6B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - September 8, 1997 FOOTBALL squeaker gives Davie his Collegiate victory in debut ne wins after Yellow Jackets miss two late field goals 0 SOUTH BEND (AP) - Finally, the debut of Bob Davie at Notre Dame is over. Now maybe the Irish can get some work done. And after the way they played Saturday, they need plenty. "There wasn't a whole lot of cele- bration last, night," Davie said yesterday. "I had a chance to watch that tape late. It's pretty much been trying to solve the problems." The Irish beat Georgia Tech, 17- 13, but just barely. The Yellow Davie Jackets (0-1) missed two field goals in the fourth quarter, and Autry Denson's I-yard touchdown run didn't come until 2:37 was left. The disappointing performance dropped Notre Dame one spot, to No. 12, in The Associated Press poll. After watching the tape, Davie did- n't spare anyone from criticism. Ron Powlus threw for 217 yards, but one of his two interceptions was the result of bad judgment. The offensive line faltered in goal-line stands, as Notre Dame blew an easy touchdown in the third quarter when it couldn't get in from the 1-yard line on four tries. The short-yardage game was com- pletely ineffective. "There's a lot of new things hap- pening that need to get ironed out," Powlus said. "We need to concen- trate on the little things that will keep the offense going." The defense had its problems, too. It was thrown off early by Georgia Tech's heavy use of the option, and couldn't get on track until late in the fourth quarter. Davie said senior left end Melvin Dansby probably had his best game - 12 tackles, including two sacks for 18 yards - but the younger players weren't nearly as productive. Then there were the mental mis- takes. The Irish lost 44 yards on seven penalties, including several false start calls. Even the coaches can do better when it comes to communi- cation. "I think the foundation is built," Davie said. "But I'm realistic, we need a lot of improvement in all areas of the game. At least we know where to start." Davie and his staff were already making adjustments yesterday, and there will be more as the week goes on. "First football games are wars and a lot of times, they're survival," he said. "Also, the most improvement you do as a football team is between the first and second game, particularly when you've got a new coaching staff." As for Davie, he can now get back to being just another coach - or as close to that as he can be in college football's glamour job. The hype over his first game has been building since November, when the former Irish defensive coordina- tor was appointed to succeed Lou Holtz. His every move is covered by reporters, with no detail of his life deemed too insignificant. And it got even worse this week, if that's possible. Fans started arriving early at newly renovated Notre Dame Stadium, which now seats 80,000. More than 3,100 people showed for Friday's Quarterback Club luncheon, the most ever. Another 35,000 turned out for the pep rally in Notre Dame Stadium that night. His parents, who rarely come to games, made the six-hour trip from Pennsylvania. "It was a big week," Davie said. "I'm only glad to have it over with if we got that W That makes it all worthwhile to me." First Impressions Notre Dame coach Bob Davie won his first game in his colle- giate debut. Here is a list of how his predecessors fared in their first years as head coach of the Irish: Jesse Harper 1913 7-0 Knute Rockne 1918 3-1-2 Heartly Anderson 1931 62-1 Elmer Layden 1934 6-3 Frank Leahy 1941 8-041 Ed McKeever 1944 8-2 Hugh DeVore 1945 7-2-1 Terry Brennan 1954 9-1 Joe Kuharich 1955 5-5 Ara Parseghian 1964 9-1-0 Dan Devine 1975 8-3 Gerry Faust 1981 5-6 Lou Holtz 1986 5-6 * * Opened his first season with a loss to Michigan AP PHO Autry Denson and the Fighting Irish stumbled their way to a 17-13 victory over Georgia Tech in head coach Bob Davie's first game. "First football games are wars, and a lot of times, they're survival," Davie said. Seminoles eke out win over USC LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dee Feaster scored on a 3-yard run with 10:40 left to play as the fifth-ranked Florida State Seminoles sputtered but survived in their season opener Saturday, edging the 23rd-ranked USC Trojans, 14-7. The Seminoles, two-touchdown favorites over USC in the first meeting between the storied football schools, finally put together a sustained scoring drive early in the final quarter. Thad Busby, erratic for much of the game, completed 5-of-8 for 94 yards - including a 46-yarder to E.G. Green - to take Florida State on a 97-yard march for the only score of the second half. Florida State didn't seal the victory until free safety Dexter Jackson tackled Trojans receiver Billy Miller for no gain after a short completion on fourth- and-6 at the Seminoles 26 with 2:20 remaining. There was even a scare for the Seminoles after that. Florida State's Laveranues Coles fumbled after pick- ing up 24 yards to midfield on a reverse, but teammate Melvin Pearsall fell on the ball. No.4 WASHINGTON 42, No.19 BYU 20 For Washington's Rashaan Shehee, it was second verse, same as the first - and the nation's -longest current win- ning streak came to an end at Brigham Young. Shehee rambled for 171 yards and a touchdown and caught a pass for anoth- er as the No. 4 Huskies routed the 19th- ranked Cougars 42-20 Saturday in the opener for both teams. The senior tail- back had two TDs in Washington's 29- 17 win over BYU a year ago in Seattle, the last time the Cougars lost at home. Brock Huard hit 18-of-23 passes for 285 yards and three scores as Washington of the Pac-10 snapped BYU's 12-game win streak. Jerome Pathon caught seven passes for 163 yards for the Huskies, who now have beaten BYU three times in a row. No. 8 COLORADO 31, No. 24 COLORADO ST. 21 Rashidi Barnes and Marcus Washington grabbed momentum-turn- ing interceptions early in the third quar- ter, rallying No. 8 Colorado to 31-21 victory over No. 24 Colorado State on Saturday. Colorado (1-0) was trailing 14-7 when Barnes returned his theft 26 yards for a tying touchdown with 13:58 left in the period. Washington's interception and 10-yard return two minutes later set up the first of two touchdown passes from John Hessler to Phil Savoy. Hessler hit Savoy in the back of the end zone on a 4-yard scoring pass with 8:38 to go in the quarter. After a Colorado State punt, Hessler and Savoy hooked up on a 43-yarder with 5:51 left, the third Colorado touchdown in a span of 8:07. Colorado, which has won the last seven games in the series with its in- state rival, went ahead 31-14 on Jeremy Aldrich's 34-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter. He'd been working with his new team only a month, but Michael Bishop did what every veteran quarterback would like to do - he moved the offense up and down the field. "It wasn't easy when I first came in, but I got comfortable with what the coaches taught me," Bishop said Saturday night after leading Kansas State to a 47-7 rout of Northern Illinois. The win moved the Wildcats up to one spot to No. 20 in the poll. "I'd probably give myself a B-minus. There are a lot of things that I missed, that I should have checked off. Overall I thought I did a pretty good job." The transfer from Blinn (Texas) Junior College threw four touch- down passes and ran for another, gaining 98 yards rushing and passing for 172 - all in the first half - as the Wildcats built up a 42-7 halftime lead. "He did all right in the first half but he made a lot of mistakes that will have to be corrected," Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. "He's very athletic. It will come with time." Bishop's athleticism showed itself on the Wildcats' first possession, when he ran 43 yards for a touchdown on a quar- terback draw. A P PHOTO Florida State's Peter Warrick beats USC defender Daylon McCutheron in the second half of the Seminoles' 14-7 victory over the Trojans. For most of the game, however, the Seminoles two-touchdown favorites, struggled on offense. Gators romp, Tennessee survives late-game comeback by UCLA GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - With each of his seven touchdown passes in the first half, Doug Johnson sent a sub- tle message - the Fun 'N' Gun offense of No. 2 Florida isn't dead yet. A week after a dismal debut, Johnson tied a school record with seven touchdown passes in the first half and the Gators scored their most points in 84 years in an 82-6 victory over Central Michigan. It was just the kind of game Florida needed heading into its Sept. 20 show- down with No. 3 Tennessee, but coach Steve Spurrier warned the Gators not to let it go to their heads. "It won't be that easy anymore for us, I can assure our guys that," Spurrier said. "This kind of game can hurt you if you don't keep it in per- spective. It's not that great for us - just better than the one last week." Spurrier spent a week hounding his offense after a - 21-6 victory over Southern Miss, the Gators' worst showing in a season opener since 1989. And even though Florida (2-0) had Central Michigan badly out- manned, he managed to find some pos- itives. "You've got to get in the habit of going up and down the field and scor- ia points," he said. at wasn't a problem against the rhm:--~ -11 n He took off his pads at halftime and turned the game over to Noah Brindise and Canadian freshman Jesse Palmer. They each threw a touchdown, giving Florida a school-record nine TD pass- es for the game. The previous record was eight, also against New Mexico State. The 82 points were the most scored since a 144-0 win over Florida Southern in 1913. The Gators, who had 357 yards last week to rank last among Southeastern Conference teams, had 708 yards against the Chippewas. Freshman Bo Carroll rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries, while Fred Taylor had 106 yards on nine carries. "Our offense had something to prove. They had 82 points, so I think they proved something," cornerback Fred Weary said. "You can't really tell how good it is because Central Michigan hasn't played a lot of tough teams. But with two weeks of prepara- tion, I think we'll be ready for Tennessee."' No. 3 TENNESSEE 30, UCLA 24 Peyton Manning has come a long way in the last three years. He showed just how far on Saturday, although his team was hanging on for dear life at the end. tu~rnina to theR oea lnsil -te Campbell, that the move from fullback to tailback can pay big dividends. Williams ran 19 times for 155 yards and three touchdowns and Aaron Humphrey had three interceptions as the 12th-ranked Longhorns overcame a turnover-filled first half and rolled to a 48-14 victory over Rutgers Saturday night. Williams, who was mistakenly arrested this week by a campus police officer after a routine traffic stop, con- sidered his performance subpar because he struggled early before breaking a 74-yard TD run. "I was really tired the first half" said Williams, whose first five carries included a 1-yard loss and a fumble. "I was a little bit nervous. I think playing halfback had something to do with it. I expected to just blow them off the ball, but they played well." The Longhorns (1-0) trailed 7-0 after the first quarter and needed two big plays - the 74-yarder by Williams and a 32-yard TD pass from Brown to Wane McGarity after Humphrey's sec- ond interception - to take a 13-7 lead over the Scarlet Knights (0-2) at inter- mission. Texas quarterback James Brown left the game late in the first half with a sprained left ankle and didn't return. Team doctors said the injury wasn't serious and listed him as day to day. The Cardinal remained undefeated in 16 season openers against San Jose State and stretched their winning streak to six games dating to last sea- son. The Spartans, playing their first game under coach Dave Baldwin, scared Stanford before Haskins deflat- ed upset hopes by picking off Brian Vye's pass and going in for the score with 3:30 remaining. "I'm hurt because I thought we could win," Baldwin said. "I still think we can. I think we came out of this with our kids believing we can play." Stanford quarterback Chad Hutchinson finished 18-of-36 for 30 yards and a touchdown, with Troy Walters making eight receptions for 166 yards. Vye was 16-of-40 for 236 yards and a touchdown. Both teams were hurt by turnovers and special teams breakdowns. San Jose State turned the ball over four times, including three intercep- tions off Vye, and punter Jaso Chapple failed to get off a kick when he mishandled a snap. "I think we have to improve a lot, Vye said. "I think my game wasn't up to par. If I made better throws, we had a shot at this game." Stanford had three turnovers, two of them interceptions off Hutchinson, and AP PHOTO Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning scorched the UCLA defense for 341 yards and two touchdowns. But the Volunteers had to fight off a late game charge from the Bruins before winning, 30-24.