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Show Pas B4 - Tlih DAILY HERALD. Provo, Utah. Sunday. January 3. 1W) Buckeyes win, but is it enough? ANOTHER VIEW y Hub yraQfl - 1 Jim Luke MIAMI (AP) A better mousetrap is out there So much for the notion that Florida is not as explosive as usual. Steve Spurrier's Fun 'N Gun offense was fully loaded for the Orange Bowl. Shut down by the nation's top defense in a loss to Florida State in the regular-seasofinale, the seventh-ranken d TliMPK, Ariz. People are boating a path to Jim Wheeler's door. Not yet, not. That hardly proves the marketing executive with big bucks and little name recognition doesn't have a better mousetrap, lie does. Wheeler and his employer, a sports marketing and licensing firm named ISL, might succeed where everyone else has failed. There are another 2.4 billion or so reasons why it might Swiss-base- d roughly one for every work dollar ISL plans to offer the power brokers in the sport to buy into their proposal. Few people in the know share his enthusiasm at the moment. Two of them, though, coach the teams that play Monday at the Fiesta Bowl to determine this season's mil ional champion. And while Tennessee's Phil FulnuT and Florida State's I ob by Mowden are grateful to Championship Series making the matchup, they also know what more and more follow ers of the college ".came are figuring out. For all the improvements ;the l('S made on the "Super "Alliance" (which was an improvement, in turn, on the '"Bowl Alliance" and the earlier j Bowl Coalition"), the system the I Jowl for 5s still broken. '"The only way to know the I June national champion," Fulmer iaid, "is to have a playoff" ; Said Bowden. "That last Saturday (of the regular season). I was saying to myself, 'This ain't going to work.' " I dust as in past years, the BCS ilidn't solve all the problems. Instead of trouble at the this time around, the problems came at the next Jevel. The most glaring examl experiple was the enced by Kansas State. The Wildcats went all the Avay from being one play away from the national championship game to the Alamo Bowl, watching their payout make an equally steep drop, from $12 million to $1 mil4 op, free-fal- Gators rebounded with a dominating performance in a rout of No, 18 Syracuse Saturday night. Doug Johnson tossed two touchdown passes before breaking his left leg and Jesse Palmer threw for'one score and ran for one, proving once again that Florida's offense flourishes regardless of who's at quarterback. The appearance in the Orange Bowl was the first for the Gators since 1967 when Spurrier won the Heisman Trophy. Florida beat Georgia Tech that year, but he didn't have an exceptionally good game. "I didn't get a game ball in 1 967, so I gave one to myself tonight," Spurrier said. He also awarded one to interim defensive coordinator Bob Sanders. Johnson was injured late in the second quarter. Palmer, the starter for six games before breaking his collarbone on Oct. 10, threw his TD pass for a 21-- 3 lead on his second play. 31-1- 0 THE VICTORY enabled Florida (10-2- ) to finish with at least 10 victories for the sixth straight season. The Gators' only losses were to Tennessee and No. 2 Florida State, who will play for the national championship Monday night in the Fiesta Bowl. "We lost to No. 1 and No. 2, didn't really play our best games. But that happens," said Spurrier, who led Florida to one national championship and five Southeastern Conference titles this decade. "We fought back and won 10 games, but we're still disappointed. We'd like to be ordering championship rings in the next few weeks like we've done in the past. We've gone two years without winning one. But hopefully we can get back to winning championships real soon." The Gators stated their case for a top-- 5 finish with 441 yards of offense and a suffocating defense that contained Donovan McNabb and limited Syracuse d , rsVi as jr iMK field to a second-quarte- r Maurice Jackson until goal scored on a 62 yard reception with just over three minutes to (8-4- If NEW ORLEANS (AP) from Michigan it's not a team beating them on the field, it's a team from Florida beating them in the polls. Either way, the Ohio State Buckeyes keep coming up short in their bid for a national championship. Two years ago, the Buckeyes pulled out a late win over undefeated Arizona State in the Rose Bowl, but had to settle for No. 2 when Florida ) go. Travis Taylor caught both of Johnson's TD passes and had seven receptions for 159 yards to earn most valuable player honors. Terry Jackson rushed for 108 yards on 21 carries in his first extensive action since severely spraining an ankle midway through the season. THE DEFENSE, d 24-1- 4 mean- i j while, answered the question of whether it would be affected by the departure of defensive coordinator Bob Stoops, who left in November to coach Oklahoma. Florida forced four turnovers including three by McNabb, who fumbled twice and threw one interception in his final college game. He completed 14 of 30 passes for 192 yards and rushed for 72 yards on 20 attempts. "When you play poorly, there's usually a reason ... They took us out of the game," Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "It seemed that whenever we got something going, we'd turn Florida State beat for the national title. Ohio State now appears headed for the same fate. "We gave it our best shot," coach John Cooper said Saturday morning after Ohio State's victory over Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl. He won't give up hope on the Buckeyes' first national championship since 1968 until after the Fiesta Bowl on Monday night third-ranke- d 26-yar- 0 JOHNSON COMPLETED his first six passes and finished for 195 yards. Palmer was just as hot on his first two 7 TD series, throwing a his Erron on to pass Kinney first attempt and completing his next four to set up his scoring run that put the Gators between No. 1 Tennessee (12-0- ) and No. 2 Florida State (11-1Those who tuned in to the Sugar Bowl saw the Buckeyes roll to 432 yards against the Texas A&M Wrecking Crew defense. "People who saw the game saw, particularly in the first half, how dominant we were," Cooper said. Three touchdowns in a span of 6 12 minutes in the first irarter almost blew the Aggies out of the Superdome. No matter how impressive Cooper thought the Buckeyes w ere, he admitted it could have been much better. The Buckeyes had 210 ). v J it over." Florida State held the Gators to a season-lo204 yards, using as many as eight defensive backs to blanket the Gators' talented receivers. But Syracuse lacked the depth to try the same approach. And with the Orangemen also unable to mount a consistent pass rush, Johnson and Palmer had lots of time to find their targets. Johnson led two quick-strik- e drives in the opening quarter. His 51 yard TD pass to Taylor finished an march lasting 39 seconds, and Taylor scored again on the Gators' next possession when he broke a tackle at the 15 to finish a d play for a 14-- lead. The second drive, covering 68 givyards, lasted 40 seconds ing Florida 18 scoring drives of less a minute and 28 of less than two minutes this season. d (, AK KOI MS I KIN IheAsMX ialcd Press Gator bait: Florida wide receiver Travis Taylor eludes tackles on the way to his second touchdown of the first half against Syracuse Saturday in the Orange Bowl. yards rushing, but couldn't from the pick up a 24 leading 21-- early in the second quarter. Ohio State went 40 yards on the first series of the second half, only to miss a field goal. Another drive also came up empty when Dan Stultz's field goal hit the upright. What haunts the Buckeyes loss at home more is the to unranked Michigan State, which knocked them from No. 1 after 10 straight weeks. 'There are a lot of great coaches who haven't won a national championship," he said. "You've got to be fortunate 4th-and- -l 7 up 28-- 3 at the half. Meanwhile, the Florida defense put the clamps on McNabb, the three-timBig East offensive player of the year. The Gators forced a fumble by the Syracuse quarterback, and Tony George's second-quarte- r interception led e want," he said. "Kansas State is supposed to be here, yet they lost to Purdue (in the Alamo Bowl). You can't please everyone." 50-yar- first-quart- Palmer's TD. Johnson was injured late in the second quarter when he was to hit by Syracuse's Marc Pilon and twisted to the ground after completion releasing an to Nafis Karim. Spurrier said the junior will be on crutches four to six weeks. 'There was an opening, and I got a good hit on him," Pilon said. "1 didn't know he was hurt." McNabb, disappointed in the way he played, defended the decision to invite the Orangemen despite having losses. three regular-seaso"The critics can sav all they d n Ra 14 3 14 0 Florida Syi -- Taytor 51 O O 3 31 7 10 First Quarter pass horn Johnson (Chandler kick). 1124 Fla 9 03 Taylot 26 pass horn Johnson (Chandler kick). 28-2- Second Quarter Syr Fla Fla FG Trout 36 J 32 Kinney 4 pass horn Palmer (Chandler kick). 3 21. Palmer 2 run (ChanrSet kick). 35. Fourth Quarter Fla-- Syr 3 33 M Chandler 32. 7 19 Jackson 62 pass fiom McNabb (Trout kick). 919 A- -67 Fla Frrsl downs 18 36 133 308 Rushes-yaid- Passing 2231'0 t Return Yards 66 Syr 18 192 14 30 70 737 00 Fumbles-Los- Penalties Yards Time of Possession 31 76 48 220 28 47-yar- 12 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Florida. TJackson Taylor 2 16. RUSHING Palmer 3 5 Gillespie McCaslin Capel 2) D Johnson (minus 2) Syracuse. McNabb 20 72. M Jackson Brown Mcintosh 614. Konrad -- Flonda, Johnson 1217 Palmer 192 i3 Syracuse. McNabb RECEIVING -- Florida Tavlor 59. Karon 4 79 Gooch 15. TJackson 4 27 McGr.lt Fraer 4 Kinney 4 Syracuse K Johnson 4 49 Gi'lespie Daniel 4 34 Koniad 3 29. M Jackson 62. Brown 19. 9 Woodcock PASSING d d 4 to go undefeated. Sometimes it's out of your control. I've got the greatest respect in the world for Bobby Bowden, but Bobby's never had an undefeated football team." No, but Bowden has a national championship. And if his Seminoles beat the Vols in the Fiesta Bowl on Monday night, he'll likely have another one. lion. That happened because the other bowls controlled by the JiCS Rose, Orange. Sugar and Cotton w;ere under few constraints in filling out their games. A playoff would take the decision-makinprocess out of the hands of the fat cats in loud blazers and replace it with a merit system. Nothing js more American than that. The ISL plan is scheduled to begin in 2002. after the current BCS deal with the bowls expires. It calls for 16 teams and incorporates bowl games for both the semifinals and Surprise: Tennessee says due respect is lacking By WENDELL BARNHOUSE Knight Riddcr Newspapers g . final. The power brokers, led by BCS chairman and Southeastern Conference commissioner Roy Kramer, have no intention of budging. Graham Spanier, who heads the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, said after meeting with Wheeler that no amount of money is likely to change fhe thinking of his group, which essentially controls college athletics. Ultimately, a playoff is inevitable. It might not be exactly w hat the ISL is proposing and the firm might rjot even be part of whatever .jystem is put into place. Television provides most of the financial underpinning for the current system and would Have the biggest say in what w replaces it. I; TEMPE, Ariz. One team is undefeated and ranked No. 1. The other team has one loss and is ranked No. 2. And according to the oddsmakers, the team favored to win Monday night's Fiesta Bowl is ... the one-lossecond-ranketeam. And that doesn't particularly please Tennessee, which is 12-and ranked No. 1 in both polls. The Volunteers are avoiding the tired phrase "we don't get ary respect," but they're obviously chagrined at being the higher-rankeunderdog. "That has made us a little upset," Tennessee wide receiver Jermaine Copeland said. "We're the ones undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation. Everybody is doubting, which has pumped us up. We have a lot to prove." Apparently, winning close d 0 favored." Florida State's recent histoat least 10 victories and ry a ranking of No. 4 or higher each of the past 12 seasons has established the Seminoles as a dynasty. Tennessee is still a wannabe. "We've been underdogs all year," Tennessee linebacker Al Wilson said. 'That's kind of the motto going around this team: Tennessee doesn't get the job done, they're not a good football team. It's just one more challenge for us to prove to everybody that we can be one of the elite teams in college football." d games against Syracuse, Florida and Arkansas plus a late rally to defeat Mississippi State has convinced the that Florida State should be the favorite. "Am I surprised we're the favorite? Yes and no," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. "I'm not surprised because we only seem to be odds-make- SIMON PERSEVERES: The Atlantic Coast Conference awards the Brian Piccolo award each season to a player who has displayed courage. Piccolo is the former Wake Forest and Chicago Bears running back who died of cancer and was immortalized in the movie "Brian's Song". Florida State defensive lineman Corey Simon won the award this season. "He's the epitome of persistence," Florida State defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said. "He's accepted his misfortune, and rather than let that be a dead end street, it was Q just kind of a detour." Simon, a junior, has undergone two surgical procedures on each shoulder and one to his left knee. He also has overcome a neck sprain and a knee sprain. This season, he led Seminoles' interior linemen with 65 tackles, including 16 for negative yardage. 275-poun- d SIGNS OF AGING: Florida State coach Bobby Bowden misses his tower. About five years ago, he started conducting practices from a tower. However, at the Seminoles' practice facility here at Mountain Pointe High School, there is no tower. Bowden is having the practices taped from a camera position on a portable hydraulic lift. Bowden, who is 69, also uses a golf cart to motor from his office to the practice field in Tallahassee. The tower and cart are concessions to age. "I'll give them to you in sequence," he said. "There's the tower, then you go to the golf cart. Then next is the walker. I'm at the golf cart and the tower stage. The next one is the walker." defense: "They have a lot of tendencies. They have a ten-- , dency to make people punt." Local ticket scalpers say the fact the game doesn't match undefeated teams and that Florida State is a bit of a surprise participant is hurting their business. Seats on the line that ticket brokers expected to sell for nearly $1,000 are going for $375. Tickets are $100 apiece. 50-yar- d BRIEFLY: Tennessee offensive coordinator Randy Sanders, on the Florida State ' REPLACEMENT SYSTEMS AT 375-889- J 9 Much more than hair replacement HAIR RESTORATION The thinking man's alternative. lorn i Q;i CO fill OgdenAiM 392-107- 2 Stilt 533-884- 4 All Mo 20 Off All ladles Dresses 10 Starts VI send in the coupon below for our brochure I 6 (Orem Name Address Citv Ukc Slate I IL Phune tit lOKiO AM -- Off Sharp Januor4,i999 Store L ail or write tor a tree Drocnure. 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