The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 37

I 1 The Orlando Sentinel It's Chang (left) vs. Sampras, Graf vs. Seles today in U.S. Open finals, C-3 SUNDAY, September 8, 1996 II I -v drm METRO Tyson fixes up Seldon with a KO It i Bruce Seldon succumbed to the onslaught of Mike Tyson, who claimed another title. ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS Bruce Seldon called Mike Tyson a destroyer.

The fans called the fight a fix. "Fix! Fix!" the ugliest word in boxing, resounded through the MGM Grand Garden after Tyson knocked Seldon down twice and stopped him in 109 seconds Saturday night to win the World Boxing Association heavyweight championship. "I went up against the baddest man on the planet," Seldon said. "It wasn't a fixed fight. I didn't train 12 weeks to come in here and take a dive.

"They say Mike Tyson is a destroyer. I am a witness to that." Tyson swarmed Seldon from the opening bell. And while Seldon was able to tie him up on a few occasions, he couldn't keep him at bay. "I'm punching pretty hard these days," Tyson said. "I'm punching harder than when I was younger." It was a punch that most of the fans thought didn't land, however, that led to the chorus of boos and the shouts of a fixed fight from the crowd, estimated at 9,000.

Seldon went face down from a glancing right hand high on the forehead. At first, referee Richard Steele thought it was a slip. "I went to wave it a knockdown off, and I looked at Bruce again and the fighter seemed dazed and hurt, so I had to pick Please see TYSON, C-5 V' Belted. Putting on the World Boxing Association's heavyweight title belt is more of a task for Mike Ty- son than Bruce Seldon, who was knocked down twice in the 1st round in yet another disappointing title fight that sent many in attendance home unfulfilled and crying 9 ii w1' ASSOCIATED PRESS Punch drunk. Christy Martin rushes in to finish off a wobbly Me-flinda Robinson en route to a 4th-round KO in Las Vegas.

Story, C-5. ASSOCIATED PRESS UCF stops bleeding in 2nd half I 1 i inn 1 1 ii hi mi ii.iiii.Biii.iij. i iiimii uirnun iiu mmp i ii. 'Noles sloppy but victorious South Carolina, which led by 16 points at halftime, pounded QB ,,,5 ml -J i A Daunte Culpepper a 33-14 victory. i By By Alan Schmadtke By Jerry Greene J)F THE SENTINEL STAFF OF THE SENTINEL STAFF i J.

i r- COLUMBIA, S.C. Bloodied but refusing to be bowed, Central Florida went down reluctantly against the bigger, faster South Carolina Gamecocks, 33-14, Saturday night before a record crowd of 76,4 1 1 at expanded Williams-Brice Stadium. Possibly worse than the defeat was the beating UCF quarterback Daunte Culpepper received. A sprained left ankle forced him to leave the game in the second half. However, he is expected to start Saturday at New Mexico.

All of the scoring, except for a Gamecocks field goal, came in the first half when the Gamecocks capitalized on big plays. South Carolina (1-0) was the first Division I-A opponent this season for Central Florida (1-1), which is in its first year at the I-A level. The Knights went home unconvinced that beating South Carolina was beyond their reach. Culpepper, especially, would love to play the game again on two healthy legs instead of one. Please see UCF, C-10 Disheartening loss 1 TALLAHASSEE Apparently running an i offense at Florida State is not as easy as drawing up plays for a new quarterback play-, lng with a star runner and two star receivers.

i The good news for the third-ranked Semi-; noles, though, is that they scarcely needed their usually gaudy offensive statistics to rout Duke for the fifth year in a row, this time, 44-7, at Doak Campbell Stadium. While half the men in FSlTs locker room nodded in satisfaction about a long-awaited feturn to form, the other half, led by the head coach, kicked themselves for missed blocks and general sloppiness. Four turnovers created three field goals from Scott Bentley and Duke's ineffectiveness on offense carried a day that few on FSlTs offense will remember. "We took a lot of heat last year for some mistakes, and we're pretty happy we were able to tome out and put together a day like today," linebacker Daryl Bush said. "We really couldn't ask for anything better than what we got" They got a 1-0 start in the Atlantic Coast Conference and their 32nd victory in 33 ACC starts during five seasons.

Duke is 0-1. "I thought we looked better than Notre Dame," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said, re-Please see 'NOLES, C-9 'J 'iW 1 9 for a Knightly QB ASSOCIATED PRESS Up and away. FSU's Andre Cooper goes airborne for a touchdown in front of Desi Thomas. COLUMBIA, S.C. Out in the middle of the field, South Carolina coaches and players savored their opening victory Saturday night and graciously patted upstart Central Florida backs for some promising moments.

Wuerffel wakes up, lays Georgia Southern to rest By Chris Harry 7gi 1 qpuwwj OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Away from it all, at the north end of the field, a somber young man had reached the end zone, hobbling along on a wounded wheel. Daunte Culpepper was a portrait of dejection, his left shoe in Larry Guest 1 THE SPORTS COLUMN mi rv mi ri ASSOCIATED PRESS GAINESVILLE Danny Wuerffel was back, the defense was fine and there were no serious injuries for the University of Florida on Saturday night. Let the games the big games begin. UF ran and passed on offense, tackled hard and, yes, scored again on defense in a 62-14 plowing of Division I-AA Georgia Southern before 84,962 at Florida Field. The rout ended a season-opening mini-run where the fourth-ranked Gators (2-0) faced two overmatched, non-conference opponents and officially started the countdown to the Sept.

21 Southeastern Conference super-showdown with Tennessee. Well, sort of. "I'm not talking about Tennessee," UF coach Steve Spurrier said afterward. "These were sort of like exhibition games helping us get ready for our conference season." Wuerffel and the offense looked ready, much more so than a week before. Days removed from some biting criticism from his coach, Wuerffel rebounded to hit a school-record 93.8 percent of his throws (15 of 16) for 267 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Not to be outdone was a ground game that churned out 264 yards, led by redshirt freshman Eugene McCas-lin's eight carries for 116 yards and LILT Miami 52, The Citadel 6 Magic Benton (above) scores twice for the 2nd consecutive game as the No. 11 Hurricanes beat the Div. t-AA Bulldogs, C-11. I it Tfc JOHN RAOUXTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL one hand, his shoulder pads and jersey slung over one shoulder. A glum expression said he had little interest in moral victories or flashes of a bright future in that 18-for-32, two-TD performance.

Overhead on the Williams-Brice Stadium scoreboard glowed the only numbers that mattered to him: South Carolina 33, Central Florida 14. From out of the midfield pack emerged a hefty man flanked by a pair of state troopers, huffing to overtake the disheartened quarterback. "Daunte! Daunte!" shouted South Carolina Coach Brad Scott, who had jogged to the visitors' end to deliver special praise. "You did a heckuva job, young man," said Scott, clasping Culpepper's hand. "We couldn't afford to let you back out there.

Good luck to you the rest of the way." Culpepper nodded silently and resumed hobbling toward the UCF lockers where team doctors said the sprained ankle that had hampered him in the second half would not prevent him from terrorizing other big-name defenses in the autumn weeks to come. The ankle was twisted in a second-period play, then aggravated several times in the third period until this developing star was reduced Please see GUEST, C-10 Cheers for UF. Florida's Came- teammates after returning a tumble ron Davis (front) marches on with 40 yards for a touchdown. B-CC 23, Morris Brown 16 QB Todd Walker leads Wildcats, C-13. Rattters improve record to 2-0, C-13.

Nebraska 55, Msch. State 14 Dominant 'D' leads No. 1 'Huskers, the running backs running hard. It all came together." Almost immediately. The Gators needed just three plays to take a 7-0 lead, as Wuerffel hit a wide-open Rei-del Anthony from 32 yards out.

But it didn't take long for Georgia Southern (1-1) to get the attention of the crowd, not to mention defensive coordinator Please see GATORS, C-8 two touchdowns. "We did what we set out to do run the ball," senior offensive guard Donnie Young said. "We ran the ball, then we threw passes off our running game. That was the plan. It worked." Said Wuerffel: "For us to be effective, we have to have both going really well, and tonight was a great opportunity to get out there and get the linemen coming off the ball and get 27.

Syracuse 10 No. 9 Syracuse fall to Tar Heels, 06. "0iSx on 08,07,040 C-lft Oil, 012, 013.