Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 43

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11. 1987 3c ST. PETERSBURG TIMES FSU's McManus: A pedestrian in the fast lane SPORTS COLUMNIST ram ZUK0 Miami (another concussion). He just has a knack for winning." And for collecting concussions, which is why Ionata and his pals on the line try their best to protect McManus. Sadly, people will remember McManus' failures and forget his successes.

They'll recall his errant pass for a potential game-winning two-point conversion against Miami. But they'll forget that he also threw a brilliant 18-yard touchdown pass to Ronald Lewis to set up that play. But that's okay with McManus. He's doing the best he can with what he has. Take it or leave it.

"I'd really like to win the national title," he said. "But my main goal is to get my degree (in sports management). Then maybe I'll go on to law school." So you haven't thought about a career in the NFL. huh? "Not really." he answered. Then he thought for a moment.

"But if somebody picks me," he added, "I'll go. You never know." Indeed. 199 pounds, but forget the 6-1. Ivan Boesky must have held the ruler the day they measured McManus. He even looks non-descript.

He has sideburns, receding blond hair, and a short, stocky frame. Imagine Barney Rubble playing quarterback. That's Danny Boy. But McManus isn't mere baggage. He inspires.

He leads. And if FSU gets to the top, it will be largely because of No. 14. "I wouldn't trade Danny for any quarterback in the country," said senior wide receiver Herb Gainer, who caught four passes Saturday, including one for a touchdown. "He's a fighter, the best blocking quarterback in the country.

He'd play offensive guard if he could." It's sort of an unwritten law that Miami will act as designated producer of this state's great quarterbacks. And it's generally assumed that if Florida State makes a serious run at the title, it will be because of the defense and the running attack. "Yeah, but we win with him," said offensive tackle Joe Ionata. "Two years ago, we were 4-0 before he got hurt against Auburn (a concussion). Last year, we were 3-0 under him and then he got hurt against nor Jare.

He's from Dania, but he currently resides in Relative Obscurity. His coach, for some unknown reason, still refers to him as Fred. Most of the time, it seems that his primary duty is to be sure the football makes a safe journey from the center to either Sammie Smith, Victor Floyd, Dayne Williams or any of the battalion of blockbuster running backs at Florida State's disposal. If they could, the Seminoles probably would snap the ball directly into the backfield and eliminate the middle man altogether. The fact is, McManus isn't a bad quarterback.

He's just not real good. He has neither a quick release nor a classic throwing motion. He sort of coaxes the ball forward, like he's heaving a water balloon. He's listed as 6-foot-l and 199 pounds. Believe the HATT1ESBURG, MISS.

Florida State quarterback Danny McManus didn't post the kind of numbers that make the Heisman Trophy voters wring their hands, wink at each other, and whisper "We got a win-ner." Thirteen completions, 27 attempts, 118 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions. Why does the word pedestrian come to mind? But Saturday afternoon, inside ancient Roberts Stadium, the Seminoles beat the living daylights out of Southern Mississippi. Florida State scored eight touchdowns on the way to a 61-10 victory the worst defeat at home since Southern Miss began playing football in 1912. And on Homecoming, no less. Yet McManus accounted for only one of those eight TDs.

As usual, the Seminoles' defense and the running attack were the headline acts. McManus added little to the Seminoles' offense, nor did he take much away. He was a bit-part actor in a major production. He was just kind of there. But such is the life of a generic quarterback.

McManus arrives in a plain brown wrapper, quietly goes about his business, and leaves with neither fan SemmDimoIles itudd wiExD in -61-10 worn) Florida as good as Fylleirfcoini is i bad inn 65-0 irourft Statistics, 2-C By BOB HARIQ Timet Stiff Writer Statistics, 2-C By JOHN HARRIS Tlmat Staff Writer i A i 9 II 1 r-y( fa AT M' Mi. i 'f i m. 7 GAINESVILLE That old worrier, Florida coach Galen Hall, said he was troubled by the unknown. As in how the 18th-ranked Gators would react Saturday to unranked and decided underdog Cal State-Fullerton. As in whether the visitors from Earthquake Central were as bad as they looked in losses to Louisiana State and Hawaii.

They were, and Florida was every bit as good in a 65-0 demolition in front of 72,336 partisan fans at Florida Field. The outcome was the Gators' largest margin of victory since a 77-14 win over West Texas State in 1982. "This is the type of game where if we did not get ready to play and had gone out and turned the ball over and not been sharp, the outcome would have been much different," Hall said. "We went out and took control of the football game like we knew we had to." The Gators (4-2) did it their way all day. They gained 440 yards compared with 111 for Cal-Fuller-ton.

They rediscovered their passing game. And they continued to ride the coattails of freshman running back Emmitt Smith, who carried the ball 22 times for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Smith has rushed for 100 yards or more in a school-record five consecutive Nrm V-' Tirrwt photo JOE WALLES Wayne Williams goes airborne to take the ball to the 1-foot line for the Gators. Miami scores early and often, puts Maryland away, 46-16 games. Cal-Fullerton (2-4) did not travel to Gainesville from love of the sport, but for the love of money $200,000 to be exact.

The Titans' financial cupboard was bare, so they decided to hit the road against competition outside the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. The Titans bit the bullet and were summarily trampled by Hawaii (44-0) and LSU (56-12). They were 40-point underdogs Saturday, and did absolutely nothing to dispel their reputation as the Blue Plate Special of the week. "I'd be naive if I said the experience of getting beat 56-12 and 65-0 was an enjoyable experience," Cal-Fullerton coach Gene Murphy said. "If you learn from your mistakes, we'd be the most intelligent team on the West Coast.

We made enough mistakes for the rest of the season." UF led 16-0 after one quarter, 37-0 at halftime. The Gators scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and five of six in the first half. The Florida passing game has been a sensitive issue all year, so it seemed proper that quarterback Kerwin Bell completed 3 of 4 passes for 52 yards on UF's opening drive. Bell passed to new starter Ernie Mills for 16 yards and hit Sta-cey Simmons for 21 to move the ball to the Cal-Fullerton 29. Three plays later, Bell and fullback Anthony Williams collaborated on a 15-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead with 7:36 remaining in the first quarter.

"Nothing bothered my confidence in them (receivers). That was blown out of proportion," said Bell, who completed 10 of 16 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns. "It was just a matter of getting more repetitions. I wanted to take one series and just throw the ball and get the rhythm back and make them catch the ball over and over." Saturday, the inopportune drops from previous games were forgotten as Simmons and Mills caught 5 passes for 90 yards. Mills had a 28-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.

Following Jarvis Williams' 22-yard punt return, the Gators switcHed tactics and ran the ball nine times in an 11 -play drivel Smith cleared the goal line from 1 yard out as though armed with a fiberglass pole, and Florida led 14-0. Cal-Fullerton gift-wrapped two more points on the ensuing kickoff when Todd White botched a razzle-dazzle lateral intended for John Gibbs and tossed it through the end zone for a safety. Wayne Williams replaced Smith at tailback, but that was the only noticeable difference in UF's next scoring drive. Operating from midfield, Bell passed for 20 yard to tight end Walter (Mom and 7 yards to Simmons. Wayne Williams carried two times for 11 yards to the 1.

Anthony Williams scored on the next play to make it 23-0. It was 51-0 after three quar-ters. The Bell-to-Mills combo clicked for one score and 245-pound freshman back Willie McGrady scored his first collegiate touchdown an 8-yard run. "We didn't know what to expect from them other than what we had seen on film," Florida defensive tackle Rhoudy Weston said with a straight face. "They could have conic in here and played a great football Yeah, right.

By RICK STROUD nnwiSUff Writer HATTIESBURG, Miss. There was little enthusiasm among Florida State football players before Saturday's game against Southern Mississippi, and Herb Gainer could sense it. So he did something out of the ordinary. Gainer, a senior wide receiver, asked the coaches to leave the locker room. He had something to say.

"I stood up and told the team, 'We've still got a chance to win the national Gainer recalled. "We've got to tell everybody we're contenders and not I told the team they (Southern Miss) wouldn't invite Oklahoma to Homecoming. They weren't showing us any respect. We've got to get the same respect Oklahoma gets." A few hours later, Southern Mississippi's Homecoming crowd of 25,853 was reduced to a small gathering as the Florida State fans in attendance screamed for more points. Fittingly, Gainer caught the final touchdown pass in a 61-10 FSU victory at Roberts Stadium.

The sixth-ranked Seminoles, while giving Southern Miss its worst beating ever in Hattiesburg, appear determined to reclaim their place among national-championship contenders. FSU (5-1) responded to last week's loss to Miami by scoring the fifth-highest point total in school history. "We showed we have character," said Gainer, who caught four passes for 55 yards. "We wanted to prove that we could come back." The Seminoles offer these facts as proof. They got touchdowns from three different tailbacks Sammie Smith, Dexter Carter and Victor Floyd.

They got touchdown passes from three different quarterbacks Danny McManus, Chip Ferguson and Peter Tom Willis. Fullback Dayne Williams scored on a 1-yard plunge. Another touchdown was scored on a blocked punt. And Derek Schmidt, the goat of last week's game against Miami, added two field goals and seven extra points. "We just rose to the occasion," said Carter, who scored on a 39-yard run in the second quarter.

"We wanted to come out and have a good game and show that we are still one of the best teams in the nation." The game was over almost as quickly as it began. Smith scored on a 30-yard run in the first quarter and the Seminoles took a 14-0 lead when Kelvin Smith blocked a punt, which was recovered in the end zone by Bill Ragans. The closest the Golden Eagles got was 14-7, when fullback Reginald Warnsley scored on a 69-yard run with 7:51 left in the first quarter. The Seminoles blocked another punt their fifth of the season leading to a Schmidt field goal and a 31-10 lead at halftime. The rout was so bad that Smith, who rushed for 128 yards on 13 tries in the first half, barely broke a sweat.

He carried only three times in the second half and finished with 142 yards to surpass 100 for the second consecutive week. "This was a game where everyone got a chance to play," Smith said. "We've got the guys who can do the job. It was a good approach." When Smith wasn't in the game, Carter was running for 74 yards on eight carries. And Floyd, the team's leading rusher last year, scored from 20 yards out on his first carry of the game.

He finished with 60 yards. McManus hit 13 of 27 passes for 118 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. All together, the Seminoles totaled 602 yards of total offense. "We were a very frustrated team last week in regards to playing a team (Miami) that we felt we were two touchdowns better than," said Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. "We really played well today.

"Our defense played well. Other than about three big plays, our defense probably played about as well as it could." Southern Mississippi had 310 yards of total offense, but only 40 came through the air. Seventeen-year-old freshman quarterback Brian Favre completed only 5 of 30 passes and was intercepted four times. About the only thing the Seminoles didn't do Saturday was give themselves a reason to think that next week's game against Louisville will be anything more than a laugher. Southern Miss beat Louisville by 59 a week ago.

Another mismatch awaits next weekend in Tallahassee. "We can't let up," said linebacker Paul McGowan. "It was a compliment that we only dropped a few spots (from fourth to sixth) in the polls. If we win these games big and then go to Auburn (on Nov. 7) and win, we'll be back in it.

"And that's what we set out to do." If I tween the end and the tackle," McDowell said. "They either had to take me or Bennie Blades and one of us kept getting through. "It takes a lot of effort to block one. You've got to get off the snap quick, especially if the center has a hitch. As soon as you see the hitch, you go." Miami got another break when Wright was harassed out of punt formation and into throwing an incomplete pass which turned the ball over to the 'Canes at their 38.

But Warren Williams fumbled away a screen pass three plays later to squash that chance, allowing Maryland temporarily into the ballgame. Both teams would swap turnovers again before the half ended, with Miami linebacker George Mira intercepting a pass by Dan Henning to kill a Maryland drive at the Hurricane 8. But Bratton fumbled on the next play and linebacker Scott Whitier recovered to set up the Terps first touchdown a 13-yard run by Mike Anderson just 7:36 before the half. Henning then tried to hit Brian Lowery with a conversion pass, but the ball was under thrown and Miami still led 14-8. That lead swelled to 17-8 when you guessed it McDowell deflected another Wright punt that wobbled 15-yards before flying out of bounds at the Miami 30.

Greg Cox, who broke a string of nine straight field goals by missing a 45-yarder in the first quarter, atoned for his mistake with a 2-yarder as the half ended. "The special teams were a big part of the ballgame," Johnson said. "Especially early, when our offense just self-destructed." If Maryland had any hopes of making a game of it, they were dashed when the Hurricanes went 76 yards with the second half kickoff for a touchdown. MIAMI This time the Miami Hurricanes would not need a heart-thumping comeback. In fact, they barely quickened a pulse against Maryland Saturday.

But at least all of the vital signs of a national championship team were evident in Miami's 46-16 win over the Terrapins before 43,020 at the Orange Bowl. There are a lot of ways to win a football game and the Hurricanes demonstrated most of the them against Maryland. One week after needing three second half touchdowns for a sapping 26-25 win over Florida State, Miami (4-0) used a mixed bag of blocked punts and marathon drives to frustrate the Terps (2-3). "It wasn't a pretty win, but we did win," said Miami coach Jimmy Johnson. "I am pleased to be 4-0.

1 think afterward, we all ought to be thankful for the special teams. A punt block really kept us in there. "We've got an open date coming up and we've got a lot of work to do. We're still not playing the way 1 want us to play at this time." At least the Hurricanes made a stunning entrance, with Bubba McDowell blocking a Darryl Wright punt that Benie Blades scooped up and carried 22 yards into the end zone for a touchdown with just over three minutes gone in the game. Wright would be wronged again and again by the Terps' punting game, twice turning the ball over on downs after a combination of poor snaps and too much pressure prevented him from getting a kick off.

Not that the punting game has been a snap for Miami. Center Willis Peguese was up to his old tricks again, hiking the ball out of the end zone for the third time this season to cut the Hurricane lead to UPI photo Miami fullback Melvin Bratton goes over the Maryland defense to score the Hurricanes' second touchdown. 7-2 with 8:52 left in the first quarter. The Terps second blunder handed Miami the ball at its own 29 after a low snap helped Jimmie Jones and Rod Carter bury Wright for a 6-yard loss. The Hurricanes needed only five plays to score, with Melvin Bratton hurdling across from the 1-yard line with 4:29 left in the first quarter for a 14-2 lead.

"I was just lining up in the gap, be Sunday Morning Quarterback, 11 -C.