Tyrone Daily Herald from Tyrone, Pennsylvania • Page 5

Tyrone Daily Herald, Thursday, January 2,1986 Page Five Sooners Stake Rightful Claim to No. 1 Ranking By IRA KAUFMAN PI Sports Writer MIAMI (UP1) All the important pre-game numbers favored Oklahoma. So will today's final ratings. The second-ranked Sooners overcame some shaky quar- terbacking from freshman Jamelle Holieway Wednesday night in the Orange Bowl and turned to the nation's most dominating defense en 1 Lions Tumbled In Orange Bowl: Shaffer Accepts Blame ByBOBKEIM UPI Sports Writer MIAMI (UPI) Penn State quarterback John Shaffer, who had won 54 straight games as a starting quarterback before Wednesday night's 25-10 loss to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl, said his three interceptions cost a national championship. Shaffer completed 10-of-22 passes for 74 yards before being lifted in favor of reserve Matt Knizner in the fourth quarter.

Oklahoma, 11-1 and likely national champion, scored field goals after two interceptions. The third interception killed a possible scoring drive. Penn State, 11-1, was ranked No. 1 before the game. "They were bad throws," Shaffer said of the interceptions.

"They killed us. It's just too bad the performance of one man can hurt an entire team the way it did today. It was very difficult for me to accept that I had so much to do with the outcome of the game." Paterno said the Lions were disappointed by the loss, which cost Penn State a chance for a second national championship. He told his team not to become too discouraged. "I told them we had a good year and to remember the things we did well," Paterno said.

"You don't come this close and don't get it and not be disappointed We did not play well enough to win." Shaffer said he would gladly trade the 54-game winning streak as a starting quarterback, which began when he was in seventh grade in Cincinnati, for a national championship. "You guys (the media) made a hell of a lot more out of the streak than I ever wanted," Shaffer said. "I'd give all 54 just to have this one today. "Being 11-1 is really nothing to be ashamed of," he said. "It's just very difficult to know that it (the loss) had to come at the end of the year." Penn State won the national championship following the 1982 season.

Oklahoma's Tim Lashar kicked a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter after Sonny Brown picked off a Shaffer pass and returned it to the Penn State 14. On the Lions' next possession, Tony Rayburn picked off a tipped Shaffer pass to set up a 21- yard Lashar field goal. On the opening drive of the third quarter, Shaffer threw an interception on a first-and-10 from the Oklahoma 21. Penn State coach Joe Paterno said turnovers were the difference. The Lions, after losing only 20 turnovers all season, turned the ball over five times against the Sooners.

"The turnovers really hurt us," Paterno said. "Against a team as good as Oklahoma, you can't do that. We were lucky to get out giving up only field goals." "You can't give Oklahoma that many opportunities in your territory and expect to come out a winner," said Penn State linebacker Trey Bauer. "I think we turned the ball over too many times." Rose Bowl: Freshman Fires UCLA To 45-28 Upset Of Iowa ByDAVERAFFO UPI Sports Writer PASADENA, Calif. (UPI) When he was growing up in Ypsilanti, Eric Ball dreamed of playing in the Rose Bowl for the University of Michigan.

That dream ended when UCLA coach Terry Donahue won the recruiting battle with Michigan's Bo Schembechler, among others, and brought Ball to Los Angeles two years ago. After red-shirting one year, Ball this season dreamed 9f playing in the Rose Bowl with UCLA. Those dreams almost ended too, when he fumbled on the 1 in a 17-13 loss to Southern California that would have cost the Bruins their change at the Rose Bowl had not Arizona State lost to Arizona that night, making UCLA the Pac-10 champ. Ball finally made it to the Rose Bowl Wednesday, and it was worth the wait. He rushed for 227 yards and four touchdowns to lead No.

14 UCLA to a 45-28 upset over No. 3 Iowa. "1 went out with the attitude that I wasn't going to let one man stop me," said Ball, whose two scores within 4:43 of the second quarter gave UCLA a 24-10 lead. "I had to run hard every play because it was the last game of the year." Ball replaced injured starter Gaston Green and carried 22 times in his second four-TD game of the season. He and Freeman McNeil are the only UCLA players to have two four-TD games, and he tied the Rose Bowl TD record set by USC's Sam Cunningham against Ohio State in 1973.

"We planned to split time between Gaston Green and Eric Ball, but Gaston pulled a hamstring and just couldn't go," UCLA coach Terry Donahue said. "The great thing for us was Eric Ball was the guy who was most distraught after our last game. It hurt, but he never let it bother him. What a spectacular game he had." "I couldn't think straight that night (of the USC game)," Ball said. "I was real down.

It could have been the winner, but I fumbled and they came back and won it. It was a big relief when Arizona State lost." It was a relief for Donahue when Ball chose UCLA over Notre Dame, Nebraska and Michigan. "I was tired of playing in the cold, I like California," Ball said. Ball's TD runs of 40, 32, 30, and 6 yards put Iowa's national title hopes on ice. The Hawkeyes finished 10-2 and UCLA 9-2-1.

Iowa was hurt by five turnovers, including four first-half fumbles by Ronnie Harmon. Harmon, Iowa's leading career receiver and second leading rusher. fumbled once all year. Most of the Hawkeyes' offense came on Chuck Long passes. Long completed 29-of-37 passes for 319 yards, passed for one TD and ran for another to close his All-America and Heisman runnerup season.

UCLA's Matt Stevens started at quarterback for injured David Norrie and completed 16-of-26 for 189 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Stevens scored on a 1-yard run and threw a 9-yard TD strike to Mike Sherrard. John Lee added a 42-yard field goal for UCLA. Iowa added a 1-yard run by David Hudson and field goals of 52 and 24 yards by Rob Houghtlin. The 52- yarder tied a Rose Bowl record.

route to a 25-10 victory over No. Penn State. With third-ranked Iowa dropping a 45-28 decision to UCLA in the Rose Bowl and No. 4 Miami (Fla.) losing to Tennessee 35-7 in the Sugar Bowl, the 11-1 Sooners are virtually assured of their fifth national title when UPI's Board of Coaches releases the final ratings at 6:30 p.m. EST today.

"This is a dream come true," said Oklahoma fullback Lydell Carr, who rushed for 148 yards, including a clinching Cl-yard TD dash in the final minutes. "Even if Miami had won, we would have been the nation's No. 1 team in our hearts. "Penn State has a good, solid defense, but it's not as physical as Nebraska's or SMU's. We were very upset with our offensive performance in the first half, but the defense played great all game." The Nittany Lions, ll-l, marched 62 yards on the game's opening possession and Tim Manoa's 1-yard plunge gave Penn State a 7-0 advantage.

From that point. Oklahoma's nation's-best defense yielded just 205 more yards and forced five turnovers. "1 think Oklahoma is the best team in the country." said Penn State's Joe Paterno, who ranks second to Oklahoma's Barry Switzer in winning percentage among active coaches with at least 100 victories. "They're certainly one of the best teams we've ever played. I don't know anyone who would be better." Holieway led the Sooners in rushing this year, but he gained just one yard on 12 carries and lost a pair of fumbles against the Lions.

He did almost all of his damage with one lurch of his right arm early in the second quarter. Facing a third-and-24 from the Oklahoma 29, Holieway found tight end Keith Jackson on a post pattern for a 71-yard touchdown and a 10-7 lead for the Sooners. Tim Lashar kicked field goals of 26, 31, 21 and 22 yards and Carr detoothed the Lions completely with his scoring run down the right sideline with 1:42 left in the game. "We had a lot of minus yards on first down," Holieway said, "because they did a lot of stunts we didn't think they would do. I wasn't nervous out there, but when I fumbled late in the half and they got a field goal, I thought the game might turn." Sugar Bowl Blowout: Volunteers Sack Vinny and the 'Canes, 35-7 By DAVID MOFFIT UPI Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (UPI) Tennessee's Daryl Dickey was expected to play second fiddle to Miami's second-team All-America Vinny Testaverde in a concert of Sugar Bowl quarterbacks, but Dickey hit the sweeter notes.

The Vols' fifth-year senior, never a starter until Tony Robinson ended his college career with a knee injury in this season's fifth game, was named the Sugar Bowl's most valuable player Wednesday night after he led No. 8 Tennessee to a 35-7 upset over the No. 4 Hurricanes. Dickey, son of former Tennessee and Florida coach and current Tennessee athletic director Doug Dickey, completed 15-of-25 passes for 131 yards and one touchdown, while being sacked only once. Testaverde, a junior who became Miami's quarterback when Bernie Kosar turned pro after last season and who averaged nearly 300 yards per game while leading the Hurricanes to a 10-1 record, hit 20- of-36 passes for 217 yards but was intercepted three times, sacked seven times for 84 yards in losses, and set up a Tennessee TD with a fumble.

"We've had some adversity on our football team, out we came together and played as one all year long," said Dickey. "I'm thrilled. This is a great moment for us." Testaverde, meanwhile, praised the Vols but admitted some blame. "Tennessee did a very good job of defensing us, but it was not anything that we had not prepared for," Testaverde said. "Their game plan was sound, but our execution was very poor and that is a combination that makes it difficult to come out with any chance to win." Miami had hoped that losses by top- ranked Penn State (to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl) and No.

3 Iowa (to UCLA in the Rose Bowl) would vault it to No. 1. But although those other bowls turned out the way the Huricanes had hoped, it was Tennessee that looked like a contender for the national title. "I think our team deserves to be ranked very, very high," said Tennessee coach Johnny Majors. "I'm not campaigning for a national championship, but I don't think at this time any team in the country is playing any better than we are." Miami and Testaverde were in tune in the opening minutes Wednesday night, jumping into a 7-0 lead when Testaverde threw an 18-yard TD pass toMikelrvin.

The Hurricanes showed their confidence on the previous play when, on 4th-and-5, they faked a punt and sent Melvin Bratton on a 25-yard burst up the middle. But it was pretty much all Tennessee after that. The Vols tied the score on the first play of the second quarter Dickey's 5-yard TD pass to Jeff Smith, and took the lead with 3:28 left in the half when Tim McGee fell on teammate Jeff Powell's fumble in the Miami end certainly are disappointed," said Miami coach Jimmy Johnson. "It's a tough loss to take. But Tennessee had a great game plan and took a lot of things away from us.

I said all along that when we are playing our style of game, we can compete with anyone in the country. But not tonight." Majors said the Vols, who posted shutouts in their last two regular- season games, halted Testaverde by doing "some of the same things we've been doing all year. We worked our team diligently and got in plenty of physical conditioning." Oklahoma Or Nobody Should Wear 'No Tag Bruins, Vols Remove Questions ByMIKERABUN UPI Sports Writer The UCLA Bruins and the Tennessee Volunteers had the courtesy to remove whatever questions may have existed on deciding this season's collegiate football champion. Unless, of course, someone might question whether any team at all deserves the title. Entering the Jan.

1 bowl games, there was potentially room for all manner of arguments. The possibility existed that Penn State, Oklahoma, Iowa and Miami could all have wound up with 11-1 records. Iowa, however, suffered the fate that usually befalls Big Ten teams in Pasadena and bowed to UCLA in the Rose Bowl. Miami looked befuddled in its one- sided loss to Tennessee. So when Oklahoma eventually put away Penn State in the Orange Bowl, it became likely that the coaches who make up the UPI selection board will choose the Sooners as No.

1 in the country Thursday. From some distant wilderness, however, there could well come a cry that nobody deserves to be No. 1 this time. Penn State and Oklahoma both played violent football Wednesday night, but neither played particularly well. Both made plays that were far less than bright not up to national championship standards.

The Nittany Lions self-destructed all evening. Each time Penn State appeared ready to do something big, something bad happened. A critical mistake by the game officials in the third quarter ob- Ccigars In Bedford Tournament Friday: Eagles Host B-A tonight, Pepsi Tourney Saturday A triple-header mat card is in the offing at the Tyrone High gym tonight as Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis wrestlers hook up in dual meet action, and the annual Tyrone Pepsi Wrestling Tournament is in town two days later (Saturday) as the Blue Devils and Golden Eagles launch the 1986 portion of their winter schedules. Tonight the three-match wrestling card opens with the Tyrone and B-A Jr. High grapplers meeting at 6 p.m.

That meet will be followed immediately by an abbreviated Jayvee meet (several bouts are expected to be forfeited) and then the Eagles Blue Devils Varsity clash. Tyrone has won all seven meetings since the two neighboring rivals began the series in 1978 79 with the Eagles battling to a narrow 24-21 victory. Last year's was the most one-sided as Tyrone, ranked one of the top teams in the state in Class AA at the time, rolled up a 57-3 count. Tyrone checks in at 2-2 with wins over Somerset (30-28) and Central Preston (West 72-0) and losses to Greensburg-Salem (27-25) and Clearfield (3610). B-A nipped Everett 34-32 in its dual opener and then fell to No.

Bedford 3330. Also on the mat docket on Saturday is the 1986 Pepsi Tourney, which this year lists a seven-team field, including two Tyrone and teams, Bellwood-Antis, So. Huntingdon, Mo Valley, Chestnut Ridge, and Glendale. Action starts at noon, with early consy rounds following. Consy finals are at 6 and championships at 7.

Tyrone Area High's basketballers won't be idle either during the opening days of the new year. Head coach Jim Bigelow and assistant Don Wagner have the Golden Eagles in a tough Holiday Tourney test at Bedford the next two evenings, drawing talented Bishop Guilfoyle (6-0) in the tourney tip-off game at 6 p.m. tonight. Host Bedford is pared with Shade in the other semifinal game at 8 p.m. The consy game is Friday at 6 and the title game at 8 p.m.

TAHS's Lady Eagles (3-5) are back in action hosting Mt. Union tomorrow, while the B-A boys (2-4) entertain Southern Huntingdon in their '86 JVL opener the same night. Sixers Notch 8th Straight PORTLAND, Ore. (UPI) Philadelphia 76ers coach Matt Goukas was pleased after his team's eighth straight victory Wednesday of. "We're in a cycle right now of playing everybody close," Sixers coach Matt Goukas said.

Wednesday night after Julius Erving stole a final- second inbound pass in overtime to preseve a 121-119 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. "We can't put things away," Goukas added. "Sure, we have won eight straight and four in a row on the road, and that's great. But I think this team can play much better in certain areas." Soph Shines In Fiesta Bowl: Wolverines Overcome Cornhuskers, 27-23 Party's Over For College Cage Teams; Conference Plays Opens ByJIMLUTTRELL UPI Sports Writer The party's over. After two months of trips to exotic places like Hawaii and Alaska, the yearly dosage of patsies to pad the record and plenty of time to experiment, college basketball is ready to get down to business.

Conference play begins tonight, and with it the rivalries, the upsets, the excitement. Second-rated Michigan is the preseason favorite in the Big Ten. The Wolverines, 12-0, return all five starters from last season's 26-4 team. They are led by one of the dominant big men in the country, Roy Tarpley, and the outstanding backcourt of Antoine Joubert and Gary Grant. The Wolverines meet No.

15 Indiana, 8-2, at Bloomington tonight. No. 14 Illinois, 8-2, opens conference play against Minnesota. The Illini are led by Efrem Winters, Scott Meents and Bruce Douglas will host Minnesota. The Big East Conference may not be as tough as it was a year ago, when it sent three teams to the Final Four, but the conference schedule will get it ready for post-season play.

Fifth-rated Syracuse, 7-0, gets the toughest test of the ranked Big East teams. The Rafael Addison-led Orangemen play Boston College, which traditionally gives Jim Boeheim's team fits. TEMPE, Ariz. (UPI) In assessing his performance in the Fiesta Bowl, Jamie Morris said he took a cue from his brother. That's not a bad idea, considering his brother is Joe Morris, the New York Giants' rusher and Pro Bowl selection.

"He told me to run like a man possessed," Jamie Morris said of a conversation he had with his brother prior to Wednesday's game. The sophomore running back piled up 156 yards rushing Nebraska to lead the No. 5 Wolverines to a 27-23 victory over the Cornhuskers. The victory was the Wolverines' sixth in a row and left them with a 101-1 record. Nebraska lost its second straight and finished at 9-3.

Michigan coach Bo Schembechler said he hoped going into the game that Jamie Morris would the same kind of day Joe Morris did in a 141-yard performance against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC wild card game on Sunday. "Jamie played extremely well," Schembechler said. "I chided him about his brother Joe before the game with his 140 yards in their playoff game, and I assumed he'd do the same for us." Morris, who was named the outstanding offensive player of the game, broke off five runs of 15 yards or more to more than make up for a less-than-impressive performance by Wolverine quarterback Jim Harbaugh. "We felt like we could sweep on them and get to the outside," he said. Harbaugh did not appear to be too distraught with his day, in which he completed just 6-of-15 passes for 63 yards.

"Statistics don't mean a damn thing," said Harbaugh, the nation's top-rated passer entering the game. "The only thing that counts is taking advantage of your opportunities to win. We did not make any turnovers and did what it takes to get the ball in the end zone." Meanwhile, the No. 6 Cornhuskers found themselves self-destructing in the third quarter. They committed three turnovers in the period, which led to 24 Michigan points and turned an 11-point halftime lead into a 13- point deficit.

"We played well for three quarters of the game, but the third quarter went badly," said Nebraska coach Tom Osborne following the game. The Cornhuskers dropped the ball three times in their first offensive five plays of the second half, losing two that led to Michigan's first two touchdowns of the game. "We got real sloppy," said Iback Doug DuBose, who rushed for 99 yards on the day. "We laid the ball on the carpet a few times. If you do that against a team like Michigan, you should not expect to win the ballgame." The Michigan defense, which entered the game allowing just 6.8 points per game, found itself giving up huge chunks of yardage to.

Nebraska in the first half, but regained its composure in the second half to force the turnovers and snatch the game from the Cornhuskers. Wolverine defensive tackle Mike Hammerstein said the coaches told them at halftime "to come out and play our way. They were right." Cotton Pickin'Time: Aggies Crush Auburn viously did not help Penn State's cause. Oklahoma did not exactly distinguish itself. Quarterback Jamelle Holieway fumbled the ball away deep in his own end of the field in the final 10 seconds of the first half (allowing a field goal).

Then, needing only to hold onto the ball in the fourth quarter to put away the game, Holieway coughed it up again. The final score simply did not reflect how close the contest had been. Does any one team deserve to be national champion? That is perhaps the only argument that can come out of this season's debate. But to some people a year without a football champion would be like one without Christmas. So Oklahoma with apologies to ll-0-l Fresno State it will probably be.

ByMIKERABUN UPI Sports Writer DALLAS (UPI) For much "of its 50-year history, the Cotton Bowl has been known as a passer's paradise and a runner's nightmare. Texas sophomore quarterback Kevin Murray and Auburn's Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Bo Jackson added to that tradition Wednesday. Murray threw for a Cotton Bowl record 292 yards while Jackson was stopped time and again in critical situations when the game was still in doubt. Those ingredients combined to serve up a 36-16 victory for Texas in a game that was far closer than the result showed. Over the eyars, such well-known ballcarriers as Earl Campbell and Eric Dickerson have struggled in the Cotton Bowl.

The game has played host to such famous throwers as Ken Stabler, Roger Staubach, Bobby Layne, Joe Theismann, Joe Montana, Dan Marino and last year's Heisman Trophy winner, Doug Flutie. No member of that famous passing group, however, threw for more Cotton Bowl yards than Murray did Wednesday. His long-range aerials rallied the Southwest Conference champions twice In the first half. Then, after Jackson was thwarted in his bid to give the Tigers the lead, Murray guided the Aggies to the game-clinching touchdown. "This has been the most fun I've ever had in my life," said Murray, who completed 16-of-26 passes.

"We set our goals so high at the start of the season, and we made them." Jackson, meanwhile, gained 129 yards in 31 carries and surprisingly was named the game's most valuable offensive player. But when Auburn had a chance to take the lead early in the fourth quarter, Jackson was stopped on three successive carries from the 2-yard line. Moments later, he was stopped again on 4th-and-2 from the 27. "The crowd noise got louder and louder, and we kept stopping him," said sophomore nose tackle Sammy O'Brient. "We expected Bo would run the ball, and we were ready for him." Until the final stop of Jackson, the game's momentum had swung back and forth, just the way it should in a good bowl matchup.

Auburn jumped on an early turnover, and Jackson scored on a 5- yard run. By the end of the first quarter the Aggies had moved in front, 127, on runs of 11 yards by Harry Johnson and 22 yards by Keith Woodside. The longest play of the day, a 73- yard screen pass from Pat Washington to Jackson, put Auburn back in the lead. But a field goal (the first of his career) by Scott Slater gave the Aggies a 15-13 halftime advantage. 23 KARAT GOLD FINISH PENN STATE NITTANY LION (Actual size 5" wide, 4" high) TO A GOLDEN SEASON" ISSUE LIMIT: 1985 PIECES Who would have thought.

The 1985 Lions. Undefeated. Ranked A Golden Season by any standards! To commemorate this most remarkable of Penn State teams, we proudly offer this 23 karat gold-fired limited edition porcelain decanter of Old Main flanked by the famous Nittany Lion. Permanently emblazoned to the rear of Old Main are the scores of the entire 1985 championship season. Regardless of demand, the issue limit has been absolutely set at 1985 pieces.

Each gold-fired porcelain is individually numbered with numbers assigned as orders are received. Order today to avoid disappointment! Mail to: Mount Hope Collector's Society P.O. Box 685, Cornwall, PA 17016 Please enter my reservation for 23 karat gold Nittany Lion decanters at My payment is I enclose my check or money order VISA MasterCard No Expires Name Address. City State Zip. nsMtnu add $5.

50 md dtHvtry. to tight lor dtllvtry. Porceltms MM tmply. Any Nitttny Uon dtcinttr nay bt returned within IS lor lull nlund or npltctmtnt. Cndlt ctrd cuttomtn mty.