College Football / Randy Harvey : Flutie’s Shot at Basketball Blocked by Trump

Without Doug Flutie in uniform, things haven’t been the same at Boston College. So it’s no wonder the Eagles want him back.

Unfortunately for the football team, last season’s Heisman Trophy winner has completed his eligibility in that sport. But since Flutie has returned to school this fall to complete work on his degree, and the basketball team needs a point guard, Coach Gary Williams has invited No. 22 to join the team.

Flutie was Michael Adams’ backup at point guard for the Eagles until last winter, when Flutie was preparing for his first USFL season with the New Jersey Generals.

Flutie’s return to the Boston College basketball team would be within NCAA rules, which allow players to turn professional in one sport while retaining their amateur status in other sports. But, according to the Boston Globe, General owner Donald Trump gave Flutie an emphatic no when the quarterback asked permission to play basketball for the Eagles.

“I think he would have really helped us,” Williams told the Globe. “Doug played some pickup games with some of the Celtics’ players this year before they went to camp, and he held his own. I would have used him at point guard, which is like the quarterback of the offense.”

Meantime, the quarterback of Boston College’s football team continues to struggle.

Flutie’s successor, Shawn Halloran, has completed 170 passes for 2,078 yards and 9 touchdowns. But he’s also thrown 16 interceptions.

Attempting to replace Flutie, Halloran already was under enough pressure before the Eagles’ best offensive player, running back Troy Stradford, was sidelined for the rest of the season with an injury. Now, Halloran has been asked to carry the offense.

Having lost four of their last five games, the Eagles have a 3-6 record and plays No. 3 Penn State in State College, Pa. Saturday.

That is with a group of players that Coach Jack Bicknell said before the season had more talent than the 1984 team, which finished 10-2, including a victory in the Cotton Bowl, and won its second straight Lambert Trophy as the best team in the East. No Boston College team since Frank Leahy coached there had won the Lambert Trophy two straight years.

But even Bicknell underestimated the effect of the loss of Flutie.

Bicknell refuses to discuss speculation that he may be Gerry Faust’s successor at Notre Dame.

“I hate speculation when a guy is struggling,” Bicknell said. “If you say yes you’re interested, then you start speculation, and if you say no, you’re stupid.”

In the aftermath of Notre Dame’s 37-3 victory over USC last Saturday, the most recent speculation is that Faust may be asked to return when his five-year contract expires at the end of this season.

Not eager to hear that are the fans in South Bend who have posters saying: “Resign With Dignity.”

But the coach no doubt considers those posters an improvement over the ones that read: “Oust Faust.”

When it appeared that Faust was certain to lose his job, after the Irish had lost three of their first four games, he refused to discuss the speculation. Now that the Irish have won two straight games and are favored to win their next two at home against Navy and Mississippi, Faust no longer discourages talk about his future.

“If we win all of our remaining games, we’ll be ranked and go to a major bowl,” he told UPI this week.

Does that mean he will return next season?

“That’s the plan,” he said.

Boston College has suffered this season, but not as much as the team it beat in last season’s Cotton Bowl.

Houston was the Southwest Conference’s surprise champion last season, but the Cougars were expected to contend from the beginning this season. They had almost all of their starters returning, among them quarterback Gerald Landry. Again, Houston has been a surprise team.

Landry has been outstanding. Last Saturday, he set a conference record with 434 yards in total offense. Completing 23 of 43 passes for 388 yards and 3 touchdowns, and running for 46 yards in 23 carries, he also broke seven school records.

But Houston lost that game to Arkansas, 57-27, the sixth time the Cougars have lost in seven games. They have beaten only hapless Louisville.

“It seems like we don’t really have that fight in us like we did last year,” Landry told the Associated Press. “This year, we fold instead of getting ourselves back up.”

The problem is that the Cougars’ offense can’t score enough to keep up with the number of points their defense allows. Opposing offenses have averaged 35.4 points against Houston.

College Notes With the team torn apart by suspensions, 34 of TCU’s first 44 players are either freshmen or sophomores. But even though the Horned Frogs have lost four of their last five games, Coach Jim Wacker has regained his sense of humor. After the 45-0 loss last Saturday to Baylor in Waco, Wacker said: “Some good things have happened. The bus didn’t break down on the way to Waco. No one got ptomaine poisoning. After the game, we got clean towels and hot water.” . . . Pittsburgh Athletic Director Ed Bozik said a week ago that Coach Foge Fazio probably would retain his job after this season. But Bozik was not as generous with his votes of confidence after the 21-7 loss to Navy last Saturday that left the Panthers with a 4-3-1 record. “We had fully hoped we would go the rest of the way up to Penn State (Nov. 23) undefeated,” Bozik told the New York Times. “Now we have lost one of those games. If the trend starts again--that disintegration we had last year--we have a real problem on our hands.”

Williams College officials weren’t pleased when Amherst College officials rejected an offer to have their game Nov. 9 televised by a cable company. “We’re in education; we’re not in the entertainment business,” Amherst Coach Jim Ostendarp said. But Williams Coach Robert Odell said: “I think he feels national coverage would not make us compare favorably with Ohio State and Iowa, but our football is the way the game was intended to be played.” Amherst’s nickname is the Lord Jeffs. . . . Each Citadel player will wear a small, navy blue 59 on his helmet for the rest of the season in tribute to sophomore linebacker Marc Buoniconti, who was paralyzed from the neck down during a game last Saturday. Buoniconti wore No. 59. . . . His older brother, Duke senior Nick Buoniconti, probably will not return to his team this season so that he can spend time in Miami with his family.

Since throwing 10 interceptions in his first three games, Illinois quarterback Jack Trudeau has thrown 178 passes without an interception. That leaves him 20 short of the NCAA record held by Tulsa’s Jerry Rhome. Former Cal State Fullerton quarterback Damon Allen approached the record last season, when he threw 181 passes without an interception. . . . Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said this week that the Longhorns will be more selective in choosing bowl games in the future. Last season, they went to the Freedom Bowl in Anaheim, where they lost to Iowa, 55-17. “There was some feeling before the bowl we shouldn’t go,” Dodds said. “There was overwhelming feeling after the game we shouldn’t have gone.” . . . Alabama’s leading scorer is placekicker Van Tiffin, who has 49 points, but Coach Ray Perkins said the Crimson Tide player with the most points is wide receiver Al Bell, who has six touchdowns. “I don’t consider kickers players,” Perkins said. “Tiffin knows that. I tell him to stay away from the players and don’t get ‘em hurt.”

Brigham Young’s starting wide receivers, Glen Kozlowski and Mark Bellini, missed the loss to Texas El Paso last Saturday with injuries, but both are expected to return this Saturday against Wyoming. . . . No fan of the officials is Syracuse Coach Dick MacPherson, who said, “These guys get $75 a day in expenses, and they can’t wait to get out there and drink a beer with their friends, while I can’t even get a glass of water down my throat.” . . . Of Kansas quarterback Mike Norseth, who is from La Crescenta, Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer said: “When I look at the league (Big Eight), without a doubt he is the scariest quarterback we will play. He’s got the most experience, the most poise and accuracy of anyone throwing the football.”