The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 41

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W'wv'v'i1' 4rf nw wryyy' r-sm FOR MEMPHIS SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13 1994 The Commercial Appeal SECTION i 4 ti 1 4th-quarter heroics roll Tide past Mississippi St my si think about playing unbeaten No 3 Auburn next Saturday as well as make reservations By Ron Higgins The Commercial Appeal i A1 'V4 Jf1 'VY a sty iz 4 A Tide Gators set for SEC title game But State i worked his closing minutes magic as Bama scored on two consecutive possessions on drives of 65 and 66 yards Barker threw a 42-yard TD pass to Curtis for the Dec 3 league championship game in Georgia Dome against Florida The STARKVILLE Miss sneak a peek i loot- Mississippi State keys to a possible at Brown with 5:20 left then crisply marched ring TD that final- the Tide for the gamewinning ball victory over Alabama Limit Alat sbama running 1 1 a ly quieted the cowbell-carrying crowd of 41358 think the guys believed there was no le guys belie Gators (8-1 6-1) who beat 88018 in last title game and lost to the Tide in the first contest in 1992 won the Eastern Division Saturday by beating South Carolina 48-17 State (7-3 4-3) which has an open date this week before dosing the regular season at Ole Miss Nov 26 saw its last hope of sharing a Western Division title disappear in the waning seconds have to play 60 minutes against Alabama because they never stop coming way we were going to get beat" said Barker who completed 26of-35 passes for 325 yards ON SPORTS 2: back Sherman Williams under 100 yards rushing Check Have two State running backs rush for more than 100 yards Check Get touchdown passes horn the Derrick Talte to Eric Moulds Check And then Alabama senior quarter-' back Jay Barker Checkmate Barker rallied the No 6 Crimson Tide horn a 10-point deficit in the final eight minutes as undefeated They're beck again For the third straight year Florida (8-1 6-1 In SEC) wlU play Alabama for the Southeastern Conference football title In the Dee 3 championship game at Atlanta's Georgia Dome The Gators won the Eastern Division title and spot in the 2:30 pm CST game with a 48-17 win Saturday over South Carolina Alabama (10-0 7-0) claimed the Western Division title spot with Saturday's 29-25 win at Mississippi State The Gators and Crimson Tida are the only teams to play In the 8EC title game since was started In 1992 They've split the i In Birmingham and three TDS including 8-of-10 for 122 yards and one score in the final quarter was our championship game in a sense because we had to win it to reach the championship The Bulldogs outgained by the Tide in to 77m following NghBghta tho day's other top stories on D3 our second front page Legendary track star Wilma Rudolph dies tal offense yardage 371-345 may have gotten overexcited For tb three-and-a-half quarters you let them stick around used to coming back and The Bulldogs were confident with 7:57 left they accomplished what they had hoped I Hogs eke out win It until running back Dennis 1-yard touchdown plunge with 51 seconds left that the Tide (1(M) 7-0) could I Rebels pound Tulane when State place kicker Tim Rogers's 21-yard field goal gave the Bulldogs a 25-15 lead Please see TIDE Page D6 raEy returns punts cut down Tigers ViW- -wM By Phil Stukenborg The Commercial Appeal Sports EdltorCommentary KNOXVILLE have to wait another week to see if they can secure a bid to the St Jude Liberty Bowl but the Unlversiiy of Tigers have to wait any longer to gauge their respectability If not for the play of the University of Tennes loss e-special-ly frustrating special teams particularly punt returner Silvan and punti would not have lost 24-13 Saturday before 94690 Nilo! at Neyland Stadium A second-half rally by the Tigers (64) put them in position to claim their second straight victory on the road 1 jl KNOXVILLE Even I Democrats didn't have as I rotten a week as the University of Memphis special teams in their 24-13 loss to the Carolina-Memphis winner in Liberty i Vols Saturday At least Democrats get to win part of the time Against Tennessee Memphis football teams are 0-for-always which against a Southeastern Conference opponent and end nearly 30 years of domination by the Vols But Tennessee rallied behind final two returns to remain unbeaten in this series 15 is why 15th consecutive loss to the Vols was Orta berth in the Dec 31 Ubarty Bowl football game haa coma to this tha winner of naxt Saturday's East CaroNne-Mamphis game Memphis (6-4) having missed a chance to clinch a spot with 24-13 losa at Tennessee wIN have to beat East Carolina (6-4) In tha 1 pjn 'game at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium An East Carolina win puts tha Plrafas In tho bowl -e- xm -V y-- especially painful On a day whenther rest of the Memphis team played well enough to exorcise the Big Orange demons special teams malfunctions kept of our it from happening ider this: Te Consider this: goals going into the gi game today Evan with a lose the Tigers may la Indapan- roach a bowL Tha I stlN dance Bowl has shown Interest In them tha past two seasons to accelerate our kicking game and make 4- Tennessee's three touchdowns resulted from drives that covered 1 38 and 12 yards The last score came on a 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter on a possession that started at the Memphis 16 Identifying special-teams breakdowns as fatal flaws was something said Vols coach Phillip Fulmer when you play a defensive team like the University of Memphis you have to be Lli' an easy diagnosis for Memphis coach Chuck Stobart really able to make something happen" Silvan ran for 136 yards on four punt returns one yard better than the school record The Tigers the second-ranked defensive team allowed a season-high 289 yards but held the Vols (54) to 61 yards passing and 111 first-half yards And it was that defense and a play by special teams that nearly helped the Tigers overcome Tennessee's big plays by its special teams came down to three big punt returns plus not being able to make a couple of plays on our part late in the Jf- -T'- I W'y 4'w 1 'i i 'A Please see TIGERS Page D8 By Stew Jonei In the second half the Tigers got an interception by cornerback Ken Irvin at the Vol 37 and a Memphis fullback Al Dawkins gets trapped by Tennessee defenders The Vols shut down tho Tigers offense limit- na Please see VOLS Page D8 ing Dawkins to 11 yards on seven carries and the Memphis ground game to 111 yards on 45 rushes stones ana posigame Iguanas dump RiverKings win streak stopped Nittany Lions beat mini on last drive San Antonio makes most of scoring chances whenever in a like said Penn State game fight 111 wideoui By Larry Starks The Commercial Appeal By Mike DcCourcy Tha ComnwreW Appeal Bobby Engram stuff whatever of that The phraN "wide right" kicked a Bowden again Saturday night at Auburn Ala Tarry Bowden aaw hta perfect record at Auburn 20-0 over two season and whan Matt Hawklna mtaaed a 44-yard Held goal to allow Georgia to gain a 23-23 Southeastern Conference Mo Bowdan'a father Bobby loot two national championship chances In recent years when Florida State field goal kickers missed game-winning kicks agalnet Miami to the right of tha uprights (Aubum-Oeorgla story on D4) The company line with the Memphis Rive iverKings these days is that there is no reason to panic They are 2-6 after falling to the San Antonio Iguanas 5-2 Satur not doing it Their goalie (ex-RlverKing Adam Thompson) is not that tough We have had this kind of The goal scoring has been as big a trouble spot as its inexperienced defense In eight games they have averaged fewer than three goals a game They had the fewest goals in the CHL last Season (243) and only Dallas has fewer this season scored five goals (Friday night in a 6-5 loss) said RiverKings coach Herb Boxer whose team plays its next two games at CHAMPAIGN I1L There was a national championship at stake maybe and definitely an unbeaten season and a Rose Bowl bid but all the Penn State Nittany Lions could see before them were Illinois's menacing defense and 96 yards worth of artificial turf With their offense in pause this is not a recording the RiverKings fell behind early in front of 6026 and lost their third straight Central Hockey League game including two straight to the expansion Iguanas Oh sure the RiverKings could have taken over the game early They had a scoring chance on their first shift Then in the second period they had 15 shots on goal and 39 for the game But being unable to convert scoring chances has become un-nervinslv redundant team like that if we could have scored early they would have packed it said forward Brian Cook we're not converting day night at the Mid-South Collin But seum But they will tell you they had their chances say they weren't blown away would be much more cc the rest happens happens1 Milne's third touchdown swept the Lions (94 64) to their first Big 10 Conference championship and first Rose Bowl appearance in 71 years The mini (64 4-3) must beat Wisconsin on the road Saturday to be considered for one of the four guaranteed Big 10 bowl positions As routine as that run appeared to be though all that went before had to be wrenched Dram the grasp with most of the 7264 at Memorial Stadium silent except a small pocket of Penn State fans screaming on each play was funny because there was no tension said Penn State The last two yards that led to second-ranked 33-31 quarterback Kerry Collins was no 'Oh got to do this got to do that' It Hust a matter of concentrat- cerned if we getting the chances" said forward Mark Dallas Tuesday and San Antonio Wednesday generating the victory Saturday came somewhat easily with Brian Milne the back of guard Jeff for the winning touch-Lth 57 seconds remaining on a play Penn State coach Joe Paterao really want to work all about winning this enough shots we have to generate more scoring chances Bobby ifith Collins completing 7-of-7 to four different receivers and the Lions converting three third downs they con- Mrfiinn "it just seems like losing Instead of getting That is what the RiverKings have been reduced to talking about chances instead of wins and speaking about the semantics or a loss Wallwork has to score wii our chances You have i lid to put the puc myself included and Please see 'KINGS Page D13 lease see WIN Page D2 SATURDAY'S RESULTS LUCKY 13 FOOTBALL CONTEST SCORES Winner's Social Security number to be published Wednesday Florida 48 8 Carolina 17 NC 8tats'24 Duka 23 Baylor 19 Rica 14 Fla 8L 23 Notra Dame 16 Boston Cot 31 Syracuse 0 Penn State 35 Mnols 31 Ohio 8tata 32 Indiana 17 Georgia 23 Auburn 23 Tennessee 24 Memphis 13 Alabama 29 Mias Stats 28 Southern Mlee 20 LSU 18 Princeton 19 Yale Virginia 46 Maryland Colorado St 48 Magic 116 SJxera 103 Homata 113 Platona 100 Pacara 93 Cava 86 Rockata 100 Nata 84 Bullata 109 Haat 99 Caitlca114 WotvaalOl Top 28 roundup results DS Lady Vols voted Na 1 17 NFL WSok 11 previews Of BI4 Spurt 101 Knlcka 82 Mavarlcka 124 Bulla 120 Nuggeta 119 Jazz 110 8una at CDppara Lakara at Warrtora Hawks at Klnga 6 21 Ark St 3 i.