The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 33

SUNDAY, September 27, 1992. EDITOR: KENT HEITHOU. 459-3233 Scoreboard: 2C Kelly Griffith: 10C Outdoors: 11C MiTJniiH SUPER DERBY XIII BY THE NUMBERS diet eld toy Balanced to por jjU i OP. American League Cleveland 7, Detroit 4 New York 2, Toronto 1 Milwaukee 2, Oakland 1 Boston 7, Baltimore 3, 1st Boston at Baltimore, 2nd California 1, Chicago 0 Minnesota 9, Kan. City 2 Seattle 8, Texas 4 National League Montreal 12, Chicago 0 Houston 5, Los Angeles 4 Pittsburgh 19, New York 2 San Fran.

8, Cincinnati 3 Phila. 3, St. Louis 1, 1st Phila. 10, St. Louis 0, 2nd Atlanta at San Diego, (n) (Standings, Page 2B) mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm US' Area Colleges Colorado St.

17, LSU 14 Memphis St. 22, Arkansas 6 Northwestern 20, E. Texas 0 Northeast 13, SW Texas 6 Delaware St. 45, Grambling 42 College Top 25 Miami 8, Arizona 7 Fla. St.

35, Wake Forest 7 Michigan 61, Houston 7 Notre Dame 48, Purdue 0 Alabama 13, La. Tech 0 Tennessee 40, Cincinnati 0 Penn St. 49, Maryland 13 Colorado 28, Iowa 12 UCLA 35, San Diego St. 7 Virginia 55, Duke 28 Nebraska 45, Arizona St. 24 Ga.

Tech 20, Clemson 16 Georgia 37, Ole Miss 1 1 Stanford 37, San Jose St. 13 N.C. St. 27, N. Carolina 20 Boston College 14, Mich.

St. 10 No longshot? Hold The Blue trainer Nafzger says horse better than 12-to-l. By BILL MclNTYRE The Times Omaha Gold Cup winner Hold The Blue is a 12-1 longshot to win today's Super Derby XIII. Don't you believe it, says Hold The Blue trainer Carl Nafzger. No horse in this assembled field of 14 "should be under 4-1 and no horse should be better than 10-1," Nafzger said Saturday.

There is considerable truth in what Nafzger says. If nothing else, this shapes up as the most balanced of 13 Supers. There is no dominant 3-year-old now running anywhere the Triple Crown grind having worn down most of the Breeders' Cup pretenders and some of today's Super crowd have at one time or another been among the lame and the halt. Second choice Bien Bien, Jersey Derby winner American Chance, Prelude runner-up Hill Pass and today's expected speed horse, Desert Force, all have limped back to the barn with quarter crack miseries; Prelude winner Orbit's Revenge had cannon bone surgery last September. But they're running now, and that's what makes this $750,000 Grade I event a major attraction.

They are the best available, what with Triple Crown winners Lil E. Tee and Pine Bluff damaged goods along with Dance Floor, who was committed to the Super Derby. Two horses in particular may be overlooked in this Super, which some are conceding to Ghazi and Bien Bien. One is a repaired Hill Pass, the other a Lasix-re-vived Hold The Blue. Nafzger is familiar with the territory, so is his jockey, Kerwin Clark.

Nafzger saddled the one-two finishers in the 1990 Super, Home At Last and Unbridled. Clark used to ride at Louisiana Downs. "So far I haven't seen anything different," Nafzger said of a cursory inspection of the main track, scene of today's jousting. "I watched the horses run yesterday It didn't look as speed-biased (as in Hold The Blue, despite being bumped, won the Omaha Gold Cup at Aksarben in' PI mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i ii 'liifnifif rffi "tnr i nifniiifiTii "if gr -'too nmnJ tf twf mmnmm Times photoJIM HUDELSON Although starting from the 10th position, Ghazi carries the favorite's role into today's Super Derby XIII. FOOTBALL: San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints, 7 p.m., TNT cable.

The Saints and 49ers, each 2-1, battle for the early lead in the NFC West Division. Stakes. The son of Super I winner Tem-perence Hill kicked into overdrive when asked. "I know he's got a big move when you ask him," said Ardoin, "but I wasn't expecting him to open up within a 16th of a mile. He had them horses gathered up and was two in front.

When he did get in front he just kind of eased himself up and lost momentum." Orbit's Revenge, under Calvin Borel, came up on Hill Pass at the 8th pole and Hill Pass failed to kick back in, said Ardoin. "That horse come to him so late, by the time he saw him he was just loafing on the lead and he was starting to get a little tired Ardoin, riding in his fifth Super, isn't fazed by the 10-1 odds assigned Hill Pass. "The way I look at it, if I'm on a horse I got as much chance as anybody in the race, or maybe even more," he said, "because I think I know this racetrack as good as anybody or probably better than anybody. to my horse. I think that applies to the whole field Whatever happened to his 1990 entries in the Super Derby? Home At Last is in Canada, where he has booked 34 mares, and Unbridled has booked 62 mares in Kentucky.

HILL PASS READY Hill Pass, one of three local challengers, worked Thursday at Wraparound Training Center. "I was well-pleased," said trainer Gilbert Ciavaglia. "That's it, we're ready." Then came Friday and the post position draw. "The only thing I can say good about the 9 (hole) is that it ain't the 10," said Ciavaglia. "I'd rather have been down on the inside.

I think it's going to play an important part in this race. It won't change the horse's style of running but I'd have preferred to be inside a little lower." Hill Pass, who will run without blinkers a first time, made what jockey Ronald Ar-doin describes as a dramatic move at the 516th pole in the qualifying Prelude Romero back home: 8C Super Derby notes: 9C Bill Gann race analysis: 9C early August defeating fellow Super competitors Desert Force and Count the Time but two weeks later he struggled home 27 lengths behind Thunder Rumble in the Travers at Saratoga. "He had a problem in the Travers," Nafzger said. "He did bleed. He was a Lasix horse and we took him up there because we thought he'd hold, but he didn't." Over a l'4-mile distance, there is no set gameplan for any of today's 14 chargers, except that Desert Force will probably go to the front first.

"I just hope he relaxes," Nafzger said of his horse. "Like somebody asked me this morning, about who do I worry about most in racing, I said, 'My horse, because if he doesn't make mistakes, he'll run But I don't think that only applies ALABAMA 13, LOUISIANA TECH 0 KTWV 7 Outnniusclsd Palmer, Tide defense too tough for Bulldogs Pirates get tie, but A's must wait PITTSBURGH Pittsburgh clinched at least a tie for the NL East championship on Saturday by burying the New York Mets 19-2. The next Pirates' victory they have won eight of 10 or Montreal loss will assure Pittsburgh of its third straight East title. Montreal prevented Pittsburgh from clinching Saturday by beating the Chicago Cubs 12-0. NL WEST Atlanta played a late game at San Diego, but the Braves' magic number fell to 4 when by second-place Cincinnati lost 8-3 to San Francisco.

AMERICAN LEAGUE Milwaukee, still in a championship chase in the American League East, put Oakland's AL West title celebration on hold again Saturday, beating the Athletics 2-1 on Greg Vaughn's sixth-inning homer. Oakland's magic number remained at one. Minnesota staved off elimination with a 9-2 victory over Kansas City. The Brewers, meanwhile, moved within 2l2games of Toronto in the AL East with seven games left after the first-place Blue Jays were beaten 2-1 in Yankee Stadium. Third-place Baltimore moved one step closer to elimination in the East when the Orioles dropped a 7-3 home decision to Boston in the first game of a dou-bleheader.

More details, Page 12C. Tech, Alabama defenses steal the show. Page 4C. Tennessee's Majors returns to coaching. Page 5C.

Michigan puts the hurting on Houston. Page 5C. How the Top 25 fared. Page 5C. Miami, Florida State takes different roads to next week's showdown.

Page 6C. Notre Dame rolls past Boilermakers. Page 6C. Missed chance: Tech comes away with no points after reaching 'Bama 4 in third quarter. By JACK MITCHELL The Times BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

All Louisiana Tech coach Joe Raymond Peace wanted Saturday afternoon when his Bulldogs met eighth-ranked Alabama was one good chance to win. Tech got the chance, but the Crimson Tide defense snuffed it out, allowing Alabama to come away with a 13-0 win before a crowd of 77,622 at Legion Field here. "I thought we had a chance when we got it down to their 4-yard line," said Peace, who saw his Bulldogs fall to 2-2 despite an excellent defensive effort. "If we could have come away with a touchdown or even a field goal it would have changed the complexion of the game." The chance came in the third quarter, with Tech trailing 6-0. On a third-and-11 at his own 30, quarterback Sam Hughes found receiver John Henry streaking down the left sidelines behind cornerback Tommy Johnson.

Henry gathered in the pass but was tripped up at the Alabama 9. An offsides penalty put the ball on the 4, but that was followed by a Jason Davis run for no gain and successive incompletions. On the first pass, Corey Parham had worked free in the back of the end zone, but safety Sam Shade tipped the ball away. Chris Boniol's 22-yard field goal on fourth down sailed wide right. "Whether it's six or three, you always want to put points on the board," Peace said.

"That hurt us." It killed them later. Midway through the fourth quarter, with the Tide clinging to the 6-0 lead, Alabama put the game out of reach when punt returner David Palmer brought a Tech punt back 63 yards for a touchdown. Palmer, who had been suspended for the first three games because of two DUI arrests, was reinstated earlier in the week by Coach Gene Stallings. His return was immediately noticed when he caught the punt, slipped past the first man bearing down on him, found a wall along the right sideline and was gone. "He made a nice play, and I was glad to see i for him," Stallings said.

"Of course, I didn't mind the points." See LOUISIANA, Page 4C AP Laserphoto Louisiana Tech's defense, led by Carlos Bolton (bottom) and Cornelius Albert (top), contained Alabamas David Palmer for most of the game Saturday. But it was Palmer's 63-yard punt return for a touchdown that clinched Alabama's 13-0 victory. COLORADO STATE 17, LSU 14 Armchair Quarterback Rams shock heavily favored Tigers 17-14 RECORD TIED 3 Hog punts blocked in 22-6 defeat The Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. Cornerback Ken Irvin tied a national record with three blocked punts as Memphis State won its first game of the season, a 22-6 victory over Arkansas Saturday night FAN TALK What did you think about the area college and theCowboys and Saints games this weekend? To participate, call 222-6397 and, when asked, dial 983. Then, give your comments.

Calls are taken until 8 p.m. Hill's 2-yard run with less than a minute remaining gave the Rams a 17-14 victory over LSU. The upset loss at Tiger Stadium is nothing new. Arnsparger lost to an equally as heavy underdog Miami of Ohio team in 1986. LSU drops to 1-3 and has No.

8 Tennessee visiting Tiger Stadium next week. Colorado State ends an eight-game losing streak that dates back to last year. CSU improves to 1-3. LSUs performance was as uninspiring as Paul Tsongas' presidential campaign. The Tigers took their first possession 69 yards for a touchdown and promptly shut down the offense.

Robert Toomer's 3-yard run gave LSU a 7-0 lead and a false sense of security. The Tigers had breakdowns in every phase of the game. A blocked punt led to a 20-yard field goal from Peter Rantzau that cut the Tigers' lead to 7-3. Breakdowns hurt: Tigers went into game as 19-point favorites. By SCOTT FERRELL The Times BATON ROUGE Bill Arn-sparger had his Miami of Ohio.

Curley Hallman has his Colorado State. Hallman's LSU Tigers, a 19-point favorite over Colorado State, fell victim to an unlikely upset Saturday night. Melvin Then, a defensive breakdown led to an 80-yard touchdown run from Leonice Brown. LSU trailed 10-7 at the half and went to the locker room with a chorus of boos ringing in their ears. It looked as if the Tigers might salvage their pride when Odell Beckham scored on a 24-yard run in the third quarter.

Beckham, a senior from Marshall, Texas, rushed 7 times for 106 yards. Feature will appear in Monday sports section. Time graphic A -jfr-jlt -JtjLA dl 0 ifci di Jfci. iHj A idli 0k Aindfc ifr A iiA A 1 A dfc idti ndfc rfl 0k Hi 0t ft rfftmi ii A idl i A rH jfli rfl 0 0.