The Jackson Sun from Jackson, Tennessee • 21

MORE INSIDE Scoreboard 2C College basketball 3C College football 4C Outdoors 8C To contact The Sun's sports department, call 1-800-372-3922 or. Sports editor Dan Morris, 425-9636. David Seigerman, colleges, 425-9752. John Denton, high schools, 425-9750. Taylor Wilson, Outdoors, 425-9634.

Editor Terry McCormick 425-9635. CALL US SPORTS Sunday, Nov. 1, 1992 1C 4 ft Orange crushed again turned a short pass into a 39- Dan MORRIS 1 -J Associated Press breaks up a pass intended in Saturday's 24-23 Vol loss. St 1 South Carolina hands Tennessee third straight loss. By DAVID CLIMER Gannett News Senice COLUMBIA, S.C.

Just four weeks ago, Tennessee was 5-0, ranked fourth in the nation and fans were contemplating the possibilities of a national championship. Since then, Jennessee has lost three in a row, including Saturday's 24-23 upset at South Carolina. The loss was doubly harmful to Tennessee as Florida defeated Georgia on Saturday. A Tennessee victory would have given the Vols control of the Southeastern Conference East race. Talk has shifted from champi Tulane the first quarter, 14 in the second, 10 in the third and 3 in the fourth.

They would have had two more touch downs in the third quarter but two interceptions that were run into the end zone were nullified by penalties. "Our entire offense was outstanding," said coach Chuck Stobart "The line blocked well and the receivers caught the football well. I think john Martin ran the ball very good for us early." The tone was set six plays into the game. By that point Tulane had run for a 6-yard loss, passed for a 4-yard loss, had an incomplete pass and a punt blocked. Two plays later, Martin ran 14 yards for the first of his three touchdowns.

Four minutes and 35 seconds into the game it was 21-0 Memphis State. Martin added 15-yard touchdown in the first quarter and a 2-yarder in the second quarter. Matthews who played only 27 seconds of the second half, tossed i v--i i i yard touchdown with a remarkable run down the sideline to make it 24-23 with 1:28 left Recognizing that a tie would do his team little good in the SEC race, Tennessee coach Johnny Majors opted for a two-point conversion attempt Quarterback Heath Shuler flipped a short pass to Stewart, but South Carolina linebacker Hank Campbell nailed the Vol receiver short of the goal line. "We wanted to go for the win," Majors said. "I don't think we got very close.

It was an excellent play on their part." South Carolina coach Sparky Woods said his team "wasn't going to be denied" on the make-or-break play and thanked his Gamecocks for "the greatest victory I've ever See SOUTH CAROLINA, 4C Gators down Georgia The Associated Press JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -Shane Matthews threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns Saturday and Florida held Garrison Hearst to 41 yards rushing as the No. 20 Gators beat Georgia 26-24, keeping alive their hopes of repeating as Southeastern Conference champions. The triumph before a crowd of 82,429 was the fourth in a row for Florida (5-2, 4-2), which lost two of its first three games and quickly fell behind in the SEC's Eastern Division. Georgia (7-2, 5-2) could have clinched the East title with a victory in the annual neutral-site meeting at the Gator Bowl.

It now finds itself tied with Florida in the loss column with one conference game left. Florida has two SEC games left. If the Gators and Bulldogs finish with the same league record, Florida would win the division title and a berth in the first SEC championship game. Matthews completed 28 of 45 attempts to finish with the 13th 300-yard game of his career. Loss costly for 'Dogs, 4C Lewis KOs Ruddock The Associated Press LONDON Lennox Lewis floored Donovan "Razor" Ruddock once in the first round and twice more in the second Saturday night for a quick knockout victory that guaranteed him a shot at the heavyweight title.

The 1988 Olympic super-heavyweight champion dropped Ruddock seven seconds before the end of the first round with a left uppercut Ruddock was up by the time the bell sounded. But 15 seconds into the second round, Lewis hit Ruddock with a combination and dropped him in a corner. Ruddock got up again, started swinging wildly and was caught again by a left-right combination 46 seconds into the round. This time Puerto Rican referee Joe Cortez counted him out Lewis is trying to become the first British fighter since Bob Fitz-immons in 1896 to win the heavyweight title. MSI Tennessee's Jason Parker (left) for South Carolina's Toby Cates Former Haywood basketball star Delk adjusting to college pressures.

By DAVID SEIGERMAN The Jackson Sun LEXINGTON, Ky. A brief glance at Tony Delk's dormitory room offers no hint that someone other than a typical college freshman lives here. The walls are adorned with carpet-to-ceiling posters of Michael Jordan and Deion Sanders. The television is tuned to a cable station, this time showing some random action-adventure movie. A telephone and answering machine rest on the floor, still awaiting installation of a longdistance service; all outgoing calls from this room to home are strictly collect.

But something seems strangely significant There are at least 12 pairs of basketball sneakers all Nike, of course scattered about Could it be there is, indeed, something different about this particular freshman? In this case, that is a safe assumption. Delk, a freshman at the University of Kentucky, is far from typical. University officials couldn't be happier with the fact that Delk, a 1992 graduate of Haywood High, is occupying Please see DELK, 3C Memphis Rejuvenated Tigers rout Green Wave 62-20 for fifth straight victory. The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS Talk about a horror show! Night hadn't even fallen and Halloween already had turned into a nightmare for Tulane. And Memphis State was ghoulish, slashing the Green Wave, 62-20 Saturday.

It was the most points ever scored in a football game college or professional in the Louisiana Superdome. It was the fifth straight win for Memphis State (5-3), the fourth straight loss for Tulane (2-6). "A lot of people could make excuses, but I just think we came out with less emotion than we have had," said Tulane wide receiver Steve Ballard. "And they just kept coming." Early and oftea onships to salvage operations. What happened? "I really couldn't tell you.

I guess it's a combination of said running back James Stewart, who was stopped short on a two-point conversion attempt that sealed the Vols' loss. When Arkansas upset Tennessee three weeks ago, it was said the Vols were looking past the Razorbacks to Alabama. When they followed that by losing to the Tide the next week, it was said they couldn't recover from the Arkansas loss. Now what? "We need to concentrate on getting things straightened out We've got to do what it takes to start winning again." Tennessee had a chance to win in the final 90 seconds. The Vols trailed 24-17 with 2:21 to play but Mose Phillips KEVIN EANSThe Jackson Sun Associated Press Memphis State's John Martin gains yardage in Saturday's romp over Tulane.

a 37-yard touchdown to Isaac Bruce for the Tiger's second score. He hit Mac Cody for a touchdown and then went to Bruce again for a 14-yard score. No. 5 Texas No. 6 Fla.

St. 13, No. 23 Va. 3 No. 8 Neb.

52, No. 8 Colo. 7 No. 10 Notre Dame 38, Navy 7 No. 1 1 Boston Coll.

45, Temple 6 No. 12 Syracuse 41, Pitt 10 No. 13 USC 23, Arizona St. 13 BYU 30, No. 14 Penn St.

17 No. 17 Arizona 30, N.M. State 0 No. 18 Kansas 26, Okla. St.

18 No. 19 Oregon 34, Wash. St. 17 No. 22 N.

Car. 31, Maryland 24 No. 25 Texas 44, Texas Tech 33 AREA Memphis St. 62, Tulane 20 Campbellsvllle 26, Lambuth 19 mm A Vols fizzle; MSU roars As Tennessee's Big Orange fades to lemon, Memphis State's Blue is glittering with promise. In two weeks, one of the two will turn the color purple after losing at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

Right now, it looks like Tennessee. After a startling 5-0 start, the Volunteers have lost three straight. Falling to Alabama for the seventh consecutive year wasn't much of a shock. But losing to Southeastern Conference newcomers Arkansas and South Carolina is a bit much for Vol fans to accept, especially after beating Georgia and Florida. Saturday's 24-23 loss at South Carolina was followed by news that Florida had beaten Georgia 26-24.

That made Volunteers throughout the state want to kick the next trick-or-treater they saw. Bowl bust Instead of having the inside track at winning the SEC Eastern Division and playing a rematch with Alabama in the first SEC Championship Game at Birmingham Dec. 5, Tennessee is suddenly out of the picture. Instead of the Sugar or Citrus on New Year's Day, the Vols will do well to go bowling at the Gator or Hall of Fame. A loss at Memphis State on Nov.

14, and the bowl picture will likely narrow to the Peach or Liberty. With its confidence shattered, Tennessee could even lose all of its remaining games Memphis State, Kentucky and Vanderbilt Forget the bowls if that occurs. Hot callers Naturally, after Saturday's loss, the first six callers to the Vol Network's radio call-in show demanded UT coach Johnny Majors be ousted. One fella drawled, "they ought to farrr Majors as soon as they get back to Knoxville." That's not about to happen, but you can bet talk of Majors' contract extension to 1998 has been put on hold, or maybe discarded. Vol fans will forever wonder whether or not the wins would have continued if Majors had remained at home after having heart bypass surgery in August.

He missed the first three victories, including Georgia and Florida. Tough Tigers While Tennessee is crumbling, Memphis State is rumbling. The Tigers crushed Tulane 62-20 Saturday, winning in the Superdome for only the second time. After an 0-3 start and a one-day walkout by 80 players, Memphis State has won five straight for coach Chuck Stobart. A visit to Ole Miss Saturday is followed by home games against Tennessee and East Carolina.

Let the bowl talk begin. Dan Morris is The Sun's sports editor. His column appears every Sunday and Wednesday. He can be reached at 425-6136 or toll-free at 1-800-372-3922. Supermarket chain joins fight for Giants Giants owner Bob Lurie and Florida's largest supermarket chain plan to join forces to fight an improved offer to keep the team in San Francisco.

Lurie is set to start a lobbying San Francisco flisi campaign fellow owners on Tuesday in Chicago. In the meantime, Publix Super Markets Inc. said it's ready to join the Tampa Bay group to bring Jhe Giants to Florida. Former Haywood star Tony Delk (left), a freshman at the University of Kentucky, talks to a Wildcat fan on the Kentucky campus Saturday afternoon. State rips Quarterback Steve Matthews, a junior who played two years at Tennessee and last year at a junior college before transferring to Memphis State, had his best day ever 15 for 18 for 238 yards and four touchdowns.

Matthews hit his last 11 passes before being pulled 27 seconds into the third quarter just after he threw his fourth touchdown pass, a 14-yarder to Isaac Bruce. And when Matthews wasn't terrorizing Tulane, John Martin was. Martin, who was pulled less than three minutes into the second half, had 88 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries. Memphis had 449 yards total offense; Tulane had 186. Memphis punted only once in the game.

Tulane punted six times and had two of them blocked. Memphis lost only 13 yards rushing. Tulane lost 79. Memphis had two kickoff returns for 88 yards. Tulane had six for 226 yards.

The Tigers scored 35 points in Associated Press Bo Jackson's wife. Linda gives him a kiss during Saturday's ceremony. I Minimum COLLEGE FOOTBALL Quarry loses decision in comeback attempt Boxing's oldest heavyweight lost his comeback bid Friday night after a six-round bout with an unknown. Jerry Quarry, 47, who had his first pro bout in 1965, lost a six-round unanimous decision to Ron Cranmer, 31. Quarry, 68-4, fought the final three rounds from the ropes before a sympathetic crowd.

He tried to put up a defense, and even cot in a few effective left Auburn retires Bo's No. 34 jersey Bo Jackson says he has no regrets about his decision to play two sports. "If somebody would give me a load of money, I would do it again tomorrow," Jackson said Saturday as Auburn retired his No. 34 jersey at halftime of the Arkansas game. Jackson, however, knows his football career is over after a severe injury forced him to undergo hip replacement surgery.

There are doubts about whether he can return to baseball. Still, with typical Bo bravado, Jackson insisted he will be back next season with the Chicago White Sox. "It has been only 7V4 months since the surgery," he said. "I have made more progress than anyone has made in 2Vi years. I have no pain, no limp, knock on wood," Jackson said.

SEC S. Carolina 24, No. 16 Tenn. 23 No. 20 Fla.

26, No. 7 Ga. 24 No. 24 Miss. St.

37, Kentucky 36 Arkansas 24, Auburn 24 Ole Miss 32, LSI) 0 ovc SE Missouri 37, UT-Martln 13 Ga. Southern 13, MTSU 10 Morehead 41, Austin Peay 34 E. Kentucky 49, Tenn. State 28 Tenn. Tech 35, Murray St.

10 TOP 25 No. 1 Miami 35, W. Va. 23 No. 2 Wash.

41, No. 16 Stan. 7 No. 3 Mich. 24, Purdue 17 hooks, but could not keep his young opponent off him.

Quarry had three points deducted for low blows..