SPOTLIGHT / SATURDAY’S GAMES AT A GLANCE : RIVALRY WRAPUP

A look at some of those you-can-toss-the-record-book-out-the-window rivalries that ended the regular season for many teams:

UCLA got its first victory over USC since 1986, 24-21, though the Trojans lead the series, 34-20-7.

The Big Game is becoming the Cardinal Showcase. Tommy Vardell’s 182 rushing yards helped Stanford beat California, 38-21. Stanford is on a 4-0-1 streak against Cal.

Washington won the Apple Cup with a 56-21 victory over Washington State in the highest-scoring game since the rivalry began in 1900.

Oregon State ended the nation’s longest major-college losing streak at 15 games with a 14-3 victory over archrival Oregon in the Civil War game. The Beavers’ victory was their first at Oregon’s Autzen Stadium since 1973.

Arizona State’s 37-14 victory over Arizona was its first since 1981. The Wildcats were 8-0-1 against the Sun Devils since then.

Michigan defeated Ohio State for the sixth time in seven games, 31-3. Desmond Howard moved another step closer to winning the Heisman Trophy with a school-record 93-yard punt return. Rumors that Ohio State Coach John Cooper, now 0-4 against Michigan, would lose his job unless the Buckeyes won were merely that. Cooper got a three-year contract extension before the game.

Indiana defeated Purdue, 24-22, to keep its spot in the Copper Bowl, thanks largely to Purdue’s kicker, Joe O’Leary, who missed a 35-yard field-goal attempt with 24 seconds to play. He also missed from 21 yards and 40 yards in the fourth quarter.

Tony Sands’ record-setting 396 rushing yards gave Kansas a 53-29 victory over Missouri, the worst Division I-A team in the country against the run. The Jayhawks’ 53 points were the most they have scored in the 100 games of the rivalry, the second-oldest among Division I schools.

Yale beat Harvard, 24-13, at New Haven, Conn., the first time in five years the home team has won what they call “The Game” in New England. . . . In a rivalry that began in 1897, Dartmouth beat Princeton, 31-13, giving the Big Green its first outright Ivy League championship in 13 years. The series stands 34-34-3.

North Carolina beat Duke, 47-14. The Tar Heels stymied the Blue Devils’ passing attack with extra defensive backs and had 100-yard rushing performances from Natrone Means (181 yards) and Randy Jordan (108).

Clemson defeated South Carolina, 41-24, for the fourth consecutive time. Since 1976, the Tigers are 12-3-1 against the Gamecocks.

Mississippi State defeated Mississippi for the second time in the last nine tries, 24-9, as quarterback Sleepy Robinson had 216 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs sacked backup Russ Shows five times after knocking starter Tom Luke out of the game with a concussion in the first quarter.

A PERFECT SEASON

Virginia quarterback Matt Blundin set a couple of NCAA records in a 38-0 victory over Virginia Tech. Blundin, a senior who spent the previous three seasons as a backup, completed 13 of 23 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns, giving him 231 consecutive passes without an interception, 224 of those this season. Jack Trudeau of Illinois had the previous NCAA records of 215 for a season and career.

“That’s amazing,” Virginia Coach George Welsh said. “Five weeks ago, I would have said no way he could go the rest of the season without an interception.”

Said Blundin: “I’d call four or five interceptions a pretty good year. . . . I obviously never expected anything like this.”

NOTEWORTHY

Indiana’s Trent Green broke the school record for total offense in a season during a 24-22 victory over Purdue. His 2,663 yards breaks the record of 2,561 by Steve Bradley in 1984.

East Carolina won its school-record 10th consecutive game, 30-19 over Cincinnati.

Navy moved closer to its worst season in 111 years of football with a 52-24 loss to Wake Forest. The Midshipmen are 0-10 with only a Dec. 7 game against Army remaining. Navy had never lost more than eight games in a season. Navy quarterback Jim Kubiak set school records with 54 passes and 406 yards.

After a 36-26 loss to Kansas State, Oklahoma State (0-10-1) finished its first winless season since 1920.

Weber State’s Jamie Martin passed for a Division I-AA-record 624 yards and four touchdowns in a 60-41 victory over Idaho State. . . . Holy Cross defeated Colgate, 28-3, for its 20th consecutive victory, longest streak in Division I-AA. . . . Marshall’s Michael Payton set the Division I-AA season record for passing efficiency in a 63-9 victory over East Tennessee.

LAST TIME AROUND

Arkansas said goodby to the Southwest Conference with a 20-0 victory over Rice that ensured the Razorbacks a spot in the Independence Bowl Dec. 29 against Georgia. Arkansas, a member of the SWC for 77 years, will play in the Southeastern Conference next season.

RECORD-BREAKERS

Kansas’ Tony Sands broke NCAA records with 396 rushing yards and 58 carries in a 53-29 victory over Missouri. Sands broke the one-game rushing record of 386 yards set Sept. 14 by freshman Marshall Faulk of San Diego State against Pacific and had one more carry than Minnesota’s Kent Kitzmann against Illinois in 1977.

Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer became the first player to pass for 15,000 yards in a 48-17 victory over Utah. He completed 18 of 29 passes for 378 yards and five touchdowns and has 15,031 yards in his career. Detmer’s career passing efficiency of 162.7 broke the NCAA record of 156.9 set by former BYU quarterback Jim McMahon.

Texas Christian’s Kelly Blackwell, who had 11 catches for 124 yards in a 49-45 victory over Houston, set an NCAA record for receptions for a tight end with 181. Gordon Hudson of BYU had the record of 178, set from 1980-83.

COLD-WEATHER WONDERS

Colorado played in semi-arctic conditions for the third time in four games, beating Iowa State, 17-14, at Ames, Iowa, in a driving snowstorm and minus-10 degree wind chill. The victory keeps Colorado in the running for a berth in the Orange Bowl; an Oklahoma victory over Nebraska on Friday will do it. The Buffaloes beat Kansas in a snowstorm a week ago and tied Nebraska in zero-degree weather Nov. 2. Iowa State sold 36,256 tickets, but only about 2,500 showed up.

COMEBACK COMPLETE

Tulsa receiver Dan Bitson, who nearly died in an automobile accident two years ago and sat out all of last season, had failed to score a touchdown this season until T.J. Rubley found him for a three-yard pass in a 45-13 victory over Ohio University. “At one time this year, I was wondering if it was meant for me to get in there,” Bitson said. “In the huddle, T.J. said, ‘I’m throwing it to you whether you’re covered or not.’

“I told myself, ‘Dan, if you’re going to get the touchdown, it’s now or never.”’ He made the catch but fell 44 yards short of breaking Howard Twilley’s school record for career receiving yardage of 3,343.

BACKING IN

A few teams with bowl bids safely tucked in their pockets did nothing Saturday to endear themselves to the bowlmeisters who had extended those invitations. A look at the losers who will play in bowl games:

Illinois managed to lose to Michigan State, 27-24, when the mighty Spartans (3-9) turned three turnovers into 17 points. The Illini will play UCLA in the John Hancock Bowl Dec. 31.

Ohio State, bound for the Hall of Fame Bowl against Syracuse, was throttled by Michigan and Desmond Howard, 31-3.

California couldn’t keep up with Stanford, losing by 38-21 in the Big Game. The Bears’ next big game will be against Clemson in the Citrus Bowl Jan. 1.

ON THE MARK

Apparently the 32,500 fans who attended the game against Minnesota at Iowa’s 70,322-seat Kinnick Stadium after an overnight snowstorm weren’t too thrilled by the action. Officials twice stopped the game, asking fans to quit pelting them and players with snowballs. Iowa won, 23-8.