1974

Who's number one? College bowls leave it unanswered

January 2, 1974

Who’s No. 1? To Ara Parseghian, there's no question about it- but Woody Hayes and Joe Paterno have other opinions

"I will be disappointed if we are not No 1," said Parseghian, whose Fighting Irish of Notre Dame won a 24-23 thriller from top-ranked Alabama in the Sugar Bowl New Year's Eve.

"I think we deserve it. This is the greatest victory I've ever had, and the greatest for the school," said Hayes, who has been coaching Ohio State for 23 years, after the Buckeyes whipped Southern California 42-21 in the Rose Bowl Tuesday.

"1 don't know who's No. 1," said Penn State Coach Paterno, whose Nittany Lions finished a 12-0 by beating Louisiana State 16-9 in the Orange Bowl Tuesday night. "This is the best team I've ever coached, and someone will have to beat us head-on to prove they're better."

In Tuesday's Cotton Bowl, Nebraska broke loose from a 3-3 halftime tie to upset eighth ranked Texas 19-3.

"I definitely feel we're the national champion," said Parseghian, whose Fighting Irish were ranked No. 3 after a 10-0 regular season. "We beat the leading scoring team in the nation and the team that was leading in offensive yardage. We beat a great football team and they lost to a great football team."

The Associated Press' final poll will be released Thursday. In the last regular-season poll, the top six were Alabama, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. Oklahoma was ineligible for post-season competition, while Michigan, which tied Ohio State for the Big Ten championship, was passed over for a Rose Bowl bid in favor of the Buckeyes in a controversial vote of athletic directors.

The winning margin for Notre Dame was a combination of a missed extra point by Alabama's Brad Davis with 9:23 to play and a successful 19-yard field goal by Notre Dame's Bob Thomas with 4:26 to go. The lead changed hands six times in the thriller. The outcome was in doubt until the closing seconds, when Notre Dame, backed to its own goal by a 69-yard punt by Alabama's Greg Gantt came up with a daring 35 yard pass from Tom Clements to Robin Weber for a first down and was able to run out the clock.

"I would have bet my life we were going to win after we had them back against the goal line," said Alabama Coach Bear Bryant. "I don't feel like we lost, rather that time ran out on us. We played as well as we could, but Notre Dame came up with the big plays when they needed them."

Ohio State got three touchdowns from freshman fullback Pete Johnson and 149 yards rushing-mincluding a 47-yard touchdown- by Archie Griffin, but it was the surprising passing of quarterback Cornelius Greene that proved decisive. The Ohio State performance brought an accolade from losing coach John McKay. "They are better than Oklahoma and Notre Dame," said McKay, whose Trojans tied Oklahoma and lost to Notre Dame in the regular season.

Two long plays in the second quarter provided unbeaten Penn State with its 12th victory of the year. Flanker Chuck Herd made a spectacular one-handed grab of a pass from Tom Shuman and raced into the end zone on a 72- yard scoring play, then Gary Hayman returned a punt 36 yards to the Louisiana State 26 to set up the Nittany Lions' other touchdown, a one yard plunge by John Cappelletti. Cappelletti, the Heisman Trophy winner, was limited to 50 yards on 26 carries by LSU.

A quarterback who expected to spend the day on the bench proved to be the hero for Nebraska. Steve Runty took over for Dave Humm at halftime and injected some spark into the Nebraska attack, leading the Cornhuskers to a pair of third-period touchdowns. Runty guided Nebraska on a 59-yard drive, wingback Ritch Bahe scoring from the 12 on an inside reverse to make it 10-3. The Cornhuskers broke it open moments later when John Bell recovered a Texas fumble at the 19 and Tony Davis scored on a three-yard run.

In other weekend bowl action, Georgia edged Maryland 17-16 in the Peach Bowl Friday night. On Saturday, Houston trounced Tulane 47-7 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, Texas Tech tripped Tennessee 28-19 in the Gator Bowl and Missouri defeated Auburn 34-17 in the Sun Bowl. Also on Saturday, the East defeated the West 25-7 in the Shrine Bowl.

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