Florida Moves Back Into Top Spot in AP Poll

Florida, which lost its No. 1 ranking to Nebraska last week after winning its opener by 49 points, regained the top spot in the Associated Press college football poll Sunday after an even more lopsided victory.

The Gators jumped over the Cornhuskers after beating Kentucky on Saturday, 73-7. Nebraska defeated Texas Tech on Thursday, 42-16.

Florida, which trailed Nebraska by 27 points last week, received nine more points than the Cornhuskers in this week’s media poll, totaling 1,492 points. The Gators also topped the Cornhuskers in first-place votes, 27-22.

Nebraska remained No. 1 in the USA Today/CNN coaches’ poll, 18 points ahead of Florida.

Florida State climbed one spot to No. 3 and Michigan moved up two notches to No. 4. Notre Dame dropped five spots to No. 8.

UCLA is 13th, USC 20th.

Miscellany

Eloy Rojas of Venezuela knocked out Samart Payakarun of Thailand in the eighth round at Bangkok, Thailand, to retain the WBA featherweight title.

Irina Privalova of Russia won the 400 meters at a World Cup track and field meet in London.

John Kostecki won the first race of the 73rd world Star sailing class championship by solving the tricky San Diego conditions. In the Etchells worlds at Newport Beach, seven-time champion Dave Curtis of Marblehead, Mass., and Dennis Conner of San Diego repeated Saturday’s one-two finish on the second day of competition.

Germany won the women’s eight-oared shell preliminary heat, the first race of the 1994 World Rowing Championships, being held in the United States, at Eagle Creek Park outside Indianapolis, for the first time. The U.S. team was second.

The last major regatta in the United States was during the 1984 L.A. Olympics at Lake Casitas.

Heike Drechsler accumulated 6,741 points, the best score of the year, in winning her first heptathlon competition in 13 years, and American Dan O’Brien won the decathlon at Talence, France.

Alexander Karelin won his fifth consecutive super heavyweight gold medal as Russian wrestlers won all but one final in the World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships at Tampere, Finland.

Jorge Hawley of Pomona defeated Kutil Ladislav of the Czech Republic, 4-0, in the first round of the 63.5-kilogram division of the Under-19 World Boxing Championships at Istanbul, Turkey.

Names in the News

Nebraska sophomore receiver Brendan Holbein was grazed by a bullet at waist level and required about 10 stitches when an argument at a party escalated, police said.

John David Crow Jr., a former Alabama running back and son of a the Heisman Trophy winner from Texas A&M;, was killed Saturday in a traffic accident near Birmingham, Ala., officials said. He was 39.

Tom Haine, captain of the 1968 U.S. men’s Olympic volleyball team, died after suffering a massive heart attack. He was 61.