COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Opponents Can’t Wipe Their Cleats on These Teams Now

Ah, yes . . . October. The cooling winds of Autumn arrive. Leaves begin to change colors and fall gently to the ground. Dad hunkers down for Saturday’s big game. Mom readies your favorite sweater. (Except, of course, in Southern California, where mom readies your intravenous tube to treat that nasty case of heat prostration.)

October also signals the end of the first third of the football season. For many teams the schedule is already four games old, plenty of time to have squandered any hopes of a national championship or a New Year’s Day bowl. For others, the season has brought unexpected success and--who knows?--maybe something more.

Best of all, a third of a season allows us to declare the early winners and losers of 1991.

The winners:

1--The Doormat Five: Kansas, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Rutgers and Tulsa.

About this time last year, these teams had a combined 6-14 record. They won only eight more games the rest of the season. Now look at them. Kansas is 3-0, Wisconsin is 3-0, Kentucky is 2-1 (and should be 3-0), Rutgers is 3-1 and Tulsa is 3-2, including a victory against ranked Texas A&M.; That’s a 14-4 record.

Wisconsin might be the most interesting story of the five longtime losers. Second-year Coach Barry Alvarez, who endured a 1-10 season last year, has one senior among his top 27 players on offense. Four of his five best running backs are freshmen. Only five of his top 22 defensive players are seniors. And on Wisconsin’s two-deep depth chart (first and second string), 15 players are freshmen or redshirt freshmen.

2--Pittsburgh.

The Panthers lost their last five games in 1990. This year, they have won their first four, a Pitt record not matched since 1982. Their next sequence of games--Maryland, Notre Dame, Syracuse and East Carolina--will determine how good the Panthers are, but so far Coach Paul Hackett has done wonders with a team that couldn’t beat Temple last year.

3--Syracuse.

“We thought if we could play well early in the year, we might have a chance to be in all of these games,” Syracuse Coach Paul Pasqualoni said.

Pasqualoni can rest easy. Syracuse seems to be for real, thanks to improved team speed (wide receiver Qadry Ismail, in particular) and a defense good enough essentially to stop Florida’s dreaded passing attack. Can the Orangemen do the same thing against No. 1 Florida State Saturday? Doubtful, but a 10-1 regular season isn’t out of the question.

4--Tennessee.

The Volunteers are 4-0, but that isn’t why Coach Johnny Majors can hardly believe his luck. The reason for all those smiles in Knoxville is that the NCAA somehow spared the Volunteer program of postseason or television sanctions in a recent investigation.

5--North Carolina State.

The defense is giving up 2.5 points per game. The offense is averaging 27 points. No wonder Dick Sheridan of the 4-0 Wolfpack is considered one of the brightest coaches in the business.

Other winners: Michigan wide receiver Desmond Howard (a Heisman Trophy might be his), Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer (Coach Lou Holtz finally has let him run the offense), Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden (absolutely loving every minute of the season).

The losers:

1--Houston/quarterback David Klingler and Brigham Young/quarterback Ty Detmer.

A moment of silence, please, for these two programs, a combined 2-5. As for the Heisman hopes of Klingler and Detmer, forget it.

2--Texas.

The 0-2 Longhorns, in the midst of a quarterback controversy, are wound tighter than ukulele strings. If Coach David McWilliams doesn’t figure out a way to start scoring some points, the Texas alums are going to start whining again.

3--Ohio State.

The Buckeyes not only lost running back Robert Smith, but they lost some integrity, too.

4--Michigan State.

The Spartans are 0-3 and--surprise!--quarterback Bret Johnson, who transferred to Michigan State two seasons ago, is ticked off at his coaches again. After being pulled from the lineup during last Saturday’s loss to Rutgers, Johnson told the Ann Arbor News: “It’s tough to play quarterback (when the coaches) are looking over your shoulder. But it’s their call.”

And here’s the decision: Coach George Perles will start Jim Miller against Indiana Saturday. “I think we’ve had an enormous amount of evaluation on our quarterback situation,” said Perles--which is another way of saying Johnson had plenty of chances to keep the starting job, but didn’t.

Johnson has completed 16 of 37 passes for 171 yards, two interceptions and one touchdown. If you include his record at UCLA, Johnson is 3-10-1 as a starter.

5--USC.

An incredible loss to Memphis State at the Coliseum. Another home loss to Arizona State.

There is a good reason why a Big Ten team has not won a national championship since the 1968 season, or why the conference is 2-8 in its past 10 Rose Bowl appearances. It’s called Conference Myopia.

So concerned are Big Ten coaches with their conference schedule, they forget to focus on the big picture. Instead of trying for a national championship, they settle for the spoils of the Rose Bowl, which are considerable but certainly not the Holy Grail of college football.

Consider the recent comments of Big Ten coaches:

Iowa’s Hayden Fry, when asked if he wishes the Hawkeyes had played a tougher nonconference schedule: “No way. No way. If we played someone tougher, we might not be undefeated now.”

Ohio State’s John Cooper on Saturday’s game against Wisconsin: “I don’t think either one of us have played a killer-like schedule.”

Michigan State’s Perles on the remainder of the season: “Everybody’s 0-0. Everybody’s got their nonconference games out of the way. We’ve done all the experimenting we’re going to do.”

Michigan’s Gary Moeller, fresh from a defeat to No. 1 Florida State: “The most important games are coming up now.”

Is that right? Moeller would rather have a victory against conference opponent Northwestern than Florida State? Earth to Moeller. And Perles, who soon might be on shaky ground at Michigan State, believes everyone is 0-0? George, we don’t know what standings you’ve been looking at, but your Spartans are 0-3.

The best conference in America? Dare we say it--the Big East?

So far, the league is 3-1 vs. the Big Ten, 2-1 vs. the Southeastern Conference, 2-0 vs. the Southwest Conference and 16-9 overall in out-of-league games. Only the Atlantic Coast Conference has given the Big East fits--ACC teams are 2-4 vs. the Big East. Consider this, too: Only the Big Ten has as many undefeated teams as the Big East (Miami, Pitt and Syracuse vs. Ohio State, Iowa and Wisconsin).

The news is encouraging for Colorado quarterback Darian Hagan, who suffered a knee injury in last Saturday’s upset loss to Stanford. According to Coach Bill McCartney, Hagan stretched a ligament behind his knee and also hurt his ankle. But it doesn’t have anything to do with his previous injury (a ruptured patellar tendon suffered in last season’s Orange Bowl). Hagan could return in time for the Buffaloes’ Oct. 12 game against Missouri. . . . Coach Glen Mason slowly is turning Kansas into a respectable program. So terrible was Kansas that Mason said opponents often scheduled the Jayhawks for homecoming games. “I (must have) set an NCAA record for homecoming games,” he said. “I’m not going to wear a coaching hat. I’m going to get one of those crowns with jewels in it.” . . . One of the main reasons for Oklahoma’s 3-0 start? Try 13 interceptions.

Five more reasons why college football is better than the NFL:

1--The first half of the Florida State-Michigan game last Saturday. Those first two quarters rivaled the last two quarters of the celebrated Miami-Boston College in 1984.

2--Where else can you watch a man in overalls--former Florida State kicker Richie Andrews--give halftime field-goal tips to second-string punter John Wimberly? Wimberly, a second-half replacement for starting kicker Dan Mowrey, practiced his field goals as the Michigan marching band performed nearby.

3--Better rules. No instant replay and no in-the-grasp provision.

4--No Jerry Glanville. No Victor Kiam. No Sam Wyche.

5--The two-point conversion.

Florida State is ranked No. 1 in the Associated Poll, Miami is No. 2 and Florida is No. 13. As for the secrets to their success, Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne offers the following simple explanation: “It’s a pretty good recruiting situation down there. I believe 200-250 Division I scholarship players (came out of Florida). (The Seminoles, Hurricanes and Gators) can pick out the best 75 out of the best 250. They’ve got a tremendous base to recruit from.” Osborne would know. For instance, a Big Eight team has not beaten Miami since 1978.

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. Florida State 4-0 2. Washington 3-0 3. Miami 3-0 4. Clemson 3-0 5. Iowa 3-0 6. Tennessee 4-0 7. Oklahoma 3-0 8. Baylor 4-0 9. Penn State 4-1 10. Michigan 3-1

The waiting list: Notre Dame (3-1), Pittsburgh (4-0), Syracuse (4-0), Ohio State (3-0), North Carolina State (4-0).