Hattiesburg American from Hattiesburg, Mississippi • 23

Sunday, September IS, 1991 Hattiecburg AMERICAN 1 Quotable: "We looked terrible. They looked great. We fumbled on the second play of the game and from there on it was turnovers and missed tackles. We were no match for them and that's a problem." Colorado State coach Earle Bruce on his team's 71-14 defeat at Nebraska Saturday. Bruce brings his Rams to Hattiesburg next Saturday to battle Southern Mississippi.

Scoreboard, 2C College football, 4-5C Outdoors, 6C Classified, 8-16B Tu umo mm SU rout By STEVE O'MALLEY AMERICAN Sports Writer STARKVILLE Hattiesburg's Greg Plump sat on the bench for two years before getting his chance to be Mississippi State's starting quarterback. The wait was worth it. Plump, a redshirt sophomore, ran for two touchdowns and passed for one in leading the No. 25 Bulldogs to a 48-0 non-conference win over hapless Tulane (0-3) before 36,429 at Scott Field Saturday. "I was glad to get the opportunity to show that I can play football," Plump said.

"The offense believed in me and I believed in myself." Plump, who was filling 'in for injured starter William 'Sleepy" Robinson, said he did not know he was going Plump completed 8-of-ll passes for 101 yards and ran for 63 yards on 9 carries in two and a half quarters. Jordan replaced Plump in the third quarter with MSU holding a 27-0 lead. Jordan completed 4-of-5 passes for 64 yards and ran for 12 yards and one touchdown on 7 carries. MSU, now 3-0 for the first time since the 1986 season, accumulated 532 total yards despite being penalized 14 times for 137 yards. The MSU defense gained its first shutout since the 1981 Hall of Fame Bowl, breaking Tulane's consecutive games scored streak at 152.

See BULLDOGS, page 4C "Plump did an excellent job handling the offense," MSU coach Jackie Sherrill said. "I won't say I was surprised because I said before the game that we have two good players who could take up the slack for Sleepy," MSU offensive coordinator Watson Brown said. "Greg has never played. He had three snaps against Texas and his composure (Saturday) was unbelievable. It was just a very good performance." Despite Plump's performance, Sherrill said that Robinson will start at Tennessee next Saturday.

"It's a team effort," Plump said. "Sleepy Robinson is our starting quarterback. I play a back-up role, along with Todd. Sleepy went down (against Texas) and it was time for us to step up." Next Week's Game Mississippi State at Tennessee 1 1 :40 a.m. Saturday Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn.

to start until he was told at a meeting Saturday morning. "It must have been a flip of the coin because either one of us (Plump or Todd Jordan) could have done the job," Plump said. "All during the week, we knew that Sleepy was hurt. I knew my role as a backup and I came in and did my best. The MSU coaches had nothing but praise for Plump.

PRCC rolls to victory over East Big return lifts Auburn to win over Ole Miss 11'. -Lt 1 SEC standings Conference All Games WLT WLT Florida 1 0 0 2 0 0 Auburn 1 0 0 2 0 0 Georgia 1 0 0 2 0 0 Miss. St. O0 0 3 0 0 Tenn. 0 0 0 2 0 0 Kentucky 0 0 0 1 0 0 Vandy 0 0 0 1 1 0 OleMiss 0 10 210 Alabama 0 10 110 LSU 0 1 0 0 2 0 Saturday's results Auburn 23, Ole Miss 13 Florida 35, Alabama 0 Miss.

State 48, Tulane 0 Texas 45, LSU 7 Tennessee 30, UCLA 16 Kentucky, OPEN Georgia, OPEN Next Saturday's schedule Miss. State at Tennessee VanderbiltatLSU Georgia at Alabama OhioU. at Ole Miss Auburn at Texas Florida at Syracuse Kentucky at Indiana it 7 AMERICAN photos by Steve Coleman PEARL RIVER linebacker Tyrone Clark (51, above) holds up the football as he and the Wildcat defense celebrate a fumble recovery during first-half action in Saturday night's junior college game against East Mississippi at Poplarville. PRCC quarterback Colby Stewart (15, below) looks intent as he hands off on a running play to fullback Chris Mixon (20). By TIM DOHERTY AMERICAN Sports Writer POPLARVILLE For the first two weeks of the season, the Pearl River Community College football team had lived off its defense.

But Saturday at Dobie-Holden Stadium, the Wildcat offense feasted on East Mississippi, piling up 527 total yards and scoring eight touchdowns in a 63-13 rout. Oh, the PRCC defense continued its dominant ways, holding the Lions to 87 yards just 22 in the second half and keeping them off the scoreboard. The Wildcat defense also got in the scoring act with a touchdown on a 55-yard interception by linebacker Lateef Travis. The two East Mississippi scores came off an interception and fumble return early in the second half. "We didn't expect that at all," PRCC tailback Doug Johnson said of the Wildcats' offensive production.

"The offense got together and we knew we were going to come in and play hard, but we didn't expect this." The victory was the second in a row for PRCC and boosted the Wildcats' record to 2-1. The Lions dropped to 0-3. The 63 points were the most by a PRCC team since the final game of the 1989 season, when PRCC beat Coahoma 70-22. The 50-point spread was the largest margin of victory since the Wildcats beat Coahoma 58-0 in 1987. The offensive fireworks also ranked among the best in school history.

The points were the sixth highest since the Wildcats began play in 1921. The 527 total yards were the school's seventh-best figure in a single game and PRCC's 25 first downs tied for the third on the school list. "I have no comment," said East Mississippi coach Danny Adams. "There's nothing I can say about this game." Nothing good, anyway, from the Lions' sideline. After playing tough in two earlier losses, East Mississippi allowed a 34-touchdown run by Johnson on PRCC's opening drive and things just got worse from there.

"That was the key, I think, where we scored the first time we had the ball, and it just went from there," PRCC head coach Willie Coats said. See PRCC, page 5C By PAUL NEWBERRY Associated Press Writer AUBURN, Ala. No. 15 Auburn relied on the kids Saturday night. Redshirt freshman Thomas Bailey returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown and another redshirt freshman, Joe Frazier, ran 59 yards for a score as the Tigers continued their domination of Ole Miss with a 23-13 victory.

Bailey's punt return, the third-longest in Auburn history, came with only 25 seconds left in the first half and seemed to wake up the Tigers, who trailed 6-3 at the time. It was the first touchdown allowed by the Rebels (2-1) this season. "I found the crease and the extra boost of speed to score," Bailey said. Early in the half, Bailey made a mistake by taking a fair catch at the Auburn 4. But he quickly atoned.

"We're still not a pretty football team," Auburn coach Pat Dye said. "When you have young ones, you're going to make mistakes, like Bailey and his downing the ball on the 4. Then he turns around and runs for a touchdown." "The punt return was the difference," Ole Miss coach Billy Brewer said. Auburn (2-0) put the game out of reach in the second half with Frazier's touchdown and two of Jim Von Wyl's three field goals. The Tigers have now won nine straight games in the series since 1965.

Brewer said the schedule helped Auburn. The Tigers were off last week after opening the season against Division I-AA Georgia Southern, while Ole Miss was playing its third straight road game. "Auburn was a well-rested football team, we were a tired football team," a somber Brewer said in brief remarks after the game. "We don't even know where home is." Ole Miss was set to take a 3-point lead into the halftime break until Bailey's punt return. He took the ball at the 17, deked a couple of would-be tacklers and picked up a wall of blockers.

Fred Smith delivered a crushing block at the Auburn 40 and Bailey avoided a diving attempt by Dameion Logan at the Ole Miss 15 on his way to the end zone. "At the beginning of the game, I in. 1 -II iilhiiiiii.hu III II Wl, I A a i 1 Next Week's Game Ohio U. at Ole Miss 6 p.m. Saturday Vaught-Hemingway Stadium made a mistake when I made the fair catch inside the 5," Bailey said.

"When I went back on the field, I knew I had something to prove to the players and coach Dye. It had been going through my mind. I wanted to return one so bad." Bailey wouldn't have gotten a chance to return the punt had his teammates not been penalized for running into punter Brad Gray. Ole Miss elected to kick again since Gray had shanked his first punt. His second one was much longer, but the return by Bailey ruined that strategy.

"It was a stroke of luck," Dye said. "But when you've got a return guy like Bailey, he can do those kinds of things." Von Wyl's 45-yard field goal with 8:24 to go in the third period put See REBELS, page 5C mb ack into first with 3-2 victory raves cli The Braves lost a national television audience because of a 1-hour, 19-minute rain delay in the first inning, and were in danger of losing for the second straight day when the Dodgers scored two early runs. But the Braves rallied and beat Roger McDowell (8-9), the seventh Dodgers pitcher. Pinch-hitter Jerry Willard drew a leadoff walk in the 11th and was replaced by pinch-runner Keith Mitchell. Terry Pendleton dumped a bloop double to left, and David Justice was walked intentionally, loading the bases before Gant's hit scored Mitchell with NL West race Pet.

GB Atlanta 81 61 .570 Los ..81 62 .566 Vi San Diego 73 70 .510 8V2 Saturday's results Atlanta 3, L.A. 2 (11) San Diego 3, San Francisco 1 Today's Games LA. (Ramon Martinez 16-10) at Atlanta (Steve Avery 1 5-8), 1:10 p.m. San Diego at San 3:05 p.m. game-winning hit, a bases-loaded single off the left-field fence.

"Today showed we can play under pressure and won't give up," Gant said. "I think I thrive on pressure situations," Gant said. "That really does wonders for my confidence." After failing to advance runners in the fifth and ninth innings when he hit into force outs, Los Angeles manager Tom Lasorda wasn't ready to see Gant again. "I'd rather somebody else would be up in that situation than Gant," Lasorda said. the winner.

It was Atlanta's eighth victory in nine games, and was only its fifth win in 14 meetings with the Dodgers this season. Los Angeles had won four straight against the Braves and still holds a 6-2 edge in Atlanta. The Dodgers had their three-game winning streak stopped. The teams wrap up the series today, and then play three times next weekend at Dodger Stadium. Jim Clancy (2-4) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory.

A crowd of 44,773 saw the 4-hour, 10-minute game. By ED SHEARER APSpoflsWrrtw ATLANTA Ron Gant knows there's still a lot of baseball to be played, but he thought the Atlanta Braves needed to send a message, anyway. They did, with a 3-2 comeback victory over Los Angeles in the 11th inning Saturday, moving the Braves back into first place in NL West, one-half game ahead of the Dodgers. "A lot of people say we're gonna fold under pressure," Gant said after delivering the DIGEST ON TV- Oklahoma 40, North Texas 2 Baylor 16, Colorado 14 American League New York 3, Boston 1 hf'ffA Nebraska 71, Colorado St. 14 Toronto 6, Oakland 0 Iowa 27, Iowa State 1 0 California 3.

Chicaao 2 Desmond does it Desmond Howard (right) made two huge plays Saturday to lead third-ranked Michigan to victory over Notre Dame, ending a four-game losing streak to the Irish. PAGE 5C Cleveland 6, Baltimore 5 dianapolis at Los Angeles Raiders), NBC- 3 p.m. Golf (PGA Hardee's Classic), ESPN. 7 p.m. NFL football (Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans), TNT.

7 p.m. Major league baseball (Boston at New York Yankees), ESPN. ON RADIO Ohio State 23, Louisville 15 C. Michigan 20, Michigan St. 3 Texas 3, Minnesota 0 SCOREBOARD.

State college Auburn 23, Ole Miss 13 Miss. State 48, Tulane 0 JSU 41 Tennessee St. 1 9 Miss. Valley 30, Lane 13 Alcorn St. 38, Alabama 10 Miss.

C. 31, N.Alabama 3 Central Arkansas 30, DSU 15 Millsaps 31, Trinity 7 Top 25 FSU 58, W. Michigan 0 Michigan 24, Notre Dame 1 4 Southern Cal 21, Penn State 10 Detroit 6, Milwaukee 4 11 a.m. Auto racing (NASCAR Peak 500), TNN. Noon NFL football (New York Giants at Chicago), CBS.

Noon NFL football (Miami at Detroit), NBC. Noon Auto racing (CART Pioneer 200), ESPN. 1 p.m Major league baseball (Montreal at Chicago 1:05 p.m. Major league baseball (Los Angeles at Atlanta), TBS. 2 p.m.

Horse racing (Woodward Handicap), ABC. 3 p.m. NFL football (In Georgia Tech 30, Boston C. 14 Syracuse 31 Maryland 1 7 Pittsburgh 26, Temple 7 Seattle 4, Kansas City 3 National League Houston 7, Cincinnati 3 Starting better USM head coach Jeff Bower used the week off the evaluate some things, and mostly he likes what he's seen so far. PAGE4C Candy cure Tom Candiotti silenced Oakland Saturday as the Toronto Blue Jays added a game to their American League East lead.

PAGE 7C Junior College Pearl River 63, East Miss. 13 Itawamba 28, Jones 19 Noon NFL football (New York Giants at Chicago), WHSY-AM. 2:45 p.m. NFL football (Seattle at Denver), WHSY-AM. Pittsburgh 5, Philadelphia 3 Chicago 7, Montreal 5 Gulf Coast 21, E.

Central 19 St. Louis 2, New York 1.