The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 81

i nfTflRFB 7 IQ71 TTht flM.mta Tntirnaf rnvSTiTi fvv- SUNDAY, ww. mw puu 11 1 1 111,1 I Auburn Finds a Runner, Defeats' Ole Miss 14-7 I 1 By MIKE McKENZIE JnwI-CmiMMIm tuft Writer AUBURN, Ala. Word was at Auburn University this fall that Terry Henley would have had a hard time star ins at tailback, were he still around. Not that he wasn't good; Le led the Southeastern Conference in rushing last year. But Henley ran like the talked a lot, but slow.

And this year Auburn, word was, had a fleet of fleets at tailback. Alas, when the season opened, however, two of those swifties were injured right off the bat and another, Chris Lin derman from Atlanta, fumbled his way to fourth string. The fourth is a freshman, Sullivan Walker. He gained 65 yards Saturday, but 24 carries made him tired. So it took a Sophomore who had never run the ball in college and Roger Mitchell's interception to prevent Auburn's offense another embarrassment in a 14-7.

victory over Mississippi. Rick Neel, a defensive safety during his freshman and redshirt years, ran 33 yards to score with 1:38 to play to prevent the first Auburn tie in eight years. He bounced off Ole Miss safety Harry Harrison at the 20 to stun the 54,500 watching. It was Auburn's third win in four games this year, and 400th in school history. Ole Miss stands 2-3, and 1-1 under coach John Vaught.

It is not surprising Neel can run (10 carries, 77 yards), for he was a high school legend in returning punts for Banks High in Birmingham, eight times scoring from over 50 yards away one season. fullback Rusty Fuller added another 71 yards on 10 carries, but don't let all those yards fool you Auburn's of- Staff Photo Charln Push Auburn Quarterback Wade Whatley: Breaking Loose to Score First Touchdown Auburn Yardstick nnm nt) vn i7 Ufin 17 nn Ole MIm Aubora First downs Passing yard! Return yards Punts Fumhles-Iont 2-1 Fenaltles-yarda Mi.istsatppi Aiihitrn Aub Whatlev ran fPruett kick) i i ir-i ii s. I it ii i fense still sputtered enough on lost-yardage plays and interceptions that it took big-play defense to win. Biggest of all was with two seconds on the clock when Roger Mitchell picked off his second interception for Auburn kneeling in the end zone, when Stan Bounds of Valdosta, underthrew. Bounds, a sophomore replacing injured Kenny Lyons in the third quarter, had calmly driven Ole Miss to the Auburn four-yard line after Neel's touchdown, aided by a face mask penalty.

Bounds earlier had flipped 20 yards to Rick Kimbrough following an interception by Bill Farris, and Steve Leaving-house tied it, 7-7, with the point-after. Mitchell had intercepted Bounds at the Auburn six and returned it 49 yards the first play after Lyons was hurt; and Jim McKinney thwarted still another Rebel drive with an interception at the Auburn 32. McKinney is replacement for injured all-SEC sideback David Langner. Harrison intercepted twice for Ole Miss, and ran one to Auburn's 37 but fumbled and Chuck Fletcher recovered for Auburn. It took Auburn only eight plays and 4 minutes to run more yards than it did all day the week before at Tennessee, and the 7-0 halftime score was on the board before Ole Miss ever touched the football.

The Tigers drove 85 yards following the opening kickoff using 17 plays and seven minutes to score on quarterback Wade Whatley 's three-yard keeper and Roger Pruett's extra point in u-i'- Sullivan Walker, a freshman tailback from nearby Montgomery who started the season fourth string, and Rusty Fuller, senior fullback from Birmingham, ate up steady ground yardage. Walker had a pair of 11-yard gains in the drive. And Whatley, a starter in a win over Colorado in last year's Gator Bowl and the quarterback of record in two four-(yes, four) yard touchdown "drives" against Chattanooga this year, was sharp passing. He displaced Randy Walls at the position this week and had five completions and a miss by halftime. He hit two straight ran once for a first down in the TD drive.

Auburn's yardage at intermission was 145, compared to 119 net against Tennessee, and 107 was on the ground com-. pared to 41 the previous week. Still, Ole Miss's defense led by Stuart Russell dug in well after the first thrust and no more offense showed up the first half. The Rebels threw seven Auburn plays for losses to keep out of trouble, and safety Harry Harrison intercepted a pass which bounced off Auburn receiver Rob Spivey. That play gave Ole Miss a good chance to score as Harrison returned 21 yards to the Auburn 30.

But Rusty Deen, Auburn defensive end from Thomaston, the leading Tiger tackier all year, dropped the first-down play for minus- Then Lyons had two perfect passes dropped in the open, one by Rick Kimbrough and another at the goal line by all-conference tight end Butch Veazey. Late in the first quarter Ole Miss had driven to the Auburn 14, but linebackers Mike Flynn, Bill Luka and Ken Ber-nich stacked up three plays and a 31-yard field goal attempt by Steve Lavinghouse was wide. David Hughes stopped Ole Miss another time at midfield by knocking the ball from Lyons' hand and falling on the fum. ble. Otherwise, the half was an exchange of punts by Auburn's Roger Pruett and Mississippi's Greg Breland, and the most aroused the crowd got was when the public address announcer sent a plumber to the visiting locker room and made a cop move his car from in front of the first aid station.

Miss Kimbrougti 20 pass from Bounds Uiavingnouis kick) Aub Neel 33 run (Pruett kick) uuuuuuuuu IkRs" sSiii ii rrm If you i i 'i don't call 450-4446 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS SV 'lis IP (This preseason' game not in-. s. eluded in Season Ticket Plan) Tickets at The Omni Box Office and ALL TICKETRON Outlets. Prices: $7.50, $5.50, $3.50 Single game tickets for all Flames' games now on sale at The Omni Box Office. Phone 5TT-9600 you'll probably pay more than $8 for your motel room tonight! 'From Gfl.

call 800-282-7201 as i Staff Photo Chirle Puoh Shug: A Key Play OCT. 11 WEDNESDAY FLAMESBRUINS -i N0V.1 THURSDAY FLAMESSEALS 8:05 I i I These numbers put you in touch with I 1:05 II Richard I the Days Inn Reservation Center. AUBURN'S DEMOTED SAFETY MAN 1 I TB Neel Shovs Heels to Rebels Reserve a single room for only $8 IS 1 1 double) at any Oays Inn in the country. Wayne to Orlando, OT. trom Dallas to Fredericksburg.

Days where luxury and economy really see the difference it makes just one fumble." Linderman, a junior from Atlanta, started the last two games, but thee fumbles against Tennessee last week not only cost him a job, but he wasn't in uniform Saturday. ill 1 1 By MIKE McKENZIE lonrnal-Constltnllra staff Writer AUBURN, Auburn defensive assistant coach Sam Mitchell approached his second string safety Rick Neel, after practice last Monday, Neel gulped hard because he thought he was being demoted. I thought," Uh-oti, they want me to play In the dang jayvee Neel said Saturday after emerging Auburn's hero in a 14-7 victory Dark Stripes By Austin Leeds Graces Atlanta's football scene this fall. Deep vents, hacking pockets and fine detail make this Hand Shaped design a contender. raw top $190 Mute't Second Floor Downtown Square Creenbriar Perimeter borthlake Cumberland backup quarterback, and No.

6 Ken Calleja is actually No. 2 Enter Neel, upstage center. He ran nine yards the first time he'd carried a football in three years. He finished with 77 yards on 10 carries. So the coaches had made makes them appear to be genius or fool, depending on how you took at it; i.e., why hasn't Neel been a run-ning back all along? "He a s.

great in high school (Birmingham Banks), but we had a feeling he might be too small (175) to run in our offense." said Jordan. "Today he looked like the best running back in America." "1 was a little nervous and scared," said Neel. "I'm glad the coaches had patience with rne all week and gave rne a chance, It was kinda confusing learning the plays, but the other backs- helped me, and the simplified the offense a little to make it a little easier on me." Neel's name is not new to Auburn football. Brother Mike was captain of the 72 team and now coaches with the freshmen. "I'd like to stay here as an assistant some day, and if he keeps the name over Die Miss.

What the staff actually wanted was to convert Neel to tailback, which was a demotion to thrid string. He had been playing more than half the time at With results in, cynics will surely say the defense is still winning games for Auburn. Neel ran 33 yards for a touchdown when it appeared he -would be tackled at least three times, and his team averted a tie or loss, "I doubt if there is another player on the Auburn team who could have made that run," said head coach Shug Jordan. That's a mouthful considering six other tailbacks had seen game action before Neel got in with 2:52 to play in the third quarter of the fourth game. But No.

1 Mitzi Jackson is injured, replacement Chris Linde'ian didn't even make the struad this week, No. 3 Secdrick Mclntyre is injured No. 4 Sullivan Walker "gave out of gass" after running 24 times the first half, No. Chris Vacarella is needed as in ink, I might have a better chance," said Mike with a grin. "I knew all along he could run like that, and when the coaches got a little put out with Linderman it gave Rick a chance.

It wasn't all Chris's fault, though, because a lot of times be was being hit before the handoff. That didn't happen today much, and you can Mi Bold Blue Plaids Embody 4 um 7 if II I 'tLW Doth initiative and style in this wool design from Austin Leeds pockets, Hand-shaping and ai Vaught Visits AuburnAgain AUBURN, Ala. It was 20 years ago the last time Mississippi brought a football team here, and if John Vaught had had his way there would have been no 14-7 loss here Satur-. day. On that day in 1953, Shug Jordan's first good Auburn team earned a Gator Bowl berth and knocked highly favored Ole Miss out of a Cotton Bowl bid with an upset 13-0 victory.

On the way out of town, Rebel coach Vaught stopped the bus, turned and told his men, "Take a good look at Auburn, because it's the last time you'll see it I'll never bring another football team to this town. Auburn's win Saturday evened the series, 5-5, and gave Jordan a 4-3 edge over Mississippi, and made Auburn the 38th school in NCAA history to win 400 games. MIKE McKENZIE aggressively stylish cut have labelled this a starter at fit mm m. mmrnu a a i i it Muie'i Second Floor Downtou Lenox Square Creenbriar Perl meter IT JLI l-H il -1 northlake Cumberland.