The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 37

1 UM wins 7 ryf EiSI ff I Do you Edgenin James A scores as TlNSftJ gripe? Try our Miami tops call-in line. Baylor, 45-14 Martina Hingis (right) chomps her way into the U.S. Open's round of 16. Page C-20 (407) 872-7206 The Orlando Sentinel SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 1997 Baseball, C-1 4 This time, the New York Yankees come up on the wrong side of a fan's interference. Auto racing, C-1 7.

Sports METRO IS 1 mm 1 jConversion for UCF falls short in OT 1 MR 1 By Jerry Greene Indianapolis Colts at Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m. ff THE SENTINEL STAFF OXFORD. Miss. All or nnthimr Jacksonville Jaguars at Baltimore Ravens, 4 p.m. 0 fill ii 1 i ill i r-i I San Francisco 49ers at Tampa Bay Bucs, 4 p.m.

Elsewhere I Arizona at Cincinnati, 1 p.m. Atlanta at Detroit, 1 p.m. I 1' v'- 1 at all. The University of Central Florida Golden Knights gambled for the biggest prize in their football history and came up inches short Mississippi 24, UCF 23 in overtime. The Knights were a breath away Jrom the most prestigious victory in School history Saturday night but lost to Ole Miss in overtime when quarterback Daunte Culpepper was Stopped just short of the goal line on a 2-point conversion attempt watched by 28,216 mostly relieved Rebel Rousers at Vaught-Heming-way Stadium.

Tied at 17, Ole Miss got the first overtime opportunity from UCFs 25 in the Kansas tiebreaker system. The Rebels scored in three plays and Jacked the extra point, UCF got its chance and scored on a 21-yard pass from Culpepper to Charles Lee. After a timeout discussion, the Knights elected to go for the victory on a 2-point running play. Culpepper attempted a quarterback draw and was stopped inches from the end zone. He tried to break the plane of the goal with the ball and fumbled into the end zone.

I Some Knights thought they had won, but the officials briefly huddled and ruled Culpepper and UCFs bid for team history had fallen short i Ole Miss, which plays in the Southeastern Conference, is 1-0; UCF, an independent trying to catch some conference's eye, is 0-1 with another SEC foe, South Carolina, up next "It's not a roll of the dice," UCF coach Gene McDowell said of the 2-point attempt "We thought we could score. No one is happy, but we have to line up and play South Carolina pextweek." I Please see UCF, C-8 WFTV-CHANNEL 9 Got away. A sprawling Daunte Culpepper (center) fumbles as he fails to score on a 2-point try behind Chris Lorenti. Knights don't serve as a sacrificial lamb I Dallas at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. I Minnesota at Buffalo, 1 p.m.

I New Orleans at SI Louis, 1 p.m. I Oakland at Tennessee, 1 p.m. I Philadelphia at Y. Giants, 1 p.m. I San Diego at New England, 1 p.m.

I Kansas City at Denver, 4 p.m. I N.Y. Jets at Seattle, 4 p.m. I Washington at Carolina, 8 p.m. dD was going down.

The ball spurted into the end zone and was captured by teammate Rufus Hall to set off a short-lived celebration by several UCF players, certain the winning 2-pointer had been achieved. More than 28,000 hearts stopped at OXFORD, Miss. It was a bold, swashbuckling move, a go-for-the-gusto, all-or-nothing gamble for a 2-point conversion that will be cussed and discussed for decades. Having matched Ole Miss' touchdown in overtime, Gene McDowell and the ambitious, underdog Central Florida Knights pulled the point-after kick unit off the field and took one breathtaking swipe at a stunning upset on college football's 1997 opening Saturday night. It fell short by an excruciating yard as heroic Daunte Culpepper, on a quarterback draw, darted through an opening, was bumped sideways and lost the ball as he cape, 24-23.

Immediately unclear was whether the zebras ruled that Culpepper's knee hit down before the fumble, or they simply invoked the clear-cut NCAA rule that only the tumbler is eligible to recover a fumble into the end zone. Either way, the bold attempt died there a yard short of the north end zone of storied Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, and UCF's breakthrough victory over a name NCAA Division I-A team will have to wait for another Saturday. Should UCF have put all of its chips on that one play? Should they have taken the Please see GUEST, C-8 THE SPORTS COLUMN MX the momentary confusion until officials ruled the 2-point try had failed, thus allowing an Ole Miss es- I Florida survives Southern Miss' challenge Quarterback Johnson absorbs shaky debut Gators' euphoria turns a little toward paranoia GAINESVILLE Guess how all those spirited tailgaters still celebrating their Florida Gators' 1996 national title left Florida Field after the season-opener? Sober. As in stone cold. Nothing like watching the '97 edition of the Gators clumsily escape Southern Miss, 21-6, on Saturday By Chris Harry Of the sentinel staff Mr ASSOCIATED PRESS Sr.

Xi' In his prime. When Dallas faces Pittsburgh for the 1st time since the 1996 Super Bowl, the Cowboys wii have Deion Sanders in their comer. 3M3 night to straighten out the senses for the season. The evening began with a feeling of euphoria and knowing the frenzied nature of some college football fans ended with a feeling of paranoia. When Steve Spurrier has to apologize for his "stupid" offense and says his new quarterback played "OK" after throwing 3 interceptions GAINESVILLE The largest season-opening crowd in Florida Field history came Saturday night to see the much-anticipated debut of quarterback Doug Johnson, but his University of Florida teammates stole the show.

Good thing, too, because without their help, Southern Mississippi very well could have stolen the game. The second-ranked Gators got two touchdown passes and a quarterback sneak for another score from Johnson, but his three untimely interceptions demanded a paralyzing effort from UF's defense. The end result was a 21-6 victory over the Eagles before 85,439 who no doubt are harboring concerns this morning about the defending national champions. "I guess God is still smiling on the Gators," said Steve Spurrier, who improved to 8-0 in openers as Florida's coach despite a winning point total that was UF's lowest in 26 games (Florida 14, South Carolina 9, in 1992). "This was one we easily could've lost." i The Gators (1-0) turned back five of six Southern Miss (0-1) drives that penetrated UTs 30-yard line.

Florida held the Eagles to 157 total yards only 26 SENTINEL COLUMNIST JERRY GREENE welcomes 11 new coaches and a new season of predicting football games. C-12, IMPRESSIVE STATS for the Jets' Wayne Chrebet, the Pack's Steve Bono and the Oilers' Dave Krieg. C-12. GREEN BAY linebacker Seth Joyner will not play Monday night against Chicago because of a sore left knee. NFL re-port, C-12.

3RD TIME is charm for Jacksonville linebacker Brant Boyer. C-1 3. MIAMI AND Indianapolis meet today with plenty of new faces. C-13. TAMPA BAY cofnerback Donnie Abraham welcomes the challenge of guarding Jerry Rice.

C-13. and labels UF's coaching as "shabby," well, you have a city gripped by worry. And if you want to bring out even more basket cases, just remind them that Tennessee and Peyton Manning come to town in three weeks. It didn't take long for Gatordom to wake from its dream state and be leveled by reality. If the Gators' defense had been as flat as Spurrier's vaunted Fun 'N (Pop) Gun offense, game tickets commemorating the '96 champion would have become bittersweet keepsakes.

Or litter. Please see SCHMITZ, C-6 71 rushing with their only touchdown coming after cornerback Pat Surtain intercepted Johnson for a second time and returned the ball 57 yards to the Gators' 13. JOHN RAOUXTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL Please see GATORS, C-6 All over him. UF defensive end Thaddeus Bullard sacks Southern Mississippi's Lee Roberts on a 4th-and-8 play. 1.