Evening star., 1954-10-11
Clear Sailing Likely
For Sooners as Most
Powers See Trouble
BY IN. Associated Press


BY The Associated Press
Nearly all Of the Nations coll
lege football powers are looking
forward to rugged tests as the
topSy-turvy season moves into
its middle phase, but Oklahoma's
Sooners appear to be set for an
unbeaten season.
Bud Wilkinson's club got by
its last big stumbling block Sat-
urday by defeating Texas. lat.
The Sooners must face Kansas.
Kansas State, Colorado, Iowa
State, Missouri, Nebraska and
Oklahoma A8zM, Some Of these
certainly are not pushovers and
that great equalizer-the one
platoon system - could work
against any club, but Oklahoma
figures to be heavy favorite
In each instance.
The Sooners. who opened by
drubbing California and then
pulled out 21-16 squeaker over
surprising Texas Christian. are
aiming for their seventh straight
title in the Big Seven. Their
hopes sagged when they lost
Quarterback Gene Calame with
a broken collarbone, but Sopho-
more Jim Harris took over be-
fore the record crowd of $4,000
at Dallas Saturday and made
Wilkinson's eyes light up.
But if things are bright at
Oklahoma, uncertainty clouds
the picture for the other lead
ing teams.
Spartans Next for Irish.
Notre Dame. which bounced
back from its drubbing by Pur-
due to smash Pitt, $50. now
faces Michigan State and Navy
in its next two games.
UCLA, which whipped Mary
land and then barely STAYED of
Washington, 21-20, has to take
on a Stanford club which is
likely to rebound from the $50
pasting it received from Navy's
surprising eleven. The Uclans
play all their remaining games
in the Pacific Coast Conference.
The Coast race could go down
to the final game between UCLA
and Southern California Novem-
ber 20.
The Big Ten race is shaping up
as one of the most interesting
battles in the country. Wis
consin, which furthered its bid
for high ranking by nosing out
Rice, 1877, with a last-minute
touchdown by Alan Ameche, this
week takes on Purdue.
The Boilermakers were not |
figured as a first-clasS title threat
before the season started, but |
Len Dawson pitched four touch
down passes against both Mis-
souri, and Notre Dame. Then he
was bottled up by Dukes strong
team Saturday and Purdue had /
to resort to a crushing ground |
game to pull out a 1913 tie with
Bill Murray's club.
Buckeyes to Battle Iowa.
In addition to the game at Wis
consin, powerful Ohio State,
40-7 winner over Illinois. goes
after it's fourth straight victory
when it entertains Iowa. The
Hawkeyes, rated a top contender
in. the conference, were nipped,
14-13, by Michigan. Minnesota,
bidding to regain its old prestige,
meets the collapsing Illini. Mich
igan takes on Northwestern.
The South has It's share of big
games. Army, a Co.'s winner
over Dartmouth, plays at Duke,
while Auburn takes on Georgia
Tech and Alabama plays Ten
nessee. Mississippi. one of the
standouts, meets Tulane. Florida,
a 14-7 upset victim of Clemson
after victories over Georgia
Tech and Auburn. opposes Ken
lucky.
Yale and Princeton. leading
the Ivy League with 20 records.
play Cornell and Brown. respec-
lively. The Ellis got by stubborn
Columbia. 1877. and the Tigers
topped winless Penn by the same
score. The big surprise was Har-
wards 1912 victory over Cornell.
Penn State. apparently the
class of the East, may run into
trouble with West Virginia. The
Lions walloped Virginia,
34-7, while the Mountaineers
found George Washington stub
born but pulled out a 1877 de-
riSi0n