The Daily Advertiser from Lafayette, Louisiana • 22

B-6 Advertiser, Lafayette, Oct. 11, 1992 1 re Danio rebounds against struggling Pitt PITTSBURGH (AP) Rick Mirer broke Joe Theismann's school record for career touchdown passes and Jerome Bettis rushea for three touchdowns Saturday as No. 13 Notre Dame defeated struggling Pittsburgh The Fighting (4-1-1), who mm Wn 1 turned the football I over ve umes a I 33-16 loss to Stanford Pitt did its best to keep its defense allowing an average of 30 points a game off the field. The Panthers drove 74 yards in 16 plays on their first possession, with Conley kicking a 20-yard field goal. The Panthers also drove 44 yards in nine plays to set up Conley's 48-yarder.

Pitt finally got a touchdown when quarterback Alex Van Pelt got hot during the Panthers' first possession of the second half. He completed 7 of 8 passes during a 15-play, 78-yard drive and hit nit Dietrich Jells in the right corner of the end zone on fourth-and-goal at the 5 to cut Notre Dame's lead to 28-14. Pitt faked the extra point, and holder John Ryan converted the two-point conversion by beating the Notre Dame defense to the front corner of the end zone. Pitt's final score came when Van Pelt threw a 8-yard touchdown pass to Chad Askew with 8: 11 left. following through on a promise to play his second-team offense while the game was still a game, got a touchdown from that group midway through the second quarter.

The second unit drove 65 yards in five plays, with backup quarterback Kevin McDougal throwing a 31-yard touchdown pass to Mayes and giving the Irish a 21-6 lead. Mayes also caught a 69-yard touchdown pass from Mirer in the fourth quarter. Bettis' second touchdown came on a 2-yard run with 32 seconds remaining in the first half. He scored again in the third quarter on an 1 1 -yard run. Craig Hentrich's seven extra points and a 25-yard field goal gave him 256 career points, making him the most prolific kicker in Notre Dame history.

He broke the record of 247 held by Dave Reeves. chunks of yardage virtually every time they touched the ball. Bettis carried 13 times for 94 yards, and notched Notre Dame's first score with an 8-yard TD run off left tackle. Pitt kicker Sean Conley sandwiched field goals of 20 and 48 yards around Bettis' first touchdown, but Notre Dame then exploded for 21 second-quarter points. Mirer's running and passing brought the Irish right back after the second Pitt field goal.

The Fighting Irish drove 80 yards in 10 plays, with Mirer throwing a 1-yard touchdown pass to backup tight end Oscar McBride. Mirer kept the drive alive by running 6 yards to Pitt's 12-yard line on a fourth-and-one play. He kept the ball again on the next play, running 12 yards until he was bumped out at the 1-yard-line, setting up the touchdown pass. Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, one week ago, had no turnovers and little trouble moving the ball against Pitt (2-4). Notre Dame rolled up 517 yards of total offense.

Mirer passed for two touchdowns, giving him 33 for his career and breaking Theismann's record of 31. He was on target most of the night, completing 9 of 16 passes for 182 yards. Reserve receiver Derrick Mayes caught two touchdowns. Bettis and fellow running backs Iee Becton and Reggie Brooks gained big Pitt's Elexious Perkins hangs on to Notre Dame's Lee Eecton Lange FG lifts Bulldogs shut down War Eagles STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -Tony James returned a punt 63 yards for a touchdown, and No.

18 Mississippi State shut down Auburn's offense as the Bulldogs beat the Tigers 14-7 on Saturday. With State trailinfl ul sa rWi-T'i'lril 7-6 early in the fourth 1 quarter, James field- I a Punt cu' I to his left, and shed TULSA, Okla. (AP) Eric Lange kicked a 34-yard field goal with 2:22 left and Tulsa made big defensive plays at the goal line to heat South west Missouri State 17-14 on Satur day The Golden Hurricane (2-4) snapped a four-game losing streak despite being outplayed in the second half by Southwest Missouri (3-3), a Division I-AA school. The Bears got 127 yards rushing from Anthony Pegues and outgained Tulsa 161-18 in the third quarter, tying it 14-14 on a 29-yard run from Jonah White. Southwest Missouri was at the Tulsa 6 early in the fourth quarter several tacklers before breaking free around midfield and streaking up the left sideline.

State (4-1 overall, 3-1 SEC) frustrated Auburn and quarterback Stan White all night. White completed 17 of 38 passes for 182 yards with three interceptions. The Tigers (4-2, 2-2) also lost two fumbles. The Tigers' only score came on a 63-yard bomb from White to Orlando Parker on Auburn's second play of the second half that made it 7-6. The Tigers defense, along with Mississippi State kicker Chris Gardner's three missed field goals, kept Auburn in the game.

The Bulldogs managed just two 30- kP Laserphoto Tulane's Wilbert Gilmore makes a stop on Prince Wimbley of Alabama. when Cleveland Antoine pitched poorly to Pegues on the option and Billy Cole recovered the fumble. After an exchange of punts, Tulsa's Mark Matheson completed a 25-yard pass to Mario Fair to set up Lange's field goal. Southwest Missouri lost nine yards on its next possession, and Tulsa ran out the clock. The Bears had the ball at the 1 in the first quarter but came away with nothing after a missed field goal.

Matheson, making his first start, completed 10 of 17 passes for 130 yards and a 21 -yard touchdown to Gary Brown, but the Hurricane offense sputtered in the second half, getting just four first downs. Lamont Headd led Tulsa in rush ing with 88 yards, 59 in the first half when the Hurricane took a 14-7 lead. Matheson completed his first six passes and Tulsa also got solid running from Headd and Ron Jackson early. But the Hurricane had one drive stopped on a fumble, another on an interception and a third by pe nalties. The Bears also had their share of Alabama toys with overmatched Tulane NEW ORLEANS (AP) Derrick Lassie ran for 188 yards and a touchdown and Michael Procter kicked three field goals to keep No.

6 Alabama undefeated as the Crimson Tide beat Tulane 37-0 Saturday night. yard field goals by Gardner in the first half, and led 6-0 at intermission. James, fourth in SEC career punt return yardage, was the first player to return a punt for a touchdown against Auburn in 20 years. State was led by third-string quarterback Todd Jordan, who was pressed into service when second-stringer Greg Plump went down at 7:21 of the first quarter with a sprained neck. Plump was playing because starter Sleepy Robinson was lost for the season when he tore ligaments in his left knee last week against Florida.

Jordan completed 13 of 27 passes for 144 yards, all season highs for Mississippi State's run-onented offense. State's defense dominated most of the first half, and also had some 'ckonits side. Auburn was forced to punt after running three plays on its first possession, and White was intercepted by Kelvin Knight on the second play of the next possession. for 73 yards for Alabama. Barker was sacked twice for a loss of 13 yards.

Brian Burgdorf, who came on in the fourth quarter, was 2 of 3 for 65 yards. Tulane quarterback Shawn Meadows was 11 of 26 for 107 yards He was also intercepted three times. Alabama, which finished with 573 yards total offense, had only 210 yards at the end of the half. when Lassie, who had 20 carries on the night, charged in from the 5-yardline Alabama scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter on runs by Kevin Lee, Sherman Williams and Chris Anderson The victory left Alabama 6-0, while Tulane fell to 3-2. Alabama led only 6-0 at the half and almost trailed.

A 21-yard rushing touchdown by Tulane's Andy Abramowicz as time ran out was ruled no good because Abra-mowicz's knee hit the turf behind the line of scrimmage. Procter hit a 42-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 39-yarder in the second quarter. His 35 yard attempt in the second quarter was wide left. He also had a 27-yard field goal in the third quarter. Jay Barker completed 6 of 16 Alabama did not reach the end zone against a tough Tulane defense until late in the third quarter Lowrey-led Indians scorch Cowboys San Jose trounces Fullerton LAKE CHARLES (AP) Wendal Lowrey passed for 352 yards and five touchdowns, tying a school record, in leading Northeast Louisiana to a 52-35 victory over McNeese State in a battle of Southland Conference championship contenders and small-college powers.

Lowrey, whose four touchdown passes in the first half set a school record, finished with 15 completions in 21 attempts and had no interceptions in as Northeast, ranked ninth in NCAA Division I-AA, unproved to 3-2 overall and 2-0 atop the Southland standings. The loss dropped 12th-ranked McNeese, the defending Southland champion, to 2-3 and 1-1. NW Louisiana 37 North Texas 34 DENTON, Texas (AP) Jeff Powell's 36-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining Saturday night lifted Northwestern State to a 37-34 victory over North Texas. The kick capped the Demons' 17-point fourth quarter in which they overcame a 24-20 deficit. Quarterback Brad Brown ran for touchdowns of 2 and 18 yards in the period.

Northwestern unproved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in Southland Conference play. The Eagles dropped to 1-4 and 0-1. Deon Ridgell scored on a 21-yard run and Darius Adams ran a kickoff back 96 yards in the third quarter to pull the Demons within 24-20. Southern 47 Winston-Salem I I SHREVEPORT (AP) Freshman Eric Randall threw two of his four touchdown passes Saturday to Cornell Johnson, who had 102 yards in receptions, as Southern University routed Winston-Salem State, 47-14, in the first game between the two schools. Randall finished with 14 completions in 21 pass attempts for 240 yards for Southern (3-1).

His touch down pass plays went 34 and 35 yards to Johnson, 15 yards to Lindsey Scott and 12 yards to Shawn Preston. Sam Houston 19 Nicholls 19 THIBODAUX (AP) Charles Oliver's 5-yard touchdown run tied the score with 4:26 remaining, but Sam Houston State had to seltle for a 19-19 standoff when Nicholls State's Michael Morris blocked the Bearkats' conversion attempt. The outcome left Sam Houston at 3-1-1 overall and 0-0 1 in the Southland Conference, Nicholls State at 0-5 and 0-4. After Morris blocked the extra point attempt by Sam Houston kicker Chris Batten, Nicholls drove from its own 33 in eight plays to set up a 49-yard Held goal attempt by Skip Shel- ton with four seconds left on the clock. Shelton, who kicked a school-record 53-yarder against the Bearkats last season, had the distance but the ball sailed left for his third missed field goal of the day in five attempts He also missed from 41 and 42 yards earlier, while kicking two others from 39 and 30 yards.

(iraiiililing St 49 Miss. Valley St 6 CHICAGO (AP) Eric Gant scored four touchdowns to lead Grambling State to a 49-6 victory over Mississippi Valley State in the firstver Chicago Classic at Soldier Field. Grambling controlled the battle of Southwestern Athletic Conference teams from start to finish. The Tigers (4-2, 2-1 jumped out to a 28-6 halftime lead and never looked back as they continued their domination of MVSU (2-3, 0-3). The Delta Devils entered the game with the top-rated defense in the conference, allowing an average of just 15 points per outing.

Grambling holds a 31-3-2 all-time series edge against the Delta Devils. Gant reeled off scoring runs of 1, 2 and 5 yards and set the tone for the blowout with a 67-yard touchdown reception 1:40 into the game. The junior fullback rushed 17 times for 76 yards and has reached the end zone 13 times this season. Ron Dyson caught a 28-yard touchdown pass and rushed nine yards for another for the Tigers, who are piling up an average of 46.3 points per game Grambling out-gained MV.SC by a whopping 490-215 margin The Tigers took a 14-0 lead with 1:32 left in the first quarter after Gant plunged 1 yard into the end zone. Corner kick Michael Nail set up the touchdown when he intercepted red shirt freshman Niyka Long's pass and returned it 9 yards to the MVSU 24 The Delta Devils came right back as Long, in his first start, connected with Chester Flower on a 58-yard touchdown pass But Grambhng's Eudean Toney blocked the extra point and MVSU never came close to scoring again Quarterback Alex Perkins gave Grambling a 21-6 advantage midway through the second quarter with a 28-yard scoring strike to Dyson.

The Tigers then put the game away with a methodical 10-play, 73-yard scoring drive just before half-time. It culminated with Gant darting in for a r. yard touchdown. But it was Perkins who orchestrated the drive He completed three passes for 65 yards, including a 33-yarder to Dyson. Perkins, who sat down for good early in the third quarter, completed 7-of-18 passes for 214 yards blown chances.

A 60-yard pass from Antoine to Chuck Calhoun put the ball at the 1, but three running plays resulted in a loss of two yards and Richard Grote missed a 21 -yard field goal. Southwest Missouri got to the 1 on its next drive, behind 51 yards from Pegues, and almost stalled again. But Pegues scored from a yard out on third down by scooting past two defenders on the option. N. Illinois 23 Southern Miss 10 DEKALB, 111.

(AP) LaShon Johnson rushed for 188 vards, including an 85-vard touchdown, in leading Northern Illinois past Southern Mississippi 23-10 Saturday. The touchdown by Johnson, who carried 26 times, put the Huskies (3-3) ahead 20-3 with 5:25 left in the third quarter. Johnson's 188 rushing yards tied him for No. 2 on the all-time opponents list for the Golden Eagles (3-3). Only Auburn's Bo Jackson had more, 205 yards in 1985, while Cincinnati's Curtis Williams also had 188 yards in 1977 against Southern Miss.

The Eagles' Lance Nations opened the scoring with a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter and teammate Michael Welch had a I-yard TD run with 8:02 remaining in the game. In between it was all Northern Illinois. Brian Steger kicked field goals of 39, 47 and 29 yards, while Raymond Roberts caught a 7-yard scoring pass from Scott Crabtree in the second ouarter. Crabtree finished 9 of 25 for 139 yards. He had one interception.

Troy St 41 Arkansas St 7 JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) -Kelvin Simmons threw three touchdown passes and ran for another to lead Troy State to a 41-7 drubbing of Arkansas State on Saturday. Simmons also carried the ball 12 times for 83 yards. The Trojans totaled 471 yards while keeping the ball for more than 35 minutes Arkansas State (1-5) was scoreless until 12:24 in the fourth, when DeSoto Dickson rushed in from the 2. SAN JOSE, Calif.

(AP) San Jose State scored 42 first half points on just 182 yards of offense and cruised past Cal-State Fullerton 49-3 in a Big West Conference matchup Saturday night. The Spartans, 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the Big West, scored three touchdowns in each of the first two quarters despite controlling the ball less than one-third of the time. San Jose State scored first on a 60-yard pass from quarterback Jeff Garcia to Jason Lucky. On the first play after the kickoff, Ful-lerton's Tim Ryan fumbled, with San Jose State's Anthony Washington recovering and running 24 yards for a touchdown. On Fullerton's next possession, punter Noel Prefontaine mishandled the snap and was trapped at his 14-yard line.

Continued from B1 HOWARD: advantage of Florida mistakes to stay close early, but struggled offensively after halftime until Howard threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Tory James late in the fourth quarter. The LSU quarterback's 2-point conversion pass to Wesley Jacob cut Florida's lead to seven points, and LSU threatened to pull even closer after recovering an onside kick at the Gators 43. Howard completed a 26-yard pass to Brett Bech on first down, Howard, who became only the fifth LSU quarterback to throw for 300 yards or more (joining Tommy Hodson, Jesse Daigle, Jeff Wickersham and Alan Risher), threw for the sixth most yards in a single game ever by an LSU quarterback with his 339-yard effort. In addition, his 347 yards of total offense (he also had eight yards rushing) was the fifth best single game effort in LSU history. "I feel as though I'm becoming more confident with each game," but the Tigers eventually relinquished possession at the 19 when a pass intended for Jacob fell incomplete in the end zone.

"I was still confident we were still going to win the game," said Howard, the former St. Thomas More standout. "I just tried to make things happen and by throwing at the end I did that. Things just didn't turn our way." LSU's freshman quarterback was 20 of 39 for a career-high 339 yards with" one interception. moved the Gators back into contention for first place in the SEC's Eastern Division.

Matthews finished with 25 completions in 37 attempts for 285 yards. He threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Greg Keller to give Florida a 7-3 leaa, then threw 31 yards to Jack Jackson on fourth and six for a 14-10 advantage. Rhett scored both of his touchdowns on 1-yard runs as Florida took control of the game in the second half. Howard said. "I just sat back in the pocket and threw the ball.

The offensive line did a good job. "I think we opened up more this week. We had a two-play call at the line to either run or pass depending on whether or not I judged they were playing man on zone. If it was zone and it look vulnerable I audibled to a pass. I think that had a lot to do with it." Florida ran out the final 1 47 for the victory which, coupled with Tennessee's 25-24 loss to Arkansas,.