Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 21

I mm state ALABAMA FENN STATE ERiCKAM YOUNG NORTH CARQUfW Win in ARIZONA STATE TEXAS KANSAS STATE 1 .4 TENNESSEE KX'l 20 LI 1 MICHIGAN 1 4 7 I i III COLLEGE BASKETBALL Preview of Big Ten hoops: MSU to surprise, U-M on top as Buckeyes visit tonight Page 4C. SECTION NFL, Page 2 NBA, Page 3 NHL, Page 9 Thursday, January 2, 1997 Adroit 4frcc A Just beat FSU and keep a muzzle on Spurrier until the votes are in. NO. WHOS Duh. If they win tonight, and thanks to the Buckeyes, nobody else's record can end in 0.

I'liHM Best hope lots of voters forget there's a bowl game on Jan, 2. Maybe if FSU loses, and OSU plays Michigan again. mm Arizona States title chance wilts in Rase; OSU wins with :19 left 5i-1 i MATCHUP: No. 1 Florida State a 1-0) vs. No.

3 Florida (11-1). WHEN: 8 tonight WHERE: Sugar Bowl, New Orleans. TV: ABC (Channel 7 in Detroit). LINE: Florida by 3. "in II III i Florida coach Steve Spurrier Florida State coach Bobby Bowden ft -7' Tonight wont tell, but battle i ft of Florida is first-rate rivalry '4 ew Orleans Bobby Bow- den has uttered his final pre-il game: "Dadgumit, I like I Steve Spurrier." I Steve Spurrier has shown for the last time the infamous film of his quarter ByDrkwSilrp Frrr iTm Vt Wnlff PASADKNA, Calif.

A dramatic classic worthy of a Hollywood script was staged on the outskirts of Tinseltown's borders Wednesday night. And in i cinematic twist, it was a guy Arizona State didn't want who dashed its national-championship aspiraUons. Sophomore quarterback Joe Germaine. scorned a month ago for his ineffi-ctiveness in a loss to Michigan, engineered one of the Rose Bowl's greatest finishes. His five-yard pass to freshman David Boston with 19 seconds remaining gave No.

4 Ohio State an unhelievable 20-17 victory over the No. 2 Sun Devils (11-1). Unbelievable, because a minute earlier, everyone thought the Buckeyes (11 1) were destined to the ignominy of another end-of-season collapse. Everyone but Germaine. We didn't do much talking on the sidelines after (Arizona State) scored." said Germaine, who replied starter Stanley Jackson in the second quarter.

"We were still in kind of a state of shock, but I knew we had the time to at least get into field goal range and have a chance to send the game into overtime." But when the Sun Devils were penalized for pass interference twice in 18 seconds, Ohio State had the ball on the ASU 5 with the opportunity to win its first Rose Bowl in 23 years. "I was supposed to go into the corner of the end zone on that play," said Boston, who scored two touchdowns, "but I saw an opening where a linebacker was supposed to be so I just flared out and Joe hit me around the 2 and I ran it in. You dream about scoring the winning touchdown in the Rose Howl, and I'm still having a hard time believing that I actually did." As far as the Buckeyes are concerned, they still hold a slim chance of winning the national championship. But even those odds weren't as slim as the ones they faced with 1:40 k-ft and down. 17-14 another victim IVa wr ROSE BOWL, Tajje 6C t- .1 if CHARLIE Vincent VMM back, Danny Wuerffel, being knocked over again and again, like a stuffed animal at the ball-toss concession of your county fair.

They've closed shop in Tempe and Pasadena and Miami, all those places that would have liked this game think of it as the game to 'decide which is the best team in the United States of America. I've always had a thing about grandiose titles. The World Series, for Instance, seems to overstate the case, because no teams from Japan or Cuba or Nicaragua are involved. And calling what happens tonight at the Superdome the national championship of college football seems a little presumptuous, because neither of these teams played a school north of Lexington or west of Little Rock. Seems a small nation to me.

Seems the Confederacy is back. Seems another piece of evidence in favor of a national playoff, but because the NCAA moves just a bit faster than a glacier and a little slower than the Catholic Church, those of us over 50 might not live to see the day. In the meantime we must content ourselves with what should be an entertaining game, if not a true national championship. It has all the ingredients to make for an interesting three hours or so of television: There is Wuerffel, the Please see SUGAR BOWL, Page 6C Instead of what they got And now it has come down to this, the college football alliance's flawed version of a national championship jtame Florida vs. Florida State H.

If you are cynical, you can think of It as the championship of the state of Florida: if you are gullible, you may Ohio State quarterback Joe Germnine and coach John Cooper hoist the Rose Bowl trophy after beating Arizona State. Germaine grew up in Mesa, 1 0 minutes from ASL" campus; Cooper coached Sun Devils in 1 985-87. 1 it 4 Alabama's big plays leave U-M ruing missed chances, 17-14 v. '-r 4 ft. i i 1 end it on than Michigan and Alabama in a game like that" Griese started In place of Dreisbach who had started all 11 regular-season games and played well enough to win.

Griese completed 21 of 37 both Michigan bowl records for 287 yards and a touchdown. But his Interception a floater that linebacker Dwayne Rudd grabbed and returned 88 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter turned the game around. And when it ended, Griese said he wasn't sure whether he would return for his fourth season of eligibility and Dreisbach was looking at a fight for the No. 1 job next season. "I think offensively we played very well today against a great Alabama defense," Carr said.

That was one of the few bad plays he made all game, and unfortunately it was a Please see OUTBACK BOWL, Page 5C By Keith gave Frw frrm Spur Wrilcf TAMPA, Fla. The present belonged to the defenses and Alabama coach Gene Stall-ings. But Michigan quarterbacks Brian Griese and Scott Dreisbach were left pondering uncertain futures after Wednesday's 17-14 loss in the Outback Bowl. The Wolverines (8-4) completed their fourth consecutive four-defeat season as the retiring Stallings got his 70th victory in seven seasons at Alabama and a ride on his players' shoulders to a handshake with U-M coach Lloyd Carr. "I can't tell you how good a game it was out there on the field for both teams," said Stallings, who goes back to his Texas ranch with a 70-16-1 record as Crimson Tide coach.

"And I can't think of a more fitting game to -i-r-TA 'MS. 1 1 Ptwto by JULIAN H. GONZAUZ0tH Frw Ptmi Two pin's that turned the Tide: IJnel)acker Dwmne Rudd, alnnr, is off and running on nn 88-yard interception return, beating U-M center Rod Payne on a score that made it 1 0-6. At ritfit, Daydrion Taylor lxka downfield as Alabama tickle Pete DiMario lifts running back Shaun Alexander following Alexander's 46-ynrd ID run. It gint; theTide a 1 7-6 knd with 2: 1 5 left.