Punt? What's That?

Last year they were the most exciting team in the U.S. This year they may be merely the best. John Huarte, the 1964 Heisman Trophy winner, was gone. And there was talk that with a backfield of Zloch, Eddy, Wolski and Conjar, Notre Dame Coach Ara Parseghian was opening an all-purpose delicatessen instead of fielding a football team. But just for practice, Notre Dame's 1965 varsity overwhelmed an alumni squad quarterbacked by Huarte, 72-0. And last week they opened the season by clobbering California, 48-6.

Before the game, Parseghian, who practically invented the crying towel, acted as though he could not possibly understand why his Fighting Irish were two-touchdown favorites. "Cal has 24 lettermen back," he warned, "plus a lot of junior-college transfers and a fine group of sophomores." Very funny. Quarterback Zloch ran for two touch downs and passed 24 yds. to Halfback Nick Eddy for a third. Safety Man Nick Rassas intercepted three Cal passes. The first string spent most of the fourth quarter relaxing on the bench, as Notre Dame, sticking to the ground and only once bothering to punt, outgained California 411 yds to 85 yds.

But if Cal's battered Bears wish they could forget last week's disaster, how must Alabama, Iowa and Army feel? The No. 1 -ranked team in the U.S. last year, Alabama lost to underdog Georgia 18-17. Iowa, picked by many experts to win the Big Ten championship, was upset by Washington State, 7-0. And Army, reckoned as an Eastern power, failed to reckon on Tennessee Sophomore Charles Fulton -- who threw two touchdown passes and led the Volunteers to an easy 21-0 victory.

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