Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 59

Georgia nips Georgia Tech; Arkansas squeaks by Raiders Page D4 Noon Philadelphia at Washington, Channel 7, cable 2 Noon Houston at Tampa Bay, Channel 36, cable 4 4 3 p.m. Green Bay at Atlanta, Channel 7, cable 2 9 p.m. NBA, Chicago at Los Angeles, cable 5 orts Sunday, November 27, 1983 Autin American Statesman Section TV best bets 11 0 Paul Schnitt clvor orns season cap By KIRK BOHLS American-Statesman Staff hj-Jl Sporl Editor Longhorn explosion Tim Play Score 2:10 Mclvor, 12-yard 13-7 second pass to Bryant 0:24 Mclvor, 13-yard 14-13 UT second pass to Duhon 14:10 Walker, 1-yard 21-13 UT third dive 10:38 Ward, 31-yard 24-13 UT third field goal ilii Mclvor, 33-yard 31-13 UT third pass to Epps Bryant, 41-yard 38-13 UT third pass to Duhon 3:02 Mclvor, 60-yard 45-13 UT third pass to Epps COLLEGE STATION Second-ranked Texas marked the end of its regular season in highly irregular fashion. The Longhorns passed like they were the Brig-ham Youngs of the Southwest throwing a school-record five touchdown passes. They scored like they were Nebraska II, putting up eight fewer points Saturday than they had in their last three games combined.

They rallied behind a quarterback who had thrown just one pass in his last five games. ONLY THE BOTTOM line remained. UT capped a perfect regular season and its 17th outright Southwest Conference title 22nd overall with a 45-13 nationally televised drubbing of Texas before a record crowd of 76,751 at Kyle Field. "We ended up right at 11-0," said UT tailback John Walker, who scored one of the Horns' six touchdowns and their only rushing TD with a 1-yard dive. "That was our main goal.

We know we're No. 1. We know it, and they (Cornhuskers) know it." THE AGGIES AT least knew they weren't after watching their 13-0 second-quarter lead evaporate in a span of 14 minutes and eight seconds, during which UT rang up 45 unanswered points. The scoring bonanza all came courtesy of Rick Mclvor, the senior quarterback who emerged from mothballs to throw four touchdown passes and put his name in the school record book alongside those of Randy McEachern (four against in 1977) and Clyde Littlefield (against Daniel Baker in 1915). Bill Boy Bryant, who caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Mclvor for UT's first score, threw a 41-yard scoring pass of his own off a reverse when the junior flanker hit Brent Duhon with his first collegiate pass attempt.

Although the trickery produced a 38-13 lead with 5:12 left in the third Longhorns score 45 points in a 14:08 span. Staff Graphics by Pam Tobey quarter, Mclvor was hardly finished, hitting Kelvin Epps with a 60-yard scoring bomb to go with a 33-yard touchdown to Epps earlier in UT's 31-point spree in the third quarter. THAT'S THE BEST offensive show we've had this year," said UT linebacker Jeff Leiding of the Horns' season-best 445-yard output. "Rick was incredible. He kind of turned things around." Like the crash of Wall Street in "29 kind of turned things around.

Mclvor's stock, on the other hand, rose sharply on Saturday's showing. "He's got a pro arm, no question, but sometimes See Longhorns, D16 1 I r' I Huskers Soone survive rs II OU rally falls short in game's final moments Staff Photo by Mario Villafuerte Longhorn hero Rick Mclvor, 15, is congratulated by teammate Craig Curry. By BRAD BUCHHOLZ American-Statesman Staff NORMAN, Okla. With just under two minutes to play, 'Nebraska's Tom Osborne paced the spongy sidelines at Owen Field and bowed his head, expecting the worst. Oklahoma was going to score a touchdown and go for two points to win.

Across the field, Sooner Head Coach Barry Switzer was thinking the same thing the Rick's story is one of perseverance COLLEGE STATION Gather 'round, children, and you shall hear, no, not the midnight ride of Paul Revere but the midday saga of Rick Mclvere. doesn't rhyme.) Okay, children, now close your books, put your pencils down, sit straight in your seats, hands clasped, and please pay attention. This is a story about life and its precious lessons. This is a story about failing but not quitting. This is a story about rising above all the reasons to be discouraged and bitter.

This is a story about working hard out of the limelight of a championship season and hoping one more opportunity will come along and to make the most of it. ONCE UPON A time there came out of the West a young man blessed ywith handsome features curly hair, gray-green eyes, neatly trimmed mustache and giftsd with a gorgeous golden arm. He came to the University of Texas with all the promise of making his mark in football. And as a starry-eyed freshman he made a glorious debut one Saturday, throwing for 270 yards against Baylor for a Longhorn record. But it would not be Rick Mcl-vor's destiny to be a star.

He was a backup to Donnie Little that season and as a sophomore. BUT HE GOT his chance when he was named a starter in his junior year. And he lifted Texas to the No. 1 ranking in 1981 after rallying the Longhorns to a rousing 34-14 victory over Oklahoma and a 5-0 record. But mostly by his hands, UT was humiliated by Arkansas, 42-11, the following week.

And two weeks later he left at the half of the Houston game with a bruised shoulder and after a pathetic performance that gave the Cougars a 14-0 lead. There were boos that followed him to the sideline of the Astrodome that night ROBERT BREWER salvaged a tie in that game and started the rest of that season, carrying the Horns to a dramatic Cotton Bowl victory over Alabama. Mclvor's misfortunes resumed in 1982 when a preseason knee injury knocked him out for the year. And so it came to Rick Mclvor's senior year, and he was right in the middle of a quarterback battle back in August. Down went Todd Dodge with a shoulder separation, and it was Rob Moerschell who got the call.

Sure, Mclvor wowed 'em with an 80-yard touchdown bomb in the opener against Auburn. But his fate in this undefeated year would be to mop up and come in for a play or two. All the turmoil, all the inconsistencies at the Texas quarterback position, and Rick Mclvor was never considered part of the solution. AND SO HE sat Until Saturday's rescue mission, he had thrown a grand total of 12 passes this year. His last landed in the arms of a TCU safety who ran it back 66 yards for a touchdown.

Poor Rick Mclvor. A college career with a downward spiral. Rick Mclvor. Sadly, he had become an Aggie joke in a burnt orange uniform. The guy who can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

And so, children, the Man Above who sees all and understands everything reached down Saturday afternoon and lifted Rick Mclvor off the aluminum bench that had been his humble niche. i "GET IN THERE, Rick," a worried Coach Akers must have said as he looked up at the scoreboard and saw his forces trailing, 13-0. And, yes, in the final regular-season game of a very checkered career, Mclvor gave a national television audience a performance that will be remembered and re 1. Nebraska (12-0-0) beat Oklahoma, 28-21. 2.

Texas (11-04) beat Texas 45-13. 3. Auburn (9-1-0) did not play. 4. Illinois (10-1-0) did not play.

5. Miami, Fla. (10-1-0) did not play. 6. SMU (10-1-0) beat Houston, 34-12.

7. Georgia (9-1-1) beat Georgia Tech, 27-24. 8. Michigan (9-2-0) did not play. 9.

Brlgham Young (10-1-0) did not play. 10. Iowa (9-2-0) did not play. 11. Florida (7-2-1) did not play.

12. Clemson (9-1-1) did not play. 13. Alabama (7-3-0) lost to Boston CoU 20-13, Fri. 14.

Ohio State (8-3-0) did not play. 15. Boston Col. (9-2-0) beat Alabama, 20-13, Fri. 16.

Pittsburgh (8-2-1) did not play. 17. Maryland (8-34) did not play. 18. Air Force (8-2-0) did not play.

19. West Virginia (8-3-0) did not play. 20. East Carolina (8-3-0) did not play. sive guard Dean Steinkuhler after the game.

"The defense saved our butts." Indeed. After driving 73 yards to the Nebraska 2 in the waning moments, Oklahoma had this game in its hands. But an illegal motion called against OU tackle Brent Burks moved the Sooners back to the 7 and changed the game. A quarterback sack. An incomplete pass in the end zone.

And finally, on fourth down, Nebraska reserve defensive back Neil Harris batted away a looping pass intended for Buster Rhymes to end the game. THEY GOT OUT of town with the bag," bellowed Sooner offensive guard Eric Pope after the game. "Yeah, they got the bag, all right. But they're walking out of here on their tiptoes." Sparked by a 205-yard rushing performance by tailback Mike Rozier, Nebraska did leave Norman carrying the bag Saturday, as the nation's top-ranked football team raised its record to 12-0. But as Pope said, they left town very quietly.

The Sooners gave them a game. "No one really gave us a chance to win this game," said Switzer, whose 7-4 Sooners have lost to Nebraska three years in a row. "No one thought we had a chance except the coaches and the players. We played about as well as we can play. "We're not satisfied, though.

We didn't come See Huskers, D14 Sooners would score, and go for two. So as "Booomer Sooner" blared wildly in the background, Osborne consulted with his assistants and called a special defense for the two-point play everyone knew was coming. All the Sooners needed were two short yards. And then came the miracle. The Nebraska defense held, preserving a 28-21 victory on a soggy day in Oklahoma.

i "7 Mike Rozier gains 205 yards. Texas (11-0-0) beat Texas A8.M (5-5-1), 45-13. Arkansas (6-5-0) beat Texas Tech (3-7-1), 16-13. SMU (10-1-0) beeat Houston (4-7-0), 34-12. Even with a second-and-1 at the Nebraska 2- yard line, the Sooners could not score.

"We were lucky," whispered Cornhusker offen- Ohioans end Bobcats' reign in Division II Cooper's 38 lead Texas to victory By RANDY RIGGS American-Statesman Staff Carlton Cooper's 38 points provided the muscle for the Texas offense Saturday night, but David Seitz's three-point play with four seconds left was the knockout punch that lifted the Longhorns to a dramatic 83-81 overtime victory over Missouri Southern State College. In the season opener, played before 2,766 onlookers in the Erwin Center, Texas trailed the NAIA team by three points with less than two minutes remaining in overtime but took the lead when Cooper rebounded Marcus Bolden's miss and laid it in with 25 seconds showing to make it 80-79. GREG CARTON, who paced the Lions with 33 points, sank two free throws at the 0:16 mark to put Missouri Southern back in front 81-80, but Seitz drove the lane for a layup and was fouled by Danny Sawyer, and the three-point conversion gave Texas the win. "Last year we would have lost that game by 15 points," said Longhorn coach Bob Weltlich, "When we would have gotten down by three in overtime, we would have gotten discouraged, but tonight everything was positive." Especially Cooper, whose 38 points represent the ninth-best single-game scoring output in UT history. The 6-foot-4 junior connected on an astounding 16 of 18 shots from the floor and added six free throws in 10 attempts.

He set the tone early by scoring seven of Texas' first 11 points and scored nine straight points during one three-minute stretch of the first half. THIS SHOWS ME the hard work I've been doing is paying off," Cooper said. "It gives me incentive. If you know things like this are the payoff for working hard. It makes you work that much harder." It was Cooper's jumper from the key with three seconds left in regulation that sent the game into overtime, a floater that rolled around the rim and which was described by Weltlich as, "a doggone shot that just cried the whole way in." As a result the Longhorns could go home laughing.

i Coming in, the Bobcats had won 44 of 49 games, and much of the success was because of a roughhouse defense that often manhandled opponents. Saturday the Cats took a hard swallow of their own medicine. Starting quarterback Rene Mal-donado was sacked once before leaving the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury, and Longhofer was dumped six times. The Cats gained just 206 yards, half their season average. THE BOBCATS scored in the first quarter on a 65-yard interception return by David Glasco and in the third on a 1-yard run by Ron Gaskin that gave them a 14-10 lead.

But Woody, who connected with Darrell Smith for a 37-yard score in in the first quarter, slipped away from Bobcat blitzes to hit Darrell Grymes for a 1 6-yard touchdown and George Scott on a 43-yarder to give Central the lead in the fourth quarter. THE FINAL touchdown came with 1:31 left and culminated a 40-yard drive that was set up when Bobcat Jerry Fife shanked a punt that went just seven yards. The Bobcats got the ball back with 1:31 left to go and drove from their 20 to the Central 37, but tight end Allen Luckey dropped a second-down pass at the 15 before was tackled to end the game. By MARK ROSNER American-Statesman Staff SAN MARCOS Southwest Texas State's dynasty is over. The Bobcats' chances for a third straight NCAA Division II championship were ruined Saturday by a hungry Central State of Ohio team, 24-16, to the dismay of 7,500 in Bobcat Stadium.

With his team trailing 14-10 after three quarters, quarterback James Woody threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to put 11-0 Central in a semifinal game next week against North Alabama, a 16-14 winner Saturday over Virginia Union. Woody's fourth quarter touchdowns were thrown into a steady 20 mph wind that gusted to 23 mph. SWrs SEASON ended with three seconds left in the game as quarterback David Longhofer, under pressure from the Central defense, fumbled at the Central 34. The Marauders' blitzing defense recorded seven sacks, rudely ending John O'Hara's first season as the Bobcat head coach. SWT, which won back-to-back national titles under Jim Wacker, finishes the year at 9-2 and moves up to Division I-AA next season.

"Losing hurts when you're used to winning," said SWT senior Cyril Friday. "But we've won a lot more than we'vif lost over the past four years. There's nothing to be sad about" a Staff Photo by Ed Sackett Bobcat Allen Lockey, right, dives for a Bobcat punt that Central's John Bolden, 93, fumbled. Luckey beat teammate Scott Westmoreland, 53, to the ball and recovered for the Cats. "rVE NEVER experienced any- "Our young players were not in thing like this in my life," said Cen- awe of the mystique of Southwest tral Coach Billy Joe, a running back Texas, even though they have an un- for tht 1969 Super Bowl champion believable program.

This was one New York Jets. hellacious game." told wherever Longnorn iaiuuui gather and talk about special, magical moments. So remember the Rick Mclvor story and its lessens, children, wherever you are..