European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 02, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 38 the stars and stripes sports Friday december 2,1994 a tier Bykirk Bohls december is upon us and it s with great anticipation that the nation is looking Forward to College basketball games to the Cowboy-49er photo finish to prizefighter buddy Ryan s return to Houston and to those scintillating bowl games like. Like Well. Arizona Utah in the Freedom bowl on dec. 27? hmm sorry returning a Christmas tie that Day. Oklahoma Brig Harn Young in the Copper bowl on dec. 29? love a Gary. Know it s your last game and All but Hiey got to get that Christmas tree Down sometime. a a i ,. R -. U new year s eve tussles Between Illinois and East Carolina in the Liberty bowl or Baylor and washing ton state in the Alamo bowl us doing my taxes Early ,. that always entertaining peach bowl Between North Carolina state and Jackie s Mississippi states maybe Sherrill s last game before he pulls the Rug out from under Jeff Fisher with the oilers. But wait i thought the peach bowl died three years ago. Did somebody riot Tell Atlanta can t wait to see the ratings for Wisconsin Duke m the Hall of Fame bowl at 10 a.m., the morning after that Little Nebraska Miami contest. Hope you dress Snappy Fred. a v naturally the nation will be Abuzz Over our South West conference entry in the Cotton bowl. Southern Cal Waits 58 years to play in Dallas and the trojans get 6-5 Texas tech for their time. Sorry so. And then there s Colorado and in the siesta urn fiesta bowl of Jan. 2. You know those Golde domers from that Little Indiana Burgh. Regis favorite team. Could t be because Abc is doing the fiesta and also does every fighting Irish Home game could it Tell me please that notre Dame did t get a tier commentary 1 bowl game with a tier 5-caliber, 6-4-1 record. Tell me please that the coach of the frightening Irish Lou Holtz did t actually say i believe we de serve to go based on our play the last four games he s got a Point. After All the slighting Irish did run that last second trick play to Edge Nasty dangerous 3 7 Navy by 58-21. And they did hold air Force to 30 Points. That s the same air Force that lost to 3-7-1 Northwestern. But the timing Irish did play us to a stalemate " ". ". 2a ,. Tell me also that the fiesta bowl did t pass Over 15th-ranked Arizona and 2ist-ranked us because those matchup with Western based Colorado god forbid would be too regional now let s see where can we find a full blown National Power East of the Mississippi that upset the middies where of where or forget any anti notre Dame Bias my final a vote last season went to the Irish because they beat Florida state where it counts on the Field. That s where notre Dame did t do it this season but some How gets rewarded anyway. Actually the country should look Forward to seeing Fred Goldsmith coach his Over achieving 8-3 duties in a Well deserved bowl game and then run like hell to a better Job. It should pay to see Kansas state quarterback Chad May throw leis around a defense in the Aloha bowl. A Rose bowl win for the Oregon ducks would be a terrific Story. And May the bowl gods finally Grant Tom Osborne a much overdue National championship. Even a Florida Florida state rematch would be enticing if Only for the fact that Bobby Bowden an otherwise Brilliant coach might not Chicken out and go for one this time unlike the Manly Osborne 1984 Orange bowl. But notre Dame in a major bowl game but not in the top .25? that s an even bigger travesty than West Virginia buying out the car quest bowl. The mountaineers sent postcard after postcard to associated press voters to lobby for a no. 1 rating. They might have wished they had saved their postage Money to pay for the 24,000 tickets the school guaranteed to be invited to Miami. V the Bottom line As usual is where s the playoff when you heed it come on school presi dents. One game. One game Between the. Nebraska Miami Winner and the Rose bowl Champion or sugar bowl survivor. The athlete students will hardly miss a lab the game will generate Beaucoup Bucks for Gen Der equity and College football like All the rest of sports finally will have a Resolution. Make that your new year s Resolution Mcaa. Without it we re left with a Colorado notre Dame Lump of Coal this Holiday season. Colorado deserves better than to be playing a 6-4-1 notre Dame. Lucky for the buffaloes they la have the motivation of Bill Mccartney s final game sure notre Dame and Texas tech Are the Only tier 1 bowl teams to have fewer than seven wins but at least the Cotton bowl had to take the red raiders. Sec bylaws and All. Were part of the terms that the Irish Start out with three Points on the scoreboard too As a show of Good Faith " v., Why Stop there let s give notre Dame its own bowl. The notre Dame invitational. Play it on their Home Field. Could we possibly get a network inter ested let Regis Philbin and Paul Hornung officiate. Of that s right. We already have a National Power playing its bowl game at Home. It s called the Orange. The bowls Are upon us. Don t you just love pm it makes you yearn for the Bluebonnet bowl. The Austin to Tom an Mrtin Sta Tafflin � Jide of inti i til Tuscaloosa Ala a the offensive line does t get noticed unless the quarterback is sacked or the running Back is tackled behind the line. After getting plenty of negative notice Early in the season mostly in the for of Boos Alabama s line is hearing the. Sweet sound of silence. Nobody wants to be criticized All the time said Jim Fuller offensive line coach for the third ranked Crimson tide. But some of it was warranted. We weren t playing As Well As we wanted but it was t All justified he was Quick to add. When the quarterback gets trapped it s got to be the fault of the Center or Gard or tackle is the Way most people View it Ful Ler said. But it could be the quarterback or the receiver or the tight end. It could be the running Back. There s a lot of people involved in now 11 games into the season and 11 victories later you Don t hear peo pie saying much about the Alabama line. Never was the quiet Seal of approval More apparent than the last game a 21-14 Victory Over Auburn when the line men cleared the Way for 415 Yards against a team that had t lost in two years. Really one of the Perks of being inoffensive lineman is you get to do your Job and be a part of everything and most people Don t really give a darn about you guard Jon Stevenson said. For instance everyone knows Jay bar Ker is the winning est quarterback in Alabama history posting a 34-1-1 record As the starter. But How Many people know the tide is 39-1-1 with Stevenson in the lineup that s of with Stevenson. V you kind of get to do your Job and people leave you alone he said. It snot really High pressure. The Only pres sure is sitting out there against a Guy who s going to be an All pro one Day and you be got to Block him one on one in the closing seconds where you re got to score to win. But i like that kind of Barker the tide s senior quarterback has been sacked 33 times an alarmingly High number for one of the nations top teams but he s also thrown for a career High 1,815 Yards and 13 touch downs.-. Two things have happened Over the course of the season to transform the line from a liability to an asset heading into saturday s Southeastern conference championship Between the tide 11-0 and no. 6 Florida 9-1-1. The first was expected but hardly noticed. With Only one returning starter from 1993, it took time for the linemen to adjust to each other to learn the nuances of the person next to them. Sometimes it May be thai someone is two or three inches off in a Block or maybe he s working with a Guy and expects him to be there and he s not Ful Ler said. Those things take time and sex the other change was obvious Steven son that one starter from last year had been shifted from guard to Center before the season but he never Felt comfortable with the move. So after the fourth game of the season Stevenson was moved Backoo guard and Sophomore John Causey moved in at Center. I be heard other coaches say you can train a Monkey to snap a football Fuller said. But if you put the Ball in someone s hands whose not used to it it can get awkward at Alabama Objay Barker Hopes to avoid sacks against Florida in Sec showdown
