The Week

Mississippi State and Mississippi both won on the road in Tennessee. In Knoxville, the Bulldogs took advantage of four Tennessee turnovers to build a 34-3 lead and went on to win 34-21. State's Dave Marler completed 14 of 20 passes for 228 yards. Mardye Mc-Dole gained 174 yards by making four of those receptions, two good for touchdowns covering 35 and 78 yards. Vanderbilt, which like Tennessee is winless in SEC play, led Mississippi 10-0 after one period of play in Nashville but then the Rebels took command to come out on top 35-10.

Maryland advanced to this week's battle of unbeatens at Penn State by winning 27-0 at Duke. Lloyd Burruss' 56-yard punt return and interception, plus three fumble recoveries by the defense, set up the Terps' scoring. Although his string of 100-yard efforts ended at seven, Steve Atkins scored all three Maryland touchdowns on short runs. Field goals of 26 and 47 yards by Ed Loncar rounded out the scoring. Duke outgained Maryland 278 yards to 258, but was stymied by five turnovers. Much of the Blue Devil offense resulted from the passing of Stan Driskell, who completed 22 of 39 passes for 212 yards.

Also remaining undefeated in Atlantic Coast Conference action was Clemson. "Ted Brown's not the only Brown in the world," said Lester Brown of the Tigers, referring to his North Carolina State counterpart. "My goal all week was to prove that." Lester made a strong case for himself, outdistancing the more celebrated Ted 117 yards to 70 and scoring on runs of one and 11 yards. Another Brown, Clemson Linebacker Bubba, further contributed to the Tigers' 33-10 triumph in Raleigh by being in on 17 tackles.

Georgia Tech, a quasi-ACC member this season (its games do not count in the standings) took its sixth in a row by overcoming outsider Florida 17-13. The Gators led 10-0 in the second period and 13-10 in the fourth before being done in by Eddie Lee Ivery and Mike Kelley. Ivery scored twice as he ground out 146 yards rushing, and freshman Kelley hit on 12 of 20 passes for 175 yards.

North Carolina, too, relied on the passing of a freshman, Chuck Sharpe throwing three scoring strikes in the first half to build a 21-6 edge at South Carolina. A field goal put the Tar Heels ahead 24-6. Then Skip Ramsey came off the Gamecock bench to throw a 52-yard scoring pass to Tim Gillespie and, 2:41 later, a 49-yarder to Horace Smith. A pair of two-point conversion passes by Ramsey cut South Carolina's deficit to 24-22, which was as close as the Gamecocks could get.

Runners broke loose to lead Louisville and Northwestern Louisiana to victories. For the Cardinals it was Nathan Poole who rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns in a 33-21 conquest of William & Mary. For the Demons it was Joe Delaney, a sophomore who runs the 100 in 9.5. Delaney gained 263 of his 299 yards in the second half and scored on runs of 87, 71 and 25 yards and from one yard out as the Demons beat Nicholls State 28-18. Florida State, though, took to the air, Wally Woodham tossing four touchdown passes to down Southern Mississippi 38-16.

Western Carolina set up this week's showdown with Tennessee- Chattanooga for supremacy in the Southern Conference by crushing VMI 41-12. That win elevated the Catamounts into a first-place tie with the Moccasins, who lost for the first time, 28-24 at McNeese State in a non-conference game.

1. ALABAMA (7-1)
2. MARYLAND (8-0)
3. GEORGIA (6-1)