On Brave Old...arrgh!

College football danced its last tango Saturday and for the most part everyone kept in step. Winners from Tuscaloosa, South Bend and Norman remained winners, while losers from West Point, Tallahassee and El Paso stayed losers. Some things never change. But happily some do, and thus, after 25 years, Tulane has finally defeated LSU.

Last Saturday was the 14th of the regular season—surely you remember Drake versus New Mexico State on September 1?—a weekend of traditional rivalries, emotional games that often produce unexpected outcomes. But not in the Brag Bowl, as Bear Bryant calls Alabama's game with Auburn. The Crimson Tide won in a romp, 35-0, to hold on to No. 1. Having captured the Governor's Cup, emblematic of the championship of Alabama, the Tide now goes after more glittering hardware in its Sugar Bowl game with Notre Dame. The Irish finished unbeaten also by laying it on overscheduled Miami 44-0.

The paragon of these late-season identity conflicts remains Army-Navy. What other two teams with only three wins between them could attract 92,000 customers and a national television audience? "I couldn't be more excited if I were playing for the national championship," said one Navy player before the game. Afterward, when the Middies had scarred Army with the worst setback in their 74 meetings, 51-0, there was no comparable way to measure the Cadets' disappointment. Thoroughly drubbed, Army was saddled with a 0-10 record, its worst ever. "We all feel bad," said Guard Ted Davis. "The Army is supposed to represent something in this country. It's a shame we let it down."

Navy, whose only previous wins had come against VMI, Syracuse and Air Force, took command with a 31-point second quarter. The Middie running game totaled 366 yards with Tailbacks Cleveland Cooper and Ed Gilmore carrying the load. Cooper gained 102 yards and scored three touchdowns; Gilmore had 123 and one TD.

Army's showing this year raised questions about the future of Coach Tom Cahill, whose five-year contract has expired, and the entire structure of academy football. "We're going to take a realistic look at some of the teams we play," says Colonel Jack Schuder, Army's athletic director. "We are not going to play lots of bowl teams." Four of the Cadets' opponents still have postseason games ahead. "We faced a Mission Impossible schedule," said Cahill. "I think it's important that we maintain a nationally flavored schedule but against teams with whom we can be competitive." Cahill then cited as examples Tulane, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Stanford and Northwestern—all of whom probably would have defeated the Cadets this year also.

As bad as Army was, its record is not the worst. Texas-El Paso lost its 11th straight, 63-0 to Brigham Young. And Florida State, which fell apart at the end of last season and has not been recognizable since, plunged to 0-11 after a 49-0 loss to Florida, the worst defeat in its history. It was the fifth straight win for the Gators, who take a 7-4 record into the Tangerine Bowl against Miami of Ohio. Florida's biggest offensive day of the year was sparked by the fulltime return to action of Nat Moore, who had missed most of six games with a broken leg. Moore tallied the first two scores and rushed for 109 of the Gators' 494 offensive yards.

Remember that wonderful year 1948? Remember Johnny Belinda, "Dewey Wins" and the Berlin Blockade? Remember Tulane 46, LSU 0? The Green Wave was looking back on a quarter century of misery when it met once-beaten and Orange Bowl-bound Louisiana State in New Orleans last week. Tulane's prospects for an upset were not too promising, either, following late-season losses to Kentucky and Maryland that soured an otherwise impressive eight-victory record. But Tulane Coach Bennie Ellender, sensing the time had finally come, took a change of clothes to the stadium in anticipation of a postvictory dunking. Tulane got the win, all right, 14-0, and Ellender got his shower. The Wave's second unit scored both the touchdowns. A 36-yard pass from Terry Looney to Darwin Willie put Tulane ahead with only 19 seconds left in the half. Lyndon Lasiter smashed over from the one to cap an 80-yard fourth-quarter march that finished the scoring. Tulane intercepted LSU's Mike Miley three times and out-gained the Tiger offense 315 yards to 220. Linebacker Rusty Chambers made 11 solo tackles and assisted on six others. "We just got it kicked out of us tonight," said LSU's Charlie McClendon. Anybody want an Orange Bowl ticket cheap?

One hundred of them would not get you end-zone standing room at the New Year's Eve Alabama-Notre Dame clash. For the record, Miami Middle Guard Tony Cristiani, who has felt the wrath of both, is picking 'Bama because "they have more outside speed." The Hurricane's earlier 43-13 loss to Alabama was not quite as bad as last week's but maybe the Tide did not try as hard. Notre Dame's first wave of attackers was still in there when the score was 38-0 just before the fourth quarter. And the Irish never did call off their defensive dogs. Notre Dame was also fired by reminders of its 40-6 loss to Nebraska on the same Orange Bowl carpet 11 months ago. Ara Parseghian was embarrassed by that one. He called it "disastrous" and said he wanted to "make amends." Running Backs Wayne Bullock (116 yards, two touchdowns), Pete Demmerle (two TDs) and Art Best (92 yards) answered the call.

Auburn was as ill-suited for its game with Alabama as one supporter's fears imagined. "It would take a miracle for us to win," he said. "I know they were also unbeaten when we upset them last year but they are a lot better and we haven't shown much of anything all year." The 12 months since that 17-16 setback have been difficult ones for Alabama. Everywhere a Bear looked there were posters, signs, stickers, graffiti urging "Punt, 'Bama, Punt"—a slogan born of the two blocked kicks Auburn returned for touchdowns in last year's game. A radio station put the game's highlights on record and sold 20,000 copies. "You live from year to year with this football game," said Auburn's Shug Jordan, "and for Alabama it's been tough. But for us to beat them again would be the biggest upset we've ever had against them."

Despite hanging in gamely through two quarters, when they trailed only 14-0 and had shown surprising offensive promise, the Tigers were all out of miracles. Wilbur Jackson's running and pass catching accounted for 124 yards and one touchdown. A mark of the Tide's depth was the fact that 11 different runners gained 352 yards. The game ended on an interception by an Alabama player not even listed in the program. Somebody named Rhodes.