Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 37

SPECIAL SECTION DUwRC IEO nllLL; 1NU. V-I1JU OUILC stifles Penn State. 14C. COLLEGE FOOTBffi 1 VIRGINIA UPSET: Fumbles cost -I No. 16 Cavaliers.

13C. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1993 TIMES Whew? Ward scare too close for comniiFoirt lie 17 I FSU wins 54-0, but key results were in X-rays of Franchise's ribs. By BOB HARIG Timet Staff Wrtter V. --i v. AP FSU to the national championship, was down.

"There was not enough time to think it was the end of the world," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "You could hear the crowd cringing," FSU center Clay Shiver said. "It gave everybody an uneasy feeling." Especially Ward, who walked off the field but was taken to the hospital for X-rays, which proved negative. According to FSU team doctor Tom Haney, Ward bruised ribs on his left side next to his sternum. It has not been determined whether he will play next week at Maryland.

But the bigger question for Seminole fans will be Ward's status for No. 1 FSU's showdown Nov. 13 at No. 2 Notre Dame. "He should be able to play against Notre Dame," Haney said.

"He could have returned without doing any damage to himself. It's really Please see FSU 15C TALLAHASSEE Rain soaked the stadium all Saturday afternoon, but after what happened in Florida State's 54-0 rout of Wake Forest, a flood of biblical proportions could have done no worse damage to the enthusiasm of the homecoming crowd. Charlie Ward, injured. The unprintable, unspeakable, unthinkable words were true. The FSU quarterback lay on the Doak Campbell Stadium turf, writhing in pain.

His ribs had been crunched by Wake Forest defenders with only 14 seconds remaining in the first half. The Franchise, who is expected to lead Seminoles quarterback Charlie Ward (11) is helped from the field after injuring his ribs near the end of the first half. X-rays proved negative. Tlh No. 1 Florida State 54 Wake Forest 0 No.

2 Notre Dame 58 Navy 27 No. 3 Ohio State 24 No. 12 Penn State 6 No. 4 Miami 42 Temple 7 No. 5 Alabama 40 Southern Miss 0 No.

6 Nebraska 21 No. 20 Colorado 17 No. 7 Arizona No. 15 UCLA late No. 8 Tennessee 55 South Carolina 3 No.

9 Auburn 31 Arkansas 21 No. 10 Florida 33 Georgia 26 No. 11 Texas 37 SMU 13 No. 13 West Virginia 43 Syracuse 0 No. 25 Kansas State 21 No.

14 Oklahoma 7 N.C. State 34 No. 16 Virginia 29 No. 17 Louisville idle No. 18 N.

Carolina idle No. 19 Washington 17 Arizona State 32 No. 21 Wisconsin 13 No. 24 Michigan 10 No. 23 Indiana 10 No.

22 Michigan St 0 AROUND THE STATE Troy State 29 Central Florida 15 IF Anthone Lott calls time out before a last-second TD by Georgia, negating the play and score. Florida uses the second life to hang on for a 33-26 win. I 1 .,11 1 1, iuui.ik.il. "I mmmm-mp. W' i-mr 1 -J a 1" -i 5 1 ei zi, fi ft 6' t-: -V i i I ryh; AP Times photo ROBERT ROGERS SPORTS COLUMNIST HUBERT MIZELL yards and two touchdowns.

"Zeier is such an unstoppable passer," said the heroic, hairless Florida senior. "I feared this might be payback for the (September) win we snatched away from Kentucky in the closing seconds. "Sure enough, I suddenly felt a By JOHN ROMANO Times Stall Writer JACKSONVILLE When it appeared hopeless, when it seemed Eric Zeier absolutely could not be stopped, Anthone Lott discovered the secret. The Florida freshman stopped time itself. Unbeknownst to Georgia, to most of the 80,392 at the Gator Bowl Saturday and even to some of his teammates, Lott called a timeout a second before Zeier threw a seemingly historic but ultimately worthless touchdown pass with one second remaining.

The officials ruled the play dead and thereby gave a new life to Florida. The Gators survived two more pass attempts by Zeier the last coming from the 2-yard line with no time remaining to keep their dreams of a Southeastern Conference championship intact with a 33-26 victory. "I was on my knees praying. And when I looked up, I saw that we had the touchdown," linebacker Mitch Davis said. "Then I looked up again and it was gone.

"I didn't know what happened and I still don't. Until someone explains it to me I'd say the referees probably cost us the game." Lott, for one, wonders what the fuss is all about. He saw defensive coordinator Ron Zook frantically hollering for a timeout Florida had only 10 men on the field and Lott obliged by running to an official. Jerry Jerman was open only because Lott didn't cover him, he said. "I was just doing my job.

They wanted a timeout, so I called it," Lott said. "I relaxed because I knew it wasn't a touchdown." He should have let others in on the secret. "I was already thinking about the two-point conversion," Florida linebacker Ed Robinson said. "I never heard the whistle. I was Please see GATORS 16C INSIDE UM staggers past Temple Bottom line: Hurricanes' 55th straight home win.

15C Too little, too late for Riley? FAMU wins 41-14, but Ken Riley's job is still in jeopardy. 15C N. parolina 29 Bethune-Cookman 14 Florida Morgan State 41 14 KEISMAN UPDATE CHARLIE WARD, QB, Florida State: Saturday: 13-of-20, 125 yards, 0 INTs, 0 TDs vs. Wake Forest. He left in the second quarter with bruised ribs.

Season: 8 games, 168-of-241, 2,011 yards, 18 TDs, 1 INT. TRENT DILFER, QB, Fresno State: Saturday: 21-of-34, 309 yards, 0 INTs, 2 TDs vs. Wyoming. Season: 8 games, 164-of-254, 2,520 yards, 19 TDs, 4 INTs. HEATH SHULER, QB, Tennessee: Saturday: 13-0T-22, 171 yards, 0 INTs, 1 TD vs.

South Carolina. Season: 8 games, 130-of-202, 1,787 yards, 22 TDs, 5 INTs. Touchdown total lor quarterback Include ruining TDa. Summaries, scores 12C Conferences 13C Top 25 14C 7 injured critically after Wisconsin win Celebration produced suffering at the University of Wisconsin Saturday as fans trampled fans after the home team beat Michigan. Seven persons were injured critically when about 12,000 spectators collapsed chain-link and iron-rail fences and poured onto the field.

In all, 75 people were hurt. "We tried to get some of the people back so the people below them who were getting trampled'could get out," a deputy sheriff said. "People k'ept falling on top of each other." 14C. Georgia quarterback Eric Zeier was disgusted with a bad pass on This one belonged to the final play. The Gators were ecstatic.

unstoppable Rhett When it was over, Georgia players crumbled to knees in Gator Bowl slop. Tears dripped to the quagmire. Florida's lucky victors, survivors of another Evel Knievel afternoon, celebrated only briefly. They were too tired, too soaked and too drained. Rhett, splashing off the field with a grin, resembled a coal miner who'd just got a bonus after working a double shift in a flooded shaft.

His white jersey had turned to gray grime. Errict's white socks were now black. After 41 football totes, you wondered if his cleated shoes had any remaining tread. Please see MIZELL 16C big pain. Georgia people were cheering.

Zeier had completed one in the end zone. Clock was down to 0:01. Now we could lose 34-33. But wait! God had heard me and Lawrence. He had decided, after all, that this one too should belong to the What has Georgia done wrong? What about Bulldog prayers? Just before Zeier took the climactic snap, Florida freshman cor-nerback Anthone Lott screamed for a timeout.

Bulldogs didn't hear. Zeier 's laser shot to Jerry Jerman in the end zone was perfect, but then uncounted. No play. No touchdown. No miracle for Georgia.

JACKSONVILLE eorgia muckety-muck passer was shooting down Florida's defenseless secondary. Eric Zeier threw his 65th pass of an ugly, rainy, windy, squishy, captivating Saturday. Threatening, literally at the last second, to steal an extraordinary college football game for the UnderDawgs. Errict Rhett was praying. "Me and (injured UF safety) Lawrence Wright were sitting on the bench, our heads bowed, asking for spiritual help," said Rhett, an indefatigable, insatiable Gator runner.

Errict had done all he physically could, carrying 41 times for 183.