The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 23

College scoreboard Complete scores on 2C MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER i. 1. Notre Dame 39 i ci unnv I i 9. West Virginia 17 4. Miami 14 Michigan 28 5.

Ohio State 0 A or. 2, ,1 1 6. Auburn 22 12. Wisconsin 35 11. Alabama 14 Illinois 10 7.

Tennessee 48 14. Penn State 43 Kentucky 0 Northwestern 21 8. Florida 52 16. UCLA 27 Vanderbilt 0 22. Southern Cal 21 10.

Texas 59 18. Colorado 21 TCU 3 Iowa State 16 Jim Johnston I -ft (i I 'i T-d-. 4 i- 0-. 11 XPk At l7 At 1 4- i I j( 3 ANDY HAILS STAFF Auburn's Frank Sanders (81) outleaps Alabama's Tommy Johnson to snag a 35-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Nix midway through the QB sparks Auburn Instant offense: On his first snap, Nix threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Frank Sanders on a fourth-and-15 play Sports Editor Dream season (lidn't come Without pain UBURN For the 85,214 fans gathered at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, the 000 watching the Jumbotron closed-circuit telecast of the game at Tuscaloosa's Bryant-Denny Stadium and the countless thousands who listened to it on the radio, there is a logical cjuestion to be asked this morn-ing. Did it really happen? Or was all of this a dream, wistfully outlined in orange and blue clouds? Did Auburn finish with an 1 1-Q season, its first perfect year s)nce the 1957 national championship team accomplished the feat? Did Terry Bowden lead the Tigers to an unbeaten record, marking the first time a Division I'rookie coach put on the head-s'et and won every game his team played? Did Auburn win the unofficial Southeastern Conference championship a year after finishing 5-5-1, defeating both of the participants in the 1993 SEC Championship Game? Did backup sophomore quarterback Patrick Nix really bounce off the Auburn bench without so much as a warm-up toss, throw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Frank Sanders in the third quarter and lead the Tigers to a win in their biggest game of the season? Came from behind Rub the slumber out of your eyes.

The final act of this real-life drama did unfold Saturday as Auburn came from nine points behind in the second half to defeat Alabama 22-14. It had to have happened. There was too much worldly emotion, ecstasy and agony that transpired here to fool any of us into thinking this was just a fantasy. In a sweet dream, two starting QBs don't have their knees ripped apart by onrushing linemen. Stan White and Jay Barker will tell you it was no fantasy.

In a sweet dream, one team isn't fueled with emotion by the death of a former player. Auburn tailback Harold Morrow's tears were real Saturday after he learned of the death of his cousin, 23-year-old Clarence Morton, who perished in an automobile accident en route to the game Friday. The emotion in James Bostic's voice as he pointed to Morton's No. 13 on his wristband was caused by genuine, real-life sorrow. This was no dream.

And to label Auburn's season a fantasy transformed into reality by good fortune is to demean the performance of Bowden's team and his coaches. Auburn coaching staff cpncocted a plan to take Alabama superstar David Palmer out of the game. The Tiger defense carried it out, limiting Palmer to 60 yards of total offense and no touchdowns. Eschewed punt Credit Bowden for eschewing a punt on fourth down at the Alabama 35 and calling a play to unite the talents of Nix and Sanders. Credit the pair for carrying out the play to perfection and sending Auburn to victory.

Finally, praise the seniors on the Auburn team for not quitting. They didn't when the Tigers were placed on two years' NCAA probation in August. They didn't when they trailed Florida 27-14 at half. They didn't when they trailed Alabama 14-5 at intermission Saturday. Make no mistake.

There was no dreaming at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday. Auburn's perfect season was completed in the midst of human success and sorrow of the plost genuine to 22-14 Florida at Legion Field, finishes its regular season at 8-2-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the league. Cinderella wore No. 10 for Auburn on Saturday. With Auburn trailing 14-5 and starting quarterback Stan White supported by crutches on the sideline with a torn ligament in his left knee, redshirt sophomore Patrick Nix entered the game with 6:09 left in the third quarter and made the play of his life.

On fourth-and-15 from the Alabama 35, Nix lifted a pass high toward wide receiver Frank Sanders on the 2-yard-line. The 6- Boston College tion, but could move into one of the top four spots in the Associated Press poll after losses by top-ranked Notre Dame, No. 4 Miami and No. 5 Ohio State on Saturday. SEC Western Division champion Alabama, still headed to the SEC title game on Dec.

4 against tarnishes Irish's national title hopes third quarter. victory foot-2 Sanders then outleaped 5-10 cornerback Tommy Johnson for the football and dived into the end zone for the touchdown that changed the momentum of the game and cut Alabama's lead to 14-12. Bowden called the pass "the game-winner." With barely enough time grab his helmet and no time to throw a single warm-up pass, Nix made his first play of the game count. "I just threw it up and Frank went up and got it," said Nix, Please turn to NIX, 4C "I knew I could do it," said Gordon, a senior who came into the game with just 1 1 career field goal attempts for No. 17 Boston College.

I didn't hit it well, was kind of low, but it wejrt through." Gordon's kick came at the north end of Notre Dame Stadii um, which is overlooked by 'the! famous 14-story mosaic bf "Touchdown Jesus." It was in tfie same end zone last week that Ward, the leading contender for the Heisman Trophy, had his last-i chance pass batted down by Shawn Wooden, giving Notre Dame a 31-24 win over then-No: 1 Florida State. "To be down so far and then come back, and then for them to come down and kick a field goall it's heartbreaking," Notre Dame! coach Lou Holtz said. Thcl loss is very devastating. We it is all part of life and you learn to handle it. It's not the end of the world." Notre Dame (10-1) was trying to complete its third perfect regui lar season since 1949.

Instead, Plea.turn to IRISH, 13C Backup By Jim Johnston ADVERTISER SPORTS EDITOR AUBURN What were the chances of the Auburn football team finishing with an 11-0 record this season? About the same as a backup quarterback throwing a 35-yard touchdown pass on his first play against the defending national champions. "It's a fairy tale," Auburn coach Terry Bowden said. An impossible dream became reality Saturday as Auburn rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit Trojans hammer Samford By John Alello ADVERTISER STAFF WRITER BIRMINGHAM Troy State senior fullback Jimmy Godwin warned his fellow running backs that if they didn't score, he was going to take matters into his own hands. "I told them, 'If ya'll fall down, I'm going to take it on in," Godwin said. "They were trying to fight to get in.

But they fell down at the end. And it just worked out for me." When Troy State got the ball in goal-line situations during Saturday's 52-24 win over Samford on Saturday, the Trojans repeatedly gave the ball to Godwin. And Godwin made the most of his opportunities with four touchdown runs. He only had 10 carries for 31 yards, but Godwin made the most of those yards. Meanwhile, Troy State tailbacks Ted Yarbrough and Randolph Lovejoy both topped the 100-yard rushing mark.

Yarbrough had 15 carries for 106 Pleay turn to TROJANS, 13C to defeat Alabama 22-14 before a capacity crowd of 85,214 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Bowden's Tigers finished with a perfect season and, at 8-0, the best record in the Southeastern Conference. Sixth-rated Auburn cannot play in a postseason bowl game because of NCAA proba As. i if fl Shocking: The Eagles stunned top-ranked Notre Dame 41-39 with a field goal on the final play By Ron Lesko ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER SOUTH BEND, Ind. At the same end of the field where Charlie Ward and Florida State fell short on the final play, a little-known Boston College kicker shattered the Notre Dame mystique.

David Gordon, who had failed on two game-winning field goals in the last two years, kicked a 41-yarder on the last play Saturday as Boston College upset No. 1 Notre Dame 41-39 and upended the New Year's Day bowl picture. The field goal ruined Notre Dame's rally from a 21 -point de-cifit in the fourth quarter and wrecked its bid for a perfect season. It also clouded the Irish's chances for a ninth national championship and stopped their 17-game winning streak. ASSOCIATED PRESS Boston College kicker David Gordon (14) celebrates with Brian Saxton after his 41-yard field goal gave the Eagles a 41-39 victory over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Notre Dame..