Beatrice Daily Sun from Beatrice, Nebraska • 6

DAILY SUN if What Else But Sports DAVIS BECOMES ALL-TIME LEADING NEBRASKA RUSHER AT 2,445 YARDS Cornh uskers discover that the Sun Devils are for real Sports Dec. 27. 1975 By AL RIDDINGTON Daily Sun Sports Editor At the stroke of midnight Wednesday evening, an action-packed year of sports will be ushered out. And who knows, perhaps the national sports scene in 1976 will prove 1 Where was just as interesting and exciting. Looking back through 1975, a grand total of 13 baseball managers were fired; a collegiate football star became the first to gain 5,000 yards; a boxer aaaea to nis millions of dollars by making four title defenses; a noted golfer won an unprecedented 16th major title; and in team In defeat, Tony Davis established a Nebraska career rushing record by picking up 60 yards.

His total of 2,445 yards in three years surpassed the 2,420 set by Jeff Kinney in 1969-70-71. Arizona State 3 3 0 1117 Nebraska 0 7 7 014 ASU-FG Kush 27 Neb-Anthony 1 run Coyle kick ASU-FG Kush 34 Neb-Anthony 4 run Coyle kick ASU-Jefferson 10 pass from Mortensen Mucker kick ASU-FG Kush 29 Ferragamo? The wire service story to the right, concerning the Fiesta Bowl game, makes no 1 mention of Nebraska quarterbacks Terry Luck and Vince sports a baseball club won its first World fcenes in years. Enroute to the World Series crown the Clncy Redlegs won the NL west division by 20 games, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates three straight in the playoff, and then surprised the tough, but young Boston Red Sox for the championship. Ohio State's Archie Griffin not only became the first Nebraska Ariz. St.

First downs the Sun Devils at tne Nebraska 24 when a pass to Jefferson was intercepted by defensive back Jim Burrow, who returned the ball to the 20. However, Nebraska was penalized for clipping and the Huskers had the ball at their own three. On the first play from scrimmage, safety Alex Stencel blitzed not unusual for the gambling Sun Devils and nearly trapped Anthony for a safety. The ball was spotted at the one, and three plays later Randy Lessman was forced to punt from deep in his own end zone. The ball sailed to the ASU 48, but when Mike Haynes was hit late by a Nebraska player, a personal foul was assessed and ASU set up shop on the Nebraska 37.

Williams opened the drive with a 15-yard burst and four more up the middle as the third stanza came to a close. Three plays later the Devils faced the key fourth-down situation. "I felt, when I was going on the field, that we should go for the touchdown," instead of the field goal try, said the younger Kush. But Danny, the eldest of three Kush sons, went out without questioning his father's decision. Mortensen, the team's regular punter, has alternated with Sproul most of the year at quarterback.

Last year, when Sproul was a freshman he was the only quarterback the team had because Mortensen was on the second year of a Mormon mission. "I had been ready to play all week," said Mortensen, "and I was sure glad to get in He said the touchdown pass and the two-point conversion were basically the same play, with different receivers. Osborne compared ASU favorably with Oklahoma, the only team to beat Nebraska before Friday. "Their secondary, their linebackers and their skilled people are equal with Oklahoma." Arizona State, the nation's No. 6 team in per-game offense, outgained the Cornhuskers 335-288 and played another outstanding defensive game.

The Sun Devils have given up just 127 points in 12 games. 20 37-162 173 0 15-37-2 5- 37 0-0 6- 54 20 57-198 90 20 12-23-1 7-39 2-2 4-38 major college player to gam more than 5,000 yards in a career, but for the second time was recipient of the Heisman Trophy. In the drama-filled Masters, Jack Nichlaus sank a 40-foot putt to card a birdie-deuce on the 16th hole to take a one-stroke lead. On the final green both Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller had a chance to tie Big Jack at 276. However, their putts missed by inches and Nicklaus posted his third straight tour victory which gave him an unprecedented fifth Masters! It was one of the longest and businest years for Muhammad Ali as it took him nearly 55 rounds to dispose of four challengers-Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, Joe Bugner, and Joe Frazier.

To Rushes-yards Passing yards Return yards Passes Punts Fumbles-lost Penalties-yards stop former champ Frazier. Ah needed 14 rounds, In baseball's game of musical chairs, the 24-team was injured on the play, however. Fred Mortensen; another sophomore, came in at quarterback and one play later hit flashy wide receiver John Jefferson with a 10-yard touchdown pass, only the second scoring toss of the 1975 season against Nebraska. Mortensen then hit Larry Mucker for the two-point conversion on a near-identical play that knotted the score-Earlier in the game, Danny Kush the coach's son had kicked field goals of 27 and 34 yards. With less than five minutes to play, the junior kicked a 29-yarder for the victory.

"The first two were easy," he said. "On that third one, I was really nervous." The Sun Devils offensive unit comes back almost intact next year, including Sproul, Mortensen, Jefferson, Mucker, halfbacks Fred Williams and Stan Robinson and tight end Bruce Hardy. "This was the biggest win ever for the team, the school, the Western Athletic Conference and the state," said Kush. "I can't understand why everyone keeps putting them down," said losing coach Tom Osborne. "They are a very good football team and deserve to be recognized as one of the top teams in the country." They'll get another chance to show their power in 1976.

Nebraska gained its 14-6 lead after three periods on the strength of two short touchdown runs by powerful 6-foot-3, 207-pound I-back Monte Anthony. His runs of one yard in the second quarter and four yards in the third put the Cornhuskers in command. By DAN BERGER AP Sports Writer TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) Arizona State's football team had something to prove, but it took a roll of the dice by a sophomore quarterback for the Sun Devils to pull out an upset over Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl. i For years the Arizona State schedule has been criticized as being weak.

Friday, secondyear quarterback Dennis Sproul decided he could handle the Cornhuskers and the result was a convincing 17-14 triumph over the Big Eight co-champions. "I hope to hell this keeps those people off our butts who have been complaining about our supposedly soft schedule," said Coach Frank Kush after his Sun Devils extended their two-year winning streak to 13, longest in the nation by a major college team. Then Kush reminded writers huddled in a steam-filled locker room that ASU's seventh-ranked team will return most of its starters next year. "There's no question we'll be better offensively next year," he said. Asked if his 12-0 team should be considered for the No.

1 spot in the national polls, Kush said: "We can only wait and see what happens in the other bowl games. Sproul, only 19, faced a fourth-down-and-one situation early in the fourth period with his team trailing the sixth-ranked Huskers 14-6. Kush sent his field goal unit onto the field, but Sproul called time out and ran to talk to the coach. "Sproul indicated he could make it and he ran the quarterback sneak," said Kush. "It was a good call because it worked." Sproul, who gained two yards on the crucial sneak, INDIVIDUAL LEADERS RUSHING Arizona State, Williams 18-111, Robinson 8-30.

Nebraska, Anthony 22-94, Davis 17-60, O'Leary 10-45. RECEIVING Arizona State, Jefferson 8-113, Mucker 3-39, Robinson 3-13. Nebraska, Thomas 6-44, Shamblin 2-13, Heiser2-12. PASSING-Arlzona State, Sproul 14-35-1, 163 yards; Mortensen 1-2-1, 10. Nebraska, Luck 12-22-0, 90; Ferragamo 0-1-1, 0.

Ferragamo. The majority of Big Red followers are in the dark concerning what happened. To perhaps partially clear up the early switch in quarterbacks, Conde Sargent of the Omaha World Herald, who covered the game, has provided the Daily Sun with the following: "Coach Tom Osborne's post-game comments about the quarterback switch seemed to stymie whatever predetermined ideas the press corps had about Ferragamo's exit, that he was sick perhaps, or injured or being disciplined for some unknown reason." Coach Osborne said: "Nothing like that, Vince seemed nervous before the game, and Luck had some great practices. When they (ASU) made the interception, that's when we made the change we did." Coach Osborne said he had Ferragamo ready to play the second half, but elected to stay with Luck. After Ferragamo started and was in for three plays, Luck came on and completed 13 of 23 passes for 100 yards.

Luck, a senior from N.C., did his best. Ferragamo is a junior from Carson, Calif. KANSAS IS 33-19 VICTIM season started with as many managers, but soon 11 were given the ax, and two fill-in managers were sacked. Among veteran coaches to get walking papers were: Del Crandall, Yogi Berra, AJvin Dark, Clyde King, and Wes Westrum. Dark has just come off a season whereby he'd won the World Series for Oakland! A disappointment, at least for Boston Red Sox fans, came when gritty Cuban Luis Tiant, above all things, didn't win three W.S.

games. Tiant almost pitched the three wins which would have been a first since Babe Ruth helped pitch the Sox to their final victory in 1918 with two victories. But, Tiant ran out of gas in the final game. In college basketball there were numerous fine teams, but UCLA won its 10th NCAA title in 12 years under John Wooden. The Bruins beat Kentucky (92-85) for the title after Kentucky had nosed out Indiana (92-90) to snap a Hoosier streak of 34 straight wins.

Wooden retired after 40 years of coaching. National Football League action saw the Pittsburgh Steelers win their first Super Bowl with a 16-6 decision over the Minnesota Vikings. When the World Football Pittsburgh gains first bowl win in 39 years League folded, many former NFL players sought to return home, some made it, while others were left out in the cold to await 1976. No one will forget the successful plight of Catfish Hunter who gained his free agent status from Finley's Oakland A's and signed a multi-year $3,750,000 contract with the New York Yankees. Catfish went to work and won 23 games for his new teammates.

Also in baseball, Rod Carew of the Minnesota Twins became the fourth player With three minutes left in the third period, Sproul had in baseball history to win four straight hitting titles! He also hit at a fancy .359 clip to lead both leagues for the second consecutive time. Although there were a trio of no- hitters chalked up, the top overall pitching achievement went to Met Tom Seaver. The Mets ace posted 243 strikeouts, his eighth season over the 200 mark, and tied the accomplishments of Rube Waddell and Walter Dick Nolan fired by SF PREP Johnson. California's Nolan Ryan tossed his fourth no-hitter to tie Sandy Kouf ax's record. down.

Dorsett and Walker, who each scored twice, ended the game with 142 and 123 yards, respectively. The explosive Pitt trio paced an offense that piled up 437 yards to gve the 20th-ranked Panthers an upset win over the 18th-ranked Jayhawks. Both teams compiled 7-4 regular season records. Kansas used a strong secondhalf offensive performance to roll up 418 yards total offense with halfback Laverne Smith and Cromwell providing the firepower. Smith was the top Jayhawk ground gainer with 118 yards that included touchdown romps of 55 and 17 yards.

Cromwell, who directs the Kansas wishbone attack, added 99 rushing yards. Haygood, who didn't play in any of Pitt's final four games after being injured against Navy, was voted the Sun Bowl's most valuable player. And, Pitt defensive end Al Romano was tabbed the game's most valuable lineman. That was the game's first score and Pitt went on to post a 33-19 triumph Friday for its first bowl victory in 39 years. "I'd say that was the biggest "pay of the game," Majors said of the first quarter stand by his defensive unit.

"We took the ball and scored after that," he said. "I told our defense at the half that was the biggest play of the ball game." Moore concurred, saying, "That was very definitely a big play. We were moving the ball very well up to that time. "Any time something like that happens, it is likely to take a lot out of you," he said. Haygood, a junior quarterback, Walker, a sophomore fullback, and Tony Dorsett, a junior tailback, sparked the Panthers to two more first half touchdowns that gave Pitt a 19-0 halftime advantage that Kansas could not overcome.

Haygood finished with 101 yards rushing and passed for 60 more, including a touch By JIM McELROY AP Sports Writer EL PASO, Tex. (AP) Football coaches have been saying for years that teams don't win or lose games on one play, but the opposing coaches in the 41st annual Sun Bowl agree that one play in that game was certainly a decisive factor. The play came early in the first quarter when Kansas Coach Bud Moore's Jayhawks were driving deep inside the territory of Pittsburgh Coach Johnny Majors' Panthers. The Jayhawks had marched from their own 20 to the Panther 17-yard-line where they faced a fourth down situation with only inches needed to keep the drive alive. Quarterback Nolan Cromwell tried for the first down, but was thrown back by the Pitt defensive line and the Panthers took over.

Four plays later, Pitt fullback Elliott Walker took a pitch from Robert Haygood and swept around right end 60 yards to uavriirt It was indeed a sad year for thoroughbred racing. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) After Foolish Pleasure won the Kentucky Derby, a match race was held at Belmont between the Derby winner and After eight years in the job, Ruffian. The latter, one of the greatest of fillies, was unbeaten in 10 starts. But, the celebrated match race saddened all thoroughbred followers. While leading Foolish Pleasure, Ruffian broke two sesamoid bones in her right foreleg.

Following a tedious operation, Ruffian had to be humanely destroyed eight hours after the race. There were many, many other highlights in various sports. Yet, on the other hand, a touch of humor was added. A Baltimore sportscaster went to Africa to see a witch doctor. Purpose of the trip was to put the wham my on the Boston Red Sox who were being chased by the Orioles.

The "whammy" lasted one day! To each A 49ers' president and general manager Louis G. Spadia announced that Nolan was out because "a change was needed." Spadia said he had a number of candidates in mind to replace Nolan and would name a successor as soon as possible. But he named no names. Nolan said he was surprised when he got the word about an hour before it was made public. Spadia had made the decision earlier, but delayed announcement until after Christmas.

"It's part of the business; it happens everywhere," said Nolan. "I have been in the business for over 22 years, but things like this never get any easier." HAPPY NEW YEAR! TARKENTON AND COMPANY TAKE ON DALLAS Can Cincinnati stop Raiders again? By BRUCE LOWITT that a driving rainstorm in Dick Nolan has been fired as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, who have had three consecutive losing National Football League seasons after winning three straight division titles. Nolan, 43, had a year left on' his estimated contract. He said he wants to stay in professional football, and added: "Sometimes it's tough for a head coach to get a job as an assistant. "I know the reasons, but I'll not comment on them I don't want to hurt people," Nolan said Friday after TABLE ROCK AND D-V MAKE IT TO FINALS TABLE ROCK-Host Table Rock and Dawson-Verdon meet here tonight (Saturday) for the championship of the Table Rock Invitational Holiday Basketball Tournament.

Dawson-Verdon advanced to the 8:30 p.m., championship game by whipping Elk Creek, 60-48; and Table Rock moved into the finals with an 80-52 decision of Pawnee City. In the 7 p.m., consolation game tonight, P.C. meets Elk Creek. In Friday night's open round" action, Bill Bruhn poured in 45 Dawson-Verdon points. Brad Gottula led Table Rock with 27; Jeff Johnson a freshman, hit 17 for Pawnee City; and Elk Creek was led by Kevin Rippe's 22.

During the regular season, despite a scoring binge by Bruhn, Arlan Andreesen's Table Rockers beat D-V, 87-71. NFL Playoffs At A Glance By Hie Associated Press BASKETBALL By The Associated Press First Round At Clearwater Ewing 65, Chambers 51 Clearwater 63, Elgin 42 At Humphrey Leigh 50, Lindsay Holy Family 29 Humphrey 59, Humphrey St. Francis 41 At Hartington Hartington 57, Hartington CC 54 (ot) Crofton 62, Bloomfield 57 At West Point Oakland-Craig 52, Wisner-Pilger 48 West Point 67, Scribner 58 At Platte College Fairbury 74, Columbus Lakeview 54 Columbus Scotus 56, Schuyler 55 At Bridgeport Bayard 68, Harrisburg 54 Bridgeport 85, Alliance St. Agnes 71 At DeWitt Tri-County Hebron 66, Wilbur 51 At tad Seward 66, Lexington 63 Cozad 70, Boys Town 61 At Norfolk Catholic Norfolk Catholic 55, Neligh 48 Genoa 70, Elgin Pope John 34 At Spalding Greeley 60, Cedar Rapids 51 Wheeler-Central 50, Spalding Academy 42 At Table Rock Dawson-Verdon 60, Elk Creek 58 Table Rock 80, Pawnee City 52 At Wakefield Emerson-Hubbard 70, Pender 53 Wakefield 74, Allen 34 At braska Wesleyan Murdock 56, Cedar Bluffs 35 Shickley 65, Benedict 29 Friend 76, Louisville 60 Wahoo Neumann 71, Full-erton 58 At Doane Omaha Holy Name 73, Nebraska City 51 Crete 102, Ainsworth 60 At Omaha Metro Omaha Central 73, Roncalli 40 wrecked both offenses. "You can't base anything on that game," says Stabler.

"I don't want to speak for Anderson, but I know I was terrible that day. I gave up four interceptions and so did he." Stabler completed eight of 24 passes, Anderson hit on four of 19. Oakland racked up its eighth division title in nine years with a defense ranked first in the AFC and an offense that finished third statistically. The Bengals were second to Buffalo on offense and fourth in the conference on defense. While Cincinnati has made tempts for 2,994 yards and 25 touchdowns while Staubach completed 57 per cent of his attempts for 2,666 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Chuck Foreman, ho became Minneota's first rusher in a season, also caught 73 passes and scored 22 touchdowns while wiping out Viking records in those categories. Robert Newhouse led Dallas rushers with 930 yards. Drew Pearson is the leading Cowboy receiver with 88 catches for 822 yards and eight touchdowns. Bowls At A Glance By The Associated Press Monday, Dec. 29 Gator Bowl At Jacksonville, Fla.

Not that the Raiders are exactly slouches in the aerial department. Ken Stabler directs the Oakland offense and has top-notch targets in Cliff Branch and Fred Biletnikoff. Stabler, too, takes a basic viewpoint into the game. "We've got to get some long drives going and keep the ball away from Anderson and his bunch." The game is the fourth and final first-round game of the weekend. In Sunday's earlier game, Dallas, the National Conference wild-card team, is at Minnesota, champion of the Central Division.

The Cincinnati-Oakland matchup is the only one involving teams which met during the regular season. But the Bengals' 14-10 victory on Oct. 19 in Cincinnati has to be discounted. It was Dlaved AP Sports Writer Oakland cornerback Willie Brown sees the Raiders' task against the Cincinnati Bengals as a simple one. "Once we can stop the pass, everything will fall in place for us," he says, looking forward to Sunday's National Football League first-round playoff game between the two American Conference powers.

"They may have the best set of wide receivers in football." The Bengals, who grabbed the AFC's wild-card berth with an 11-3 record the same one that gave the Raiders the West Division title are led by the Ken Anderson, league's best passer for the second straight year. His primary receivers are Isaac Curtis and running back Boobie Clark. vs. Florida (9-2-0) Maryland (8-2-1), before, falling out in the first round in both 1970 and 1973, the Raiders have the best record in pro football since 1963, a gaudy 12645-11, but no Super Bowl titles to show for it. "When you're in the playoffs, you just have to play good, solid football.

You 'aren't going to beat anybody fooling them," says 'Oakland Coach John Madden, whose teams haven't played quite well enough in past playoffs. The Cowboys grabbed their playoff berth with a 10-4 record while the Vikings went 12-2. Each team underwent offseason rebuilding to get to this point. "Minnesota probably has even more talent this year because the young players have come through," Dallas Coach Tom Landry says of the Vikings, in its seventh playoff in eight years. "It's as solid as the recent Viking Super Bowl teams." Many preseason experts figured the Cowboys, decimated by retirements and defections to the now-defunct World Football League, to miss the playoffs as they did last year.

But with a number of new players and Roger Staubach's shotgun quarterbacking, they bounced back into them for the ninth time in 10 years. "They've moved the ball on everybody in the league," Minnesota Coach Bud Grant says. "On defense, they don't use a lot of variations, but they're very sound." Minnesota's Fran Tarkenton outperformed Staubach to be the top quarterback in the conferenceshattering four of Johnny Unitas' passing records along the way. Tarkenton connected on 64 per cent of his passing at- Wednesday, Dec. 31 Peach Bowl At Atlanta North Carolina State (7-3-1) vs.

West Virginia (8-3-0) Sugar Bowl At New Orleans, La. Since becoming the 49ers' head coach in 1968, Nolan had an over-all record of 54-53-5 for regular season games, but in the last three years the club was 5-9, 6-8 and 5-9. Home game attendance reached a five-year low when only 34,354 turned out at Candlestick Park for this season's final game, a 26-23 loss to the New York Giants. Some of the media and a growing number of fans advocated Nolan's replacement. Nolan said he as well aware of fan discontent, but noted, in reply to a question, that "season ticket sales are a lot' better than when I came here." Criticism of the 49ers centered mainly on the failure to develop a regular first-string quarterback after John Brodie retired in 1973 and the lack of an effective running attack.

Veteran Norm Snead, acquired from the Giants midway in the 1974 season, started the season at quarterback; Steve Spurrier, who had spent several years as Brodie's heir-apparent, took over midway, and second-year pro Tom Owen was the mainstay in the final game after sharing the job in the two previous games. Nolan was a defensive back with the New York Giants from 1954 through 1961, except for the 1958 season when he played safety with the Chicago Cardinals. And as an assistant coach at Dallas for six years through 1967, he worked with the defense. With the 49ers, Nolan concentrated on defensive strategy and gave offensive coordinator Dick Stanfel and quarterbackreceiver coach Don Heinrich pretty much of a free hand. Penn State (9-2-0) vs.

Ala- bama (10-1-0), vs. it into the playoffs only twice Filley tourney starts Monday FILLEY The Jaycees sponsored high school invitational basketball tournament opens here in FUley's new gymnasium Monday night. The four-team field includes: Humboldt, Douglas, Wymore Southern and Filley. Opening round play Monday night, according to Jaycee Dave Norton, will be: 7 p.m. Wymore Southern vs.

Douglas. 8:30 Filley vs. Humboldt. The Tuesday night consolation game will start at 7 p.m., the championship game 8 p.m. Admission is adults $1.50, students 75 cents.

TENNIS MELBOURNE, Australia John Lloyd of Great Britain defeated Australian Bob Carmichael 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 in irstround action of the Austrlian Open Tennis Championships. Thursday, Jan. I Cotton Bowl At Dallas, Tex. Arkansas (9-2-0) Georgia (9-2-0) Rose Bowl At Pasadena, Calif. Ohio State (11-0-0) UCLA (8-2-1) Orange Bowl At Miami, Fla.

Oklahoma (10-1-0) vs. All Times EST Saturday, Dec. 27 AFC Semifinal Baltimore at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. NFC Semifinal St Louis at Los Angeles, 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec.

28 NFC Semifinal Dallas at Minnesota, 1 p.m. AFC Semifinal Cincinnati at Oakland, 4 p.m. i vs. Omaha Westside 64, CB Thomas Jefferson 38 Omaha Burke 72, CB Abraham Lincoln 51 Omaha Tech 73, Omaha South 50 Creighton Prep 45, Omaha Ryan 44 Omaha North 72, Omaha Northwest 54 FOOTBALL SAN FRANCISCO Dick Nolan was fired as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. micnigan ttt-i-zi, Saturday, Jan.

3 East-West Shrine, Stanford, Calif. Saturday, Jan. 10 Hula Bowl, Honolulu, Hawaii All-American Bowl Tampa, Fla. Sunday, Jan 11 Senior Bowl at Mobile, Ala. Championship Site Priorities NFC Minnesota, Los Angeles, St.

Louis. AFC Pittsburgh, Oakland, DISMISSED Running back Horace Ivory has been dismissed from the Oklahoma football team and will miss the Orange Bowl game with; Michigan. He was dropped because of a dormitory infraction. (AP Wirephoto)..