European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 3, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 24 athe stars and stripes Friday january 3, 1992irish rip gators with 3 Bettis ads sugar bowl Florida a Willie Mcclendon is downed by notre Dames Rod Smith and Jeff Burris 9. By de Shearer new Orleans a Jerome Bettis knew something was wrong with notre Dames running game in the first half. A we weren to in sync a Bettis said. A we knew what we could do. And everything fell into  it fell into place mostly in the final 4 48 when Bettis a 247-Pound Sophomore who was voted the games most valuable player scored three touchdowns in a Span of 2 44 As the 18th-ranked fighting Irish upset no. 3 Florida 39-28 in the sugar bowl wednesday night. The Irish gained 245 of their 279 Rushing Yards in the second half with Bettis three late scores covering 3, 49 and 39 Yards. He gained 150 Yards on 16 carries. The Irish 10-3 overcame a 13-0 deficit to snap Florida a eight game winning Streak. The gators 10-2 held a Longshot Hope of claiming the National championship but that dream was shattered before the Kickoff in the Louisiana super dome when no. 2 Washington crushed no. 4 Michigan 34-14 in the Rose bowl. Coach Lou Holtz was overjoyed with the Victory after hearing talk his team did no to deserve a bid to a Jan. 1 game after losing two of its last three games. A we Are proud of ourselves a he said. Quot we re proud because we beat one Fine team in  besides the Awakening of the running game another key to the Victory was an Irish defense that forced Florida to Settle for Field goals four times after gaining first Downs at the notre Dame 9, 13, 15 and 12. A we had our chances offensively Quot Florida coach Steve Spurrier said. A we had the Chance to score 50 Points but we did no to. We kicked a Bunch of Field goals and did no to score when we had the  Florida Sarden Czyzewski kicked a sugar record five Field goals covering 26, 24, 36, 37 and 24 Yards. The last two came in the final Quarter giving the gators a 22-17 Lead before Bettis broke Loose at the end. Rick Mirer threw scoring passes of 40 Yards to Lake Dawson in the second Quarter and 4 Yards to Irv Smith in the third. Notre Dames other score came on a 23-Yard Field goal by Junior Kevin Pendergast on his first College attempt. Pendergast was pressed into service when regular kicker Craig Hentrich reinsured the right knee he Hurt against Tennessee on nov. 9. Florida a other scoring came on Shane Matthews passes of 15 Yards to Willie Jackson in the first Quarter and 36 Yards to Harrison Houston following Bettis second score. A a it a entirely my fault a Matthews said after breaking sugar bowl records in All three categories when he completed 28 of 58 passes for 370 Yards. He was intercepted twice. Spurrier set the previous record of 27 completions and 352 Yards when Florida lost 20-18 to Missouri in 1966. Bob Parker of air Force set the previous attempts record of 46 in air forces 34-13 loss to Tennessee in 1971. A my Job is to get it into the end zone and 1 did no to Matthews said. A we had to Settle for Field goals and you can twin doing that. Its going to be Tough to live with this game a Bettis three touchdowns tied the record set by Oklahoma quarterback Jack Mildren in a 40-22 Victory Over Auburn in 1972, a game that had been the highest scoring in sugar bowl history until wednesday night. A on the first Long touchdown run i made a great Cut off of a Good Block by our Talde then there was just no one there a Bettis said. A on the second touchdown they were overplaying the Ball and i just Cut it Back against the  the Irish got a 2-Point conversion pass from Mirer to Reggie Brooks after the first Bettis score to make it 25-22. The gators then chose to Gamble on a fourth-and-10 at Midfield with Matthews throwing incomplete. Bettis then put it out of reach with his 49-Yard run on the first play a we knew we could control the Ball against them because we began to do it at the end of the first half a Bettis said. A we played More of a Power football game in the second  a i Felt coming into the game that we were getting better and More upbeat after every practice a Holtz said. A i just had a feeling that we would play very Well a he said. A i plan on getting into Pat of Briens bar tonight. In be been wanting to get there As soon As we got Here but i Haven to left the  blames himself for loss of notre Dame new Orleans apr Shane Matthews would not be consoled. A a it a entirely my fault a he said. Matthews completed 28 of 58 passes for 370 Yards and two touchdowns for Florida. But he also drove his team into touchdown territory five times and had to Settle for five Field goals by Arden Czyzewski. The result was a 39-28 Victory for 18th-ranked notre Dame Over third ranked Florida. A if you want someone to blame just look at me a Matthews said. A my Job is to get it into the end zone and i did no to. Its going to be Tough to live with this game. A this is probably the worst defeat in be had since i be been playing football. I still think that we re a better team than they Are but we did no to show it and they beat  Matthews broke a whole series of sugar bowl passing records. He threw for More Yards 370, and completed More passes 28, than his coach Steve Spurrier did while playing for Florida against Missouri in the 1966 sugar bowl. Spurrier set the records with 27 completions for 352 Yards. Matthews also broke the record for most passes attempted with 58, breaking the record of 46 set by Bob Parker of air Force against Tennessee in 1971. A i did t play Well. My Job is to get it into the end zone a Matthews said. A i Haven to talked to coach but he knows i did no to play Well too. We had to Settle for Field goals and you can twin doing  Ross takes chargers reins apr Bobby Ross who led Georgia the a a a Atlanta _ _ tech from College footballs cellar to an unbeaten season in 1990, is leaving to coach the san Diego chargers. Ross decided tuesday to take the chargers spot his second nil Job. He a was an assistant at Kansas City from 1978-81. Ross departure from tech had been speculated for Days but he said he did not make his mind up until he woke up tuesday morning. The previous night head stayed up until 3 . Discussing the matter with his family and before that spent parts of two Days meeting with chargers officials. A was late As 3 of clock this morning 1 had not made up my mind a Ross said. But Ross who compiled a 31-26-1 record in five seasons with the yellow jackets said he Felt now was the time if he was Ever to try his hand at leading a pro team. A a in a not getting any younger Quot said Ross 55. A it was with a tremendous amount of mixed emotions because Georgia tech has been special to me and College athletics have been special to me a Ross said. A a in a like to be remembered As a Guy who worked hard and was faithful and Loyal to Georgia tech. A person who gave my All for this school and this  chargers general manager Bobby Beathard said at a news conference in san Diego that he had developed a list of potential coaches but that Ross was file Bobby Ross. Leaving Georgia tech always his first Choice. A a it a not to say that some of the other names on the list weren to very Good candidates and Many of them certainly would be acceptable candidates a he said. A but you get kind of a gut feeling for someone once in a while and i have to say i have a Strong feeling for  Ross will take Over a team that went 4-12 in 1991, and has not made the playoffs since 1982. He declined to discuss terms of the four year contract which was effective thursday. But san Diego he said a has a Chance to be a competitive program. The Tough thing is to replace a Friend in Dan  Georgia tech athletic director Homer Rice said school officials will quickly form a search committee to pick a successor to Ross. He refused to comment on speculation that the top candidates Are Virginia tech coach Frank Beamer East Carolina coach Bill Lewis and techs defensive coordinator George o Leary. A i absolutely have not contacted anyone have hot listed one name. We will meet As soon As possible. Well Start from there. And that a the Complete Story a Rice said. Rice said he has no timetable for finding Ross successor. A we done to want to be pushed into an Early decision. But we would like to make a decision As soon As possible naturally because of recruiting. But we really done to have a timetable. It took Rice Only 24 hours to replace coach Bill Curry with Ross five years ago. Though Ross tech teams were a combined 5-17 his first two seasons the yellow jackets finished the 1990 season undefeated 11-0-1. They were named National champions in the coaches poll while Colorado was no. 1 in the a writers poll