The Tampa Tribune du lieu suivant : Tampa, Florida • 17

Pago birds Philadelphia Eagles fly south to practice at One Buccaneer Place THE TAMPA TRIBUNE Wednesday, January 2, 199J Bit TTT7U70 ESSSSBSLj I n.N No. 1 Colorado .....10 No. 2 Georgia Tech 45 No. 4 Miami 43 iS M. -ll No.

5 Notre Dame 9 No. 19 Nebraska .....21 No. 3 Texas 3 TTfiiV Buffaloes survive late scare to Yellow Jackets end season as the MVP Craig Erickson leads 'Canes make claim to No. I.Will the polls nation's only unbeaten Division l-A to most points and largest victory 1 -Ai. agree? The answer comes today.

team at 11-0-1. margin in Cotton Bowl history. Tks Morksnq After Tom McEwen Glemsoii 6D i 'sat aims Bkme XN Wr en in 30 0 win if Tiger defense makes itself tight at home On paper, it looked like a good matchup, 9-2 Clemson vs. 8-3 Illinois. W.

Illinois was the only team to beat No. 1 Colorado, and shared the Big Ten title. Clemson lost only to Georgia Tech and Virginia outgaining Georgia Tech and Was known to have an agile, mobile and hostile defense. was a matchup for just more than ejght minutes, by which time Clemson had driven to a quick Chris Gardocki field goal, established the passing game thought to be suspect, recovered an Illinois fumble at the 14 and converted that first of four turn- SUGAR BOWL Tennessee 23 Virginia 22 Page 3 ROSE BOWL 1, 46 Iowa 34 Page 4 GATOR BOWL Michigan ....35 I 3 Page 6 i FIESTA BOWL Louisville ..34 Alabama 7 Page 6 i 111 1 1 i Hi By JOEY JOHNSTON Tribune Staff Writer TAMPA The national championship was decided elsewhere. Nonetheless, Tuesday's Hall of Fame Bowl became the perfect forum for Clemson to solidify its hold on No.

1. In total defense, that is. Clemson swarmed and smothered Illinois 30-0 before about 50,000 Tampa Stadium fans. The actual attendance was not announced, but 63,154 tickets were sold. Clemson quarterback DeChane Cameron, the game's Most Valuable Player, set the tone when he directed a game-opening 16-play, 71-yard drive.

It produced Chris Gardocki's 18-yard field goal, all the scoring Clemson needed. Cameron threw two touchdown passes, a 14-yarder to flanker Doug Thomas and a 17-yarder to fullback Howard Hall. Gardocki finished with a Fame Bowl-record three field goals, while roverback Arlington Nunn of Clearwater scored on a 34-yard interception return. Illinois, limited to. 247 yards of offense, suffered four turnovers, five sacks and a blocked punt.

Clemson's top-ranked defense, which allowed only 216.9 yards a game during the regular season, never let up. "Our defensive coordinator Bob Trott told us to be like sharks," Clemson linebacker John Johnson said. "Cut the throat, smell the blood and pour it on. We knew all the eyes would be on our defense. Everybody wanted to know how good we really were.

We showed Thomas touchdown. And that was that. jx was 10-0, but the game belonged to Clemson and to the fans inside Tampa Sta-. dium, because surely television sets all over the country began switching in search of a more interesting game, even if temporarily. As it turned out, that was a problem, with Geqrgia Tech slamming Nebraska and Miami beating up on Texas.

Clemson wasted little time Only thing was, by the time the television viewers had flipped back to the NBC telecast of the Hall of Fame Bowl, Cameron had passed 17 yards for another touchdown and Clemson cornerback Arlington Nunn of Clearwater had returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown and it was 24-0 with 5:22 elapsed in the second period. the TV dials went spinning for eur4 Ctmn Httnskic fane at Tom no Cfariinm them all today." Especially the players and fang) from Illinois. an "It was not a point of us not ing up, it was Clemson being on aor. other level," said Illinois running back Howard Griffith, who lost fumble 6n Illinois' first offensive play. That level could boost No.

Clemson (10-2) into the top 10 the final rankings are released toj day. No. 16 Illinois finished 8-4. "I don't think we're going to get this score I wish we Illinois coach John Mackovic saio "Defensively, Clemson can matclrji with anybody, anytime. Their deJ fense ranks above all the others See CLEMSON'S, Page 6' headed for the beaches, or back to their parking spots for more fried chicken and another shooter.

was too bad. The halftime show of massed high school bands was. superlative, as had been the patriotic pre-game show with the fly-over by F-16s and the Army parachutists dropping from the skies. Tribune photograph by RON J. BERARD Clemson's Doug Brewster blocks Forry Wells' punt, setting up TD.

Trt? Hi) Mi Buffaloes top Irish, await vote for No. 1 3.n3 By JIM HENRY Tribune Staff Writer iSIJ V'-- MIAMI It may be remembered as thefij fifth-down championship or the national ti tie with an asterisk, but Colorado won'C mind. The Buffaloes will remember it foria what the trophy represents. National champions. rc Top-ranked Colorado held on to beat' No.

5 Notre Dame 10-9 in Tuesday Orange Bowl before an enthralled sellout crowd of 75,062 and a national television. i 2 audience. When the final Associated Press 5S DOll iSilj (i 1-1-1 y-3 Tribune photograph by COLIN HACKLEY Tech coach Bobby Ross gets a victory ride after Citrus Bowl win. announced today, the Buffaloes Why, Clemson not only killed Illinois, it tortured the Illini with an agonizingly long persecution of 3ft hours. ft was such a rout that even most of the Clemson fans left early for their chicken bM shooters and NBC was able to switch to the Fiesta Bowl, troubled enough without haying such a lopsided game as a lead-in.

while the score was 30-0 and would appear to be a balanced victory, know this; The Clemson defense's production of two interceptions and a fumble led to 13 points, a blocked punt to another three. Illinois still may be trying to score on Clemson had the game been continued until the Illini produced points. Cameron was named the game's Most Valuable Player, and that was fine; But the Clemson defense, as it has all year, keyed this victory against a proud Illinois team that was simply horse-collared. defensive showcase Clemson coach Ken Hat-held said, "our defense gave up only one touchdown before our home crowd in six games at Clemson this year, and it felt like we were playing at Clemson in the early season warm, we had more people than (hey did, big stadium and on grass. no, never did I expect this kind of game.

I was nervous. I did not feel safe Until we stopped them on their first drive after the half," when it was 24-0. "Then I knew only mistakes could lose it for us and I felt our defense could do the job." defense did the job. And the offense "got going early, and when you give a team like that confidence, you can be in trouble," Illinois coach John Mackovic said. said the Clemson defense was as he expected, "as good as any in the country," but not in his wildest dreams did he figure defeat possible.

rit was a team loss from A to said Mackovic, gracious in a circumstance when grace can be elusive. Indeed, he publicly declared the bowl tflp "wonderful, except for today," and even at that, "it could have rained." It didn't. Instead, the weather was so some of the Illini clearly were drained as the game and punishment wore on. ''I guess you might say this was about a perfect day for us," Hatfield said, "and for opr; fans," who got to cheer so often and vigorously in the hot sun their orange paint fan. saw their team win a magical 10th game and over "one of them teams from the Nawth," said one fan leaving, "Their linebackers were as fast as our vid receivers," one Illini observer said.

Both very Important facts. Tom McEwen Is sports editor of the 'Canes feast on Longhorns in 46-3 romp By CHUCK MULLING Tribune Staff Writer DALLAS The eyes of Texas were upon the Cotton Bowl Tuesday. What the fans saw was an afternoon barbecue at the expense of the host. "They got branded, butchered and barbecued all in the same day," Miami defensive tackle Shane Curry said. Fourth-ranked Miami impressed everybody but the officials, rewriting the record books in a 46-3 thrashing of No.

3 Texas before a crowd of 73,521. "This senior class is the last of the renegades, so we went out the way we wanted to dancing and having fun," Miami receiver Randal Hill said. The Hurricanes brushed aside 202 yards in penalties as if they were debris from the New Year's Eve parties. Miami faced first-and-40 on its opening possession and recovered for a field goal. After that, nothing could hold back the Hurricanes.

Still, the final rankings will put the Hurricanes (10-2) in their place today. Miami's slim hope at repeating as national champion likely vanished when top-ranked Colorado (11-1-1) beat No. 5 Notre Dame 10-9 in the Orange Bowl, and No. 2 Georgia Tech (11-0-1) whipped Nebraska 45-21 in the Citrus Bowl. "I'm not going to politic for anything except maybe a playoff," Miami coach Dennis Erickson said.

"If Miami isn't the best team, then I don't want to play who is," Texas coach David McWilliams said. "Today, we played the best team, and they deserve to be considered among the best." Miami won its fourth consecutive New Year's Day The Hurricanes have been to eight straight New Year's Day bowls and have been out of the championship hunt only once (1984) during that stretch. Senior quarterback Craig Erickson picked apart a Texas secondary that was should be awarded their first national title in a sport other than snow skiing. Every top-ranked team that has won aTu bowl game has been crowned national, champion, so it would be a major break with tradition if Colorado doesn't finish Ntf.j 1 when the final Associated Press poll lsj released today. Jj "We deserve to maintain our national--j ranking," Colorado coach Bill McCartney said.

"When we fly Into Denver today, weou will be celebrating. Any time you hold team like Notre Dame to nine points, It'sou quite an accomplishment. Comparative scores really mean nothing. If you look arJrv what Colorado has done all year, we should be No. 1." ou Colorado's dreams nearly melted fromJj the Rocket's exhaust, however.

Raghib Ismail's 91-yard punt return the apparent winning touchdown with 43' seconds remaining was called back on clipping penalty. Senior Greg Davis wasj whistled for the foul near the Notre Dame. 36-yard line. 1 The Irish's last-gasp drive ended when- quarterback Rick Mirer threw his third ln terception. Defensive back Deon Figures ln-n tercepted Mirer's pass around the 45 with eight seconds left and stayed on hls feet long enough to start the Buffaloes' cele-j bration.

"I hope Colorado wins It all," Notre; Dame coach Lou Holtz said. "But that's not' See COLORADO, Page) 3 stakes claim Citrus rout kers, ranked 19th, are the lowest-ranked Nebraska team in more than a decade. 1 That didn't stop the Yellow Jackets from campaigning for No. 1. "I couldn't even go to sleep tonight and dream that anyone could possibly not vote Georgia Tech No.

1," Yellow Jackets linebacker Marlon Williams said. "After what we did today, I can't believe that anyone wouldn't think we're the No. 1 team." Georgia Tech All-Amerlcan free safety Ken Swilling argued that the very intelligence of the voters themselves should disqualify Colorado's No. 1 ranking. "They shouldn't let someone who doesn't know anything about football except how to write about it, decide who the national champion Is." Swilling said.

"I think that's why there should be a playoff system." Although neither Nebraska coach Tom Osborne nor Ross had an opinion See GA. TECH, Page 4 Georgia Tech to crown with By PATRICK CONNERS Tribune Staff Writer ORLANDO The team with the best test scores In college football still might not finish first in the class. Georgia Tech, the only unbeaten team in the country, capped an A-plus season Tuesday and staked Its claim to the national title, beating Nebraska 45-21 In the Florida Citrus Bowl. But the Yellow Jackets (11-0-1) have to wait for the outcome of today's polls to find out their class rank. "I feel like we deserve it No.

1 right now," Georgia Tech coach Bobby Ross said. "I don't know what else we can do, but I feel like we are deserving of it because we are the only undefeated team In the country." Georgia Tech began the day ranked second behind Colorado, which edged Notre Dame 10-9 in the Orange Bowl. No. 3 Miami beat No. 4 Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets have not beaten a team currently ranked in the top 10, and the Cornhus- See PENALTIES, Page.