COLLEGE FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT

BIGGER IS BETTER

How bad was Rice during its 70-7 loss to Ohio State in Columbus?

Well, with 11 minutes left and Ohio State ahead by 56 points, the Buckeyes played gentlemen and ran the ball on fourth-and-11 at the Rice 16-yard line. The result: Ohio State picked up 12 yards and scored two plays later.

The was the final touchdown in a massacre that featured the school with the largest enrollment in Division I-A football, Ohio State with 49,000, against Rice with the smallest, 2,600 students.

It also featured a little postgame controversy, with Rice Coach Ken Hatfield confronting Ohio State Coach John Cooper about the Buckeyes’ 60-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter with a 56-7 lead.

“It was personal between John and me. Ask him what was said,” Hatfield said. “Everyone wants to go for the golden game. Everyone thinks you need to score 100 to get recognition. I think the end is greater than the means.”

Said Owl defensive end Ndukwe Kalu: “That’s the worst beating I’ve ever got. They didn’t run up the score. They brought young guys in and they did the job. If I were them, I would’ve tried to score 100.”

ONLY IN THE NAIA

A rare one-point safety was awarded to NAIA Division II Westminster during an extra-point attempt in game against West Liberty State at New Wilmington, Pa.

Westminster scored a touchdown with 10:18 left on in the second quarter on a five-yard run by Kevin Wellendorf, and on the extra-point attempt holder Kerry Freeman fumbled the snap, rolled to his right and threw a pass that was intercepted by an unidentified player.

The interception was made at the one-yard line, but the defender was immediately hit by two Westminster players, and the ball rolled into the end zone. Several players dove for the ball, and it was eventually recovered on the ground among a sea of bodies by an unidentified West Liberty player.

After a 10 minute discussion, head referee Donald Woodward ruled that Westminster would be awarded one point for a safety.

Oh . . . and for the one person who cares, Westminster won the game, 13-7.

IN SO MANY WORDS

Arkansas Coach Danny Ford after his team, a 12-point favorite, got beat by SMU, 23-10: “I apologize to the people of Arkansas for this performance.”

Florida State’s Bobby Bowden after the Seminoles routed Duke 44-7: “The game went a lot like our practices have gone.”

REMEMBER THIS NAME

The best Heisman Trophy longshot is Byron Hanspard, Texas Tech’s junior running back, who rushed for 272 yards against Oklahoma State. If you squint a little he looks a lot like Marshall Faulk, and in his last five games going back to last season, he is averaging more than 240 yards a game.

THINK BEFORE SPEAKING

The Over-hype award traditionally reserved for Lee Corso, goes to David Armstrong, the coach of Div. III Thiel, who faced Oberlin in a matchup of teams with 22- and 30-game losing streaks.

“This will be the greatest game in college football of the day,” Armstrong said before his team’s 26-6 victory. “This is truly college football at its best.”

Apparently, Armstrong doesn’t get cable.

NO SWEET SONG

For the first time since Steve Spurrier became head coach, Florida players skipped the singing of the alma mater at the end of the game in protest of a player’s suspension.

Freshman Keith Kelsey was suspended by the school’s Student Advisory Board earlier this week for allegedly taking a chair from his dormitory lobby.

“We felt it was unfair that he got the suspension he got, so we were going to skip the alma mater,” offensive guard Donnie Young said. “We will do it for however long we want to hold out, because it wasn’t fair.”

Florida traditionally remains on the field to sing the alma mater while the band plays. After a 62-14 victory over Georgia Southern, the team sprinted off the field, confusing the band and several thousand fans.

“We just weren’t in the alma mater singing mood,” Spurrier said.

IF YOU DON’T SUCCEED . . . TRANSFER

Tim Carey, who lost the starting quarterback job at Stanford to Chad Hutchinson, is saying he will transfer to Hawaii. Carey would be joining former Stanford assistant and star quarterback Guy Benjamin, now the Rainbows’ offensive coordinator.

THE BOZ WILL NEVER DIE

Ohio State freshman linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer got permission from Archie Griffin to wear the number 45 jersey worn by the two-time Heisman Trophy winner, and did the number proud by making three tackles for losses and getting two sacks in his debut against Rice.

But this is not the story of a boy following his hero. Although Katzenmoyer has worn No. 45 since junior high, it was not out of respect for Griffin.

“In seventh grade, I wanted No. 44,” Katzenmoyer said. “Brian Bozak wore No. 44.”

He meant Brian Bosworth, former loudmouth linebacker at Oklahoma.

“Yeah, that’s him; I can’t remember it was so long ago. But it was unavailable. It went to an eighth-grader. So I said, ‘OK, I’ll take No. 45.’ ”

NEW CINDERELLA?

Everyone wondered who will be the Northwestern of 1996, and the Wildcats might have answered that question themselves by losing to Wake Forest. But, it is unlikely that the Demon Deacons’ schedule will permit a miracle season.

Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia are still ahead so the happiness may be short-lived. Northwestern faces Duke next Saturday. Just another academic school in North Carolina that doesn’t have much of chance, right?

AND FOR THE LOSER . . .

Since there may be a Cinderella, how about a pumpkin.

Best choice is No. 9 Syracuse, which fell, 27-10, at home to No. 24 North Carolina. The Orangemen had only three tough games this season--North Carolina, Virginia Tech and the regular-season final against Miami--and all at home.

Well, so much for that unbeaten season. Think happy thoughts Orangemen fans--college basketball season starts Nov. 20.

AND THE BEAT GOES ON

Nebraska defeated Michigan State by 40 points last year (50-10) on its way to a second consecutive national title. This year the Cornhuskers won by 41 (55-14).

Yep, they’re getting better.

WILDCATS TAUGHT A LESSON

They were looked down upon for years. Scheduled as glorified scrimmage. But they turned it all around and wrote a Big Ten-winning script, and taught the powers of college football a valuable lesson--don’t underestimate the little guy.

And then, to follow a miracle 1995 season, the Northwestern Wildcats shocked again. They fell flat on their faces.

The Wildcats raised a big question Saturday by losing, 28-27, to Wake Forest. Was last season a fluke?.

Northwestern learned the lesson it taught Notre Dame last year in its season-opening victory. The Wildcats scheduled a team in Wake Forest that figured to be a pushover, and then watched as the goal posts were torn down in Winston-Salem, N.C. It lost to a team that could not beat Appalachian State a year ago. To a school that had not defeated a ranked opponent since 1979. That was 1-10 in 1995.

The Wildcats thought they were better, but failed to prove it. They thought they were as good as their No. 13 ranking. They thought Wake Forest was nothing.

“It feels like we did,” Wildcat Coach Gary Barnett said about underestimating Wake Forest. “I watched our performance, and I certainly think that our kids did. They had no reason to, but it feels like they did.”

Northwestern must have forgot about losing to Miami of Ohio last season, and got caught up in trying to be a national college football power. Now it has to start over.

--Compiled by George Dohrmann