COLLEGE FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT

WHEN YOU WIN BIG YOU CAN BE A PERFECTIONIST

Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier found something to criticize about his team’s performance even though the Cornhuskers embarrassed Missouri, 57-0.

“The passing game is not where it needs to be, but we’re going to get better at that,” he said. “It’s just concentration on my part and on the receivers’ part.”

Frazier ran for three touchdowns and threw for two.

WHAT COMES AFTER PLAN C?

Missouri Coach Larry Smith started freshman Kent Skornia at quarterback, switched to redshirt freshman Corby Jones two drives later and then used junior Brandon Corso. The quarterbacks completed nine of 24 passes for 83 yards and two interceptions.

FEATS ARE SOMETIMES MEASURED IN INCHES

The heartbreak of Army’s 28-27 loss to Notre Dame was apparent on the face of Army senior safety Jimmy Cantelupe, whose eyes welled with tears talking about how he always dreamed of beating Notre Dame.

“That was a game of inches,” he said. “Coach always tells us it’s a game of inches, and they won that last inch.”

Even Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz, who watched from the press box because of recent neck surgery, sympathized.

“Army deserved a better fate,” he said.

ADD NOTRE DAME

Coaching from the press box has its drawbacks, as Holtz learned after Army, a 22-point underdog, got within 28-21.

On their next possession, the Irish gambled on fourth and one from their 40, but Ron Powlus fumbled on a sneak. Holtz wanted the Irish to call a time out, but he couldn’t get word down to the field because he lost contact with his offensive coordinators.

“I was the most shocked person in the world when the ball was snapped,” Holtz said.

JUST ANOTHER KIND OF A CAT

During Northwestern’s many losing seasons, critics called them the Mildcats.

These Wildcats are mild no longer, with a 5-1 overall record and a 3-0 Big Ten record that gives them the conference lead.

“We just keep scratching and clawing,” Northwestern Coach Gary Barnett said. “We may not be real pretty, but we’re sort of alley cats.”

HIS GAIN BUT INDIANA’S LOSS

Although third-stringer Sean Glover ran for a career-high 199 yards for Indiana, he was too upset over the Hoosiers’ 22-13 loss to Iowa to enjoy his success.

Glover set a Kinnick Stadium record with 48 carries after carrying only 21 times for 42 yards prior to Saturday. His previous high was 50 yards against Northwestern as a freshman in 1992.

“Emotionally, I don’t feel very good,” Glover said. “It’s always hard to accept a loss, especially since we had an opportunity to win and we couldn’t get it done.”

SHOULDN’T THEY GET SOMETHING?

Pity Prairie View A&M;, whose NCAA-record losing streak reached 53 games after its 13-2 loss to Alcorn State at Lorman, Miss.

The Panthers’ only points came in the fourth quarter, when a snap went over the head of Alcorn punter Leon Simms and out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

But there were two reasons for a bit of optimism: the game was their closest since a 12-7 loss to Southern-Baton Rouge in 1992, and they had a 143-109 rushing yardage edge.

HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO

Mal Florence, longtime Times sportswriter and a USC alumnus, was among a group of USC Hall of Famers honored at halftime of Saturday’s game at the Coliseum against Washington State. Florence is in the Hall of Fame as a journalist, but he said his honor confused some people, including one old-timer who remembered Florence’s USC playing career as one of general bench-warming.

“The guy called me up and said, ‘How can you be in the SC football Hall of Fame?’ ” Florence said.

Quicker with a quip than he was with a football, Florence responded, “Don’t you remember the 98-yard run against Notre Dame?”

To which his caller replied, “Oh, sorry.”

Said Florence: “I hung up quick so the guy didn’t think about it a lot.”

HOW QUICKLY THEY FORGET

Another inductee honored was a former world-class track star, world-record holder in the 100 and 220, a man who won the Olympic gold medal in the 200 meters in the 1948 London Games. His name is Mel Patton. He was announced as Mel Pattoni.

JUST RUN FOR DAYLIGHT

Ohio State tailback Eddie George couldn’t believe his luck when a miscommunication on Wisconsin’s defensive line created a hole for him to run through with less than seven minutes to play at Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium.

But once he saw the opening, he didn’t waste time dashing through it for a 49-yard run that clinched Ohio State’s 27-16 victory.

“I thought, ‘Now, let me get into the end zone . . . and get out of here with a win,’ ” George said.

HE’S NOT WILD ABOUT WILDCATS

Kansas State fans might have gotten spoiled by watching the Wildcats shut out three consecutive opponents.

They had a few nervous moments Saturday, but Kansas State hung on to beat Oklahoma State, 23-17, for its 11th consecutive regular-season victory and sixth in a row over the Cowboys.

“I wasn’t real happy with things today, but I think Oklahoma State had a lot to do with that,” Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder said. “I don’t think we are as good as we have seemed in the past and not as bad as we showed today.”

WAKE UP CALL FOR WAKE FOREST

First, the good news: Wake Forest actually held Florida State scoreless for the first 11:14 of their game at Tallahassee.

The bad news: Once the Seminoles got started, they didn’t stop. They romped, 72-13.

“Once we get moving it’s like a train, it’s hard to stop us,” said Florida State quarterback Danny Kanell, who passed for 323 yards and five touchdowns before being rested early in the second half.

MAYBE THEY HAD A PLANE TO CATCH

Virginia Tech didn’t waste much time rolling up yardage--or the score--in its 77-27 thrashing of Akron.

The Hokies led, 26-0, after the first quarter and had the decency to give their first-stringers the rest of the day off. But the Zips probably couldn’t tell the difference, because the Hokies had padded their lead to 47-0 by halftime.

The Hokies, who accumulated 638 yards on offense, had scored only seven touchdowns in their first five games but had seven touchdowns in the first half against Akron.

The 77 points set a record for most scored against the Zips.

HOLD THE SALSA

Oh, those crazy kids down in Lubbock.

Despite warnings from school officials, spectators continued their little custom of tossing tortillas onto the field during Texas Tech’s 63-25 victory over Arkansas State.

Tech was penalized three times for 45 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

NOTEWORTHY

Purdue’s Mike Alstott tied Otis Armstrong’s school rushing record of running for at least 100 yards for the 13th time. Alstott became the Boilermakers’ all-time scoring leader with 224 points, breaking Leroy Keyes’ record, and increased his school record of rushing touchdowns to 34. . . . Penn State, which had turned the ball over only four times in its first five games, had three turnovers in the first quarter against Purdue. . . . Brice Hunter set a career yardage record for Georgia of 2,121. He made eight catches against Vanderbilt for 110 yards.

INJURY REPORT

Texas A&M; tailback Leeland McElroy sat out the Aggies’ 22-17 victory over Southern Methodist because of a sprained ankle. . . . Georgia lost its fifth tailback of the season when freshman Torin Kirtsey suffered a sprained ankle after scoring a touchdown in the Bulldogs’ 17-6 victory Vanderbilt. Georgia used six different players and gained only 86 yards rushing after Kirtsey’s injury.

QUOTEWORTHY

Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden on the Seminoles’ 72-13 rout of Wake Forest:

“We could’ve scored all we wanted to today. We just had too many players for them. It was actually hard to keep the score down.”

Purdue Coach Jim Colletto on injured quarterback Rick Trefzger:

“We could not put him back in. He had a concussion in the Minnesota game [last Saturday]. It took him until Wednesday to get his head cleared . . . . He took a couple of hits today and the concussion came back. He was bleeding from the mouth. I’m not going to jeopardize a kid’s health [for a victory].”

Texas A&M; free safety Dennis Allen, after the Aggies--who were 33-point favorites--had to rally for a 20-17 victory over Southern Methodist:

“I don’t know what caliber of bullet we dodged, but it was a powerful one.”

--Compiled by Bob Cuomo, Bill Dwyre, Helene Elliott and Emilio Garcia-Ruiz

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

TOP PERFORMERS PASSING

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Player Comp. Att. Yds. TD PHILYAW, NE Louisiana 26 55 486 5 TANEYHILL, So. Carolina 38 44 473 3 MARTIN, Louisiana Tech 31 41 445 3 MAXWELL, Nevada 35 43 405 7 WUERFFEL, Florida 20 34 380 4 FISCHER, Duke 35 56 360 3 BUTTERFIELD, Stanford 22 35 348 3 GROH, Virginia 20 41 346 4 KANELL, Florida St. 28 36 342 5

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RUSHING

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Player Carries Yards TD G. JONES, San Diego St. 28 270 5 WILSON, Utah St. 28 203 1 GLOVER, Indiana 49 199 1 SHEHEE, Washington 30 196 3 T. BARBER, Virginia 30 185 1 THOMPSON, Oklahoma St. 17 181 2 McCULLOUGH, Miami, Ohio 41 180 3 J. MOORE, Oklahoma 21 174 2 HILL, Arkansas 26 164 1

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RECEIVING

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Player No. Yards TD MACKEY, Louisiana Tech 15 263 2 VAN DYKE, Nevada 15 132 2 THOMAS, Duke 13 132 2 PRITCHETT, So. Carolina 12 113 1 DAVIS, So. Carolina 11 185 1 WILLIAMS, NE Louisiana 10 264 4 WILSON, Duke 10 156 1 ARNOLD, Fresno St. 9 221 2 ENGRAM, Penn St. 9 203 1

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