The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 786

rr ntm COLLEGE FOOTBALL: HOW THE AP TOP 10 FARED COMPLETE COLLEGE FOOTBALL REPORT S-16D S7 SCOREBOARD 21D OUTDOORS 19D HORSES 20D I SECTION SUNDAY NOVEMBER 171991 0X iiTiomi Herald Gators rale GW Kentucky nearly sours Sugar Bowl plans A 'VJ AsT 1 team (3-7 0-6) one point I thought they score again out of said Florida receiver Tre Everett who watched as his two first-quarter touchdowns were almost erased by the three Pookie Jones scored in the final 20 minutes Kentucky got down they still had the desire and Gator linebacker Carlton Miles said lot of teams would have gotten down But they kept fighting that uphill A battle that supposed to be Kentucky entered the game as a 35-point underdog was a game Florida Coach Steve Spurrier began hard to describe that three ways: Shane Matthews threw three PLEASESEE UF 15D 'if GATOR ON THE GO: Willie Jackson gains 20 yards to set up fourth touchdown in 35-26 victory over Kentucky i I BOB RUBIN: WAIT IS OVER 14D EVERETT MAKES BIG PLAYS 14D BIG LEAD SLIPS AWAY 14D By ANDRE CHRISTOPHER Herald Sports Writer GAINESVILLE Florida defensive tackle Tony McCoy his jersey darkened by sweat said it as well as any of the 84109 people at Florida Field could have said it: What a way to The Gators" denied the Southeastern" Conference championship for the past 58 years by everything from ineptness to NCAA punishment seemed ready to make it 59 years Saturday against Kentucky But Florida regrouped for one final drive toward glory and found it as Errict two-yard touchdown run with 2:22 to play put the Gators over the top 35-26 4v A A 1 I i Il'IsiVii- t'2" it 1 fu fX I ft i 1 1 i Associated Press OB bid No 1 coiiie with 17 -16 win By GARY LONG Herald Sports Writer TALLAHASSEE Through 10 straight victories Florida Seminoles" 'Showed that they had learned how to deal with a No 1 pre-season ranking since a -ing 1988 season opener in Miami But Saturday afternoon they dem-' onstrated they still figured 'Out: hoW to cope with the Hurri- Beanes- know how to win the national FSU line- backer rKirJr': Carruthers said numbly do hate Cm great They know how to win' champi- They may be for the fourth time in the last nine years FSU be again for the first time ever The Hurricanes fought back from a 16-7 deficit in the final quarter of this battle of Unbeatens to claim a 17-16" victoryvin college 26th collision of No 1- and No 2-ranked teams Score sound familiar? Yes it was the sameln 1983 when Jeff final-play chip-shot field goal lifted Howarcl 1983 Hurricanes to the victory that led to the OrangqBowi and a 31-30 "national-tide victory over Nebraska These 9-0 Hurricanes also are bound for a home-field Orange Bowl Classic meeting with the Big Eight champion either Nebraska or Colorado while FSU will have to settle for a Cotton Bowl date probably against Texas The stricken Seminoles also saw the end of a school-record 16-game winning streak as Miami increased its own to 15 games since a midseason loss to Notre Dame last year But not until FSU walk-on kicker Gerry 34-yard field goal faded barely to the right of goal- posts squeezed tighter by rulesmak-ers this season did the Hurricanes secure the triumph Only 29 seconds remained when Steve Allen snapped the ball to holder Brad Johnson and Thomas PLEASESEE UM 12D Indeed what a way to go to the Sugar Bowl to oppose 12th-ranked Notre Dame (8-3) as the first official SEC football champions in school history Exasperated Florida comerback Larry Kennedy challenged twice in the fmal seconds fell backward as the last Kentucky pass hit the ground Linebacker Tim Paulk candidate for the Butkus Award kneeled on one knee and tried to hide tears streaming from his eyes Fans hurled packets of sugar toward the field If only this victory were that SWGCt 'Florida (9-1 7-0 in the SEC) which entered the game ranked fifth and wearing thick jerseys of SEC championship material left wearing threads The rest had been stripped away by a never-say-die Kentucky 4 2 7 fi if dug down deep deeper GINOTORRETTA UM's quarterback Dennis Erickson said ran like we all knew he McGuire ran like he had to The passing game and quarterback Gino Torretta were collapsing beneath a crush of Seminole BERT GARCIA Miami Herald Staff PRICE Another one slips away from Bowden TALLAHASSEE Another one gone Another chance squandered How many more will he get? Bobby Bowden is 62 now He has done everything a college football coach can do except win a national championship and on Saturday what many thought was his last best hope flew into the air with 27 seconds left in the huge football afternoon flew up and just a 10 or so inches wide of the upright But Bowden see it that way not at first He felt sure that Gerry 34-yard field goal attempt went straight and long that his Florida State team had come back and finally beaten the University of Miami in the big game They and he had done everything right on this day and he had come in feeling sure they were going to be the Hurricanes this time Of course the kick was good field goal from where I was I thought it was Bowden said afterward thought got to get the kids back if they celebrate a 15-yard penalty on the kickoff and be in range I went on the field to try and get the kids off and everybody was so dejected and I said we get that? we get and the reply was we missed I said and he said Then Bowden his 215 career victories and his 10-0 record and everybody who wants him to win it so bad meaning nothing now stepped back onto the sidelines He put his hands on his hips and just stared at the sea of orange and PLEASESEE PRICE 10D it Tv I r- -ri I it 4 yilhrA 'i t-Mt sSvTsy i BILL FRAKE3 Miami Herald Staff winning 4th-quarter drive i PV pV ilwi A V' :3 III UM needed a game-saver UM needed McGuire McGuire came through offensive line giving Gino the said McGuire a fifth-year senior who was starting his first game since Ocf 12 because of a sprained knee they kept giving me the UM emerged with a 17-16 victory before a record crowd of 63442 largely because McGuire provided the missing punch PLEASESEE McGUIRE 13D ft J'f i i tf wmn Z-'-' Liu GAMBLE PAYS OFF: Horace Copeland goes up to make a nine-yard reception on fourth-and-six play during COLLEGE FOOTBALL REPORT McGuire just stop Orange Bowl: Miami will play the Big Eight champion Nebraska or Colorado First loss: FSU quarterback Casey Weldon reflects on his first loss as a starter Page 10D Dejection: Gerry Thomas reflects after missing a 34-yard field goal in the final seconds Page 10D Under pressure: Florida State's blitzing defense sacked Miami's Gino Torretta six times PagellD Blockbuster Bowl: Alabama is expected to play the Big Eight runner-up Dec 28 at Joe Robbie Stadium Page 12D TV review: How ABC fared Page 13D Complete statistics: Page 12D By KEN RODRIGUEZ Herald Sports Writer TALLAHASSEE With the game moving toward heartbreak and Doak Campbell Stadium rocking toward hysteria Stephen McGuire lifted the Hurricane offense on his back and carried it downfield dragging linebackers safeties and history with him His University of Miami football team trailing Florida State 16-7 early in the fourth quarter McGuire lowered his head and banged through the Seminole middle for Stephen McGuire than all of us five yards then 27 One more rip into the teeth of the FSU defense netted eight yards and a little blood Carlos 45-yard field goal that cut the Seminole lead to 16-10 with 9:48 to go was UM Coach.