The Roanoke Times from Roanoke, Virginia • 13

Roanoke Times World News SCOREBOARD B2 CLASSIIED ADS B7 WEDNESDAY MORNING JAN 2 1991 SPORTS SPORTSUNE Regularly updated sports scores and information (703) 981 3385 SECTION Cavaliers fade down stretch Tennessee down 1 6 0 rallies for Sugar Bowl win By DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER NEW ORLEANS inability to protect big leads an heel for the last month of the season proved to be the Cava undoing again Tuesday night in the Sugar Bowl Tennessee never led until the final 31 seconds when Tony Thompson scored on a 1 yard run to lift the lOth ranked Volunteers to a 23 22 victory before 75132 at the Superdome Va had gone ahead 19 10 with 2:31 remaining on a 44 yard field goal by Jake McInerney his last of three for the game another normal night at the said Tennessee coach Johnny Majors whose team trailed Sugar Bowl notebook B5 at the half in each of its last three games all victories It was also a normal night for Virginia which finished the season with four losses in its last five games squandering halftime leads of 16 14 and 14 points The Vols who trailed 16 3 to start the fourth quarter scored three touchdowns in the final 12:51 on drives of 94 80 and 79 yards Tennessee (9 2 2) cut the deficit to 16 10 on 7 yard run then after second field goal Andy Kelly hit Carl Pickens on a 1 5 yard touchdown pass with 4:24 remaining Kelly finished 24 of 35 for 273 yards and Thompson carried 25 times for 151 yards Virginia quar terback Shawn Moore was 9 of 22 for 62 yards and failed to complete any of his eight attempts in the sec ond half threw the ball pretty well in said UVa coach George Welsh whose team finished 8 4 the second half he have anything on it but he gave us some other Moore rushed 1 1 times for 76 yards 66 in the second half Virginia dominated the early action but was unable to break the game open taking a 9 0 lead after the first quarter The Cavaliers opened the scor ing with 9: 1 9 remaining in the peri od when fullback Gary Steele ram bled 1 0 yards for a touchdown On the extra point however holder Rob Riddlebarger could not get the ball down cleanly and McI kick was blocked Moore coming off surgery Nov 1 7 for a dislocated thumb complet ed all three of his passes on opening drive but in a sign of things to come was throwing mostly short On second drive Moore tried his first long ball but he was unable to connect with Herman Moore who was all alone at the 20 yard line Dale Carter deflected the pass to Moore then five plays later in tercepted a pass that was under thrown to Johnnie Wilson who had been 10 yards beyond the closest Tennessee defender was Moore said could feel the weakness in my thumb It took away from doing some of the things we normally PLEASE SEE CAVALIERSB6 BILL BRILL foh Defense make big plays NEW ORLEANS When Virginia looks back on the 1 990 football season the Cavaliers will understand that a microcosm of their failures was wrapped up in the final quarter of the 1991 Sugar Bowl Just when it appeared the Cavaliers had righted their sagging ship against lengthy odds they were unable to even slow down Tennessee in the final 15 minutes Having been stuffed for a half by the much maligned UVa defense the Vols found themselves on the short end of a 1 6 0 score And Tennessee was fortunate to be that close Had Virginia quarterback Shawn Moore who played courageously but simply throw been able to complete a long pass to open receivers it would have been another of those Jan 1 blowouts by intermission The thumb that Moore dislocated against Maryland well and got worse All he could complete were short dink passes and not even that after intermission But there was nothing wrong with legs or his ball handling He ran the option beautifully and set up last points with a 22 yard scamper lead was evaporating because it was trading ake McInerney field goa for Tennessee touchdowns Eventually what beat Virginia 23 22 spoiling what would have been the greatest day in ACC football history was a critical holding penalty and the defense that fell apart the previous losses in November after the Cavaliers had scaled the mountain to No 1 It had been a penalty against Georgia Tech that started the downfall taking away a go ahead touchdown in the closing minutes This time the Cavs leading 1 6 3 near the end of the third quarter saw Moore rush 9 yards to the Tennessee 8 setting up another apparent touchdown But the yellow hanky was on the turf of the Superdome and the ball was moved back to the 27 Two plays later despite obvious passing problems he was for 8 in the last half the Cavs called for a deep pass and the Vols intercepted What would have been a certain field goal if not a touchdown ended up inspiring the Vols rom that point the game belonged to Tennessee quarterback Andy Kelly and tailback Tony Thompson In the last 1 5:35 of the game all Tennessee did was march 94 PLEASE SEE BRILUB6 Yellow Jackets lay claim to No 1 Georgia Stefen Scotton (right) plows into the end zone for a touchdown against Nebraska in the lorida Citrus Bowl The second ranked Yellow Jackets routed the Comhuskers 45 21 to end the season as the only unbeaten Division A team f'l Vi jf jr vV rv a hv 'T 4: JR TRanl ti 1 v'nix i lll II i loMIW X'? 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I 7 HMM I UR JlWf JrawWw ''1WNwfeJrl bv'' ft'V W'Yt'A txk i 4 Vrl itMrWI A' 4 OiMWC tlMm WBr VCTT Unbeaten Georgia Tech rips Nebraska Associated Press ORLANDO la Georgia Tech went into the Citrus Bowl as one of college best It came out claiming to be the best played undefeated We should be No coach Bobby Ross said Tuesday after quarterback Shawn Jones led second ranked Georgia Tech to a 45 2 1 victory over 19th ranked Nebraska feel that we deserve it right said Ross who during the regular season had downplayed Georgia quest for its first na tional championship saying his team had other business to take care of The Yellow Jackets did just that completing an 11 0 1 season the only major college team without a loss not going to gloat over it or wave a Ross said think done what we had to The Yellow Jackets went into New Day behind only Colo rado in the poll The final Associat ed Press poll will be released today the only undefeated football team in the country and I think we won Ross said think we looked Jones had Georgia of fense rolling from the start driving 70 yards with the opening kickoff to start a surge to a 21 0 lead that Ne braska (9 3) was unable to over come Jones completed 16 of 23 passes for 277 yards including touchdowns of 22 yards to Emmett Merchant and 2 yards to William Bell Jones rushed for 41 yards on 1 1 carries scoring on a 1 yard bootleg in the third quarter Bell who had 127 yards on 16 PLEASE SEE JACKETSB6 Bowl blowouts Browning Nagle threw for a iesta Bowl record 451 yards 223 during a 25 point first quarter as 18th ranked Louisville celebrated its first postseason appearance in 13 years by routing Alabama 34 7 B4 Mark Brunell ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more and defense and special teams provided big plays as the eighth ranked Huskies rolled to a 46 34 victory over Iowa in the Rose Bowl B4 ourth ranked Miami wiped out third ranked national title hopes with a record setting 46 3 Cotton Bowl blowout B5 defense scored one touchdown and set up another in the 14th ranked 30 0 rout of Illinois in the Hall of ame Bowl B5 Elvis Grbac threw a career high four touchdown passes as Michigan rolled up a Gator Bowl record 715 yards in a 35 3 romp past Mississippi B5 Buffs dodge Irish 10 9 Apparent TD run by Ismail called back Associated Press MIAMI Colorado got one big break instead of five downs and it helped the Buffaloes claim their first national championship Backup quarterback Charles Johnson who scored the winning touchdown in the infamous fifth down victory over Missouri took over for injured Darian Hagan and led the top ranked Buffaloes to a 1 0 9 win over No 5 Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl on Tuesday night The victory was first in eight bowl games and it almost got away in the final minute Notre Rocket Ismail re turned a punt 9 1 yards for an appar ent touchdown with 35 seconds left only to have it called back because of a clipping penalty on senior Greg Davis got a little lucky on the clip on Colorado coach Bill McCartney admitted return by Rocket was one of the greatest individual efforts said Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz know if the clip had A X1 AP Colorado quarterback Darian Hagan (left) slip away from Notre George Williams (on ground) anything to do with the run I sure hope it The victoiy apparently clinched the national title for the Buffaloes 1 1 1 1 a goal that eluded them last year when they were beaten by Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl Every top ranked team that has won a bowl game has been crowned national champion so it would be a major break with tradition if Colo rado finish No 1 when the final Associated Press poll is re leased today the way I McCart ney said think historically if you play a team as worthy as Notre Dame and you beat them you should hold your ranking Compara tive scores really mean nothing If you look at what Colorado has done all year the teams beaten we should maintain our Second ranked Georgia Tech (11 0 1) bolstered its claim to the title by beating Nebraska 45 21 in PLEASE SEE BUSB7 Victory over Rams earns Saints trip to Chicago in first round of NL playoffs B4 5.