Anybody Here Seen Zumberge?

Alabama linebacker Cornelius Bennett showed his coaches that he’s not afraid of anybody when he threw Joab Thomas for a five-yard loss during last spring’s varsity-alumni game.

Who is Joab Thomas? Only the University of Alabama president.

Bennett will lead the Crimson Tide’s defense against USC in Saturday’s Aloha Bowl.

Brigham Young, principally Robbie Bosco, has compiled 4,608 yards passing this season and is No. 1 in that category in the country. On the ground, BYU is averaging 145.7 yards a game. So what does Ohio State defensive coordinator Gary Blackney say about defending against BYU in Saturday’s Citrus Bowl at Orlando, Fla.?

“The No.1 thing you have to do against any great offensive team is you can’t forget that they run the ball extremely well,” he said. “You have got to understand and recognize the excellence of their passing game, but you also have to realize that they can run the ball well, too. We have got to control the run.”

Sure, Gary.

On the other side of the Citrus Bowl coin: In contrast to Bosco, Ohio State’s Jim Karsatos may be the best-kept secret in college football. Karsatos, a 6-foot 3-inch junior from Sunny Hills High in Fullerton, passed for 2,115 yards and a school-record 21 touchdowns in the past season. He completed 62.2% of his 254 passes, was intercepted only eight times and quietly emerged as fourth in the nation in passing efficiency.

Karsatos and his favorite target, Cris Carter, practiced last summer in Columbus, Ohio, and it has paid off.

“I think he’s the best in the country,” Karsatos said of Carter. “He catches the easy ones and the hard ones. He makes the great catches look easy. After this summer, everything seemed to come together.”

Add forgettable quotes: Chicago Bear defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, making an early assessment of William (The Refrigerator) Perry: “The Chicago Bears have wasted a draft choice.”

Fight promoter Don King knows when (and where) he’s well off. After his recent acquittal on tax charges, he said: “If I lived in Russia, the KGB would have gotten me by now. I’d be a black icebox in Siberia.”

New twist to an old question: “Robert” proposed to “Dawn” on the Superdome message board in the first half of the Atlanta-New Orleans game last Sunday. As the game drew to a close, the message board flashed: “Word is that Dawn said yes to Robert.”

The couple was not otherwise identified.

Basketball players may be a better investment than an oil well--if you believe the financial report on Georgetown University and center Patrick Ewing.

The school profited by more than $12 million from the four years that Ewing played for the Hoyas, all for a $48,000 investment in an athletic scholarship, according to a story in Regardie’s, a Washington business magazine.

Cleveland Brown Coach Marty Schottenheimer might not appreciate the humor, but a couple of his players are giving the needle to the Miami Dolphins, the Browns’ Jan. 4 playoff opponent in the Orange Bowl.

“I’m glad we’re playing the Dolphins,” cornerback Frank Minnifield said. “Real glad. That’s because there’s nothing I enjoy eating more than fresh seafood.”

Not to be outdone, free safety Don Rogers offered: “There’s a certain twist about this game. I’d like to show the Dolphins a new meaning to the term ‘Miami Vice.’ ”

It should be sack time when the New York Jets and the New England Patriots meet Saturday in the AFC wild card game at Giants Stadium. New England linebacker Andre Tippett’s 16 1/2 sacks were the best in the AFC. New York Jet quarterback Ken O’Brien was sacked 62 times, the most in the NFL.

Quotebook

Stock car driver Richard Petty, on retiring: “You always want to quit when you’re on top, but when you’re on top, you don’t want to quit.”