BIG EIGHT ROUNDUP : Colorado Passes Iowa State Dizzy in Thin Air

It has been a good first year for Air Colorado.

Sophomore Kordell Stewart threw three touchdown passes in the first half Saturday No. 11 Colorado rolled past Iowa State, 31-10, in a Big Eight Conference game at Boulder, Colo., to solidify its bowl prospects.

Stewart completed 20 of 30 passes for 279 yards and finished with a school-record 2,109 yards despite missing two games with injuries.

The Buffaloes, 9-1-1 overall and 5-1-1 in the Big Eight, also set a conference record for passing yardage in a season with 3,271, breaking the mark of 3,146 set by Kansas in 1983.

Charles Johnson and Michael Westbrook each topped 1,000 yards receiving, becoming only the fourth tandem in NCAA history to do so. Johnson wound up with 1,149 yards on 57 catches, and Westbrook had 1,060 yards on 76 receptions.

“We have some real weapons offensively in Westbrook and Johnson,” Colorado Coach Bill McCartney said. “The way those two guys have played this season speaks well for their talent more than for our offense.

“Kordell throws the ball where they have the opportunity to make the plays that great athletes make. And Kordell is just going to keep getting better.”

Iowa State Coach Jim Walden hedged when asked to vote for either Nebraska or Colorado as the best team in the Big Eight.

The conference champion goes to the Orange Bowl.

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Walden said. “You want me to say that Nebraska (which was upset by Iowa State, 19-10, last week) is no good and Colorado is better? Well, they were good enough to beat us, 31-10. That’s something Nebraska couldn’t do.

“But, then, Colorado lost to Nebraska by 45 points, and that’s a fact. I think it will go just as it stands, with Nebraska winning it and Colorado going to the Fiesta Bowl.”

Colorado can go to the Orange Bowl only if Nebraska loses to Oklahoma on Friday. If Nebraska wins, Colorado probably will go to the Fiesta Bowl.

Iowa State (4-7, 2-5) lost to Colorado for the ninth consecutive season.

Stewart’s three touchdown passes helped the Buffaloes to a 28-3 halftime lead.

Kansas State 10, Oklahoma State 0--C.J. Masters and Jaime Mendez broke interception records and an offensive lineman scored the only touchdown as the Wildcats completed their first unbeaten home season in 58 years by defeating the Cowboys in a Big Eight game at Manhattan, Kan.

Tate Wright kicked a 30-yard field goal in the first quarter and guard Toby Lawrence scored on an eight-yard fumblerooski play in the second quarter for Kansas State (5-5, 2-4).

Oklahoma State (4-6-1, 2-4-1) failed to win on the road for the second consecutive season, but bounced back from an 0-10-1 record last season.

Kansas State, which plays Nebraska on Dec. 5 at Tokyo, ended its home season 5-0.

Masters set a school record with his seventh interception this season, and Mendez broke the career record with his 13th interception. Four interceptions boosted the Wildcats’ total to 21 this season, also a school record.