College Football

SACKS MANIACS

The next time Wyoming visits the Astrodome, the Cowboys should try to remember to take their offensive line with them. It would be a nice trip for the big guys. Maybe they could even throw a block or two.

In a 34-10 drubbing by Houston, Wyoming allowed 16 sacks, including six by tackle Glenn Montgomery, who was in on 14 tackles all told, and three each by Alfred Oglesby, Keith Jenkins and Reggie Burnette. The loss was the first of the year for the Cowboys after 10 straight galloping, eat-our-dust wins. "Our pride is hurt," said Wyoming quarterback Randy Welniak, who was dropped five times in the first quarter and four times in the second.

The Cowboys, who were leading the nation in total offense with 536.3 yards per game going into the contest with the Cougars, lost yardage on 12 of their first 28 plays, and by the end their rushers had run in reverse for minus 37 yards. "We had a difficult time blocking," said Wyoming coach Paul Roach, who with that earns the understatement-of-the-weekend award.

A BUCKEYE BLACK EYE

Holy Toledo! What in the name of Woody Hayes has happened to football in Ohio? Of the eight Division I-A teams in the state, only one, Toledo, has a winning record. The Rockets finished their season at 6-5 by beating Central Michigan 20-13 on Saturday. Akron and Kent State both wound up with 5-6 records, and Bowling Green completed its schedule with a 2-8-1 mark. Among schools with a game left to go, Ohio State and Ohio U are 4-5-1, Cincinnati stands at 3-7, and Miami is 0-9-1. In games against teams from outside the state, Ohioans are 15-40-2.

The root of this dismal record seems to lie in the fact that out-of-state schools are outrecruiting the home teams in talent-rich Ohio. In particular, Michigan's Bo Schembechler and Indiana's Bill Mallory have exploited their Ohio backgrounds.

In needling proud Ohio State, which refuses to play other colleges in the state, an Akron Beacon Journal editorial suggested that it was time for the Buckeyes to schedule Akron "now that both schools' football programs have reached the same level of excellence."

CRACKS IN THE BIG 2

Far from looking like heavyweights who are peaking at just the right time, Oklahoma and Nebraska are staggering into their annual showdown, which will take place on Saturday in Norman, Okla.