The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 19

THE COURIER-NEWSSaturday, October 1 2, 1 991 C-3 COLLEGEPRO FOOTBALL Giants, Stealers underachieves Leahy kicks vs. Howf ield's son in Oklahoma, where he played with the Oklahoma City Twisters of the Minor League Football Alliance. Howfield got the Twisters job after winning a halftime kicking competition in a July 20 game against Texas-Piano, won by Oklahoma City, 66-0. He kicked four games with the Twisters, who do not pay their players. While a member of the Twisters, Howfield and his teammates attended a promotion at an Oklahoma sports bar, where he watched then Houston kicker Teddy Garcia miss two extra points in the Oilers preseason opener against San Diego.

"Ian says, 'I'd better go down there and show them how to kick the Nick Hahalis, the owner of the Oklahoma City Twisters, said. "And that's the last we saw of him." Howfield had his agent call the Oilers, reminded them of his father's association with Holovak and asked for a tryout. He was told by Oilers management that former New York Giants kicker Raul Allegre was being brought in for the second preseason game and "we'll see what happens." In that game, against Atlanta, Allegre missed his only field goal attempt. Following the Atlanta game, the Oilers invited Howfield to play in the third preseason game, against Dallas, and kick "until you miss one." In that game, Howfield was successful on all three of his field goal attempts, including a 50-yarder, and his kickoffs consistently reached the end zone. After the Dallas game, the first By MARK CANNIZZARO Courier-News Staff Writer EAST RUTHERFORD His life has hardly been conventional, nor has his path to the National Football League.

The route Houston Oilers kicker Ian Howfield took to the league was hardly one you'd expect from the son of a former NFL player. In fact, Ian Howfield's father, Bobby, a former New York Jets kicker, had only a remote influence on his actual entrance into the league this summer. Ian Howfield's only thread of connection to the Oilers was that his father knew current Houston general manager Mike Holovak from his days with the Jets, where Holovak was an assistant coach. Howfield, who enters tomorrow's game against the Jets at Giants Stadium, is fifth in the AFC in scoring with 42 points, on 18-of-19 extra points and 8-of-10 field goals. And still kicking for the Jets is 40-year-old Pat Leahy, the league's oldest player, who replaced Bobby Howfield as Jets kicker in 1974 and has held the job ever since.

Prior to making the Oilers in pre-seison, Howfield's route to the NFL was winding: He had seven unsuccessful try-outs with NFL teams. He was not signed after a tryout for the World League of American Football. These failures landed Howfield The Steelers' lukewarm reception among their fans isn't at the top of anything, but the Giants can relate to that. Their slow start has created numerous problems for a team that began 10-0 last season. The Giants haven't won consecutive games all season and have struggled to maintain a consistent balance between the pass and the run, and, even, who's running the ball.

Ottis Anderson, the MVP of the Giants' Super Bowl victory over Buf-; alo last January, went to rookie coach Ray Handley last week and urged him to pick a starting tailback and give him the ball. Handley did just that as Rodney Hampton carried 22 times for 137 yards and a touchdown in a 20-9 vie-, tory over Phoenix. Jeff Hostetler, chosen over Phil Simms as the starting quarterback late in training camp, directed the NFC's second-leading offense by completing 14 of 18 for 200 yards and a touchdown. For at least a day, the Giants silenced talk about unrest between the players and Handley and the their disappointing start, which led to Pro Bowl linebacker Lawrence Taylor calling a players-only meeting. "There's been a lot of stuff happening the last couple of weeks that could have torn this team apart," Hostetler said.

"There's been an avalanche with that kind of stuff. When you have your backs up against the wall, and everybody is attacking, you circle the wagons." The Giants and Steelers are two of the NFL's oldest franchises, yet have played just twice since 1971. Hostetler is 42 of 52 for 568 yards the last two weeks and is 11-3 as a starter. The Steelers have played only once on Monday night in five years, a 41-10 victory over the Los Angeles Rams last season. Brister said he is "100 percent sure" he will play despite being treated for a knee injury last week.

Steelers kicker Gary Anderson has made his last 55 field goals from 35 yards and in, a streak that dates to Sept. 20, 1987. The Steelers held the Colts to 42 yards rushing. By The Associated Press PITTSBURGH New York Giants, beware: the first thing the Pittsburgh Steelers did after beating Indianapolis last week was call a team meeting. Sound familiar? It seems that all the defending Super Bowl champion Giants have had this season are meetings, meetings, meetings.

Players meetings. Coaches meetings. Coaches and players meetings. First-year coach Ray Handley probably wouldn't be surprised one of these days to be invited to a Pentagon meeting. So far, these numerous meetings of the minds have produced a very un-Giant-like 3-3 record, not exactly the kind that Super Bowl champions are supposed to have.

In fact, one might call it mediocre. The Giants play the Steelers (3-2) in Pittsburgh for the first time in 20 years Monday and neither team is exactly where it wants to be. The Giants certainly aren't, trailing Washington by three games in the NFC East. Neither are the Steelers, whose record is deceiving because their defeated opponents are 3-15, including the Colts' 0-6. They haven't played all that well, but their record isn't that bad, mostly because their opponents have been well, bad.

And that's exactly why coach Chuck Noll called his players together after their 21-7 victory over the Colts, which just might be the worst team money can buy. Noll urged the Steelers to ignore the negative comments and the negative statistics, to maintain a positive attitude and focus on becoming a better team. "He told us everybody says we're beating mediocre teams and we're not that good and he showed us some indicators where we are a good team," quarterback Bubby Brister said. "Our defense is darn good against the run and darn good against the pass, as far as everybody else's average. Our offense per rush and per pass reception is in the tops of everything." Eagles will By The Gannett News Service PHILADELPHIA Daryle Smith's career has "ended" five times already.

But that career took a dramatic upswing this past week, when Philadelphia Eagles Coach Rich Kotite announced the much-traveled veteran would replace rookie Antone Davis in the starting lineup for tomorrow's game with the New Orleans Saints (5-0) at Veterans Stadium. Smith will start at left tackle, and Ron Heller will move over to Davis' spot on the right side. The upswing is dramatic, because Smith was released by the Eagles at the end of training camp. Not that getting cut was a novel Perm Sacca ready for By DAMIAN CRISTODERO Gannett News Service MIAMI Tony Sacca apparently couldn't help chuckling during a press conference this week. The Penn State University quarterback was responding to a quote from Miami defensive tackle Anthony Hamlet, predicting a 21-point Hurricane victory when the teams meet at noon today at the Orange Bowl.

But Sacca's good humor didn't mock Hamlet, it punctuated his support for the senior's honesty. Remember, he has spent three seasons speaking out against the conservative nature of Penn State coach Joe Paterno's offense. "Apparently, he's got a lot of confidence in his squad and he should have a lot of confidence, they have a very good team," Sacca said. "That doesn't bother me a whole lot. It doesn't make my game any different.

I still have to go out there and exe Pat Leahy Bobby Howfield professional football game in which Howfield had ever played, the Oilers cut Allegre and Garcia and awarded the job to him. Among the many oddities in Howfield's story is current Oilers holder, wide receiver Frank Miotke, whose only true purpose on the team is holding for Howfield. Punter Greg Montgomery, who held out and missed the first regular season game, is the regular holder, but since Montgomery's return, the Oilers have retained Miotke so Howfield's rhythm would not be interrupted. For Howfield, it's been quite an interesting ride. "When (Bobby) was with the Jets, yeah, there were some great memories," Ian Howfield said.

"As a kid, it was a great childhood growing up with a father who was in the NFL. Walking around the locker rooms seeing Joe Namath, Richard Caster, all the big names back then that were joking around with me. "I haven't given a whole lot of thought to breaking records," said the quarterback, who has completed 85 of 146 passes this season for 1,322 yards with 12 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. The No. 2 Hurricanes (4-0) are out to break Sacca's record-setting pace.

"We've got to get pressure on him, no question about that," Miami coach Dennis Erickson said. "If you let him stand there, he can rip you apart. He's got a good arm and some great receivers." Indeed, seniors O.J. McDuffie and Terry Smith both run 4.4-second 40s. But even the fastest receivers are useless when their quarterback is buried under an avalanche of defensive linemen.

USC proved that, sacking him five times during a 21-10 victory, using a blitz package that brought practically everybody through the line of scrimmage. Sacca, reeling from the pressure, connected on just 15 of 40 passes for 236 yards with a touchdown and two 340. Both teams need a win Saturday. For Temple, it's a case of redemption. The Owls believe they are better than their 1-4 record.

Temple's four losses have been to Alabama, Clem-son, Pitt and Penn State, all ranked teams. Temple played Penn State close for most of the game last weekend before losing 24-7. West Virginia (3-2) has lost to Pitt and Virginia Tech. The Hokies escaped with a 20-14 victory last weekend after West Virginia backup quarterback Chris Gray fumbled on the 1-yard-line with seconds left. Starting quarterback Darren Stud-still completed only 3 of 18 passes for back Shane Conlan, D.J.

Dozier and those guys." Florida's young secondary will get its toughest test of the season against Tennessee, which has one of the nation's top receiers in Carl Pickens. "They've always had a great receiving corps, and he may the best they've ever had," Florida coach Steve Spurrier said. "You know Tennessee's going to throw three, four or five deep ones to him every game." Florida's Errict Rhett and Georgia's Andre Hastings both have more receptions than Pickens, but no one in the Southeastern Conference is close to his 424 yards receiving. Their records don't indicate it should be much of a game, but Michigan-Michigan State is a rivalry that can defy logic. "Throw the records out," Michigan State coach George Perles said.

"I'm Ian Howfield finally, a chance "I used to carry Joe Namath's knee braces. He was my hero. I followed him everywhere he'd go." Through his past failed tryouts, Howfield has gained inspiration from his father and other kickers. "The thing is, I never gave up," he said. "I came here and worked hard.

Guys like (Kansas City kicker) Nick Lowery keep you going. He's the best the NFL has ever seen and he's gotten cut more times than I have." For Leahy, who began his career at the expense of Ian Howfield's father, facing Howfield's son will be the most interesting twist to this story. "I don't know what to say," Leahy said. "I've never met the kid. I don't really know him at all.

It's strange, I guess. When he played on Monday night a few weeks ago (against Kansas City) they showed a closeup of the kid. He the spitting image of his dad. "Who knows, maybe by the time I retire, my son (Cullen, 6) will be here kicking against him." Miami interceptions. "USC got on him early and he seemed to get down said Miami sophomore end Rusty Medearis, who has 5 12 of Miami's 21 sacks.

"I think if we put pressure on him, he can get flustered. I think he feels like he's the whole team and has to do everything himself." Erickson, though, dismissed that theory. "I don't think that was him at all," he said. "It's hard to produce when there are people in your face." The way to combat that, Sacca said, is to rev up a balanced attack, something Penn State has done regularly this season, averaging 230.2 yards passing and 210.5 yards rushing. "We're going to try to mix it up on them," he said.

"The (Miami) guys down front are all good athletes and probably a little bit better pass rushers than they are against the run. But we're going to have to keep them off balance the entire game." West Virginia and left the game because of ineffectiveness. "If they're good, they'll come back," Nehlen said of his team earlier this week. "I'm back already. Saturday I was sick, but the sun came up today, and everything's OK.

I would assume my team feels that way, too." Big East this week Mains at RUTGERS Penn State at MIAMI Louisville at BOSTON COLLEGE East Carolina at SYRACUSE TEMPLE at WEST VIRGINIA Florida State vs. VIRGINIA TECH (at Orlando, Fla.) PITTSBURGH at Notre Dame all for that. That's the cliche that's used every year for the Michigan-Michigan State game. This is a big game in this part of the country. This is very important for all their players and our players." Perles said the game might draw the biggest crowd ever at Spartan Stadium.

Last year's Notre Dame game holds the record at 80,401. Oklahoma will be looking to erase some nasty memories when it meets Texas in another great rivalry. The last two seasons, Longhorns quarterback Peter Gardere has beaten the Sooners with fourth-quarter touch down passes. Last year, Gardere's 16-yard touchdown pass to Keith Cash with two minutes left beat the fourth ranked Sooners 14-13. WE NOW CARRY COMIC BOOKS All Comic Books Are Discounted 25 to 50 off cover or Price Guide price Even current new releases COLLECTIBLES 221 Somerset No.

Plainfield, NJ (908) 756-0505 Temple, West Virginia in Big East clash TODAY'S COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE By The Associated Press MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Today's Big East contest between Temple and West Virginia looms large in the eyes of Mountaineers coach Don Nehlen. "They're the biggest team I've ever seen," Nehlen said of Temple. "I'd hate to to have to pay for their training table." Temple Coach Jerry Berndt has "got to either hire an extra bus or get a bigger airplane, because they sure wouldn't all fit in the planes we fly," Nehlen said. Berndt feels the same about the Mountaineers.

"West Virginia's offensive line is huge," he said. "You look at John Ray cute and play hard." Nobody can accuse him of doing anything less. The the 6-foot-5, 225-pound senior has led the No. 9 Nittany Lions to a 5-1 record, its only loss coming to Southern California. And the Delran native is closing in on school records for season and career passing yardage (Chuck Fusina, 1975-78), season total offense (John Hufnagel, 1972), career total offense (Fusina), and season and career touchdown passes (Todd Blackledge, 1980-82).

Penn State hasn't had a quarterback challenge its yardage records since Blackledge almost a decade ago, mainly because of the presence of running backs Curt Warner (1979-82), D.J. Dozier (1983-86)and Blair Thomas (1985-87, '89). "Tony's a big strong kid with a very very fine arm," Paterno said. "He's a good leader and tough in the clutch." But setting records doesn't hold much romance for Sacca. and he just blocks out the sun.

Both defensive lines are similar in size." Berndt is only partly right. Both offensive lines are huge, with West Virginia averaging 6-foot-6 and 281 pounds per player. On defense, though, Temple has a big edge, averaging 6-3 and 300 pounds per man to West Virginia's 6-4, 250. Nehlen is more impressed with linebacker James Harris, who is 6-8 and weighs 267. "I didn't know they made outside linebackers that big," Nehlen said.

The most intriguing collision on the field could come if West Virginia offensive lineman Ray meets head-on with Temple nose guard Alphonso Taylor. Ray is 6-10, 320; Taylor is 6-4, COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW No. 2 Miami (4-0); Toledo (2-1-1) at No. 3 Washington (4-0); No. 4 Tennessee (4-0) at No.

10 Florida (4-1); No. 5 Michigan (3-1) at Michigan State (0-4); No. 6 Oklahoma (4-0) against Texas (1-2) at Dallas; No. 12 Pittsburgh (5-0) at No. 7 Notre Dame (4-1), and Rice (2-2) at No.

8 Baylor (5-0). In the Second Ten, it's No. 11 Ohio State (4-0) at No. 20 Illinois (3-1); Oregon (3-2) at No. 13 California (4-0); No.

14 Nebraska (3-1) at Oklahoma State (0-4); East Carolina (4-1) at No. 15 Syracuse (4-1); No. 17 Iowa (3-1) at Wisconsin (3-1); Virginia (3-2) at No. 18 Clemson (3-1); Tulane (0-6) at No. 19 Alabama (4-1); No.

22 Georgia (4-1) at No. 23 Mississippi (5-1); No. 24 Auburn (3-2) at Vanderbilt (1-4), and Missouri (2-1-1) at No. 25 Colorado (2-2). Miami quarterback Gino Torretta well remembers the last time the Hurricanes played Penn State.

"We were 11-point favorites, and they ended up beating us just because we turned the ball over and put them in a position to win," Torretta said. That was in 1987, and Torretta was a high school junior. Penn State went on to win the national championship that year. "Ancient history," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "This is an entirely different situation.

I can't bring start Smith experience for him he has been in the National Football League for four seasons, and in that time he's been released five times, twice each by the Eagles and Seattle and once by Cleveland. So when the Eagles cut him at the end of training camp this year, the Tennessee native prepared himself for life as a civilian. "I tried to be a realist," he said yesterday in the team's locker room. "In the situation I was in, there was always the possibility that the day I was released was my last day of football. I took that into consideration.

But it wasn't anything devastating to me. This isn't the most important thing to me in my life; my family is." When rookie tackle Cecil Gray was put on injured reserve on Sept 11 with a bad knee, Smith was back with the Eagles for the third time. MIDWEST Youngstown State (4-1) at Akron (1-4), 1 Miami (Ohio) (4-1) at Central Michigan (3-1-2), 1 Ball State (3-3) at Eastern Michigan (1-5), I Ohio State (4-0) at Illinois (3-1), 3:30 Northern Iowa (4-1) at Illinois State (4-1), 2:30 Northwestern (1-3) at Indiana (2-1-1), 2 Eastern Illinois (2-3) at Indiana State (2-3), 7:30 Kansas (3-1) at Kansas State (3-1), 2:10 Cincinnati (1-4) at Kent (0-5), 1 Michigan (3-1) at Michigan State (0-4), 12:30 Purdue (2-2) at Minnesota (1-3), 2:30 W. Michigan (4-2) at N. Illinois (1-4), 2:05 Pittsburgh (5-0) at Notre Dame (4-1), 1:20 Bowling Green (4-1) at Ohio University (1-3-1), 1 Tennessee Tech (0-5) at SE Missouri St (0-6), 3 SW Missouri St.

(3-1-1) at W. Illinois (3-1-1), 2:30 Iowa (3-1) at Wisconsin (3-1), 2:05 SOUTHWEST Houston (1-3) at Arkansas (3-2), 8 Rice (2-2) at Baylor (5-0), 1 Nebraska (3-1) at Oklahoma State (0-4), 2:30 Cameron (1-3) at Prairie View (0-5), 2:30 Nicholls St (2-3) at Sam Houston St. (3-0-1), 8 Texas Tech (1-4) at Southern Methodist (1-3), 8 SW Texas State (2-2) at Stephen F. Austin (1-3), 8 Oklahoma (4-0) vs. Texas (1-2) at Dallas, 3:30 Alcorn State (4-1) at Texas Southern (3-2-1), i WEST Texas-El Paso (3-2-1) at Brigham Young (2-3), 2 UNLV (2-3) at Cal State-Fullerton (1-4), 4 Oregon (3-2) at California (4-0), 3:30 Missouri (2-1-1) at Colorado (2-2), 2:10 Portland St (3-2) at E.

Washington (2-3), 4 Long Beach State (1-4) at Fresno State (4-0), 10 Boise State (4-0) at Montana (2-3), 3:30 Montana St (1-5) at N. Arizona (2-3), 1:05 Idaho State (2-2) at Nevada (5-0), 4:05 San Jose State (2-2) at New Mexico State (0-4), 9 Arizona State (3-1) at Oregon State (0-4), 4 Cal Poly-SLO (2-2) at Pacific (1-4), 5 New Mexico (1-5) at San Diego State (3-2), 8:05 Cornell (1-2) at Stanford (1-3), 3:30 Arizona (2-3) at UCLA (2-2), 10 Toledo (2-1-1) at Washington (4-0), 3:30 USC (2-2) at Washington State (2-3), 6:30 Idaho (3-2) at Weber State (4-1), 8 Utah (3-2) at Wyoming (2-3-1), 3 TO WASTE TO YOU P. IS RIDING ON YOUR TIRES EAST The Citadel (2-2) at Army (2-2), 1 Louisville (2-3) at Boston College (0-4), noon Delaware (4-1) at Boston University (1-4), 1 Princeton (3-0) at Brown (0-3), 1 Yale (2-1) at Colgate (1-4), 1 Pennsylvania (0-3) at Columbia (0-3), 1:30 Holy Cross (4-0) at Dartmouth (2-1), 1:30 Harvard (1-2) at Fordham (1-3), 1 Bucknell (1-4) at Lafayette (2-2), 2 Northeastern (3-1) at Lehigh (4-0), 1 Rhode Island (2-2) at Massachusetts (2-3), 1:30 Air Force (5-1) at Navy (0-4), 1:30 Richmond (1-3) at New Hampshire (4-1), 12:30 Maine (1-4) at Rutgers (4-1), 1 East Carolina (4-1) at Syracuse (4-1), 1 Temple (1-4) at West Virginia (3-2), 1 SOUTH Tulane (0-6) at Alabama (4-1), 3:30 Middle Tenn. St. (3-1) at Austin Peay (3-1), 4:30 Howard (2-3) at Bethune-Cookman (2-2), 1:30 Samford (5-0) at Central Florida (4-2), 8 Virginia (3-2) at Clemson (3-1), 3:30 Liberty (1-3) at Delaware State (3-1), 1:30 Appalachian St.

(4-2) at E. Tenn. St. (0-4), 2 W. Kentucky (2-2) at E.

Kentucky (4-1), 7 Tennessee (4-0) at Florida (4-1), 7:30 Virginia Tech (2-3) vs. Florida State (5-0) at Orlando, noon Marshall (3-1) at Furman (5-0), 1:30 W.Carolina (1-4) at Georgia Southern (2-3), 1 Maryland (1-3) at Georgia Tech (2-3), 12:10 Towson State (0-4) at James Madison (4-1), 1:30 Arkansas State (0-6) at Louisiana State (1-3), 8 S.Mississippi (3-2) at Memphis State (2-3), 8:30 Penn State (5-1) at Miami (4-0), noon Georgia (4-1) at Mississippi (5-1), 1:05 Kentucky (2-2) at Mississippi State (3-2), 2:30 South Carolina St (4-0) at Morgan St Term-Martin (3-1) at Murray State (1-4), 3:30 Wake Forest (1-3) at North Carolina (3-1), 1:30 Florida A4M (2-2) at N. Carolina (4-1), 1:30 McNeese St. (2-2) at NE Louisiana (4-1), 8 North Texas (1-2-1) at NW Louisiana (2-2), 8 Tulsa (3-2) at SW Louisiana (0-6), 8 La. Tech (4-1) at South Carolina (2-2-1), 1:30 Southern Illinois (5-1) at Troy (Ala.) State (2-3) William Mary (2-3) at Virginia Military (3-2), 2 Auburn (3-2) at Vanderbilt (1-4), 8 Florida State wary of Virginia Tech MOBILE TIRE SERVICE INC.

By The Associated Press Florida State coach Bobby Bowden reminds his players of the trouble they had last year with Virginia Tech, and adds: "As long as we are No. 1, everybody will be gunning for us." An example of classic coaching philosophy: He doesn't want his top-ranked Seminoles to look ahead to Middle Tennessee State next Saturday. Florida State will try to extend the nation's longest Division I winning streak to 12 today against Virginia Tech at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando a gains a team it has beaten 11 times in 11 tries. Last year, however, Florida State fell behind 21-3 before a pair of defensive touchdowns gave the Seminoles a 89-28 victory. "I will never forget that game," Bowden said.

"I hope my boys don't either." Tech is 2-3 this season. Florida State is 5-0, averaging 47.4 points and 533.3 yards per game. This is a home game for Virginia Tech. School officials agreed to accept an $800,000 guarantee to move the game to the Citrus Bowl to help balance their athletic budget The payoff is twice what there would have been from a sellout at Blacks-burg, Va. In other games involving ranked teams, it's No.

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