Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 33

'Sports Son of a "SEeYlbtT' unjiagSiiurnalanlar September 18, 1977, Lincoln, Neb. 9 Tide nick aazzies 1 Huskers triumph in TV thriller, 31-24 later. Berns dived in for the winning kit lien in ALA NEB First downs 25 17 Rushes-yards 57-232 50-238 Passing yards 198 179 Return yards 13 70 Passes 33-13-5 17-11-1 Punts Fumbles-lost i-o 2-2 Penalties-yards 4-22 9-75 A-, s-sV a3- 4 i-jtf 'Ca -Wr. 'p. I 14 A A Nathan Pillen S' i rtM, Jlrwj V'y i I i I knot the score at 24-24.

The ensuing kickoff sailed into the end zone and the Huskers started out 80 yards from paydirt. One first down got the drive started, before Nebraska suffered two setbacks. The first was a penalty for delay of game; the second a 15-yard marchoff for illegal use of the hands. The Huskers faced a third-and-12 situation. Quarterback Randy Garcia, who played brilliantly after starter Tom Sorley reinjured his shoulder, lofted a long pass to fellow Californian Tim Smith down the right sidelines.

Smith not only took the pass away from closely-covering 'Bama corner-back Don McNeal, but displayed some fancy footwork to stay in bounds to complete a 33-yard gainer. Seven plays and three first downs on if Trying to corner Pillen are Tony Nathan (22) and Rick Neal (8), the intended receiver on the play. NU's Jim Pillen (29) heads upfield after the first of his two interceptions with 4:14 remaining in the game. Fans silence pleases quarterback Garcia touchdown. "Yes, I called the long pass to Smith," Osborne admitted.

"But, I called all the plays, including the ones that didn't work." Osborne said the call for the touchdown try while refusing the field goal was made additionally difficult because his phone to the press box went dead at that moment. "I really didn't know how far we had to go," he recalls. "But I knew we were down there pretty close." Harvey's initial interception enabled Nebraska to move within range for a 29-yard field goal by Billy Todd to give the Huskers a 3-0 lead after five minutes of play. Alabama came right back to take a 7-3 lead, marching 91 yards in 10 plays after the kickoff was fumbled out of bounds at the 'Bama nine. The drive included some razzle-dazzle by The Tide.

The touchdown was set up by a 33-yard gainer after Rutledge handed off to running back Tony Nathan who then lateraled the ball back to the Bama quarterback. He then passed to all-American split end Ozzie Newsome. Before the first quarter was over, Osborne dug into his bag of tricks. It started on third and two from the Nebraska 28. Sorley handed off to Berns who added 128 yards to the 153 he NEBRASKA: Continued Page 9D what proved to be remaining in NU's Jf" By Virgil Parker Sports Editor If Nebraska's Tom Osborne had a conservative image before, he erased that label with a series of bold coaching decisions on the way to a 31-24 victory over Alabama in Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The CornBusker coach dazzled a sellout crowd of 75,899 by ordering three trick plays during a single touchdown drive an I-back pass, another on which half the NU team seemed to handle the ball, and a fake field goal for the score. Later, facing a fourth-and-short yardage decision near the 'Bama goal line and the score tied Osborne spurned a cinch field goal. Rick Berns responded by diving over a mass of bodies in the line to produce the final margin of victory. "You have your heart in your throat when you call a play like that," the Husker head man admits. "But there was still a lot of time left in the game (Just over seven minutes of the fourth quarter), and I wasn't sure a field goal would produce enough points to hold up.

"It's not that we don't have confidence in our defense, but Alabama has a fine offensive team. They were moving the ball well, too. A touchdown would force them to score and make a two-point conversion to beat us. Even if we didn't get in, they would have had the ball on their own one-foot line," The strategy paid off. Fabled 'Bama coach Bear Bryant's Crimson Tide was forced into throwing long passes something wishbone teams don't like to do and Husker cornerback Jim Pillen picked off two aerials to preserve the victory.

"We gave the passer a pretty good rush." NU defensive coordinator Lance Van Zandt noted, "then Pillen read the quarterback and moved to the ball well. You've got to give the players a lot of credit. They fought and clawed all the way." The drama, tension and excitement of the game rivaled the classic Nebraska-Oklahoma matchup of 1971 which preceded an Orange Bowl triumph over Alabama and a second-straight national championship for the Cornhuskers. Osborne, who says his "Son of a Buck" reference to The Bear two years ago was "unfortunate, not meant for print and blown out of proportion," felt great and justifiable pride from the win. "We play them down there next year, but you never know how much longer he'll (Bryant) be coaching.

To beat a team coached by Bear Bryant is a great feeling out of respect for him, not animosity." Osborne says it is impossible to place enough emphasis on the victory with regards to team morale and the rest of the season after suffering a stunning upset loss to Washington State in the opening game. "The poise our kids showed in this game means a lot," Osborne noted. "If we had come back and played well, but lost, it would have taken a great deal out of our players. This result means a lot for our future. Alabama has as fine an offensive team as we'll face all season." The game which surely delighted a television audience seen by 70 percent of the nation was loaded with 'big' plays.

Despite the high score, many of them were produced by the Nebraska 'Black Shirt' defense. 'Bama quarterback Jeff Rutledge completed seven of eight passes last week as the Tide swamped Ole Miss a team which knocked off No. 3 ranked Notre Dame Saturday while the Huskers were taking care of fourth-rated Alabama. Nebraska cornerback Ted Harvey set the tempo by picking off Rutledge's first toss on Alabama's initial play of the game. Before the afternoon was over, the 'Black Shirts' intercepted him five times.

That tied a negative 'Bama school record set by Ken Stabler now-the ace passer for the Oakland Raiders in 1967. But the biggest play of the game for Nebraska came on the way to the winning touchdown. Alabama had tallied a touchdown to How AP's Top 20 fared 1. Michigan (2-0) def. Duke, 21-9.

2. USC (2 0) def. Oregon State 1710. 3. Notre Dame 1-1 lost to Mississippi, 20-13.

4. Alabama (1-1) lost to Nebraska, 31-24. 5. Oklahoma (2-0) def Utah, 62-24. 6.

Ohio State (2-0) def. Minnesota, 38-7. 7. Texas (2 0) def. VPI, 27-6.

8. Texas Tech (2-0) def. New Mexico State 49- 14. 9. Houston (1-1) lost to Penn State, 31-14.

10. Penn State (2-0) def. Houston, 31-14. 11. Maryland (1-1) lost to West Virginia, 24- 16.

12. Colorado (2 0) def. Kent State, 42-0. 13. Mississippi State (2-0) idle.

14. UCLA (1-1) def. Kansas, 17-7 15. Oklahoma State 1-1 lost to Arkansas, 28- 16. Pittsburgh (1-1) def.

Wm. Mary, 28-6. 17. Georgia (1-1) lost to Clemson, 7-6. 18.

Texas (2 0) def. Virginia, 68-0. 19. Florida (1-0) def. Rice, 48-3.

20. BYU (1-0) IdlJ. JiKn Husker I-back Rick Berns (35) goes up and somersaults over the middle of the Alabama defense for stuns Notre Dame lierns had to pay for his success. He had both (it his hands wrapped in ice bags alter the game to relieve the pain fur the cuts and scrapes he received from hits by the helmets of the 'Bama defensive players. "I'd like to think this win shows we are an all-around type of tootball team." Herns said.

"Coach Osborne had told us List week's loss was a fluke and we had to go out and prove ourselves. I think we did." Reflecting on the fake field goal which he and Garcia hooked up on to place Nebraska ahead 10-7, Berns admitted he was lucky on the play. "1 stumbled coming out of the backfield and I think they i Alabama i lorgol about me." he said. The swilt and powerful 6-2, 205-pound Berns, labeled the win great and noted I've always heard a lot about the Bear (Alabama coach Paul Bryant) and there always seemed to be some sort of mystery about him. After watching him so much over the years it was great to play against him." for all the trick plays and razzle dazzle tactics Nebraska used, the play that was the difference between victory and defeat was a basic down-and-out pass from Garcia to split end Tim Smith.

Faced with a crucial third and 12 situation on the fourth quarter drive that proved to be the march to victory, Garcia found Smith along the Alabama sideline for a clutch 33-yard gain. "They were in what we call a cloud coverage defense," said Garcia, who explained the coverage had two men short and two players deep in the defensive secondary. Informed that Husker coach Tom Osborne said there were three defenders" deep, Garcia said, "well there you go. I must have misread it and got lucky. If you look at the films tomorrow you'll probably see a guy wide-open over the middle who I should have hit." (iarcia said the pass was far from perfect to Smith, whose only reception of the day was a lifesaver as he latched on to the ball and was able to stay in bounds just by inches.

"It was just a take off to the outside," Smith said. "Starting last week's game was the biggest thrill of my life until this. This is great." Garcia looked over at Smith and said, "what a catch. He's my man." Sorley, Nebraska's starting quarterback who reinjured his shoulder, said he could have played the second half if he was needed. But Garcia's clutch performance kept Sorley on the bench, and the Texas junior couldn't have been more pleased for his teammate and competitor for the signal-calling job.

"Wasn't Randy super," Sorley yelled above the din. "He was just super." Sunday Football Chiefs v. Patriots, Noon, fl C5; Rams v. Falcons, Noon, 4n0; Cowboys v. Vikings, 3 p.m., Tom Osborne, 10:30 p.m., i.J; Tom Osborne, 10:55 p.m., 5C Bowling, Leisure Lanes, Noon, 7,.

Baseball Twins v. Royals, 1 p.m., CI. Monday Football 49er Steelers, 8 p.nv&Sj By Dave Sittler Staff Sports Writer In the midst of a raucous Nebraska lockerroom, where pandemonium was understandably running rampant, Randy Garcia calmy spoke of the sounds of silence. Speaking softly and emotionally as his teammates were shouting themselves hoarse and hugging each other in glee in celebration of Nebraska's dramatic 31-24 win over Alabama, Garcia admitted his satisfaction over one form of noise that was missing Saturday the boos. His finest hour as a Husker just moments behind him, Garcia recalled the boos some fans had hurled his direction only a week earlier in the loss to Washington State.

"I didn't hear any boos, that's what this win will always mean to me," said Garcia as he slowly peeled tape from his tender left knee. "It means that the people who booed me last week had to walk out of the stadium today with their heads down so their friends wouldn't see how embarrassed they were. They didn't expect things to coifte down to this today." Even the fans who backed Garcia, couldn't have dreamed the handsome Los Angeles quarterback was going to turn out to be the beauty he was against the Crimson Tide. With his pride and knee bruised in the Washington State defeat and his starting quarterback job lost to Tom Sorley. Garcia started out on the Nebraska bench against the Tide.

He ended up leading Nebraska to victory by coming off the bench in the first quarter to replace an injured Sorley. Hitting seven of 11 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, Garcia directed Nebraska to each of its scores. It was an abrupt turnabout from last week, when the lanky Garcia was involved in a couple of fumbles and a safety. "I never lost confidence in myself and I know it was only a small percentage of the fans who were booing me," Garcia said. "Coach Osborne told me I was going to go into the game today in the second quarter no matter what happened to Tom, so I was prepared to play when he was injured." In an afternoon that was filled with razzle dazzle, Garcia quickly became involved in the trick plays once he entered the game.

After Sorley was hurt on the first dipsy-doodle play that featured three handoffs before Sorley threw a pass to Ken Spaeth, Garcia came in to throw a touchdown strike to I-back Richard Berns off a faked field goal. "I hadn't practiced that play all this week in practice," said Garcia, who missed most of the week of practices trying to mend his knee injury. "I was kind of worried about running it. "Richard (Berns) was actually the third choice to throw to on that play. He made a great catch." The touchdown was the first of three for Berns, who had a brilliant afternoon.

The Wichita Falls, junior was named ABC-TV's offensive player-of-the-game after a great all-around, performance. Berns not only scored three times, but he also rushed for 128 yards, caught three passes for 22 yards and even threw a 36-yard pass to wingback Curtis Craig on another razzle dazzle-type offensive maneuver by the gambling Cornhuskers. "I'm ready to play quarterback," Berns joked when asked about the play. "Curtis was actually supposed to run io or 15 yards deeper, but was forced to cut short. I'm glad he did, I don't know if I could have thrown it any further." Mississippi N.

Dame Miss 19 17 40147 S3 IS7 127 194 64 93 1I2S-2 1120 2 5-31 3 26 6-3 4-3 First downs Rushes ydrds PdSSiny yards Roturn yards Passes Punts Fumbteslosl Penalties yards 6-65 4 34 JACKSON, MISS. (UPI) Senior quarterback Tim Ellis had spent most of his time on the sidelines this season but he knew what he had to do in the closing minutes Saturday to direct Mississippi to a stunning 20-13 upset over 4th-ranked Notre Dame. "I wasn't nervous," said Ellis. "I knew what I had to do to win. (Quarterback) Bobby Garner had tried it earlier and it had worked pretty good." With Notre Dame leading 13-10, Ellis, SIAfF PHOTOb BY BOB GORHAM the winning touchdown with 7:12 31-24 win.

the touchdown drive. "We just kept coming back," Cooper said. "We always seemed somehow to come up with the big play, even though it was not always a storied player who came through." Irish Coach Dan Devine discounted the 85-degree heat and maintained his team was not overconfident against the Rebels, who were routed last week by Alabama 34-13. "I didn't think we played poorly," Devine said. "We weren't able to go with them like Alabama did.

Obviously, we weren't as strong as I thought we would be." Notre Dame, which opened the season with a 19-9 victory over defending national cfiampion Pittsburgh, was stymied all day by the pursuing Ole Miss defense. "The heat was the same on both sides of the field," Devine said. "I think it affected our players somewhat, but that's part of playing an 11-game schedule. I'm sure we didn't come in here overconfident." The winning 10-yard touchdown pass from Ellis to Storey was followed seconds later by a 27-yard Hoppy Langley field goal, which was set up when defensive back Brian Moreland recovered an Irish fumble at the 14. Dave Reeve had given Notre Dame a 13-10 lead with 4 53 left in the game when he boomed a 28-yard field goal.

Reeve had tied the score at 10-10 earlier in the quarter with a 44-yarder. Mississippi took the lead 3-0 with 6: 54 left in the first period on a 29-yard Langley field goal. Notre Dame went ahead after defensive end Ross Browner intercepted a Garner pass. The Irish moved 26 yards in eight plays with fullback Jerome Heavens scoring on a two-yard run with 2 44 left in the half. Notre Dame 0 7 0 6-13 Mississippi 3 7 0 10-20 Miss FG Langley 29 ND Hrayens 2 run Reave kick Miss Storey 10 pass from Garner Langley kick.

ND FG Reave 44 NO FG Reave 28 Miss Storey 10 pass Irom Ellis Langley kick Miss FG Lanoiev 27 Michigan State hit by Washington State the starting quarterback for the Rebels last season, came off the bench and guided an 80-yard touchdown drive in the final five minutes. Ellis rifled a 10-yard touchdown pass to James Storey with less than four minutes to play to give Mississippi the victory in the first meeting between the two schools. Storey made a one-handed catch at the five and then raced untouched into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. Rebel Coach Ken Cooper said Ellis was "fresh and did a great job." Cooper also praised halfback L.Q. Smith, who caught a short Ellis pass and raced 47 yards for the big play of tions.

Thompson rolled to his left and tossed to Kelly deep in the end zone from 23 yards out for the score. The next time WSU had the ball it moved 75 yards in 11 plays, converting a key tourth-and-one play at the MSU 10-yard line. Thompson found Kelly for a nine-yard TD strike, making it 16-7. Michigan State marched right back in a 70-yard drive, with tailback Leroy McGee sweeping over from the nine to cut the lead to two points. But Washington State put the game away with an 80-yard march as halfback Tali Ena plunging over from the three.

Washington St 3 0 6 14- 23 Michigan St 0 7 0 14- 21 WSU-FG Watson 30 MSU-Gibson 25 pass from Smith (Nielsen kick) WSU-Kelly 23 pass from Thompson (kick failed) WSU-Kelly 9 pass from Thompson (Watson kick) MSU-McGee9run (Nielsen kick) WSU-Ena 3 run (Watson kick) AASU-Wilson 4 pass from Smith (Nielsen kick) mm ft: .1 rti 1 11 1" WashSt 27 48189 364 9 30211 1-47 4-3 9-116 MlChSt 20 42-229 192 SO 30-16-0 5-36 2-0 7-B5 First downs Rushes-yards Passing yards Return yards Passes Punts Fumbles-lost Penalties-yards EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -Washington State quarterback Jack Thompson lofted two second-half scoring passes to flanker Brian Kelly to lift the Cougars to a 23-21 football victory over Michigan State Saturday. Washington State entered the third quarter in a driving rain and down 7-3, and promptly fumbled away the ball the first two times it had possession. But Thompson, who hit on 21 of 30 passes for 364 yards, then commanded two lengthy scoring drives to take the lead. The Cougars first moved 80 yards in eight plays, with end Mike Levenseller who made several acrobatic catches throughout the gae-and Kelly providing key recep rT rmT-tnHni 4IO .1.1,1.1 s.ri.