The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 69

Sunday, Sept 26, 199? COLLEGE FOOTBALL The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 11 CBfUUL FL "We did not play defense like we need to in this league, and that's the understatement of year." Jim Donnan fell 4a GEORGIA NOTEBOOK PLOTT BRICE i I Penalties set if 1.4 V1 "'wiwtiin piled high J- VXVv-. ,4.. by Bulldogs IT Athens v.V IT 3 II JJ lag on the play" was heard a lot more than "Glory, Glory" during the afternoon. Georgia was penalized for just about, every infraction in the book, adding to too: misery of a game that was supposed to be easy. In its first two games, Georgia was penalized 14 times for 120 yards.

Against Central Florida, Georgia was flagged 13 times for 102 yards. Personal foul, illegal procedure, illeg' shift, offside and defensive holding penak ties kept deflating the Bulldogs and inspTr ing the Golden Knights. Central Florida got its first three points on a drive that 5 included a Georgia offside on a third-and-5 play. Two plays later, Georgia gave up I5i yards on a personal foul. Aub "I'm sure there will be a lot of talk about this game, but there should bet coach Jim Donnan said.

"We've obviously got to do better." I (- 1, Greer debuts Flanker Michael Greer caught six passes for 42 yards, including a touchdown, in his first game of the season. He missed the first two games because of migraine headaches and a hamstring injury. "I XT JOHNNY CRAWFORD Staff Turn on the jets: Central Florida quarterback Vic Penn heads upfield as Georgia's Marcus Stroud gives chase. Penn gained a first down. Take the mmoiiney amd fight A dog of a day for defense felt pretty good out Michael 3T there," he said.

Greer caught Breedlove starts six passes forj Freshman right guard 42 yards, Kevin Breedlove, a 6- foot-4, 310-pound freshman from Clemspti, S.C., made his first start for the Bulldogs, Breedlove, who was highly recruited, had, been backing up junior Reggie Stargillx Punting trouble 'rfjj Jonathan Kilgo, a freshman from Silver Creek, would like to forget his first punf attempt at Sanford Stadium. Central Florida's Ricot Joseph blocked the punt in the second quarter, and Thad Ward scored as Central Florida took the. lead 17-14. On the next Bulldogs punt, sophomore Wynn Kopp, who punted last year and Jo the first two games, handled the duty. Kopp punted four times for a 37.3-yard average Knights had payday, just missed upset By Wendy Parker STAFF WRITER Athens After getting smacked around by three nationally ranked teams, Central Florida was having trouble deflecting skepticism that its early schedule was little more than a fund-raising tour.

Sure, the paydays have been great for the ambitious Division I-A program. But Saturday, the Golden Knights were after more than a $300,000 payday for being supposed SEC warm-up fodder for No. 1 1 Georgia. But for a missed extra point and a controversial offensive pass interference call, the Bulldogs would have been college football's latest upset victims. "This one is going to be the toughest to put iehind us," said wide receiver Kenny Clark, who caught 10 passes for 119 yards but was called for pushing off on Georgia cornerback tJeff Harris in the end zone with 20 seconds to play.

"Moral victories don't count." As he spoke, a fist pounded hard against a locker. Several helmets were tossed onto the floor. Assistant coaches sat glumly. It was up head coach Mike Kruczek to manage a smile, even a few chuckles. His team out-gained Georgia 441-383 and was on the Bulldogs' doorstep when it was undone by mistakes.

"Our kids are really hurting," he said. "We played them for 59 minutes, but we were kind of our own worst enemy." With Georgia leading 24-17 in the fourth quarter, Central Florida took over on its 10-yard line. Quarterback Vic Penn calmly marched the Knights 90 yards in 10 plays, tossing a 5-yard pass to Page Sessoms to get within one point, at 24-23, with 5:21 remaining. But kicker Javier Beorlegui, who got sick Friday, clanged the extra-point attempt off the left upright. On its next drive, Central Florida moved 59 yards to the Georgia 20 in less than a minute.

And with 20 seconds left, it went for the end zone. Kruczek said he didn't have confidence in Beorlegui to kick a field goal, and he wanted to jump on Georgia's press coverage. So Penn passed to Clark. In the scramble to get under the ball, Clark and Harris jostled one another. A penalty was called against Clark.

The Knights swear they were jobbed. "I'm not going to call it a bad call, but I thought it was defensive interference," Clark said. "I don't know how they could have made that call." Penn, a former South Carolina signee who took the reins from Daunte Culpepper this year and threw for 287 yards on 27-for-46 passing, tried to be upbeat: "We're so close to being a good football team. Today, we just beat ourselves." Stinchcomb hurt Jv. By Plott Brice STAFF WRITER Athens Once again, the Georgia defense got picked apart by a heavy underdog.

But unlike Utah State, this four-touchdown underdog scored 23 points and almost pulled an upset. Central Florida piled up 441 yards and 30 first downs. The Golden Knights held the ball nearly 36 minutes to Georgia's 24. One-time South Carolina quarterback Vic Penn, who transferred to Central Florida, completed 27 of 46 passes for 287 yards and one touchdown. Those are the kind of statistics Georgia coach Jim Donnan wanted to avoid when he brought in Kevin Ramsey as defensive coordinator.

But that's 1,072 yards Georgia has given up in three games. LSU comes to Athens next week and Georgia goes to Knoxville the week after. "I'm disappointed in the way we played," Donnan said. "We did not play defense like we need to in this league, and that's the understatement of the year." It wasn't just that Central Florida's receivers were open. They were virtually alone on several pass plays, especially over the middle.

"They have a great offense and we did some things we normally don't do," said Georgia senior linebacker Orantes Grant. "Things like late hits and personal fouls. We dropped three or four interceptions. You do things like that against a good offense and they make you pay. They gave us a real scare." Linebacker Kendrell Bell said UCF kept the Bulldogs off balance by mixing the run and pass.

"This will help us get used to playing games like this," he said. "This helps the team develop more for what might happen." Bulldogs starting right tackle Jon Stinchcomb was hobbled in Georgia's opening drive. He limped noticeably on the last three plays that led to Georgia's 7-01 lead. The redshirt freshman spent the rest' of the game on the sideline with a sprained right knee. Another redshirt freshman, George Foster, took his spot in the lineup.

Benched Knight Central Florida offensive tackle David i Wilson did not play. Wilson was arrested and charged Thursday with felony aggra-t vated assault after a brawl at an nightspot. Coach Mike Kruczek said Fn-'i day that Wilson would start. MEMPHIS TENNESSEE la Miss. St.

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Mississippi State is 4-0 for the first time since 1965. Lou Holtz is 0-4 for the first time ever. Ashley Cooper returned an interception 52 yards for a score, and Wayne Madkin had to scramble out of trouble for Mississippi State's only offensive touchdown as the 23rd-ranked Bulldogs beat South Carolina 17-0 in their SEC opener Saturday night. Even though the Gamecocks (0-4, 0-2) outgained Mississippi State 296 yards to 181, they had their losing streak extended to 14 games. Mississippi State had 102 yards in the first half, but led 10-0 after Cooper intercepted a tipped pass and raced 52 yards for a touchdown with 21 seconds left.

Phil Petty, sacked for a ASSOCIATED PRESS Knoxville Three years after hpsetting Tennessee, Memphis almost did it again. In their first meeting since that Igame, the seventh-ranked Volunteers pulled out a victory when Tee Martin hit Cedrick Wilson with a 15-yard touchdown pass with a minute left for a 17-16 victory Saturday. "I told them I would take one point or 50 points, whatever we could get done," said Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer. "I didn't know they would take me literally." The Volunteers (2-1), coming off last week's loss at Florida, mounted a 78-yard drive in the closing minutes before a crowd of 107,000 to avenge their 21-17 loss to Memphis (1-3) in 1996. "We came Into one of the most ball from its 10 to its 38 before quarterback Neil Suber failed to connect on four straight passes, turning the ball over on downs.

"The Memphis defense was pretty tough," Wilson said. "We figured that. But we didn't execute as well as we should have and it cost us." Wilson said trailing so late in the game "was bad on my heart." "We just have to go back to the offense and regroup and do the things we ought to do," he said. Fulmer agreed. "We've got to get better on offense.

We are not nearly where we need to be at this point," he said. Tennessee had never lost to the Tigers in IS previous games until the upset in 1996, The Vols were ranked No. 6 that year, but fell out of the national title race with the loss. The Vols haven't lost two con 9-yard loss on the previous play, was under pressure again when his overthrown ball tipped off the hands of his receiver. Cooper grabbed the ball inches off the ground, gained his balance and raced down the sideline almost untouched.

The Gamecocks opened: he second half with a 15-play possession that took nearly eight minutes. But they came up empty, after driving 61 yards to-the Mississippi State 19, wfin Derek Watson was stopped for a 2-yard loss on fourth down. The Gamecocks have scored one touchdown this seasotL' It was their second shutout, Itjie first a 10-0 season-opening loss to North Carolina State. Mississippi State, whose SEC Western Division title last ye)ir was its first league football championship since 1941, i has allowed just 28 points this season. football and played like this," said Memphis coach Rip Scherer, whose team was a 31-point underdog.

"We gave them fits. Our guys gave a heck of an effort." Jamal Lewis, who rushed for only 45 yards on 16 carries, fought for a first down to get the winning drive started. Then Martin hit Wilson for an 8-yard strike, followed by a 53-yard pass to Bobby Graham, who raced to the Memphis 6-yard line. "Tee and I told the offensive line if you give us time, we can make the play," Graham said. "Tee made the perfect throw, high over the linebacker, and I made the catch." Two plays later Martin found Wilson in the end zone to tie the game.

Freshman kicker Alex Walls, in his first start, kicked the extra point to put Tennessee ahead by one point. Memphis (1-3) then moved the 54 Mem FG Mi 21, 3 20 Tenn Martin 11 pm mum (Willi kick), 1:00. Attandarmni. they looked on the verge until the final drive Saturday. Tennessee managed only two first downs and 49 yards of offense in the first half while Memphis controlled the ball for 17'i minutes.

The second half was only slightly better for the Vols, who were outgained 290-216 for the game, the garni hostile' environments in college secutive ganfcs since 1994 but.