SPOTLIGHT / SATURDAY’S GAMES AT A GLANCE : NOTEWORTHY

The Washington defense manhandled Arizona, particularly quarterback George Malauulu, who was sacked seven times, lost four fumbles and had two passes intercepted. Arizona’s 54-0 loss was its worst since a 75-0 loss to to Michigan State in 1949.

Freshman Brandon Bennett broke South Carolina’s single-game rushing record with 278 yards in a 55-7 rout of Division I-AA East Tennessee State. Jeff Grantz had the mark of 260 yards, set against Ohio in 1973.

No. 1 Florida State scored the final 39 points after Qadry Ismail’s 95-yard kickoff return had given Syracuse a 14-7 lead in the first quarter. The 46-14 victory was the Seminoles’ 11th in a row, the longest winning streak in the country. Florida State’s 642 yards were the most Syracuse has ever given up, topping the record of 587 by Florida State in 1978.

Miami’s Carlos Huerta, who holds the NCAA record for consecutive extra points and had never missed in a regular-season game, pushed one wide to the right after 157 in a row, but it didn’t have much impact. The No. 2 Hurricanes were leading Oklahoma State, 30-3, at the time and won, 40-3. With 520 yards of offense, Miami has gone over 500 yards in four consecutive games.

North Carolina State quarterback Geoff Bender, making his first start, scored on a two-yard run with 2:43 remaining to give the Wolfpack a 28-21 victory over No. 21 Georgia Tech. Bender, a redshirt freshman, replaced injured starter Terry Jordan last week and threw two touchdown passes in a 24-7 victory over then-No. 23 North Carolina.

Kansas bobbled its chances for its first 4-0 start since 1981 in a 31-19 loss to Virginia. Three fumbles and an interception led to 24 points.

Texas Tech should have taken the early hint against Texas A&M.; The Red Raiders’ first two drives netted minus-10 yards, and starting quarterback Jamie Gill was knocked out early in the first quarter because of a bruised left shoulder. The Aggies won, 37-14.

Connecticut’s Cornelius Benton completed his first 12 passes in a 34-20 victory over Yale. He finished 24 for 33 for 402 yards.

Texas held Rice’s Trevor Cobb, the nation’s leading rusher who had averaged 216 yards in his first three games, to 68 yards in 28 carries during a 28-7 victory over the Owls.

Missouri intercepted five passes and forced five fumbles in its 31-21 victory over Memphis State.

Wyoming quarterbacks were sacked six times and runners were held to minus-seven yards in a 51-28 loss to Air Force.

James Lane threw a five-yard touchdown pass to John Mullaney on the last play of the game to give Trinity (Conn.) a 30-27 victory over Williams, ending the nation’s longest winning streak at 23. Both are NCAA Division III teams.

A STRIKING GAME

In addition to a lightning storm that resulted in play being delayed for 50 minutes at Morgantown, W.Va., a couple of odd plays rained on Virginia Tech’s 20-14 victory over West Virginia. Two Mountaineer touchdowns were called back because of forward laterals. Adrian Murrell, who caught both tosses, took the second one on a play that started as an interception, developed into a fumble by Virginia Tech’s DeWayne Knight and then led to a recovery by 320-pound West Virginia lineman John Ray. Ray, instead of trying

to run 50 yards, tossed the ball to

Murrell.

FROM BAD TO WORSE

Michigan State fell to 0-4 with a 31-0 loss to Indiana. The shutout left the Spartans with their lowest four-game scoring total (20 points) since 1917, when they had only 10 points. The start also matches a school record set in 1917 and tied in 1982. Michigan State also has lost to Central Michigan, Notre Dame and Rutgers and must play seventh-ranked Michigan on Saturday.

PAYBACK TIME

Iowa State quarterback Chris Pederson directed the Cyclones’ 33-31 upset of Oklahoma last season. Saturday, the Sooners responded by sacking Pederson seven times in a 29-8 victory.

(NO) CONTESTS

Saturday’s routs involving Division I-A and I-AA teams:

--North Carolina beat William & Mary, 59-36. Three Tar Heel quarterbacks completed all 11 of their passes and Eric Blount returned two kicks for touchdowns, the first time a Tar Heel has done that since Charlie (Choo Choo) Justice did it in 1946.

--Alabama beat Tennessee Chattanooga, 53-7, with 587 yards of total offense despite playing reserves most of the second half.

--South Carolina defeated East Tennessee State, 55-7, as freshman Brandon Bennett, who had 182 yards rushing in his career, ran for a Gamecock record 278 yards.

BIG PLAYS

Doug Brien kicked a 47-yard field goal with 30 seconds left to give California a 27-24 victory over UCLA.

Southern Mississippi’s Brian Wood knocked down a two-point conversion pass from Auburn’s Stan White to preserve a 10-9 upset of the No. 16 Tigers. It was the second consecutive season Auburn has been beaten at home by Southern Mississippi, which won, 13-12, last year.

Virginia Tech defensive end James Hargrove knocked the ball from the hand of West Virginia’s Chris Gray on the Mountaineers’ final possession, then recovered the fumble to preserve a 20-14 victory.

WHERE’S THE DEFENSE?

Pacific and Cal State Fullerton combined for 1,107 yards of offense in the Tigers’ 56-28 victory. Pacific’s Ryan Benjamin, leading the nation in all-purpose running, rushed for 150 yards in 15 carries, caught seven passes for 99 yards and returned two kickoffs for 137 yards. Pacific finished with 662 yards, third most Fullerton has given up in 22 years. The Titans’ Reggie Yarbrough, who had 192 yards in a school-record 43 carries last week, ran for 231 yards in 21 carries against the Tigers.

THE HANDYMAN

Lehigh’s Rich Clark, playing despite broken hands, caught an 11-yard pass at the four-yard line, then fought and stretched over the goal line with 3:38 left to give the Engineers a 30-28 victory over Dartmouth.

LIGHTEN UP, COACH

Ohio State Coach John Cooper got a little cranky after a 31-16 Big Ten victory over Wisconsin. Three Buckeye quarterbacks--Kent Graham, Kirk Herbstreit and third-stringer Joe Pickens--led scoring drives, but Cooper wasn’t interested in discussing whether Graham or Herbstreit would be No. 1 for Saturday’s game at No. 22 Illinois.

“We have two quarterbacks who can play who we have confidence in,” an agitated Cooper said. “It’s getting tighter. Until we announce otherwise, without getting any controversy from any of you (reporters), we’re 4-0. We’re happy to be there.

“We’ve got two quarterbacks who can play. We’ll let you know later on who’s No. 1 and who’s No. 2. Period. Case closed. Who’s got another question? I don’t want to talk about quarterbacks.”

IN QUOTES

Syracuse Coach Paul Pasqualoni, after the Orangemen’s 46-14 loss to No. 1 Florida State: “We got our butts kicked in every area. We had things pretty much our own way up until today and it had been fun. Today wasn’t fun.”

Pittsburgh Coach Paul Hackett, whose team was 3-7-1 last season, after a 24-20 victory over Maryland, the Panthers’ fifth in a row: “It’s fantastic being 5-0.”

Iowa State Coach Jim Walden, after a 29-8 loss to Oklahoma, which has added a passing attack to its traditional rushing-oriented offense: “They’re good, but that’s not surprising . They don’t have an Achilles’ tendon. They had eight seniors on defense, but they didn’t come back because they were bad. They’re back because they’re good. It would take a stronger team than we are to beat Oklahoma.”