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Saturday breakdown: Clearing away the debris
Nov. 13, 1999
Crunch these numbers: Virginia Tech 43, Miami 10.
Five days after the BCS computers seemingly spit out the wrong result, with Tennessee No. 2 and the Hokies No. 3, Virginia Tech's response was emphatic. Unnecessary, but emphatic. Earlier in the day, Tech's phantom menace -- Tennessee -- lost to Arkansas, clearing the way for a Hokies rise to No. 2.
"We just had to come out here and show the world that we play good football here at Virginia Tech," said cornerback Ike Charlton, who recovered three fumbles, including one for a touchdown.
Message received.
The Tennessee loss and the Virginia Tech win were just two things on Saturday that helped bring some sanity to the BCS world. Five teams ranked in that poll's top 14 lost on Saturday, clearing the national-championship debris.
What we've got, thanks to losses by previously unbeaten Kansas State and Mississippi State (as well as Penn State's second consecutive defeat) is a four-team race: Florida State. Virginia Tech. Florida. Nebraska.
The once-beaten Cornhuskers were so dominant Saturday that they fumbled a school-record 10 times … and still walloped Kansas State 41-15.
How about this scenario: Florida beats Florida State next Saturday at The Swamp, and then loses to Alabama (again) in the SEC championship game. Could Nebraska, which could win out against Colorado and Texas in the Big 12 title game, get to No. 2 over a one-loss Florida State team?
Who knows?
There's still plenty to be played out, but the "A" list is getting shorter, the games bigger, the stakes higher.
For Virginia Tech, though, the cloudy skies have cleared, filled with fireworks over Lane Stadium. The Hokies have to win two more games -- at Temple and home against Boston College -- to finish the regular season undefeated. It doesn't look like anything can stop them from playing in the national championship Sugar Bowl. Not even some of those inexplicable computer printouts.
Game of the day
| Stoerner's redemption |
| Arkansas' victory over Tennessee not only doled out some BCS justice, it was pure poetry. Clint Stoerner, who had so graciously handled the descriptions of his missteps in last year's painful loss to Tennessee, became a hero with a 23-yard touchdown pass to cap a comeback from a 10-point third-quarter deficit. In doing so, he scuttled the Vols' plans to successfully defend their national championship.
If the football gods were smiling on Arkansas and Stoerner, they were doing so with a wink: Saturday's 28-24 victory was the same score as last year's game. |
Sizzlin' … the countdown
| 3. A sophomore QB with the initials K.K. |
| Not Kenny Kelly … we're talking about Kurt Kittner. The guy has 22 touchdown passes with only two interceptions. He led victories at Michigan and Ohio State -- the first time in Illinois history that it has pulled off that road sweep. He is making Ron Turner a great choice for Coach of the Year. He has the Illini bowl eligible. |
| 2. Louisiana Tech QB Tim Rattay |
| With 466 more against Alabama-Birmingham, he has 2,324 passing yards … in the past five games. For the season, he's got 3,517, and he hasn't even faced a Pac-10 defense yet. But he will -- Nov. 26 at USC -- so another 466 yards -- or more -- is very likely. |
| 1. Go-Go Gobblers |
| Comparing scores of games against common opponents is a terribly unscientific way to judge teams … but we're going to do it anyway. Unbeaten Florida State has beaten Miami, Clemson and Virginia by a combined score of 83-45. Unbeaten Virginia Tech has beaten those teams by a combined 105-27. Hokies for No. 1, anyone? |
Fizzlin' … the countdown
| 3. Penn State's running game |
| The Nittany Lions managed 7 rushing yards on 20 carries against Michigan, their lowest total in Joe Paterno's tenure as head coach. Unable to run, Penn State was unable to protect a 10-point fourth-quarter lead, losing 31-27. The Wolverines have won three in a row in the series, bottling up the Lions' rushing game each time (214 yards in three games). |
| 2. Toothless Tigers |
| A week after knocking on the door of an upset at Alabama, LSU regressed in a 20-7 home loss to Houston. Just two seasons since finishing No. 13 in the nation, the Tigers have the fourth-longest losing streak in college football -- eight. With the Nov. 26 finale coming against Arkansas, that streak is likely to reach nine, which would make for a long offseason for Gerry DiNardo … in the unlikely event the school administration allows him to have an offseason. |
| 1. Beaten Buckeyes |
| Ugh … Ohio State just gave up 46 points in a loss to Illinois, the biggest outburst by an opponent in Ohio State since a 58-6 loss to Michigan in 1946. And speaking of the Wolverines, if the Buckeyes don't beat them this week in Ann Arbor, Ohio State will be shut out of the bowl picture with a 6-6 record. "I hope they haven't packed it in," coach John Cooper said of his players. "The way we played today at times makes you wonder." |
Breaking down the major conference races
| League races at a glance |
ACC: Florida State, winner.
Big East: Virginia Tech (if it beats Temple or Boston College).
Big Ten: Wisconsin, winner.
Big 12: Texas in the South, Nebraska in the North (if it beats Colorado next week).
Pac-10: Stanford, if it beats Cal next week.
SEC: Florida in the East, Alabama in the West (if it beats Auburn next week).
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Most surprising upset of the day
| Squeezing the Orange |
| A team with an 11-game losing streak, one that had been outscored 248-86 in its past five games, playing an opponent it hadn't beaten since 1986, entering as a four-touchdown underdog, using a true freshman quarterback (Chad Schwenk) in his first career start and playing without its first-string kicker who was suspended on Saturday … wins, of course, on a 25-yard field goal in overtime.
That's the story of Rutgers' 24-21 victory over Syracuse … and we're still not sure if we believe any of
it. |
Least surprising upset of the day
| Winning one for the ol' stadium |
| A team with a tendency to compete well against top teams, facing an overrated opponent that hadn't won a game on the road, and trying to give its historic stadium a proper retirement party … wins, of course, 37-27.
That's the story of Pittsburgh's victory over Notre Dame … and it makes perfect sense to us.
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Several happy returns
| Not your ordinary returns for touchdowns |
| Utah's Stevonne Smith had two punt returns for touchdowns against New Mexico, from 70 and 52 yards -- within 1 minute, 18 seconds of each other. Nice.
Duke's Scottie Montgomery returned the opening kick against Wake Forest 99 yards for a touchdown, and then scored on a 28-yard pass and a 6-yard run, all before the first quarter was over. Very nice.
Cal's Deltha O'Neal, one of the nation's best and flashiest defensive backs, picked off a pass from Oregon's Joey Harrington and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. That's his fourth interception return for a touchdown this season, an NCAA record. Very, very nice … except for the fact that he has outscored any of Cal's offensive players, which tells the story of the Bears' woefully inept offense. |
Equal time for L.A wins
| Sure, but neither school is going bowling |
| Taking shots at the L.A. schools has just been sooooo easy … but we're willing to give them credit for good things, too. For the first time in eight weeks, USC and UCLA won on the same weekend; the Bruins knocking Washington from atop the Pac-10 and the Trojans ending a five-game losing streak by winning at Washington State, 31-28. Mother Nature must be a USC fan. For the first time ever, a November football game in Pullman, Wash., started with a temperature in the 60s -- all the better for those fair-weather L.A. guys. |
Five stars of the day
| 1. Wisconsin RB Ron Dayne |
Stats: Rushed 27 times for 216 yards, breaking Ricky Williams' career rushing record.
Comment: The Heisman Trophy? The race is over. Let's call it a Dayne. |
| 2. Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner |
Stats: Completed 18 of 28 passes for 228 yards and three TDs.
Comment: Not huge numbers, but he had the best story of the day: Stoerner, whose stumble, fumble, bumble allowed Tennessee to win last year's game, led the way for the biggest upset of the day and sweet redemption. |
| 3. Auburn quarterback Ben Leard |
Stats: Completed 24 of 32 passes for 416 yards and four TDs; scored on a 1-yard run.
Comment: Leard grew up in Georgia, dreaming, as he said, "to play between the hedges, wear the silver britches." Well, he wasn't recruited by the Bulldogs, but he did play between the hedges Saturday -- without the silver pants -- leading Auburn to a 38-21 victory over No. 14 Georgia. |
| 4. Virginia Tech cornerback Anthony Midget |
Stats: Three interceptions in 43-10 victory over Miami.
Comment: A big part of a suffocating defensive effort that kept Miami scoreless for the final three quarters. |
| 5. Georgia Tech quarterback Joe Hamilton |
Stats: 22 of 30 passing for 322 yards, 5 TDs and two interceptions; 19 rushes for 88 yards.
Comment: Hamilton-led victory over Clemson puts Jackets in Gator Bowl and keeps JoeHam in the Heisman consciousness -- at least in his mind: "It's not over yet," he declared. |
Quotes of the day
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"We're not as mighty as a lot of people think we are. But we keep winning somehow. If they want to think we're the mighty Gators, then let them." |
| -- Florida coach Steve Spurrier, whose team has scored 33 points in the past two games. |
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"We wanted to bury them. Not bury them in a bad way, but like a wounded animal we didn't want them having any last gasp." |
| -- Illinois defensive tackle Mike McGee on Ohio State |
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