Miami Bet The House and Lost

If The Refrigerator could do it, why not The House? That seemed to be the thinking of the New England Patriots Sunday in their game against the Miami Dolphins.

The Patriots trailed, 13-3, early in the fourth quarter and faced a fourth and one on the Dolphin 28. Patriot Coach Raymond Berry, disdaining a field goal try, decided to go for the first down. Thereupon, Steve (The House) Moore, a 295-pound linemen, was sent into the game to join Mosi Tatupu in the Patriot backfield.

The Dolphins, sensing that Moore would play the role that William Perry did in leading Walter Payton to a couple of touchdowns, adjusted their defense accordingly. When Tatupu got the ball, the Dolphins ganged up on Moore, shoving him back toward Tatupu. Problem was, it never was Tatupu’s intention to run.

Tatupu, after taking a couple of steps, turned and tossed the ball back to quarterback Steve Grogan. Grogan then lofted a pass to a wide-open Greg Hawthorne, who took it in for a touchdown. That made it 13-10.

Grogan later scored on a one-yard keeper and the Patriots won, 17-13.

Add Fridge: Asked after his four-yard touchdown reception Sunday what the play was called, he said, “I don’t know.”

Trivia Time: What do Louis Newsom, Alva Holloman and Carl Olson have in common? (Answer below.)

It-had-to-happen dept.: In the wake of the disaster at South Bend, a number of fans at the USC-Washington State game were spotted wearing buttons that read “Shed Ted.”

From Notre Dame Coach Gerry Faust: “We could be 10-1 or 9-2 if we padded our schedule. You can do those things. But if you are playing solid competition week-in and week-out, which a lot of schools are doing now, a great year is 8-3, 9-2. Our schedule is the toughest in the country.”

Question: If you guaranteed a coach he could have Army, Navy and Air Force on his schedule every year, what would he say?

After Tulane’s 58-3 loss to Georgia, which dropped its record to 0-8, Green Wave Coach Mack Brown said things could be worse.

“I’ve got two healthy kids and a sweet wife--you know, all the things that are really important. I went home, and my wife told me that after Saturday, she’s not going to drink anymore. She’s not going to drink any less, but . . . “

Said Ohio State linebacker Pepper Johnson after the Buckeyes knocked off No. 1 Iowa: “The way I see it, we’re up there all by ourselves. All we have to do is beat Northwestern, Wisconsin and Michigan and we’re on our way to winning the Rose Bowl and the national championship.”

Way to go, Pepper. Just like that, you’ve managed to make bulletin boards in Evanston, Madison and Ann Arbor.

Trivia Answer: The same nickname, Bobo. Newsom and Holloman were big league pitchers, both with no-hitters to their credit. Olson was a middleweight boxing champion.

Quotebook

James Litke of the Associated Press, on Sunday’s touchdown catch by William (The Refrigerator) Perry: “It’s believed to be the first NFL touchdown pass ever caught by a major appliance.”