SPOTLIGHT : FACTS, FIGURES AND COMMENTS FROM SATURDAY’S GAMES : BIG PLAYS

Jimmy Spencer blocked a punt in the fourth quarter and Richard Fain recovered in the end zone for a touchdown to give Florida a 17-10 lead in its 17-13 victory over Alabama. The Gators’ Will White intercepted three passes.

Dave Brown’s nine-yard touchdown pass play to Marc Mays with 38 seconds remaining gave Duke a 27-24 victory over Northwestern.

Howard Griffith scored on a one-yard run with 90 seconds left to give Illinois a 23-22 victory over Colorado. Long passes from quarterback Jason Verduzco to Jeff Finke, Steve Mueller and Wagner Lester set up the score.

Pete Gosar’s interception with 1:12 remaining preserved Wyoming’s 34-27 victory over Arkansas State, which had driven to the Cowboys’ 20. Sean Fleming kicked a school-record six field goals for Wyoming.

BACK IN ACTION

Cumberland University in Tennessee, the school with the dubious distinction of having suffered the most lopsided loss in college football history, returned to action for the first time in four decades in a game against Campbellsville. “It’s a dream,” Cumberland President Thomas Mills said as he stood happily among the overflow crowd of 4,123 that ringed Kirk Field.

In 1916, the Bulldogs’ 220-0 loss to Georgia Tech made them an entry in the football record books. The school dropped the sport after the 1949 season. Saturday’s game was at least an improvement over the 1916 fiasco. Campbellsville won, but the score was only 34-0.

STREAKS

Alabama lost to Florida, 17-13, and is 0-2 for the first time since 1984. Its four-game losing streak is the school’s longest since 1956. Coach Gene Stallings ran his first-year record at Alabama to 0-2.

New Mexico State’s 52-7 loss to Kansas State was the Aggies’ 20th straight.

Virginia quarterback Shawn Moore had thrown 125 consecutive passes without an interception before Navy’s Darrell Graham ended the streak late in the second quarter.

Northwestern’s 27-24 loss to Duke was its 13 defeat in a row.

Iowa State, which lost to Minnesota, 20-16, is 0-19-1 against the Gophers, last winning in 1898. Coach Jim Walden is 0-10 against Big Ten schools.

COMEDY OF ERRORS

Nevada Las Vegas missed all six of its conversion attempts against Oregon State, but the Rebels got plenty of help from the Beavers. Oregon State fumbled the ball away on its first six possessions of the second half on the way to a 45-20 loss.

IN QUOTES

Pittsburgh Coach Paul Hackett, after Oklahoma ran for 450 yards in a 52-10 defeat of the Panthers: “I thought this was supposed to be a down year for them . Holy smoke, if this is a down year running the option, what’s it like in a good year?”

George Welsh, coach at Virginia and former coach at Navy, after the Cavaliers routed the Midshipmen, 56-14, and outgained them, 664 total yards to 320: “It got out of hand, especially in the second half. I know how (Navy Coach George) Chaump feels, because our wideouts are bigger than their linebackers. It’s tough to recruit at an academy, and they didn’t have much of a chance today.”

California quarterback Mike Pawlawski, who completed 28 of 43 passes for 245 yards in a 52-24 loss to Miami, on the Hurricanes: “They’re not No. 1 in the nation. There are better teams that don’t talk as much, and they’re awful dancers (after touchdowns). They talk a lot tougher than they are.”

MILESTONES

Shawn Moore completed 13 of 22 passes for 250 yards and ran for 35 yards against Navy to become Virginia’s career total-offense leader with 6,081 yards, breaking Scott Gardner’s 15-year-old mark of 6,059.

Iowa’s 63-10 victory over Cincinnati was the most points it has scored in a season opener since the Hawkeyes defeated Utah State, 70-14, in 1957. Iowa’s nine rushing touchdowns broke the school record of seven set against Washington State in 1953 and tied against Minnesota in 1983. Jeff Skillett’s nine extra-point kicks also broke the record of eight done four times, the last in 1985 by Rob Houghtlin.

Texas A&M; set a school record for total offense with 774 yards in a 63-14 victory over Southwestern Louisiana, the second-highest total in Southwest Conference history behind Houston’s 1,021 yards against Southern Methodist last year. Robert Wilson, Darren Lewis and Randy Simmons each rushed for at least 100 yards. Lance Pavlas completed all nine of his passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns.

Pat Jackson’s four rushing touchdowns in Kansas State’s 52-7 victory over New Mexico State tied a school record.

Harvey Williams’ four rushing touchdowns in Louisiana State’s 35-7 victory over Miami of Ohio tied the LSU record set in 1977 by Charles Alexander against Oregon and also tied in 1984 by Dalton Hilliard against Kentucky.

Eddie Robinson coached his 500th game for Grambling, a 37-20 victory over Tennessee State. Robinson, the winningest coach in college football history, is 360-125-15.

INJURIES

Iowa State tailback Blaise Bryant suffered a deep bruise in his right shoulder and quarterback Chris Pedersen sustained possible ligament damage to his right knee against Minnesota.

Oregon flanker Tony Hargain suffered a broken left kneecap in a 55-23 victory over Idaho, and fullback Brandon Jumper suffered torn ligaments in his right knee when he was pushed by Idaho’s Kris McCall after stepping out of bounds at the end of a 43-yard run. Both Oregon players are out for the season.

Alabama receiver Craig Sanderson suffered torn ligaments in his left knee in a 17-13 loss to Florida and is expected to be out for the season.

THEY’D SOONER RUN

Oklahoma has traditionally been a running team, and this year’s version is no exception. In their 52-10 dismantling of 13th-ranked Pittsburgh, the Sooners rushed for 450 yards, and three backs ran for more than 100 yards each. Fullback Kenyon Rasheed ran 13 times for 122 yards, including touchdown runs of 11 and seven yards in the first half; Ike Lewis (14 carries for 110 yards) scored on a 63-yard run in the second quarter, and Dewell Brewer (eight carries for 107 yards) scored on runs of 51 and 47 yards early in the third quarter. Oh, yes, fullback Mike McKinley added 74 more yards in 12 carries. Of course, the Sooners didn’t run on every play. They started the game with a pass. Steve Collins pump faked, then passed to wingback Otis Taylor on a 71-yard scoring play. It was Collins’ only completion in three attempts.

BY THE NUMBERS

A look at some of the day’s top performers.

PASSING

Player Comp. Att. Yds. TD Erickson, Miami 32 47 462 4 Detmer, BYU 32 50 448 5 Gossen, Washington St. 25 42 322 0 Corontzos, Wyoming 15 33 322 0 Maggard, Kentucky 27 46 282 2 Brown, Duke 23 33 278 2 Justin, Arizona 19 33 274 2 Matthews, Florida 21 37 267 1 Pawlawski, California 28 43 245 4 Maddox, UCLA 13 20 244 1 Moore, Virginia 13 22 240 1 Marinovich, USC 22 34 240 1

RUSHING

Player Carries Yards TD Dean, Grambling 27 217 3 Hudson, Oklahoma State 30 171 1 Harris, Arkansas State 13 163 2 Jackson, Kansas State 21 156 4 Kelemeni, Oregon 17 149 2 Brown, Temple 17 129 1 Bieniemy, Colorado 23 127 0 Mayweather, Army 30 127 2 Wright-Fair, Washington State 21 125 1 Rasheed, Oklahoma 13 122 2 Joseph, Auburn 22 119 1 Stewart, Iowa 12 114 1

RECEIVING

Player Rec. Yards TD Carroll, Miami 11 208 1 Wiggins, Wyoming 6 161 0 Guilford, Wyoming 9 153 1 R. Moore, UCLA 8 133 1 Treggs, California 12 130 1 Bellini, BYU 10 121 0 Wellman, USC 9 121 0 Hill, Miami 10 114 1 Buchanan, Northwestern 9 108 1