Zook in Need of Gator Aid

Not since Emmitt Smith turned pro at halftime of the 1989 Freedom Bowl have the Florida Gators been in such a sorry state. Lest anyone forget the details of the late, lamentable Anaheim bowl game, the Washington Huskies held Smith to 17 yards and thumped Florida, 34-7.

The next day, Florida hired Steve Spurrier as its coach.

Like him or loathe him, and there were plenty of folks who went one way or the other with the “old ball coach,” the Gators were winners until Spurrier bolted for the Washington Redskins.

Enter Ron Zook, who has taken the Gators down the road to ruin -- at least that’s the opinion of a growing number of Florida fans. The “Give Zook the Hook” movement grew ever more intense Saturday, after Florida fell to 11-8 with him as its coach.

Eli Manning and Ole Miss were the latest visitors to use the Gators (3-3, 1-2 in Southeastern Conference play) as a doormat, winning with a 50-yard scoring drive in the closing moments for a 20-17 victory Saturday at the Swamp. The victory was the first for a Manning at Gainesville, Fla.

With his father, Archie, in the stands, Eli completed 17 of 29 passes for 262 yards. Peyton Manning, Eli’s older brother, was 0-3 against the Gators, including 0-2 at the Swamp, while a quarterback at Tennessee.

“He claimed after Peyton left that he’d never come back to Gainesville or the Swamp,” Eli said of Archie Manning, a standout quarterback for the Rebels and, later, the New Orleans Saints. “So, he had one last trip and he got to end it on a good one.”

Meanwhile, the postgame vibe in the Gator locker room was far different.

“We’re embarrassed,” said tailback Ran Carthon, who called for a players-only meeting Monday. “We’re 3-3 and no one knows what that feels like around here.”

It’s almost certain to get worse -- not better -- for the Gators, whose next three games are against No. 6 Louisiana State, No. 8 Arkansas and No. 11 Georgia.

“No one is going to give us a chance next week,” Carthon wailed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re 28-point underdogs.”

Wacky in Waco

Bill Cosby’s recent free concert at Baylor brought laughter to a school that had had little to smile about recently. However, Cosby turned out to be a mere warmup act for what proved to be the main attraction -- a 42-30 victory by Baylor over Colorado.

Fans stormed the field at the final whistle, jumping up and down in celebration of Baylor’s biggest victory of the season.

When they noticed the goal posts were guarded by volunteers, rather than police, the fans claimed a victory prize.

The Bears (3-2) won a Big 12 game for only the fourth time in the last seven seasons. They had lost 37 of 38 conference games before scoring five touchdowns in a span of 17 minutes 15 seconds to down the Buffaloes (2-3).

Baylor’s campus had been engulfed in turmoil since the murder of basketball player Patrick Dennehy during the summer.

A former teammate has been charged in his death. The basketball coach and the athletic director resigned and an investigation has been launched that could lead to penalties imposed by the NCAA.

“There’s been so much frustration, the basketball situation is really sad, but now we have a bead on what to do,” said Baylor quarterback Aaron Karas, who completed 18 of 28 passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns.

Road to Recovery

Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker has shown his depths this season after sinking to them in 2002, when he was suspended with five games remaining because of a substance-abuse problem.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” Smoker said after tying a school record with 32 completions during a 31-3 victory over Indiana. “I’m sure you guys [reporters] can think back in your lives to a time you did something stupid. You can learn a lot of things as you go through life, not just in football. I have a greater appreciation for football now.

“I want to take advantage and make the most of every opportunity I get now.”

The No. 25 Spartans are 5-1, 2-0 in Big Ten play, and have their first three-game winning streak since 2000, but first-year Coach John L. Smith refused to give all the credit to Smoker.

“Don’t give him too much credit so that he gets a big head and thinks he’s real neat,” Smith said of Smoker, who completed 32 of 40 passes for 351 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown.

Rowdy in Reno

Nevada Las Vegas’ 16-12 victory over Nevada in Reno included a fight among fans in an end zone section and an uglier incident involving Rebel Coach John Robinson.

An unidentified 31-year-old Reno man was arrested after throwing a beer can that hit Robinson as he exited the field at halftime. Robinson was not seriously hurt and returned for the second half.

“We do not tolerate this kind of criminal behavior and I have apologized to UNLV President Carol Harter, and we offer our sincere apologies to Coach Robinson,” Nevada President John Lilley said.

Famous Last Words

Mike Shula groaned last week about Alabama’s narrow losses to Arkansas (in double overtime), Northern Illinois and Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide lost those three games by a combined 13 points.

“I kind of thought about it [last] Saturday night, just how close we really are to being 4-1 or 5-0,” said Shula, the Tide’s beleaguered first-year coach.

There wasn’t much reason to wonder what might have been Saturday, when No. 11 Georgia built a 37-10 halftime lead en route to a 37-23 victory over Alabama.

Bad News Bears

A week after its triple-overtime upset of USC, California lost to Oregon State for the fifth consecutive time. It was an all-too-predictable result for the Golden Bears. Heck, even kicker Tyler Fredrickson, who had the winning field goal against the Trojans, called the outcome early last week, saying, “They always seem to have our number.”

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Times staff writer Roy Jurgens and wire services contributed to this report.