The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 45

r'-T-r-r-? n1 yoyrvTrrrTv rfrr Tuesday Jan 2 1979 THt MIAMI HERALD 5-D Playoff Gets Switzer No Vote against a team that held them to two touchdowns seyen weeks ago in 17-14 upset With a near perfectly executed game which included only one turnover a Thomas Lott fumble in the fourth quarter With an offense that finished first in the nation in rushing yardage (5006) and points scord (471) ALWAYS felt we had the best offense in the said Switzer whose 1977 team took a 31-6 bath to Arkansas on the same field last year is a heck of a defensive team So is Penn State And there are quite a few teams better offensively than them So who should be No I know I guess never Oklahoma walked onto the field ranked No 4 nationally behtnd Penn State Alabama and Southern Caiforma Alabama de By MICHAEL JANOFSKY Htrald Sports Writtr When the inevitable question was asked Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer could only shrug his shoulders and take the diplomatic way out he was asked after the Sooners beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers 31-24 in Monday 45th Orange Bowl Classic do you think deserves to be the No 1 team In the he hollered over a swarm of pads pencils cameras and microphones know who the national champion should be and until we have some sort of playoff system in college football never For those of you with nothing better to do until college football 1979 kicks off in September consider how the Sooners finished off their season- With four touchdowns and a field goal called own national championship" the Sooners had no such problems Sims never fumbled And Lott's though it blemished an otherwise perfect evening of offense did not lead to damage of any consequence Sims finished with 134 yards on 25 carries Lott with 74 on 14 He also completed two of three passes wrhich were two more than he completed back in Lincoln "I just say enough about Billy Switzer said "He is one great football player I know we do anything about the fumbles in the other game but he as just fantastic tonight SWITZER made sure his accolades were duly spread around The defense which usually played as well as it had to through regular season did so once more Only once was it burned when it count ed On first possession quarterback Tom Sorley lifted a rainbow pass to the corner of the end zone where Tim Smith beat cornerback Basil Banks for the touchdown From then on the OU defense gave up yardage grudgingly and seldom in big gulps defense got tired out there and Nebraska kept assaulting us" he said we were not to be denied In the end though he came back to the recurring theme of Oklahoma football for the anxious weeks between Lincoln and Miami a period the Sooners could barely wait to pass "This is a great football Switzer said think we proved that tonight just so sad to think now that the season is over that we came up three yards short of a national championship feated Penn Stae in the Sugar Bowl and Southern Cal dumped Michigan in the Rose Bowl So unlikely the Sooners will jump any more than one place in the rankings despite all claims Switzer made to the greatness of this bunch I look he said only thing that stood between us and the national championship was those three yards against Nebraska the last time If we fumbled that last time have been playing here against Penn State for the national championship BUT FACTS are facts and Heisman Trophy winner Billy second fumble on that fateful day in Lincoln on Nebraska's three-yard line with 3 left probably erased any chance Oklahoma might have for its first championship since 1975 This time however in a gime Sims ooners Had Firm Grip On Football ORANGE BOWL 1070 By JIM MARTZ Herald Sports Writer Before and after the Orange halftime disco show Monday night Oklahoma's Billy Sims and Thomas Lott danced a few numbers through defense numbers read: 134 yards and two touchdowns in 25 carries read: 174 yards and two TDs in 14 carries plus two pass completions in three attempts for 47 yards And probably the most impressive number in the 31-24 victory: only one fumble by Lott in the fourth quarter The Sooners fumbled nine times losing six in their 17-14 loss at Nebraska Nov 11 "We just had on our minds to show we coud hold onto the ball and drive on them said Sims the Heisman Trophy winner who fumbled twice in the fourth quarter of the earlier game The second came at the Nebraska three-yard line with 3 27 left in the game might have been holding onto the ball a little tighter Sims said is something you really work said Lott who bobbled the ball five times at Nebraska losing it on two occasions just have to hope it happen do your best and leave the field with your head up feeling you played your THE SOONERS left the Orange Bowl with their heads high Some had index fingers pointed skyward to signify their claim to the No 1 ranking look at it as though the No 1 said Sims would say we were three yards short referring to fumble at Nebraska Would I like to see a playoff? Yeah But probably a lot of others would like to see it shut off after the bowls figured if we scored enough and the other bowl games were close it would give us a few more votes for the But the final score was close as Nebraska scored on the final play Nose guard Reggie Kmlaw a senior from Miami Springs lauded the Cornhuskers' offense "They played a pretty good he said broke down a couple of times but got it together in the second half tough to stop two good running backs like Rick Berns and I Hipp course this makes up for the loss at Nebraska 1 hope No 1 1 need another diamond ring alreay got one DURING Nebraska's final scoring drive Lott sat on the bench and held a mini-press conference with several reporters One asked if he thought the game proved anything proves we plav very good in the first game with he said they said that we take any hard hits well go ask them about it now Sims refused to talk to the media late this past week after being quoted in a newspaper story about his night life in Miami But he was talking after the game Someone astved if that story was a lot of Sims replied was a lot of smoke We partied some We were down here for a good time but we cut it down as we got closer to the Oklahoma's lone turnover came wih 807 left in the game Nebraska knocked the ball loose as lott attempted a handoff on his 42-yard line But the miscue was not costly because the Sooners stopped Nebraska on fourth-and-one at the six hit us right at the said Lott hit the ball one of the best plays they had If I was on defense what try to do esrupes George Andreas (l)'i) on any lo yards 2 IDs I 1 6 lii 1 1 hints Takes Breather on Bench rushed for 13 1 yards and tuo tour don ns Outlaud Tropliv Winner Gre" Robert Celebrates Sueel i fp.