SPOTLIGHT / SATURDAY’S GAMES AT A GLANCE : THE BOWL BLOTTER

Saturday may be a day that the bowl coalition will remember for a long time. Right now, the chances of a true title game are worse than the survival of those salamander-and-snail things that environmentalists are always trying to protect. It’s enough to make Keith Jackson yell, ‘Whoa, Nellie!’

An explanation is in order. The dumping of Florida, Penn State and Oklahoma and the tie by Alabama leaves your primary undefeated, untied teams as Florida State (ranked No. 1 by Associated Press), Notre Dame (No. 3), Ohio State (No. 5), Nebraska (No. 6) and Arizona (No. 11). Now, Florida State plays Notre Dame on Nov. 13, perhaps leaving the winner as the country’s top-rated team.

So, under coalition rules, the winner of the Florida State-Notre Dame game would play the highest ranked team, which at that time might be Ohio State.

But wait.

Ohio State will be locked in the Rose Bowl, perhaps facing undefeated Arizona. That would give Pasadena a marquee matchup unless the Rose Bowl’s primary tenant, UCLA, decides to knock Arizona back to the cactus in two weeks.

Either way, we could have Florida State playing Nebraska in the Orange Bowl for about the millionth time since the Stone Age. Or Notre Dame playing Nebraska in another who cares game.

Everyone else fits somewhere between the Fiesta and Weed Eater Bowls. And still, there will be no national championship game.

When does basketball season start?”

THE BIG THREE OH OH

John Gagliardi, already the country’s winningest small-college football coach, joined some of legendary names when he became only the fifth coach to record 300 victories.

Gagliardi, 66, did it by guiding St. John’s to a school-record offensive output in a 77-12 victory over Bethel at Arden Hills, Minn.

Gagliardi joins the elite group of Eddie Robinson, Bear Bryant, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Pop Warner.

Grambling’s Robinson, the only other active coach among the five, is the all-time leader with 385. Bryant had 323 victories, Stagg 314 and Warner 313.

“Bear Bryant’s got 323. That’s within striking distance,” Gagliardi said. “I’m glad the other guy’s not within striking distance because I’d be stupid and probably go after it.”

SPEAKING OF 300 . . .

The NCAA News reported last week that new evidence has surfaced that Warner had 22 victories from 1895 to 1900 while coaching at Iowa State that are not accounted for in the NCAA record book. The information will be published in an upcoming book on Warner.

If the NCAA statistics staff accepts the claim, Warner would pass Bryant as the all-time victory leader for Division I-A coaches.

“Generally speaking, we are always looking to the schools to let us know about errors,” said James F. Wright, NCAA statistics service manager.

MON DIEU, PURDUE

After losing to Minnesota, 59-56, last week, Purdue Coach Jim Colletto accepted the resignations of defensive assistants Moe Ankney and Tony Caviglia, a former USC coach. A lot of good that did, as the Boilmakers (1-5, 0-3) lost to No. 16 Wisconsin, 42-28, at West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue scored three times in the fourth quarter to avoid an embarrassing rout.

Colletto said before the Big Ten game, “ . . . we’re in a quagmire.”

That sounds about right, particularly when a coach refuses to back his assistants.

PERFECT IS RIGHT

This from Virginia running back Jerrod Washington before the Florida State game:

“People expect us to lose. People look at (Florida State) as winning the national championship and blowing people out.

“You see, it’s the perfect situation for us. What an opportunity for us. In college, it doesn’t get better than that.”

End result: No. 1 Florida St. 40, No. 15 Virginia 14.

THIS AND THAT

Keith Gilbertson used to get his lawn mowed by a kid named Mike Pattinson when he was coach at Idaho--in Moscow, nine miles east of Pullman, Wash., across the state line. On Saturday, Pattison’s Washington State team routed Gilbertson’s Cal Bears, 34-7, in a game in which the quarterback was lost for the season with a broken collarbone.

Mike Utley, a former Detroit Lion offensive lineman, returned to Pullman to watch the Cougars rout No. 21 Cal in his first visit to his alma mater since he was paralyzed in 1991 in a game against the Rams.

For the first time in three years, Eastern Michigan sponsored a bus caravan to an away game. Eastern Michigan won its fourth in a row by scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns for a 28-21 victory over Central Michigan.

The Colorado-Oklahoma Big Eight game was delayed for a short time because the horse-drawn Sooner Schooner toppled while celebrating Oklahoma’s only score.

No one was hurt.

NOTEWORTHY

Streaking right along: Dayton won its 44th consecutive regular-season game as it defeated Butler, 28-6. Dayton has not been shut out in 201 games, the third-longest streak in college football. . . . The undefeated Bowdens--father Bobby at Florida State and son Terry at Auburn--are a combined 14-0 after FSU routed Virginia and No. 19 Auburn upset No. 4 Florida. . . . Alabama’s 28-game winning streak was snapped with a 17-17 tie against Tennessee. . . . Ohio University ended the nation’s longest Division I-A losing streak at 15 games with a 15-10 victory over Kent.

Quick starts: Navy (4-2) posted a 31-3 victory over Colgate to give the Midshipmen their best start in 12 years. . . . Boston University (6-0) beat Richmond, 44-14, for its best start since 1949. . . . Wisconsin defeated Purdue, 42-28, opening the season with six victories for the first time since 1912. . . . Perez Mattison, making his first collegiate start, threw three touchdown passes to rally East Carolina to a 31-28 victory over Louisiana Tech.

QUOTE WORTHY

After No. 18 Michigan upset No. 7 Penn State at College Station, Pa., 21-13, Wolverine center Marc Milia said: “We wanted to welcome Penn State to the Big Ten in a Big Ten fashion.” Michigan State’s George Perles after his Spartans fell to Ohio State in the last minute, 28-21: “This was a great football game--if you didn’t care who won . “

Lou Holtz, to celebrants at the silver anniversary party for the 1968 Ohio State national championship team: “I remember when we beat Michigan, 50-14, and went for two at the end of the game. When I asked Woody (Hayes) why we went for two, he said, ‘Because they wouldn’t let me go for three.’ ”

On the prospects of playing 1-4 Pittsburgh, Syracuse Coach Paul Pasqualoni said: “I was a lousy player at Penn State, but I know that Pitt is Pitt.”

Coach David Lee of Texas El Paso, who was 1-10 last year: “If you dwell on getting fired, you get fired. If you dwell on improving and getting better, you improve and get better.”