Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 37

Parimutuels: 2C NBA: 6C Golf: 7C Outdoors: 13C Tennis: 14C section SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1989 E) ST PETERSBURG TIMES BDy Jays wogu 1 1 SPORTS COLUMNIST 'WA HUBERT JLI MIZELL Toronto beats Baltimore with 3-run rally in eighth By MARC TOPKIN Timet Staff Writer Bulldogs took the money, but couldn't run Tragedy and triumph A look back at sorrows and joys of '89 season SC weekend for the third time in five years, they showed it in this showdown series with the Orioles. On Friday, the Jays won on Moseby 's two-out RBI single in the 11th inning. Then Saturday afternoon, they struck for three runs in eighth to beat the Orioles 4-3. After being limited to two hits through seven innings by Dave Johnson, Baltimore's 29-year-old rookie starter, the Blue Jays patiently pieced together a rally. It took two walks, a line-hugging sacrifice bunt by Moseby, run-scoring singles Please see BLUE JAYS 5C TORONTO Amid the champagne soakings and beer bastings in the Toronto Blue Jays' clubhouse Saturday night, there was a message to be delivered.

For a team that has been haunted by its past failures in similar situations, the Blue Jays showed two nations what they are made of, staging eighth-inning rallies on consecutive days to defeat the Baltimore Orioles and win the American League East championship. "We've proved to ourselves we are champions," centerfielder Lloyd Moseby said. "We have what champions are made of that's heart. We have a lot of heart." Knowing their season would be settled on the regular season's final Blue Jays' Mookie Wilson is congratulated by Tony Fernandez after scoring winning run Saturday. Hurricanes win 26-20; Erickson hurt Morris lifts Gators to 21-0 win By RICK STROUD Timet Staff Writer Notebook, 8C By MIKE FISH Timet Staff Writer TAMPA As if the Florida Gators didn't have enough things going right for them against Mississippi State: They had supernova tailback Emmitt Smith and a defense that was simply out of this world Saturday night.

But the Bulldogs had compounded things by taking a half-million bucks to move their EAST LANSING, Mich. The expression told it all. Miami coach Dennis Erickson stood on the sideline, hands on hips, a look of relief on his tanned face as the final seconds ticked off the clock. On an afternoon that had doom written all over it, second-ranked Miami survived More on Gators More college football home game to the unfriend-liest of confines at Tampa Stadium. The result was Florida mashing Mississippi the loss of its starting quarterback to defeat Michigan State 26-20 before a sellout crowd of 76,217 and a network tele Morris fights off sickness, 9C Duke upsets No.

7 Clemson, 10C Notebook, statistics, 9C No. 12 Vols stop No. 4 Auburn, 11C ri TAMPA If ll ississippi State University's IUU price was $500,000 to sell Saturday night's home football game with the Florida Gators, moving it from Starkville, Miss, to Tampa Stadium. A shrewd deal. It gave 2,000 Mississippians an excuse to bolt for a weekend from their state of boredom, the crowd of 68,189 became the biggest ever for a MSU home game, and the Bulldogs can use that half-million to go shopping for an offense.

Did they, however, peddle away any chance of beating the Gators? Not on your SEC life. Mississippi State wasn't about to outscore Florida, whether the meeting was in Starkville, or Gainesville, or Jacksonville, or Tampaville. They could've played until October and Mississippi State wouldn't have scored. The Gators won 21-0, dominating much as they did in an 18-0 battering of the 'Dogs last year, and in the 38-3 romp of the season before. It was a quick kayo.

Florida's defense was immediately rushing Mississippi State's starting quarterback into oblivion. For much of the first half, Eric Underwood found himself under Gators. Buried! For his two quarters, a two-bit Mississippi State offense totaled 24 yards. Saturday Night Dead. In the second half, coach Rockey Felker sent in a relief pitcher.

New quarterback Tony Shell would also be knocked around by the Gators and the Bulldogs finished with 122 yards, a sickly average of 2.22 per offensive play. Well, at least Mississippi State didn't drag it out. Those 'Dogs played as if they had a plane to catch. Sixty-six thousand Floridians, or thereabouts, seemed most appreciative. Their team won, and even with a 6 o'clock kickoff everybody could make 8:30 dinner reservations.

Was this the fastest football production since the invention of the forward pass? Whole doggone game took 130 minutes. Mississippi State made $1,920 per minute, allowing the 'Dogs to leave Tampa Stadium financially richer if artistically as poor as ever. Perhaps I'm being unfair. Maybe the home team really did have an okay offense. Maybe it's just that the Florida Gators suddenly have the meanest, hard-est-to-budge defense since the 1985 Chicago Bears.

I think not, but With the return of suspended linebackers Huey Richardson and Tim Paulk, the Gators do indeed gnaw with defensive teeth twice as sharp. You sense the pressure easing on quarterback Kyle Morris, running back extraordinaire Emmitt Smith and their UF offensive brothers. At least for now. Next week, Florida plays at Louisiana State. A far deeper test for these unranked Gators whose record has risen to 3-1.

If they win in Baton Rouge, the sweetness could be around for a while, since the Florida schedule will then serve up two more NCAA middle-weights, Vanderbilt and New Mexico. But you know about Gator Novembers, right? That is the flammable football month when Florida teams traditionally decide whether they're to be classified as strong, weak or in between. The opposition is monstrous, from Auburn to Georgia to Kentucky, and then in the early days of December, to Florida State. If the Gators stay warm in October, and their defenses keeps knocking people cold, maybe they will fatten their record to 5-2, or even 6-1. That would make it far easier, and more promising, to face up to Nasty November.

Beating Mississippi State became something of a must for Gators coach Galen Hall. Florida boosters remain divided as to whether Hall should be invited to stay for the 1990 season. Earlier in the day, the Duke Blue Devils achieved a gargantuan upset of Clemson, a team considered a prime national-championship possibility. For reasons fairly obvious, that had Gator folks talking before the kickoff at Tampa Stadium. Duke is creatively coached by Steve Spurrier, the 1966 Heisman Trophy quarterback from Florida who will have major support if the Gators decide to replace Hall, who while living with the enduring burdens of NCAA probation has gone 22-16 during the past three seasons.

Had the Gators lost to unimposing Mississippi State, the wails would've been deafening. "We Want Spurrier!" chants would be heard from here to North Carolina. But ol' Galen, he's a fighter. But a survivor? We'll see. All that's for sure is that, against Mississippi State, Hall and State 21-0 behind a defense which forced three turnovers and a gutty performance by a quarterback who shook off the flu long enough to toss three touchdown passes.

Sophomore Kyle Morris, who almost did not play because of an intestinal virus, threw TDs of 19, 34 and 10 yards to delight a crowd of 68,109 clad mostly in orange and blue. The victory improved the Gators to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference, providing them with an undercurrent of confidence heading into next week's game at LSU. Mississippi State fell to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the SEC. But maybe those new riches reaped from the game will enable the Bulldogs to bring some more offensive linemen on the next trip to Florida. "We knew their strength was run-Please see GATORS 9C vision audience.

They did it behind four Carlos Huerta field goals including a career-best 52 yarder and another dominating performance by their defense. "The transition from the coaching change wasn't complete until this happened," said Erickson, who replaced Jimmy Johnson after last season. "We all showed some character today coaches, players. It shows something to win a game against a good team under these circumstances." But after savoring the victory Saturday, Erickson was left to ponder the immediate future of his team. Let the college football junkies speculate on upcoming games against Florida State and Notre Dame.

The problem at hand is quarterback Craig Erickson. Erickson left the game in the sec-Please see HURRICANES 8C Timet photo JOE WALLES UPs Kyle Morris fires downfield as Hesham Ismail (77) blocks Rodney Stowers (97). AUTO RACING Bucs have a chance to join the elite JON WILSON By MICHELLE KAUFMAN Timet Staff Writer In racing, fans get close and personal MINNEAPOLIS The way Rob Taylor sees it, the "new-and-improved" Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven't proven enough in their first three games. Until they beat a team like the Minnesota Vikings or Chicago Bears, he said, they won't know how far they've truly come. A fr Timet photo MACK GOETHE Jan Lammers' Jaguar XJR-10 finished second in World Challenge qualifying.

"If we want to end that separation between us and the top two teams in our division, we have to beat them," said Taylor, an offensive tackle. "Playing them close isn't good enough anymore. No matter how well we've played lately, it won't mean much if we continue to lose to Chicago and Minnesota. We need to break into that top group." NFL on the air Bucs at Vikings, 1 p.m., Ch. 13, WRBQ-1380 Dolphins at Oilers, 1 p.m., Ch.

8, WTKN-570 Rams at 49ers, 4 p.m., Ch. 13 A TAMPA uto racing fans have it made. They get to see the game's main characters close enough to whiff their essence. You wouldn't do it in a football locker room, but it violates no behavioral standards in the racing ambiance. When cars are the stars, fans can mill around and watch while the famous ones are stripped bare and their innards spread all over the ground.

You won't find that happening in your average athletic clubhouse. And tell me a ballsport where the followers and the media and the hangers-on can lean over the team huddles, where a long enough ear might get you a strategy secret if the power wrench isn't on. Some people wonder why auto racing's so popular, consistently among the world's most appreciated sports. They wonder what special lure will bring a line of fans' cars creeping into the venue even before the sun has donned a decent daytime hue. Indeed, there's a body of philosophy about that.

It addresses speed, power, danger, high-tech precision, blood-sport allure, all that. Dan Gurney, the racing legend who's at the GTE World Challenge with his Toyota racing team, likes to speak of "great sounds" engine music as a Please see WILSON 8C TODAY'S SCHEDULE When: Gates open 8:30 a.m. Today'a highlights: Warmups for Barber Saabs, Camel GTP Lights, a.m.; Qualifying, Carteret Savings Bank Vintage and Historic cars, a.m.; Reeves Import Motorcars Parade Lip and GTE Sponsors Parade Lap, 11:30 a.m.-l p.m.; Barber Saab Pro Series race, 1 00 kilometers, 1:15 p.m.; World Challenge Camel Grand Prix, 360 kilometers, 2:45 p.m.; Carteret Savings Bank Vintage and Historic races, 5:30 p.m. They'll have a chance today and next Sunday, with back-to-back games against the Vikings and Bears. Today's game at the Metrodome starts at 1 p.m.

The Bears (3-0) lead the NFC Central Division, the Bucs (2-1) are in second place, and the Vikings (1-2) are tied for third with Green Bay. A Tampa Bay win over either team would be a his troupe got everything they needed. Please see BUCS 3C.