COLLEGE FOOTBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : All Eyes on Ft. Collins This Week

The best game in the country this week isn’t in Ann Arbor, or Tuscaloosa, or South Bend, or any of the other usual stops along the way to a national championship. This time you need directions to Ft. Collins, Colo., which is where 18th-ranked Utah plays No. 12 Colorado State on Saturday.

That’s right, the Utes (6-0) vs. the Rams (7-0) . . . from the Western Athletic Conference, that cute little league that until recent months hardly bothered anybody.

Let’s be honest: If you wanted your kid to become a fighter pilot, a Mormon missionary or to get a real nice tan, you’d send him to the WAC. But if you wanted him to play elite level Division I-A football, you’d look elsewhere. Not even Brigham Young’s strange national championship in 1984, Ty Detmer’s Heisman Trophy in 1990 or Marshall Faulk’s abbreviated but electrifying stay at San Diego State could change the perception that the WAC was, well, Sta-puff soft.

Maybe this will help: The WAC is 6-2 against its West Coast big brother, the Pacific 10 Conference, and 18-10 overall against nonconference opponents. Colorado State beat Arizona at Tucson. BYU beat Notre Dame at South Bend. San Diego State and Hawaii both beat California. Utah beat Oregon at Eugene. Do you notice a trend?

“I’ve seen this coming for two or three years and I’ve said that,” Air Force Coach Fisher DeBerry said. “The football in this conference doesn’t have to take a back seat to anywhere.”

The reason for the WAC’s move to the front seat is simple: defense. When Sonny Lubick arrived at Colorado State last season, he brought with him the same defensive schemes he used as Miami’s coordinator. When Ron McBride went to Utah, his first priority was finding defensive linemen. When BYU’s pass-happy LaVell Edwards decided he was tired of losing, 52-51, he began searching for a defense and running attack.

“Everybody has recognized the need to put more quality players on defense,” DeBerry said, “and recognized the fact that you win big games and championships with defensive football.”

Utah did its part by finding Luther Elliss, a senior defensive end who should make some NFL team very happy next season. The minute McBride heard about Elliss during spring recruiting, the Ute coaching staff never let up.

“We knew we had to have him,” said McBride, who considers defensive linemen the most difficult players to find and successfully recruit.

Partly because of Elliss’ emergence as a star, Utah leads in eight of the 10 WAC defensive categories. The Utes also find themselves in the rarefied air of the top 20.

Of course, defense isn’t sexy. But upsets are. The WAC victories over Notre Dame and Arizona and the rest of the Pac-10 did wonders for the league’s image.

“It’s like I’ve been saying for years,” BYU’s Edwards said, “the thing we have to do is win big games.”

In the process, the WAC wins believers.

MR. CONFIDENCE BUILDER

We admit it: We were completely fooled by the supposed love-fest going on between Florida Coach Steve Spurrier and senior quarterback Terry Dean.

To hear Dean’s teammates talk, you would have thought the Gator quarterback wished he had a sixth, maybe seventh year of eligibility--all so he could learn from the great offensive master, the one and only King Spurrier.

“The quarterback controversy is over,” wide receiver Aubrey Hill said last week, referring to last season’s tag team of Dean and then-freshman Danny Wuerffel.

“I don’t think (Spurrier is) tougher on Terry than anybody else,” wide receiver Ike Hilliard offered.

Then came last Saturday’s 36-33 upset loss to Auburn at Florida Field, where a nervous Dean had four passes intercepted and fumbled once. The mistakes cost the Gators 12 points, to say nothing of their No. 1 ranking, their hopes of an undefeated season and a possible national championship.

“Terry did not play all that poorly,” Spurrier said.

He played poorly enough to get pulled before the Gators’ second series of the second half. Wuerffel came on and completed 10 of 13 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception, which means you can pretty much forget those “Dean for Heisman” campaigns.

Afterward, Spurrier declined to name a starter for the Oct. 29 game against Georgia and hasn’t addressed the subject since. Then word leaked out that according to Dean, Spurrier had told him last Monday and Friday that Wuerffel would play against Auburn if Dean struggled. So much for positive thoughts heading into the biggest game of the season.

Spurrier and Dean have had their problems before. They have vastly different backgrounds and different styles, but they also have similar personalities: borderline arrogant, egotistical, smart and headstrong. Spurrier has told friends that, in essence, Dean thinks too much on the field. Dean has told teammates and reporters that he could do without the constant threat of losing his starting job.

Problem is, Dean has had eight passes intercepted in his last three games, which has sent Spurrier’s visor flying. Dean also didn’t earn many admirers for his sideline behavior after being benched. He mostly stood by himself and offered only a half-hearted clap when Wuerffel’s third scoring throw put Florida ahead, 33-29, with 5:51 to play.

What does it all mean? Only Spurrier knows for sure. But a good guess would be that coach and quarterback are counting the nanoseconds until season’s end.

ONE HACK, ONE VOTE

Our half-season awards ballot:

Coach of the Half-Season

The Nominees--Auburn’s Terry Bowden, Kansas State’s Bill Snyder, Colorado State’s Lubick, Utah’s McBride, Duke’s Fred Goldsmith and Nebraska’s Tom Osborne.

Bowden, reportedly being scouted by some NFL general managers for future openings, has proved the Tigers are no fluke; Snyder has done what no one thought possible: brought respect to Kansas State football; Lubick has made believers out of his team and the nation; McBride quietly has built a solid program in Salt Lake City. Does Duke Athletic Director Tom Butters know how to pick coaches or what? He hired Mike Krzyzewski, Spurrier and now Goldsmith, who has the Blue Devils unbeaten and in foreign territory--the top 25. Osborne is the Energizer Bunny of coaches. Even with a third-string quarterback, he keeps winning and winning and winning.

And the winner is . . . Snyder.

Even his peers marvel at Kansas State’s turnaround.

“I don’t think anybody has ever approximated what he has done,” said Colorado Coach Bill McCartney, who should know. It was McCartney who rebuilt the Buffaloes’ program into a perennial powerhouse. “What happened at Kansas State is unprecedented. I don’t think anybody in college football has done a job rebuilding a program to compare with what’s being done at Manhattan.”

Flop of the Half-Season

The Nominees--Pac-10, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Texas wide receiver Mike Adams, Kentucky, Clemson.

The Pac-10 is 14-10-1 in Division I-A nonconference games, with half of the victories supplied by three teams--Washington, Washington State and Arizona. UCLA and Stanford, a combined 3-9-1 overall and 0-7 in the league, deserve special mention for embarrassing themselves almost weekly. If it weren’t for Navy and Air Force on the schedule, Notre Dame might not earn enough victories to receive a bowl invitation. Wisconsin fans won’t have to worry about Rose Bowl ticket scams this season. Texas’ Adams, who began the season as a Heisman candidate of sorts, now leads the Longhorns in receptions and suspensions. Yes, we picked Kentucky (1-5) as a preseason breakthrough team. No, we weren’t hooked up to Bill Walsh’s electrode machine when we made the failed prediction. The midseason slogan for Clemson (2-4): “Tiger Football--More Fun Than Rickets!”

And the winner is . . . the Pac-10.

Every preseason Heisman candidate, with the exception of Washington’s Napoleon Kaufman, is either injured or a bust. The nonconference record is almost as funny as a Walsh news conference and the postseason bowl possibilities are frightening (perhaps as few as two league teams).

Player of the Half-Season

The Nominees--Alcorn State quarterback Steve McNair, Washington’s Kaufman, Colorado tailback Rashaan Salaam, Nebraska I-back Lawrence Phillips, Miami defensive tackle Warren Sapp, Penn State tailback Ki-Jana Carter.

Even if McNair played for UCLA, he’d still be the best quarterback in the country. Miami Coach Dennis Erickson said he was amazed by Kaufman when Washington beat the Hurricanes. If it’s good enough for Erickson, it’s good enough for us. Colorado’s Kordell Stewart and Michael Westbrook are amazing players, but Salaam is the reason the Buffaloes are undefeated. That, and a Hail Mary. Phillips gains an average of seven yards per carry. No wonder Osborne isn’t panicking with the loss of quarterback Tommie Frazier. Sapp renders offensive linemen useless. Carter is the Salaam of Penn State.

And the winner is . . . Salaam. But only by the smallest of margins over Kaufman and McNair.

THE REST

McNair needs only 256 total yards Saturday against Southern to become the NCAA’s all-time offensive leader. BYU’s Detmer is the current leader with 14,665 yards. . . . Miami’s Erickson on Sapp’s Heisman chances: “It’s just not an award for a (defensive) player,” he said. “I just don’t think that would ever happen.” . . . Missouri Coach Larry Smith is busy working on his game plan for Saturday’s game against Nebraska. When that fails--and it will--Smith is hoping for Cornhusker hunger pangs. “Hopefully, they’ll all take a break and go to the concession stand,” Smith said of the Cornhuskers. . . . For what it’s worth, Colorado’s McCartney said he voted Nebraska No. 1 this week. . . . If not for a reported disagreement over sites, Colorado State and Colorado would have played this season. Instead, the two teams don’t meet until next year. . . . Fresno State Coach Jim Sweeney said no team blocks lower or more viciously than wishbone-oriented Oregon State.

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. Colorado 6-0 2. Auburn 7-0 3. Penn State 6-0 4. Nebraska 7-0 5. Washington 5-1 6. Florida 5-1 7. Miami 4-1 8. Texas A&M; 6-0 9. Alabama 7-0 10. Colorado State 7-0

Waiting list: Michigan (4-2), Florida State (4-1), Arizona (5-1), Syracuse (5-1), Virginia Tech (6-1)