College Football SPOTLIGHT

LIGHTNING INJURES THREE

Mississippi linebacker coach Mike Grant sustained a minor burn on his side Saturday when his headset was struck by lightning during the Rebels’ 21-10 loss to No. 8 Alabama at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Two ABC-TV workers were also struck by lightning.

Grant was burned during a spectacular lightning storm that caused officials to suspend the game for 25 minutes in the second quarter. The lightning went through his headset and into the transmitter attached to his belt.

Grant returned to the sideline when play resumed and even put his headset back on.

“It made a little red spot,” Grant said, pointing to his left side after the game, “but now it’s gone. I threw (the headset) on the ground. I said I wasn’t going to use it anymore.”

ABC cameraman Barry Drago and his sideline driver, Bill Browning, also were injured by the lightning. Browning was taken to a hospital because he had an irregular heartbeat, but was later released. Drago was also treated and released.

Referee Bill Goss hurried to remove his transmitter, then ordered both teams off the field. The end zone scoreboards were shut off to prevent them from being hit.

Most of the fans scrambled for cover, but the Ole Miss band, perhaps encouraged that its team was ahead 7-0, stayed in place and continued to play during the storm.

But the Ole Miss celebration was shortlived as the Crimson Tide rallied from a 10-0 halftime deficit to win.

FAMILY REUNION

Homecoming weekend at Connecticut was more like a family reunion as Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz took advantage of a bye weekend for the Irish to watch his son walk the same sidelines he did 30 years ago.

Holtz, who was an assistant coach for the Huskies in 1964 and 1965, was in town with his wife and other relatives to visit Skip Holtz, 30, who is in his first year as head coach at Connecticut.

“I’m just up here as a father and a grandfather,” the Notre Dame coach said before watching the Huskies’ beat Rhode Island, 33-16, for their third victory in eight games. “It’s nice to be back. There are a lot of memories.”

Holtz said it has been difficult watching his son struggle in his first season as a head coach.

“I know this: Now we have to win twice on Saturdays. When (UConn) is playing I’ll call the press box--I have the number--when I can, four or five times during a game,” he said. “When one of us wins and the other doesn’t, well, it takes something away from it.”

Holtz gave the Huskies a pep talk Friday night, but said he didn’t give his son any advice.

“I don’t say anything,” he said. “I treat Skip like I treat his mother. I don’t give advice and I take all of it.”

NO MERCY

Ohio State Coach John Cooper and Purdue Coach Jim Colletto are longtime friends, but Cooper didn’t let that get in the way when they met.

Cooper showed no mercy on his former offensive coordinator as the 24th-ranked Buckeyes embarrassed the Boilermakers, 48-14, at Columbus, Ohio.

“Any place I ever came from, you try to score as many points as you could,” Cooper said.

The Buckeyes were throwing into the end zone ahead, 35-0, in the first half and called two timeouts and put on a full punt rush in the final minute of the first half.

“It’s not for children,” Colletto said. “This is a heavyweight fight, not a preliminary. You’d better come to play in the Big Ten.”

Ohio State quarterback Bob Hoying threw for a career-high 290 yards and four touchdowns in the first half.

YES, WE HAVE NO SALAMI

A deli owner has learned what a stickler the NCAA can be.

Mark Greenberg, owner of the Market Deli in Denver, received a phone call from a University of Colorado official last week after promoting “Rashaan Salami” sandwiches on a local radio station.

Salaam, who rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns in the No. 2 Buffaloes’ 35-21 victory over No. 19 Kansas State Saturday, was the basis for Greenberg’s sandwich--a bagel filled with salami and American cheese.

“The salami was for his last name. American cheese was because we hope he is an All-American. The bagel was because he runs through the hole so fast,” Greenberg explained.

However, a Colorado official politely told Greenberg that it is against NCAA rules for a player’s name to be used commercially.

Greenberg said the radio spots created a big demand for the sandwich.

“It’s just a salami sandwich now,” he said. “I’ve been trying to cut it off, but it’s hard to tell all my customers after (the radio station) had been telling people about it all morning.”

CHANGE OF HEART

Stanford Coach Bill Walsh didn’t say many nice things about Oregon State in his book “Rough Magic,” released last summer.

“They should play with Boise State, but they can’t give up the millions of dollars that comes from the Pac-10. Obviously they don’t put it back into football,” Walsh said in the book.

But after oddsmakers rated the Stanford-Oregon State game as a tossup, Walsh couldn’t say enough nice things about the Beavers and Coach Jerry Pettibone.

“If it weren’t for Jerry, it would be tough times in Corvallis. History demonstrates that,” said Walsh, who touted Pettibone for Pac-10 coach of the year.

Said Pettibone: “I take that with a grain of salt. Some coaches try to pass out all the great statements right before the game.”

Maybe Pettibone fell for Walsh’s flattery. The Cardinal beat the Beavers, 35-29.

NO LAUGHING MATTER

Pitt Athletic Director Oval Jaynes has sent letters of apology to West Virginia officials for hillbilly humor directed at Mountaineer fans after the Mountaineers beat the Panthers, 47-41, last week in Pittsburgh.

Throughout the game, Pitt’s public-address announcer poked fun at West Virginia. During the first half, he said a tractor had left its lights on in the parking lot. Its license plate read “E-I-E-I-O,” he said.

QUOTEWORTHY

“Somebody said I smiled in the fourth quarter . That’s the first time this year.”

--Virginia Coach George Welsh after the No. 25 Cavaliers defeated No. 15 North Carolina, 34-10.

“Everything in this game was lousy .”

--Purdue Coach Jim Colletto after watching his team lose to Ohio State, 48-14.

“We didn’t win. We didn’t lose. We really did lose. We’re a better team than them.”

--Boston College quarterback Mark Hartsell after the Eagles’ 7-7 tie with Rutgers in which they outgained the Scarlet Knights, 413 to 234 yards.

“I don’t swear. It was about as vehemently spoken as I can do it without four-letter words. But maybe he ( the official ) was right. He said it was a side block and not in the back. I apologize to our fans for my reaction. Our people in the box said there was a clip at the point of attack.”

--Illinois Coach Lou Tepper after losing an argument with the officials over a clipping penalty in the Illini’s 19-14 loss to Michigan.

“It was terrible. It was the sloppiest game I’ve seen us play.”

--Washington Coach Jim Lambright after Oregon upset the No. 9 Huskies, 31-20.

NOTEWORTHY

New Mexico quarterback Stoney Case became the first player in NCAA major-college history to throw for more than 8,000 yards and run for more than 1,000 in a career as New Mexico beat New Mexico State, 56-31. Case now has career totals of 1,022 yards rushing and 8,529 passing and is 11th on the career total offense list with 9,551 yards. . . . Georgia quarterback Eric Zeier threw for 420 yards and two touchdowns to rally Georgia over Kentucky, 34-30. . . . Dennis Lundy gained 174 yards and became Northwestern’s career rushing leader with 2,775 yards, topping the mark of 2,643 set by Bob Christian from 1987-90. . . . Grambling Coach Eddie Robinson moved within five wins of an unprecedented 400 victories this season after the Tigers defeated Jackson State, 28-17. Robinson is 395-140-15 in 53 years as a college coach. The Tigers (7-0) have four regular season games remaining and could give Robinson his 400th victory in the Heritage Bowl. . . . Derrick Taite threw for a school-record 466 yards and four touchdowns as Mississippi State routed Tulane, 66-22, at Starkville, Miss. It was the first time that Mississippi State had scored 60 or more points since scoring 69 against Murray State in 1946. . . . Toledo running back Casey McBeth ran for 304 yards and set a Mid-American Conference record by scoring 32 points on five touchdowns and a two-point conversion as Toledo beat Akron, 48-25. Toledo had 644 yards of offense against the Zips, who have been outscored this season 273-68. . . . Texas A&M; defeated Rice, 7-0, at College Station, Tex., to extend its Southwest Conference victory streak to 26 consecutive games. The Aggies have won 25 consecutive home games. It was also the first time that an SWC team was shut out since 1988, when the Aggies beat Texas Christian, 18-0. . . . Delaware fullback Daryl Brown became only the third player in Yankee Conference history to surpass the 4,000-yard rushing mark in his career. Brown, Delaware’s all-time leading rusher with 4,004 yards, gained 76 yards in a 52-14 victory over Massachusetts. . . . Miami ran its winning streak against unranked teams to 68 with a 38-6 victory over West Virginia.