2B
Tuesday, December 6, 1994
SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, DECEMBER 5 All Times CST
6 p.m.
PRIME — NCAA Basketball, Dayton at Miami,
Ohio
8 p.m.
ABC — NFL Football, LA Raiders at San Diego ESPN — NCAA Basketball, St. John's at Pittsburgh
10:30 d.m.
10:50 p.m.
ESPN2 — PRCA Rodeo, national finals, 4th round, at Las Vegas (same-day tape)
Sports facts
Pro football Heisman Trophy winners playing in the NFL:
Team won
Gino Torretta, Miami Lions '92
Desmond Howard, Mich. Redskins '91
Ty Detmes, BYU Packers '90
Barry Sanders, Okla. St. Lions '88
Tim Brown, Notre Dame Raiders '87
Vinnie Testaverde, Miami Browns '88
Herschel Walker, Ga. Eagles '82
Marcus Allen, S. Calif. Chiefs '81
Paul Trap / Knight-Ridder Tribune
Oddities abound in Chiefs' defeat
Injury to Elway leaves back-up to direct team
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When things are going good, a player like backup quarterback Hugh Millen can scramble for a 21-yard gain that sets up a winning kick in overtime for Denver.
When things are going bad, Kansas City running back Marcus Allen fumbles away the Chiefs' chance for a winning field goal.
Allen rarely fumbles and Millen rarely runs, but those were just two of the oddities that added up to a 20-17 Denver win in overtime Sunday that kept the rejuvenated Broncos soaring and made the Chiefs look like an also-ran.
It left both teams 7-6 and gave San Diego the opportunity to clinch the AFC West tonight.
Neither team's future Hall of Fame quarterback was around at the end—the Chiefs' Joe Montana began the game in street clothes with an injured foot and the Broncos' John Elwai suffered what coach Wade Phillips said could be a serious knee injury in the second half.
Denver faced third-and-17 as time was getting short in overtime. Millen dropped back to pass, saw an opening on the right and took off for 21 yards to the Chiefs 44-yard line. A Chiefs cornerback didn't see Millen coming and followed a receiver who cut back across the middle, clearing the way for the big gain.
A 16-yard run by Leonard Russell set up Jason Elam for the winning 34-yard field goal with 2:48 left in the overtime.
"You're always nervous, Elam said.
"You're nervous when it's the first quarter and you're trying a 24-yarder. You just try to focus on the mechanics of the kick."
The Chiefs were close to winning the game early in overtime when Millen, bumped by defensive lineman Darren Mickel as Millen prepared to throw, fumbled.
But the Chiefs, in field goal territory at the 20, gave it back when Karl Mecklenburg hit Allen in the backfield and forced a fumble recovered by Dennis Smith.
Kansas City had a chance to win in regulation, but Lin Elliott couldn't get his 37-yard field goal try over the hand of Shane Dronett as time ran out.
Kansas City got 323 yards passing from Montana's backup, Steve Bono, and had 401 yards of total offense. Bono completed a pass of 61 yards and threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Willie Davis — the two longest passing plays of the year for the Chiefs.
But Elway hit 18 of 22 passes for 256 yards before he got hurt, and the Chiefs, who had scored only five touchdowns on 16 trips inside the 20 in their last six games, lost for the third time in four games.
Kansas City now has failed to take advantage of losses by San Diego and Cleveland in successive weeks. Their playoff hopes are getting more faint, with a trip to Miami scheduled for Monday night.
Montana paced the sidelines easily enough, but his status for next week isn't known.
Elway, who may have ligament or cartilage damage, was to have further testing on his knee yesterday morning as Denver keeps breathing after a 1-5 start.
Tar Heels jump to No.1 in poll with 4-0 record
The Associated Press
North Carolina became the third team to hold the No.1 position in The Associated Press college basketball poll this season when the Tar Heels moved up one spot yesterday to the top of the rankings.
The No. 1 position is far from new to the Tar Heels (4-0) as they held it for five weeks last season, including the final poll heading into the NCAA tournament. During the past 20 years, no school has been No. 1 more than North Carolina, with 53 weeks at the top. Duke was second during that period with 46 weeks.
North Carolina's move into the No. 1 spot yesterday came about when Massachusetts lost the first game it played as a top-ranked team, 81-75, to then No. 7 Kansas in the Wooden Classic.
North Carolina, meanwhile, won the Tournament of Champions in Charlotte, N.C., with victories against South Carolina and then No. 10 Cincinnati.
Six schools were voted into the No. 1 position last season.
In the most recent poll, the Tar Heels received 54 first-place votes and 1,633 points from the 66-member national media panel, well ahead of UCLA, which had five first-place votes and 1,501 points. The Bruins (2-0) improved three spots with an 82-81 victory against then No. 3 Kentucky in the other game at the Wooden Classic.
Arkansas (3-1), which was No. 1 in the preseason poll until it lost to Massachusetts in the season-opener, was No. 1 on three ballots and moved up from fourth to third.
Kansas (2-0) received the same number of No. 1 votes and jumped from seventh to fourth place.
Massachusetts (1-1) dropped to fifth, while Florida (3-0), which received the other first-place vote, jumped from eighth to sixth.
Eight ranked teams lost nine games last week and, except for Ohio University's loss to Iowa and Arizona State's loss at New Mexico, all were to other members of the Top 25.
Big Eight coaches remark on season
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — People who have good opinions of themselves are the easiest to motivate, says the coach of one of the Big Eight's two 3-0 teams.
"Getting discipline is not nearly as difficult as maintaining it," said Kelvin Sampson, Oklahoma's first-year coach. "I got their attention early. Now ... that where good kids come in, establishing integrity and being people of character. The easiest people to motivate are the people with high self-esteem."
"He will probably be out 4-6 weeks," said Colorado coach Joe Harrington. "It's a big loss for us at this time."
Also beaten after three games going into Monday night's action was Colorado. But a 96-77 victory over Hofstra in the championship game of the Mile High Classic left forward Fred Edmonds with a strained knee.
Edmonds, a two-year starter, had been averaging 10 points per game.
Kansas State, under new head coach Tom Asbury, was 2-1 going into its home game last night against Illinois. The Wildcats, like Oklahoma, have been using plenty of players.
"We're going to play a lot of guys," said Asbury. "Starting, to our guys, is not as important as finishing. I tell our guys it doesn't matter who starts, it's who finishes. We're going to play 9-10 guys with this team. Who's playing well will stay in the lineup."
Another old master at juggling players is also up to his old tricks at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys (4-2) are making liberal use of their bench.
"Unless you have an entire team back, you're always going to try different combinations," said Eddie Sutton. "Our starting lineups are going to change from game to game during the month of December."