Nothing Sly About This Distraction

Iowa is running wild on the field; Ohio State is running wild off it.

Ohio State’s key Big Ten home opener has been marred by last weekend’s arrest of freshman receiver Ken-Yon Rambo, a highly recruited prospect from Cerritos.

Coach John Cooper might have wanted to expend all his energy on stopping Iowa, the nation’s No. 1 offense, but instead has had to mount a counterattack against reporters who questioned why Rambo has not been suspended for Saturday’s game.

Rambo pleaded not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and marijuana possession last Saturday night at the River Club near downtown Columbus. Cooper, so far, is standing by his player, claiming the incident was blown out of proportion.

On the field, the Buckeyes have been shaky at times in victories over Wyoming, Bowling Green, Arizona and Missouri.

Reasons?

“There’s about 14, they’re playing in the NFL,” Cooper said of key players gone from last year’s Rose Bowl champions. “Those guys don’t play for us anymore. We’re a young football team. We’re not the same football team we were a year ago, that’s pretty obvious.”

Ohio State still has plenty of weapons, led by last year’s quarterback duo of Stanley Jackson and reliever Joe Germaine. Germaine was the Rose Bowl MVP, but Jackson is 15-0 as a starter.

No one knows how good Iowa is after four victories over weak competition. The Hawkeyes are averaging 567 yards and 55 points. Tavian Banks leads the nation in rushing, averaging 209 yards per game, and quarterback Matt Sherman’s 185.3 efficiency rating is second only to that of Washington’s Brock Huard.

The line: Ohio State by 4.

ON TV

* Miami (1-3) at Florida State (3-0), Channel 7, 9 a.m.: This is payback time. Bobby Bowden is 4-8 against the Hurricanes since 1985 and has watched Miami hand his Seminoles their only defeat four times.

The line: Florida State by 22.

* Penn State (3-0) at Illinois (0-4), ESPN2, 9:30 a.m.: Another early-season walkover for Joe Paterno’s Nittany Lions. We won’t find out how good Penn State is until it hosts Ohio State next week.

The line: Penn State by 25 1/2.

* Army (1-3) at Tulane (1-2), Fox Sports West, 12:30 p.m.: This is independent Army’s only game against a Conference USA team this season before enlisting with the league next year.

The line: Tulane by 6.

* Mississippi (3-1) at Tennessee (2-1), Channel 2, 12:30 p.m.: Peyton Manning gets an opportunity to re-start his post-Florida-thrashing run for the Heisman.

The line: Tennessee by 26

* Notre Dame (1-3) at Stanford (3-1), Channel 7, 12:30 p.m.: It’s an ambulance-chaser’s delight as the ghoulish tune in to witness a possible Irish wake when the Cardinal tries to effectively end Notre Dame’s season before Columbus Day.

The line: Notre Dame by 1.

* Arkansas (3-1) at Florida (4-0), ESPN2, 3 p.m.: The Gators’ quest to repeat as national champions took a severe hit this week when fullback Terry Jackson was lost for the season because of a knee injury.

The line: Florida by 36.

* Arizona State (3-1) at Washington (2-1), Fox Sports West, 3:30 p.m.: Last year’s opener at Tempe springboarded the Sun Devils toward the Pacific 10 title. The Huskies are coming off a bye week after their ego-deflating home loss to Nebraska.

The line: Washington by 15.

* Kansas State (3-0) at Nebraska (3-0), FX, 4 p.m.: This should be merely a blip in the road for the Cornhuskers on their way to the Big 12 title. Kansas State has not defeated Nebraska since 1968, but that win did come in Lincoln.

The line: Nebraska by 21.

* Wisconsin (4-1) at Northwestern (2-3), ESPN, 4 p.m.: Before the game, Barry Alvarez tells good friend Gary Barnett what it’s like to watch a Rose Bowl team fall back to mediocrity.

The line: Wisconsin by 3 1/2.

* San Diego State (1-3) at Arizona (1-3), Fox Sports West, 4 p.m.: The nightmare will soon be over for the Aztecs, who complete a four-game road gantlet. The Wildcats are happy to begin a three-game home stretch after losing their last eight on the road.

The line: Arizona by 12.

* Southern Methodist (1-3) at New Mexico (4-0), ESPN2, 6 p.m.: The Mustangs are almost out of their post-NCAA death penalty funk. Their victory came against Arkansas, which beat Alabama the next week. SMU also took Brigham Young to overtime. New Mexico hasn’t defeated a team with a pulse.

The line: New Mexico by 6 1/2.

5 Things to Look For

1. Kansas State will lose its 29th consecutive game to Nebraska. Bill Snyder has done a fine job rebuilding the nation’s worst Division I program since taking over in 1989, leading the Wildcats to four consecutive seasons of nine wins or more, but it’s time to upgrade the schedule. Starting the year against Northern Illinois, Ohio and Bowling Green doesn’t get you ready for the Big 12’s one-two punch. Snyder is 0-15-1 against Nebraska and Colorado.

2. Texas expects to start 6-foot-6, 355-pound freshman Leonard Davis on the defensive line this week against Oklahoma State. Davis’ nickname, surprise, is “Big,” and last Monday he and nine others got stuck in a campus elevator for 30 minutes. It was the second elevator Davis has jammed at Texas, having also gotten stranded on a recruiting trip. Davis says it’s coincidence.

3. With Terry Jackson out for the season and Fred Taylor hobbling, this could be a breakout week for Bo Carroll, Florida’s highly touted freshman tailback. Carroll, from Norristown, Pa., shunned Penn State’s overtures for a chance to play in Steve Spurrier’s offense.

4. Arizona State Coach Bruce Snyder yanked starting quarterback Ryan Kealy last week against Oregon State but says Kealy will be the starter for Saturday’s Pac-10 showdown against Washington. Washington quarterback Brock Huard will be back for Washington after suffering a sprained ankle in the Nebraska loss.

5. Hoping to counter the inherent unfairness in college preseason polls, the Football Writer’s Assn. of America unveils its first poll Sunday. The FWAA ranking will combine the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ poll with a computer component that should serve as a wake-up call for tradition-based schools that take a high preseason ranking for granted and those that bolster their September records with cream-puff scheduling.

THE REST

* Washington St. (-7 1/2) at Oregon, 1 p.m.

* San Jose St. (+18) at Oregon St., 1 p.m.

* California (-8) at Louisiana Tech-x, 5 p.m.

* E. Carolina (+14 1/2) at Syracuse, 9:30 a.m.

* Rutgers (+27 1/2) at West Virginia, 9 a.m.

* Pittsburgh (-6) at Temple, 9 a.m.

* Wake Forest (+10) at Virginia, 10:30 a.m.

* Auburn (-7) at South Carolina, 9:30 a.m.

* Georgia Tech (-6) at Boston College, 12:30 p.m.

* Texas El Paso (+32 1/2) at Clemson, 10 a.m.

* Minnesota (+24) at Michigan St., 10 a.m.

* Mississippi St. (+11) at Georgia, 10 a.m.

* Texas A&M; (+3) at Colorado, 12:30 p.m.

* Michigan (-20) at Indiana, 9 a.m.

* Oklahoma (-3) at Kansas, 11 a.m.

* LSU (-16) at Vanderbilt, 12:30 p.m.

* Iowa St. (+17) at Missouri, 11 a.m.

* Texas (-6 1/2) at Oklahoma St., 4 p.m.

* Rice (-10) at Tulsa, noon

* Hawaii (+30) at Colorado St., 12:30 p.m.

* Louisville (+14) at So. Mississippi, 3 p.m.

* Duke (+4) at Maryland, 3 p.m.

* Alabama (-6 1/2) at Kentucky, 4 p.m.

* Texas Tech (-4 1/2) at Baylor, 11 a.m.

* Memphis (+11 1/2) at Cincinnati, 4 p.m.

* North Carolina (-25 1/2) at TCU, 5 p.m.

* Miami, Ohio (+19) at Virginia Tech, 10 a.m.

* No. Illinois (+15) at Bowling Green, 11 a.m.

* Central Florida (-21 1/2) at Kent, 11 a.m.

* Ohio (-8) at E. Michigan, 3 p.m.

* North Texas (+7 1/2) at Idaho, 3 p.m.

* Ball St. (+1) at W. Michigan, 3:30 p.m.

* C. Michigan (-5 1/2) at Akron, 4 p.m.

x--At Shreveport

THE TIMES’ RANKINGS BY CHRIS DUFRESNE

1-25

NO. TEAM (RECORD): COMMENT

1. North Carolina (4-0): It’s a wide-open Tobacco Road until that Nov. 8 scrimmage against Florida State.

2. Florida (4-0): Imagine the numbers if Spurrier could rent Tim Couch for a week.

3. Penn State (3-0): During bye, Joe Paterno donates pair of old glasses to Coca-Cola museum.

4. Nebraska (3-0): Congratulations, it’s October and you haven’t had a major off-the-field incident.

5. Florida State (3-0): The amazing thing is the Seminoles can’t run a lick.

6. Michigan (3-0): Does ABC’s Bob Griese call all of Brian’s games, or does it only seem that way?

7. Ohio State (4-0): Cooper swears the Rambo arrested last weekend in Columbus was Sly Stallone.

8. Auburn (4-0): Coach, is it the shoes? Yes. Auburn is 4-0 since switching to black cleats this year.

9. Iowa (4-0): Tavian Banks, soccer great/tailback, asks coach if he can play goalie against Ohio State.

10. Notre Dame (1924 Four Horsemen team): In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death.

11. Michigan State (4-0): Spartans get week off; face Minnesota.

12. Washington State (4-0): If Stanford puts up 58 on Oregon, what does Ryan Leaf do?

13. Washington (2-1): Only thing the Huskies have in common with the ‘Huskers is the H-U-S-K.

14. Tennessee (2-1): Manning is so sick of Florida, he can’t even watch “Flipper.”

15. Virginia Tech (4-0): Uh oh. The Hokies could go undefeated and start that “We Want Respect” crud.

16. Louisiana State (3-1): Tigers reject USC’s straight-up trade offer: Charles White for Cecil Collins.

17. Georgia (3-0): St. Louis Ram owner still thinks they named school after her.

18. Stanford (3-1): NCAA transfers Stanford-Oregon to the WAC after Saturday’s 107-point outburst.

19. Alabama (3-1): Kentucky will throw kitchen sink at Tide; Tide will throw Kitchens (Freddie).

20. UCLA (2-2): Could be the best team ever to end up in the Aloha Bowl.

21. Colorado (2-1): It could get ugly once the Buffs use up their allotment of miracle finishes.

22. Brigham Young (2-1): Cougars can capture the coveted “Beehive Boot” if they drop-kick Utah.

23. Arizona State (3-1): Sun Devil offense going down the drain; can’t call Plummer.

24. Air Force (5-0): Beware of pregame hazing tactics this weekend versus Citadel.

25. Marshall (4-1): Only thing Randy Moss hasn’t caught this year is a cold.

109. USC (1-2): Looking to knock Nevada Las Vegas off that 100th perch in rushing offense.