COLLEGE FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT / WEEK 3 : Curse of Mumme Does Trick

Kentucky Coach Hal Mumme threw a tantrum at halftime. Connecticut Coach Randy Edsall saved his show of temper for after the game.

Mumme’s locker-room tirade helped rally Kentucky to a 45-14 victory over the Division I-AA Huskies on Saturday at Lexington, Ky., but four fourth-quarter touchdowns by the Wildcats left a bad taste in Edsall’s mouth. He made a point of leaving the field without shaking Mumme’s hand.

“You saw what we did,” Edsall said. “That speaks for itself.”

Mumme didn’t think twice about leaving his young first-team offense in the game, even as Kentucky padded its lead.

“Every snap they get is important, even if it’s the last one of the game,” he said. “If they [Connecticut] think it’s too tough, they ought to not take the check [for playing the game].”

HEIR OF THE DOG

Uga V ended his decade-long reign as Georgia’s mascot by passing the collar to his 1-year-old son, Uga VI, before a 24-9 victory over South Carolina at Athens, Ga.

Uga V entered Sanford Stadium first while the public-address announcer described highlights from his tenure, including a role in the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” Sports Illustrated picking him as the top mascot in the country and his attempt to take a bite out of Auburn receiver Robert Baker.

“We had a lot of bulldogs to choose from, but we are wonderfully pleased with him,” Savannah lawyer Sonny Seiler, whose family has owned the Uga line of mascots since 1956, said of Uga VI. “He is a virile, healthy, active dog. He has everything we expect from our mascot--strength, courage and dignity.”

Uga V, he said, is suffering from arthritis.

BLUNTLY SPEAKING

Oregon tailback Herman Ho-Ching, who was charged last month with marijuana possession for the second time this year, did not play in the Ducks’ 47-28 victory over Texas El Paso at Eugene, Ore.

Ho-Ching, a sophomore from Long Beach Poly High, was cited Aug. 27 for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana, a misdemeanor. While the rest of the team was at practice Friday afternoon, Ho-Ching was in court paying a $100 fine.

He told police that the marijuana wasn’t his.

“I was rolling a blunt for my friends,” he said, according to the police report.

BOWDEN: IT’S NOT MY @#$%& FAULT

Terry Bowden says don’t blame him if Auburn is short on talent.

Critics of Bowden, who resigned from Auburn last October, contend that he was a poor recruiter and left new Coach Tommy Tuberville with a team of mediocre players.

“If I come in [as a new coach], I’m going to say, ‘OK, they left me nothing, it’s going to take me years to rebuild this,’ ” Bowden said. “That’s the normal way of doing it. Now, is it true? No, it’s not true in my mind, unless it all went to heck in six months, because we went 10-3 the year before.”

Tuberville has repeatedly asked Auburn fans to be patient and said the team is not very good right now. Bowden quit during the Tigers’ 3-8 season, their worst since 1952.

Bowden, working this season as a studio analyst for ABC Sports, told the Birmingham (Ala.) News that he gets “irritated” when people say he was a bad recruiter because “I was asked to come to Auburn for two things: to make them a winner again and to get out of NCAA probation. We did both.”

LOOK WHO’S BACK IN THE BOOTH

Keith Jackson, whose booming voice is synonymous with college football, returned to the booth Saturday--eight months after retiring.

The 70-year-old broadcaster did play-by-play with longtime partner Bob Griese for ABC-TV’s regional telecast of fifth-ranked Nebraska’s 45-0 rout of California.

“I feel just like a rookie today,” Jackson said two hours before kickoff. “I had no thought of doing this again. I was turned off. We were going a totally different direction.”

Jackson was talked into returning by ABC Sports President Howard Katz.

Jackson said his contract is for three years “or as long as I want, I guess.”

With the exception of Saturday’s game, Jackson will do only West Coast Pacific 10 Conference games to minimize travel from his Sherman Oaks home.

PROBABLY NOT A BAD IDEA

Ball State ran for only 21 yards in its 50-10 loss to ninth-ranked Wisconsin. And thanks in part to two penalties, the Cardinals lost 20 yards in three plays on their first possession. Nose tackle Eric Mahlik and several Badgers swarmed Quavis Tate in the end zone for a safety.

“We could not run the ball a lick,” Ball State Coach Bill Lynch said. “Not many people can run the ball on them. With our running game, my No. 1 priority [is], don’t play Wisconsin again.”

HE’LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT

How steeped in passing tradition is BYU?

When Kevin Feterik, the Cougars’ senior quarterback from Los Alamitos High, completed 39 of 59 passes for 500 yards Thursday night in a 35-28 victory over Washington, he established Husky-opponent records for completions, attempts and passing yardage.

His 500 yards passing, however, didn’t even crack BYU’s all-time top 10.

Feterik is in good company, though. Steve Young isn’t among the top 10, either.

0 FOR LOU, BUT STILL SMILING

South Carolina has struggled offensively and is 0-2 after losing to 12th-ranked Georgia, 24-9, but new Coach Lou Holtz remains hopeful.

“If we played them tomorrow, it might be a different story,” he said. “I doubt it, but you’d like to think it.”

SUPER SATURDAY IN SUNSHINE STATE

Tennessee and Miami took the day off, but they’ll be in the spotlight next Saturday, when the third-ranked Volunteers play fourth-ranked Florida at Gainesville, Fla., and the eighth-ranked Hurricanes host second-ranked Penn State.

Each series has national championship history behind it, and the two games in the Sunshine State could go a long way in deciding who plays for the national title in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4.

The Miami-Penn State matchup decided the 1986 national champion in the Fiesta Bowl, with Penn State winning, 14-10.

In the last two meetings, Miami victories over Penn State in 1991 and 1992 paved the way for the Hurricanes to play in title games. They won the ’91 title, then lost to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl the next season.

In three of the last four seasons, the Florida-Tennessee winner played for the national championship.

Florida won the title in 1996, a year after the Gators missed out by losing to Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl. The Volunteers beat Florida State to win the national title last season.

Last year, Tennessee ended a five-game losing streak against Florida with a 20-17 overtime victory, but the Volunteers still haven’t won at Gainesville since 1971.

They’re eager to get another chance.

“I just don’t like Florida, period,” Tennessee safety Deon Grant said. “I never have liked them. I respect them and all, but I just don’t like them.”

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At Least They’re a Hit

Five college football quarterbacks who played professional baseball and probably could have done better Saturday than the minor-league Angels who were no-hit by the Twins’ Eric Milton:

Josh Booty, Louisiana State

* A former shortstop and first-round draft choice of the Florida Marlins, Booty split time at quarterback with Rohan Davey in the Tigers’ 52-0 victory over North Texas.

Quincy Carter, Georgia

* A former outfielder in the Chicago Cub organization, Carter was 21-for-38 passing for 251 yards and a touchdown in Bulldogs’ 24-9 win over South Carolina.

Drew Henson, Michigan

* Still a third baseman in the New York Yankee organization, Henson passed and ran for a touchdown in Wolverines’ 37-3 victory over Rice.

Doug Johnson, Florida

* A former second-round draft choice of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Johnson had four first-half touchdown passes in the Gators’ 58-27 victory over Central Florida.

Chris Weinke, Florida State

* A former outfielder in the Toronto Blue Jay organization, Weinke had three touchdown passes in the Seminoles’ 41-35 victory over Georgia Tech.

--Compiled by Jerry Crowe