Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 46

2F Lincoln, Sunday Journal Star, Jan. 2, 1972 t'V 'i Tagge: Boomer Sooners Humble Sullivan, Auburn, 40-22 "We came here running scared," said Sooner Coach Chuck Fairbanks, whose highscoring offense pushed 78 yards with the opening kickoff to assert its superiority early. Joe Wylie's 71 yard punt return was the only long distance dash of the day by the fleet Sooners. "Mildren is the best player in Oklahoma 28 87-43 11 93 1-4-0 S-35 2 12 Auburn 15 19-40 250 49 20-45-2 i-49 1 0 First Downs Rushes yards Passing vardaae Return vardaae Passes Punts Fumbles lost Yards penalized New Orleans IE Jack Mildren of Oklahoma, called by his coach "the best player in college football this year" scored three touchdowns in outdueling Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan Saturday as the third-ranked Sooners downed No. 5 Auburn 40-22 in the Sugar Bowl football game.

Mildren scored on runs of five, four and seven yards, all in the first half, as the some Sooners streaked to a 34-0 lead before Auburn got its first touchdown in the third period. I -ft lfl JII zr 'TrfX Will Rodgers' Return Big Play By DON FORSYTHE Miami Jerry Tagge was a calm, confident leader for Nebraska Saturday night. "We felt all the pressure was on Alabama, not us," be claimed. The pressure and Johnny Rodgers turned it into a game which Tagge said wasn't a true picture of what Nebraska and Alabama could do. "Johnny's punt return broke their back.

It was a big mental letdown for Alabama," the Cornhusker offensive captain said. "We weren't as nervous before the game as we were before the Oklahoma said Rodgers. "I think it was because we were used to pressure games. "I knew we wouldn't lose. This team isn't used to losing," said Johnny.

Rodgers said he almost let the ball roll on his 77-yard punt return. "When the ball was rolling I was going to let it go but I figured I might just as well give it a try," he said. The Cornhusker offensive players were claiming the national rankings should read Negrahka-Oklahoma-Ooforado. "These three are the best that's a fact," said Keith Wortman. "I was really surprised Alabama wasn't better.

I don't think they had the personnel like Oklahoma and Colorado." Center Doug Dumler was also surprised. "I think Alabama would finish about fifth in the Big 'Eight," he said. "It isn't any less happy this year," beamed Dumler, "but it's more of a pleasure to beat Alabama. Alabama is more of a traditional bowl foe. We wanted to beat 'em bad to prove ve we were the best." "Tagge had a tremendous game.

He called a great game and we picked 'em apart," said Dumler. Offensive tackle Carl Johnson said "I had a feeling we were gonna blow 'em out." Dick Rupert wasn't as sure. "I didn't know it would be anything like 28-0 at the half but I was sure hoping," he said. college football this year," Fairbanks said shortly after his 199-pound quarterback from Abilene, was presented the trophy as the game's outstanding player. However, in accepting his award, Mildren said, "Pat Sullivan deserved the Heisman Trophy.

What Ed Marinaro said was out of place. Sullivan deserved the award." Marinaro, the all-time rushing leader from Cornell, had criticized the selection of the Sullivan over himself. Oklahoma's unheralded defense put a clamp on Auburn's Ail-American passing combination, Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan and wide receiver Terry a 1 through the first 30 minutes of action. Sullivan and a 1 did, however, get together on passes of 42 and 35 yards in an 80-yard scoring drive in the third period, but Mildren and his mates had already settled the issue. Auburn scored two other touchdowns following fumble recoveries in the final four minutes.

Oklahoma, now 11-1, and loser only to top ranked Nebraska, got its other touchdowns on a two-yard run by AU-American Greg Pruitt and a four-yard plunge by Leon Crossw(hite. John Carroll, the nation's kick scoring champion, drilled a record 53-yard field goal in the third period, but was successful on only one of his three extra point kicks. The Sooners also failed on three attempts to convert for two points. Mildren, who punched out 149 yards in 30 carries, was named the most valuable player. Harry Unger scored two of Auburn's touchdowns on one yard plunges and Sullivan fired a 12-yard pass to Sandy Cannon for the other.

The game attracted a crowd of 84,031, largest ever to see a bowl game in the South. Sullivan, who missed on his first six passes of the day, finished with 20 completions in 44 attempts for 250 yards and one touchdown. He had one intercepted and Beasley, throwing off the wide receiver reverse, also threw an interception each leading to Sooner touchdowns. Oklahoma 19 12 3 4 40 Auburn 0 0 7 1522 Okla. Crosswhite 4 run (kick failed) Okla.

Mildren 5 run (Carroll kick) Okla. Wylie 71 punt return (pass failed) Okla Mildren 4 run (run failed) Okla Mildren 7 run (pass failed) Okla. FG Carroll 53 Aub. Unqer 12 run (Jett kick) Okla. Pruitt 2 run (kick failed) Aub.

Cannon 12 pass from Sullivan (Jett kick) Aub. Unger 1 run (Beck run) A 84,031. AP WIREPHOTO Auburn's Bob Brown (92) pulls down Oklahoma's Jack Mildren in Sugar Bowl after a big gain. Mildren was the most outstanding player. Jordan: OV Best We Faced Sport lniimiiiiiiiiiiraimiiHiiiiiiiiimiin By Signals miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiKRii Hal Brown Oklahoma's Steve O'Shaughnessy (18) hugs teammate Joe Wylie after Wylie returned a punt 71 yards for the Sooners against Auburn.

Early Alabama Mistakes Costly As Nebraska Opens Gap by Half Hi Miami, Fla. Some of the stories they tell about Paul (Bear) Bryant, the Alabama coach who sent his football team against Nebraska Saturday night, could be told about only one other person another Paul with the last name of Bunyan. For instance, they tell about the time he was injured while out for a walk he was hit by a motorboat. Or they tell the one about Auburn coach Ralph (Shug) Jordan, who was about to read his children a bed-time story. "Tell us about the three bears," one of the children ordered.

"Good grief," retorted Jordan, "Don't tell me there are three of them." There was also the time that Bryant was trying to buy a cemetery lot and the seller asked a price of $5,000. The angry Bryant argued, "Five-thousand dollars! That's ridiculous. I'll only be there three days." Both Settled for Alternate A year ago here, Jerry Tagge got the starting quarterback nod from Nebraska footbail coach Bob Devaney for the Orange Bowl game with LSU and he's held it ever since. Also here a year ago, quarterback Van Brownson got a date with a beautiful, dark-haired Orange Bowl princess and he's been seeing her ever since. The romance started when dates were lined up for the unmarried Husker players for last year's team party the night following the bowl game.

Since Van's first date with Tina Etling, she's been to Lincoln on four football weekends this fall causing her mother, Ann, to complain jokingly, "It's costing us a fortune to have her going up there to see Van." On their first date, Van pointed out to Tina that he had applied for a date with the Orange Bowl Queen and wound up with only one of the princesses. "Well," replied Tina, "I applied for a date with the starting quarterback." Tina's parents, Walt and Ann Etling, were scheduled to serve as host and hostess at the Alabama hospitality room during the Crimson Tide's stay in Miami, but they got that switched and have been running the Nebraska hospitality room instead. In addition, house guests at the Etling residence this week have been Van's parents, along with three of his fraternity brothers. Bear Hat for Rupert When Nebraska's all-Arnerlcan offensive guard Dick Rupert heard that Alabama coach Bear Bryant had passed out hats to the press, he made it known that he wanted Somehow he came up with one. It has nothing to do with the Orange Bowl, but two announcements you might be looking for are that Gerry Fisher will soon be named the new head golf professional at the Lincoln Country Club and that the Omaha Knights are spending their last season in Omaha.

Fisher, a former quarterback at Hastings College and the best playing assistant in the state, has been an assistant to the retiring Bud Williamson at LCC the past two years. The Knights reportedly are headed for San Antonio next season with rent problems with Ak-Sar-Ben as one of the factors. NEW ORLEANS (AP)-It was a pretty surprising statement, coming after a 40-22 victory over Auburn in the Sugar Bowl football classic Saturday, but Oklahoma coach Chuck Fairbanks said his Sooners came to New Orleans "running scared." Fairbanks lavished praise on his special teams after the victory before a record crowd of 84,031 and singled out his defensive unit "that gave the offense the opportunity to score several times in the first half. "We didn't come here to set any records," the youthful Oklahoma pilot said. "In fact, we came here running scared." The Sooners, the nation's No.

3 team in the final regular season Associated Press poll, set a flock of new Sugar Bowl marks in their lopsided triumph over Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan and his Auburn team. Asked to compare Oklahoma and Alabama, coach Ralph "Snug" Jordan of Auburn said he thought Oklahoma is "easily the best team we faced all year They certainly were impressive today." Sullivan agreed that Oklahoma is the best team the War Eagles faced in a 10 game season that saw them lose only to second-ranked Alabama. "There is no doubt they are the biggest, strongest, finest looking team I've seen," Sullivan said. "They made me hurry the ball. They did exactly what we thought they would do they just kind of overpowered, out-muscled us physically." Sullivan said he was far from pleased with his performance.

"I thought it was kind of sorry," he said, "But it doesn't matter how well you do individually if you don't win." "Our offensive line did a super job. We went north and south pretty good," Fairbanks said. "Jack Mildren played a great game. But he's had a bumdh of great games. For our type of game, he is the best in the business." Offensive guard Darryl Em-mert said he thought Auburn'3 line was no tougher than any other team they had faced, "They're nowhere near Nebraska though.

I think they were surprised by the potency of our wishbone, and our ability to move inside surprised me too," said Emimort. AP WIREPHOTO Alabama to move to the Husker 14 on their first possession, but junior cornerback Joe Blahak wasn't about to let the shutout go just yet. He made his first pass interception of the season, taking the ball away from the Tide's top pass receiver, David Bailey, in the end zone to blunt that scoring threat. But the next time Alabama got the ball they drove 54 yards in nine plays with quarterback Terry Davis getting the final three yards with 5:49 left in the third quarter. A two-point conversion attempt failed and the Huskers led by 28-6.

Stung by that score, the Huskers, who had been forced to punt after three plays on their first two possessions of the second half, drove from their own 20 to the Bama four before being stopped This time Sanger, who had missed a field goal attempt earlier from the 15, split the uprights from the 11 with no time showing on the clock in the third quarter. Alabama never really threatened to score again uptil time was running out in the its own territory after Rodgers fumbled a pass from Tagge at the one-yard line and Alabama recovered. Two plays later Bama gave the ball back to the Huskers at the Tide four when Glover forced a fumble and Bob Terrio recovered it. Dixon carried the ball twice to get it into the end zone, going over tackle Carl Johnson for the final two yards with 8:49 left in the first half and Sanger's kick made it 28-0. While the Huskers were moving out to that 28-0 lead, Alabama had been in Nebraska territory only twice, once to the 40 and once to the 37 and had only one first down against the proud NU defense that, was proving it had learned a lot about the wishbone-T attack in its encounter with Oklahoma on Thanksgiving Day.

And while allowing the Crimson Tide four more first downs in the final eight minutes of the first half, the Husker Black Shirts did not permit them to move into their side of the 50-yard line. The Husker defense became a little more generous in the second half, permitting Husker Squad Here Monday Miami Nebraska's football team, national college football champions for the second straight year, will arrive in Lincoln at 1:30 p.m. Monday. The Huskers had been scheduled to attend Sunday's American Football Conference playoff game here between Miami and Baltimore as guests of the Dolphins, but the National Collegiate Athletic Association said No. game and Devaney had cleared his bench, but the opportunistic Huskers took advantage of another Tide error for their final tally.

Defensive captain Jim Anderson intercepted a pass at the Alabama 31 and ran it back to the one, from where alternate quarterback Van Brownson plunged over with 4:45 left in the contest. Statistically the game looks closer than the final score indicates and the figures make it look closer than it actually was. Enjoying a 16-15 edge in first downs, Alabama also out-rushed the Huskers by 241 to 183 yards, but the balance Nebraska has shown all season was evident again Saturday night. Nebraska added 159 yards passing while Alabama could get only 47, giving the Huskers a total offense edge of 344 to 288. Then there were those punt returns of Rodgers.

Nobraska had first gained a No. 1 ranking here a year ago with a 17-12 win over LSU and with their victory over Alabama became the first team to win back-to-back national titles since Alabama did it In 1964 and 1965, the second one coming on the Tide's 39-28 victory over the Huskers in the Orange Bowl. The Saturday night win extended the Nebraska winning streak to 23 straight and the unbeaten string to 32 In a row. The last team to beat Nebraska was Missouri, 17-7, in the fourth game of the 1969 season. The Huskers and Southern Cal tied 21-21, in the second game of the 1970 season.

Cont. From Page IF averaging 32 points per game by forcing them to punt the first two times they had the ball. It was on that second punt that the first big break of the game came and the Husker took advantage of it just as No. 1 teams are supposed to do. Alabama punter Greg Gantt fumbled the snap and the Huskcrs took over at their own 47 when Gantt failed to get the kick away.

After an 11-yard Tagge to Rodgers pass on a key third and three play from the Alabama 46 gave the Huskers a first down at the 35, Tagge fired a pass to split end Woody Cox at the goal line. The pass was incomplete, but Alabama was called for interference and NU had a first down at the Tide Two. Jeff Kinney, closing out a brilliant career at Nebraska, barged over on the next play and the Huskcrs had a 6-0 lead with 2:01 left in the first quarter. But Rich Sanger's conversion attempt sailed to the right of the goalposts. Two minutes later the NU Black Shirts forced another Alabama punt.

This time Gantt handled the snap perfectly and got the punt off. The Tide might have been better off had he not. That's the one Rodgers ran back for the second Husker TD, bis fourth such runback of the season, and the first quarter came to end as he scooted down the sidelines in front of the Alabama bench. The twopoint Tagge to Damkroger conversion made up for the missed Sanger placement and the Huskers led 14-0 after one quarter. Husker Randy Borg hit Steve Williams as he attempted to run back the kickoff the ball popped loose and John Peterson gathered it in to give NU the ball at the Alabama 27.

And again the Huskers capitalized on the mistake. But it looked for a moment like they weren't going to. After two plavs it was third and 12 at the Bania 29. But Tagge, a master at converting key third down plays nil season, did it again, this time finding Gary Dixon with a 20-yard pass play, only Dixon's second pass reception of the year. With a fourth and goal at the one, Tagge took a step to his right and followed right guard Keith Wortman into the end zone with only 2:17 gone in the second period.

This lime Sanger's placement was good and the Huskers had put 21 points on the board in less than five minutes. If there still was any doubt about who was in charge here Saturday night, those doubtf. were removed moments later. The Tide was pinned deep in.