The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 44

The Com mercia i Appeal MEMPHIS SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 25 1988 SECTION Tulane keeps Tigers spotterin MSU five interceptions killed by missed kicks Wave rally It was tied at 17 when Butler missed from 22 yards with 5:22 left had our chance to take the lead then they would have had to score a touchdown to beat Bailey said we missed the field goal and then fumbled the ball and they The fumble came with 2:11 left and Tim Jones fading back to pass Wave defenders smothered him shaking the football loose Perry Leslie recovered at the Tiger 14 should have thrown it out of Jones said After four snaps (including a pen- By Bobby Hall Staff Reporter Whitwell sure 21-yard and 22-yard misses actually missed they go through supposed to count three said Butler whose field goal against Arkansas State was the winning margin 9-7 ref calls em the way he sees so I've got to live with Both misses were ruled wide right a judgment call on both of em and they said they Whitwell said the judge" After playing on the road for the third time in four games the Tigers wilt return home to play Mississippi State for homecoming Saturday The score was tied at halftime 10-10 a touchdown in MSU history The Tigers intercepted five passes including three by free safety Eddie Moore who also recovered a fumble Quarterback Tim Jones passed for 118 yards had opportunity to win the game but we missed two chip-shot field Tiger coach Charlie Bailey said can't afford to make these type There were 10 penalties against the Tigers for 94 yards infractions that caused Bailey to throw his hat to the turf several times and argue with the officials Butler who opened the scoring with a 37-yard field goal and holder Andy on to beat MSU 20-19 on a 46-yard field goal by Todd Wiggins with 60 seconds left In a wacky college football game before 26426 the Green Wave (3-1) won its 400th game and left MSU (14) grumbling about missed opportunities NEW ORLEANS Memphis State placekicker John Butler said in a soft morbid tone: I know how a leper It was because he missed two chip-shot field goals Saturday night in the Louisiana Su Superdome and Tulane went The Tigers who have lost six straight here to Tulane had their moments Charles Wilson ran back a kickoff 97 yards for the second longest return for Please see TIGERS Page D3 AP Tennessee Dodgers clinch a tie for title run over by Auburn Vols stumble again in poor second half From Our Press Services By Mike Fleming Staff Reporter AUBURN Ala The way this football season is oing for the Tennessee Volunteers they could ial 911 and get a busy signal Nobody could blame them though for calling for help For the second straight week the Vols were blown away by one of the elites in the Southeastern Conference Auburn ranked No 4 in the nation blew Tennessee away 38-6 Saturday in front of an estimated 83JS87 On Sept 17 LSU handled the Vols almost with equal ease in Knoxville 34-9 Auburn quarterback Reggie Slack led the relentless Auburn offense throwing for touchdown passes of 75 and 4 yards The Tigers' other three scores came on short runs All Tennessee could do was two first-half field goals of 24 and 38 yards by Chip McCallum Tennessee came into the season with high hopes but finds itself ouch-for-September That's 04 and you have to go back to the 1962 season to find a start as poor That's when the Vols were still running the single wing They finished 4-6 and head coach Bowden Wyatt resigned after the season Auburn came into this game a 14-point favorite and wasted little time letting the Vols know what they wanted The Tigers won the toss and wait to get at Tennessee's porous defense The Vol defense was last in the SEC coming here allowing 460 yards and 31 points a game Yet despite giving up some big plays a 75-yard touchdown pass ana a 60-yard run the Vols were behind 104 at the half The next 30 minutes turned into Nightmare on Auburn Street Tennessee fumbled and lost its first three possessions each one being turned into a touchdown by Auburn Twenty-one points with nearly six minutes left in the third quarter Auburn added a touchdown in the last two minutes but by then it hardly mattered Not only did Tennessee fail to score in the last half it didn't come dose to crossing the 50-yard line Closest the Vols came was their 38 and quarterback Jeff Francis lost a fumble to kill that chance SAN FRANCISCO The Los Angeles Dodgers wanted to celebrate but it was not yet time With a 7-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants Saturday the Dodgers clinched a tie for first lace in the National League Pest The team then waited in the clubhouse and watched the game between the Cincinnati and Atlanta but the Reds won 2-1 holding off the celebration want to celebrate but it's not time to outfielder Kirk Gibson said after the game ended Los Angeles manager Tom La-sorda was set to celebrate in one of his favorite ways with food Cincinnati loses we're celebrating in the clubhouse and then we're taking the team to dinner in San he said managed five other division champions with the Dodgers and this is truly a team where everybody contributed in one way or Alfredo Griffin's squeeze bunt scored the go-ahead run in a five-run fifth-inning rally Trevor Wilson (0-2) held Los Angeles hitless and led 2-0 before Jeff Hamilton and Rick Dempsey hit consecutive doubles to start the fifth Mike De-vereaux walked and pinch-hitter Mike Sharperson's run-scoring single tied the score Lary Sorensen relieved and Griffin bunted towards first scoring Devereaux Griffin reached with a single and Shar-person took third on a throwing error by second baseman Chris Speier Steve Sax followed with a runscoring groundout and Mickey single made it 5-2 Run-scoring singles by John Shelby and Sharperson in the eighth made it 7-2 Ricky Horton (1-0) pitched two innings of one-hit relief for his first Dodgers victory Jesse Orosco pitched three innings of two-hit relief for his ninth save John Tudor gave up eight hits in four innings including two solo homers by Matt Williams his first since Aug 18 "Clinching a tie mean a lot to me Tudor said Dodgers would have won the division without me My role is in the playoffs and the World Series After a pair of 7349 seasons the Los Angeles Dodgers have abruptly become winners again leaving little room for doubt In addition to clinching the crown with ample time left in Tennessee quarterback Jeff Francis (19) finds himself trapped under teammate Phil Stuart after being sacked by Benji Roland (96) during the first quarter The Volunteers lost 38-6 to fourth-ranked Auburn Saturday Please see VOLS Page D6 Smith runs Gators past Mississippi State Defense prevents humiliation ly well when it was backed up against the intercet and right By Phil Stukenborg Staff Reporter tackle Rhondy Weston at the Bulldog 7 Florida had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by John Francis seemed like at first they couldn't convert on our turnovers and I said to myself going to have a chance because our defense keeps holding Davis said Florida could have had more than a 10-0 halftime lead but Francis' 56-yard field goal attempt glanced off the right The Mississippi State defense was backed up early and often against the Gators who intercepted quarterback Tony Shell's first pass as a starter Florida took over on the Bulldog 24 after Joey Nicoletto's interception but Mississippi State held on fourth-and-2 from the Bulldog 5 Shell suffered another interception on the following series this time by Huey Richardson He returned the ball to the Bulldog 23 and Smith made the miscue count scoring from 12 yards Late in the first half backup quarter- Despite failing to capitalize on three first-half interceptions Florida (4-0) remained unbeaten behind two Gator staples Heisman Trophy hopeful Smith and a defense that limited tne Bulldogs to 23 yards rushing Smith rushed for 164 yards on 13 carries and touchdowns of 12 and a school-record 96 yards But Smith and Mississippi State (1-3 0-3) know it could have been worse could have had even Bulldog coach Rockey Felker said I thought our defense played particular GAINESVILLE Fla There will be occasions in the future said Florida running back Emmitt Smith when the Gators will not be as fortunate Saturday at Florida Field Florida make the most of its opportunities against Mississippi State out the 20th-ranked Gators still were able to post a 17-0 Southeastern Conference triumph before 73136 Please see TITLE Page Dll uprigl "Wc had a lot of chances to get this Please see BULLIES Page D5 Perez throws rain-shortened no-hitter D10 UPI layoff helps bury Vandy By Hoyt Harwell The Associated Praia keep our mind on Curry said "We had a week off and that probably made a Bobby Humphrey ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns as No 13 Alabama won going away from Vandy But Humphrey broke a bone in his left foot and might be lost for the rest of the season yards moved him into fourth place in all-purpose yards in SEC history with 4958 and into sixth place in rushing yards 3420 He now has scored 40 touchdowns fifth best in SEC history Although Vandy completed passes for 342 yards the Ala- TUSCALOOSA Ala Bill Curry says he was determined not to let Hurricane Gilbert's interference affect his Alabama football team He succeeded and the Crimson Tide gave him his first coaching victory at their home field a 44-10 decision Saturday over Southeastern Conference over Vanderbilt Curry refused to take his team to Texas for a game a week earlier because of the threat of the hurricane and received some criticism especially from coach Jackie Sherrill whole objective was to lease see Page D5 Alabama running back Bobby Humphrey is brought down by Bob Scanlan t-.