Notes on a Scorecard - Sept. 26, 1994

What we have now is an overachieving 2-2 team and an underachieving 1-3 team. . . .

Anyone who thought the Rams would have a better record than the Raiders after four games deserves a pair of free season tickets next season in Baltimore or St. Louis. . . .

Despite the salary cap and free agency, the Raiders were able to retain most of the talent that came within a touchdown of reaching the AFC title game last season. . . .

But the problem might be that Coach Art Shell and much of his staff also were kept. . . .

The Raiders have been outcoached too often during the Shell reign that began on Oct. 9, 1989, and I am afraid that it happened again Sunday at the Coliseum. . . .

The Chargers won on a field goal with two seconds remaining, but they couldn’t have done it without some curious L.A. play-calling late in the first half. . . .

Don’t you settle for a field-goal attempt and the chance to move within two touchdowns of the lead when you are trailing by 17 points, you have no timeouts, and it’s fourth and three on the six with less than a minute remaining in the half? . . .

If not, don’t you throw the ball into the end zone? Instead, Harvey Williams attempted to run up the gut. He was stopped short of a first down, the Raiders’ rushing total zoomed to 33 yards for the half, and the Chargers kept their 20-3 advantage. . . .

Shell’s coaching rival, Bobby Ross, would be the one getting criticized if his fourth-down gamble that set up the winning field goal hadn’t worked. . . .

But Ross’ team appeared to be more fundamentally sound and better prepared than Shell’s team. . . .

While building their first-half lead, the Chargers weren’t assessed a penalty. The Raiders were penalized six times for 65 yards. . . .

Couldn’t the Raider brain trust have made some kind of adjustment on third downs when Stan Humphries kept completing passes to a wide-open Ronnie Harmon coming out of the backfield? . . .

Two of the toughest guys on the field were the quarterbacks, Humphries and Jeff Hostetler, both of whom climbed off the canvas in the fourth quarter. . . .

One of the loudest ovations of the day at the Coliseum greeted the announcement of the Rams’ 16-0 victory over Kansas City. . . .

Both Raider and Charger fans cheered the news of the AFC West rival Chiefs’ upset loss at home, the most improbable shutout of Chuck Knox’s 22-year coaching career. . . .

If UCLA fans were going to boo Wayne Cook Saturday at the Rose Bowl, they shouldn’t have stopped there. . . .

Most of the rest of the Bruins weren’t any better than their quarterback during the 21-0 loss to Washington State. . . .

The Cougars looked confident, even cocky, from the start. . . .

In contrast, the Bruins appeared to lack confidence. . . .

Maybe that’s what happens when your most dangerous weapon, J.J. Stokes, is not well. . . .

UCLA set an NCAA record for consecutive games without being shut out, 245, from 1971-92. Its latest scoring streak ended at 19 games. . . .

Among the bright spots for USC in a 37-27 victory over Baylor that could have been a lot more lopsided were the return of quarterback Rob Johnson to 1993 form and the finest performance by a Trojan tailback, Shawn Walters, this decade. . . .

This was the best Saturday of the year for the Pacific-10 Conference. It won all three of its nonconference games and got the biggest upset of the day from Washington, which beat Miami at the Orange Bowl. . . .

The Huskies ended the Hurricanes’ NCAA record 58-game home winning streak despite the fact that tailback Napoleon Kaufman was held to 80 yards in 28 carries. . . .

Stanford Coach Bill Walsh sure knows how to get a team fired up--the other team, that is. . . .

*

Imagine, our heavyweight champions are Oliver McCall and Michael Moorer. . . .

There usually is controversy when a Don King-promoted fighter wins a title, but referee Lupe Garcia did Lennox Lewis a favor by stopping the fight in the second round Saturday night and awarding McCall the World Boxing Council title. . . .

Lewis was rubbery legged, dazed and leaning on the referee after being decked by a right hand. It was early in the round and he was saved from what could have been a devastating beating. . . .

Do you suppose Lewis’ manager, Frank Maloney, and Riddick Bowe’s manager, Rock Newman, regret not having signed for a heavyweight title unification bout a couple of years ago that would have brought both parties huge purses? . . .

Ron Perranoski got a bum deal from the Dodgers. . . .

Perranoski, who was fired Friday, was the most successful pitching coach in the National League over a 14-year period. . . .

He should have been allowed to keep his job throughout Tom Lasorda’s tenure as Dodger manager.