Savannah News-Press
Howard Hauls in Heisman
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tfEw* YORK - Little Desmond Howard
became the second-biggest winner in Heisman Trophy history on Saturday.
The S-fbot-9, ITfr-pound Michigan receiver, who Stole the spotlight with his acrobatic
touchdown catches and game-breaking kick
returns, won college football's most prestigious award in a landslide vote.
fywaid, thea nation's second-leading
scortr with 23 TDs, beat runner-up Casey
Weldop of Florida State by 1,574 points.
Southern .Gal's O.J. Simpson won the 1968
Heferaan by 1,750 points, the largest margin
since tifc award was created in 1935
While his point margin was smaller than
Simpson's, Howard received a higher percentage of the ftrsiplace notes. Howard got
«5 Dircem of the
" first-place votes to Simp-
tOPS: Desmond Howard receives
confirmation of winning awa|ft?;
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Michigan Star Wins in Landslide
"I want to dedicate this trophy to the
1991 University of Michigan football team/'
Howard said. "Hail to the Victors and Go
Blue."
Howard's mother, Hattie Dawkins, broke
into tears when she heard the announcement on television at home in Cleveland.
"My mom's reaction summed it all up,"
Howard said. "It's great to be recognized as
the most outstanding football player in the
country."
Howard is the fourth consecutive junior
and second Michigan player to win the Heisman. Wolverines running back Tom Harmon won the award in 1940.
Howard, who struck a Heisman Trophy
pose in the end zone following his 93-yard
punt return against Ohio State last month,
received 640 first-place votes and 2,077
points in balloting by media members and
former Heisman winners.
Weldon got 19 first-place votes and 503
points.
Last year's Heisman winner, quarterback Ty Detmer of Brigham Young, finished third with 19 first-place votes and 445
points.
Washington tackle Steve Emtman was
fourth with 29 first-place votes and 357
points, the best finish by a defensive player
since Oklahoma's Brian Bosworth was
fourth in 1986.
Florida quarterback Shane Matthews
was fifth.
The top four finishers were at the Downtown Athletic Club for the announcement,
which was televised live by NBC,
Howard was the first winner to attendk
the ceremony since Notre Dame's Tim*;
Brown in 1987. The three previous
- Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders,
ton's Andre Ware and Detmer - couldn't:,
come to New York because they played thatt"
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day.
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Howard carried all six voting regions.^1
Weldon was second in the Northeast and-':s
Mid-Atlantic and third in the Midwest, whi^
Emtman was runner-up in the Far
Detmer was second in the Southwest
Matthews was second in the South.
?
Players receive three points for a
place vote, two for second and one for third. ȣ
Indiana running back Vaughn Dunbarp
was sixth overall, followed by East Caroliria;'r
quarterback Jeff Blake, Florida State de-. ';
fensive back Terrell Buckley, San Diego^State running back Marshall Faulk and Tex-^as A&M quarterback Bucky Richardson. «I -:
V
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High-flyi
Icons
Hungry for Playoffs
By TONY FABR1Z1O
Morris Naw« Service
ATLANTA - Despite the implications of
a possible divisional championship or wildcard playoff berth, Atlanta Falcons center
Jamie Dukes doesn't think the home crowd
will be overly enthusiastic for today's 1 p.m.
game against the Seattle Seahawks.
"The bandwagon hasn't gotten full yet,"
he said with a hint of sarcasm. "I don't
know why, but it's a damn shame.
"The biggest advantage the home team
has is a home-field advantage, and a lot of
times, WJB don't have the home-field advantage at home," he added.
Other Falcons express similar sentiments, but most agree the fans have a right
to be jaded after the team's seven last-place
finishes in'ithe last eight years. A sellout
crowd is expected.
"I'm surf they're still skeptical," said
receiver Andre Rison. "They'll come
Jackets
Dominate
Ga. State
around."
\
A fourggame winning streak has given
the Falcons their besrrecprd (9-5) since
1980. They're tied with the New Orleans
Saints atop the NFC West standings, but
they actually lead the jUvision because of an
advantage in the tie-Breaker system (a 5-1
division record compared to the Saints' 4-2
mark).
A victory over the^6-8 Seahawks coupled
with a New Orleans loss to the Los Angeles
Raiders Monday nigjit in the Superdome
would give the Falcons their second divisional title in their 26-year history .
Also, a wild-card berth can be clinched
with a win if Philadelphia loses to Dallas.
Atlanta is 0-4 against Seattle lifetime and
faces a fundamentally sound but floundering team this year. The Seahawks have lost
four of their last five games to drop all but
mathematically out of playoff contention .
By KAMON SIMPSON
Knight-Rttfrr N*wap*»r»
, Page SO
Local Station Pulls 'Heidi'
With Duke-Michigan Game
By JAMES PILCHER
Stiff Writer
Local CBS affiliate WTOC TV-11 created
its own version of the "Heidi Game" Saturday evening, cutting from a tight DukeMichigan game with two minutes left in
overtime and returning to regularly scheduled programming.
"It was an error certainly on our part/'
WTOC vice president of news Doug Weather* said. "We were past our committed
time, and I guess the personnel we had in
place tried to hang on as long as they could,
but a bad programming decision was made,
and we're certainly sorry for it."
The move brought back memories of the
infamous "Heidi Game.' In 1968, NBC
switched from the New York Jets-Oakland
Raiders football game to carry the movie
"Heidi." The Raiders scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes to win.
"We made a mistake and we're paying
for it," WTOC sports anchor Mitch Glicken
said from the station. "To say we have had
thousands of phone calls is an understatement. We've had more calls than we ever
have gotten for any other incident."
At approximately 6:14 p.m., the station
left the game, which featured NCAA defending national champion Duke and Michigan.
Duke won the game in overtime 88-65,
and Glicken went on the air soon after the
game was over to announce the score and
apologize for the decision.
"They called me as soon as the phones
• See HEIDI, Page 70
Mustered Out
CHICAGO - Gerald Nichols of the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers contains
Chicago Bears running back Brad
Muster in the first quarter Saturday
afternoon. However, Muster and the
Bears still ran ail over the BUGS, winning 27-0. For complete NFL coverage, See Page 80.
• See TECH, Page 70
Marshall, Youngstown
To Meet in I-AA Final
Southern Fighting
To Keep Title Game
DONALD HEATH
Sttff Writer
STATESBORO - Competition for
NCAA Division I-AA championship game has wilted. Only Georgia
Southern and Marshall University
njjmain.
; Both factions will make their formal presentations to the NCAA committee Friday. According to Dennis
Poppe, the NCAA director of championships, the winner will be annftmced after the upcoming NCAA
(^invention, held Jan. 6-9.
- This year's I-AA title game will
bt held at Paulson Stadium in
S$tesboro. But Georgia Southern's
three-year association with the
championship game will end this
year unless it has more to offer than
Marshall.
• "Obviously the game has been
v£ry successful in Statesboro,"
Pippe said. "We've had the two
largest crowds and we've also had
Ufe bowl-like championship atmosphere that Savannah has added."
^ Since Division I-AA, a branch of
Division I unique only to football,
formed in 1 Wtjhetitle game
been in seven different venuei*
AM b«l»» moving to Statattoro in
more
a
Friday night
Witt
S
cJaattcameBilttS
S.C.,
Illinois defeat West-
From Wire Reports
But Georgia Southern rewrote the
record book. Buoyed twice by GSU's
advance to the championship, the
game drew 25,725 in 1989 and another 23,204 in 1990.
Yet NCAA officials aren't sure
how many southeast Georgia football fans would attend if the Eagles
weren't playing. Neither is Southern's athletic director Bucky Wagner, the driving force behind bringing the championship game to
Statesboro.
"This is the year we find out
where we stand," Wagner said.
Southern's advantages are obvious - mild weather, a modem stadium that can accommodate the influx
of national media and the nearby
tourist setting of Savannah.
"We're trying to build the game
into an event/' Wagner said. "In the
past I think our fans thought of the
game as just another Georgia Southern home game. People hav* tp realize, other than tft* Masters, Ifcs is
the buuest snartinff amt in south-
to«eta*
curing
apiece and
ATLANTA - Having spent a week away
from games to concentrate on final exams,
and with tough games coming up next week
against Georgia and Kentucky, No. 13 Georgia Tech found the perfect opponent for a
tuneup Saturday.
The biggest challenge facing the Yellow
Jackets (6-1) was not
running up the score
against
crosstown
neighbor Georgia State.
Junior forward Malcolm Mackey scored
31 points - two shy of career best - and
frontline mates James Forrest and Matt
Geiger added 20 and 18 points respectively
in the 90-72 victory over the Panthers.
Georgia State (2-3) has lost its last three
and nine in a row against Tech.
"We needed something like this to get us
back in the groove," Forrest said. "Just
coming out of exams, we had a couple of Hat
days in practice. Coach (Bobby Creminsi
told us that since school was over, we should
just go out and concentrate on basketball."
Tech dominated on the baseline and shot
54 percent in building a 46-28 halftone lead.
In the first half, the towering trio of Mackey, Geiger and Forrest combined for 39
points and 17 rebounds, one more than the
Panthers combined.
The Jackets also continued to harass opponents into horrible shooting performances. Georgia State shot only 30 percent in
the second half and 32 percent for the game.
Before Saturday's game, Tech's six previous opponents had shot a collective 41.4
percent.
But even with an impressive defense, a
solid rebounding edge and plenty of scoring
from its forwards, Tech showed some signs
of weakness, most notably a minor contribution from its guards.
Starters Jon Barry and Travis Best
scored only four points in a 2-of-9 shooting
performance in the first half and finished
with nine points after shooting 4 for 15. Bar-
HANGiNQON: GSU hopes to have more title games in
Statesboro, like it dti against Stephen F. Austin in 1989
$180,000. U will offer the NCAA less
this time around unless there is an
agreement to move the game between Christina* aad New Year's
Day - a better suited time for fans.
The NCAA woo't do. that, howev,antes* trftts tt witfrCBS, which
game. CBS has five years remaining
on tt* deal
The Marshall University faction
moft likely will try to out bid Georgia Southern financially The ThunHerd, from Huntington,
opened a state-otthe-ert
ason and
part of CBS's lucrative agreement had an overflow of 3S.ll
with the NCAA W uaeviae the NCAA home opener with New llatnpshiri
basketball tournament included
showing the I-AA championship • See SOUTHERN, Page 3O
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Michael Payton hit Troy Brown on a
36-yard scoring pass Saturday as
Marshall defeated Eastern Kentucky 14-7 in an NCAA Division I-AA
semifinal.
Marshall (10-3) advanced to the
championship game next Saturday
in Statesboro against Youngstown
State, which beat Samford in Saturday's other semifinal.
Payton, Division I-AA's most efficient passer this season, struggled
against Eastern Kentucky's (12-2)
standout defense and a wind that
gusted up to 40 mph.
Brown, who had more than 1,600
all-purpose yards coming into the
game, raced away from Glenn Williams and took Payton's pass in
stride to give Marshall a 14-0 lead
with 4:30 left in the third quarter.
Eastern Kentucky hoped to duplicate its effort in last season's 15-12
victory over Marshall, in which the
Colonels rallied from a 12-0 deficit in
the fourth quarter.
Tim Lester's 2-yard run capped a
U-play, tt-yard drive with 13 43 left
But Marshall's defense held.
Miscues killed Eastern Kentucky
early,
fts
on Marshall1 i 7 when Shannon
King deflected a Joey Crenshaw
pass and Matt Downey intercepted
Road to the
NCAA1-M
Championships
SEMIFINALS
Saturday's Results
Youngstown State 10, Samford 0
Marshall 14, Eastern Kentucky 7
CHAMPIONSHIP
Dae. 21
At Statesboro
Youngstown State (11-3) vs. Marshall (11-3)
it.
Crenshaw fumbled on the next
drive and Marshall's Roger Johnson
recovered at the Marshall 33.
Brown's score came after Eastern Kentucky was penalized for too
many men on the field on a punt
Marshall's backup punter, Mike
Shoda, shanked the kick, but the
Herd got a first down anyway
Eastern Kentucky's David Wiltons sacked Payton twice to boost
his total to 12 on the season.
Youngstown St 10, Samford 0
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Chfte
Vecchione ran 6 yards with a recov• See MU, Page 30