Denson Gives It Old College Try

Notre Dame tailback Autry Denson has rushed for 2,763 yards in his career, the third-highest total in school history.

So when Denson wants to play, he plays.

No questions asked.

Notre Dame trailed Navy by three points in the fourth quarter Saturday when Denson fell to the ground and grabbed his knee after a two-yard gain. Trainers rushed onto the field. When they finally brought Denson off about three minutes later, he could not even put pressure on the leg.

But after five minutes on the bench, Denson was begging to be put in. He returned and had runs of five, three and five yards before scoring the winning touchdown on a five-yard run.

Irish Coach Bob Davie and running back coach Desmond Robinson said they had no problem playing Denson again, despite what looked like a bad injury.

“There was no question he wanted to go back in that game,” Davie said. “Trust me, if he wants to go back in, he’ll go back in.”

OH, THAT FEELING

Navy’s Hail Mary pass that almost beat Notre Dame on the game’s final play looked all too familiar to Greg Mattison, Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator.

Mattison was the defensive line coach at Michigan in 1994 when Colorado beat the Wolverines on Kordell Stewart’s desperation pass to Michael Westbrook.

“Please don’t do this to me now,” Mattison said, describing his reaction to seeing the play develop. “Anytime that happens, I look and I go, ‘Oh no, you can’t get me twice in a career.’ ”

CAUGHT IN THE HYPE

Peyton Manning’s streak of consecutive 300-yard passing games ended at seven when he completed only eight of 25 passes for 126 yards with an interception in No. 8 Tennessee’s 22-7 victory over South Carolina.

Manning, the most accurate passer in Southeastern Conference history, completed one of eight passes in the second half. It was the fewest passing yards for Manning since the sixth start of his freshman season, 32 games ago.

Said Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer: “I thought Peyton played really well.”

Right.

SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY

The Nebraska-Oklahoma series, played annually since 1928, won’t resume until 2000 because the two schools are in different divisions in the Big 12 Conference.

After the top-ranked Cornhuskers defeated the Sooners on Saturday, Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne sounded really choked up about it.

“It’s kind of sad not to play them for a couple of years because of the history,” Osborne said. “But life goes on and we have to play Missouri next week.”

DREAM MATCHUP

Schedule-makers at Northern Illinois and Iowa State might want to get together soon and arrange a nonconference game between the schools at DeKalb, Ill.

Northern Illinois’ 35-30 loss to Ohio extended the Huskies’ losing streak to 16 games, the longest in the nation among major-college teams.

Iowa State, which lost to Kansas, 34-24, has a 30-game losing streak on the road. The Cyclones’ last win came in 1991 against Missouri.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

Boston College’s 22-21 victory over Pittsburgh was an exorcism of sorts for the Eagles, who entered last year’s game at Pittsburgh as an 11 1/2-point favorite but lost, 20-13.

Two days later, allegations surfaced that Eagle players had been gambling on games, sending the program into a crisis from which it has not recovered.

Thirteen players were eventually suspended, including two who bet against the Eagles. Coach Dan Henning was eventually fired, basketball coach Jim O’Brien left in the aftermath and athletic director Chet Gladchuk took a similar job at Houston, reportedly after he was encouraged to leave.

GOAL-LINE STAND

Indiana finally found a way to get into the end zone, but Hoosier fans couldn’t find a way to get the goal post out of it.

De’Wayne Hogan’s one-yard run against Illinois was Indiana’s first touchdown in five games.

When the game ended, several hundred fans rushed onto the field and made a halfhearted attempt to tear down the north goal-post. They were quickly dispersed by police and left without incident.

FAT CITY

San Jose State Coach Dave Baldwin was worried that his team might be overconfident against Fresno State after the Spartans upset Air Force last week for their second consecutive victory.

“What we have to guard against is the fat-head syndrome. We’re worried about that,” Baldwin said. “We’re not good, we just played hard [against Air Force].”

Baldwin was apparently right.

Fresno State defeated San Jose State, 53-12.

NOTEWORTHY

Texas’ Ricky Williams gained 226 yards against Baylor for his fourth consecutive 200-yard game. Williams is one short of the NCAA record for consecutive 200-yard games shared by Barry Sanders and Marcus Allen. . . .Chris McCoy of Navy rushed for 147 yards and two touchdowns against Notre Dame, setting a new Navy record for career rushing touchdowns. McCoy’s 33 rushing touchdowns broke the record of 31 set by Napoleon McCallum (1981-85).

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THE PLAYMAKERS

RUSHING

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Player, Team No. Yds. TD DARREN DAVIS, Iowa St. 42 261 0 RICKY WILLIAMS, Texas 31 226 2 KEVIN FAULK, LSU 28 212 5 JAMAL LEWIS, Tennessee 24 205 2 DWAYNE SCHULTERS, Pittsburgh 33 193 1 CHARLIE HIGGINS, Tulsa 30 175 2 CHRIS LEMON, Nevada 27 174 4

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PASSING

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Player, Team Att. Comp. Yds. TD THAD BUSBY, Florida St. 36 26 463 5 RYAN LEAF, Washington St. 49 24 447 3 CHARLIE BATCH, E. Mich. 49 32 436 1 TIM COUCH, Kentucky 66 41 410 4 JOHN DUTTON, Nevada 33 25 367 0 CHRIS WALLACE, Toledo 36 24 364 4 TIM RATTAY, La. Tech 48 29 361 3 NEALON GREENE, Clemson 25 18 286 2

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RECEIVING

*--*

Player, Team No. Yds. TD TORRY HOLT, N. Carolina St. 12 168 5 JAKE HOFFART, Pittsburgh 10 110 1 COREY ALSTON, W. Michigan 9 263 2 TROY EDWARDS, La. Tech 9 126 1 E.G. GREEN, Florida St. 8 184 3 RANDY MOSS, Marshall 7 193 2 EUGENE BAKER, Kent 7 184 3 PASCAL VOLZ, New Mexico 7 168 3

*--*

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--Compiled by Gary Klein