Louisiana Tech Has Backup Plan

Only in a movie could Louisiana Tech have scripted a better ending.

Trailing by six points with only two seconds to play, its star quarterback out of the game and facing fourth down, Louisiana Tech went to backup Brian Stallworth. He threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Sean Cangelosi to give Louisiana Tech a 29-28 victory over No. 18-ranked Alabama Saturday at Birmingham, Ala.

“If you wrote this script for a movie, no one would go watch it because they would think it so unbelievable,” said first-year Louisiana Tech Coach Jack Bicknell. “Oh my gosh, I can’t even put it into words.”

Louisiana Tech (2-2) trailed, 28-22, and was facing fourth-and-26 without quarterback Tim Rattay, the 1998 national total-offense leader who left the game two plays earlier with an injury.

Rattay, who was being taken to the locker room on a stretcher with a sprained right ankle, made the trainers stop so he could watch the final seconds. He saw Stallworth, a sophomore, overcome improbable odds with the heave into the end zone to the 6-foot-4 Cangelosi, whose leaping catch set the stage for Kevin Pond to make up for two earlier missed extra-point kicks.

“His arm is not even warmed up and he goes in there and throws it. I just told him to throw it up and give us a chance,” Bicknell said.

After Louisiana Tech’s go-ahead touchdown, Alabama’s Shaun Alexander returned the ensuing kickoff about 15 yards before lateraling the ball to Santonio Beard, who ran to the Louisiana Tech 25 before being pushed out of bounds to end the game.

Alexander, who had three touchdowns for the third consecutive game, had 263 all-purpose yards--running for 173 in 30 carries. He had a 76-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Alabama (2-1) had 10 penalties for 95 yards in losing for the second consecutive time to Louisiana Tech, which won, 26-20, two years ago.

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Ben Leard threw three touchdown passes and led four other scoring drives as Auburn (3-0) defeated Louisiana State, 41-7, in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams at Baton Rouge, La. Leard completed 16 of 23 passes for 304 yards and Auburn averaged six yards a play in getting a total of 426. LSU (1-2) had only 26 yards in 21 carries. . . . Chris Zolman passed to Elliott Carson for an eight-yard touchdown in overtime for Vanderbilt (2-1, 1-1) in a 37-34 victory over Mississippi (2-1, 0-1) at Oxford, Miss.--its first Southeastern Conference road victory in five years. Zolman was 22 for 39 for 344 yards and two touchdowns.

Freshman Dontae Walker ran for 120 yards and a touchdown in Mississippi State’s 29-11 victory over Oklahoma State (2-1) at Starkville, Miss. There were 12 turnovers--six by each team--and 195 yards in penalties in the game. Mississippi State is 3-0 for the first time since 1991. Quarterback Tony Lindsay, who ran for two touchdowns in Oklahoma State’s 42-23 victory over Mississippi State last season, didn’t play because of a knee injury. . . . East Carolina (3-0) was a 21-3 winner over South Carolina (0-3) in new Gamecock coach Lou Holtz’s first game at Columbia, S.C. Holtz hadn’t opened a season with three losses since his second year as coach, in 1970 at William & Mary. He hadn’t lost three in a row since 1987 at Notre Dame, when his team closed the season with losses to Penn State, Miami and Texas A&M; in the Cotton Bowl. . . . Clint Stoerner threw touchdown passes for the first two scores of the game to lead Arkansas (2-0) to a 44-6 victory over Louisiana Monroe (1-2) at Fayetteville, Ark. . . . Patrick Ramsey broke his week-old school record by passing for 447 yards and four touchdowns for Tulane (2-1, 1-1 in Conference USA) in a 48-28 victory Army (0-2, 0-1) at New Orleans. Ramsey passed for 404 yards in a 53-19 victory over Southern Methodist last week. . . . Teofilo Riley ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns to lead Memphis (1-2) to a 31-26 victory over visiting Arkansas State (0-3).

EAST

Carlton Rowe’s six-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter was decisive for Boston College (2-0) in a 14-10 victory over Navy (1-2) at Annapolis, Md. Boston College quarterback Tim Hasselbeck was sacked four times but completed 16 of 25 passes for 271 yards. Navy quarterback Brian Broadwater topped the 100-yard mark for the seventh consecutive game with 116 yards in 26 carries. . . . Kevan Barlow rushed for a career-high 206 yards, including touchdown runs of 61 and 57 yards, to lead Pittsburgh (2-1) past visiting Kent, 30-23. Pittsburgh rushed for 351 yards--its highest total in Coach Walt Harris’ three seasons. Kent (0-3) has the nation’s longest major-college losing streak of 16 games.

Brown won its season-opener in bizarre fashion, defeating Yale, 25-24, in an Ivy League game at New Haven, Conn. With 14 seconds remaining, James Perry connected with David Brookman for a seven-yard touchdown to pull Brown within one point. Mike Murawczyk’s extra point attempt was blocked but Mike Powell scooped up the ball and pitched it to Rob Scholl, who ran it in for two points to give Brown the lead. In other Ivy League openers: wide receiver Terrence Patterson scored a 30-yard touchdown on a reverse play as Harvard defeated t Columbia, 24-7, at Boston; sophomore quarterback Gary Rahne, who threw only four passes last season, completed 19 of 33 for 307 yards and two touchdown for Cornell in a 20-3 victory over Princeton; Kris Ryan had 99 yards and a touchdown in 15 carries to lead Pennsylvania to a 17-6 victory over Dartmouth at Philadelphia.

MIDWEST

Chad Pennington threw four touchdowns passes for the second consecutive game as Marshall (3-0) was a 35-16 winner over Bowling Green in the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams at Huntington, W.Va. Marshall won its 26th consecutive home game, the second-longest active streak to Florida’s 30. Marshall lost only at Bowling Green last season in compiling a 12-1 record. . . . Travis Prentice scored four touchdowns to break Ricky Williams’ NCAA record for games with two or more touchdowns as Miami of Ohio (2-1, 1-0 in the Mid-American Conference) was a 35-14 winner over Eastern Michigan (0-2, 0-1) at Oxford, Ohio. Prentice scored on runs of 15, three and four yards and had a 58-yard touchdown reception for his 22nd game with multiple touchdowns. Prentice also carried 38 times for 116 yards to set Mid-American Conference and school rushing records with 4,369 yards. Deland McCullough, who played at Miami of Ohio from 1992-95, held the previous records of 4,368 yards. . . . Brandon Payne ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns to lead Akron (2-1) past visiting Temple, 25-15. Temple (0-3) ended its scoreless streak at 11 quarters.

SOUTHWEST

New Mexico (1-2) had 616 total yards in a 45-14 victory over Northern Arizona (1-1) at Albuquerque, N.M. Former USC running back Ted Iacenda had a 39-yard touchdown reception for New Mexico. Ronney Jenkins, a former standout running back at Brigham Young who was expelled last year for violating the school’s honor code, had only 36 yards in 14 carries. He scored two touchdowns on 52-yard plays last season in BYU’s 46-21 victory over New Mexico. . . . Houston (2-1) ran for 350 yards in 41 carries and posted its first shutout since 1989 in a 45-0 victory over visiting Louisiana Lafayette (0-3).

WEST

Darnell Arceneaux threw two touchdown passes to Matt Nickel for Utah (2-0) in a 38-18 victory over Utah State (1-2) at Salt Lake City. . . . Deonce Whitaker scored a school-record five touchdowns and rushed for 203 yards as San Jose State (1-2) defeated visiting St. Mary’s (Ca.), 38-3. Whitaker returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. St. Mary’s (1-2) is a Division I-A team. . . . Darren Davis ran for 207 yards and two touchdowns in 37 carries for visiting Iowa State (3-0) in a 24-0 win over Nevada Las Vegas (2-1).

SOUTHLAND

Craig Young rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns to lead Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (1-1) to a 40-37 victory over visiting Montana State (2-1)--its first win over a Big Sky opponent since 1997. . . . Ryan Hattersley had 114 yards and a touchdown in 29 carries for Pomona-Pitzer (2-0) in a 28-0 victory over visiting Occidental (0-1) in a SCIAC game. . . . Cameron Hurst ran for 105 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown and Richard Allen scored two touchdowns for LaVerne (2-0) in a 45-0 SCIAC victory over visiting Whittier (0-2).