Raiders Trying to Become the 48ers

GAME OF THE WEEK

Otterbein (4-1) at Mount Union (5-0)

The school is Mount Union, the place is Alliance, Ohio, and the record in jeopardy is Oklahoma’s.

Mount Union tied the Sooners’ NCAA mark last week with consecutive victory No. 47, setting up Saturday’s one-time chance to eclipse perhaps college football’s most hallowed record.

It is apples and oranges, of course. Oklahoma was a great major college power when it set the mark in the 1950s under Coach Bud Wilkinson.

Mount Union is a Division III school with no scholarship athletes and a student body of about 2,000.

Nonetheless, with victory, Mount Union displaces Oklahoma in the NCAA record book.

Mount Union has received so many national media requests for the game, the school had to construct an auxiliary press box to handle the overflow.

“We’re definitely not used to all the cameras and interviews,” Mount Union senior linebacker Justin Sloan said this week. “I don’t think it’s going to throw us off. I think we have to treat it like another game.”

Yeah, right.

No matter the level of competition, the numbers are staggering. Mount Union has posted a 113-6-1 record in the 1990s, and the six defeats have been by a total of 36 points. The Purple Raiders have won three consecutive national titles and four this decade.

“The Streak” nearly ended two weeks ago when Mount Union needed triple overtime to defeat John Carroll of Cleveland, 57-51.

Saturday’s game against Otterbein, of Westerville, Ohio, may end up looking like a basketball score. Mount Union quarterbacks have thrown at least one touchdown pass in the last 106 games, an NCAA record, and Otterbein quarterback Matt D’Orazio tied a school record last week with six touchdown passes against Capital.

Only one school stands between Mount Union and history.

“By luck of the draw, we just happen to be the team,” Otterbein Coach Wally Hood said.

RATING THE TV GAMES

**** Whoa, Nellie

*** Fix the car tomorrow

** OK to watch golf infomercials

* For WWF scouts only

** Indiana (3-3) at Wisconsin (4-2), 9

a.m., ESPN

Dayne for Heisman? The best player in this game will be Hoosier quarterback Randle El.

Line: Wisconsin by 14 1/2.

* Minnesota (4-1) at Illinois (3-2), 9 a.m., ESPN2

Players on edge upon learning Micron PC Bowl reps may attend.

Line: Minnesota by 2.

* Kansas (2-4) at Texas A&M; (4-1), 9:30 a.m., FSW2

Jayhawks ordered to leave Kansas after pathetic effort against Kansas State.

Line: Texas A&M; by 31 1/2.

*** Alabama (4-1) at Mississippi (5-1), 12:30 p.m., Channel 2

So where do you think Red Sox fan-CBS announcer Sean McDonough would rather be: Dixie or Fenway?

Line: Alabama by 3.

* Alabama Birmingham (2-3) at Cincinnati (2-3), 12:30 p.m., FSW

New Conference USA member Texas Christian may want to set the VCR.

Line: Cincinnati by 6.

** Pittsburgh (3-2) at Boston College (4-1), 2 p.m., ESPN2

Boston fans blame last week’s loss to Temple on “the curse of Bill Cosby.”

Line: Pittsburgh by 3 1/2.

*** Syracuse (5-1) at Virginia Tech (5-0), 3 p.m., ESPN

Men in orange suits lay down speed bump on Hokie highway to history.

Line: Virginia Tech by 12.

** Arizona State (2-3) at Washington (3-2), 4 p.m., Channel 7

Huskies may be as good as anyone in Pac-10, whatever that means.

Line: Washington by 9 1/2.

** Iowa State (3-2) at Missouri (3-2), 4 p.m., FSW

You won’t find a better football game on the Missouri campus this weekend.

Line: Missouri by 8.

** Utah (4-1) at Air Force (4-1), 5 p.m., ESPN2

Nice guy Rick Majerus orders pizza for all pilots in training.

Line: Air Force by 5.

* Florida (5-1) at Auburn (3-3), 6 p.m., ESPN

Auburn has lost three consecutive games; Spurrier has never lost three in a row at anything.

Line: Florida by 17.

5 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. A new Heisman Trophy candidate from Florida State. We nominate quarterback Chris Weinke, the 27-year-old junior quarterback, who may finally get the pub he’s due while receiver Peter Warrick mounts a legal defense. With Warrick out of the lineup last week against Miami, Weinke rescued the top-ranked Seminoles by completing 23 of 34 passes for 332 yards and two touchdowns. Now that’s leadership, Peter.

2. Lou Holtz returns to Arkansas. Too bad Lou is bringing the South Carolina (0-6) football team with him. Holtz hasn’t coached against Arkansas since he left the school in 1983 after a six-year run. When he took the job in 1977, he benched the incumbent quarterback, who then transferred to Oklahoma State. That quarterback? Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt.

3. Another homecoming jinx. No. 4 Virginia Tech tries to keep its national title hopes alive when it hosts No. 16 Syracuse, but history says this is the game the Hokies choke. Last year, on homecoming weekend, lowly Temple shocked 5-0 Virginia Tech, 28-24. Two years ago, Miami of Ohio beat the Hokies at Blacksburg.

4. The playbook according to Luke. Two years ago, prized high school quarterback Luke Huard of Puyallup, Wash., pulled up behind a car with North Carolina plates and took it as a message from God to sign with the Tar Heels. It looked like a bad vision when Virginia prep phenom quarterback Ronald Curry also signed. Guess what? Curry tore his Achilles’ tendon last week. Huard, a sophomore, gets the start this week against Houston.

5. Bulletin-board material. Ohio State players were outraged over comments they read this week, stating the Buckeyes don’t stand much of a chance against No. 2 Penn State in Happy Valley if both schools play their best games. Who would say such a thing? Joe Paterno? Puh-lease. The man responsible for the quotes: Ohio State Coach John Cooper.