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Saturday breakdown:
No team -- and no lead -- is safe

By Anthony Gimino
SportsLine College Football Editor
Oct. 23, 1999

It ain't over until … well, you know the rest.

And there are 18 college football teams -- for better or worse -- that really knew it on Saturday.

Call it Comeback Saturday.

Nine teams that trailed by at least two touchdowns -- including one that was down by four -- kept the faith, kept battling, kept finding the end zone and finally delivered an improbable knockout punch.

You can also call it Survival Saturday.

College football came this close to having only two unbeaten teams Saturday. Virginia Tech and Marshall. Didn't picture that national championship game, did you?

And you won't have to. If an undefeated team wasn't idle (Virginia Tech) or playing the worst team in the nation (Marshall at Buffalo), there was no easy way to stay undefeated Saturday. But easy or not, four of the remaining five unbeatens found a way to win.

  • No. 1 Florida State: Was down 14-3 to Clemson before winning 17-14.
  • No. 2 Penn State: Survived four Drew Brees passes from the Nittany Lions 12 late in the game, holding on to win, 31-25.
  • No. 3 Nebraska: Lost to Texas for the third consecutive time, 24-20.
  • No. 7 Kansas State: Rallied big-time from 21-0 first-quarter deficit against Oklahoma State, scoring 44 unanswered points and the 44-21 triumph.
  • No. 12 Mississippi State: Scored with 1:39 left to slip past LSU, 17-16

So, after much ado, the national title chase will go on as planned. Basically. Nebraska is pretty much out because of its one loss, but other one-loss teams (read: Florida and Tennessee) are looking better all the time.

The mother of all comebacks

The Miami miracle
The Hurricanes were down 28-0 to Boston College in the third quarter before awakening to score three touchdowns in eight minutes. Kenny Kelly tied the game with a 10-yard pass to Daniel Franks with 3:51 left, and then connected on a 22-yard pass on fourth-and-17 to set up Andy Crosland's 30-yard field goal with three seconds remaining. "At 28-0," said offensive lineman Richard Mercier, "I was still screaming at the guys, but I was thinking, 'This is getting out of reach.' ''

Eight other classy comebacks

Even Akron is doing it
  • Akron down 23-0 in second quarter, beats Navy 35-29.
  • Kansas State, down 21-0 after one quarter, beats Oklahoma State 44-21.
  • Stanford, down 21-0 after one quarter, beats USC 35-31.
  • Illinois, down 27-7 in third quarter, beats Michigan 35-29.
  • Louisville, down 24-9 in second quarter, beats Houston 39-33.
  • Rice, down 14-0 after one quarter, beats TCU 42-21.
  • Washington, down 24-10 in third quarter, beats Cal 31-27
  • Arizona State, down 14-0 in first quarter, beats Washington State 33-21.

Sizzlin' … the countdown

3. Look who's winning now
Perhaps the only thing more amazing than Northern Illinois' four-game winning streak is … Akron's five-game winning streak. It helps that both teams play in the mostly miserable MAC, but a win is a win, and the Zips' victory Saturday came against non-conference Navy -- and that's not bad.
2. 'Horns hooking 'Huskers
Texas can beat Nebraska … anywhere.
  • The Longhorns prevented Nebraska from playing for the 1996 national title by winning the Big 12 championship game in St. Louis 37-27, boosted by a daring call (a roll-out pass) on fourth-and-inches from their 28 late in the game.
  • Last season, a late touchdown lifted Texas to a 20-16 victory in Lincoln, ending Nebraska's 47-game home winning streak, the fifth-longest in NCAA history.
  • And Saturday, the Longhorns did it again, winning 24-20 and dashing the Cornhuskers' undefeated season. It's entirely possible that these teams could meet again in the Big 12 title game … in San Antonio.
1. Crazy comebacks
As Saturday showed, nobody's more resilient than a college kid.

Fizzlin' … the countdown

3. Misery in Michigan
Michigan and Michigan State were a combined 10-0 when they met on Oct. 9, each dreaming of a national title. Seems kinda silly now, doesn't it? Just two weeks removed from that game, the teams are a combined 11-4 … and, after losses on Saturday, are going nowhere but to a minor bowl.
2. Still winless
The following four teams only know the agony of defeat:
  • South Carolina, 0-8
  • Buffalo, 0-7
  • Ball State, 0-7
  • Rutgers, 0-7

After an 11-10 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday, it's inevitable that the Gamecocks are going to stumble to 0-11 in Lou Holtz's first year as coach. Next up: Tennessee. Then Florida. Then Clemson. Then a long offseason. The South Carolina offense has been so woeful that there wasn't even a touchdown among those 10 points against Vandy. That was two field goals and two safeties.

1. Same ol' L.A. Story
Odd scene of the day: USC receiver R. Jay Soward pounding his chest after a reception, as if to say he and the Trojans have heart. Uh … easy there, R. Jay.

The Trojans have been the opposite of heart all season (for longer than that, really), and for the second week in a row took an early 21-0 lead only to blow all of it … and more. The Trojans collapsed Saturday against Stanford, losing 35-31. It was their fourth loss -- all of which have come after USC led in the second half.

USC's L.A. brothers fared worse, if that's possible. UCLA lost to Oregon State 55-7. Fifty-five to seven? To Oregon State? Say it slowly to let it sink in. And then you'll know what the late Leon Bender meant in 1997, when the star defensive tackle on Washington State's Rose Bowl team said UCLA is a place where athletes go to "get soft."

Sizzlin' and fizzlin'

A hot and cold Brees
Nobody has been hotter in the past two weeks than Purdue quarterback Drew Brees, who has thrown for 888 yards and seven touchdowns against two fine defenses -- Michigan State and Penn State. But Brees has been so good at putting points on the board, that he's doing it for both teams. In the past two weeks, he has had three interceptions returned for touchdowns … and he also lost a fumble Saturday that Penn State's LaVar Arrington scooped up and took into the end zone. Should we give Brees the Heisman … or revoke his scholarship?

Worst chant of the day

Paying the price
Clemson fans serenaded Florida State receiver Peter Warrick with chants of "Jail-bird … jail-bird," which is the least Warrick can expect after his too-good illegal discount at a department store. But the Clemson fans could at least get it right. Warrick won't be doing jail time. Duke fans would never make such a mistake.

Safety first

It could probably only happen in the Pac-10
On Arizona's first play from scrimmage, quarterback Ortege Jenkins and running back Trung Canidate misfired on a backward screen pass, with Canidate recovering the ball in the end zone for a safety. What's so special about that? Well, it's the second time this season that Arizona has suffered a safety on the game's very first play (the TCU game was the other) … and that's gotta be a first in NCAA history.

Best Friday night pep talk

Where was John Riggins?
To explain what the Kansas-Missouri rivalry is all about, the Jayhawks brought in some old glory to talk to the new guys. Gale Sayers. John Hadl. Seemed to work. "I was so hyped up from the talk," safety Carl Nesmith said after Kansas shutout Missouri 21-0 for its first Big 12 win of the season. "I even thought this was a border war. And I'm from Florida." And now Nesmith and his teammates have memories to pass along to future Jayhawks: Beating Missouri was so big that fans tore down both goal posts after the game.

Milestones

Moving up the charts
Joe Paterno: Won his 315th game, moving past Amos Alonzo Stagg into third place on the career victories list for major-college coaches.
Bobby Bowden: Won his 300th game, becoming the fourth major-college coach to reach that level, with Paterno, Stagg, Pop Warner and Bear Bryant.
Ron Dayne: The Wisconsin back zoomed past Charles White into third place on the NCAA career rushing chart, taking a 214-yard bite out of Ricky Williams' NCAA record (to break it, Dayne needs 483 yards in three games, an average of 161.)

Five stars of the day

1. Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne
Stats: Rushed 34 times for 214 yards and two touchdowns --- against the nation's best rushing defense (Michigan State).
Comment: Moves back onto the Heisman "A" list and he will break Ricky Williams' career rushing record.
2. Louisiana Tech quarterback Tim Rattay
Stats: Completed 46 of 62 for 561 yards and 5 TDs.
Comment: Did more damage to Central Florida than Purdue's Drew Brees, Florida's Doug Johnson, Georgia Tech's Joe Hamilton or Georgia's Quincy Carter.
3. Illinois quarterback Kurt Kittner
Stats: 24 of 33 for 280 yards and 4 TDs in upset of Michigan.
Comment: Talk about a quarterback who gives his team a chance to win: 16 TDs, two interceptions.
4. Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington
Stats: Two sacks, a fumble return for TD and a blocked kick
Comment: Great players play big in big games -- and you can say that about Arrington.
5. Kansas State quarterback Jonathan Beasley
Stats: 13 of 25 for 311 yards, 4 TDs; ran for 68 yards and 2 TDs.
Comment: Big-play Beasley led Wildcats back from a 21-0 deficit against Oklahoma State.

Quote of the day

"Once we figured out what they were doing, they were done."
-- Kansas State defensive back Jarrod Cooper on Oklahoma State, which gained 146 yards in the first quarter, only 131 after that as the Wildcats rallied from a 21-0 deficit.