The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 39

460-1212 RECORDED WKY Sports THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN SPORTSUNE SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1985 OU Escapes From Minnesota, 13-7 By Bob Hersom Staff Writer MINNEAPOLIS Air Aikman was grounded and The Tillman Trail was closed most of Saturday night, but Oklahoma's defense made up for those problems, as the Sooners opened their season with a 13-7 escape from Minnesota. The second-ranked Sooners, 17-point favorites, needed all the defense they could get, as their injury-riddled offense had problems throughout the night. Sidelined for much or most of the game were left halfback Spencer Tillman (hamstring), fullback Earl Johnson (kneecap), tackles Mark Hutson and Anthony Phillips (both dehydrated) and center Travis Simp son (ankle). Partially as a result of those ailments, the OU offense managed only 321 yards in 81 plays, the Sooners' lowest yardage total in an opener since getting 310 in 1977. But Minnesota netted just 178 yards and six first downs against an OU defense which last year ranked first nationally in rushing defense and second in total yards allowed.

This one, Yogi, wasn't over until it was over through no fault of the OU defense, which should have pitched a shutout. The Sooners had a 13-0 lead when Sonny Brown fumbled away a punt at the OU 19 with 5:24 left in the game. Three plays later, with 4:15 left, Min nesota scored to cut the OU lead to 13-7. OU's offense couldn't respond, getting just one first down before punting with 1:05 left. Minnesota took over at its 30-yard line.

Gopher quarterback Rickey Foggie passed for 23 yards to Gary Couch and for four yards to Valdez Baylor. After a holding penalty and incomple-tion, Foggie passed 20 yards to Eugene Gailord. With 22 seconds left, Minnesota was 32 yards from OU's goal line. But the Gophers went nowhere from there. Foggie, under a heavy rush all night, threw two incomplete passes, was sacked for minus-7 yards by end Troy Johnson and, on the final play of the game, threw an interception to, wouldn't you know it, Brown in the end zone.

"We made it into a tight ballgame," said OU coach Barry Switzer. "The defense played like the No. 1 team in the country, but one mistake in the kicking game made a game out of it." OU quarterback Troy Aikman completed seven of 17 passes for 67 yards. OU halfback Tillman was brilliant while he played. He had eight carries for 73 yards, but left with a hamstring injury early in the second quarter.

The Sooners' point total was their lowest in a season opener since 1962, when they beat Syracuse 7-3 in Norman. Saturday's showing by OU, coupled with third-ranked Iowa's rout of Iowa State and No. 1 Auburn's loss to Ten-nesseee, probably will lift Iowa into the top spot in this week's AP rankings. There is some irony there for OU, as Iowa quarterback Chuck Long was born in Norman and his mother and father graduated from OU. Long grew up in Wheaton, but his grandparents still Uve in Norman.

Against the rugged OU defense, Minnesota managed only 57 yards on 24 rushes. The Sooners ran 64 times for 254 yards. Foggie completed just eight of 20 passes for 121 yards. The Sooners dominated time of possession, having the football for 41 of the game's 60 minutes. OU converted six of its 19 third-down tries com pared to only three of 15 for Minnesota.

Behind Tillman in OU rushing totals was freshman halfback Leon Perry, who carried 15 times for 48 yards. Johnson ran 11 times for 40 yards. The leading OU pass receiver was Derrick Shepard with three catches for 43 yards. No Minnesota running back netted more than 26 yards rushing. OU placekicker Tim Lashar connected on two field goals but missed two others.

"We are a beat-up football team," Switzer said. "We couldn't run our option series because of injuries to our tackles." Minnesota coach Lou Holtz said, See OU, Page 3 Thomas7 TDs Propel Pokes To 45-10 Win SUlf Photo by Doug Hoko Minnesota's elusive Rickey Foggie couldn't shake OU's Ledell Glenn, who gained some quick support from Rickey Dixon (29). Aikman: We Stopped Ourselves By Tom Kensler STILLWATER Attention, Heisman Trophy race watchers: Oklahoma State tailback Thurman Thomas netted only 91 yards on 24 carries Saturday night for a mediocre 3.8-yard average. Attention, OSU fans and future Big Eight Conference opponents: The Cowboys rolled to a 45-10 victory over Miami of Ohio and Thomas contributed tour touchdowns, including a 58-yard punt return before the OSU offense had taken the field. All in another day's, er night's, work for the 186-pound sophomore who is listed at 5-foot-11 in the OSU press guide but will admit to 5-9.

"I was trying as hard as I could to break a long one and help my yardage and put the game out of reach," Thomas said. "But Mi-ami's defense was tough." Although it was evident the Redskin defense keyed on Thomas, he still managed to control the game without making a gain of longer than 13 yards. His touchdown return, coming on a nice juke move to get behind a wall of blockers along the right sideline, followed Miami's first punt of the game. Thomas put OSU up, 14-3, with a three-yard touchdown run at 5:15 of the first quarter and 24-10 with a one-yard run with 6:43 remaining in the half. He should have taken a bow after scor- Jim Lassiter Stiff Photo bf Jim Argo Rusty Rankin prepares to make the pitch.

MINNEAPOLIS If you were just about to sit down to the typewriter and pen the newspaper a note about Troy Aikman and his quarterback play, do yourself a favor. Save the stamp; it might come in handy sometime. Aikman knows better than any cl us that he looked Saturday night like anything but a guy who could quarterback a team to the national championship. He knows he didn't throw well seven of 17. He knows he did not run well 13 carries for 34 yards.

And he knows he was not exactly a magician on the corner with the option the key to the Oklahoma wishbone. But he is also aware of one other factor that you may be overlooking. "We did win the game," the sophomore said. "That's what's important." Indeed. It is.

It was not what the oddsmakers thought a preseason No. 1 team should do to a team picked in the bottom of the Big Ten, but if you stop to think about it, the narrow margin is not all that surprising. Lou Holtz, as the underdog coach, may be the best in the country. He had his Gophers ready to play and of an 18-year-old who just started his second college game. But yes, if you couldn't guess it, Switzer's worried.

Aikman had troubles against the Gophers a gritty team but unlikely a member of the Top 20 when November rolls around. Aikman threw well at times, poorly at times. He didn't run the option all that efficiently. But the thing he didn't do, and both Switzer and Aikman were grateful for that, was turn the ball over to the Gophers. Without a fumbled punt, it's doubtful Minnesota would have ever scored a point against what might be the best defense in the country.

And if you're looking for a highlight, it was the fact that the quarterback didn't beat himself. But if you just want to sit there this morning and worry about this team, then you can do that too. Despite some alterations to the wishbone to better utilize Aikman's talents, he did not particularly run like a wishbone quarterback. If you can't run, it's awfully difficult to operate the offense. And if Switzer had any comment that might sober an OU fan who already had a national title in the bag, it was his comment about what the film might See Troy, Page 3 combined with Oklahoma's first-game mistakes, made a three-touchdown mismatch into something much closer.

The Sooners had their chances. They lived, it seemed, in Minnesota's end of the field in the first half. Little mistakes prevented them from scoring. "Something here and something there," said Aikman. "We stopped ourselves." Tiny slips did seem to prevent the Sooners from doing what they might do if they were to meet the Gophers in the third or fourth game of the season.

And tiny slips can be fixed. At least Barry Switzer thinks they can. "Troy was understandably uptight," Switzer said. "He wasn't as sharp as he's been in practice. But TVe got to look at the films to see how I feel about how he played." In the old days, Switzer might not have been such a diplomat He might have shot from the hip and then regretted it But he knows he might be a piece of the puzzle away from a national titlist and the last thing he wants to do is shatter the confidence ing from a yard out with 6:34 left in the game.

"Coach (Pat) Jones was telling me all week we could return a punt on them tonight," Thomas said. "He thought it was a good time to try it on the first punt." Said Jones: "I called the punt return. It was one of my better calls." Oklahoma State, ranked seventh in both wire service polls last week, is now 3-0. The Cowboys will play host to Tulsa Saturday. Miami of Ohio dropped to 1-2.

OSU scored 17 points in the first quarter, something the Cowboys hadn't done in at least a decade, according to school officials. Also encouraging for Oklahoma State was the poise of quarterback Rusty Rankin. He did throw two interceptions, but appeared much more confident than two weeks before in the 10-9 win over North Texas State. Rankin completed eight of 16 passes for 72 yards but more important was his ability to See OSU, Page 4 Porter's Hjt Sparks Cards St. Louis Leads Mets by Four With Seven Games Left Tisdale Reaches Accord With Pacers WEST LAFAYETTE.

Ind. (AP) -The Indiana Pacers and No.l draft pick Wayman Tisdale have reached an unofficial agreement on a contract, the president of the National Basketball Association team said Saturday. "It's unofficial until the contract is actually signed, but for all practical purposes, we have come to terms and we hope to have him under contract by Monday," said Pacers President Bob Salvers, "It (the contract) must be drafted and reviewed, spend today and Sunday reviewing it," said Sa-lyers. Tom Collins, a Los Angeles attorney who represents Tisdale. said the former Oklahoma star wonld remain in Tulsa until thWontract is made final.

The Pacers opened their preseason camp Friday at Purdue University. Tisdale. a 6-foot-9 All-American who passed up his final year of college eligibility, was the second teammate on the U5. Olympic team, Patrick Ewing of Georgetown, was drafred first by the New Yori Knicks. Inside COLLEGE SCOREBOARD Saturday's Football Scores Page 2C BIG EIGHT FOOTBALL Nebraska Pounds Oregon Page 3C VOLS ROLL Tennessee Jolts Auburn Page 5C BASEBALL AL West Leaders Lose Page 6C THE NUMBERS Latest Baseball Statistics Page 6C NFL PREVIEWS This Week's Matchups Page 8C RAIN AND MUDD Rain Plagues Texas Golf Page 8C JOLTIN' JOE A Visit With DiMaggio Page 11C FAMILY FUN These Spouses Fish Together.

12C DEER HUNTING Too Much Forage Page 13C RODEO New Face hi the Standings 14C Todd WorreU, 3-0, pitched the final two innings for the victory. Vince Coleman gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the first when he led off with a walk, stole second and third and scored on Tom Herr's sacrifice fly. Andres Galarraga singled borne Tim Wallace to tie the game against St. Louis starter Bob Forsch in the second inning and Vance Law singled home Tim Raines in the third to give Montreal a 2-1 advantage. St.

Louis tied the game in the fifth inning on Coleman's run-scoring grounder. Coleman, a rookie, stole four bases for the Cardinals, giving him 109 for the season. Reardca pitefeed t.v -izrh isxise cf the first game for his 37th save, getting out of a two-walk jam. MONTREAL (AP) Darrell Porter's RBI single snapped a 2-2 tie in the 11th inning and led the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Expos and a split of a doubleheader Saturday.

The victory puts the Cardinals four games ahead of the New York Mets in the National League East, with seven games left for each club. In the first game of the doubleheader. Bill Gullickson and Jeff Reardon combined on a four-hitter, and Andre Dawson homered for the seventh time in as many games as the Expos defeated the Cardinals. 2-0. In the nightcap, Terry Pendleton drew a one-out walk off reliever Jeff Reardon, 2-8.

stole second, took third on catcher Ned Ycsrs ThTwirjz error ad scored oa Porter's single to center. Ozzie Smith singled and Curt Ford doubled home Porter for an insurance run. PITTSBURGH (AP) The New York Mets made the most of four hits and clutch reUef pitching by Jesse Orosco for a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Orosco got his 17th save after relieving Roger McDowell with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth. He struck out pinch-hitter Sixto Lezeano and R.J.

Reynolds. George Foster hit his 20th home run in the second inning against Bob Kipper, 1-2, to give New York a 1-0 lead. The Mets added a run in the third against Kipper when Rafael Santana doubled, was sacrificed to third and scored on a Mookie Wilson's sacrifice fly. Their final run came in the sixth when Wilson tripled and scored one out later on (UitfiM tn Yenti Rick Aguilera. 10-6.

won his third consecutive start. Met 3,1.