DATE: Wednesday, October 1, 1997            TAG: 9710010630

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: PAUL WHITE

                                            LENGTH:   59 lines

MEAC ROUNDUP

South Carolina State coach has seen too many bizarre plays

It's got to be some pretty bizarre football to surprise South Carolina State coach Willie Jefferies these days.

Already this season, he's seen his quarterback fumble on fourth and one, an opponent recover and run the other way before fumbling and his quarterback pick it back up and gain the first down. Two plays later, the Bulldogs, who had trailed the entire game, scored a touchdown with less than 30 seconds left to beat Charleston Southern.

He's also seen his team beat nationally ranked Furman without getting a first down in the second half. But the topper came Saturday, when his team rallied from 14 points down with less than 10 minutes remaining to beat Tennessee State 34-28.

The game seemed headed for overtime when Tennessee State's ``Hail Mary'' pass was batted down as the fourth quarter expired. The Bulldogs had jumped offsides, though, which gave Tennessee State one more chance with no time remaining. But when the ``Hail Mary'' went up a second time, South Carolina State's Jermaine Derricott picked it off, juked Tennessee State quarterback Leon Murray and raced 89 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

``I must be living right and paying the preacher,'' Jeffries said. ``I've never seen anything like it.''

Coming from Jeffries, that's saying something.

FAMU, Hampton meet in rematch of six-OT game

Speaking of bizarre, Florida A&M (4-0, 1-0 MEAC), ranked 12th in the national I-AA poll, visits Hampton (3-1, 2-0) Saturday in a rematch of last season's NCAA Division I-AA record-tying six-overtime, 59-58 Rattler victory at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. The team combined to score 77 points in the extra periods and may have been the impetus behind the new NCAA rule requiring teams to go for two-point conversions after the third overtime.

The game will be Hampton's first at home and matches the top two teams in the MEAC (Morgan State is also unbeaten in official MEAC games but was exposed by Norfolk State Saturday. Saturday's game will also particularly special for Hampton assistant coach Alonzo Lee, who was in charge of Florida A&M defensive backs last year.

Only thing missing from Fish Bowl was 5,000 fans

Fish Bowl organizers said they didn't need to fill 28,886-seat Dick Price Stadium to call their game a success, that half that would be plenty. But only 9,010 turned out to see Norfolk State whip Morgan State in the 50th annual Classic.

``It was a beautiful day, a great game, the only thing missing was about 5,000 people,'' Fish Bowl executive director Glen Mason said. ``We were hoping the historical nature of the game would generate ticket sales, but you can't just impose something like that on the general public.''

Mason said a more attractive opponent, like James Madison or VMI, would help attract larger, more diverse crowds.

Proceeds from the game benefit the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, Norfolk Community Hospital and the Norfolk State Athletic Foundation. Last year, each organization received $1,000.

``I think we'll do a little better than that this year,'' Mason said.

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