FIVE THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1 Hunter Wall. He’s a redshirt freshman, he has taken one snap from center this year, and he may be the key to Oklahoma defending its national title. You see, there’s a serious medical discussion going on in Norman involving Sooner quarterbacks. Coach Bob Stoops is telling reporters that Jason White, injured in last week’s loss to Nebraska, has a sprained left knee and might be back for the Nov. 10 game against Texas A&M.; A local paper reported White tore knee ligaments and may be lost for the year. Nate Hybl, who starts Saturday against Tulsa, has been banged up all year, leaving the Sooners one hit from having their backs up against, um, Wall.

2 The Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl. There is a possible dream matchup on the bowl board, Colorado vs. Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl. That San Antonio game matches No. 4 teams from the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences. Such a pairing would pit Colorado Coach Gary Barnett against Northwestern, the school he coached to two Big Ten titles before leaving after a 3-9 (0-8 in conference) season in 1998.

3 All eyes on Irish. Notre Dame’s game against Tennessee could get ugly for the beleaguered Bob Davie. We can already hear the cascade of boos, see those “Dump Davie” T-shirts and smell the nastiness that might accompany another poor performance for the 3-4 Irish. Davie is already in full defense mode, talking this week about Notre Dame’s brutal schedule.

4 A quarterback change. Who says 74-year-old Penn State Coach Joe Paterno isn’t willing to adapt? Paterno, who notched career win No. 324 last week to pass Bear Bryant on the all-time major college list, has apparently come to modern-day grips and will start redshirt freshman quarterback Zack Mills against Southern Mississippi. Paterno has been loath to play freshman quarterbacks in the past, but has been swayed now that Mills has come off the bench to lead the Nittany Lions to consecutive comeback wins against Northwestern and Ohio State. Paterno hasn’t actually announced the quarterback change, but former starter Matt Senneca leaked the news.

5 A Chris Simms revival. Like the rest of America, we pulled the cord and asked to jump off the Simms bus after the junior Texas quarterback threw four interceptions in a 14-3 loss to Oklahoma on Oct. 6. But Simms has proven to be as resilient as his old man, Phil, who got off the hash mark countless times in his love-hate quarterback tenure with the New York Giants. Since the Oklahoma loss, Simms has thrown 12 touchdown passes and only one interception in wins against Oklahoma State, Colorado and Missouri. Simms has completed 67% of his passes and the Longhorns have won those games by an aggregate score of 121-40. It should be more free pickings for Simms this weekend when Texas travels to 2-5 Baylor, coming off a 63-19 loss to Texas Tech.