Monday, Oct. 27, 2003 | 10:17 a.m.
The futile efforts of UNLV notwithstanding, this season may turn out to be the most prolific passing year in NCAA history.
While the Rebels' passing game continues to struggle to hit the broad side of a barn, the rest of the nation is exhibiting pinpoint accuracy. Before Saturday, NCAA quarterbacks were completing .569 percent of their passes, a tad better than the record of .556 set in 2001.
That also was the year the record for average passing yards per game of 222.7 was set. Heading into the weekend, Division I-A teams were passing for 226.3 yards on an average Saturday afternoon, or Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday night.
This year's average completions of 18.1 per game also would break the record of 17.6 set in 2001.
In the days of the Wishbone and even before, it used to be that college football teams resorted to passing only out of desperation, or if their initials were BYU. Now virtually everybody's doing it. According to the Denver Post, 25 of the top 29 passing statistical leaders have winning records.
Purdue coach Joe Tiller, one of the coaches who has thrown offense to the winds since coming to the Big Ten from Wyoming, says the recent trend of NFL-style zone blitzing has forced teams to the air. He said because pro and college teams now throw on almost every down, so do high school teams. So there are many more passing quarterbacks to choose from than before.
Others, such as Cal's Jeff Tedford, say defenses still gear to stop the run, sometimes stacking seven or eight men at the line of scrimmage. It's easier to throw the ball over the defense's head than to shove it done its throat, as coaches such as Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler preferred to do.
UNLV's John Robinson also preferred old-school football before jumping on the passing bandwagon this year. But the past three weeks, the Rebels have fallen off with an 0-3 thud. In losses against Air Force, Utah and Brigham Young, UNLV quarterback Kurt Nantkes has completed just 8 of 20, 13 of 31 and 14 of 35 passes.
With the exception of Air Force, where UNLV abandoned its game plan in the second half to run the ball straight ahead, the Rebels have kept chucking the football. Now, Robinson seems stymied by what to do.
"We need to do better than we're doing and we're trying," he said after the Rebels sputtered again in a 27-20 overtime loss to BYU. "We're not very good on offense. There's no question we're struggling."
In this day and age, that makes the Rebels unique.
The starting 11
TENNESSEE 51, ALABAMA 43 (5OT): While the final score would suggest a game that was wilder than Drew Barrymore's short-lived marriage to Tom Green, the truth of the matter was that it was more like dinner at Marie Osmond's. Alabama led 6-3 at halftime before the marathon began as Tennessee became the first visitor to win three consecutive games at Bryant-Denny Stadium while also breaking a two-game losing streak.
FLORIDA STATE 48, WAKE FOREST 24: Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden passed Joe Paterno on the all-time victory list with 339 but remained humble during the postgame celebration. "I can't get as excited about the 339 as a lot of people are because I know there is a lot more to it. ... Both of us are still pecking away at it," Bowden said in reference to Paterno. Only Uncle Bobby is still doing it with a hatchet while JoPa is wilding an X-acto knife at Penn State these days.
BOWLING GREEN 34, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 18: John Harris and Bowling Green brought Northern Illinois back to reality and received a thank-you note from the BCS. In reality, only the first part was true, as Harris passed for 438 yards and ran for another 89 ending NIU's farfetched dream of qualifying for a New Year's Day bowl game.
GEORGIA 16, UAB 13: Once again, the Bulldogs proved that if you don't show up to play, you will get beat or at least "have some esplainin' to do," as Ricky Ricardo used to tell Lucy. "Just take the transcript from last week's game (a 27-8 victory against Vanderbilt in which Georgia led 2-0 at halftime) and I'll say ditto," said Bulldogs coach Mark Richt, sounding a lot like Fred Mertz.
NORTHWESTERN 16, WISCONSIN 7: Most observers thought Wisconsin's loss to UNLV was a fluke -- until it was physically dominated by Northwestern. The Wildcats, ranked 10th in the Big Ten in rushing defense (and probably just about every other statistical category as well), reduced the Badgers' rushing attack, which had been averaging 197 rushing yards, to a bag of Cheeze-its. Wisconsin finished with just 135 rushing yards.
MICHIGAN 34, PURDUE 7: The Boilermakers had high hopes of becoming the lord of the Big Ten manor at the Big House but were banished to the guest quarters by the dominant Wolverines. It was Purdue's 16th consecutive loss at Michigan Stadium, dating to 1966, and also the Boilermakers' worst defeat in coach Joe Tiller's seven years on the job.
TCU 62, HOUSTON 55: Let's see, the Horned Frogs allowed 684 yards, committed 12 penalties and let a freshman quarterback become the fourth player in NCAA history to pass for more than 400 yards and rush for more than 100 in the same game. And this is one of the nation's three undefeated teams? TCU fans chanted "BCS! BCS!" at the end of the game, probably because "Liberty Bowl! Liberty Bowl!" had too many syllables.
LSU 31, AUBURN 7: The start of the game was delayed 19 minutes by lightning, then it rained LSU touchdowns in the first quarter. The Tigers scored three first-quarter touchdowns against an Auburn team that had allowed only two first-quarter touchdowns in the past 13 games.
MISSISSIPPI 19, ARKANSAS 7: Eli's coming, so hide your heart, SEC fans. Actually, Eli Manning didn't have his best game, but a stingy defense helped Ole Miss remain undefeated in the SEC at 4-0. The Rebels are off to their best start in the SEC in 33 years when another Manning -- Eli's old man, Archie -- was their quarterback.
OKLAHOMA 34, COLORADO 20: Maybe there's a chink in Oklahoma's armor after all, but it's still going to take a better team than Colorado to expose it. The Buffaloes, who came in 24-point underdogs, rallied from a 27-7 deficit to force Oklahoma to make a big play down the stretch. Of course, the Sooners excel in making such plays, as Jason White's 59-yard touchdown pass to Mark Clayton with 1:59 to go forced Colorado to settle for one of those moral victories that coaches usually hate.
WEST VIRGINIA 28, VIRGINIA TECH 7: Having nearly beaten Miami before thoroughly dominating Virginia Tech, considered another national championship contender, it's clear the Mountaineers get juiced for these midweek games on ESPN. Unfortunately, so do their fans. After students caused a ruckus following the bitter defeat to the Hurricanes, West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez urged them to behave before the Hokies came to town. Given they responded by setting more than 90 fires on and around campus, perhaps Rodriguez should have encouraged the troublemakers to walk-on at Nebraska instead.
Big men on campus
Stat's enough
Fitz like a glove: Larry Fitzgerald tied an NCAA record, catching a touchdown pass for the 13th consecutive game as Pittsburgh beat Syracuse 34-14. Fitzgerald finished with eight catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Charles Rogers of Michigan State set the record last season. ... Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes in North Carolina State's 28-21 victory against Duke, setting an ACC career record. Rivers' 82 touchdown passes broke the record of 79 set by Chris Weinke at Florida State from 1997-00. ... Derek Abney tied the NCAA career record for kick return touchdowns with an 80-yard punt return in Kentucky's 42-17 win against Mississippi State. Abney's eighth career kick return for a score tied the NCAA record held by Cliff Branch of Colorado (1970-71) and Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska (1970-72). .. . Utah State's 49-0 win against Arkansas State was its first shutout in 87 games since a 42-0 victory against UNLV in 1995.! ... Buffalo broke the nation's longest losing streak with a 26-17 comeback win against Ohio. The Bulls had lost 18 consecutive games, 13 in a row in the MAC. ... Rutgers snapped a 25-game Big East losing streak with a 30-14 win against Temple.
Division I-A Lite
A look at the top teams in the non-BCS conferences:
1. Miami of Ohio (MAC): Redskins scoring more than Warren Beatty, Joe Millionaire, the kid who's dating Demi Moore and Tommy the Pinball Wizard.
2. Bowling Green (MAC): Forget Columbine and Dollars. How about Bowling for Miami of Ohio?
3. TCU (USA): Frogs just refuse to lose -- for now, anyway.
4. Northern Illinois (USA): It was fun while it lasted, except for BCS proponents.
5. Colorado State (MWC): Rams were idle -- except QB Bradlee Van Pelt, who was probably doing something.
6. Boise State (WAC): Do you know the way to (embarrass) San Jose? Broncos do.
7. Air Force (MWC): Falcons are back in MWC hunt -- along with most everybody else.
8. Louisville: (USA): One loss, little respect.
9. New Mexico (MWC): Lobos' big hit: Me and You and a Win at Utah.
10. Utah (MWC): Utes misstep in New Mexican hat dance.
Games we'd like to see
In this space each week the Sun will present a dream college football matchup, with statistics and highlights provided by Lance Haffner Games' 3-in-1 computer simulation. Readers who would like to propose future matchups can do so by contacting the Sun via e-mail at [email protected].
1990 Georgia Tech 28, 1990 Colorado 24: Hard to believe, given how far these programs have slipped, that Georgia Tech and Colorado shared the national title as recently as 1990 -- although some felt the Buffaloes should have given their half back, considering they needed that infamous fifth down to beat a bad Missouri team late in the season. In our computer matchup, the Yellow Jackets prevailed as return specialist Kevin Tisdel winged the Buffaloes on 99- and 101-yard kickoff returns in a defensive struggle that saw Tech gain just 249 yards to Colorado's 281. Eric Bieniemy rushed 39 yards for 139 yards to pace Colorado.
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