Cherry Bowl
1984
Army 10
Michigan St. 6
By Harry Atkins
AP Sports Writer
Pontiac,
Mich. - Quarterback Nate Sassaman, playing with more emotion than
muscle, proved that Army has made a full return to the ranks of big time
college football powers as he led the Cadets to a convincing 10-6
victory over Michigan State in the Cherry Bowl game Saturday (video).
Sassaman rushed for 136 yards, halfback Clarence Jones scored a 4-yard touchdown (video) and Craig Stopa kicked a 38-yard field goal as the methodical Cadets ground down the Spartans.
"This team has come as far as any team I've ever coached," Army Coach Jim Young said. "We had great senior leadership and came about as close to our potential as any team could.
"This makes our season. We had a big win over Navy, but if we didn't win today, we'd be a little sad. We're capable of playing big time college football," Young said.
Army, making the first bowl appearance in its long and fabled football history, improved its record to 8-3-1 while the Spartans, making their first bowl appearance since 1966, closed out their season at 6-6.
Sassaman, directing Army's carried the ball 28 times in topping the 100-yard mark for the seventh time this season. The 5-foot-11, 177-pound senior from Portland, Ore., was named the most valuable offensive player of the game.
"I was looking for a good game to end my career on," said Sassaman, who played the entire game despite pulling a hamstring in the third quarter and cracked ribs that required a flack jacket the entire contest.
"I was really sucking it down for a while, but I have the rest of my life to heal," Sassaman continued. "Doc says six weeks for the ribs to heal I don't know if I could take shots (tackles) for one more year. "
The patient, time-consuming Army offense allowed the Cadets to control the ball for 34:05 while allowing the Spartans only 25:55 on offense.
Army's defense came up with four sacks of Michigan State quarterback Dave Yarema. The Cadets also intercepted three passes- two by Doug Pavek- and recovered a fumble by the error-prone Spartans.
Both of Army's scores came after Michigan State turnovers.
"I thought we played the wishbone well at times," Michigan State Coach George Perles said. "In fact, I thought we played it pretty decent all game. The turnovers were the difference We told the team there was no reason to be down. We didn't want to spoil their Christmas."
Jones' TD came with 6:41 remaining in the first half and capped a 46-yard, 8-play drive. Stopa's field goal with 8:40 remaining in the game gave the Cadets a 10-0 lead.
However, the Spartans suddenly caught fire and zipped 51 yards in three plays with Yarema tossing a 36-yard TD bomb to Bob Wasczenski over two defenders in the left corner of the endzone with 4:19 remaining (video).
Yarema's attempted pass to tailback Keith Gates for the 2-point conversion was batted down at the goal line and the Spartans never threatened again.
"Maybe we emphasized defense too much for the game and not enough offense," Perles said. "We stopped their wishbone, but didn't move the ball well enough."
A crowd of 70,332 saw the game in the Silverdome.
Sassaman attempted only two passes the entire game and one of those was intercepted by Michigan State free safety Phil Parker- the game's outstanding defensive player- who returned it 18 yards to the Army 43 yard line with 7:12 remaining in the first quarter
The Spartans could move only 9 yards, however, and Ralf Mojsiejenko's attempted 52-yard field goal sailed wide to the left.
Early in the second quarter, Yarema's fumble was recovered by Army's Jim Gentile, setting the Cadets up at the Spartans' 46 and Sassaman wasted little time in marching his team in for the score. Sassaman carried twice on the drive for 11 and 2 yards respectively.
"We have the ability to play with emotion, and to play all out," Young said. "Size isn't always the main thing."
Early in the third quarter, Pavek picked off a Yarema pass, setting Army up at its own 36. Sassaman drove the Cadets to the Spartans' 15 before it stalled out and Stopa's 32-yard field goal attempt went wide right with 6:13 remaining in the period.
Army's Kermit McKelvey returns an interception
Lorenzo White carries in Cherry Bowl
Lansing Newspaper
Attendance- 70,336
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
Army- Jones 4 run (Stopa kick)
Fourth Quarter
Army- FG Stopa 38
MSU- Wasczenski 36 pass from Yarema (pass failed)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Army- Sassaman 28-136, Black 22-57, Jones 10-41, Hollingsworth 10-28
MSU- White 23-103
Passing
Army- Sassaman 2-1-10
MSU- Yarema 25-11-155
Receiving
Army- Hollingsworth 1-10
MSU- Rolle 5-65, Wasczenski 2-54, Ingram 1-20
