Grange Quartered Michigan

Has anybody in football history ever had a quarter like Doug Williams in the Super Bowl?

Red Grange, maybe. When Illinois faced Michigan in 1924, Grange scored four times in the first quarter on runs of 95, 67, 56 and 45 yards.

He was taken out after 12 minutes, not returning until the third quarter when he scored again on a 13-yard run. He threw for a sixth touchdown in the fourth quarter. Illinois won, 39-14.

In 41 minutes of play, Grange ran for 402 yards and passed for 64.

This was against a team that otherwise allowed only 15 points in seven games while shutting out five opponents.

The year before, Michigan Coach Fielding Yost was quoted as saying that all Grange could do is run.

Said Illinois Coach Bob Zuppke: “All Caruso could do was sing.”

Add Quarters: The most stunning turnaround in history came in 1974 at the Coliseum when USC, trailing Notre Dame, 24-0, scored 55 points in less than 17 minutes.

With 10 seconds left in the first half, USC got its first touchdown on a six-yard pass from Pat Haden to Anthony Davis. In the third quarter, the Trojans got 35 points on a 102-yard kickoff return by Davis, 4- and 6-yard runs by Davis and 18 and 45-yard passes from Haden to J.K. McKay.

In the fourth quarter, Haden hit Shelton Diggs with a 15-yard touchdown pass, and Charles Phillips closed out the scoring at 1:44 when he raced 56 yards with an interception. USC won, 55-24.

Trivia Time: What do Red Grange, Pie Traynor and Pee Wee Reese have in common? (Answer below.)

They have Air Jordans for those who play above the rim, but what do you wear if you’re not a leaper?

“What we need,” said Dallas Mavericks announcer Norm Hitzges, “are Floor Laimbeers.”

After he and Indiana’s Wayman Tisdale gave Nancy Reagan a boost so she could dunk a ball during a drug-program ceremony, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Charles Barkley said: “The way we’re playing, that’s the closest I’m going to get to the White House this year.”

Add Barkley: On failing to make the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, coached by Bob Knight, he said: “Bobby Knight is the kind of guy who didn’t want talented guys on the team. He wanted geeks.”

From Houston Rockets forward Cedric Maxwell, who helped the Boston Celtics win National Basketball Assn. titles in 1981 and 1984: “I’ve played on championship teams and on almost-championship teams, but from 1 to 12 this is the best team I’ve ever played on. We’re starting to hit a groove and play with savvy.”

San Diego Padres outfielder Tony Gwynn, claiming the Dodgers should be favored in the National League West, told USA Today: “Getting Kirk Gibson gives them a solid No. 3 hitter who can do a lot of things, but I think the biggest thing was getting Jesse Orosco and Jay Howell in the bullpen.

“They’ve got good starters, a bullpen, good hitters and good power. The only thing they don’t do real well is play defense and Gibson won’t help them there. But if they keep Pedro Guerrero and Mike Marshall and everybody else, they’re going to score some runs. I think they’re going to be a powerhouse.”

Trivia Answer: The same first name, Harold.

Quotebook

George Foreman, 40, saying he’s not concerned about a proposal by World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman to ban fighters over the age of 36 from title fights: “Sounds like communism to me.”