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Unless You Go for It, There’s Just No Chance

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After Auburn kicked the field goal that tied Syracuse, 16-16, in the Sugar Bowl, Auburn Coach Pat Dye said, “My decision was not to get beat.”

Dye never put it to a vote. “I made up my mind early in the drive what I was going to do.” he said. “I wasn’t going to let my team get beat.”

The following day, in the Hall of Fame Bowl, Michigan assistant coach Gary Moeller, filling in for the convalescing Bo Schembechler, was faced with the same decision against Alabama. He called a timeout to talk it over.

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Said Michigan quarterback Demetrius Brown: “Coach Moeller asked us if we wanted to go for the tie. We said, ‘Let’s go for the win.’ ”

They did, and they got it. Brown hit John Kolesar with a 20-yard touchdown pass, and Michigan won, 28-24.

Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz, asked about the Cotton Bowl incident in which Tim Brown jumped a Texas A&M; player to recover his towel, said he didn’t see it.

“My first thought was that we were trying to win a football game and it was first-and-25,” he said. “It’s no way to make a living, when you’re first-and-25.”

Trivia Time: Former UCLA quarterbacks Mike Frankovich, Bob Waterfield and Mark Harmon have what in common? (Answer below.)

Snow Job: The MVPs of the first and last Rose Bowl games have the same surnames. The first was Neil Snow, who scored five touchdowns in Michigan’s 49-0 win over Stanford in 1902. The winner Friday was Michigan State linebacker Percy Snow.

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Note: USC’s Ken Henry joined UCLA’s Wally Henry as two of the 10 players who have caught two touchdown passes in the Rose Bowl.

The formula for winning in the Orange Bowl? Apparently it doesn’t hurt if your star linebacker gets caught taking an illegal substance and is barred from the game.

Last year, Brian Bosworth was banned, and his replacement, Dante Jones, was voted the defensive MVP as Oklahoma beat Arkansas, 42-8.

This year, George Mira Jr. was banned, and his replacement, Bernard Clark, was voted MVP of the game as Miami beat Oklahoma, 20-14.

Said Florida State quarterback Danny McManus after a record-setting day in which he completed 28 of 51 passes for 375 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Seminoles beat Nebraska, 31-28, in the Fiesta Bowl, “I don’t even throw 51 times in practice.”

Trivia Answer: All three married actresses--Frankovich (Binnie Barnes), Waterfield (Jane Russell), Harmon (Pam Dawber).

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Quotebook

Frank King, chairman of the Winter Olympic Games organizing committee: “Wherever I go, people are waving at me. Maybe if I do a good job, they’ll use all their fingers.”

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