6B
Thursday, October 17, 1996
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sun Devils favored to beat Southern Cal
The Associated Press
Before the season, Saturday's Southern California-Arizona State game was supposed to be a big one for the Trojans. Now it's the other way around.
With two losses, USC (4-2) is out of the national-title picture and barely on the Rose Bowl screen. The Sun Devils are undefeated, ranked fourth and in position to play in a Rose Bowl with championship implications.
"We have all the makings of a special team here," Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder said. "We won't really know, though, until November and December. But at this point, the team has all the earmarks of being special."
The Sun Devils, led by all-purpose quarterback Jake Plummer, rallied from a 28-7 deficit to beat UCLA 42-34 last week, and USC held off Arizona 14-7. Arizona State, which was beaten 31-0 last season by USC, is playing its sixth home game.
"This is really going to be a tough
one," said Plummer, who threw, ran and caught a touchdown pass in the final eight minutes against the Bruins. "USC has a lot of talent. They've had some trouble with some players, but they are supposed to be at full strength.
"They want to get back to the Rose Bowl, and with two losses in the conference, it'll be tough to make it."
Plummer could make it tough on the Trojans, who countered with Brad Otton (106-of-187 for 1,443 yards and eight touchdowns) and running backs LaVale Woods, Rodney Sermons, Delon Washington and Shawn Walters.
Plummer, emerging as a Heisman Trophy contender, is 101-of-176 for 1,451 yards, 16 touchdowns and three interceptions. At 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, Plummer does whatever is necessary. He drops back, throws on the run, forgets the pass and just runs. He catches passes, too.
"He could return kickoffs and punts, the way he gets out of traffic," said teammate J.R. Redmond, who threw the touchdown pass to Pulm-
mer last week.
Said USC coach John Robinson: "We're going to have to play our very best game to have a chance to win."
Indeed. ... Southern California (plus 7) at No. 4 Arizona State. ... ARIZONA STATE 31-21.
No.16 Auburn (plus 22) at No.
14 Florida
Expect another shootout with Gators owning bigger guns. ... FLORIDA 45-17.
No. 2 Ohio State (minus 25 1/2) at Purdue
Buckeyes' 45.2-point average too much for Boilermakers to beat ... OHIO STATE 45.13
No. 5 Nebraska (minus 22) at
Leading rusher (Byron Hansspard)
- Heads up third.
ranked run defense
(61.6 yards) ...
NEBRASKA 45-10
Mississippi (plus 13) at No.7
Alabama Ole Miss has one
win in 16 visits to Tuscaloosa.
ALABAMA 28-10.
Air Force (plus 21) at No.8 Notre Dame
Rishist stop Beau Morgan and Falcons' 354.2-yard rushing game. ... NOTREDAME41-17.
No. 9 Colorado (minus 71/2) at
Jayhawks have June Henley; Buffaloes have Koy Detmer. ... COLO-RADO45-31
Iowa (plus 10)
at No.10 Penn
State ns' Joe
Patemto (69) and Hawkeyes' Hayden Fry (67) are two oldest active Division I-A coaches. . PENN STATE 35-17.
East Carolina (plus 17) at No.
12 Miami
Hurricanes tend to have problems with Pirates, but not this time ... MIAMI41-13.
Indiana (plus 23) at No.13
Wolverines in nasty mood after
week off to recover from Northwestern
ern loss ... MICIGHAN 38-7.
No.14 Northwestern (plus 4) at Wisconsin
Third game against ranked team is a charm for Badgers. ... WISCONSIN 27-24.
No. 15 West Virginia (minus 21) at Temple
WVU allows 6.8 points a game,
Temple 33.2 points ... WEST VIRGINIA 34-7.
Kentucky (plus 251/2) at No. 17
LSU
Tigers find perfect team to help them bounce back ... LSU 48-14.
No. 18 Brigham Young (minus
19 at Tokyo)
Hurricane could spell trouble for Cougars and Steve Sarkisian. ...
BRIGHAM YOUNG 24-10.
No. 19 California (plus 3 1/2) at Washington State
Point spread says Cal's record is suspect. ... WASHINGTON STATE 31-21.
181/2) at No. 20 Virginia Last three meetings decided by five
North Carolina State (plus
points or less ... VIRGINIA 31-10.
No.21 Kansas State (even) at
Texas A&M
Kavanagh may get to pass
Brian Kavanagh
more than usual
against Aggies'
suspect defense.
TEXAS A&M
24-21.
No.22 Georgia Tech (minus 6)
at Clemson
Wyoming
Fresno State (plus 14) at No.23
Not a good year for the Tigers. ...
GEORGIA TECH 28-17. ...
Quarterback Josh Wallwork (2,507 yards) leads Cowboys offense (532.6 yards per game). ... WYOMING 44-21.
Texas Christian (plus 16) at No. 244 U.S.
No.24 Utah
First meeting between teams. UTAH 35-20.
UCLA (plus 6 1/2) at No.25 Washington
Tigers plagued by injuries
Huskies find enough defense to rebound from loss to Irish. ... WASHINGTON 35-31.
The Associated Press
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Injury-laden Missouri really could use a break. But at 2-4, this is no time to take a breather.
"It's a double-edged sword," coach Larry Smith said of this weekend's bye. "We've got some guys that are beat up, and we need to get them healthy.
are now 0-3 in the Big 12.
"But we also have some things that we need to work on. We need to get a lot better."
The injuries proved to be an Achilles' heel on Saturday against Kansas State, when the Wildcats took advantage of Missouri's vulnerable defense in a 35-10 victory. The Tigers
The week off may be enough recovery time for defensive leaders DeMontie Cross, who has tendinitis in his knees, and Joe Love, who has a sprained ankle, as well as linebacker Darryl Chatman, who was sidelined the last two games with a sprained knee.
The time off may also help Corby Jones, who suffered a hip pointer against Southern Methodist two weeks ago and was replaced in the starting lineup on Saturday for the first time this season by Kent Skormia.
"I should be all right by the end of next week," said Jones, who was 0-for-1 and lost a total of five yards on seven carries.
The physical woes did not end with those who began the game injured.
The Tigers lost speedy wide receiver Ricky Ross for the season with a broken left ankle. Inside linebacker Barry Odom suffered a concussion and is questionable for the Oklahoma State game on Oct. 26. And tight end Bill Linderfeet twisted his ankle.
One position where the Tigers are solid and healthy — and showing signs of continued improvement — is at tailback.
Brock Olivo, last year's leading rusher with 995 yards, lost his starting spot to Devin West early this year after a weak start. However, Olivo has rebounded with a flourish in the last two games.
In the Tigers' 27-26 victory against Southern Methodist, Olivo rushed for 80 yards on 17 carries. He caught a 10-yard touchdown pass and ran for a 9-yard score in the third quarter.
Against Kansas State, Olive started and gained 103 yards on 21 carries and caught three passes for 30 yards. He moved into sixth place on Missouri's all-time rushing leaders list with 1,938 yards.
West, who gained 44 yards on six carries, said he had no hard feelings about the staring spot.
"I think it will go the same way with Brock," West said. "It really doesn't matter who starts the game, just as long as we both get playing time."
Auburn coach faces Florida rival
The Associated Press
AUBURN, Ala. — Other than his father, Auburn coach Terry Bowden can think of no other coach he would rather play — and beat — than Florida's Steve Spurrier.
"It would mean a lot to beat my dad," Bowden said. "I consider him the very best. Next to that, yeah, I'd say it's probably Spurrier."
No. 16 Auburn (5-1, 3-1 SEC) travels to The Swamp on Saturday to face top-ranked Florida (6-0, 4-0). Bowden will be looking for his third win against the Gators in his four years at Auburn.
The Tigers are the only SEC team to beat Florida during the last 3 1/2 seasons. Those wins helped Bowden to a perfect season in 1993, his first year at Auburn, and have helped solidify his spot as one of college football's top young coaches. He has a 33-6-1 record with the Tigers.
"That's kind of a mark to shoot for from a coaching standpoint." Bowen said of the wins against Spurrier, who is 67-13-1 in his sixth year at Florida. "It's to go out and beat him because he's gotten to the point where he can beat everybody."
Ever since Bowden's arrival at
Auburn, he's made no secret of his desire to fashion his offenses after the fast-paced, multiple-formation units employed by Bobby Bowden at Florida State and Spurrier at Florida.
It's part of the reason Bowden has been successful in his head-to-head matchups with Spurrier. In the 16-33 and 38-35 wins — and in a 49-38 loss last year — he wasn't shy about trying to match Florida point for point. It was much different from what many coaches try against the Gators, which is to play ball control, work on field position and hope to be close at the end.
The wide-open philosophy can make for entertaining football. Bowden gets praised for it in games like last week's, when quarterback Dameyne Craig threw for a school record 394 yards in a 49-15 win over Mississippi State.
But it can work against him, too. When the Tigers fell 19-15 to LSU earlier this season, Bowden was criticized for having a wide-open offense that couldn't score points.
He said sticking four wideouts on the field wasn't a guarantee a team will be successful — at least not for Auburn.
Ohio State coach questions players' dedication, talent
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State is ranked second in the nation, 5-0 and unbeaten in the Big Ten. So why is coach John Cooper so unhappy?
Despite escaping with a 17-14 victory against Wisconsin on Saturday, Cooper said his Buckeyes had made too many mistakes and had been fortunate to win.
Ohio State will play Purdue on Saturday, the first of four road games in five weeks.
"I don't worry about Purdue, I don't worry about Iowa, I don't worry about the other teams," Cooper said on Tuesday. "I worry about our team. Hopefully, we learned a lesson last week, that whether it's Wisconsin or whether it's Purdue or somebody else we play down the road, you'd better be ready to play."
Cooper said he was upset with several aspects of his team:
He blasted his kickers. Josh Jackson had a field-goal attempt blocked, and Mike Malfatt's kickoff after the last Ohio State touchdown floated to the Wisconsin 19-yard line and was returned 17 yards. Kickoffs have been a problem in recent years,
seldom getting inside the 15-yard line.
Ohio State has not kicked a field goal longer than 39 yards in three years. The Buckeyes haven't attempted one that far in their last 18 games.
"I'm not disappointed a little bit, I'm disappointed a lot," Cooper said of the kicking game. "Those guys on scholarship, all they do is kick. And they're expected to perform. They've got a job to do, and they're consistently not doing it."
He criticized flanker Buster Tillman. Tillman dropped one pass and fumbled another that Wisconsin free safety Kevin Huntley scooped up and returned 36 yards for the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
"Dimitrious Stanley has been Big Ten player of the week the last two ball games. But the other side is not holding up their end of the deal right now," said Cooper, who questioned Tillman's practice habits after Saturday's game.
Cooper said that he would evaluate the position based on this week's practices and that he hoped to give more playing time to freshmen David Boston and Michael Wiley.
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