Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 31

Lincoln Journal-Star SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1993 Irish graM No. 1 into smbmissioii SemiEoles BY DON MARKUS Baltimore Sun No. 1 ranking today and, barring an upset Saturday in the Irish's game with Boston College, a chance to play for the national championship on New Year's Day. But Florida State's comeback will likely keep the 9-1 Seminoles high enough in the rankings to stay in the hunt There were so many times we had a chance to knock them out, and they refused to be knocked out," said Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz, whose team erased an early 7-0 deficit to lead 21-7 at halftime, 24-7 midway through the third quarter and 31-17 with 6:53 remaining. "We won the football game, but that is one outstanding football team." Said Bowden, whose team's 16-game winning streak ended: "I have no excuses.

They deserved to win. They did the things they had to. They had a great scheme, and I was afraid of some of the things they would do; and they did yet." i While Notre Dame did what Florida State expected it topounding the Dar 239 yards and four touchdowns, two more than the Seminoles had surrendered on the ground all season the Fighting Irish did it in a way that seemed to keep their quicker opponents off balance. After Ward directed Florida State on an efficient, 89-yard scoring drive on its first possession by completing five consecutive passes for 43 yards and scrambling twice for 34, Notre Dame came back on an 80-yard drive of its own. But Adrian Jarrell's 32-yard flanker reverse for a touchdown seemed to surprise-the Seminoles.

"I think they thought we were going to try to run it up the middle and wear them out," said senior center Tim Ruddy. "But they saw that we had some speed to go along with our power." Said Bowden: "I knew they were capable of the reverse. We had a guy who had an opportunity to make a play on it, but they had excellent execution." Florida State, meanwhile, appeared to un- ravel as Notre Dame built its lead to 14-7 on a 26-yard run by tailback Lee Becton, to 21-7 on the first of short-yardage specialist and starting safety Jeff Burris' two touchdowns, and to 24-7 on Kevin Pendergast's, career-best 47-yard field goal with 9:41 to go in the third quarter But as the sellout crowd of 59,075 began to celebrate on an unexpectedly balmy afternoon, the Seminoles mounted the first of two comebacks. They cut their deficit to 24-14 on a 6- yard pass from Ward to freshman tailback Warrick Dunn and climbed to within 24-17 on freshman Scott Bentley's 24-yard field goal with 10:40 to go. "It wasn't that we relaxed," said Notre Dame senior cornerback Greg Lane.

"They're a good team and you can't shut them down for toolong." When Burris rumbled into the end zone again after an 11-yard power sweep with 6:53 left, the celebration began anew. But after getting stopped once, the Seminoles came UCLA, Arizona losses open way for Southern Cat. Page 2D. i charging again. This time they took advantage of a 29-yard punt by Jarrell to go 45 yards in 99 seconds, scoring on fourth-and-goal from the 20 when Ward's pass was tipped by free safety Brian McGee into the hands of a waiting Kez McCorvey in the end zone.

Though Notre Dame recovered. Florida State's onside kick with 2:24 to go, the Irish were stuffed on three plays. A punt by Jarrell from the Florida State 42 was partially tipped, and wound up going only five yards. The Seminoles had 51 seconds to go 63 yards, but had no timeouts left. "I thought we were going to score," said Ward, who despite being sacked twice, intercepted once and harried into several bad throws, still had the poise to make Notre Dame a bit nervous.

"When I made the first Please see IRISH on page 2D SOUTH BEND, Ind. Notre Dame didnt need any of its storied mystique to upset top-ranked Florida State on Saturday. It didnt need the luck of the Irish to fashion one of those last-minute miracles that are so much a part of the school's football tradition, It just needed time to run out After bludg-eoning the Seminoles seemingly into submission, the second-ranked Fighting Irish withstood a wild fourth-quarter rally before escaping with a 31-24 victory at Notre Dame Stadium. The victory, which gave Notre Dame the nation's longest Division I-A winning streak at 17 games, was finally secured when corner-back Shawn Wooden batted down a pass by Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward at the goal line with no time remaining. The desperation play began at the Notre Dame 14 with three seconds to go.

The outcome will give 10-0 Notre Dame the ML COL Perfect NU I. tV nff. TOEfe I awaits BY KEN HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal-Star "-v. y'' "I SCORING, TEAM STATS Iowa State 7 3 0 7 17 Nebraska 21 0 14 1449 NU Tommie Frazier 1 run (Byron Bennett kick) NU Calvin Jones 1 run (Bennett kick) NU Gerald Armstrong 10 pass from Frazier (Bennett kick) ISU Jm Knott 1 run (Ty Stewart kick) ISU FG Stewart 41 NU Frazier 4 run (Bennett kick) NU Damon Banning 1 run (Bennett kick), ISU Calvin Branch 25 pass from Todd Doxzon (Stewart kick) NU Frazier 24 run (Bennett kick) NU Clinton Childs 1 run (Tom Sieler kick) A 75,513 ISU NU; First downs 15 23 Rushes-yards 54-261 61-438 Passing yards .58 68 Total yards 319 506 Passing 5-8-0 4-10-0 Return yards 0 1 Punts Fumbtes-tost 2-2 3-2 Penalties-yards 6-46 4-25 Time of possession 31:30 28:30 Third-down conversions 5-14 5-9 Fourth-down conversions 1-3 1-1 TED KBKUNCOUt JOURNAL-STAR Quarterback Tommie Frazier (15) hands the ball off to l-back Calvin Jones Saturday in the first quarter of Nebraska's 49-17 victory against lowa State. Jones rushed for 208 yards and Frazier added 1 25 as NU improved to 1 0-0.

Nebraska played as though it was in a hurry to wait The Cornhuskers rushed to a two-touchdown lead in less than three minutes and eventually posted a 49-17 victory Saturday against Iowa State, and Nebraska is still waiting. Even though 104 and fourth-ranked Nebraska clinched its third consecutive Big Eight title, the earliest NU has wrapped up a conference championship since 1981, the Cornhuskers are still waiting. "We're nowhere near done with this thing," said Nebraska outside linebacker Trev Alberts. "We have to take care of business, and things will take care of themselves for us." Now Nebraska is waiting for a Nov. 26 home game with Oklahoma, waiting for a Jan.

1 Orange Bowl game and waiting for a possible shot at the national title. Even though No. 1 Florida State fell to No. 2 Notre Dame Saturday, Nebraska doesn't know how far it will climb when the national polls are released today. Miami, despite having lost to FSU, also is ahead of the Husk-ers in the Associated Press media poll and in the coalition point standings that determine bowl "We got done with this, and now we focus on Oklahoma," said Nebraska I-back Calvin Jones, who rushed for 208 yards and a touchdown despite battling asthma.

"It's exciting to win the Big Eight and know we're going back to the Orange Bowl. But we know what's on the line, and we know how we need to go into this part of the season and keep everything in perspective." Nebraska's perspective was shared throughout the Cornhusker locker room. "We've got another game to go, and actually two more games to go, before we celebrate anything," Nebraska defensive tackle Kevin Ra-maekers said. "As for the polls, we'll have to do what we can to force the issue by winning the next two we play. Then well see what they have to titles) MIKE BABCOCK Sports images of the filial minutes of Notre Dame's victory against Florida State provided background for the interviews.

While he waited for his turn in front of reporters, Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier sat and watched as Charlie Ward tried to rally Florida State to victory or, at least, to a tie. The Seminoles should drop below Nebraska in the polls, according to Frazier. "In my opinion, they should. But it wouldn't surprise me if they don't," he said. "I can't control what happens." Outside linebacker Trev Alberts, a Cornhusker co-captain, seemed to care little about the outcome of the Notre Dame-Floridk State game.

If Nebraska doesn't defeat Oklahoma in two weeks, it won't matter, he said. So "we don't have any room to talk right now." say about us." It didn't take much time for Nebraska to avenge a 19-10 upset last year at Iowa State. Iowa State's James Brooks was separated from the ball by Nebras; ka's Mike Minter on the opening kick-off, and NU teammate Tyrone Williams recovered on the ISU 27-yard line. I Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier, who ran for three touchdowns and passed for another, scored in three plays on a 1-yard run. Six seconds later, NU linebacker Mike Anderson knocked the ball loose from ISU running back Rodney Guggenheim.

Williams recovered again, this time at the Cyclone 21. Jones rushed four times, including a 1-yard touchdown run to put Ne- Please see NU page consecutive Big Eight championship with Saturday's victory, and "it's a good feeling," Alberts said. But winning the conference was only one of three goals the Cornhuskers set for themselves this season, Alberts said. Their other goals were to go undefeated and to win a national championship. The order of importance of those goals was clear enough.

Ultimately, the polls will determine whether Nebraska can accomplish the third of its goals. A combination of the two polls will determine the Cornhuskers' opponent in the Orange Bowl, and their chances of playing for the national title depend on their opponent. "The polls, to me, have about become a humorous thing," Coach Tom Osborne said. But there's Please see BABCOCK page 4D And so the plot thickens. Or sickens, depending on the response of those who vote in the Associated Press and USA TodayCNN college football polls.

The principals in this drama did their part Saturday. Notre Dame defeated Florida State 31-24. Miami defeated Rutgers 31-17. And Nebraska defeated Iowa State 49-17 at Memorial Stadium. That's the reality 62 voters in each poll will transform into the unreality of the national championship race.

We won't know how we're supposed to interpret the results of Saturday's games until some time today, when the results of the polls are announced. Those who play have played. Now, those who don't will decide. The best way to understand the polls is to read "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland That's because in the polls, as in Wonderland, we don't always know what we know, which, in this case, is that Notre Dame and Nebraska are undefeated, and Florida State and Miami are not. In Wonderland, 9-1 can be better than 10-0.

So maybe Nebraska will still be ranked behind Florida State and Miami this week. That possibility permeated the South Stadium varsity lounge during interviews after the Cornhuskers' Nebraska clinched a third 10th consecutive victory. Television Mastiiigs knocks Kiughfe out 14-7 Spartans are swept in A final St tot? BY RON POWELL Lincoln Journal-Star Bellevue West goes through little rituals every year before the State High School Volleyball Tournament Secret pals giving each other gifts, an overnight party at Coach Joanne Kappas' house and a team dinner are among the things the Thunderbirds do every year. The Thunderbirds also have developed a tradition after the tournament celebrating state champion- i top-ranked Bellevue West success blitz," said Kohl "We knew they'd have to go deep since it was fourth down. I got through untouched.

If they don't have a back there to block, we usually don't get touched." That was the third time Southeast threatened in the second half without scoring. A 25-yard pass to Goode set up the Knights' first chance. But on first down from the 14-yard line, Southeast was called for holding. Kohl nearly intercepted a second-down pass. On the next play, Kohl stepped ih front of Jason Stych to intercept at the 2-yard line.

Southeast stopped Hastings on downs and took over on the Tiger 37-yard line. But on third-and-goal from the 7-yard line, Cori Dreher intercepted Brolhorst's pass for Giff Anderson in the end zone. "Every time we got close, we shot ourselves in the toot with a penalty," said Southeast Coach Chuck Mizerskl "It's hard to make it when you have 20 yards to go. Against a good team, it's hard to make 20 yards. "We've been behind before, so we knew we had a chance.

Hastings built all year, and it carried into the playoffs. When you win a lot of close games, it builds character." The Hastings defense kept the Knights in check in the second half, and it also set up the first score of the game. On the first drive of the game, Southeast was backed up to Its 5-yard line by a pair of penalties. Then the vl BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal-Star Josh Kohl came up with the final defensive topper for Hastings, but it was old hat for the junior linebacker. "We had our backs to the wall so many times this year, we're used to it," he said after dropping Lincoln Southeast quarterback Jason Brol-horst for a 7-yard loss on fourth-and-goal.

"We had the heart to come back and play hard." The goal-line stand preserved Hastings' 14-7 victory over Southeast and gave the 12-0 Tigers their first Class A football championship. The two-time Class A defending champion Knights finished the season 10-2 in the game played before a crowd of 7,676 at Sea-crest Field. "What a defensive effort! That's all I can say," said Hastings Coach Walt 01sen. "Our defense was almost unbelievable. The only thing they did all night that caught us was the fake re verse-screen.

We had the reverse pegged, but they threw the screen the other way." A 12-yard pass from Brolhorst to Dustin Blackman set up Southeast's final threat from the tl-yard line. Ty Goode's 6-yard run gave Southeast a third-and-4 from the 5-yard line, but Kohl hit Goode in the backfield on the next play, and Southeast was down to its last "In our goal-line play, if they roll back to pass, our outside linebackers ,9 i 4 4 fully defended its Class A crown and won its fourth title in the past five years with a 15-7, 15-11 victory against No. 2 Lincoln East Saturday at Pershing Auditorium. "We try to make it as routine as possible for them," said Kappas, whose team finished with a 364 record. "Our girls don't think they can lose when they come down here.

Before the match, they were asking, 'Will those cops be able to keep our crowd off the They planned on winning." After winning the first game handily, the Thunderbirds ranked No. 11 in the Mizuno Top 25 national rankings had to come back fcom an 11-2 deficit in the second game. IAN DOREMUSUNCOLN JOURNAL-STAR Hastings' Larry Brown causes Lincoln Southeast's Ty Goode (35) to fumble the ball in the first quarter Saturday as Hastings' Cori Dreher (1 0) moves In. Hastings upset Southeast 1 4-7. Tigers the confidence they needed to beat Southeast.

"It got us off on the right foot. We thought if we hit Goode hard, we could make him fumble," he said. next play, and Hastings led 7-0 less than two minutes into the game. "That set the tone. It showed our kids that Goode is human," Olsen said.

"That touchdown was the difference in the game on the scoreboard." Bo Buettenback said that gave the Hastings defense struck. Larry Brown knocked the ball out of Goode's hand, and Dreher caught the ball in midair and returned it to the 1-yardline. Kelly Weseman went over the right side of the line for a touchdown on the Please see HASTINGS on page 4E Please see SPARTANS on page 1E I.