Hula Bowl : Oregon’s Miller Leads West, 16-14

Oregon quarterback Chris Miller said he didn’t get much chance to throw the long ball during his collegiate career.

But he had completions of 55, 48 and 47 yards Saturday as he piled up 214 yards to be named the outstanding offensive player in the Hula Bowl game.

“Most people never hear too much about Oregon since we’re near the bottom of the Pac-10 and on the West Coast,” said Miller, who did most of the quarterbacking as the West edged the East, 16-14, in the annual college all-star game. “But now they know who I am.”

USC’s Louis Brock didn’t let an unfamiliarity with a man-to-man defense bother him. He had two key interceptions in the second quarter, which won him the outstanding defensive player award.

“The man-to-man was rather new to me because at USC we play mostly a zone defense,” said Brock, who had four interceptions during the 1986 season.

Jeff Jaeger of Washington, who kicked more field goals than anyone in the history of major college football, booted three for the West, tying the Hula Bowl record.

Temple All-American running back Paul Palmer led the East with 71 rushing yards in 16 carries and caught two passes for 17 yards. The Heisman Trophy runner-up added another 53 yards on two kickoff returns.

The East scored on the game’s first possession with Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, who completed 6 of 11 attempts for 69 yards, throwing an 18-yard touchdown pass to Florida’s Ricky Nattiel.

On the East’s next possession, Arizona linebacker Byron Evans of Arizona intercepted a pass by Harbaugh and returned the ball to the East 28-yard line, setting up a 28-yard field goal by Jaeger that cut the East’s lead to 7-3.

Early in the second quarter, Brock was credited with an interception of a Harbaugh pass in the end zone after one official initially signaled an East touchdown. With 1:44 left in the half, Brock turned back another threat by intercepting a pass by Mississippi State’s Don Smith at the West’s four-yard line.

Miller, who completed 10 of 16 passes in the game, then led the West on a 96-yard scoring drive which included plays of 48 yards to Lonzell Hill of Washington and 47 yards to Jon Horton of Arizona. He threw a four-yard pass to Hill in the end zone with two seconds remaining to give the West a 10-7 halftime lead.

The West took the second-half kickoff and drove into East territory where Jaeger kicked a 47-yard field goal, longest in Hula Bowl history.

Rod Woodson, Purdue’s All-American defensive back, recovered a fumble by Arizona’s David Adams at the West 33 late in the third quarter. The East then drove to the four but was pushed back, and Van Tiffin of Alabama missed a 27-yard field goal attempt.

Jaeger kicked a 35-yard field goal in the final period, equaling the Hula Bowl record shared by Bob Atha of Ohio State in 1982 and Russell Erxleben of Texas in 1978 and offsetting a three-yard run by Penn State’s Tim Manoa for the East’s other touchdown.

Jaeger’s last field goal was set up by a 55-yard pass play from Miller to UCLA’s Karl Dorrell.