SPOTLIGHT : COLLEGE FOOTBALL

TOP PERFORMANCES

Passing

Quarterback, Team Att. Cmp. Yds. TD PETER TOM WILLIS, FSU 40 25 422 5 JEFF GEORGE, Illinois 38 26 321 3 CRAIG ERICKSON, Miami 27 17 250 3 GREG FREY, Ohio St. 31 16 232 1 HOLLINGSWORTH, Alabama 43 27 214 3 QUINN GROVEY, Arkansas 22 12 207 1 SHAWN MOORE, Virginia 27 17 191 2 TODD MARINOVICH, USC 31 22 178 0 GERRY GDOWSKI, Nebraska 23 13 154 1 ANDY KELLY, Tennessee 23 9 150 2 REGGIE SLACK, Auburn 22 16 141 3

Rushing

Player, Team Car. Yds. TD CHUCK WEBB, Tennessee 26 250 2 JAMES ROUSE, Arkansas 22 134 1 RICKY ERVINS, USC 30 126 1 BARRY FOSTER, Arkansas 22 103 2 LEROY HOARD, Michigan 17 121 0 RAGHIB ISMAIL, Notre Dame 16 108 1 DARIAN HAGAN, Colorado 19 106 1

Receiving

Player, Team No. Yds. TD MIKE BELLAMY, Illinois 8 166 1 DEREK RUSSELL, Arkansas 7 105 0 KEVIN TURNER, Alabama 7 40 0 TERRY ANTHONY, Florida St. 6 88 2 RONALD LEWIS, Florida St. 5 106 0 JEFF GRAHAM, Ohio St. 5 103 0 WESLEY CARROLL, Miami 5 88 1 HERMAN MOORE, Virginia 5 56 1 JOHN JACKSON, USC 5 56 0 RICKY ERVINS, USC 5 44 0 BILLY WINSTON, Arkansas 4 94 0 MORGAN GREGORY, Nebraska 4 67 1 LAWRENCE DAWSEY, Florida St. 4 66 0 ALEXANDER WRIGHT, Auburn 4 59 0 GREG MCMURTRY, Michigan 4 56 0 BOBBY OLIVE, Ohio St. 4 55 0 RANDALL HILL, Miami 4 64 0 MARCO BATTLE, Alabama 4 42 1 GREG TAYLOR, Auburn 4 33 2

LOWLIGHTS

Florida State was penalized 13 times for a team-record 135 yards, including three consecutive holding calls in the second quarter that left the Seminoles with a first down and 40 on their 35-yard line.

Nebraska is 0-4 in Fiesta Bowl games.

INJURIES

USC offensive guard Brent Parkinson was sidelined in the first quarter with a sprained right knee.

Notre Dame tailback Ricky Watters suffered a knee injury on the third play of the Irish’s Orange Bowl victory over Colorado.

MILESTONES

USC receiver John Jackson had five receptions for 56 yards against Michigan, establishing a Pacific 10 Conference record for having at least one reception in 37 consecutive games. He had shared the mark with former Trojan Randy Simmrin.

Peter Tom Willis, a fifth-year senior who who passed for a school-record 3,124 yards this season, threw for Fiesta Bowl records of 422 yards and five touchdowns to lead fifth-ranked Florida State to a 41-17 victory over Nebraska. . . . Bobby Bowden has coached the Seminoles to a 9-3-1 bowl record, including a 7-0-1 mark since 1982. The Seminoles have not lost a bowl game since the 1981 Orange Bowl (18-17, to Oklahoma).

Illinois won its first postseason game in 26 years with a 31-21 victory over Virginia in the Citrus Bowl. The Illini’s last postseason victory was a 17-7 win over Washington in the 1964 Rose Bowl. Illinois lost four postseason games in the interim.

Raghib Ismail rushed for a career-high 108 yards in Notre Dame’s 21-6 victory over Colorado in the Orange Bowl. . . . The Irish and Buffaloes played the first scoreless first half in the Orange Bowl in more than 50 years. The last time it happened was the 1938 game between Auburn and Michigan State.

Tennessee (11-1) became the 10th school to record 600 victories in college football. . . . Tennessee quarterback Andy Kelly found Anthony Morgan alone behind the Arkansas secondary for an 84-yard scoring pass play, the longest in the Volunteers’ 30-year bowl history and second longest in the 54 years of the Cotton Bowl. . . Tennessee’s Chuck Webb rushed for 250 yards, the second-best total in Cotton Bowl history, trailing only the 265 yards by Rice’s Dicky Maegle against Alabama in 1954.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

Jeff George, the Illinois quarterback who made a number of good decisions against Virginia in the Citrus Bowl, now faces an even bigger call.

George threw for three touchdowns and a season-high 321 yards to lead the Fighting Illini to a 31-21 victory over Virginia, then fended off questions about whether he will turn pro.

“I don’t know what I want to do,” said George, a strong-armed, 6-foot-4 redshirt junior who has the option of passing up his final year of collegiate eligibility.

George, who completed 26 of 38 passes, demonstrated strength and finesse in the first half as Illinois built a 17-7 lead from which the Cavaliers were not able to recover. He opened the second half by completing four consecutive passes for 71 yards to lead the Illini on an 84-yard scoring drive.

George said he plans to discuss his future with his parents and Coach John Mackovic in the coming weeks, “and take it from there. But right now, I honestly don’t know what will happen.”

Mackovic said he is unsure how he will advise George, but offered a hint of what the future might hold for him at Illinois.

“Jeff would be an outstanding prospect for the Heisman next year,” Mackovic said. “We could go to the Rose Bowl next year.”

IN QUOTES

USC tailback Ricky Ervins on his game-winning touchdown run: “I had allowed myself to be arm-tackled earlier. But I really wanted that touchdown. When I turned the corner, I just saw victory.”

Trojan Coach Larry Smith after winning his first Rose Bowl: “It feels great. For a change, on Jan. 2, SC people can smile and be happy. It feels good to get a bowl victory. It’s been a long time coming.”

Michigan defensive back Tripp Welborne after outgoing Coach Bo Schembechler drew a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct after arguing a holding call: “That was vintage Bo.”

Florida State wide receiver Terry Anthony, who had touchdown catches of 14 and 24 yards, said the fifth-ranked Seminoles staked a claim to the No.-1 ranking with their 41-17 win over Nebraska: “There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re No. 1. We’ll suit up with any team next week and we’ll come out on top.”

Coach Bobby Bowden on the Seminoles’ ranking: “I think we’re the best football team in the country right now. But they don’t make the polls based on just the end of the season. Over the 12-game haul, we just don’t hold up at 10-2. But today, there’s no question in my mind that we’re the best.”

Florida State quarterback Peter Tom Willis on the pounding he took from the Nebraska defense: “I would like to go spend a couple of hours in a Jacuzzi.”

SUDDEN IMPACT

Auburn running back Stacy Danley said it was the most vicious hit he had ever taken, a jolt that put him flat on his back and jarred his teammates back into reality.

Ohio State was dominating the Hall of Fame Bowl, leading 14-3 early in the second quarter, when Buckeye safety Zack Dumas leveled Danley as he drifted out of the backfield for a screen pass.

“Nobody’s ever hit me like that,” Danley said. “I couldn’t breathe--I couldn’t move. All I could do was lie there until I got over it.”

As Danley lay motionless on the field, Coach Pat Dye ran out to check his condition.”

“I told Stacy that when you get up, if there’s any way, you run off of this football field,” Dye said. “Don’t you dare let those Ohio State players think they’re tougher than you are.”

Danley did manage to get up and trot off the field, giving his teammates an emotional lift and strong message.

“It showed us they meant business,” said quarterback Reggie Slack, “and unless we started to execute, we were going to go out as losers.”

Slack hit Greg Taylor for an 11-yard touchdown pass play in the closing seconds of the half. He then threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in the second half to seal Auburn’s 31-14 victory.

“The lick is what set us on fire,” punt returner Shayne Wasden said. “Coach Dye even told us at halftime that they liked to have killed Stacy--and we’re going to have to play physical like that if we expected to win.”

STREAKS

USC snapped a three-game losing streak in postseason play with its 17-10 victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl. The Trojans had lost in the last two Rose Bowls (to Michigan State in 1988 and Michigan in 1989) and lost to Auburn in the 1987 Citrus Bowl.