Games Become a Primer for Some Do’s and Don’ts

There were several lessons to be learned over the weekend, but here are three that jump to mind.

1. Don’t make Miami mad.

2. Never, ever, ever douse your coach with Gatorade before the final score has been logged and recorded with the NCAA.

3. Bowl championship series officials were right -- and don’t you just hate that? -- when they said the national championship picture would clear up if sportswriters only shut up for two seconds and allowed the games to be played.

OK, let’s start with Miami. Speaking on behalf of the Nagging Doubters Assn. of America, we formally apologize for our knee-jerk demotion of the Hurricanes in the wake of less-than-compelling victories.

It’s just that we think (here comes the cop-out) of Miami players as performance artists and have come to expect such a level of excellence that any drop-off is overly scrutinized.

It took a 26-3 win over Tennessee on Saturday and the comments of a sophomore tight end, Kellen Winslow, to provide the big-picture context.

“We are 31-0,” Winslow noted of his school’s record since September 2000.

Oh, that. Until further notice, that ought to be good enough for all of us.

Meanwhile, in Lexington, Ky., Louisiana State quarterback Marcus Randall’s 75-yard, last-second, multideflection scoring pass to Devery Henderson takes its place alongside Doug Flutie to Gerard Phelan and Kordell Stewart to Michael Westbrook in the annals of famous “Hail Mary” flicks.

Final score: LSU 33, Kentucky 30.

You wonder how many times Kentucky can come out on the wrong end of these time-capsule plays. Some Wildcat fans are just finishing up therapy that began in 1992, the year Duke star Christian Laettner’s turnaround buzzer-beater knocked Kentucky out of the NCAA tournament.

And now this?

The best of the Saturday replay shots showed a delirious Kentucky fan, ready to slobber God knows what out of his mouth, running on the field as Randall let loose his final throw.

The look on the fan’s face when he understood that Randall’s pass had connected?

Priceless.

As for the Kentucky kids jumping the final gun and dumping Gatorade on their coach, Guy Morriss?

Well, that’s a big no-no, as understood by anyone who owns a book of quotes by Yogi Berra.

As for this national title picture, well, it sort of cleared up like Los Angeles after a rain.

The BCS bosses told us weeks ago this could happen, but the idea of having two clear-cut schools vying for the title wasn’t nearly as much fun as postulating the dark-side possibilities.

Our motives for predicting mayhem were well-founded. Only once since the BCS was formed in 1998 has the national title game featured two undefeated teams -- Florida State vs. Virginia Tech in 1999.

Yet, here we stand, on Nov. 11, knowing Miami and Ohio State will play in the Jan. 3 Fiesta Bowl as long as each team wins its remaining games.

Miami (9-0) has three games left, none of them sure things. The Hurricanes take this week off before a Nov. 21 Thursday night home game against Pittsburgh, then on Nov. 30 play at suddenly resurgent Syracuse (ask Virginia Tech how that can go) before finishing up Dec. 7 at home against Virginia Tech.

Ohio State (11-0), which escaped a 10-6 scare at Purdue, plays at Illinois next week before closing Nov. 23 in Columbus, Ohio, against Michigan.

The national title hunt can only get interesting if Miami and/or Ohio State falls between now and Dec. 8, when the final BCS rankings are released.

Looking to swoop in at a moment’s one-loss notice are Oklahoma and Texas, compatriots in the Big 12’s South Division.

Despite its loss at Texas A&M; on Saturday, Oklahoma is not out of this race by a long shot. The Sooners fell from No. 2 to No. 6 in the coaches’ poll Sunday, but the Sooners’ near-perfect mark of 2.04 means they possibly will fall only to No. 3 in today’s BCS rankings, still ahead of No. 4 Texas.

Oklahoma had an eight-point BCS lead on Texas entering weekend play.

Despite winning games over the weekend, Washington State and Notre Dame may be the long-range losers.

No. 5 (in the BCS) Washington State scored a top-notch victory against No. 15 Oregon in Pullman, Wash., yet probably won’t make much hay out of it. The Cougars, whose only loss came to Ohio State, look as if they’re going to get boxed out in the standings by the top four teams.

Notre Dame’s come-from-behind win against lowly Navy also figures to be a drag on the Irish’s BCS numbers. Notre Dame, No. 7 in last week’s BCS rankings, figures to drop at least one spot, surrendering its position to BCS No. 8 Iowa.

Weekend Wrap

The Heisman Trophy race could come down to a battle of backfield teammates, Miami senior quarterback Ken Dorsey and sophomore tailback Willis McGahee. Hurricane center Brett Romberg did not hesitate when asked which player he thought deserved the award. “I’d vote for Ken,” Romberg said. “He’ll do anything to win a football game. If someone else wins, it’ll be a shock.” Romberg’s opinion, it should be said, is not impartial. He’s Dorsey’s roommate.

Update on the Rose Bowl race. Barring major upheaval, it appears Washington State will be headed to Pasadena. The Cougars need only one win or one USC loss to clinch the Pacific 10 Conference title. A spot in the Fiesta Bowl is not beyond the realm, but the Cougars probably need three of the four teams ahead of them in the BCS rankings to lose. On the Big Ten end, the Rose Bowl will lose Ohio State to the Fiesta Bowl if the Buckeyes finish 13-0. In that case, Iowa would make its first Rose Bowl appearance since 1990 as long as the Hawkeyes beat Minnesota on Saturday to finish 11-1. While the Rose Bowl is infatuated with the idea of Notre Dame making its first trip to Pasadena since the 1925 game, it would not shun higher-ranked Iowa to do it. And, get this, there’s a chance Notre Dame at 11-1 can get shut out of a BCS game. All it would take is the top four BCS schools and Iowa winning out. In that case, No. 4 Texas or No. 3 Oklahoma would be guaranteed an at-large BCS berth and the Rose Bowl would take Iowa. That would put the Irish in the Gator Bowl.