Enterprise-Journal from McComb, Mississippi • 13

Iiiitcrprise-tJournal Sunday, Nov. 6, 1994 13 Bulldogs feast on Razorbacks, win 17-7 TO STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -Derrick Taite makes no bones about it. The Mississippi State quarterback is always looking downfield for receiver Eric Moulds. "I just try my best to get the ball in his hands because he is open almost every play," Taite said.

"You get the ball in his hands and he makes big plays." Taite hit Moulds for seven of his eight completions, including two scores, as the 24th-ranked Bulldogs beat Arkansas 17-7 Saturday for their first four-game winning streak since 1986. "You would be hard-pressed to find one as good as Eric in this league right now at what he does," Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill said. MSU (7-2, 4-2 SEC) has won six of its last seven games and is positioned for its third bowl bid in four seasons under Sherrill. Arkansas (3-6, 2-5) will have its second straight non-winning season under Danny Ford. Kevin Bouie ran for 142 yards on 22 carries for MSU, which has won three straight SEC games for the first time since 1981.

The Bulldogs, who had 359 yards, took the lead for good on Moulds' second touchdown catch, a 57-yarder from Taite with 1:38 left before halftime. Moulds did most of the work after catching the ball near the 45. Moulds spun out of a tackle, cut back toward the middle of the field, broke another tackle and raced into the end zone. "I think that probably the biggest turning point was in the first half when they scored late," said Danny Ford, 5-5-1 last season. Mississippi State had failed to get a first down on its previous four possessions after opening the game with an eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.

Bouie, coming off a 217-yard ef- 'f fort against Kentucky, had a 16-yard carry on the game's first play and had three more carries for 13 yards on the opening drive. Bouie finished with 22 carries. On the other four plays, Taite was 4-of-4, all to Moulds. The TD, one play after Moulds' 25-yard catch on third-and-3, came on a 9-yard timing pattern. Taite was 8-of-16 passing for 141 yards in the game marred by rain.

Moulds had seven of the catches for 120 yards, six in the first half before Arkansas started double coverage. Arkansas converted on fourth-and-goal for its only score. After six straight rushing plays, Barry Lunney Jr. faked a handoff to the right, rolled left and found tight end Carl Johnson wide open for a 1-yard TD 2:29 before halftime. MSU wasn't finished, driving 80 yards in five plays for a 14-7 halftime lead.

The only scoring of the second half came on Tim Rogers' 42-yard field goal into a driving rain. The ball glanced in off the right upright. State can now look ahead to next Saturday's showdown with sixth-ranked Alabama. The Bullies, with wins over Alabama and Mississippi, could still win the SEC Western Division title, if Alabama also loses another game. "I'm not going to talk about Alabama until Monday.

I'm still talking about Arkansas," said Sherrill, who played on Alabama's 1964 and 1965 national championship teams and started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for Bear Bryant. State had scored 41 points or more in four of five previous games, and was held 19 points below its season average by Arkansas. But the Top 20-ranked Razorback defense got no help. Asberry leads JSU to SWAC victory Associated Press photo two touchdown passes as the Starkvllle. Moulds caught Bulldogs prevailed 17-7.

Mississippi State wide receiver Eric Moulds (1) Is Jolted by Arkansas defender Carl Kldd during first quarter action at Rebelstunned by late score SI TS fr 'jL-V "T-ll I 'i A 3 it if! OXFORD, Miss. (AP) Inter-, im Mississippi coach Joe Lee Dunn wanted one victory more than any other in 1994, but he thought the Memphis defense he helped build might stand in the way. But it was the offense not defense that erupted for 12 late points, stunning Mississippi which had never lost to Memphis in Oxford in the teams' 73-year histoiy. "The football gods have not been good to us," Dunn said after his team lost 17-16. "I hope they (players) have enough gumption about them that they don't throw in the towel." The clincher was a Memphis touchdown with four seconds left set up by a Rebel penalty.

Memphis' fans, who had started chants during a Memphis fourth quarter comeback, celebrated long after Rebel fans had filed out. "At this point, it probably is the best win we have had for this program. It's the first time we've won here in Oxford and has to rank among the all-time great emotional wins for us," Memphis coach Chuck Stobart said. Memphis (6-3) came into the game with the nation's top-ranked defense, but gave up a season-high 287 vards. The Tiger offense struggled as well most of the game.

Quarterback Joe Borich had Ole Miss safety Michael Lowery (2) comes up to meet Memphis quarterback Joe Borich during action In the fourth quarter of their game In Oxford. Memphis scored late to get a 17-16 victory. Lowery halls from South Pike. completed just 7-of-24 passes for 55 yards before throwing the winning touchdown. After Memphis failed for the 11th time to convert on third down, Mississippi (3-6) was penalized for taunting.

Eight plays later, Borich converted on fourth-and-15, hitting Frank Fletcher with an 18-yard pass. His next pass bounced off the chest of open receiver Joel Peschke near the end zone. After a second failed pass and a rush, he connected with Ryan Roskelly on a two-yarder. "It was an incredible drive," Borich said. "We kept getting in a hole and reaching down deep and finding a way out.

It's a drive you dream about as a kid growing up and playing football in your backyard. Memphis, with 197 yards of offense, took a 5-3 first quarter lead on a safety and a Luis Tejeda 52-yard field goal. The field goal match the school record set in 1985 by Don Glosson. Fletcher, who rushed for 94 yards, scored on a 5-yard run with about five minutes left to pull Memphis within five. Memphis gives up 215.8 yards a game and hadn't allowed more than the 263 that Arkansas gained earlier.

It's a defense Dunn once guided, serving as defensive coordinator for three years until 1992, when he joined Mississippi in the same position. second start since replacing onetime Heisman hopeful Terry Dean at quarterback, but Kresser stole the show before a crowd of 85,448 at Florida Field. The sophomore, whose arm strength makes him more of a threat than Wuerffel to throw deep, tossed the long scoring pas3 to Anthony on his first snap. He finished 14-of-21 for 309 yards and three TDs. "It felt great to play some when the game is close," said Kresser, who entered the game in the second quarter and also threw scoring passes of 40 yards to Chris Doering and 6 yards to Sorola Palmer.

"Coach prepares us all to play every week," Kresser added, "so whoever he puts in should do JACKSON, Miss. (AP) Dar-rell Asberry had 346 yards of total offense and five touchdowns to lead Jackson State to a 47-41 victory over Texas Southern in a Southwestern Athletic Conference game Saturday. Asberry's second touchdown run, a 4-yarder, with 4:36 left gave Jackson State its final lead after Texas Southern rallied to tie the game at 41. Jackson State (6-3, 2-3) held a 34-19 lead with 8:45 remaining in the third quarter after Asberry passed for his second touchdown, a 5-yarder to Greg Spann, Asberry finished with 213 yards passing and three touchdowns while rushing for 133 yards. "We put the ball in the end zone when we had to.

Texas Southern is better than most people think," said JSU coach James Carson. "They brought a lot out of us. We are elated that we got the win. It feels especially good to win on homecoming. It makes you sleep a lot easier." Jackson State had lost its last three homecoming games until Saturday.

"Our line did an excellent job of blocking. They were looking for William Arnold to get the ball a lot. That opened up a lot of opportunities for me," said Darrell Asberry. Texas Southern (3-6, 2-4) out-scored Jackson State 22-7 over a 15-minute span to even the score at 41. Cedric Douglas' 1-yard touchdown run and a 2-point pas3 to Alex O'Shaw with six minutes remaining in the game aided the rally.

The touchdown came after Texas Southern's Artis Burns intercepted Asberry's pass at the seventh. Texas Southern drove 93 yards in 12 plays. Jackson State scored on its first possession of the game with a 4-yard touchdown run by William Arnold who finished with 115 yards rushing. Jackson State led 27-16 at the half. Texas Southern has now lost five of its last six games, No.

4 Florida runs roughshod over USM Associated Press photo yards out, Josh Nelson connected with wide-open Roell Preston, who plunged into the end zone. Nelson, who was 10-of-21 for 166 yards, attempted three passes in the second half. Two were intercepted, the other was incomplete. ed a punt and Mike Harris recovered at the Golden Eagles 2 to set up a second-quarter touchdown. The Gators also benefited when Southern Miss safety Mel-vin Ratcliff went for an interception and tipped the ball into Anthony's hands near midfield on the freshman's 87-yard scoring reception.

"Eric chucked that one into a two-deep zone, but fortunately their guy missed the interception and Reidel caught it in stride going away," Spurrier said. "That has to help Eric with his confidence in games on the line." Heath Graham threw a 16-yard TD pass to Donald Cunningham and backup Kevin Bentley tossed a 6-yarder to Kendrick Lee, both in the fourth quarter. "It means a lot personally, but I sure wish we could have won the game," Innocent said. Mississippi, held to 50 yards offense in the first quarter, drove the ball 67 yards in the second quarter before settling for a 24-yard Tim Montz field goal, one of his three on the day. On their next drive and 53 for a game, some don't let them start," the Florida coach said.

"We suspend for a half." Hill entered the game in the first quarter and caught a 6-yard TD pass from Wuerffel. By the time Jackson returned to the lineup, Florida led 31-3. Wuerffel's second TD pass to Hill, a 30-yarder in the third quarter, made it 38-3. Jackson had two catches for 34 yards on the Gators' next possession to set up Wuerffel's 1-yard sneak for a 45-3 advantage. While Southern Miss moved the ball well enough to gain 348 yards and control the clock for more than 35 minutes, the Golden Eagles paid for their mistakes.

Florida's Sam McCorkle block "Give them the credit, they made all the big plays, play after play, and we helped them out as usual with the penalties and the interceptions," Dunn said of Memphis. Mississippi's Dou Innocent accounted for 107 of Mississippi's 287 yards on 25 carries. It was his fourth straight 100-yard game. well." Florida, taking a break from the Southeastern Conference, improved to 7-1. Southern Mississippi, losing to a ranked opponent for the fourth time this season, is 5-5.

The Gators, who have won two straight since losing to Auburn on Oct. 15, can clinch the SEC's Eastern Division title and a third consecutive trip to the conference championship game by beating South Carolina next Saturday. Jackson was suspended for a half for violating a team rule, and fellow receiver Aubrey Hill was benched because he didn't perform up to expectations in last week's 52-14 rout of Georgia, according to Spurrier. "Some coaches suspend players GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) It doesn't seem to matter who's throwing or catching the football for Florida.

The fourth-ranked Gators keep rolling along. Coach Steve Spurrier sent a wake-up call to his offense on Saturday by benching four starters, including leading receiver Jack Jackson, and giving third-string quarterback Eric Kresser a chance to star in a 55-17 homecoming victory over Southern Mississippi. Jackson, a junior who has 10 touchdowns this season, watched from the sideline in a baseball cap as freshman Reidel Anthony scored on an 87-yard pass play and caught three passes for 149 yards in the first half. Danny Wuerffel made his.