The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 21

i 1 -j 3 Ford asks for his release from Tigers Decision ends rocky week missed practice Dec days before the Tigers play at Illinois By Mike DeCourcy and Thomas Harding The CommarcW Appaal MATCHUP: Houston (3-7) at Memphis (8-4)i WHEN WHERE: 7:30 pjn The Pyramid TV RADIO: WLMT-TV (Ch 30k WKNO-TV (Ch 10) 11 pm WGKX-FM (106k 6:55 pm WUMR-FM (92k 7:15 pm Gama preview on Pago D6 26 three were to Ford said he was visiting his grandmother's house in Holly Springs Miss when he said he became ill with a stomach virus He said he did not want to call Finch from there because it would have been a long-distance call In his statement he said me problem could have been avoided had he talked to Finch Ford said when he returned to campus Monday night his roommate a freshman manager for me team told him Finch said FDrd should pack and leave Ford said that when he and Finch met Sunday Finch denied making the statement but Ford said he think his room- for 7:30 game against Houston (3-7) at The Pyramid brought something to the table and mat's a kid you wanted to be said Tigers coach Larry Finch who had previously said he would grant' Ford a release not here now so me only thing I can say is I wish him Ford a 6-7 sophomore said the fallout from his suspension for missing practices early last week led to his decision He said he gave Finch a letter requesting a release Monday Fora said he has no idea which school he will attend but he wants to play Division 1 basketball was a big thrill playing for your hometown in front of your There no longer is a stall bearing the name in the luxurious University of Memphis basketball dressing room That was arranged in a hurry Ford called a press conference at' his parents home in southwest Memphis Monday night to announce that he's asked to be released from his scholarship ending 1V4 seasons of sporadic success and frequent turbulence and a week of distractions The Tigers (84) went about the business of preparing Deuce Ford has chosen to transfer from the University of Memphis as a result of disputes with head coach Larry Finch parents and family Ford said will miss it but I have to do what I have to da" Ford met Sunday with Finch to discuss his situation but instead of returning to work with the team he left campus with his father Sylvester Fora Sr Finch was expecting to hear from Ford by Sunday evening but never got a call The problem began when Ford lease see TIGERS Page DS ease by Gators i '-tV i i- 1 vi i Nittany Lions win Rose fall short of title FSU captures Sugar rematch -r By Ron Higgins Thu Commercial Appaal By Steve Wilsteln The Associated Praai a -4 PASADENA Calif Even perfection isn't good I enough for Joe Paterno and Penn State Unbeaten untied and uncrowned the No 2 Nittany Lions left the Rose Bowl after handily defeating Oregon 38-20 feeling it was unfair not to get at least a share of the national championship after winning every game They knew the problem they faced Sunday night Orange Bowl victory after top-ranked over Miami They knew it Monday afternoon in the naze of the Rose Bowl when Kl-Jana Carter broke away for MONDAY'S BOWL RESULTS 'V VV i Jt v' -J-li VS an 83-yard touchdown run on their first play from scrimmage And they knew it at the end when me victory was likely too little and too I late to change the minds of voters in the season-ending poll much less the Hal of Foma: Wisconsin 34 Duka 20 CHruo: Alabama 24 Ohio St 17 Cotton: Southern Cal 55 Taxas Tack 14 CARQUEST: Soutti Carolina 24 West Virginia 21 Fiesta: Colorado 41 Notre Dome 24' Rosac Penn State 38 Oregon 20 Sugar: Florida 8L 23 Florida 17 NEW ORLEANS This time the noose was almost on me oth-cr necfci Na Florida trying to dig back from a 13-polnt hole made a respectable fourth-quarter run but came up short in a heart-pounding 23-17 loss to Na 7 Florida State Monday night in me 61st annual Sugar Bowl before a Louisiana Superdome crowd of 76224 Two missed field goals by Dan Mowery in me final 16:27 left the door open for the Gators who blew a 31-3 lead Nov 26 against Florida State and felt lucky to escape with a 31-31 tie in Tallahassee In me rematch it was Florida State feeling me heat in me closing minutes An 80-yard Florida drive capped by quarterback Danny Wuerffel's 1-yard sneak with 3:47 left to play trimmed lead to 23-1 Florida forced FSU to punt and got the ball back at its 19-yard line with £27 But three plays later on second down at the Florida 23 a pressured Wuerffel threw his only interception of the night with FSU's Derrick Brooks making the pick at me Florida 24 with 1:32 left The victory will likely propel me Seminoles champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference (10-1-1) into the top five wire service rankings for an unprecedented eighth straight time could have lost this game easily as we won it because Flop Ida is a great FSU coach Bobby Bowden said we're pretty good too We dominated this game more than I thought we The offensive fireworks me teams combined for 8SS yards with Florida State gaining 401 vV A Vy 7 A Jt- r1 A 'l: i- rt '-I' AMt -v vaVII- -rV 'S Hie final Associated Press poll will be released early morning but me verdict is almost certain that Nebraska will be Na 1 Paterno has guided five Penn State teams to perfect records in his 29-year tenure as head coach Four of those five times he didn't win the national championship 1968 '69 73 and probably mis year His two national titles came in 1982 and 1986 "All you can do is win all your football Paterno said gotten criticized for our schedule by some people who don't know what talking about we deserve (the national championship) just as much as (the Cornhuskers) The Nittany lions (12S) became the first undefeated untied Big 10 team to win the Rose Bowl since Ohio State beat USC in 1968 The Buckeyes won me national championship over another unbeaten that year Penn State Oregon (94) hardly played the role of an innocent and defenseless bystander against the Penn State offensive juggernaut The 12th-ranked i lf'v Xl- IS sVjtl -a1 a X1 T- AP Pann State fuUback Brian Milne (22) drivM over the Oregon defense for a Nittany Lion touchdown Milne combined Please see ROSE Page D4 with running back Ki-Jana Carter for 192 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-20 Rosa Bowl win Please see SUGAR Page D3 Dowhower takes Vandy reins Ex-NFL coach vows offense will use more passing Nebraska leaves no I doubt No 1 Rod Dowhower bio By Teresa Walker The Associated Praaa Sports EdltorCommentary BORN: April 15 1943 PRO COACHING CAREER: Head coadi of Indianapolis 1985-88 (5-24 bafore balng fired) assistant at St Louis Danvar Atlanta Washington In 1994 ha was quarterbacks coach at Cleveland COLLEGE COACHING CAREER: Head coach at Stanford In 1979 assistant at 8an Diego State UCLA Boise State Stan-ford PLAYMG CAREER: Waa all-American quarterback at San Diego State burgh Steelers Dowhower said his first commitment is to the Browns through the NFL playoffs and that he plans to meet with Vanderbilt players as soon as he can find time in his schedule Vanderbilt a member of me Southeastern Conference has not had a winning season since going 84 in 1982 mission will be to juice up an offense that produced only two touchdown passes in two years both in 1994 Dowhower told about 60 peo- ile who attended the press con-erence that the Vanderbilt offense will change I had my druthers throw the ball as many times as we Dowhower said He said he have a time- Even we playoff activists have to acknowledge that I college screwy system for identifying national champions got it right mis time Nebraska's Na 1 and if you believe it point your radiator west and see what it says on the water tank in every crossroads town from Omaha to Norm Platte: national champs!" Believe it On an extended New weekend when our bowls rannem over Nebraska won the one that counted most coming frofn behind to slam mouths shut 24-17 in me Orange BowL The Huskers were 120 and ranked Na 1 going in they are Red All of which proves mere may be a little justice left in this world after all Nebraska deserved this title and not just because you can see seven states from the shoulders of the Huskers offensive line Nebraska had mis one coming because where Tom Osborne coaches He has a better lifetime record than the Internal Revenue Service vs Jerry Lee Lewis but because he had never coached a national champion he never got me credit he was due Until now So sometimes good things do happen Sometimes the lawn mower starts on the first pull Sometimes me dentist says cavity-free And sometimes nice guys like Tom Osborne win national NASHVILLE New Vanderbilt coach Rod Dowhower said Monday night he wanted a challenge and found what he wanted with me Commodores a school that had a winning season since 1981 wanted a challenge probably not too far from the said Dowhower quarterbacks coach for me Cleveland Browns I look at our schedule I see too many preseason games We start with Alabama men VMI and then Notre Dowhower SI accepted the job as 23rd head coach over me weekend men flew in Monday and signed a five-year deal for a reported $250000 including base salary Watching Osborne plant the flag on top of football's Mt Everest was me highlight moment in television's bowlathon The guy gloat strut or even smile He just thanked his players and accented a national championship with a quiet humility that makes him a rarity among Mg-budget college coaches Another neat thing about national title is that radio and television monies Dowhower did not have time to meet his new players because he was due to return to Cleveland for meetings today in preparation for me AFC playoff game against the Pitts out No doubt about It or no playoff color throne Big Please see VANDY Page D7 Please see BOWLS Page D4 INSIDE CA InfoUn NBA standings schedule and league leaders The Carolina Panthers apparently have chosen Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dorn Capers as their first head coach D7 Scott ie Pippen's view of Toni Kukoc is changing and the Bulls are reaping the bene-fits D9 8cotm nows and mor 544-6000 exL 4777 Frao ca In Memphis am only UAB him Watson Brown D7 NHL talks continue D7 Duke rolls to victory DB.