Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 4

I) i iJr.n section SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2. 1983 ST. PETERSBURG TIMES SPORTS EDITOR HUBERT miZELL 'Canes D)yke 12 S. rj, I These are trying times for Buc defenders if! i 4 Compiled from AP, UPI wirai St. Pataraburg Timaa BILL SERNE Auburn's Bo Jackson leaves a trail of FSU defenders, including Eric Stiehl (36), on a long first half run.

tnojimb 'A. t- r- ra- 1 DURHAM, N.C. There weren't many surprises when the football teams from Duke and Miami left Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Hurricanes had extended their winning streak to four, the Blue Devils had extended their losing streak to four and Miami quarterback Bernie Kosar had extended his string of impressive performances as a freshman starter. Kosar threw for 250 yards as the Hurricanes battered the Blue Devils 56-17.

Along the way, Miami's offense set two school records and tied a third. "Actually, the key to the game was when we executed, we scored and when we made mistakes, we didn't score," said Kosar, who completed 14 of 19 passes, including a 72-yard scoring strike to Ed Brown and a 43-yard touchdown toss to David Kin-tigh. The Hurricanes, ranked 15th nationally, gained a record 613 yards total offense, breaking the mark of 582 set in 1941 against another North Carolina school, Elon College. They also threw for 381 yards, surpassing the old record of 343 set against Houston in 1969. "Bernie Kosar continues to improve and is fast becoming a very good quarterback," Miami coach Howard Schnellenbergersaid.

"Our receivers did an excellent job of catching the football when it was put in their hands." Against Houston, the Hurricanes passed for four touchdowns, a mark they equalled against the Blue Devils. "A win like this is very pleasing for me, our coaches and our young football team," Schnel-lenberger said. "We demonstrated concentration by coming out early and jumping on the Duke defense." Miami held a 21-10 halftime lead and wasted little time expanding it in the second half. Meanwhile, the Hurricane defense kept the Blue Devils in close check. "Our defense once again did what they have done in the past four games bend and not break," he added.

"The Duke offensive team was giving us some problems." First-year Duke coach Steve Sloan, whose team has lost four straight, said Miami was "a very good defensive team." "It's very difficult to score on them or make many yards on them," Sloan said. "Nobody's really done well against them. They just have dominant players." Fullback Speedy Neal's 14-yard run early in the third period made it 28-10 and Brown's touchdown run on a reverse raised the lead to 35-10 with 9:52 left. Reserve quarterback Kyle Vanderwende's 47-yard scoring pass to Stanley Shakespeare made it 42-10 midway through the third period. After a 1-yard plunge by Duke's Mike Grayson, Vanderwende hit John Smatana with a 24-yard scoring toss with 6:24 left to play.

Darryl Oliver's 2-yard run with 3:50 remaining closed out the Hurricane scoring. Duke quarterback Ben Bennett completed 27 of 47 passes for 162 yards to move into ninth place on the NCAA career passing yardage list. Bennett now has 7,559 yards, passing John Reaves of Florida and Jim Plunkett of Stanford. He is within 78 yards of Mark Wilson of Brigham Young. was hobbled by a knee injury he suffered in a 34-28 loss at Tulane two weeks ago.

LOWREY SCORED with 6:45 to go, and Auburn returned the kickoff to its own 26. Three times on the drive, the Tigers faced third-and-long situations and ran the ball. On third-and-5 from the Auburn 45, quarterback Randy Campbell kept the ball on an option and made 7 yards for a first down. On third-and-8 from the FSU 35, fullback Tommie Agee went off right guard for 3 yards. But on fourth down, Campbell threw to tight end Ed West for 15 yards.

On third-and-9 from the 16, Agee went off right tackle and gained only 1. Then the teams lined up for fourth down and Seminole strong safety Tracy Ashley started waving frantically. He and cornerback Eric Riley were the only FSU backs on the right side. "They realized that they didn't have enough guys on that side," said James, who scored the touchdown. "Randy made a great pass.

All I had to do was catch it. It was a minimum effort on my part." JAMES SAID THE play called for Campbell to watch the strong safety and throw to the man he didn't cover. The touchdown came with 1:59 to play, and for about half of those final two minutes it looked like the Seminoles might pull the game out. Starting from the FSU 20, Lowrey threw to Weegie Thompson for 14 yards and a first down. Freshman running back Darrin Holloman caught a pass for 7 yards.

After an incompletion, Holloman ran 4 yards around right end for a first down at the Seminole 45. Then wide receiver Hassan Jones of Clearwater took a handoff on a reverse, cut inside to the pocket and fired a pass to Thompson for a 29-yard gain to the Auburn 26. See FSU. 10-C Defense saved Auburn, 10-C By JOHN LUTTERMOSER St, Petersburg Timei Staff Writer AUBURN, Ala. With 2:07 to play Saturday, Florida State led by four points and Auburn was facing a fourth-and-8 situation.

You had to like the Seminoles' chances. Perhaps the only people who didn't were the two lonely defensive players on the right side of the FSU secondary. They were looking at three Auburn receivers. Seconds later, Auburn halfback Lionel James took a short pass in the left flat, sprinted for the corner and scored the winning touchdown in a 27-24 victory before 75,625 fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn linebacker Gregg Carr sealed the victory by intercepting a Kelly Lowrey pass at the Auburn 26-yard-line with 50 seconds to play.

"SOMEBODY WAS OUT of position, I don't have any idea who," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said of the 15-yard touchdown that gave his team its second straight loss. The Seminoles, who were ranked 17th in the Associated Press poll, fell to 2- 2 on the year while Auburn improved its record to 3- 1. "That's sad," Bowden said, seething. Then he shouted, "That's SAD, when a team can drive 80 yards and it takes them 4 Vt hours, then you give it to them all in one shot." Actually, Auburn's winning drive was 74 yards, and it took 4 Vi minutes 4:46 to be exact. But it must have seemed like 4Vi hours to Bowden, who twice saw his team let the Tigers off the hook on fourth down.

Auburn made its drive just after the Seminoles went 62 yards in 12 plays to take the lead, with Lowrey sneaking over from the 1. That quarterback sneak was the only action Florida State's leading rusher, Greg Allen, saw all day. Bowden put him in at tailback, just to stand there and draw attention away from Lowrey. Allen GREEN BAY, Wis. For too many Sundays over the past 7' seasons, journalistic cynics have sat in NFL press boxes watching an always-questionable Tampa Bay offense undo so much of the good achieved by a consistently respected Buc defense.

Watching and wondering. "Will this be the day," I've repeatedly asked myself on Sundays at sunset, "that Tampa Bay's defensive players become so frustrated and enraged that they scream out against their less-productive brothers from the offense?" It's never really happened. During the 0-26 infamy of 1976-77, the Lee Roy Selmons and Mike Washingtons and Richard Woods swallowed their grief and kept extraordinary harnesses on post-game tongues. BUCCANEER defensive players have shown more patience than a mother of 11. More understanding and compassion than a college of nurses.

More hope than a parishful of priests. Again, they're being tested. The Bucs are 0-4 going into today's adventure against the Green Bay Packers. Knocking on the front door of disaster. Threatening to be the earliest kind of checkout in the NFC Central Division race.

Along Florida's west coast, the level of public complaining about the Bucs' offense runs from about a 4 to a 10. Right now, I sense people being at about a 9. Taking a lunger look, but poised to explode. Many still simmering over the departure of quarterback Doug Williams. All of them anxious to see a high-voltage, run-and-pass offense.

Wayne Fontes is surely among those who hunger for a more bountiful, higher-scoring Tampa Bay offense. I'm; certain this outwardly smiling man secretly worries that Buccaneer defensive players will someday reach the point where they shout, "We're mad as hell, and we're not taking it anymore." Fontes coaches the defense. "WE WIN AS a team, we lose as a team; -wet don't point fingers" said this 43-year-old man who's into his 12th season as a John McKay lieutenant, four at the University of Southern California before both came to the Bucs in the expansion year of 1976. "Morale has remained excellent among our defense. These are people with great character.

No matter what the circumstances, I tell them they're pros and that they can pull it off. "Often, they do." Tampa Bay's defense has two unquestionable top o' the line individuals right end Selmon and outside linebacker Hugh Green who could excel for any NFL team anytime. Despite a failure to sufficiently develop by highly drafted left end Booker Reese, the Bucs have a high-quality, three-man front with Selmon, nose tackle Dave Logan and the newly blooming John Cannon. Linebacking is solid. Always has been.

Green simply made a good foursome even more superior. Fontes called Andy Hawkins "the most underrated outside backer in the league." Scot Brantley and Jeff Davis are just arriving as forces in the middle spots. FONTES' SECONDARY is less stable. Washington, Cedric Brown and Neal Colzie have high mileage and aging legs. There's some gambling going on with cor-nerbacks John Holt and Jeremiah Castille and safety Johnny Ray Smith.

"Neal and Cedric have been hurt and although they're now available to play we're starting a secondary of Smith, Castille, Washington and Holt against Green Bay," Fontes said. "Sure, I've made them all aware of those great Packer receivers, (John) Jefferson and (James) Lofton. We'll start out basic, seeing how Green Bay tries to attack us. Then we'll mix up the zones and the blitzes as they seem sensible." During the 7l Tampa Bay seasons of McKay-Fontes, despite the Bucs making it to the NFL playoffs three times (1979-81-82), the defensive side of the family has faced a near-constant concern "Do we need a shutout to win?" That has changed all too slightly. Offensive production is up, but not enough.

In the 0-4 start, Tampa Bay's offense has coughed up too many critical plays to opposing defenses. "BY NO STRETCH of imagination has anyone given up on this season," Fontes said of the Bucs as their plane floated quietly into the comfortable cool of northern Wisconsin late Saturday. "We're looking for that one damned break that turns the game our way. So far, there's always been a play to turn it their way." I had to ask. Fontes has watched his boss, John McKay, through good times and bad for more than 1 1 years.

What does he see now as he looks at Tampa Bay's 60-year-old head coach? "It (the 0-4) bothers him tremendously," Fontes said. "We all felt we would be a good, strong football team in 1983. He's more wrapped up in it than ever. He wouldn't really want to do anything else. I'm sure he'd quit tomorrow if he thought he couldn't do the job anymore.

But I think he's still an excellent football mind and I hope he coaches another 10 years." fr- i mr r. St. Petersburg Timas BILL SERNE Auburn kicker Al Del Greco celebrates after one of his two field goals that helped put the Tigers ahead in the first half. See MIAMI, 10-C Poll results are something football widows already knew it a I By JANE GROSS (D Naw York Timat Inside Rash of injuries around NFL may lead to surprises Mike Tiemey's column, 3-C No records, but plenty of thrills in Regatta Photo, story, 1 2-C Futcher sparks Tulsa to 2-0 Soccer Bowl victory Story, 13-C Isles start campaign for 5th Stanley Cup Tuesday NHL season preview, 14-C UPI Both polls showed that football was the most popular among young, well-to-do, college-educated people. Among those between the ages of 18 and 29, football was favored by 64 percent of the 1,587 randomly selected respondents this time and baseball among 27 percent.

By contrast, those over the age of 64 preferred baseball by a 44 to 29 percent margin. Those who earned more than $40,000 a year took football, 60 to 21 percent, while those earning less than $10,000 chose baseball, 37 to 34 percent. Among college graduates, football was selected by a margin of 60 to 26 percent, while those who did not complete high school opted for baseball, 39 to 33 percent. The question posed in telephone interviews between Sept. 24 and 28 did not distinguish between professional and college or amateur games.

College football is far more popular than college baseball or minor-league baseball. THE 1983 POLL also mirrored the 1981 poll in terms of geographical differences. In each case, football was most popular among those who live in the West (53-28) and least popular among those who liv? in the East (44-37). Neither poll showed noteworthy differences between Republicans (47-33 in favor of football) and Democrats (49-36) when it comes to chosing sports. The only significant difference this time around was a slightly increased interest in baseball among women.

In 1981, 40 percent of the women questioned chose football and 35 percent baseball. This time they were evenlv divided, 39-39. 3 CHAMPIONSHIP HUG: Los Angeles manager Tommy Lasorda gives catcher Steve Yeager a bear hug Friday night after the Dodgers learned they had clinched the NL West baseball title. For a look at what the Dodgers called a 'tough see 4-C NEW YORK Despite the 1982 football strike and the apparent escalation of drug abuse among National Football League players, football remains more popular than baseball among adult Americans, according to the result of a New York Times-CBS News poll. The poll, taken as baseball was in the midst of its pennant races and football was beginning its season, almost duplicates the results of a similar survey taken two years ago.

Asked "if you had a choice between watching a very important baseball game involving your favorite team or watching a very important football game involving your favorite team, which would you pick?" 49 percent of the respondents this time chose football and 33 percent chose baseball. In 1981, football prevailed, 48 percent to 31 percent. "We're pleased, of course, as we were two years ago with the favorable response," said Fete Rozelle, the NFL commissioner. "The NFL has felt for some time that it has captured the imagination of the public. We certainly will make every effort to maintain our popularity in the future." BOWIE KUIIN, the outgoing baseball commissioner, declined comment on the results of the poll.

The breakdown of responses mirrored the 1981 poll in its specific as well as its general results; in both instances only the elderly, the poor and those with less education preferred baseball. I Flounder Joe earned hi name with hard work Jeff Klinkenberg's column, 1 6-C 20 college teams fared 1 1. Georgia (3-0-1) beat Miss. State 20-7 6-C 12. Florida (3-0-1) vs.

LSU, night 13. SMU (3-0) vs. Tex-Arlmgton, night 14. Michigan (3-1) beat Indiana 43-18 7-C 15. Miami (4-1) beat Duke 56-17 1-C 16.

LSU (2-1) vs. Florida, night 17. Florida St. (2-2) lost to Auburn 27-24 1-C 18. Washington (3-1) beat Navy 27-10 8-C 19.

Maryland (3-1) beat Virginia 23-3 8-C 20. Ariz. State (2-0-1) vs. Stanford, late I low AP's Top 1. Nebraska (5-0) beat Syracuse 63-7 7-C 2.

Texas (2-0) vs. Rice, night 3. Arizona (4-0-1) tied California 33-33 8-C 4. Iowa (3-1) lost to Illinois 33-0 7-C 5. N.

Carolina (5-0) beat Ga. Tech 38-21 6-C 6. Alabama (4-0) beat Memphis St. 44-13 6-C 7. W.

Virginia (5-0) beat Pitt 24-2 1 8-C 8. Ohio St. (3-1-0) beat Minnesota 69-18 7-C 9. Oklahoma (3-1-0) beat Kansas St. 29-10 7-C 10.

Auburn (3-1) beat Florida St. 27-24 1-C.