SPOTLIGHT / Saturday’s Games At a Glance : WHO’S IN CHARGE HERE?

The way some players are acting these days, you begin to wonder whether the principles of democracy are creeping into football. Strange thought, considering that football teams have traditionally been coaching monarchies, some coaches more benevolent than others. But at three schools this season, the players mounted insurrections, with mixed results.

* After Memphis State slipped to 0-3, 80 players boycotted practice for a day, saying they had lost respect for Coach Chuck Stobart. The players returned the next afternoon, Stobart acknowledging that he probably needed to change his approach slightly. The coach was given a vote of support from the school president, and the Tigers have won their next three games, 22-6 over Arkansas, 34-14 over Cincinnati, and 37-7 over Arkansas State on Saturday night.

* Cal State Fullerton was less of a success story, at first. Practice was canceled one afternoon the week of the San Jose State game, not because of a gripe with Coach Gene Murphy, but because of the players’ concern over the future of the program and their scholarships. Players considered boycotting Saturday’s game at Southwestern Louisiana, figuring they would hit the school where it hurt most, in the bank account. By not playing, the school would forfeit the much-needed guarantee that helps fund Titan athletics. They returned to practice, gave up the idea of a boycott and were thumped by San Jose, 49-3. Then Saturday, the Titans rebounded and beat the Rajin’ Cajuns, who were playing without seven starters because of suspension or injury, 14-10. Of course, for the Titans, any victory is a good victory.

At South Carolina, players voted overwhelmingly to oust Coach Sparky Woods and his staff. The next day, the response came down. Woods, whose winning percentage has gone down each season since his first in 1989, was staying, and he said any player who didn’t want to play for him didn’t have to. Practice resumed with all players, aside from those with excused absences, back on the field. Saturday, with freshman quarterback Steve Taneyhill getting his first start, the Gamecocks defeated Mississippi State, 21-6, for their first Southeastern Conference victory and first win in 10 games. “I have to take my hat off to the team,” Taneyhill said. “Every member of the team had a mission to prove ourselves to the nation.”

FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT

Syracuse’s Chris Gedney caught the winning touchdown pass from Marvin Graves with 51 seconds left in a 20-17 victory over West Virginia. Give the assist to Mountaineer defensive back Mike Collins. Collins, a starter, was one of three West Virginia players ejected after a brawl late in the game. West Virginia, which earlier in the second half had two goal-line stands, also lost defensive back Leroy Axem and starting lineman Tom Briggs after the melee. They had combined for 18 tackles. Gedney took advantage of a depleted secondary. The Orangemen were given a first down on a fourth-down play when Gedney was interfered with, and he also caught a 38-yard pass to set up the winning score. Gedney beat reserve John Harper, filling in for Collins, on the 17-yard touchdown play.

OH, THAT FAULK

Early this week, while Texas El Paso Coach David Lee discussed Saturday’s opponent, San Diego State, he praised quarterback David Lowery as the glue that held the team together. Then he got around to that running back, the Heisman Trophy favorite. Who is that? According to Lee, it was Darnay Faulk. Well, Lee was on target, sort of. Lowery passed for 372 yards and four touchdowns, three to receiver Darnay Scott. UTEP held the Heisman hopeful, Marshall Faulk, to 156 yards rushing and a touchdown in the Aztecs’ 49-27 victory.

WILDCAT WAY

Arizona is establishing itself as the team other schools least want to play. The Wildcats are only 3-2-1, but gaining ground on them is no small task. After they lost to No. 1 Miami, 8-7, three weeks ago, they have showed that the score of that game wasn’t simply a function of the Hurricanes having an off game. The Wildcats manhandled then-No. 11 UCLA two weeks ago, 23-3, and stopped No. 8 Stanford cold on Saturday, 21-6, getting eight sacks. Stanford’s Glyn Milburn, averaging almost 100 yards rushing per game, was limited to six yards in six carries. Arizona hasn’t given up a touchdown since the third quarter of the Miami game and has not yielded a touchdown in the first half this season.

TOUGH GUY

Stanford quarterback Steve Stenstrom wouldn’t stay down even in the face of the smothering Arizona defense. He was forced from the game three times by hard hits, but he returned each time and was on the field at game’s end. Stenstrom sat out all of the second quarter and the final three minutes of the first after suffering a concussion when he was sacked by Rob Waldrop. Stenstrom spent almost 10 minutes on the ground and a stretcher was brought out, but he managed to get to the sidelines on foot with support of two members of the Stanford staff.

BOBO’S BUMBLE

Phillip Bobo, a senior at Washington State and one of the premier receivers in the Pacific 10, is also the Cougars’ punt returner. But on one play against UCLA on Saturday, Bobo gave the coaching profession all the footage it will ever need to drive home Rule No. 1 of returning punts: “Once you catch the ball, head straight up the field. No jitterbugging!” After fielding a punt in the second quarter, Bobo took a few tentative steps to his left, then a few to his right, and a few more to his left before he finally changed direction one more time. After about three short strides to his right, the ball popped out of his hands before he was even hit. Michael Williams returned the fumble 37 yards for a touchdown to make the score 14-14. The Cougars took Bobo off the hook with their 30-17 victory.

STREAKS

Miami has won 24 games in a row, the nation’s longest streak, and 49 in a row in the Orange Bowl. . . . Washington has 20 consecutive victories. . . . Before its 35-32 victory over Penn State, Boston College had lost 10 in a row at Beaver Stadium. . . . Michigan’s 31-3 victory over Indiana was its 16th consecutive win in the Big Ten. . . . Florida extended the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 15 games with a 24-9 victory over Auburn. . . . Ohio State beat Northwestern for the 17th time in a row, 31-7.

NOTEWORTHY

The Thousand Club: In the game of the day, Kansas overcame a 47-21 deficit to get a 50-47 victory over Iowa State, the Jayhawks’ biggest comeback ever. Iowa State had 516 yards against the nation’s No. 2 defense; Kansas amassed 514 yards. . . . Gino Torretta set two Miami career records. His 6,204 passing yards broke Vinny Testaverde’s 6,058; his 6,267 total yards eclipsed the 6,021 by Craig Erickson. . . . Rice’s Trevor Cobb became the Southwest Conference career leader in all-purpose yardage. His 5,741 yards are 26 more than Houston’s Chuck Weatherspoon had. . . . Jay Fiedler set school records for passing yards (419), total offense (400) and career touchdown passes (28) in Dartmouth’s 39-27 victory over Yale, the Big Green’s 15th consecutive Ivy League game without a loss. . . . Tough schedule: Maryland dropped to 1-6 with a 30-23 defeat by Wake Forest. It was the Terrapins’ first loss to a team not ranked in the top 25. . . . Iowa’s Jim Hartlieb completed 16 of 18 passes, eight in a row, in the first half of a 24-14 victory over Illinois. . . . Missouri’s Jeff Handy completed 43 of 73 passes--both Big Eight records--for a school-record 480 yards in a 28-26 loss to Oklahoma State. . . . Aaron Turner’s three touchdown catches in Pacific’s 49-17 victory over New Mexico State gave him 39 for his career, breaking the record of 38 set by Duke’s Clarkston Hines from 1986-89.

IN QUOTES

Irate West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen, on officials who ejected three of his starters but only one Syracuse reserve because of a melee late in the fourth quarter of the Orangemen’s 20-17 victory: “I’ve coached a long time, but I don’t think I’ve ever had one taken away from me like that. It’s a crime.”

Virginia’s Bobby Goodman, sacked three times in a 27-7 loss to North Carolina: “When you have a great game throwing the ball you can credit the offensive line. The same thing goes for when you lose. ... It starts up front, and if I don’t have time I can’t do anything. I don’t care who you are or how good a quarterback you are. I didn’t have any time.” Penn State Coach Joe Paterno, after a 35-32 loss to Boston College: “The score isn’t indicative of the difference between the two teams . They just beat us up.”

Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer, whose team was tied, 13-13, on North Carolina State’s last-play field goal even though a Tech player got a piece of the ball: “A caller on my radio show the other night said we seem to get all the bad rolls. Well, it seems that was the case in this game. . . . Maybe the good Lord just didn’t intend for us to win today.”