The Week

SOUTH

Showing Southern hospitality, Mississippi took advantage of only one Notre Dame mistake when the two teams met for the first time in Jackson. The Irish, who went into the game a 14-point favorite, should be grateful. Had the Rebs utilized Yankee opportunism, they would have come away with a rout rather than the 20-13 upset victory that made Rebel yells reverberate from Tupelo to Biloxi. Ole Miss, however, got only one field goal from Notre Dame's five turnovers, one blocked punt and penalties for an ineligible receiver, intentional grounding and too many men on the field.

Mississippi earned both its touchdowns on dazzling drives, while Notre Dame, which was able to convert on only one of 13 third downs, scored all its points as the result of Ole Miss errors—the Rebels matched the Irish in lost fumbles (3) and interceptions (2). With an attack that unleashed such razzle-dazzle as a tailback reverse pitchout, the Rebels struck for their first TD two minutes after Notre Dame had taken a 7-3 lead. Left-handed Quarterback Bobby Garner ignited the 74-yard march with a pass to Roy Coleman good for 52 yards and finished it with a nine-yard scoring toss to Fullback James Storey.

But Garner gave way to the 86° heat and 65% humidity late in the fourth quarter after Dave Reeve's 28-yard field goal had given the Irish a 13-10 lead with 4:53 left to play. Coach Ken Cooper called on Tim Ellis, a senior third-stringer. In an 80-yard drive that ended with another touchdown throw to Storey, Ellis completed three of four passes for 68 yards; the most notable reception was by Tight End L. Q. Smith, who caught the ball coming across the middle and squirmed, twisted, wriggled and wormed his way to the Notre Dame 23 for a 48-yard gain. "That last drive went like it was drawn on the blackboard," said Ellis. Said Cooper, "I went into the game thinking we were going to win it. I guess our players believed it, too."

Ole Miss salvaged what was otherwise a dismal week for teams in the Southeast Conference, whose defending champion, Georgia, was upset by Clemson 7-6. To his credit, Bulldog Coach Vince Dooley sacrificed what probably would have been a tie by passing unsuccessfully for a two-point conversion with six seconds left in the game. It was a long-odds gamble after a delay-of-game penalty had put the ball back to the eight-yard line, but Dooley said, "I thought that since we had an opportunity to win, we would go ahead and try. I didn't think we deserved to win in the first place, so I thought I'd stretch our luck to see if we could do it." Les Brown scored the Clemson touchdown on a three-yard run after Jeff Soowal recovered a fumble on the Georgia 48-yard line.

Maryland was also upset, falling to West Virginia 24-16. The Mountaineers' big-play offense included a pair of 54-yard touchdown runs by Dave Riley and Cedric Thomas, which, combined with Maryland errors, gave West Virginia a 24-0 halftime lead. The Terps threatened in the second half but were stopped at the five- and 13-yard lines. "We had the opportunity but we didn't come up with the big plays once we got in close," said Maryland Coach Jerry Claiborne.

Tennessee's 24-18 victory over Boston College at Knoxville gave Johnny Majors his first win as the Vols' head coach and the game ball, which was one occasion when the thing wasn't dropped. The error-plagued contest produced a dozen turnovers and a Gertrude Steinish remark from Majors, who said, "A win is a win is a win. You should never get too proud to enjoy one."

Virginia Tech held Texas A&M's 270-pound fullback, George Woodard, to 82 yards on 22 carries and twice stopped the Aggies inside the one-yard line. But Tech had no answers for Quarterback David Walker's deft passing and option pitches and the Aggies won 27-6. A&M gained 449 yards as Walker completed eight of 11 passes, including seven straight, for 97 yards. Tech found some solace in Roscoe Coles, who rushed for 117 yards, and thus became the first player to top 100 yards against A&M since 1974.

Georgia Tech beat Miami (Fla.) 10-6; South Carolina walloped Miami (Ohio) 42-19; Stanford topped Tulane 21-17; and Vanderbilt booted Wake Forest 3-0.

1. MISSISSIPPI STATE (2-0)
2. ALABAMA (1-1)
3. SOUTH CAROLINA (3-0)