The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 41

rnrvv inf I iltiami Herald i Saturday INSIDE Elliott January 2 1971 Nebraska Section 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i i'ii i Yardstick Nebraska 9 Plunge In 4th Quarter Wins OB Classic i i I i i I 5 4 By BOB ELLIOTT Herald Columnist The impossible dream died in the mud of Oakland Stadium last Sunday but on the Poly-Turf of the Orange Bowl Friday night an even more unlikely dream took a tremendous step toward reality when Nebraska outlasted Louisiana State 17-12 in the 37th annual OB classic The bitterly-won victory coming hours after 24-11 loss to Notre Dame and Ohio 27-17 upset at the hands of Stanford is expected to earn Coach Bob unbeaten Cornhuskers the 1970 national collegiate football championship The final Associated Press poll on which the national title is based will be taken this week and come as a shock if Nebraska wind up No 1 In the final poll of the regular season Texas was No 1 Ohio State No 2 and Nebraska No 3 Joe Orduna (31) Crashes 12 Yards to LSU Staff Photo by JOHN WALTHER 3 to Sel Up First Touchdown Cornhuskers Came 4 THE ODDS on the Notre Dame-Stanford-Nebraska par-lay must have been astronomical but it happened just as Devaney and his proud charges had hoped it would Nebraska winds up its 1970 campaign unbeaten in 12 games with only a 21-21 tie with Southern California marring its record The defeat was third as against nine triumphs A record Orange Bowl crowd of 80699 watched the powerful Nebraska and LSU clubs wage one of the bitterest fights in the history of the OB classic It until less than nine minutes were left in the game that the Cornhuskers managed to push across the touchdown that gave them the lead and the eventual victory NEBRASKA had grabbed a 10-0 first-quarter cushion saw it cut to 10-3 by halftime and vatvsh entirely on the last of the third period as LSI1 clicked on a 31-vard scoing play and a 12-10 advantage However the Cornhuskers about to let slip the opportunity which Notre Dame and Stanford had set up for them They ran the following kickoff back to their 33 and went on a 14-play time-consuming march tha ''u'nn t-ed in a one-yard scoring av by quarterback Jctrv ingge The Cornhusker drive used up six minutes and 10 seconds of the final period and LSU couldn't bounce back in the remaining time Tagge who did most of the quarterbacking for the winners was voted the most valuable back with the Turn to Page 7D Col 1 p-yppr Ji Wll I Yardstick yards It seemed as miraculous that they were behind only 10-3 just as Missouri only being beaten by that score by Penn State a year ago despite seven interceptions There is a gathering mass of opinion that the Big Eight plays the best football top-to-bottom of any conference in the country including the Southeastern The Cornhuskers did nothing to weaken that notion Friday night THE ORIGINAL SURPRISE was Nebraska coming out throwing They had the man to do it a crisply named junior quarterback Jerry Tagge He was the one who got Nebraska off fast and then furnished the finishing kick after Louisiana State had gone ahead at 12-10 on the last play of the third quarter The Cornhuskers had built their 10-0-1 regular-season record on an irresistible ground force But Tagge entered the arena with bombs on his mind He hit on 6 of 10 passes in the first quarter as Nebraska dazed LSU with a 10-0 lead in that period Too Charie McClendon some flowers for wak- Turn to Page 6D Col 5 The Orange Bowl came out smelling like a rose If Nebraska No 1 there any justice- The coldest Orange Bowl Classic in nine years turned into the hottest in a lot longer than that 17-12 nudging of Louisiana State should entitle the Cornhuskers to dance over the beaten bodies of Texas and Ohio State and into the topmost national ranking to be announced early next week Bob Big Eight Conference champions skipped off the artificial turf with fingers raised to signify No 1 They have it coming That national title would be a beautiful climax to a match that looked like the berries from the day it was made but strangely failed to arouse the usual enthusiasm among the citizenry The lack of early public excitement probably was due to the late drive and the pro championships coming up Sunday But it show in the record crowd of 80699 in the great horseshoe Friday night I ALMOST got an idea I was watching one of Bud old Oklahoma outfits as the Corn huskers in their blood-red suits whisked up and down the OB rug They were quick They were poised And they operating against any patsies LSU was as savage defensively as advertised and hung in there all the way despite erratic quarterbacking To be fair to the Tiger quarterbacks Bert Jones and Buddy Lee they spent much of the 55-degree evening with Nebraska rushers stuck to their helmets In the first half Tiger quarterbacks were sacked six times for losses totaling 65 yards LSU finished the first half with a rushing aggregate of minus 45 Sports On Air Today's Television FOOTBALL 2 pm Gator Bowl Auburn vs Mississippi Channels 7 5 4:30 pm Shrine Classic East Stars vs West Stars Channels 10 12 Today's Radio FOOTBALL 2 pm Gator Bowl Auburn vs Mississippi WIOD HORSE RACING 5 pm Orange Bowl Handicap WIOD WGBS Sunday's Television FOOTBALL 2 pm AFC Championship Baltimore vs Oakland Channels 7 5 3 pm NFC Champion-sh'p San Francisco vs Dallas Channel 4 Sunday's Radio FOOTBALL 2 pm Baltimore vs Oakland WIOD 5 pm San Francisco vs Dallas WKAT Heisman Trophy winner was voted the most valuable player of the game The Buckeyes scored twdee in the first half on one-yard plunges by John Brockington and added a field goal for their points Stanford had mly one touchdown until the final quarter although Steve Horowitz kicked two field goals one of tlinm a Rose Bowl record 4S-yard boot THE BUCKEYES appeared to have the game vel1 in hand late in the third period when they started a march from them six and drove to the Stanford But Brockington was held for no gain on fourth down The Indians then started an 80-v rd ch Plunkett computed fve pisses uu lim a 3 r- thiova to Bobby M'-or? gave them a fir-t chwn on the three On third down Jackie Turn to Page 3D Col 3 Plunkett Defense Defeat No 1 Texas To Irish in Falls Cotton the Irish a 14-3 lead They called on sophomore quarterback Jim Bulger to throw his first pass ever on the field for the Irish a 37-yarder into the hands of Ellis who was switched to offense in time to catch his first pass of the season It set up a field goal that completed the scoring Notre Dame took a 21-3 lead after 16Y2 minutes as Texas managed only one first down The Irish dominated completely running 21 of the first 26 plays and checking Worster with 13 yards in the first half Texas managed a brief 3-0 lead on a 23-yard field goal by Happy Feller after a 63-yard run by Phillips the first of his brilliant option maneuvers But Theismann rallied the Irish He took them out of trouble with a third-and-11 scramble of 12 yards from their own 19 that ignited a Texas-style 80-yard drive Turn to Page 3D Col 2 By ALEX KAHN UPI Sports Writer PASADENA Calif ability to hold the powerful Ohio State Buckeyes on a fourth-and-one situation in the fourth period was pinpointed by both coaches as the turning point of the Rose Bowl game Friday Inspired by that defensive effort the Indians roared back behind the brilliant passing of Jim Plunkett to score two touchdowns that brought Stanford a 27-17 victory It was first Rose Bowl triumph in 30 years The game attracted a record crowd of 103839 we were stopped on the Stanford 19 that had to be the turning point" a bitterly disappointed Coach Woody Hayes said Victorious Coach John Ralston said it was the emotional surge after halting the Buckeyes that made the difference He revealed that his By WILLIAM GILDEA Miami Pst Wirt DALLAS Notre Dame woke up the echoes Friday with a performance destined to become a part of its football folklore The Irish played this Cotton Bowl not for the Gipper but themselves and revenge for their embarrassment here last year This time they crushed No 1 Texas and ended its winning streak at 30 The Irish hit so hard they caused nine fumbles four by Texas legend Steve Wor-ster as Lorghorn fans watched in disbelief their cries of hook silenced By 24-11 Notre Dame atoned for its 21-17 defeat last year despite injuries that slowed its three biggest heroes Joe Theismann Tom Gatewood and defensive standout Clarence Ellis Not even a record-breaking afternoon by junior quarterback Eddie Phillips could save Texas The red-headed successor to James Street Yardstick Notre Dame Texas 16 20 146 26 213 210 0 26 9191 10-271 8-45 5-32 5 33 First downs Rushing yardaoe Passing yardage Return yardage Passes Punts Fumbles lost Yards penalized 1 S2 inn Hin'iii mu' firr nr1 i in passed for 199 yards and ran for 164 to set a Cotton Bowl mark of 363 total yards breaking Theismann's 279 of last year NOTRE DAME overwhelmed the Longhorns from the outset and by halftime had all its points more than any team had scored in an entire game against Texas in three seasons The Irish mixed surprise plays with their own alert defense to gain an insurmountable lead They unleashed a soccer-style kickoff man Scott Smith from Dallas of all places and his spinning boot was fumbled at the Texas 13 to set up Notre second touchdown which gave ifi i iifti ii ii 1 I receivers told Plunkett after that they felt they could beat the Ohio State defenders PLUNKETT took them at their word and cut loose with the type of passing that made him the most honored college football player in 1970 He set up the first of two fourth period touchdowns with a 35-vard pass and then threw a scoring strike in the end zone Ohio State which had posted a 9-0 regular sea on record went into the last period with a 17-13 lead before Plunkett rallied his Indians for two touchdowns and the victory over the heavily favored Buckeyes For his performance the Press International Telephoto Triumphant Irish Give Parseghian a Hide of great moments in history' says Ara I i ii it ii -Vd 1.