COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Detmer Had Plenty of Help in Taking Wind Out of Hurricanes

Five more reasons (other than quarterback Ty Detmer) why Brigham Young beat former No. 1-ranked Miami:

(1) Defense.

The Cougar defense is usually as thin as the mountain air in Provo, Utah. But last Saturday against Miami, BYU didn’t allow a touchdown pass, caused two turnovers, intercepted a pass, recorded three sacks and stopped the Hurricanes on two crucial second-half, fourth-down plays. In past seasons, short fourth-down attempts were gimmes for BYU opponents. So sure was the outcome that the Cougar offense, including Detmer, wouldn’t bother budging from the bench on fourth-down stands. No more. “Last year I wouldn’t even have gotten excited about it,” he said. “But this year our defense is really playing well. They shut (Miami) down and gave us good field position all day.”

(2) Earl Kauffman.

The Cougars’ triple threat punted four times and averaged 53.8 yards per kick. Of his six kickoffs, five sailed out of the end zone and the other one wasn’t returned. He also had field goals of 32 and 29 yards, as well as two extra points.

(3) The Big Mouth Factor.

After several Hurricane players participated in some mid-week verbal bashing of BYU, Miami Coach Dennis Erickson ordered all lips zipped. Too late. The Cougars used the comments for added inspiration. Truth be known, Erickson was scared stiff of BYU’s potential. On the eve of the game, which was Miami’s season opener, he told Miami Herald columnist Edwin Pope that the Cougars were the most underrated team in the country. He was right.

(4) Miami defensive tackle Russell Maryland.

Maryland, Miami’s best defensive player, was neutralized most of the evening by Detmer’s scrambling and BYU’s massive offensive line. In fact, said Maryland, BYU rarely double-teamed him the entire game, a surprising tactic, considering Maryland’s reputation.

(5) The Altitude.

Provo’s elevation, nearly a mile high, seemed to wear down the Hurricanes. “Defensively, they weren’t coming real hard,” BYU running back Mike Salido said. “I saw them bent over or with their hands on their hips. They didn’t really come to play, not after they saw a bunch of balls flying around. I even think we could have run on them all night.”

Since we’re on this list kick, three auxiliary reasons why BYU might somehow sneak away with another national championship:

(1) The publicity generated from Detmer’s Heisman run will keep BYU planted firmly in the spotlight.

(2) Of the Cougars’ 10 remaining regular-season games, only Oregon, Colorado State, Wyoming and Hawaii offer legitimate concern.

(3) If the defense is for real, BYU could beat anyone.

And in case you’re wondering, a perfect record means BYU must play in the Holiday Bowl, which provides an automatic bid to the winner of the Western Athletic Conference. The contract is ironclad.

The Holiday Bowl projects a payout of $1.2 million per team, which is considerably less than checks written by the Orange Bowl ($4.1 million per team), Sugar Bowl ($3.2 million), Cotton Bowl ($2.9 million) or Fiesta Bowl ($2.25 million) in 1989. If BYU is able to finish its schedule without a loss and climb atop the polls, it will be interesting to see potential opponents choose between a chance at No. 1 or a bigger bowl payday. In 1984, Holiday Bowl officials expected teams to stand in line for the chance to play undefeated BYU. They were disappointed and eventually had to settle for Michigan, which was 6-5 at the time.

“It’s fun to do a little pie-in-the-sky guessing,” said John Reid, executive director of the Holiday Bowl. “But this is very similar to what happened in ’84. There’s a long season to play, obviously. But we might change our sights a little bit. It’s just that you can’t set your sights too high. You have to temper it.”

Virginia’s convincing 20-7 victory over Clemson did more than end a 29-game losing streak to the Tigers. Barring a collapse by Virginia, it all but ensures the Cavaliers an Atlantic Coast Conference championship, their second in as many years. This isn’t the strongest of conferences.

The victory also makes Virginia Coach George Welsh the hottest commodity in college football. In eight seasons, he has become the school’s winningest coach, which tells you all you need to know about past Virginia teams. Look for Welsh’s name to start appearing on the wish lists of athletic directors and maybe some NFL general managers.

Surprisingly enough, Virginia’s strongest competition for the ACC title might come from Maryland, which is 2-0 after upsetting 25th-ranked West Virginia in Morgantown. The Terrapins won only three games in 1989. Virginia and Maryland meet in the final regular-season game.

There are better jobs to have than the ones held by Alabama Coach Gene Stallings and Clemson’s Ken Hatfield. Stallings, who replaced Bill Curry during the off-season, watched the Crimson Tide begin its season with a 27-24 loss to Southern Mississippi, the same team that defeated Florida State in its 1989 opener. Adding to Stallings’ misery was the loss of star running back Siran Stacy, who injured his knee during the game and is out for the season. Alabama followers, not known as the most patient fans in college football, are reportedly in mourning. They don’t take losses well.

Hatfield followed the immensely popular Danny Ford, who was eased out after rules improprieties were uncovered in the football program. The deeply religious Hatfield asked his players to refrain from drinking beer or other alcoholic beverages until season’s end. He also doesn’t allow swearing on the field. After the loss to Virginia, it’s safe to assume that both of those rules were probably broken.

This week, Clemson faces surprising Maryland at College Park, and Alabama plays very talented Florida. Losses could make things very sticky for Hatfield and Stallings.

A strange weekend for Southern Methodist. First, the Mustangs beat Vanderbilt, 44-7, the largest margin of victory ever recorded for a Southwest Conference school over a Southeastern Conference team. It was SMU’s first victory over a Division I-A opponent since 1986. The Mustangs didn’t punt during last week’s game. They gained 233 yards rushing, a total that took them six games to reach in 1989. And SMU quarterback Mike Romo, a sophomore, threw six touchdown passes. In 12 games, Romo has set eight school records, tied one and surpassed Don Meredith as SMU’s No. 5 career passing leader.

Then came news on Sunday that Atlanta Falcon Coach Jerry Glanville was sending a game ball to the Mustangs. The Falcons defeated the Houston Oilers, the same team that fired Glanville and hired former University of Houston coach Jack Pardee as a replacement. Pardee’s team had humiliated an undermanned SMU squad last year, 95-21. This was Glanville’s pay-back.

Said SMU Coach Forrest Gregg of the gesture: “It’s Jerry’s game ball and he can do what he wants with it. On behalf of the entire SMU team, I accept his gracious gift.”

Gregg may get another gift this Saturday. The Mustangs play a so-so Tulane team.

The Western Athletic Conference shouldn’t be confused with the SEC just yet, but WAC teams won five of nine games last week: BYU over Miami, Utah over Minnesota at Minneapolis, Wyoming over Washington State at Pullman, Air Force over Hawaii and Colorado State big over Montana State. . . . The SEC has lost its top two running backs: Tennessee’s Chuck Webb and Alabama’s Stacy. . . . As promised by Colorado Coach Bill McCartney, Mike Pritchard, who rushed for 217 yards against Tennessee in the Pigskin Classic, was back at wide receiver against Stanford. Back at halfback was Eric Bieniemy, who missed the Tennessee game for disciplinary reasons. Bieniemy had 149 yards against Stanford, 121 in the second half. He also scored the game-winning touchdown with 12 seconds remaining. . . . Texas owes its 17-13 upset of Penn State to walk-on kicker Michael Pollak, who made three field goals. Pollak, a junior, earned a scholarship last spring but had not attempted a field goal for Texas until last Saturday. In two seasons, he had three kickoffs to his credit.

Our Top 10: (1) Auburn, (2) Florida State, (3) Notre Dame, (4) BYU, (5) Virginia, (6) USC, (7) Tennessee, (8) Colorado, (9) Michigan, (10) Texas A&M.;