College Football / Randy Harvey : Durable Lorenzo White May Be Nation’s Best Running Back

Michigan State Coach George Perles insists that his sophomore tailback, Lorenzo White, is the nation’s most valuable running back. He may get an argument about that from Auburn’s Bo Jackson, but there is no question that White is the nation’s most durable running back.

After gaining 286 yards last Saturday against Indiana, White became the nation’s leading rusher with 1,535 yards in nine games. His closest pursuer, Jackson, has 1,523 yards in nine games.

White’s yards haven’t come easy. He has carried 314 times, 86 more than Jackson, and needs only 89 carries in his last two games against Northwestern and Wisconsin to tie the NCAA record of 403 carries in a season by USC’s Marcus Allen in 1981.

Only 89 carries?

That’s certainly not beyond White, who earlier this season carried 53 times against Purdue and 49 against Minnesota.

“The one thing he doesn’t get is tired,” Perles said. “At Purdue, he ran 61 yards on the second play of the second half to the three-yard line. I knew we were going to score, and I figured Lorenzo might need a blow, so I called a timeout. He asked what the timeout was for, and I said it was for him. He told me, ‘Coach, don’t waste any timeouts on me. I’m OK.’ ”

If he gains 230 more yards, White will break the single-season Big Ten record of 1,764 yards set in 1984 by Ohio State’s Keith Byars.

“We knew he was a great running back when we recruited him,” Perles said of White, who is from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “But in all honesty, you never expect anyone to be this good.”

Since becoming a starter in Michigan State’s last two games of last season, White has gained more than 100 yards in 10 of 11 games. He was held to 47 yards in 18 carries last month by Michigan. Michigan also is the only team this season that hasn’t allowed White a touchdown.

That is nothing to be ashamed about because the Wolverines have allowed only two touchdowns in nine games. Incidentally, they have yet to allow an extra point. Wisconsin and Indiana, the two teams that scored touchdowns against Michigan, each failed in two-point attempts.

None of the Big Ten’s Big Three quarterbacks, Iowa’s Chuck Long, Purdue’s Jim Everett or Illinois’ Jack Trudeau, was able to lead his team to a touchdown against the Wolverines.

“The odds against that have to be 1,000 to 1,” Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler said.

As a result of their outstanding defense, the Wolverines have rebounded from a 6-6 record in 1984 to 7-1-1 this season and probably will be invited to a major bowl if they beat Minnesota Saturday and Ohio State in Ann Arbor Nov. 23.

“This may be the finest coaching job Bo Schembechler has ever done,” Minnesota Coach Lou Holtz said this week.

It also may Schembechler’s most enjoyable season.

One reason is that this team includes four sons of current or former Schembechler assistants--Indiana Coach Bill Mallory’s Mike and Doug, Western Michigan Coach Jack Harbaugh’s Jim and Michigan defensive coordinator Gary Moeller’s Andy.

This team also seems to enjoy Schembechler. “Tell you how dumb this team is,” he said. “They’ve given me the game ball twice already. I used to go years without getting a game ball.”

Could it be that Schembechler finally has mellowed?

When asked earlier this season how he wanted to leave coaching, he said, “Alive.”

Alabama Coach Ray Perkins’ decision to go for a tie against LSU last Saturday, leaving both with one loss and a tie in Southeastern Conference play, gave Tennessee a clear path to the conference championship and a berth in the Sugar Bowl. The Volunteers have one loss in conference play and all they have to do is win at home against Mississippi and Vanderbilt, and at Kentucky. Those three teams have a cumulative record this season of 11-14-2.

Tennessee Coach Johnny Majors said he was thrilled when Perkins ordered a kick for the extra point instead of going for two points with 1:23 remaining in the 14-14 tie at LSU, although Majors said he probably would have gambled for the victory.

“I probably would have gone for two,” he told USA Today. “But I don’t want to second-guess anyone. I’ve been wrong before.”

Other teams that can clinch conference championships by winning the rest of their games include the Pacific 10’s UCLA (home against Oregon State, at USC), the Big Ten’s Ohio State (home against Wisconsin, at Michigan), the Southwest Conference’s Texas (at TCU, home against Baylor, at Texas A&M;) and the Atlantic Coast’s Maryland (at Clemson, home against Virginia).

Tied for the Big Eight lead are Nebraska and Oklahoma, which will meet in Norman Nov. 23. If the Cornhuskers win, they will represent the conference in the Orange Bowl. If the Sooners win, they still will have to beat Oklahoma State Nov. 30 in Stillwater to earn an Orange Bowl berth.

Speculation has been that No. 1 Penn State will go to the Orange Bowl to play No. 2 Nebraska for the national championship if both win the rest of their games.

But if Nebraska loses to No. 7 Oklahoma, Sunkist Fiesta Bowl officials hope they can lure the Nittany Lions to Tempe Jan. 1 to play No. 4 Air Force. Penn State Coach Joe Paterno has a policy of playing the highest-ranked team available, although he may reconsider this season since the Fiesta Bowl pays considerably less than the Cotton, Orange and Sugar bowls.

For the Fiesta Bowl’s dream scene to materialize, Penn State would have to win Saturday at home against Notre Dame and Nov. 23 at Pittsburgh, while Air Force would have to win Saturday at BYU and Nov. 23 at Hawaii.

If the Fighting Irish beat Penn State Saturday and LSU Nov. 23 at home, an arrangement might be made so that the winner of the Notre Dame at Miami game Nov. 30 would go to the Orange Bowl, with the loser going to the Florida Citrus Bowl Dec. 28 in Orlando.

Notes If athletic department funds make a difference, BYU will beat Air Force Saturday. As one Western Athletic Conference coach, who wasn’t named, told The Denver Post: “You know Air Force doesn’t have any money because they try to get theirs from you and me (through taxes). But BYU has all it needs because the Mormons give 10% of everything they’ve got to the church.” . . . The Daily Reveille, LSU’s student newspaper, said Tiger kicker Ronnie Lewis’ performance against Alabama last Saturday “was anything but acceptable for a varsity athlete on a full-ride scholarship.” Lewis missed a 24-yard field goal with 24 seconds remaining that would have given LSU a victory. Instead, the Tigers tied Alabama, 14-14. “I’ve had people say things about my kicking--that I’m not kicking well--and that’s true, and I can take that,” said Lewis, who has missed eight straight field goal attempts and has made only 3 of 12 this season. “They’ve said I cost us the game, and I can’t take that. It’s probably true. But to say I’m not deserving of my scholarship, to say that I’m unacceptable, that ticks me off a bit.”

Ohio State tailback Keith Byars remains doubtful for Saturday’s game against Wisconsin but probably will be ready to play the following Saturday at Michigan. . . . The Independence Bowl is considering 6-3 Colorado, which will play at Oklahoma Saturday, but university policy may prevent the Buffaloes from appearing in the Dec. 21 bowl. Finals at Colorado run from Dec. 16-21. . . . Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles has withdrawn Razorback linebackers from consideration for the new Dick Butkus Award, his objection being that the namesake for the award does beer commercials. Yet Broyles continues in his role as a color analyst for ABC, even though three of the sponsors for the network’s college football telecasts are Anheuser-Busch, Stroh’s and Coors.

Only 26,000 fans were at Stanford Stadium for the 39-24 Cardinal victory last Saturday night over Oregon State. Stanford officials blamed cold, rain and the fact that the game had a late starting time because of a television commitment. . . . Even though 8-1 Miami beat 8-1 Oklahoma, 27-14, at Norman earlier this season, the UPI coaches’ poll has the Sooners ranked No. 6 and the Hurricanes No. 7.

Iowa Coach Hayden Fry, who has been feuding with ABC’s Beano Cook, now has taken on another ABC college football analyst, Doug Flutie. “The fact that Chuck Long has been an All-Big Ten quarterback the past two years sort of dispels Doug Flutie’s off-the-cuff remark that he didn’t think Chuck was a Heisman candidate because you had to do something before your senior year,” Fry said.