The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 19

SECTION Georgia ending perfect Page 4B Ul SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1980 SI rJpUT) I 'I I unlikely heroes lead Bama win me iii i mi iii mm mm miJiiium -tmm ny. m. I 1 A 1 h' A i uj if A- ') -y, tv- 4 -Art By PHILLIP MARSHALL Advertiser Sports Editor BIRMINGHAM Two unlikely University of Alabama heroes dealt Auburn a staggering blow, then the old reliables delivered the knockout punch as the Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers 34-18 here Saturday. After Auburn took a 7-0 lead on a Si-yard pass from Joe Sullivan to James Brooks, Alabama's youthful stars started to make their presence known. Freshman quarterback Walter Lewis, who was playing for Brewton's T.R.

Miller High School a year ago, raced 75 yards to the Auburn 4 to set up Alabama's go-ahead touchdown. He scored later on a 1-yard run and repeatedly hurt the Tigers' defense with his running. Sophomore fullback Earl Collins was not even listed on the Alabama depth chart and had run the ball but one time all season. He charged 45 yards for a touchdown that gave Alabama a 21-10 lead late in the first half. Still, Alabama could not rest until senior quarterback Don Jacobs tossed a 7-yard pass to tight end Bart Krout with 3:09 left in the game to give the Tide a 27-18 lead.

Senior fullback Billy Jackson put the icing on the cake after a Tommy Wilcox interception, running 14 yards to score with Just 17 seconds left. Auburn brought dedication and muscle to Legion Field and flirted with pulling off a stunning upset. But superior Alabama firepower prevailed in the end. On the first offensive play of the game, Jackson fumbled and Vernon Blackard recovered for Auburn at the Alabama 19. Five plays later Auburn had the lead.

George Peoples hammered 4 to the 15 and James Brooks 5 to the 10. Brooks went again for 3 and a first down at the 7. Sullivan got 2 to the 5, then fired a pass in the flat to Brooks. The Tigers all-time leading rusher darted into the end zone with 13:05 left in the first quarter. Al Del Greco's extra point made it 7-0.

Alabama moved from its 19 to a first down at the Auburn 47 but could go no further. After Woody Um-phrey's kick went into the end zone, Auburn started from its 20. But Alabama's first big play was at hand. Jeremiah Castille intercepted Sullivan's pass in the flat and returned it to the 10. Lewis scampered in from the 1 on third down and Peter Kim kicked the extra point, tying the score 7-7 with 6:30 left in the first quarter.

Auburn started from its 33 after a short Alabama kickoff and moved to regain the lead. A 14-yard run by quarterback Charles Thomas was the big play as Statistics the Tigers moved to a first down at the Alabama 38. On fourth down at the 35 Al Del Greco kicked a line drive 52-yard field goal, the longest of his career. Auburn led 10-7 with 2:42 left in the first quarter. Auburn moved goalward again on its next possession, picking up a first down at Alabama's 37.

But Sullivan fumbled and Jim Bob Harris recovered for Alabama at the 30. Lewis was sacked for a loss of 9 on first down, but then lightning struck. Stealing a page from Notre Dame's play book, Lewis ran an inside counter and sped 73 yards to the Auburn 4. Major Ogilvie vaulted into the end zone from the 1 on third down. Kim's kick gave Alabama a 14-10 lead with 12:12 left in the second quarter.

Junior quarterback Alan Gray took the Tide 80 yards for its next touchdown. Jackson had a 15-yard run along the way as Alabama found itself facing a third-and-one situation at Auburn's 45. Collins broke clean and outran everybody for the touchdown. Kim kicked it to 21-10 with 2:48 left in the half. But Auburn was not finished.

Starting from their 20, the Tigers romped downfield. Brooks got 3, then 9 to the 32. Brooks carried again for 8 to the 40 and Thomas hit Tim Davis for 18 to the Alabama 42. As the clock wound down, Thomas found Byron Franklin behind Ricky Tucker and nailed him with a 42-yard touchdown pass. Peoples stormed off tackle for the two-point conversion, cutting Alabama's lead to 21-18 with 23 seconds left in the half.

Alabama ran out the clock after the kickoff. Neither team seriously threatened in the third quarter. The nearest thing to a score came when Kim badly missed a 51-yard field goal attempt. Alabama finally managed a 57-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter that virtually sealed the victory. Jacobs, who started the game but spent most of his time watching Lewis from the sidelines, was at the controls.

A 16-yard run by Jackson and an 8-yarder by Jacobs were the big plays on the way to a first down at the Auburn 7. From there, Jacobs flipped a pass to Krout for the touchdown with 3:02 left in the game. Kim missed the extra point. Auburn started from its 25. Brooks got 7 yards on first down, then the Tigers dipped into their bag of tricks.

The result was disastrous. Brooks tossed a halfback pass, but Wilcox intercepted at his own 49 and returned it to the Auburn 32. Ogilvie got 4 and Ben Orcutt 4 to the 23. Jackson hammered 2 to the 21 for the first down. Ogilvie carried 7 to the 14.

Then, Jackson broke over the middle and stomped into the end zone. Kim's kick finished the scoring at 34-18 with 17 seconds left in the game. Sullivan hit Mike Edwards for 21 yards, then threw long and incomplete as the game ended. Alabama head coach Paul Bryant praised his team for fighting back. "I'm proud of our team for coming from behind," he said.

"We gave them an easy one quick, and we started out seven points behind. I'm glad it happened now. It let them find out for themselves what they could do." See UNLIKELY, Page 3B Advrrllirr-Journal photo by Mirk allh-i-r Alabama quarterback Walter Lewis is hammered by Auburn's Jerry Beasley came off bench to extinguish Tigers1 hopes of an upset Saturday Lewis is no average freshman JOHN Cargile Journal Sport Kdllor Ki. BIRMINGHAM A freshman quarterback is supposed to be inexperienced, confused, and easily frustrated. Right? Wrong.

Alabama freshman Walter Lewis wasn't any of those things Saturday, except before the game. And it was his coach who handed him a puzzle. Lewis was supposed to start at quarterback against Auburn Saturday afternoon. "I didn't know I was not going to start until we came back from warm-ups" Lewis said. (Don) Jacobs would start.

I don't know why. You'll have to ask Coach." Coach Bryant was asked. "The quarterback I was going to try to win with was Lewis," Bryant said after Alabama defeated Auburn 34-18. "I was afraid to put him out there early. I didn't want something to happen to him and hurt his confidence." Instead Jacobs started.

He was also in the game at the finish. But it was what happened in between with Lewis at quarterback that made the difference. Lewis ran for a total of 98 yards 73 of it on one play in the second quarter. "It was a counter 10," said Lewis. Alabama's quarterback counter was a new wrinkle.

The play worked time after time. "I don't know how many times we ran it, but it was a lot," Lewis grinned. Auburn recovered. Jacobs could not be blamed for this fumble, although he has been partly to blame for two others, both resulting in Alabama's only two losses. Jacobs had a smile on his face in the dressing room.

He also had praise for Lewis. "You can see every week how he has come along. He is going to be a great one." Jacobs redeemed himself somewhat against Auburn. The two losses, to Mississippi State and Notre Dame, were partly his fault. Two costly fumbles had taken Alabama out of a third national championship picture.

"The two losses have made the season a lot less enjoyable," he said. "But I can't take all the blame myself. I'll take part of it." It seemed fitting that Jacobs was the quarterback on Alabama's last two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Criticized for his passing, Jacobs fooled an Auburn goal line defense by rolling left and flipping a short pass to tight end Bart Krout on a 7-yard scoring play. Alabama went ahead 27-18.

One series later, Jacobs led the Tide to its final score. Jacobs ran five times for 25 yards, and completed one of two passes. But it was a freshman who led the way to victory. See CARGILE, Page 2B "We ran it and it worked during Notre Dame week, but we didn't use it. Auburn's pursuit allowed us to do it.

We wanted to run outside, but their pursuit was good so we just ran what worked for us." On his 73-yard run, Lewis faked to the fullback and went off the right side. He was finally tackled by Auburn defensive back Clifford Toney at the Tiger 4-yard line. The Tide was trailing at the time, 10-7. They were facing a second down and 19 at their own 21. His run had to be the turning point in the game.

Alabama went ahead 14-10 and never trailed again. It was quite a feat for a freshman quarterback. One must have wondered how Jacobs felt. Jacobs started the game. And on the first play the ball squirted out of Billy Jackson's arms and Auburn I Alabama II 13-34 AU Brooks 5 pass from Sullivan (Del Greco kick) AL Lewis 1 run I Kim kick I AU Del Greco 52 FG AL Ogilvie 1 run I Kim kick) AL Collins 45 run (Kim kick) AU Franklin 42 pass from Thomas (Peoples run) AL Krout 7 pass from Jacobs (kick failed) AL Jackson 14 run (Kim kick) AUBURN ALABAMA 12 First downs 1 Rushes-yards 62-316 (2 Passing yards 49 14-5-2 Passes 7-5-0 60 Ttl offensive plays 69 242 Total net yards 365 4 03 Avg gain per play 5 29 Punts 5-33 8 2-1 Fumbles lost 1-1 2-20 Penalties-yards 2-10 0 Punt returns-yards 1-9 45 Kickoff returns 3-39 ooley going to Auburn? IT a Barfield would not comment on his job security after watching his Tigers fall 34-18 to Alabama here Saturday.

Dooley's 1980 team finished the first 11-0 season in school history with its win over Georgia Tech and is ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press and United Press International. Barfield's five-year Auburn record is 29-25-1. He led the Tigers to an 8-3 record in 1979 and was a close runnerup in SEC Coach of the Year balloting. Dooley's record against his alma mater is 8-8-1.

The Bulldogs defeated Auburn 31-21 two weeks ago, marking their first win over the Tigers since they won the SEC championship in 1976. Dooley also was asked on a television talk show recently about the possibility of his returning to Auburn. "Every time we have a good year and Auburn has a not-so-good year I hear that," he said. "When we don't have a good year I don't hear a thing about it. I didn't hear anything about it last year (when Georgia was 6-5)." A- By PHILLIP MARSHALL Advertiser Sports Editor BIRMINGHAM Vince Dooley is apparently on the verge of becoming Auburn's next head football coach.

The Advertiser has learned that members of a committee searching for a new head coach flew to Atlanta last Wednesday to meet with Dooley. A source close to the committee who asked to remain anonymous confirmed the meeting. "They talked with Coach Dooley and he was very receptive to what they had to say. It looks like he's going to be the man." Doug Barfield, head coach at Auburn for the last five years, has been under fire since early in the season. His status is due to be reviewed by the Auburn Board of Trustees on Dec.

8. Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden was the first choice of the committee, but he reportedly decided last Tuesday that he would not take the job. Dooley was asked after Georgia's 38-20 win over Georgia Tech about the possibility of his taking the Auburn job. "I won't say positively that I wouldn't consider it," Dooley said. Dooley, 48, played quarterback at Auburn from 1951 through 1953.

He was a teammate and has remained a close friend of Alabama governor Fob James. Asked if he'd been contacted by James, Dooley said "no comment." Dooley was an assistant on Ralph Jordan's Auburn staff when he accepted the Georgia head coach's job in 1964. He has compiled a record of 128-56-6, has won four Southeastern Conference championships, taken teams to 11 bowl games and been named SEC Coach of the Year six times. He ranks eighth on the list of the nation's Top 20 Coaches. Only Alabama's Paul Bryant, Houston's Bill Yeoman and Tennessee State's John Merritt among active Division I coaches have been at one school as long as Dooley has been at Georgia.

1 I A) Hi i Tyn hi i' mt i I i'A'r-' jZ.mm.S. 1 AdverliHr-Journal pholo by Jirr rirH Alabama's Major Ogilvie goes up for a touchdown Tide senior helped lead 34-1 8 victory over Auburn.