The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 32

BOWL DAY USA The Sun FRIDAY, January 2, 1987 C5 ooners win like there's not much to it Buckeyes strut by Texas By DENNE H. FREEMAN Associated Press DALLAS Earle Bruce didn't take any chances in Ohio State's Cotton Bowl debut, preparing his Buckeyes both psychologically and strategically for a 28-12 defeat of Texas Bruce abandoned his traditional coaching togs golf shirt, baseball hat, windbreaker for a sharp dark suit and snap-brim hat with a scarlet feather. His players wore red shoes for the first time since 1978. "When you come south, they all dress up so I didn't want them to put me to shame," Bruce said. "We've got threads up north, too." And pass defense, too, as Texas quarterback Kevin Murray discovered.

Murray suffered a Cotton Bowl-record five interceptions as llth-ranked Ohio State, 10-3, confused him with defensive changeups the Buckeyes hadn't used before. Ail-American linebacker Chris Spielman intercepted two passes, returning one 24 yards for a touchdown. "I was 9 years old the last time I did that, in the first game I ever played in," Spielman said. "We played three defenses we hadn't used this year. We noticed from films that Murray didn't like to run.

So we just dropped back and waited on him." Bruce said, "I've always said Chris Spielman is the most outstanding linebacker against both the pass and run in America and I believe he proved it." Ohio State linebacker Michael Kee put his name in the Cotton Bowl record books with a 49-yard interception return in the fourth period. Colorado's Byron "Whizzer" White, now a Supreme Court justice, set the old record of 42 yards in 1938. Murray took full blame for the loss by the eighth-ranked Aggies, 9-3. "Five interceptions is enough to kill any team," he said. "Spielman was used as a spy out there.

They used the safety differently and Spielman was everywhere." By JOE SANTORO Gannett News Service MIAMI The 53rd Orange Bowl Classic may only be remembered as the year the name was changed; this New Year's Day football finale was anything but a classic. The game without The Boz, without much pre-game fanfare and without many fans (57,291, third smallest crowd since 1947), turned out to be just what the oddsmakers predicted an Oklahoma clinic. The third-ranked 11-1 Sooners made bacon out of No.9 Arkansas, 42-8. The Razorbacks finished 9-3. The Sooners ran for 390 yards 109 by halfback Spencer Tillman allowed just 1.1 yards rushing per attempt (48 yards, 45 attempts) and needed just two pass completions for the rout.

Coach Barry Switzer summed up the evening. "We dominated them, totally dominated in the second half. They were going backwards most of the time." The victory margin was the widest in the Orange Bowl since 1973 when Nebraska beat Notre Dame, 40-6, and the second largest by Oklahoma in a bowl game, just under their 35-0 win over LSU in the 1950 Sugar Bow 1. Only a 1-yard touchdown by Arkansas fullback Derrick Thomas with 19 seconds to go averted the first Orange Bowl shutout since 1963, when Alabama beat Oklahoma 17-0. Still, despite the impressive win, the Sooners probably won't rise higher than No.3 ranking in the final Associated Press poll, though they could go to No.2 if top-ranked Miami routs Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl this evening for the national championship.

"There wasn't a lot at stake," Switzer said. "We had nothing to win and everything to lose." The Sooners, 17-point favorites, used two first-half touchdowns by Tillman to build a 14-0 lead. Tillman's scores came on runs of 77 and 21 yards as he got all but two of his yards on six carries in the first half. Quarterback Jamelle Holieway added two more touchdowns to break open the game with 7 minutes to go in the third quarter. The final two Sooners scores came on a 13-yard run by Anthony Stafford and a 49-yard run by Duncan Parham.

The Sooners, who intercepted Razorbacks quarterbacks five times, left little to the imagination. And they didn't ease up at the end, passing late in the game, and inserting first-stringers on defense as they attempted to prevent the Arkansas touchdown AP WIRPEHOTO GOOD LUCK: Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth (right) hugs teammate before Orange Bowl. Bosworth, ineligible to play after testing positive for steroids, participated in coin flip. Miami. The Orange Bowl was the site of their lone defeat, 28-16, to the top-ranked Miami Hurricanes here in September.

The Sooners looked every bit as powerful Thursday as their regular-season numbers suggested. The game may have been over after the Razor-backs' first possession in the second half as quarterback Greg Thomas was sacked twice, by Richard Reed and Troy Johnson. "We are a great defensive team," Switzer said. "The best in college football. And we proved it again tonight." in the closing seconds.

About the only interest in the final quarter after Oklahoma led, 28-0, and the fans began to file out, was the T-shirt of Sooners linebacker Brian Bosworth. Bosworth, who had to miss the game because he tested positive for steroid use this spring, remained on the sidelines and was caught frequently by the NBC television cameras wearing a shirt that read, "National Communists Against Athletes" (NCAA) and "Welcome to Russia." It was fitting the Sooners' 11-1 season ended in Nebraska's Sugar win too familiar for LSU of snaps to net only two first downs. LSU's total offense in the third quarter was minus 12 yards. Crafty Nebraska quarterback Steve Taylor and an air-tight defense dominated. Taylor, the game's Most Valuable Player, completed ll-of-19 passes for 110 yards and ran for another 63 yards.

His key plays included a touchdown run, an 8-yard third-down scramble that preceded it, a 20-yard third-down pass that set up a second score and, finally, a lone TD pass that put this game away. Earlier, the Cornhuskers (10-2) were stunned by LSU's quick-strike first TD. A 43-yard, Tom Hodson-to-Wendell Davis pass on the first play of the game set up a 1-yard score by Harey Williams. The first Huskers score, a 42-yard field goal by Dale Klein, made it 7-3. Taylor's 2-yard run turned it into 10-7, then Tyreese Knox's 1-yard dive upped the advantage to 17-7.

With the Tigers clearly reeling late in the third period, Osborne called on Klein to attempt a 52-yard field goal. But LSU nose guard Henry Thomas blocked the kick, then helped bounce the ball all the way to the Huskers 17, where another quick Tigers strike meant a completely different fourth quarter. But Hodson was sacked for a 15-yard loss on first down by Broderick Thomas and for a 9-yard loss on second down by Danny Noonan. "When we failed there," Tigers lineman John Hazard said, "we were dead." By YALE YOUNGBLOOD Gannett Newsservice NEW ORLEANS For those who missed the premiere in 1985, Nebraska was gracious enough to offer a Sugar Bowl encore performance Thursday. Though some of the faces and names were different, the story line a rock-'em, sock-'em 30-15 win over LSU read like its predecessor two years ago.

The Tigers' finesse is no match for the Cornhuskers' physical football. Two years ago, Nebraska forged a 28-10 victory by wearing down the outmatched Tigers by the fourth quarter. This year, before 76,234 in the Superdome, the outcome was established a tad earlier, but the reason remained an unquestioned constant. "I think the story of the game is evident," said LSU coach Bill Arnsparger, also a party to the '85 pounding. "They just whipped us physically." His counterpart, Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, was a little more diplomatic in his assessment.

"Yeah," he conceded. "I think we wore them down some." Between LSU's touchdowns on its first and next-to-last possessions, Nebraska stood firm. From the 12:06 mark of the first quarter until 3:17 remained in the game, LSU gained 59 yards. The Tigers (9-3), who took just seven plays to net six points on their first go with the ball, used the next three and a half quarters AND I'LL GIVE YOU ONE iiifi iiillllllllllll mmimsmmmmm. fs.

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