The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 57

Can Jets' top defense contain Falcons' No. 1 rushing offense? Sporty Part 2 SECTION EIjcAUahla Journal the Atlanta constitution SUNDAY. NOVEMBER 9. 1986 Ira Jaefcets play taps ear ILSP tipsts few- pleipdl IV PI Mm. nut Tic! 14 HO, Einfs up SH By Bud Shaw StaH Writer COMPLETE COVERAGE 14-15C By Mark Bradley Staff Writer BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

Just when everybody was wondering what Bobby Humphrey would do lifting arms to the heavens. Was Brown's pass that lovely? No. Seems Florida had that second scored to, take the lead in a game of some interest being staged 353 miles south of Atlanta. And whatever portable radios had been brought into Grant Field weren't tuned to Al Ciraldo. "Yeah, we heard the Georgia score," said Tech quarterback Darrell Cast.

"We were standing on the sideline, clapping just as loud as the people in the stands." Then, thinking fast, Gast said: "But the bama pay as much as they simply survived. The turnovers, more than anything else, ensured LSU's 14-10 victory over Bama at Legion Field. So it was that Alabama wasted a chance to clinch at least part of the SEC championship. Now the Tide joins LSU, Auburn and Mississippi with one conference loss. Alabama is 8-2, 4-1 in the league.

LSU is 6-2 with the same conference record. Alabama will play Auburn after next week's game with Temple. LSU meets Mississippi State next week in Jackson. ijior an encore after rushing for 284 yards a week lago, he ran for 134 Satur Alabama 1 I I fill 1 day night not that an This game had long since lost its urgency. Georgia Tech led by 36 points in what would become a 52-6 throttling of Virginia Military Institute on Saturday, and you might say Tech fans' minds and ears were wandering.

Three minutes remained in the third period. VMI quarterback Dave Brown threw a 16-yard completion to Mark Stock. Suddenly, patrons in the lower deck leaped to their feet, shouting and clapping and inch of it will ever make his scrapbook. Humphrey lost two fumbles on consecutive fourth-quarter drives, both inside the LSU 20, one inside the LSU 2. The Tigers didn't make No.

6 Ala- 24C 23C See TECH See LSU lii I GatofBowt. parity ffoir Dgs I Roman I -'-r Pt-S" Jo-na Sports Edor i fc. f.Utf if lV ir -l. 1 MOUTHFUL: Toy gator takes a bite out of his bulldog counterpart. Defense, Bell rally Florida to 31-19 win COMPLETE COVERAGE 18-21C By David Davidson College Editor JACKSONVILLE, Fla.

Georgia couldn't get to the end zone or to Florida quarterback Kerwin Bell. The result: Florida beat Georgia 31-19 before a record crowd of 81,957 on a L3H sticky Saturday afternoon at the Gator I Georaia I mmt Bowl. A sobering experience JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Ten minutes blinked across the field clock in the fourth quarter by the St. Johns River.

Florida was leading Georgia for the first time in two years, the ball was on the 19-yard line and Georgia was first and 81 yards to go and needed a touchdown. That was the first hint that the day was done for Bulldogs. This Georgia team is at a disadvantage with a non-precision passing game when the hour is late, the: score is unfavorable and there is much ground to be covered. Kerwin Bell, the country boy quarterback who came to town and grew a mustache, found Ricky Nat-tiel free down the sideline and hit the flying senior catcher with a line-drive pass. Nattiel never broke stride nor paused to take in the scenery until he had outrun Greg Williams and reached the Georgia end zone 42 yards from the line of scrimmage.

That was when the first suspicion was confirmed. The Bulldogs had been done in, 31-19 the score, on a day made monumental in the field of municipal resolve as well as in the hearts of Gators. Like running the bulls at Pamplona Florida has found infrequent ecstasy in this old series that came to Jacksonville in the Depression Thirties, a homeless waif in need of care and feeding. Since 1970 the domineering Georgians have ruled the ground upon which the Gator Bowl stands, and this was only the fourth time the Gators had won in that time. It came on a day peculiarly subdued in the riotous and rowdy years of clashing of the Red and the Orange.

"The World's Biggest Cocktail Party" had drunkenly lived up to its reputation too often, preceded and followed by nothing short of the running of the bulls at Pamplona. Jail cells were filled, blood was shed, police were abused and the chamber of commerce was embarrassed. It reached the breaking point last season when, after disengaging the Florida team from its No. 1 ranking, Bulldog partisans turned the Gator Bowl into a battlefield. Jacksonville's city hall took the pledge this year: no booze inside the stadium, no trashing the town, no hooligans on the field, no nonsense, and if you didn't believe it, try it.

During the fourth quarter, the Gator Bowl began to take on a World Series appearance. The horse cavalry appeared, the field was ringed in blue suits, and the scene became most uninviting to invaders. That show was menacing and convincing enough. There were no further hostilities. Jacksonville's pronouncie-mento had served well.

There should have been enough to sate the average bloodthirsty football patron between the white lines. Georgia had hit the field running and never stopped until it led, 7-0. An offense that fairly hummed covered 68 yards in 13 plays, eight of them in the hands of Lars Tate. The sophomore with the Scandivanian name scored from the 1-yard line. Big Dawg and his gendarmes Steve Crumley kicked a field goal.

Georgia led by 10. Florida kicked a field goal. Georgia kicked two more, stretching Crumley's leg out until it reached its fail-safe point. After 24, 35 and 45 yards, the sophomore with the old-fashioned style failed from 50. Still, Georgia led 16-3.

That was the last time the Bulldogs could feel comfortable. Bell had been less than precise himself, until he found his fast ball just before the half. In five quick thrusts, Bell moved the Gators from their 36-yard line to the end zone, where Nattiel first victimized cornerback Williams on an 8-yard catch. Vince Dooley returned for a second half escorted by the two gendarmes the State Highway Patrol taken away and given back during the weak With a 3-2 record, the Bulldogs (6-3 overall) are out of the SEC championship race. Florida, 2-3 in the league and 4-4 overall, is getting stronger as the season wears on.

Bell, with plenty of time, passed to Ricky Nattiel for three touchdowns, all one-on-one situations against cornerback Greg Williams. Georgia took the opening kickoff and drove 68 yards for a touchdown but thereafter managed only four Steve Crumley field goals. After scoring the touchdown, Georgia drove to Florida's 7 late in the first quarter and to the Gators' 19 early in the second but had to settle for field goals of 24 and 35 yards when Florida's defense held. Georgia realized three points from three Florida turnovers. After cornerback Miles Smith intercepted a Bell RICH ADDICKSStaff See GEORGIA 23C THANK YOU, THANK YOU: Gators QB Kerwin Bell in a prayerful pose after third TD pass; center Frank Dempsey gestures with his fist.

S0 IXiavjEts taEie Unlets 110-91 1 1 By Jeff Denberg StaH Writer among the 13,929 in The Omni on Saturday night. Dominique Wilkins, who talked his way into the lineup, struggled to regain his pacing through a first half that ended with the Hawks trailing 52-50. The Hawks appeared unsure as they tried to adjust to Wilkins' presence even as they were unsure about his ability to contribute on an ankle that had been badly sprained Tuesday with a diagnosis of seven to 10 days' recovery. "I told him I didn't want him to play unless he was 100 percent," coach Mike made out my own schedule, and I loaded it with weak teams." The Hawks in Atlanta had never enjoyed better than their 4-0 start in the fall of 1980. These Hawks will stay unbeaten at least until Tuesday when they play in Chicago.

But victory came at some cost. On a drive to the hoop with 7:41 to play, Spud Webb severely bruised his left thigh, which was similarly injured in the exhibition season. He left The Ornni on crutches, and it is estimated he. will miss two weeks. There was an early sense of dismay regarding another injury and the uncertain mechanics of the Hawks' offense Five-and-oh.

Spell it out so it lasts because this is the best start for a Hawks team in 19 years. Not since the team moved to Atlanta in the summer of 1968 ha3 an NBA season begun so well, and the tear Saturday night continued with a 110-91 victory over nemesis Washington. The 1967-68 St. Louis Hawks won their first seven games and 16 of 17. But put an asterisk there.

Former Hawks general manager Marty Blake, now the NBA's chief scout, said Saturday, "I See BISHER 23C See HAWKS 22C COMES BACK: Dominique Wilkins HIT.