The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 41

Saints may go to third-string quarterback in today's game. Page 5C (She (Simeg CONTACT DEAN ROCK 459-3295 or sportsthetimes.com SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1999 LSU heartbroken once again Bench Booty? Should LSU starting quarterback Josh Booty be benched following his 4-interception performance at Alabama Saturday? Call us with your view at 222-6397 and push 976 when asked or fax us at 459-3301. E-mail to: sportsthetimes.com and 0-7 in the SEC. LSU has lost 10 straight in the SEC and 13 of their last 14 conference games. The Tigers were oh-so-close to changing those numbers Saturday.

After Alabama kicker Ryan Pflugner missed a 27-yard field goal, the Tigers began their fateful final drive. Booty, who had been intercepted a season-high four times Saturday, completed 5 of 10 passes for 74 yards on the last drive. His 1 1-yard pass to Domingeaux gave the Tigers a first-and-goal from the Alabama 1-yard line with 21 seconds remaining and no timeouts. See LSU 6C Tide avoids upset with goal-line stand. By Scott Ferrell The Times TUSCALOOSA, Ala, -Of the many different ways the LSU Tigers have found to lose 10 straight Southeastern Conference football games, the crudest may have come here Saturday against No.

12 Alabama. The Tigers, trailing by six points, drove to within a yard of the Crimson Tide end zone with 21 seconds remaining. LSU quarterback Josh Booty rolled to his right on a pass play designed for running back Rondell Mealey or tight end Joe Domingeaux. Booty tried to run for the score but was stopped short of the end zone by Alabama linebacker Marvin Constant and corner-back Reggie Myles, helping the Tide escape with a 23-17 victory. "I don't know if he didn't see the two guys open or if he just wanted to be the hero and run it in," Myles said.

"But there was no way I was going to let him in." Still, the Tigers could have had one more shot at the Tide end zone. Since Constant was bent over in pain, side judge Don Shanks signalled for an injury time out with at least one second remaining on the clock. Officials, though, huddled in the Tide end zone and quickly left the field while most of the capacity crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium waited for some kind of signal. Only when an announcement came over the public dress system saying the game was over did the Alabama faithful breathe a sigh of relief. "I saw the guy (Shanks) waving his hand with two or three seconds left," Booty said.

"I was like, We're going to have another Then everyone started running from the sideline. If we were in Tiger Stadium, we'd have probably run another play." Instead, the Tigers were left with another heartbreaking loss. They drop to 2-7 on the season Kevin Faulk's parents say agent gave them money, 6C FERRELL LSU must go from "if to reality, 6C Brandon Winey starts game despite legal troubles, 6C ir imni iLSU coach Gerry DiNardo waits to find out if his team will get jaqother play at the end of their 23-17 loss to Alabama. Gophers LOUISIANA TE 5 8 LOU I SI ANA-MONROE 17 upset Nittany Hatoy has wirastoppabie psirfoBmaiinice A jThe Associated Press I STATE COLLEGE, Pa. with one miracle play, Minnesota tipped over No.

2 Penn State's national championship hopes. Gophers completed a jtipped pass on fourth-and-16 with 1:22 left, setting up Dan Rattay shares the wealth of passes, 7C ball. That's how it's supposed to work." Rattay got no arguments from his coach Jack Bicknell. Tim was awesome. He was unstop- Nystrom's 32- No.

10 Wis consin holds ff No. 17 urdue. 9C jB How Top 5 teams ared, 9C pable," Bicknell said. "He is a super player. He deserved a night like tonight in a great stadium in front of all these yard field goal as time ran out to beat the Nittany Lions 24-23 Saturday.

Billy Cock-erham's pass bounced off receiver Ron Johnson's hands and Ar-land Bruce dived to scoop it up at the 13-yard line. Three plays later, Nystrom split the up if? vtJ CI 1, Rattay I fAc- QB comes out tough at final home game in Tech's 58-17 lashing of ULM. By Nakia Hogan The Times RUSTON -Tim Rattay's final game at Joe Aillet Stadium turned out to be just another game of pitch and catch in his own back yard. The Louisiana Tech senior quarterback appeared to be having fun Saturday, as the Bulldogs thrashed their 1-20 rivals Louisiana-Monroe 58-17 in front of 27,360 fans. It was the second largest crowd to ever watch a game in the stadium.

Rattay delighted the home crowd by completing 35 of 48 passes for 383 yards and six touchdowns in three quarters of play, as the Bulldogs celebrated senior night. It was the 25th time Rattay has passed for more than 300 yards. "This was a special game with this my last game here as a senior," said Rattay, who was still on the stadium's turf signing autographs and having his picture taken 45 minutes after the game. "Everybody played well. This is just a great feeling: It felt good out there.

The line did a great job. The receivers got open and I got them the Paterno rights to spoil Joe Paterno's bid 11 fans. A player like him only comes around once in a lifetime." Tech (7-2) defeated ULM (4-5) for the seventh straight time, and the Bulldogs lead the 1-20 series 28-14. The Bulldogs, who out-gained ULM 460-293 in total offense, bolted to 38-3 halftime lead thanks to five first-half touchdown passes from Rattay. Rattay hit John Simon for a 20-yard score to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

He also connected with Sean Cangelosi for scoring passes of 7 and 2 yards. David Newman and James Jordan also caught scoring passes of 13 and 22 yards respectively. See TECH 7C If 'it si, iaf I- 7, 1 --J Amy Etoth BennettThe Times La. Tech defenders take down ULM quarterback Andy Stadium. Tim Rattay had six touchdown passes and 383 Chance (15) during first-half action Saturday at Joe Aillet yards in his final career appearance at Joe Aillet Stadium.

Despite what some say, Rattay on way to NFL jfor a third national title. "We worked so stinking hard during the offseason. You're tore, your body's absolutely ihot, and it comes down to this field goal," said Penn State's jMike Cerimele. Considering Penn State's close tails all season and the upset-jhappy Big Ten, he might have seen it coming. But not on a wacky play like Ihis.

i "I seen it hanging in the air, like, 'Come get me! Come get Bruce said. "I just grabbed jt I don't know how I did it" Watching from across the jBeld, Paterno thought the pass jwas incomplete. "I though we batted it down," Paterno said after his 400th ame as head coach. "Then all of a sudden, on the sideline, they were yelling, 'He caught it! He taught Nystrom, a freshman who earlier missed an extra point, said Jie was confident for his game-winning field goal. That's because he had been practicing with a ladder six yards away to Jitand in for Penn State linebacker LaVar Arlington, who had blocked two kicks this season.

1 "I felt like I was prepared for jhat in practice," Nystrom said. I After Nystrom's kick, the Go-bhers (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) jumped for joy as as the stunned players from Penn State (9-1, 5-1) walked off the field. I' The Gophers' sixth win clinched their first winning season since 1990 and made them eligible for a bowl for the first ime since 1986. RUSTON In August of 1998, a week before Louisiana Tech was to travel to Nebraska for a Dean Rock game that would place receiver Troy Edwards high on NFL-teams' wish lists, Bulldogs junior quarterback Tim Rattay sport, but you never know, there are exceptions," McCalmon said. "But coaches want big people." More importantly though, coaches want big production.

Rattay has proven all he can at Tech, playing a nearly flawless season for the potentially bowl-bound Bulldogs. What he lacks in size and strength, he more than makes up for in intelligence, decision-making, delivery and accuracy. And while even Rattay didn't consider himself NFL-material a year ago, it's apparent now he was selling himself er short. Dean Rock is The Times' sports editor. "I'm a believer that it's a big man's sport," said McCalmon, a former special teams and tight ends coach with both the Oilers and Bills.

"When you're on the sideline and see these 250-pound linebackers running at unbelievable speeds you have to be big and strong to be able to take that beating." Coincidentally, McCalmon remembers scouting a Tech game last year, but instead of looking at Rattay, he came to watch "the little receiver." That, of course, was the 5-9 Edwards, who is out-playing both of the bigger wideouts drafted before him David Boston and Tony Holt. "Basically, it's a big man's "Hell probably be drafted," conceded Dowler. "He's not very tall, but surprisingly he doesn't have many balls batted down. His arm strength is good, not great He has good anticipation, good, sound mechanics and has been five since coming here." Dowler also acknowledged that losing Edwards hasn't slowed Rattay's production, as he's spread the ball around, completing 55 or more passes to four different receivers. "He reads defenses very accurately and finds the open receiver," Dowler said.

McCalmon, who admittedly is leery of undersized players, wasn't as sure about Rattay becoming an NFL quarterback. yards on 35 of 48 passing, with no interceptions, and perhaps most importantly no batted balls. You see, players at every position in the NFL basically fall into one of three cate- gories huge, gargantuan, and big-hearted, a.k.a. small but effective. Presumably, if the physical gifts aren't there, the compensation has to come elsewhere to play with the big boys.

That "elsewhere" is what scouts Boyd Dowler of the Falcons and Miller McCalmon of the Redskins were trying to identify on their trip to Ruston. Is Rattay an NFL prospect? And what is the right round to go after him if he is? pounds and the NFL won't be calling an undersized QBfrom La. Tech." Fifteen months and a list of records longer than his sideburns later, Rattay may want to reconsider what his first job out of college will be. He hasn't grown an inch or added much muscle mass, but the numbers the oh-so gaudy stats he posts week in and out can no longer be ignored by the next level. Scouts from the Redskins, Falcons and Ravens came to witness Rattay and the Bulldogs torch the University of Louisiana-Monroe 58-17 Saturday night What they saw was typical Tim six touchdown tosses and 383 passing i 1 Opinion was asked if he would forego his senior year to enter the NFL Draft.

"I don't think there would be any reason for that," Rattay said. What he meant was, "Are you crazy? I'm 180 wmmmmmmmHmm 5 Cat Thief steals Classic Amarillo hands Bugs frustrating defeat, 6-4 7 A JJi $50,000 in December 1998. Golden Missile, a 70-1 shot, finished third another head back in the 14-horse field and was two lengths in front of Chester House. Cat Thief win makes the Horse of the Year race confusing. Behrens, the 2-1 favorite, had also been the leader in the Horse of the Year race, but finished seventh in the Classic.

The Baffert trained-starters General Challenge and River Keen were never factors, with General Challenge finishing 10th and River Keen right The Associated Press HALLANDALE, Fla. Cat Thief, who has a reputation of riot quite getting the job done, fcot it done in a big way Saturday with a victory in the $4 million jjreeders' Cup Classic at Gulf-stream Park. It was only the second win in three starts for the 3-year-old colt tyho finished second three times find was third four times in stakes competition this year. t. Cat Thief gave trainer D.

Wayne Lukas his second victory of the day on a card that was supposed to belong to rival Bob Baf- fert, who failed to win with eight starters in six races. It was the first Classic win for Lukas, who now has 15 Cup victories but had not won a Cup race since 1996. "It's been a great day," said Lukas, who also won the Juvenile Fillies with Cash Run. "You never know, but I thought we had a shot" Not many in the Gulfstream crowd shared Lukas' feeling about Cat Thief, who paid a winning mutual of $4120 after posting the l'Mength victory over Budroyale, another betting outsider who had been claimed for From Staff Reports AMARILLO, Texas Amarillo scored its game-winning goal just 33 seconds after the Mud-bugs had tied the game for the second time in the third period as the Rattlers handed Shreveport a frustrating 64 loss Saturday. Shreveport's Dale Henry tied it at 44 midway through the third earning the first hat trick by a Mudbug this season.

But 33 seconds later, Amarillo knocked their chances of winning away with Dave Rattray's goal. Carl Menard scored his second goal of the contest and his 1 professional career to tie the score 3-3 with eight seconds left in Shreveport's five-on-three power play early in the third. With Shreveport trailing 1, Trevor Buchanan nailed the only goal of the second period to cut the deficit to one goal. With two games remaining on an 11-game road trip, the Mud-bugs still have a chance to come home with a .500 record. Shreveport faces the New Mexico Scorpions today at 5:35 p.m.

i A VAT 'VA AP Jockey Pat Day (left) walks with trainer D. Wayne Lukas and his wife, Laura, after Day rode Cat Thief to Breeders' Cup victory..