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Wednesday. September 17, 1986 / University Daily Kansan
Despite loss to Michigan, Irish earn Top 20 ranking
The Associated Press
SOUTH BEND. Ind. — A grin flashed across the face of Lou Holtz, the head football coach at Notre Dame, yesterday when he learned his once-bleached Fighting Irish had earned a national ranking.
But just as quickly, he turned off his smile and said that most polls don't matter.
"Only the last one," he said. "I just want to be better than Michigan State."
Top 20 poll
Michigan State is both Notre Dame's next opponent and the team the Irish displaced for the No. 20 spot in the weekly Associated Press college poll
the weekly meeting of Notre Dame edged into the national rankings after a strong performance in a 24-23 loss to No. 3 Michigan. It was the first time the Irish appeared in the rankings since the second week of last year, when Gerry Faust was the coach.
Noore Dame team captain Mike Kovaleski, who had 17 tackles against Michigan, brushed off the poll too, despite his teammates' hunger for recognition after the trauma of Faust's final year stole most of the 1985 headlines
"For me, ratings after the first game and the preseason don't really mean anything because you've got 10 games to play." Kovaleski said. "It's not how you begin the season, it's how you end."
While Notre Dame was cracking the Top Twenty, Oklahoma, the defending national champion, was retaining the No. 1 spot, despite being idle last Saturday. But the Sooners' margin over No. 2 Miami, Fla., shrunk.
The Sooners received 55 of a possible 59 first-place votes and,1,175 of a possible 1,180 points from a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters.
Miami, which raised its record to 3-0 with a 61-11 rout over Texas Tech Saturday, collected one first-place vote and 1,099 points. Last week's first-place votes also were split between No. 1 and No. 2 55-1, but the point differential was 1,175-1,050.
Michigan remained a distant third with 1,000 points, and was followed by the same three teams as a week ago — Alabama with 992 points, Penn State with 938 and Nebraska with 924.
Washington, a 40-7 winner over Ohio State, vaulted from 17th to seventh and knocked the Buckeyes out of the rankings. Penn State, Nebraska and Washington each received one first-place vote.
Louisiana State, which beat last week's No. 7 team,
Texas A&M, 35-17, climbed from 14th to eighth with 747
points and dropped the Aggies to 16th.
Baylor, a 38-7 winner over Louisiana Tech, soared from 12th to ninth with 69 points. Auburn, idle last Saturday, slipped from 10th to 10th with 615 points.
The second ten consisted of Brigham Young, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Florida State, Texas A&M, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA and Notre Dame.
Besides Ohio State and Michigan State, eighth-rated Tennessee dropped out of the Top Twenty after losing to Mississippi State 27-23.
In addition to Nore Dame, the newcomers to the rankings were Arizona and Arizona State.
The next step for Notre Dame comes Saturday when Spartans tailback Lorenzo White, who led the nation last season in rushing, challenges the Irish defense.
fast season in Pittsburgh.
"He's not only got great physical talent, he's durable." Holtz said of White. "He carries 40 or 45 times a game, and he's not fazed."
AMES, Iowa — Iowa State athletic director Max Urick said yesterday that there was no chance Cyclone linebacker Jeff Braswell would play in Saturday's home game against Indiana State.
The Associated Press
ISU linebacker won't play
Cyclone head coach Jim Criner said it was possible the National Collegiate Athletic Association would determine it would not be necessary for Braswell to sit out his second game in connection with alleged violations for his recruiting two years ago.
But Urick said the suspension was imposed by the school and does not wet involve the NCAA.
"I based Jeff's sanctions on information I knew. I told him at the time it would be two games. I thought that would be appropriate." he said.
Urick said Brasswell's violations involved the use of transportation, credit for meals and bank loans. The allegations were separate from an NCAA official letter-of-intent outlining 34 charges against the football program and 10 charges against the basketball program.
These are matters that Jeff had
admitted to as a result of our internal investigation. This has not been mentioned by the NCAA," he said.
Urick said it was possible that Iowa State could be forced to forfeit games if Braswell played in the game and later was declared ineligible by the NCAA.
He said the in-house investigation was still open, but he didn't expect any problems with other players."
Urick said Braswell had the option of appealing his eligibility to the school's eligibility committee, but a motion has not been filed.
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United Press International
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The transformation of the Kansas City Chiefs offensive line has been a bumpy one.
Since the Chiefs finished 22nd in the National Football League in total offense last year, they decided to revamp their line.
Three of the five starting offensive linemen are new and a fourth is waiting for his chance to start. The new faces, however, have not brought new results.
After the first two games, the Chiefs are 18th in the league in total offense.
Mackovic pointed to last week's game at Seattle.
"We have to get our run and pass game to compliment each other a little better." Kansas City head coach John Mackovic said recently. "Which means throwing the ball effectively on first down and running it more effectively on second and third down."
"There's something to be said for familiarity," he said. "Even though the defensive team of the Seahawks had not faced Mr Adickes, Rick Donnalley or Irv Eatman, their being together gave them an advantage in that at least they knew us.
"It's nothing that two or three years can't help." Mackovic said. "The offensive line sometimes requires a couple of seasons together to really know what they're doing. We don't have that time. We're not planning to take that kind of time."
The test for the offensive line gets tougher this week against the Houston Oiiers, who have the third best defense in the league. Houston, which has rebuilt itself through its offensive line, is the league's second best offense behind Seattle.