Notes on a Scorecard - Aug. 30, 1994

College football forecast:

Nebraska will improve its postseason bowl record since New Year’s Day of 1987 to 1-7. . . . UCLA wide receiver J.J. Stokes will make a spectacular catch on opening night against Tennessee, and an NFL scout will say he was crazy not to have made himself available for this year’s draft. . . .

Michigan running back Tyrone Wheatley will get hurt, and an NFL scout will say he was crazy not to have made himself available for this year’s draft. Oops, that has happened already. . . .

Napoleon Kaufman’s Heisman Trophy Waterloo will be that Washington is on probation. . . .

USC will improve its record against Notre Dame since 1982 to 1-11. . . .

For a change, Bobby Bowden will have a better record in Division I-A than Terry Bowden. . . .

Larry Smith will show ‘em in Missouri, bringing the Tigers back to respectability. . . .

The record of 20 punt returns in one game, set by Texas Tech’s Milton Hill against Centenary in 1939, will remain safe for another season. . . .

Another Brigham Young quarterback, John Walsh from Carson High, will lead the nation in passing yardage. . . .

Security at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., will be tight. . . .

Arizona won’t be No. 1, but it will have more to do with the losses of Chuck Levy and Rob Waldrop than with any Sports Illustrated cover jinx. . . .

Notre Dame sophomore quarterback Ron Powlus will be outstanding but won’t live up to his billing because that would be impossible. . . .

Stanford will be the Denver Broncos of college football: Great offense, not-so-great defense. . . .

The difference between the USC and UCLA conference schedules will be that the Trojans get to play Washington and Arizona at the Coliseum and the Bruins must travel to Seattle and Tucson. . . .

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Quarterback Steve (Air) McNair’s passing and running will make Alcorn State one of the most exciting teams in the nation. . . .

A 270-pound offensive tackle will be described as being undersized. . . .

Lou Holtz will fear Navy. . . .

Arizona won’t be caught looking past Georgia Tech to its next opponent, New Mexico State. . . .

Rob Johnson will pass for fewer yards than last year, but USC will win the Pacific 10 Conference title because it will rush for more yards. . . .

Best shrubbery will be the hedges at Georgia’s Sanford Stadium. . . .

Penn State radio analyst George Paterno will be kind to the Nittany Lions’ head coach. . . .

The name of California wide receiver Iheanyi Uwaezuoke will be misspelled, but he will be the only one who can tell. . . .

You will be awarded official college football aficionado status if you are able to identify the teams in the SEC East and West divisions. . . .

People will wonder what Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder could do with better material. . . . The Ohio State band, which dots the I, will be the finest in the land. . . .

Three of the most beautiful stadium settings will be in the Pac-10--Memorial Stadium in Strawberry Canyon at Berkeley, Husky Stadium next to Lake Washington in Seattle, and the Rose Bowl in the Arroyo Seco. . . .

Gary Gibbs finally will begin to make a name for himself at Oklahoma, but Barry Switzer and the late Bud Wilkinson will remain a lot more famous. . . .

The most underrated running back in the nation will be J.J. Young of Oregon State. . . .

Miami will wear “Us Against the World” T-shirts. . . .

The Hurricanes will be installed as seven-point favorites over the World at the Orange Bowl. . . .

Opponents will take Wisconsin seriously. . . .

The 15-yard pass interference penalty rule will be fairer than the NFL spot-of-the-foul rule. . . .

Danny Ford will continue to build at Arkansas, but President Clinton will have to wait until basketball season to see the Razorbacks in a big game. . . .

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Arizona State fans won’t settle for a fourth consecutive 6-5 record. . . .

Wackiest offense in the Big Ten will be the Air Wacker attack at Minnesota, coached by Jim Wacker. . . .

Angelo Mazzone’s Rose Bowl ticket allotment will be cut. . . .

The polls will close this way in January: 1--Nebraska, 2--Florida State, 3--Florida, 4--Alabama, 5--USC, 6--Notre Dame, 7--Penn State, 8--Colorado, 9--Miami, 10--Arizona, 11--Michigan, 12--Tennessee, 13--Texas A&M.; 14--Oklahoma, 15--Wisconsin, 16--Auburn, 17--Ohio State, 18--UCLA, 19--Clemson, 20--Brigham Young.