The Week

In Athens, Ohio, Virginia Tech's Don Strock, the nation's leading passer, threw for four touchdowns, three to Ricky Scales, as the Gobblers beat Ohio U. 53-21.

SOUTHWEST

1. TEXAS (4-1)
2. SMU (4-1 )
3. ARKANSAS (4-2)

Arkansas came up with a unique 10-man defense on two goal-line stands, but Coach Frank Broyles will not be called upon to describe it at coaching clinics. He will only have to explain it to alumni, as Texas trounced the Razorbacks 35-15 at Austin. On the Longhorns' second touchdown, a six-yard run by Quarterback Alan Lowry, Arkansas lined up 12 men on the field, then two ran off just before the ball was snapped. Arkansas went into the same new defense on Texas' fourth touchdown, a one-yard run by Fullback Roosevelt Leaks, causing the crowd of 80,844, biggest in Southwest Conference history, to count helmets every time the Razorbacks were on defense. Once even the bemused referee called a time-out to tot them up.

In its conference opener, SMU beat Rice 29-14 in the rain and fog at the Cotton Bowl. The Mustang heroes were Quarterback Keith Bobo (no kin to Ohio State's fabled Hubert), who didn't learn he was going to start until the pregame warmup, and freshman Wide Receiver Kenny Harrison. Bobo hit 13 of 18 passes for 229 yards and ran 17 times for 53 more. It was SMU's fifth straight win over Rice, giving it a 4-1 record, matching the best SMU start since 1950, when Kyle Rote was a senior. "We just played a bad football game," said Rice Quarterback Bruce Gadd. "We all played bad, myself included. We played one of the worst first halves I've ever seen."

Texas Tech romped over Arizona 35-10 and Texas A&M lost its fifth straight, 13-10, to Texas Christian in College Station.

EAST

1. PENN STATE (5-1)
2. DARTMOUTH (4-0)
3. WEST VIRGINIA (5-2)

Quarterback John Hufnagel needed only 85 yards to become Penn State's alltime total offense leader. He didn't get them as a well-drilled Syracuse defense held him to 58 yards passing and minus 19 rushing. But Syracuse failed to contain Tailback John Cappelletti, and the junior's one-man show was the difference in Penn State's 17-0 win. A record homecoming crowd of 60,465 saw Cappelletti gain 162 of Penn State's 182 rushing yards and catch three of Hufnagel's five completed passes for eight more. "Cappelletti sure played better than he did in the movies we looked at," moaned Syracuse Coach Ben Schwartzwalder.

West Virginia fell behind Tulane 13-0, then got down to business. Bernie Galiffa's passes started to click and reserve Fullback Ron Lee scored two second-period touchdowns as the Mountaineers posted a 31-19 victory. West Virginia intercepted five passes and sophomore Danny (Lightning) Buggs returned a punt 95 yards for a score in the third quarter. Next week's foe: Penn State, whom the Mountaineers have not beaten since 1955.