The Week

WEST

1. USC (9-1-1)
2. UCLA (9-2)
3. ARIZONA STATE (10-1)

Woody Green, barely mentioned in a lot of people's Heisman speculations, accomplished his third straight 1,000-yard season while Arizona State was Greening Arizona 55-19 before the biggest crowd in Sun Devil Stadium history, 51,383. Quarterback Danny White set six NCAA records. He passed for 333 yards and four TDs and completed 22 of 38, and now has been responsible or partly responsible for 73 touchdowns in three years. Green carried 25 times for 192 yards. Ben Malone ran for 147 more. Morris Owens set an NCAA record for average yards per reception in one season (21.5 yards averaged on 50 catches). And on and on. What it boils down to is that ASU is going to the Fiesta Bowl against Pittsburgh armed with more firepower than the Seventh Fleet, and not a bad defense either; Linebacker Bob Breunig, for instance, blocked an Arizona punt, intercepted a pass and was in on 13 tackles.

The Game was in New Haven, The Biggest Game was down in L.A., but The Big Game was at Palo Alto—Stanford hosting California with the Axe and not much else at stake. Stanford won 26-17, but it got the Axe back early. A conspirator imitated Cal Coach Mike White's voice and asked that the trophy be brought to a sportswriters' pre-game meeting. When the courier arrived he was jumped by Stanford students and de-axed. That was a lot more exciting than the first half of the game itself, then things warmed up in the second. A 56-yards-in-the-air Steve Bartkowski pass helped Cal get ahead 17-13 before the Cardinals took command. "When we finally settled down in the fourth quarter," said Stanford's star runner, Scott Laidlaw, "our line started opening holes that we could sweep through. Most of that line will be back next year. Stanford is building for something big."

The situation in beautiful flower-scented Hawaii was ugly and smelly. The Honolulu police department was investigating charges by departed Quarterback Casey Ortez that a small group of University of Hawaii defensive players had been betting on the team all year. Ortez and Wide Receiver Allen Brown quit and left for the mainland. On Saturday the Rainbows managed only a field goal in losing to San Jose State 23-3. Three different quarterbacks failed to move the team to a pot of gold or anything else. San Jose finished with a 5-4-2 record, its first winning season in more than 10 years.

Some people suggested the Oregon-Oregon State game be called the Lemon Bowl and one newspaper labeled it the Battle of the Weak. Still, nearly 40,000 fans showed up on a cold and showery day in Eugene for the 77th renewal of the intrastate contest. Oregon State surprised the Ducks 17-14, winning only its second game of the season, and the Beaver defense deserved most of the credit. Oregon intercepted passes at the OSU 36 and 22, and recovered fumbles at the Beaver 36, 33 and 17—and out of all those opportunities got only seven points. Beaver Tailback Ray Taroli took a pitchout on the first play, stopped and threw a 26-yard touchdown pass. Then, with OSU trailing 14-10, he took the second-half kickoff on his goal line and returned it 68 yards to set up his team's final touchdown.

In the other Northwest traditional rivalry, Washington State beat hapless Washington 52-26 and finished with a 5-6 record. And who wouldn't have six losses after meeting USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Ohio State, Kansas and Stanford? More Idahos on the schedule or more quality athletes on the team are what the Cougars need. Washington's final record: 2-9. Whatever happened to the Purple Gang?

SOUTH

1. ALABAMA (10-0)
2. LSU (9-1)
3. NO. CAROLINA ST. (8-3)

If Kentucky's Ron Steele, who had kicked a 46-yard field goal the week before to tie a school distance record, could just make it from 34 yards out, the Wildcats would beat Tennessee and have their first winning season since 1965. The Volunteers, playing Kentucky for the 69th time, called time out to let the pressure build up even more for Steele. His kick with 19 seconds left was on line but passed about a foot under the crossbar. Tennessee won 16-14. Nevertheless, Kentucky finished with a 5-6 record, its best in eight years, and at least had the satisfaction of having battled back from 16-0 to give the Vols a horrible scare. "In 13 years of coaching, I've never seen a more courageous bunch of boys," said Kentucky Coach Fran Curci. Said Steele, "I wasn't nervous, I got a good hold, but I just got under it too much."