The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 94

'll THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Sunday October 2 1 994 9G COLLEGE FOOTBALL Clemson 13 Maryland 0 The stare: Louis Solomon replaced dropback passer Patrick Sapp at quarterback and engineered the Tigers' most productive offensive effort of the season He ran 17 times for 64 yards and completed six of 10 passes for 53 yards Two other new starters combined for 231 yards rushing tailback Antwuan Wyatt had 1 42 on 24 carries fullback Raymond Priester 89 on 19 carries The turning point: Early in the third quarter with Clemson ahead 10-0 Maryland appeared ready to get back in the game The Terps went 72 yards in eight plays But with a first-and-5 on the Clemson 10 Kevin Foley's pass was intercepted by Peter Ford The Tigers added a field goal on the ensuing drive and Maryland never got close again The key stat: For a change Clemson got enough offense to rest its more experienced defense and make it more effective The Tigers had 347 yards in total offense and an overall time of possession of 35 minutes 37 seconds The result: The defense was on the field for 60 plays 28 fewer than in its last game at Virginia Quote: "There were some holes for (the backs) to run through today that was the big difference" Clemson coach Tommy West Worth mentioning: Clemson senior Nelson Welch tied an ACC record for most field goals in a career when his two successful kicks gave him a total of 60 His kick for the record a 29-yard er with 5:19 left was wide left What's next: Clemson plays travels to Georgia next Saturday Maryland has an open date then plays at North Carolina Oct 15 Leonard Laye Maryland 0 0 0 Clemson 7 3 3 Priester 9 run (Welch kick) Drive: 6 plays 45 yards 2 05 FG Welch 44 Drive: 9 plays 28 yards 4 53 FG Welch 29 Drive: 10 plays 45 yards 4 47 68000 (at Clemson) Associated Press Pulled down: Henry Baker (23) tackles Saturday Maryland had a tough time stopping Clemson which Andre Humphrey in the second quarter of the 13-0 win ran for 294 yards its second highest total in the past 22 games ClemsoE shuts down Terps New offensive backfield works wonders for Tigers sive scheme and reverting to a Clemson tradition an option attack with an emphasis on controlling the clock With two weeks to get ready the Tigers had an open date a week earlier the coaches made personnel changes in the offensive backfield and eased the burden on a young offensive line by simplifying its assignments The tinkering produced quick results against Maryland the weakest defensive team and a boost of confidence as the Tigers go on the road for their next three games And it made an already-strong defense even more effective Clemson opened with new starters at quarterback (Louis Solomon) tailback (Antwuan Wyatt) and fullback (Raymond Priester) The previous starters Patrick Sapp Anthony Downs and Emory Smith did not play West said the changes would stick until forces them of the lineup If the payoff SATURDAY I SCENE Stones still have mark in Raleigh Observer Steff Reports RALEIGH Groundskeepers have been pampering the field at Carter-Finley Stadium for the past four weeks but it still has some uncharacteristic bare spots The culprit: the Rolling Stones Their concert in early September battered the grass field NC State coach Mike only lament is he get tickets NC State quarterback Terry Harvey was forced to wear what he called his McMahan a tinted plastic shield on his helmet Doctors insisted he wear it because he has a cracked cheekbone that could be aggravated if someone reaches inside face mask on the practice field Terry was complaining about the shield that it kept getting said "And Geoff (Bender backup QB) and he says keep it clean for you not doing anything As it turns out Bender had plenty to do Harvey and his sheild sat on the sideline after two interceptions and Bender played most of the game Park it here North Carolina coach Mack Brown gave his postgame speech in a parking garage got to be a first-time Brown said I am sitting on a boat (parked in the garage) talking to my team all of us exhausted And after we have to walk across the street 1 50 yards just to get to our locker Southern Methodist is known for having some of the worst visiting-team facilities in the nation Brown had to address the team inside the parking garage because there was no room in the locker room for everyone to gather A good time by all Fans at the Wake Forest-Army game had plenty of entertainment options The Dixie Classic Fair was being held adjacent to Groves Stadium adding a carnival touch While the Deacons and Cadets were banging on each other the fair stayed busy Folks could ride the Rainbow the Ghost Train the Enterprise or if they were daring take their chances in the Disco When Ashton Loyd was a starter on offensive line it was a bit of an anamoly when he would walk out about 1 0 minutes before game time and grab a microphone with a large taped white hand and sing Star Bangled Now still a bit strange to see Loyd offensive line coach come out before the game and sing the national anthem It was homecoming at SMU Saturday and most of the action came on a large lawn just outside Ownby Stadium where a huge picnic under a blue-and-white tent had been set up Three cheers for Predictably a big roar went up at Carter-Finley Stadium when the public-address announcer revealed that North Carolina was losing to Southern Methodist in the fourth quarter The NC State fans began chanting "SMU Questions questions Any more wins? Wake Forest coach Jim Caldwell said he appreciates any victory his Deacons can get and a good thing they got one over Army Saturday There may not be many more chances Wake Forest has games remaining against Virginia NC State Duke Clemson North Carolina and Georgia Tech Will he or he? Will Jason Stanicek start at quarterback for North Carolina against Georgia Tech next Saturday? Brown said he should Stanicek bruised his ribs late in the first half after a hard hit by cor-nerback Cornell Parker Parker also banged into backup quarterback Mike Thomas in the second half causing Thomas a "bruised Stanicek said he would have to have additional rays today Are they for real? Is NC State as good as its 4-0 record? Next week may answer the question because Louisville is decent particularly at home Your move? Will Bill Lewis be coaching Georgia Tech next season? It's unlikely The Jackets have gone 5-6 the past two seasons and the natives are getting restless Staff writers Lynn Zinser Leonard Laye Stan Olson Scott Fowler and Langston Wertz Jr contributed to this report TD gives Carolina win INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Maryland' A Williams 9-21 Underwood 2-11 Foley 3-mmus 2 Milanovich 5-minus 9 Clemson Wyatt 24-134 Priester 19-88 Solomon 17-64 Jenkins 4-9 Maryland' Foley 15-27-2-137 Milanovich 9-14-1-71 Clemson: Solomon 6-10-1-53 Maryland Simon 6-55 Johnson 6-53 Williams 6-49 A Williams 3-22 Weaver 1-12 Ogbogu 1-11 Henry 1-3 Underwood 1-3 Clemson Wyatt 3-24 Hinton 1-17 Crooks 1-10 Priester 1-2 The stars: Leon Johnson went 88 yards on a punt return for a TD Sean Boyd recovered a fumble on SMU's last serious threat at the North Carolina 20 with 6:36 left The turning point: With SMU up 24-21 Octavus Barnes caught a 66-yard TD pass from quarterback Mike Thomas that was the game-winner The pass was designed only to pick up the 15 yards the Tar Heels needed for a first down but Barnes faked out two defenders and scored his first career TD The key stat: SMU had 11 penalties for 104 yards including 34 yards worth of penalties on its final drive to thwart any chance of a comeback Quote: From Brown who after the game went up to Barnes and shook his hand "Thanks coach" Barnes said Brown said grinning a grin of pure relief "Thank you!" Worth mentioning: The gametime temperature was 86 degrees but most players said it felt much hotter "I had to drink eight glasses of Gatorade and that was just after warmups" UNC defensive lineman Marcus Jones said Ben Crosland a former kickoff specialist at North Carolina who transferred to SMU after the 1992 season was perfect on one field-goal try and three extra points What's next: North Carolina hosts Georgia Tech Saturday SMU plays at Baylor Scott Fowler North Carolina So Methodist 7 7 7 7-23 3 0 14 7-24 Johnson 88 punt return (Pignetti kick) FG Crosland 45 Dnva: 5 plays 11 yards 2 12 Ashford 15 pass from Stanicek (Pignetti kick) Drive: 7 plays 78 yards 2 17 Wall 23 pass from Thomas (Pignetti kick) Drive: 10 plays 80 yards 4 11 Flanigan 1 run (Crosland kick) Drive: 10 plays 74 yards 4 13 Womack 33 run (Crosland kick) Drive: 1 play 33 yards 0 12 James 2 run (Crosland kick) Drive: 3 plays 5 yards 0 30 Barnes 67 pass from Thomas (Pignetti kick) Drive: 5 plays 71 yards 2 08 18200 (at So Methodist) us more The overall results: 347 yards in total offense almost as much as the Tigers had in ACC losses to NC State combined (373) 294 yards rushing the second highest total in the past 22 games and a big edge in time of possession 35 minutes 37 seconds for Clemson to 24:33 The latter statistic paid another dividend with a more rested defense smothering a Maryland offense run by two experienced and explosive quarterbacks The Tigers forced four turnovers increasing their season total to 16 Three of the turnovers set up the Clemson scoring drives giving the offense the ball with good field position at the Maryland 45 the Clemson 45 and the Clemson 43 still want to be a multidimensional football team" said West of his changes maybe we got the cart before the horse had no dimension We had to become one-dimensional Associated Press SMU back to a fourth-and-40 from its 20 with 57 seconds left For some reason James threw a short 12-yard pass to the sideline then and North Carolina had completed its escape Rossley ripped the officials later was an ACC crew and now sure glad I have to be in the he said By LEONARD LAYE Sports Editor CLEMSON SC Of all the changes on display Saturday at Clemson Memorial Stadium none was more important than the one reflected in lights on a little-used side of the scoreboard It was the final score Clemson 13 Maryland 0 and it came on a back-to-the-future day of major adjustments in offensive style and personnel for a team desperate for a victory concern was that this football team get something in return for all its hard said first-year coach Tommy West whose team had come up empty in two previous ACC games after opening with a nonconference victory over Furman think just because we won this football game that all our problems are gone We've still got tons of work to Saturday though West decided to tackle the problems by going away from a more balanced offen Heels Barnes a redshirt freshman was ruled to have caught a pass deep in Florida State territory and then to have fumbled it late in the fourth quarter eight days ago The ACC eventually said its officials erred in not ruling the play an incomplete pass but by then North chance at upsetting the Seminoles had long passed play lingered in my mind all Barnes said we got behind in this game and 1 kept thinking is unbelievable no way we should lose this game Someone has to make the big I was hoping it would be me" It was On third and 15 from the Carolina 34 Barnes ran 18 yards on a square-in pattern and caught perfect pass over the middle He cut back to avoid one defender juked another and then sprinted the rest of the way as the small crowd of 18200 at Ownby Stadium fell silent dart to Barnes helped redeem his up-and-down game Thomas threw two TD passes but he also lost two fumbles and fired an interception that was returned to the Carolina 5 setting up the touchdown that gave SMU (1-4) its 24-21 lead North Carolina committed five turnovers in the game four fumbles and an interception played a very ugly game made more mistakes than 1 could even try to talk about and still Brown said Like the Tar Heels SMU played the final quarter without its starting quarterback Ramon Flanigan who bothered the Heels all day continues to come as it did Saturday that be anytime soon Solomon an option specialist who had hardly played in the first three games while drop-back passer Sapp tried to inject some passing into the Clemson attack was efficient He rushed the ball 1 7 times for 64 yards and passed it 10 times completing six for 53 more Wyatt a sophomore and former starting wide receiver put some electricity into the offense with 142 yards rushing on 24 carries Priester added 89 on 19 carries They were given big holes by offensive linemen charged with coming hard and low off the ball a more instinctive attack than the zone blocking assignments they had previously thing we were doing was probably more complicated for the young said guard Will Young the only veteran among five starting linemen gives them the chance to play more aggressively It looked like it worked to me got to make ered North Carolina ran the clock down to 2:59 before Mike Thomas lost his second fumble of the game at the SMU 40 SMU went only backward after that however Three penalties including a critical unsportsmanlike conduct flag thrown against SMU head coach Tom Rossley pushed A tough day: North Carolina quarterback Jason second quarter Saturday Stanicek fumbled on Stanicek is grabbed by Craig Swan in the this play and later left the game with bruised ribs INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS North Carolina Johnson 21-82 Stanicek 4-29 Henderson 6-17 Johnson 7-17 Marshall 3-9 Thomas 10-4 So Methodist Womack 7-48 Shepard 3-30 Smith 5-29 Flanigan 9-24 James 8-7 Harmon 2-1 North Carolina Stamcak 6-9-0-102 Thomas 3-6-1-102 So Methodist: Flanigan 10-25-1-132 James 4-6-0-37 RECEIVING ftorth Carolina Barnes 3-100 Walls 2-54 Ashtord 2-28 Johnson 1-16 Johnson 1-6 So Methodist-Rossley 5-54 Whitmore 3-31 Robinson 2-43 Shepard 2-18 Wilburn 1-12 Biggins 1-11 with his sidearm throws and his quarterback draws out of the shotgun re-aggravated a hamstring injury in the third quarter That forced the Mustangs to go to second-stringer Chris James who lost the ball at the UNC 20 when he was hit by cornerback Ronald Thomas on last real chance Safety Sean Boyd recov.