Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • 42

38-6 Avalanche Falls on Ala. No. That's Putting It Mildly! By CRAIG STOLZE Gannett News Service MIAMI Maybe it's the best college football team ever. Certainly, it is the best of the season past. Nebraska left no doubt of that on the sodden Poly-Turf of the Orange Bowl last night, obliterating Alabama, the team which was supposed to challenge the Cornluiskcrs' right to the No.

1 spot in the country. Maybe the Cornhuskers should stay over a day or two and meet the Miami Dolphins-Baltimore Colts pro game winner. They looked that good as they wiped out Bear Bryant's pretenders to the throne. Nothing coul stop Bob Devaney's "Big Red" from Lincoln, Neb. Not even the rain which dumped torrents on the field from 6 to 7 p.

m. slowed the Big Eight champions. They dazed Alabama with four early touchdowns in the space of eight minutes and 12 seconds one a 77-yard punt return by Johnny Rodgers turning the celebrated collision into an embarrassing out before the sellout 78,151. Only once in its 40-ycar-history had the margin been wider: Alabama's 61-6 rout of Syracuse in 1953. And it equaled Bryant's most lopsided coaching defeat.

Nebraska's massive, muscled defenders, with a front line averaging 236 pounds, stopped Alabama's vaunted Johnny Mus-so, the key man of Bryant's Wishbone-T, and turned a pass interference penalty, two recovered fumbles and a pass interception into a cascade of touchdowns. The tragic goat of this turn of events was an Alabama defensive halfback, Steve Williams, whose career was in jeopardy after he accidentally shot himself in the chest last fall. It was the 32nd game without a defeat and the 23rd straight victory for the massive Midwesterners, who won this national title in 1970 and swept past 12 foes in marching through a second straight perfect season. "Jimmy The Greek" Snyder, the oddsmaker from Las Vegas, may be right. Even before yesterday's games he said Nebraska was No.

1, Oklahoma No. 2 and Colorado No. 3. All are from the Big Eight and all registered bowl game victories and were impressive in so doing. With quarterback Jerry Tagge, flanker-returned Rodgers and J-back Jeff Kinney leading the offense, Nebraska was virtually unstoppable last night.

On defense, Rich Glover, the junior who plays "nose" on the center, was a terror. It's m-'X Stanford Michigan 13 12 st Fir Associated Press WIREPHOTO. JUST THE BEGINNING Halfback Johnny Rodgers (20) of Nebraska eludes two tacklers and cuts toward the right sideline near the beginning of his 77-yard punt return touchdown in the first period of last night's Orange Bowl in Miami. Alabama's running threat. Johnny Musso (22) misses tackle and Dave Knapp (39) is too far away.

env Texas All Bowl-ed Out? Press Just Starting Now that you've survived the Christmas rush, and New Year's bowl fatigue, it's time to start thinking about the Press Doubles Tournament. Entries open today, and to avoid another last-minute run to the corner mailbox on deadline day, an entry blank appears on Page 3 of this section. The Press Tournament dates without interruption to 1946, same winter that the United Nations General Assembly wheels began turning, and has maintained a growth pattern more rapid than the UN's. The Sunday Press SECTION Binghamton, N. Jan.

2, 1972 Ponii Stale 30 Texas 0 DALLAS (AP) If there's any doubt about the quality of Eastern football, just check with the University of Texas about the credentials of the Penn State Nittany Lions, who stomped the Longhorns, 30-6, in one of the most lop-sided routs in Cotton Bowl history. Among -other things, the Nittany Lions forced Texas and its awesome Wishbone offense into five fumbles and held the Southwest Conference champions without a touchdown for the first time in 80 games or since 1964. It was the most points a Southwest Conference team had given up in the Cotton Bowl since Oklahoma State's 34-0 rout of TCU in 1945, the only previous visiting score in the 30s. Penn State exploded for 17 points in the third period, including a 65-yard pass-and-run touchdown bomb over Texas defensive back Mike Bayer, who had been dazed on a previous play and was wandering around lost on the field. The bomb landslide.

triggered the Texas coach Darrell Royal, Nittany To Sports hard to believe but some All-America teams left this kid off. This was supposed to be the "Game of the Decade." It never turned out that way. It wasn't even the "Game of the Nebraska was clearly the better team. Foes next fall may also have trouble containing the Cornhuskers. Tagge graduates but Devaney is "red-shirting" a kid from Las Vegas, named David Humm who is said to be as good or better.

That will take some doing. Tagge, the 6-2, 215-pound senior from Green Bay, last night improved his status in the eyes of pro scouts and may turn out to be the first quarterback chosen in the pro game's upcoming draft. The Cornhuskers open 1972 play on Sept. 9 at UCLA. Already, it's shaping up as one of the season's big games.

In winning so impressively, one thing which Nebraska did is to make Oklahoma look even better. The Sooners were impressive on their own, rolling over Auburn and Heisman winner Pat Sullivan in the Sugar Bowl at New Orleans. But the way Nebraska smashed the Crimson Tide after being forced to come from behind to beat Oklahoma 35-31 on Nov. 25 added luster to the Sooners. They called that one the "Game of the Century" and more than 55 million viewers saw that one on the tube.

Maybe even more saw the one last night. Six players participated in the balanced Nebraska scoring. Kinney went over from the one after Williams interfered with Woody Cox on a pass thrown to the Alabama three. Rodgers' dramatic run came on the last play of the opening period. It was as electric, but much more effortless than his 72-yard punt return that opened the Thanksgiving Day scoring at Oklahoma.

He took Greg Gantt's kick on his own 23, got a fine block by Bob Terrio and outran the Alabama secondary. Tagge scored from the- 1 and Gary Dixon from the 2 in the second period after Ala-' bama fumbles in Tide territory. The 'Huskers later in the half reached the 6, but missed a field goal. not wishing to alibi for the thorough beating, said Bayer was "out on his feet on the two passes that were completed over him in the third quarter." One pass went for the touchdown and other set up 1 1 Mitchell's one-vard touchdown run. Royal said, "I don't intend that as an alibi, but two touchdowns changes things in a hurry.

Our offense never did get off center. We had opportunities, but they had a clever defensive plan They deserved to win in every respect." Penn State coach Joe Pa-terno said, "We guessed right, hustled, came off the blocks and stopped the big play. If they don't fumble the ball, it's a different game." Defensive end Jim Laslavic of the Nittany Lions said, "We had a look at a lot of Texas-Arkansas films and we took some things from that. I guess you could say we used something similar to Notre Dame's 'mirror Notre Dame defeated Texas 24-11 last year in the Cotton Oklahoma Aulmni in 8 1 Bowl by "mirroring" the Longhorn triple option offense. Texas fumbled nine times in that game.

Penn State's quality as a major football power had been under question after Tennessee's 31-11 licking of the Nittany Lions in a regular season-ending clash on national television. "They're stronger than we are," admitted Texas linebacker Tommy Woodard. "I'm sorry to say that they wanted to win a little more." Paterno said, "I don't think we've ever had a bigger win, when we needed one. I don't know what that does to our prestige That's up to you fellas (the press)." Texas held a 6-3 lead on Steve Valek field goals from 29 and 40 yards before Penn State's third-period explosion on the rainy, 52-degree afternoon. John Hufnagel hit tight (Continued on Page 5E) 9 Tau -M Penn State 0 Texas 3 Tex FG, Valek 29 1030 0 6 PS FG, Vltiello 21 Tex FG, Valek 40 PS-Mitchell 1, run (Vitiello kick) PS Skarzynski 65, pass from Hufnagel (Vitiello kick) PS FG, Viello 37 PS-FG, Vitiello 22 PS Hufnagel 4, run (Vitiello kick) Statistics P.

S. 18 54-239 137 0 7-13-1 5-3 0 Texas 15 52-159 13 20 5-14-0 5-33 3 5 First Downs Rushes-yards Passing yardage Return yardage Passes Punts Fumbles lost Yards penalized INDIVIDUAL LEADERS Rushing Penn state: Mitchell 27-146, Harris, 11-47. Texas: Bertelsen 14-58, Ladd, 8-45. Receiving Penn State: Skarzynski 2 81, Parsons 3-48. Texas: Burrisk 3-45.

Passing Penn State: Hufnagel 7-12-1, 137 yards; Texas: Phillips, 3-8, 59, Wig- ginton 2-6, 24. 10 From a first-time entry of about 300 teams, the figure now is past 35,000, which means more than 70,000 bowlers who have participated in the annual head-to-head matches in the handicap elimination. No such tourney in the nation is as large. The 27th annual tourna-m prizelist, which "drags" not a penny from your entry fee other than to insure paid, impartial qualify i g-round scorers, again leads off with the guaranteed $1,000 first prize. Bowling begins Feb.

6-7 at such well-distributed Southern Tier bowling establishments as 32-lane Johnson City Bowling Center, 24-lane Riverhouse Lanes in Endwell, 20-lane Bowl, 1 0-1 ane Twentieth Century Lanes in Sidney, 12-lane Hilltop Lanes in West 'Windsor, plus the neighborhood 6-lane houses: St. Cyril's, Reno's, Post 80 Legion and First Ward Legion, with the Binghamton Elks as a standby house. Riverhouse and Hilltop are new tourney hosts, while Owego Bowl is returning after an absence. State Bowling Center and Town Country Lanes refused to participate this year, after an attempt by local officers of Bowling Proprietors Association of America (BPAA) to bar Johnson City from the tournament for failure to pay its BPAA dues was rejected by Press sports editor John W. Fox and tournament director Mary Smack.

Nor at this time does it appear that State, TiC and Laurel Bowlodrome have firmed up plans to run a rival doubles tournament that would conflict with Press dates. Any bowler is eligible, but the pros know only too well the odds they'd be bucking: the finalists last year were a husband-wife team (closest a woman has come to the jackpot) who lost to brothers-in-law, one of whom is an engraver at The Press. Bowlers 18 and under should need parental permission slips. Entries close Saturday midnight, Jan. 22, leaving a two-week lag prior to the qualifying round which occupies the first weekend.

Bowlers compete either Saturday or Sunday, whichever they designate on the entry blank, and if (Continued on Fage 4E) which show only a 54-yard advantage in offense and an Alabama edge in first downs. Williams committed the pass interference mistake that set up Nebraska's first touchdown. He fumbled a kickoff return that led to the third Nebraska score and he was carried off the field uncon- tf-'TD Tale -Pi Nebraska 14 14 3 738 Alabama 0 0 6 06 Neb Kinney, 2 run (kick failed) Neb Rodgers, 77 punt return (Dam-kroger, pass trom Tagge) Neb Tagge, 1 run Sanger Isick) Neb Dixon, 2 run (Sanger kick) Ala Davis, 3 run (run failed) Neb FG, Sanger 21 Neb Brownson, 1 run (Sanger kick) A 78,151. Statistics Neb. 15 47-133 159 166 11-20-0 5-42 2 Ala.

16 58-241 47 164 3-13-2 7-43 2 58 First downs Rushes-yards Passing yardage Return yardage Passes Punts Fumbles lost Yards penalized 50 INDIVIDUAL LEADERS Rustling-Nebraska, Kinney 20-99, Brownson 4-22; Alabama, Musso, 15-79, Davis 14-61. Passing Nebraska, Tagge 11-18-0 159 yards; Alabama, Davis 3-9-1, 47 yards. Receiving Nebraska, Rodgers 4-82; Alabama, Wheeler 2-10. unsung heroes the men who ripped Auburn's defense for Mildren Co. to steamrole to a record 439 yards total offense.

"Our offensive line did a super job," he said. "We went north and south pretty good." Offensive guard Darryl Em-mert said Auburn was "nowhere near Nebraska" and "I think they were surprised by the of our wishbone. Our to move inside surprised The c.her offensive guard, Ken Jones, went even further: "They have a good team, but could do about anything we wanted with them." Asked to compare Oklahoma and Alabama, Coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan of Auburn said he thought Oklahoma is "eas-' ily the best team we faced all year They certainly were impressive today." Sullivan agreed that Oklahoma is the best team the War Eagles faced in a 10-game sea scious in a collision that preceded the fourth Cornhusker score. In the stands, an exuberant Nebraska fan hung up a bunting which appropriately read: "Low Tide." Alabama showed only one spark of the team that rushed 324 yards a game and scored an average 32.9 a game in an 11-game winning season. Early in the third period, Terry Davis, a.

frail-looking, 173-pound quarterback marched his frustrated teammates 55 yards almost singlehandedly, ripping off runs of 28 and 13 yards, and sneaked over for Alabama's touchdown from the three. While Bryant "bad-mouthed" himself for devising a bad game plan, in another corner of the dressing room, halfback Musso seemed to be remembering every poor play. "We were so bad," he said. "They didn't force us into all those mistakes. We set 'em up.

Everybody on offense wil grade the lowest they have all year. I believe we were uo for (Continued on Page 5E) Lumps son that saw them lose only to d-ranked Alabama. "There is no doubt they are the biggest, strongest, finest- Continued on Page 4E) tT-TD Tau -Pi Oklahoma 19 12 3 640 Auburn 0 0 7 1522 Okla Crosswhite 4, run (kick failed) Okla Mildren 5, run (Carroll kick) Okla-Wiylie 71, punt return (pass failed) Okla Mildren 4, run (run failed) Okla Mildren 7 run (pass failed) Okla FG, Carroll 53 Aub. Unger 12, run (Jett kick) Okla. Pruitl 2, run (kick failed) Aub.

Cannon 12, pass from Sullivan (Jett kick) Aub. unger run (Beck run) Statistics Okla. 21 7-439 11 91 1-4-1 35 1 First Downs Rushes yards Passing yardage Return yardage Pass Punts Fumbles lost Aub. 15 19-40 250 49 20-45-1 549 1 Yards penalized 12 INDIVIDUAL LEADERS Rushinq Oklahoma; Mildren 30-149; Pruitt 18-95; Crosswhite 17-78. Auburn: Unoer 6-38; Lowry 5-12.

Receiving Oklahoma; Chandter 1-11. Auburn: Beasley 4-117; Unqer S-34. Passing Oklahoma; Mildren 1-4-0, 11. Auburn: Sullivan 20-44-1, 250. We Could Do Anything We Wanted'' Sooners Sugar, Auburn FOOTBALL COLLEGIATE Rose Bowl Stanford 13, Michigan 12 Cotton Bowl Penn State 30, Texas 6 Sugar Bowl Oklahoma 40, Auburn 22 Orange Bowl Nebraska 38, Alabama 6 FRIDAY Gator Bowl Georgia 7, North Carolina 3 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl Colorado 29, Houston 17 East-West Shrine Bowl West 17, East 13 BASKETBALL PROFESSIONAL NBA New York 104, Cincinnati 94 Phoenix 114, Boston 104 FRIDAY Boston 131, Philadelphia 119 ABA FRIDAY Kentucky 124, Carolina 106 Indiana 104, New York 100 Denver 104, Memphis 91 Utah 115, Dallas 103 COLLEGIATE Xavier (Ohio) 75, Yale 69 Utah St.

90, Evansville 89 Oueen City Tournament 1st Niagara 91, Canisius 82 3d LIU 78, Cornell 67 FRIDAY Memphis St. 92, Arkansas 77 Mississipoi 85, Macalester 66 Dayton 86, East Carolina 72 Seton Hall 66, Pepperdine 63 HOCKEY PROFESSIONAL NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Toronto 5, Montreal 2 St. Louis 4, Philadelphia 4 FRIDAY Detroit 6, California 3 Pittsburgh 3, Buffalo 3 EASTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE Greensboro 6, Roanoke Valley 2 Syracuse 6, Johnstown 3 Clinton 2, Suncoast 2 AMERICAN LEAGUE Hershey 6, Tidewater 2 Soringtield 5, Boston 0 Nova Scotia 4, Baltimore 2 Cincinnati 4, Cleveland 3 AMATEUR WORLD CUP U.S.S.R. 11, U. S.

1 MAPLE LEAFS CANADIENS 2. Ron Ellis scored the go-ahead goal as host Toronto tallied four times in the third peri-od, its first victory over Monreal this season. Norm Ullman, Paul Henderson, Garry Monahan and. Brad Selwood notched the victors' other goals. FLYERS 4, BLUES 4.

Rick Foley tied it with 51 seconds left on a power play with Philadelphia goalie Doug Favell out of the net for an extra attacker. Until host St. Louis Phil Roberto was penalized for deliberately falling on the puck, Gary Unger's pewer play goal had seemed decisive. Barclay Planer scored a Blues-record 10th shorthanded goal in the first period. Goat Off Hook On 0:12 Goal PASADENA, Calif.

(AP) Stanford's Rod Garcia, the smallest man on the field and only a sophomore, calmly booted a 31-yard field goal with just 12 seconds left to bring the Indians a 13-12 upset victory over Michigan in the 58th Rose Bowl football game Saturday. The confident 155-pound kicker's second field goal of the game stunned the previously unbeaten Big Ten champions who had been at least two-touchdown favorites, and kept fellow-soph Jim Ferguson from becoming a Rose Bowl goat to equal Roy Riegels' wrong-way run to the safety on which Georgia Tech beat California in the 1929 classic. With the score 10-alI and time running short, Ferguson fielded a 46-yard Michigan field goal attempt in his end zone but after running it out to the 5, retreated in search of running room and was thrown into the end zone by Ed Shuttles worth at 3:18. While not as obvious except to those who've followed Stanford, it also was a day of redemption for Garcia. The 13-12 final was the same score by which San Jose State upset Stanford late in the season, the South American-born kicker missing five field goals and an extra point with a bad heel that "forced me to change my style just enough to make me a cruddy kicker." Garcia's kick won the game but it was the passing of quarterback Don Bunce, a never-say-die senior, that engineered the 78-yard drive which started with just 1:48 left.

And it was a fake punt pulled off beautifully minutes earlier that sent 16th-ranked Stanford en route to a touchdown. "The whole story is we didn't get first downs when we had to," said losing Coach Bo Schembechler. "Stanford deserved to win, there's no doubt about it. The fake punt was the big play. Michigan's offense ran it against our defense all week, but we didn't look for it when it came." Cesd-weary Bunce, named the game's outstanding player, declared.

"We were really pulling some plays out of the air at the end. I was so excited I didn't even know what I was calling (Continued on Page 3E Nebraska's superiority isn't at all reflected in the statistics Fairbanks said shortly after, i 199-pound quarterback from Abilene, was presented the trophy as the game's outstanding player. Mildren punched out 149 yards in 30 carries. However, in accepting his award, Mildren said, "Pat Sullivan deserved the Heisman Trophy. What Ed Mari-naro said was out of place.

Sullivan deserved the award." Marinaro, the all-time rushing leader from Cornell, had criticized the selection of the Sullivan over himself. Fairbanks lavished praise on his special teams and singled out his defensive unit "that gave the offense the op, portunity to score several times in the first half." "We didn't come here to set any records," the youthful Oklahoma pilot said, but the Sooners set a flock of new Sugar Bowl marks. Fairbanks hastened to put in a few good words for his other NEW ORLEANS (AP) -Jack Mildren of Oklahoma, called by his coach "the best player in college football this year," scored three touchdowns in out-dueling Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan yesterday as the third-ranked Sooners downed No. 5 Auburn, 40-22, in the Sugar Bowl football game. Mildren scored on runs of five, four and seven yards, all in the first half, as the awesome Sooners streaked to a 34-0 lead before Auburn got its first touchdown in the third period.

"We came here running scared," said Sooner Coach Chuck Fairbanks, whose high-scoring offense pushed 78 yards with the opening kickoff to assert its superiority early. Joe WTylie's 71-yard punt return was the only long-distance dash of the day by the fleet Sooners. "Mildren is the best player in college football this year,".