The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 40

C4 SATURDAY DECEMBER 30 1995 COLLEGE FOOTBALL THE BOWLS THE STATE COLUMBIA SC Flexible defense Clemson to adjust to Syracuse attack co-star CLEMSON FROM PAGE Cl smfo By JO PETER Staff Writer vj Mfe! i VA rCYYc fll 1 1 PEGGY PEATTIETHE STATE Patrick Sapp was expected to be a hit at quarterback but made his mark tor the Tigers as a senior linebacker who hits opposing quarterbacks SETH PERIMANTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS LSU tailback Kevin Faulk dodges Michigan State defender Jabbar Threats on a first-quarter run Friday in the Independence Bowl LSU wallops Michigan State Patrick Sapp The Clemson outside linebacker Height 6-4 Weight: 250 Class: Senior Highlights: Leads the team with 45 sacks is third with eight tackles for loss and is fifth with 48 total tackles Also had two interceptions He is one of six players to start and play a whole season at positions on either side of the ball since 1971 1 winning season before this year Stansberry the LSU junior linebacker had 18 tackles including 1 1 solo stops both bowl records Defense comes up big in 45-26 rout the Spartans Michigan St LSU 7 17 0 2-26 7 14 21 3-45 The Associated Press Muhammad 78 pass from Banks (Gardner kick) Cleveland 6 run (A Lafleur kick) Greene 3 run (kick blocked) Kennison 92 kickoff return (A Lafleur kick) MSU-Mason 100 kickoff return (Greene run) Faulk 51 run (A Lafleur kick) FG Gardner 37 LSU-Faulk 5 run (A Lafleur kick) Northern 37 fumble recovery (A Lafleur kick) Kennison 27 pass from Hill (A Lafleur kick) LSU-FG Richev 48 Safety Kessler steps out of end zone JACKSONVILLE Fla Barring the use of spies Clemson football coach Tommy West said have no idea what Syracuse plans to run out of its multifaceted free option offense The mystery has established one of the keys to matchup: defensive adjustments just done so much offensively through the year that just no way you can prepare for West said Friday when we get into the game and find out what kind of offense going to see the adjustments we make then I think will play a big Those remarks prompted a big smile from Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb what we try to do confuse other he said try to keep them off Judging by the numbers worked The Orangemen led the Big East in scoring with 304 points per game and how they scored has been just as impressive In its regular-season finale at Miami for example Syracuse opened the game by running 11 different offensive formations had a lot of formations but this offense right here takes the free safety Leomont Evans said not like the other teams played where you can just go in there that week and figure it out more responsibility for me because having to move around a lot My already hard enough making all the calls and making sure lined up right just a lot of Heads spinning Defenders colliding Syracuse scoring concern conjures up a picture of panic But West said most of the pressure will be on his coaches not the players He said up to his staff to recognize game plan and get the players in the right defensive scheme And once Syracuse settles in offensively West said the adjustments should be over have to carry more defense into the game because you know what going to he said almost like when they get into the game now they show their hand and the offense going to see Even though they have this abundance of offense I think they narrow it He said the Tigers plan to counter Syracuse's complexity with a little confusion of their own The target: McNabb redshirt freshman quarterback going to try to confuse him with some stuff we Evans said going to do a lot of disguising and things try to throw him off a little At that point the Orangemen and Tigers will be waiting for the same thing how fast the other can adjust like to be on their side They know going in what going to said West offense is anchored to the running game made (defensive) adjustments all year and our coaches do a good job of that But when we get in find SHREVEPORT La In a game filled with big offensive and special teams plays it took the LSU defense to finally break the Independence Bowl wide open Friday Gabe 37-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown put LSU up by 1 1 points with 9:20 left in the third quarter Less than a minute later Allen interception set up another score and the Tigers in their first bowl game since 1988 went on to beat Michigan State 45-26 Flash back 10 years ago Same city same stadium same two boys Dawkins still remembers jogging out of the Gator Bowl tunnel as a 12-year-old defensive back for Forest View Cobras and seeing the gargantuan Sapp then a giant among runts lined up on the other side you could have seen how big he was then compared to all of us really make you Dawkins said team won the county championship that day but he felt much better not to mention safer with Sapp on his side That happened a few years later in junior high school and the bond has gone unbroken Sapp the star quarterback and Dawkins the star defensive back helped lead Raines High School to 30 straight regular-season victories from 1989 to 1991 But the story is also about struggle and Dawkins faced his first Locals wondered aloud if Dawkins could measure up to his older brother Ralph an all-state running back who starred at the University of Louisville and eventually signed with the New Orleans Saints Others wondered if he would even make it to college Low grades sent college recruiters scattering and options were fast vanishing by the end of his senior season But Clemson remained interested and Sapp already sold on the Tigers persuaded his buddy to join him in Tigertown Both signed letters-of-intent the same day Dawkins pulled up his grades and the story shifted again Having cleared his academic hurdle Dawkins hit the ground running at Clemson He earned second-team All-ACC honors during his sophomore and junior seasons and headed into his senior year as a preseason All-America candidate While everything imaginable was going right for Dawkins however everything imaginable was going wrong for Sapp Forced into action as a freshman he showed a glimpse of his promise as a quarterback But by the end of his junior year quarterbacking days were over Six games into the season freshman Nealon Greene took over as the No 1 quarterback And after the eighth game of the season Sapp had thrown his last pass and been moved to tight end After the season some wondered if Sapp would stick around long enough to see another game Sapp had ideas and quitting one of them Encouraged by Dawkins he sought a chance to join his buddy on defense as an outside linebacker was kind of the first thing that popped up into my Sapp said coach Tommy West) wanted me to play tight end He kind of pushed me But I told him me a chance give me a chance' And he gave me a chance and things worked out By the season opener he was the No 1 bandit and proved he deserved the position with five tackles and one sack in his debut But it was Dawkins who West saw as the defensive leader and Dawkins who struggled under the mounting pressure Six games into the season the Tigers were 3-3 and Dawkins was still trying to recapture his old form During the ensuing off week West and Dawkins sat down for a heart-to-heart was trying to do too West said think he was feeling a lot of pressure and he just needed to relax and do his BOWL ROUNDUP Toomer 4-13 Kennison 1-6 Tyler 4-(minus 1) Kessler l-(minus 3) PASSING-Michigan St Banks 22-44-3-348 LSU Tyler 10-20-1-164 RECEIVING-Michigan St Muhammed 9-171 Mason 6-74 Renaud 2-47 Carter 2-16 Outlaw 2-24 Keur 1-16 LSU Kennison 5-124 DLaFleur 2-31 Toomer 1-9 Faulk 1-4 Cleveland Hminus 4) FILE PHOTOGRAPHTHE STATE Clemson safety Brian Dawkins goes up against the best receivers opposing offenses can offer and he usually comes out on top Brian Dawkins The Clemson strong safety Height 6-0 Weight: 190 Class: Senior Highlights: Named second-team All-America by the Associated Press Named first-team All-ACC by the Atlantic Coast Sportswriters Association Eighth nationally with six interceptions Third on the team with 79 tackles and second on the team with nine pass breakups team with 48 tackles Clemson coach Tommy West said they also provided leadership and direction a player been on a West said wants to be something special a guy that sits down and maps out where he wants to go 1 have a tremendous amount of respect for Patrick Sapp To do what he did to accomplish what accomplished both of these guys are Their bond still transcends football During the summer of 1994 Sapp served as best man and he remains close with bride Connie and groom knew she was good for Sapp said why I Dawkins suggests the same thing about move to defense Funny In four years since they left Jacksonville for Clemson so much has changed Brian Dawkins has gone from a suspect student and to a married man who made the honor roll last spring and is on schedule to graduate with a degree in industrial education in June about the same time he figures to be picked as high as the second round of the NFL draft Patrick Sapp has gone from a highly touted quarterback to a promising linebacker who is on schedule to graduate with a liberal arts degree in June about the same time he figures to be taken as high as the fifth round of the draft But both are putting the future on hold to relish the present Back home again Hanging out in the old neighborhood Meeting at house for dinner with their Clemson teammates in tow been wonderful to be Dawkins said we were at the stadium earlier this week Pat and I were talking about old times and it brought back a lot of They hope to share at least one more special one when they walk off the Gator Bowl field Monday If the game ends with a Clemson victory it might be hard to distinguish between real life and reel life Perhaps Sapp and Dawkins will walk off the field side by side and mouth the same words ought to be in SOUTHERN 30 FAMU 25 Eric Randall threw for two touchdowns one covering 68 yards to Melvin Williams and Southern University survived a late comeback to beat Florida in the Heritage Bowl in Atlanta The Jaguars (11-1) stretched their lead to 30-1 1 on second scoring pass of the day a 6-yarder to Fred Bailey with 43 seconds remaining in the third quarter Mario Allen then rallied the Rattlers (9-3) connecting with Robert Wilson on a 66-yard TD pass less than a minute into the final period and capping a 49-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring run with 5:21 left FAMU which dropped a 52-38 decision to the Jaguars in the Georgia Dome in November forced Southern to punt and Lionel Nicholas hit a 51-yarder to put the Rattlers on their own 16 On the first play Rod Deamer intercepted his second pass of the game at the FAMU 37 allowing the Jaguars to run out the remaining 1:29 and preserve their No 1 ranking in the Sheridan Poll for historically black colleges Randall completed 16 of 25 passes for 190 yards The long pass to Williams opened the scoring and Southern quickly stretched the lead to 10-0 on Carlos 43-yard field goal following first interception at the Rattler 31 Sapp also provided encouragement and Dawkins looked like his same old self After a solid game in a 17-0 victory at Maryland he began putting together an All-American season Suddenly lifelong friends became a defensive force Sapp continued to chase opposing quarterbacks and Dawkins was there to pick off the hastily thrown passes Against North Carolina he returned an interception 49 yards for a touchdown in what proved to be the decisive play of the game The following week against Duke he intercepted three passes in the first quarter and was honored by Sports Illustrated And in the regular-season finale Dawkins and Sapp celebrated a 38-17 victory over South Carolina Dawkins finished the season eighth nationally with six interceptions and third on the team with 79 tackles Sapp led the Tigers with 45 sacks and was fifth on the Freshman Kevin Faulk rushed for an Independence Bowl record 234 yards and scored two touchdowns His 5-yard score on the second play of the third quarter gave LSU (7-4-1) the lead for good at 28-24 Michigan State (6-5-1) like LSU completing its first year under a new coach had seven turnovers The two in the third quarter beat them Three plays after interception true freshman quarterback Herb Tyler hit Eddie Kennison for a 27-yard TD play and the Tigers had extended the lead to 42-24 Kennison also set an bowl record with an 92-yard kickoff return in the second quarter He held the record only 13 seconds before Derrick Mason broke it with a 100-yard return as the two teams traded touchdowns twice in a 93-second span of the second quarter Scott Greene one of four Michigan State starters who missed the first quarter as penalty for missing curfew this week scored from 3 yards out on his first carry 17th TD of the season was set up by Carl interception and 17-yard return on the first play of the second quarter Kennison took the ensuing kickoff at the 8 cut back right near the 30 and sped past kicker Chris last chance attempt at a tackle to the end zone for a 14-13 LSU lead At the other end as a football flew out of the stands beside him Mason burst up ther middle for his 100-yard return and another record LSU tied it back up when two plays later when Faulk ran 5 1 yards for a touchdown getting a down-field block from receiver Shaddrick Wilson Michigan State led 24-21 at halftime after Gardner kicked a 37-yard field goal with just one second left The game sponsored by Poulan-Weed Eater got off to a quick start It was tied 7-7 after just three minutes Michigan Tony Banks hit Muhsin Muhammad for a 78-yard TD on the second play of the game LSU then drove 80 yards in seven play including a 40-yard Faulk run before Kendall Cleveland scored from 6 yards out After Lafleur regular kicker missed two field goals in the second half sophomore Wade Richey kicked a 48-yarder on his first attempt of the season Michigan only second-half points came when punter Chad Kessler stepped from the side of the end zone rather than take a chance on a mistake in front of the Spartan rush There were 14 Independence Bowl records set including the six touchdowns scored by LSU which last played in a bowl game in the 1 988 Hall of Fame Bowl after its last For more Gator Bowl coverage check out The Cyber State on the World Wide Web You can find highlights from the 1995 football season player profiles bowl game information and stats about opponent Syracuse University The internet address is http infi netth estate Florida Southern 0 11 0 14-25 10 7 13 0-30 West: goes home By JOSH PETER Staff Writer JACKSONVILLE Fla No matter how closely matched Clemson and Syracuse might be one thing is certain about Gator Bowl It end it a tie MWilliams 68 pass from Randall (Leach kick) SU-FG Leach 43 MWilliams 5 run (Leach kick) FAMU-Safety Nichols kicked ball out of end zone following bad snap Vidal 4 run (kick blocked) FG Stephens 31 SU-Gales 1 run (Leach kick) SU-Bailey 6 pass from Randall (run failed) Wilson 66 pass from Allen (Stephens kick) Allen 2 run (Stephens kick) 25164 FAMU SU First downs 18 14 Rushes-yards 35-100 42-107 Passing 196 190 Return Yards 41 12 Comp-Att-Int 17-38-2 16-27-0 Punts 6-36 5-41 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-1 Penalties-Yards 7-54 4-44 Time of Possession 3133 28-27 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Florida Vidal 19-81 Glover 5-28 Jackson 2-5 Allen 9-(minus 14) Southern MWilliams 14-41 Gales 5-39 Randall 14-28 Griffin 4-18 Jones 4-15 Team 1-(minus 34) PASSING-Florida Allen 17-38-2-196 Soulhern Randall 16-25-0-190 MWilliams 0-1-0-0 Johnson 0-1-0-0 RECEIVING-Florida Bell 6-67 Taylor 5-32 Jackson 2-11 Vidal 2-4 Wilson 1-66 Bland 1-16 Soulhern MWilliams 5-72 Sparks 4-16 Bailey 3-72 Baker 2-9 Griffin 1-II Gales 1-10 GATOR BOWL NOTES always liked the Clemson coach Tommy West said would just as soon see the tiebreaker in all of college football That way somebody goes home feeling good For the record Clemson has never tied in its past 19 bowl games and hasn't played to a tie in any game since deadlocking with Virginia 20-20 during the 1991 season Syracuse has tied once in 15 bowl games Johnny on the spot Former Clemson standout Johnny Rembert a linebacker on the 1981 national championship team spoke briefly to the Tigers before their 70-minute practice Friday morning Rembert who lives in Jacksonville was the top reserve at inside linebacker on Michael Allen has practiced at quarterback this week and is the third-string signal-caller behind starter Nealon Greene and backup Louis Solomon Solomon by the way has accepted a job as an assistant football coach and a special education teacher at a high school in New Jersey Tidbits West said he will not enforce a curfew until the night before the game with his standard 1 1 pm room check Asked whether former Clemson coach Danny Ford set curfews at bowl games West said: 1 think we did Had the staff on one I know He was probably more worried about his staff than he was his the '81 team and earned third-team All-America honors as a starter during the '82 season West said several other former players have told him they plan to be in town for the game Those who have called include Michael Dean Perry Donnell Woolford Chuckie Richardson Darnell Stephens and Wardell Rouse a great sign to me" West said really excited me that these guys are coming back I think it means something to our team too tying the whole thing back together and important Real important When you got the kind of tradition that we have important that those things happen or you lose In case of emergency Freshman For the first time tiebreakers are being used in bowl games But not your conventional overtime If the score is deadlocked after regulation both teams will get a possession starting at the opponents' 25-yard line If one teams scores a field goal or touchdown the other must match it until the gamy is decided.