Climbing the Charts

The eternally shifting BCS scenario -- who’s in, who’s out, who’s back in again -- obscures college football’s most amazing turnaround story.

Hint: It’s not Notre Dame.

It’s Iowa, a team that was 0-8 in the Big Ten only three seasons ago.

After a 62-10 romp over Northwestern Saturday, the 10-1 Hawkeyes will go for a perfect 8-0 in the Big Ten next week against Minnesota.

“Being through what we’ve been through, the bond we have is unbelievable,” David Porter, a senior offensive tackle, told the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “It was one of those things where it could kill you or bring you together. Well, it almost killed us.”

Almost would be the key word.

“At the beginning, we were all ready to quit, ready to stop. It was about to kill us,” senior guard Andy Lightfoot told the Gazette. “But for some reason ... we stuck it out. It’s definitely rewarding us right now.”

Let others bemoan the fact the Big Ten schedule doesn’t include a game between No. 3 Ohio State and No. 6 Iowa to determine which team really is the Big Ten’s best. (Quite a few people believe it’s Iowa, especially after Ohio State’s 10-6 Houdini act against Purdue Saturday.)

The Hawkeye players, whose only loss this season was a nonconference game to Iowa State, focus on how far they’ve come in four years under Coach Kirk Ferentz (rhymes with parents).

One way or another, Iowa figures to play in a New Year’s Day bowl -- quite likely the Rose Bowl if undefeated Ohio State either slips in its final two games or reaches the Fiesta Bowl to play for the national title.

If the teams tie for the Big Ten title, Ohio State would win the tiebreaker because of its better overall record.

If Ohio State plays in the Rose Bowl, Iowa probably would go to the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1 in Orlando.

About the only Iowa player who gets any national air time is quarterback Brad Banks, who is beginning to sneak onto some lists of Heisman contenders.

Banks entered the Northwestern game leading the nation in passing efficiency rating at 159.3. And that rating will be going up after he completed 10 of 10 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns.

He also ran for another two touchdowns, accounting for five in the game.

Banks has thrown for 2,269 yards and completed 60.6% of his passes, but his most impressive statistic is probably how error-free he is.

He has 23 touchdown passes and a mere four interceptions.

The most famous quarterback in the state, Iowa State’s Seneca Wallace, is more spectacular but also more error prone, with 13 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. Wallace was picked off three times in Iowa State’s latest big-game disaster, a 58-7 loss to Kansas State Saturday.

Banks left the Iowa game against Northwestern midway through the third quarter Saturday to a standing ovation at the Hawkeyes’ Kinnick Stadium.

“It was almost ridiculous, the way they were cheering,” said Banks, who transferred to Iowa from a junior college two years ago. “But there is still one game to go.”

Give Me an H

Predicting the five players who will be in the room for the Heisman Trophy presentation rarely has been so difficult so late in the season.

Miami’s Ken Dorsey is on the rise again, and he’s the most likely winner in a nod to his career achievements, barring a Hurricane slip-up down the stretch.

With Ohio State’s Maurice Clarett fading because of injuries, it’s time for a look at the nation’s leading rusher, Colorado’s Chris Brown.

Brown probably shouldn’t win, but he should be in the top five. He ran for 211 yards in the Buffaloes’ 42-35 overtime victory over Missouri Saturday, his seventh consecutive 100-yard game.

Brown has 1,617 yards this season.

Should he care to pad his statistics, he should consult Colgate.

Colgate quarterback Chris Brown ran for four touchdowns and 52 yards and passed for another 117 in a 28-14 victory over Lehigh Saturday.

Most Improved

Pause, if you will, and recall the debut of Robert Hodge.

He took over for injured Craig Ochs as Colorado’s starting quarterback Sept. 14 against USC and completed one of nine passes in a 40-3 loss.

On Saturday, Hodge, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior from Manhattan Beach Mira Costa High and El Camino College, passed for 203 yards and ran for another 29 in Colorado’s victory over Missouri.

It’s a victory that keeps Colorado, which started the season 1-2, on track for the Big 12 title game, where it could play spoiler for an Oklahoma or Texas team trying to reach the national championship game.

And He Doesn’t Even Limp

Michigan State’s Charles Rogers set the school record with his 24th and 25th touchdown receptions in a 56-21 victory over Indiana in interim coach Morris Watts’ debut.

Who owned the Michigan State career touchdown reception record?

None other than Kirk Gibson, gimpy-legged Dodger hero of Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

Letdown Warning

A week after its undefeated season ended against Boston College, Notre Dame barely escaped against Navy.

A week after Virginia Tech’s first loss, to Pittsburgh, the Hokies lost to Syracuse in triple overtime.

A week after its first loss, against Georgia Tech, North Carolina State lost to Maryland.

Does this mean Oklahoma should step carefully after its 30-26 loss to Texas A&M; ended its run for an undefeated season?

Next week’s opponent: Baylor, a 41-0 loser to Texas Saturday in its first game after the firing of Coach Kevin Steele.

Rising in the East

What’s going on with the Big East?

It’s supposed to be the Big Easy -- Miami, maybe Virginia Tech, and everybody else.

But Rutgers, a team with one victory, gave Miami a run for its money until the fourth quarter last week.

Boston College beat Notre Dame and then lost to conference rival West Virginia.

And Pittsburgh and 4-6 Syracuse have beaten Virginia Tech.

Miami has Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Virginia Tech standing between it and a likely return to the national championship game.

Good Point

This logic courtesy of Fox Sports Net studio analyst Kellen Winslow, father of Miami tight end Kellen Winslow Jr.

If the Hurricanes had scored 28 points in the first quarter instead of the fourth quarter of their 42-17 victory over Rutgers last week, would anyone, least of all the poll-voters, have batted an eye?

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Do You Believe in Miracles?

Louisiana State does now, after it defeated Kentucky Saturday with a desperation touchdown pass. A look at six “Hail Mary” passes in college football since Boston College’s Doug Flutie gained immortality with one in 1984:

Nov. 23, 1984: BOSTON COLLEGE 47, MIAMI 45

Flutie beats Bernie Kosar and the Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl with a 64-yard pass to Gerard Phelan. The play virtually secures the Heisman Trophy for Flutie, and the Eagles complete a 10-2 season with a 45-28 victory over Houston in the Cotton Bowl, Boston College’s first postseason victory in 44 years.

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Nov. 14, 1987: IOWA 29, OHIO STATE 27

Chuck Hartlieb completes a 28-yard pass to Marv Cook to give the Hawkeyes their first victory at Ohio Stadium since 1959. “I think I’ll retire right now,” says joyous Iowa Coach Hayden Fry, who postpones retirement until the completion of the 1998 season.

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Sept. 24, 1994: COLORADO 27, MICHIGAN 26

Kordell Stewart’s last-gasp 64-yard pass is tipped by teammate Blake Anderson into the arms of Michael Westbrook to stun the Wolverines at Michigan Stadium. “What’s that guy’s name?” Stewart asked. “Flutie? The guy who threw that one for Boston College? I saw it on ‘The 10 best Plays in College Football,’ but who would ever say, ‘I’m going to go in there and do it myself some day.’ ”

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Sept. 24, 1999: ARIZONA 30, WASHINGTON STATE 24

The Wildcats’ Keith Smith, throwing into a wind gusting to 50 mph, completes a 42-yard pass to Bobby Wade at Martin Stadium. Replays appeared to show the ball hitting the ground before Wade had possession. “I can’t comment too much under league rules,” Cougar Coach Mike Price said.

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Oct. 28, 2000: NORTHWESTERN 41, MINNESOTA 35

Zak Kustok’s 45-yard pass is tipped by teammate Kunle Patrick and grabbed by Sam Simmons for the game-winner. The play is appropriately named “victory right.” Said Kustok: “We practice that every week. Not just like that, but pretty close.”

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Nov. 9, 2002: LOUISIANA STATE 33, KENTUCKY 30

LSU’s Marcus Randall heaved the ball more than 60 yards on the game’s final play and three Kentucky players tipped it near the Wildcat 30. But the ball wound up in the hands of LSU’s Devery Henderson, who avoided a diving tackle by Derrick Tatum and raced the remaining 20 yards for a 75-yard touchdown play as Kentucky fans flooded the other end of the field and pulled at the goal posts, unaware of the dramatic change in the game’s outcome.