Columnist Steve Guiremand: N. Illinois passes on dreadful streak to UNLV

Steve Guiremand's college football notebook appears Fridays. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-2324.

The folks at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill., have a $10,000 bill for new goal posts to pay this week.

Consider it money well spent.

The Huskies (1-5) snapped the nation's longest Division I losing streak last Saturday with a 16-6 upset of Central Michigan (3-3) during typhoon-like conditions at Huskie Stadium.

However, the dreadful weather didn't keep the estimated 10,000 fans in attendance from participating in a wild post-game celebration, which included tearing down both goal posts, then carrying them almost a mile across campus before dumping them in the East Lagoon near the Kishwaukee River.

"I've been coaching for 31 years but, obviously, this win was really special," Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak said. "Our kids kept the faith. I'm not sure I could have done the same in their shoes. It was tough.

"That's what made this so enjoyable. Winning is fun; watching the reaction of our fans was fun. I hope we can all experience it a lot more. It was good to get this off our backs, and now we can proceed to go about getting the things done that we want to do."

You have to go all the way back to Oct. 7, 1995 for the last time the Huskies won a home game. The opponent? UNLV. Final score: NIU 62, UNLV 14.

"The tradition here is that the team sings the fight song after a victory," Novak said. "I'd forgotten some of the words. We all sort of stumbled through it."

Ironically, because of the victory by Northern Illinois, Jeff Horton's Rebels now find themselves tied with Hawaii for the longest losing streak in Division I football, 12 games.

Which got us to thinking. Say the Rebels snap their losing streak next week against struggling Tulsa (2-3), which figures to be without star wide receiver Wes Caswell, at Sam Boyd Stadium (hey, it's Halloween, stranger things have happened). And say there are enough crazy UNLV fans around to tear down the goal posts. Where do they carry and dump them?

Hoover Dam is too far a haul. Ditto the lake in front of the Bellagio. What to do?

Maybe some enterprising young student can bring a hacksaw and sell pieces as souvenirs.

Whatever, it would certainly be a nice dilemma for Rebel football fans to have.

Quack analysis?

UCLA is 5-0, rated No. 2 in the nation and has just won back-to-back games against Arizona and Oregon.

So the Bruins are team to beat in the Pac-10 this year, right?

Not if you're USC head coach Paul Hackett.

"Now we have to go up and play against what I think is the best team in the conference," Hackett said this week, referring to his team's game in Eugene Saturday against the Oregon Ducks.

Ah, Paul. Oregon just lost to UCLA last week at the Rose Bowl.

"They don't turn the ball over (the Ducks lost four fumbles and an interception to UCLA) and they win that game handily," Hackett said. "To me, this is the team to beat."

Think those comments might find themselves on a bulletin board before the Trojans plays UCLA on Nov. 21 at the Rose Bowl?

"I don't know if anything can be put on the bulletin board to affect that rivalry," Hackett said. "We're going to play UCLA in the distant future, so I can't worry about that."

Once around the WAC

AIR FORCE: The crowd of 54,562 that attended the Falcons' 49-7 victory over Navy last week was the largest on-campus crowd ever to watch a college football game in Colorado. The previous mark was 54,063 in 1995 for a Colorado-Nebraska game at Folsom Field.

BYU: Saturday's 31-9 win at Hawaii ended the Cougars' six-game road losing streak, longest of head coach LaVell Edwards' tenure, and also moved into a tie with legendary Woody Hayes for seventh place on the all-time Division I list with 238 wins.

COLORADO STATE: A win over visiting TCU Saturday would be the 400th in school history dating to 1893. The all-time record at CSU is 399-450-33.

FRESNO STATE: Bulldogs (1-5, 1-2 WAC Pacific), who host UTEP (2-4, 2-1) Saturday night, are 5-2 in home games under coach Pat Hill.

HAWAII: Rainbows (0-6, 0-4) have yet to score a rushing touchdown this season. Hawaii remains last in the nation in scoring with only 49 points in six games.

UNLV: Rebels bring 24-game road losing streak with them to Dallas this weekend when they play SMU in the Cotton Bowl.

NEW MEXICO: Something has to give Saturday in Honolulu. Lobos (2-5, 0-4 WAC Pacific) bring five-game losing streak with them to Hawaii where they face a Rainbows team that has lost 12 straight.

RICE: Running back Michael Perry, the WAC's leading rusher a year ago, is expected to be 100% for Saturday's game at Wyoming. Perry has been held to six carries over last two games because of a foot injury.

SAN DIEGO STATE: Aztecs (3-3, 3-0 WAC Pacific), who host Utah (4-2, 2-1) in key game Saturday at Qualcomm Stadum, have defeated three teams --- Tulsa, Hawaii, New Mexico --- with a combined 0-11 record in WAC play.

SAN JOSE STATE: Spartans (3-4, 2-1 WAC Pacific), who travel to BYU (4-3, 2-1) Saturday, lead all-time series with the Cougars, 9-4, including 4-3 in Provo. However, the two teams haven't played since 1969.

SMU: Ponies have allowed just 18 points in last three games after giving up an average of 36.5 points in their first four contests.

TCU: Sophomore guard Robert Wallace (6-4, 300), the Frogs' largest starting offensive lineman and also one of their best, sprained his back in last week's 10-6 loss to SMU and will likely miss Saturday's key WAC Mountain game at Colorado State.

UTEP: Fullback Elzie Johnson remains in the hospital this week after suffering a potentially career-threatening dislocated hip in last week's 28-21 win over San Jose State.

TULSA: Wes Caswell, the WAC leader in receptions this season, will miss 2-4 weeks with an ankle injury.

UTAH: Utes (4-2, 2-1 WAC Pacific) aren't half bad. Utah has outscored its opponents 114-60 in the first half this season, but has been outscored 69-57 after intermission.

WYOMING: Only Paul Roach (16-3, .842) has had a better winning percentage after 19 games than current Cowboys' coach Dana Dimel (13-6, .667). That's pretty impressive considering folks like Bob Devaney (10-6-3), Fritz Shurmur (8-11) and Fred Akers (8-11) also have coached the 'Pokes.

Once around the nation

ACC: Florida State, which travels to Bobby Dodd Stadium to face surprising Georgia Tech on ESPN, is ranked No. 1 in the nation in total defense, yielding just 214.1 yards per game. Seminoles blanked Yellow Jackets, 38-0, last year in Tallahassee.

BIG 12: Nebraska (6-1, 2-1) has beaten Missouri (5-1, 3-0) 19 consecutive times, including last year's controversial 45-38 overtime win in Columbia. Tigers, no doubt looking forward to Saturday's rematch in Lincoln, have lost last 32 games against Top 10-ranked opponents.

BIG EAST: Second-year Boston College coach Tom O'Brien is 0-6 in October games heading into Saturday's nonconference game with Navy in Chestnut Hill.

BIG TEN: Ohio State junior wide receiver David Boston, who caught a season-high 10 passes for a career-high 191 yards and two touchdowns in last week's 45-15 victory over Minnesota, has 26 touchdown receptions in his career, just one shy of the school record set by Minnesota Vikings' star Cris Carter.

BIG WEST: Nevada-Reno (2-4, 0-2), which lost at North Texas, 27-21, last week, is 0-2 in Big West play for the first time since joining the conference in 1992. The Wolf Pack has lost two Big West games in a season just once before (1993).

CONFERENCE USA: Cincinnati (0-7) will become only the 30th Division I school to play 1,000 games when it battles Miami of Ohio (5-1) for the Victory Bell on Saturday. Bearcats own a 464-484-51 (.489) record heading into the game.

MAC: Marshall (7-0), which hosts Ball State (1-6) Saturday, was tied with LSU for 30th in this week's Associated Press poll, the highest ranking in school history.

PAC-10: Brock Huard, sidelined for two weeks with a partially separated shoulder, will return to the starting lineup when the Huskies (4-2, 2-1) hosts surprising Oregon State (4-2, 2-1) Saturday.

SEC: Something has to give Saturday when Kentucky (5-2, 2-2) hosts Georgia (5-1, 3-1). Wildcats and Heisman contender Tim Couch average 5.5 touchdowns per game. Meanwhile, Bulldogs have yielded just seven touchdowns all season.

WAC: Only two teams, San Diego State (3-3, 3-0) and Wyoming (5-1, 3-0), remain undefeated in conference play while four teams --- New Mexico (2-5, 0-4), Hawaii (0-6, 0-4), Tulsa (2-4, 0-3) and UNLV (0-7, 0-4) --- are still searching for first conference win.

INDEPENDENTS: Most points ever allowed by a Notre Dame team? Try 59 by Army in 1944. The Cadets (2-4), who have not beaten the Fighting Irish (4-1) since 1958, invade South Bend again Saturday. Irish are 21-1-1 against the service academies since 1986.

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