SPOTLIGHT / SATURDAY’S GAMES AT A GLANCE

NOTEWORTHY

California’s Russell White had been held to 37 yards and 55 yards rushing in the past two games after rushing for 121 Oct. 5 against UCLA. He broke out against San Jose State with 166 yards in 32 carries. White ran for three touchdowns and caught a pass for another in a 41-20 victory.

The other Rocket: Syracuse’s Qadry Ismail scored on a 65-yard reverse in which he reversed field a second time after taking a pitch in a 21-7 victory over Rutgers. Including kickoff returns, Ismail has 11 plays of more than 30 yards; seven have gone for touchdowns.

In a sluggish game involving two also rans in the Big Eight Conference, Iowa State (2-4-1, 0-2-1) and Oklahoma State (0-6-1, 0-2-1) tied, 6-6, on four field goals. Iowa State did not score a touchdown in October. At the other end of the spectrum, Division I-AA Holy Cross extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 16 with a 43-42 victory over Lehigh. The teams scored 71 points in the second half and combined for 1,172 yards of total offense.

Oklahoma used big plays in a 41-3 defeat of Kansas, which entered the game with the top-rated defense in the Big Eight. The Sooners scored on plays covering 58, 56, 34 and 68 yards in the first half. Of small consolation, Kansas tailback Tony Sands carried 21 times for 89 yards to become the school’s career rushing leader. He has 3,130 yards, passing Laverne Smith, who rushed for 3,074 from 1973-76.

The offensive line isn’t getting any better at Houston. Texas A&M; sacked the Cougars’ David Klingler 10 times and intercepted three of Klingler’s passes in a 27-18 victory. The Aggies’ Greg Hill scored two touchdowns and finished with 160 yards in 25 carries to set an A&M; season freshman rushing record. He has 791 yards, breaking Curtis Dickey’s mark of 726 in 1976.

Division I-AA Arkansas State lost to Southwest Missouri State, 37-20, to extend the nation’s longest Division I losing streak to 14 games.

MILESTONES

Pacific wide receiver Aaron Turner caught a school-record 16 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns against New Mexico State. His 10-yard touchdown catch with five seconds remaining gave Pacific a 27-20 victory. Turner tied the NCAA record by catching a touchdown pass in his 10th consecutive game and became the first player in NCAA history to have at least 100 yards receiving in 10 consecutive games.

Shawn Jones became Georgia Tech’s career leader in passing yards, completions, touchdown passes and touchdown responsibility in a 35-14 victory over North Carolina. His 5,411 yards broke Mike Kelley’s record of 5,249, his 404 completions surpassed Kelley’s 391, his 33 touchdown passes broke Eddie McAshan’s 32 and touchdown responsibility of 49 broke Robert Lavette’s 46.

THE PURPLE GANGS

Northwestern dressed in purple jerseys and pants for its game against No. 17 Illinois. No real surprise, because purple is one of the Wildcats’ traditional colors, though the appearance took some by surprise. “We looked like a grape,” quarterback Len Williams said. Slightly more surprising was the color choice by Clemson, the team that usually looks like an orange. The Tigers, who faced North Carolina State, wore purple jerseys for the first time since 1939. The color schemes may stick. Northwestern won, 17-11; Clemson won, 29-19.

THE SPY GAME

Is he paranoid or just a sore loser? Rutgers Coach Doug Graber insinuated that someone was spying on his team’s practices in Piscataway, N.J., after a 21-7 loss to Syracuse.

The play that annoyed Graber the most was a squib kick Rutgers tried at the start of the second half with the score tied, 7-7. Just before backup kicker Jeff Hansen kicked the ball, Syracuse lined up as if expecting such a kick.

Syracuse recovered and eventually took the lead on a field goal.

“It appeared they knew exactly what we were going to do, and that’s all I am going to say,” Graber said.

Syracuse Coach Paul Pasqualoni said other teams have tried squib kicks this season in an attempt to keep the ball away from Qadry Ismail, and his team is prepared for such tactics.

DEFENSE

Iowa sacked Purdue quarterback Eric Hunter seven times on the way to a 31-21 victory, the Hawkeyes’ ninth in a row over the Boilermakers. . . . Baylor recovered three fumbles and intercepted a pass in the first half on the way to a 26-9 victory over Texas Christian. . . . Maryland’s Jim Sandwisch was sacked five times and had four passes intercepted in a 17-13 loss to Duke. . . . Erik Watts’ 302 passing yards didn’t come easily in a 41-13 loss to Virginia Tech. The Louisville quarterback was sacked six times and had three passes intercepted. . . . Stanford recovered seven of Oregon State’s 10 fumbles in a 40-10 Pacific 10 victory.

BIG PLAYS

Jeff Owen’s 42-yard field goal with 22 seconds remaining gave Vanderbilt a 30-27 victory over Mississippi. Vanderbilt, which upset Georgia, 27-25, last Saturday, won on the road for the first time since a 31-20 victory at Alabama in 1984 and won consecutive Southeastern Conference games for the first time since beating Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee to end the 1982 season.

Quarterback Jeff Blake scored on a two-yard run, then ran for the conversion with 46 seconds remaining to give East Carolina a 24-23 victory over Pittsburgh. On the Pirates’ winning drive, Blake completed 22-yard pass on third and 17 and had pass plays of 30 yards and 14 yards to set up the touchdown.

IN QUOTES

Missouri Coach Bob Stull, after Nebraska beat the Tigers, 63-6: “Coming in, the one thing we had to do was stop the run and we didn’t get it stopped. They moved the ball well and we didn’t do a very good job of tackling . “

Texas A&M; linebacker Jason Atkinson, after a 27-18 victory over Houston in which Cougar quarterback David Klingler was sacked 10 times: “Klingler is one tough customer. We kept hitting him and hitting him and he kept getting up.

Baylor Coach Grant Teaff, stating the obvious after a 26-9 victory over Texas Christian: “In the world of run-and-shoot, when you have the ball they don’t . “

THE DYE IS CAST There was no word who was behind it, but an airplane circling Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium towed a banner reading “Boycott Montgomery Advertiser” in the first quarter of Auburn’s 24-17 loss to Mississippi State.

The Advertiser broke the story of former Auburn football player Eric Ramsey claiming he received cash payments and other improper benefits while a member of Auburn Coach Pat Dye’s team. Ramsey has released secretly recorded tapes to back up some of his claims.

Speaking on his Thursday night radio call-in show, Dye had suggested Auburn fans neither purchase The Advertiser nor do business with companies that advertise in the paper.

Dye claimed The Advertiser has a “vendetta” against Auburn, a claim denied by Advertiser publisher Richard Amberg Jr.

After the game, Dye denied that he had called for a boycott of the paper. “I never mentioned anything about a boycott,” he said.

There’s no word on repercussions regarding Ramsey’s allegations or where an NCAA investigation would lead.

Dye has an ally in Mississippi State Coach Jackie Sherrill, who is no stranger to the investigative branch of the NCAA. Sherrill left Texas A&M; under the cloud of an NCAA investigation that uncovered 25 rules violations, nine of which were considered “significant.” Although Sherrill was not directly linked to the violations, he resigned after the 1988 season.

“I know what he’s going through,” Sherrill said after the game, putting his arm around Dye’s shoulder.