College Football Spotlight : SIMPLE MATH

In the searching-for-something positive department, Miami’s 24-3 defeat of Rutgers was the Hurricanes’ 67th consecutive victory against an unranked opponent.

Only a week ago, football fans were talking about Miami’s 58-game home winning streak, which was ended by Washington.

“If we beat (Rutgers), 100-0, it’s not going to take away last week’s loss,” said Warren Sapp, a defensive tackle who Saturday set up a 14-yard touchdown run by Michael Stewart with a fumble recovery and 19-yard return.

“I had the whole weekend to think, ‘Why, why, why, why?’ I saw the film and still can’t understand it.”

We can. The Huskies scored more points.

HOME ALONE

Speaking of home-winning streaks, Miami returned the favor by beating the Scarlet Knights at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, N.J.

It was the first time Coach Doug Graber, Rutgers coach since 1990, lost at Rutgers Stadium. His streak ended at 12 victories.

IT HAD TO END

Texas’ 34-31 loss to Colorado ended a 251-game streak for the Longhorns, who lost for the first time in their 102-year history when scoring 25 points or more at home.

LUNAR LAMENT

Coach Joe Tiller of Wyoming knew his Cowboys were in trouble when he heard this week that Nebraska planned to step up its play to compensate for the loss of quarterback Tommie Frazier.

“Where are they stepping it to, the moon?” Tiller asked about the No. 2-ranked Cornhuskers.

They did not have to go that far in a 42-32 victory over Wyoming at Lincoln, Neb.

Lawrence Phillips, who scored three touchdowns, gained 168 yards in 27 carries.

A FUTURE KRZYZEWSKI?

Everyone knows about Mike Krzyzewski’s basketball program at Duke, but how many realize first-year coach Fred Goldsmith has the football team off to a 5-0 start?

An easy schedule has helped. Duke defeated Maryland (2-3), East Carolina (2-2), Army (1-3), Georgia Tech (1-3) and Navy (0-4).

“To be in this situation and be 5-0 is just a tremendous blessing,” Goldsmith said. “We can’t be anything else but ecstatic.”

SMALL STEPS

Western Kentucky scored a 31-22 victory over soon-to-be Division I-A Alabama Birmingham, which was a big improvement for UAB. The Blazers lost, 72-0, to Kansas last week.

BIG IN BIG WEST

David Barr, California’s quarterback, was urging his charges not to overlook the Big West’s San Jose State after losses to San Diego State and Hawaii of the Western Athletic Conference.

“I mean, I think we’re in first place in the Pac-10 and last place in the WAC,” he said last week.

The Bears passed Barr’s challenge, 55-0.

SIZING UP

To those who think Washington’s Napoleon Kaufman (a career-high 227 yards in 34 carries against UCLA) is too small to make it big at a listed 5 feet 9, 180 pounds, the NFL’s two best backs are Emmitt Smith at 5-9, 209, and Barry Sanders at 5-8, 203.

GIVEN THE BOOT

Before playing Colorado, Texas safety Tre Thomas said: “If that Hail Mary shows up, I promise I’ll break up the play.”

Last week, quarterback Kordell Stewart’s tipped pass to Michael Westbrook with no time left gave the Buffaloes a 27-26 victory over Michigan.

Thomas was no factor Saturday when Neil Voskeritchian’s last-second field goal did in No. 16 Texas, 34-31.

EARLY EXIT

Tailback Ki-Jana Carter of Penn State dislocated his right thumb late in the second quarter of the Nittany Lions’ 48-21 victory over Temple.

Carter was replaced after catching a nine-yard pass with 25 seconds left in the first half. No. 4 Penn State led, 21-12.

Penn State officials were not sure if Carter would be ready for the Lions’ next game, a Big Ten showdown against Michigan on Oct. 15 in Ann Arbor., Mich.

Coach Joe Paterno said: “We’ll try to put it back together without an operation.”

Carter gained 61 yards in nine carries, caught three passes for 49 yards and had 68 yards in kick returns at the time of his injury. He is averaging 8.1 yards per carry and has scored nine touchdowns.

CRYSTAL BALL CHECK

With Rose Bowl and national championship implications, Paterno was asked about his chances against Michigan.

“I’m not clairvoyant,” he said. “I don’t mean that to be smart-alecky. I just don’t know.”

BEST SELLER

How much mileage can they get out of the book, “Rough Magic,” in which Bill Walsh talks before he thinks in insulting many of his coaching rivals?

One of the book’s seminal moments comes when Walsh calls Notre Dame’s Lou Holtz a “spoiled little brat.”

Before Notre Dame trounced Stanford, 34-15, at South Bend, Ind., Holtz was quoted on national television: “I don’t know about being a spoiled brat, but I like to get my own way.”

Walsh characterized the treatise, written by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Lowell Cohn as a “book I’m not party to.”

All Walsh did was give the columnist free reign to cover the team for a season.

WORST TALKER

Mike Price, Washington State’s coach, inadvertently supported Walsh’s take when he said, “I don’t want to sound like Lou Holtz, but Tennessee has to be the best 1-3 team in the country.”

But unlike Notre Dame, which routinely routs the opponents Holtz tries to build up, Washington State proved Price right.

Going into game, the Cougars had given up only 108 yards in 94 carries, an average of 36 yards rushing per game. But Nilo Silvan went untouched 62 yards on a reverse and the Cougars gave up 149 rushing yards in the Volunteers’ 10-9 victory at Knoxville.

POURING IT ON

West Virginia, which entered the game with one of the country’s worst scoring offenses--averaging 9.4 points per game--defeated Larry Smith’s Missouri Tigers, 34-10, in Columbus, Mo.

FOILED AGAIN

Ken Dilger, Illinois’ 6-foot-5 tight end, was stopped on the one-yard line by Purdue’s 5-7 John Jackson as time expired in the Boilermakers’ 22-16 victory.

His explanation:

“I caught the ball. I hesitated a little bit. I saw an opening but a couple of guys hit me at the one. I just didn’t make it. It’s probably the worst feeling in my life. I was the only guy open and I just didn’t make it across the goal line.”

He knows the feeling, though. In 1991, Dilger dropped a pass in the end zone with 1:49 left as Missouri held on for a 23-19 victory at Columbia.

POISON IVY

The Ivy League had a banner day going 7-0 (Penn was idle) against nonconference opponents. A couple of victories were notable:

Columbia’s 28-13 victory over Lafayette was the Lions’ first over the Leopards since 1980. Brown won consecutive games for the first time in seven years and defeated Colgate for the first time since 1968, 26-7.

ON TARGET

Stanford quarterback Steve Stenstrom was 37-for-59 for 360 yards in a 34-15 loss to Notre Dame. Stenstrom increased his career passing yardage to 9,349 to tie former Stanford great John Elway for second place on the Pac-10 list. He is 44 yards shy of the conference record set by Oregon State’s Erik Wilhelm (1985-88).

He also has been successful against the Fighting Irish, completing 100 of 147 passes for 1,020 yards in four games.

ALMOST ON TARGET

Georgia’s Eric Zeier became the top passer in Southeastern Conference history, but he could not make the passes when the Bulldogs’ needed them most in a 29-28 loss to No. 11 Alabama at Tuscaloosa.

Zeier eclipsed the career record of 9,287 yards held by Florida’s Shane Matthews. He finished with 263 yards and has 9,287 for his career. But in a last-minute effort to get his team in field-goal position, Zeier had two incompletions to give up possession.

ANOTHER MISERABLE DAY

Idaho’s 70-21 Big Sky victory over rival Idaho State recalls another unceremonious moment in the Bengals’ football history.

The 70 points were the most given up by Idaho State since a 137-0 loss to the Utah Aggies in 1919.

NOTEWORTHY

Rashaan Salaam of Colorado gained 317 yards in 35 carries in the Buffaloes’ 34-31 victory over Texas. . . . After losing its first four games by a combined score of 236-53, Northeast Louisiana defeated Weber State, 62-37. . . . Indiana’s Alex Smith, who started Saturday as the country’s second-leading rusher at 157.3 yards per game, was held to 22 yards in 16 carries by Minnesota. . . . Brent Moss gained 173 yards in 27 carries and became Wisconsin’s third 3,000-yard rusher. Moss, with 3,125 yards, joined former Heisman Trophy winner Alan Ameche and Billy Marek.

QUOTEWORTHY

“After the first quarter, I could see the goal posts falling down and Philly going crazy.” --Henry Burris, the Temple quarterback who led the Owls on two early drives against Penn State.

“Stanford scares me running the ball as they do passing.” --Lou Holtz, before the Irish defeated the Cardinal, 34-15.