the PoulanWeed Eater Independence Bowl. They pranced and danced and dropped to their knees and raised their hands in the air after big plays. They almost threw their arms out of socket doing chainsaws after tackles. Who would have known what hey had been through this week Never mind that the Eulldogs walked away undecided whether they were happy or not with the 34-34 tie with Maryland. The Bulldogs were elated they survived with their image intact.

"The last three days have been' pure hell," said defensive coordinator, John Thompson. "We put these guys through too much and the fact that they even had any emotion at all out there is just amazing." Thompson's unit was without starting defensive end Eric Shaw, who had been suspended Thursday in the wake of an off-the-field incident that occurred a month ago. But Shaw wasn't forgotten or even missed. He was on the sidelines cheering his teammates on. Several wore the markings of No.

55 on their equipment One wore a towel with 55 written on it. "I wanted him on the sidelines," said Head Coach Joe Raymond Peace. "May strike me dead if I deprived him of a chance to be here. I never thought of not giving him the chance to be here on the sidelines as a part of this." Peace said the last few days have been some of the most difficult of his life. He said the moment he stepped on the bus to come to the football game was a huge relief.

"It was the most wonderful relief to get on that bus and head to the By JACK MITCHELL The Times It was fitting the PoulanWeed Eater Independence Bowl ended in a 34-34 tie. Neither Maryland's nor Louisiana Tech's offense deserved to lose. Neither defense deserved to win. Tech freshman kicker Chris Boniol kicked a 29-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give the Bulldogs a tie in the football game played before an Independence Bowl-record crowd of 48,325 at Independence Stadium. "This was a great game and a great fan game," said Tech Coach Joe Raymond Peace, who saw his team finish with a 8-3-1 record.

Maryland finished the season 6-5-1. "It tooked like a tennis match," Maryland offensive coordinator Tony Whittlesey said. "If you loved offense, this was the game." The green paint Shreveport Parks and Recreation used on the field got a workout, as the two teams combined to set or tie three team records and set or tie six individual records: The 68 total points was a bowl record. So were Maryland's five, touchdowns and Tech's three Interceptions. Tech's tying field goal became necessary when Maryland took a 34-31 lead with 52 seconds left in the game.

On a fourth-and-13 play from the Tech 15, Maryland quarterback Scott Zolak hit Barry Johnson on a crossing route for the score. "The important thing is we were down and could have rolled over and died, but we didn't," Maryland Coach Joe Krivak said. "We made some mistakes and that was probably the difference in winning and tying." Tech linebacker Lorenza Baker, the games defensive MVP, returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to the MEMORIES ON FILM A collection of bowl-game photos STATS AT A GLANCE A look at how they stacked up on the field INDEPENDENCE BOWL ABC's Everything you wanted to know from A to 4.