The Midwest : Wichita State Shocks Kansas State

The Big Eight, which lost a little prestige earlier Saturday afternoon when Nebraska was upset by Florida State, took another blow to its pride later in the day when Wichita State surprised Kansas State, 16-10, at Manhattan, Kan.

Valasco Smith caught a touchdown pass and set up a field goal with a 33-yard run in leading the Shockers of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Sergio Lopez-Chavero, Wichita State’s placekicker, booted a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter, and Smith caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from Brian McDonald as Wichita State built a 10-3 halftime lead.

Kansas State tried to rally in the third quarter but committed three turnovers.

Lopez-Chavero, injured on an earlier kickoff, had to be helped off the field after missing on a 52-yard attempt with 11:24 left in the third period. But freshman Brad Fleeman kicked a 40-yarder for a 13-3 lead with 9:52 remaining. Following another Kansas State turnover and Smith’s 33-yard run, Fleeman booted a 22-yard field goal that gave the Shockers a 16-3 lead going into the fourth period.

Kansas State scored its only touchdown with 1:26 left, when Randy Williams scored from a yard out.

Colorado 23, Colorado St. 10--Last season, Colorado had one of the most anemic rushing attacks in the country, averaging only 59.9 yards per game.

Saturday afternoon, however, the Buffaloes unveiled a wishbone attack and rolled up 358 yards rushing, in grinding out a victory over Colorado State at Boulder. Colorado had 201 yards rushing in the first half in forging a 16-3 lead.

Quarterback Mark Hatcher rushed for two touchdowns, and Mark Eckel kicked three 32-yard field goals to spark the offense.

Bowling Green 31, Ball St. 6--Melvin Marshall scored twice on pass interception returns of 62 and 21 yards, and Erik Johnson recovered a fumble in the end zone for another touchdown as Bowling Green beat Ball State in a Mid-American Conference game at Muncie, Ind.

Johnson also made another fumble recovery that set up one of Paul Silvi’s two field goals. Bowling Green’s only touchdown came on a one-yard run by Bernard White.

Ball State, losing to Bowling Green for the sixth straight year, managed only a pair of 39-yard field goals by John Diettrich in the first and second quarters.

Northern Illinois 17, Western Michigan 0--At De Kalb, Ill., quarterback Marshall Taylor passed for one touchdown and ran for another to lead Northern Illinois. Western Michigan got inside the Northern Illinois 20 twice, but failed to score on either occasions.

E. Michigan 27, Youngstown St. 22--Robert Gordon passed for 174 yards, including a fourth-quarter touchdown to Gary Patton, who also rushed for 120 yards, to lead Eastern Michigan to a nonconference victory at Ypsilanti, Mich.

Cincinnati 31, Austin Peay 9--Running back Reggie Taylor ran for 138 yards and two touchdowns to lead Cincinnati past visiting Austin Peay in a nonconference game.