4B
Thursday, October 10, 1996
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Ohio State advances up to No.2 spot
Buckeyes look for chance to gain ground on first place
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State coach John Cooper wasn't surprised when he found out his team had jumped to No. 2. He was only surprised that the Buckeyes were ahead of a Florida team.
"I think sometimes people don't give Big Ten football the credit that it should be getting," Cooper said at his weekly news conference on Tuesday. "It seems like we automatically assume Florida, Florida State or Miami or somebody ought to be ranked No. 1, even in preseason. Or Nebraska."
Ohio State began the week ranked third, a distant 131 points behind top-ranked Florida. But after a 38-7 beating of then-No. 4 Penn State — following on the heels of a 29-16 victory at then-No. 5 Notre Dame — the Buckeyes' first-place votes jumped from one to 24 as they moved around Florida State and into the No. 2 slot.
Heading into Saturday's game against Wisconsin, Ohio State is just 34 points behind the Gators.
Cooper said the Buckeyes deserved to move up.
"It itin't very often you go back to back and beat Notre Dame and Penn State," Cooper said. "To go into Notre Dame and win that game, you might think, 'Boy, that's a fluke.' Then to come right back the next week and beat Penn State — there's probably a lot of people around the country that figure. 'Hev, the Buckeyes are for real.'"
Cooper also credited his Penn State adversary for the climb in the polls.
"I thinkJoe Paterno helped us," Cooper said
After the game, Paterno said, "I don't know what it takes to get somebody outside the state of Florida to be No. 1."
Cooper said, "Joe's been on the bandwagon for a couple of years, and I agree with him."
Paterno, of course, had a powerhouse team two years ago, but was unseated as No. 1 eight games into the season by Nebraska. Despite impressive wins the rest of the way, the Nittany Lions never were able to regain the top ranking again.
Because the Big Ten will not be a part of the bowl alliance for another three years — pending approval of a new alliance contract — Cooper and the Buckeyes could end up fighting a similar problem.
The winner of the Big Ten must play in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1997, and the Rose Bowl is not a part of the alliance bowl package.
That could be good news — if the PAC-10 Conference winner also is ranked unbeaten. The Rose Bowl might end up being *the* place to play.
But if the champion of either conference drops in the rankings, the Rose Bowl also drops in prestige and prominence — all but eliminating the possibility of producing the national champion. That's what happened to Penn State, which met lightly regarded underdog Oregon in Pasadena, Calif. And it could happen to the Buckeyes as well — with the national champions decided on Jan. 2 in the Sugar Bowl.
However, Cooper said all such conjecture was wildly premature. He said he wouldn't campaign for his team. Yet.
"Not at this stage, I won't. We've only played four games," he said. "But I think everything will work itself out. It always does."
Reminded of what happened to Penn State in 1994. he added, "Well, it usually does."
Miami and Florida State play for title
By Richard Rosenblatt AP sportswriter
Annual matchup may lead winner to championship
Miami is looking to get back in the national title picture Saturday against No. 3 Florida State. Louisiana State University is looking to get back in the picture, any picture, against No.1 Florida.
Just more than a year ago, Miami was beaten 41-17 by the Florida State Seminoles and dropped to 1-3. But the Hurricanes haven't lost since, and their annual game against the Seminoles has taken on the usual national title implications.
"I think this is the biggest game, especially for me, because I haven't been in a real big game since I've been here," Miami's sophomore receiver Magic Benton said. "I think the team is fired up.
"I'm fired up and ready to go out to redeem ourselves after last year."
The Seminoles (4-0) dropped to third in this week's AP poll despite a 34-3 win against Clemson, while Miami (4-0) moved up two places to No. 6 without playing.
Miami, riding an 11-game winning streak, has won the last five meetings against FSU at the Orange Bowl and is responsible for six of the Seminoles' 13 losses since 1987.
LSU (4-0) is off to its best start since 1978 and is ranked twelfth.
in coach Gerry DiNardo's second season, the Tigers — 19-15 winners against Auburn on Sept. 21 — could be ready to challenge the Gators (5-0). Even a good showing at Florida Field would do a lot to reestablish LSU as a football power.
"LSU held us to some low yards last year," Florida coach Steve Spurrier said of the Gators' 28-10 win in
'95. "They certainly bragged about holding us to a little over 300 yards and only 28 points, so hopefully we can do a little bit better than that this year.
The Gators, led by Danny Wuerffel's 14 touchdown passes, are second in scoring with an average of 51.8 points a game. The Tigers, with Kevin Faulk averaging 128.2 yards a game, are scoring 38 points a game.
The Miami-FSU matchup features two of the nation's top three defenses. The Hurricanes are No. 1 overall and in scoring, while the Seminoles hold the third spots in both.
"And, hopefully, they won't be bragging about how they played us."
"Every game is a must game for us if we are going to win a national title," said Miami quarterback Ryan Clement. "The team that is going to win the title is going to be undefeated."
Miami might be that team ... No. 3 Florida State (minus 5) at no. 6 Miami ... MIAMI 24-21.
No. 12 LSU (plus 19) at No. 1 Florida Danny Wuerffel strikes early and often for the Gators. .. FLORIDA 44-17.
No. 12 LSU (plus 19) at No.1 Florida
Wisconsin (plus 26 1/2) at No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes averaging 52.4 points vs. Badgers allowing 10.8 points ... OHIO STATE 38-14.
No. 4 Arizona State (minus 4) at UCLA Sun Devils hit the road for first time and find some bumps. .. ARIZONA STATE 35-28.
raska
Baylor (plus 37) at No.5 Neb-
Do Bears have a chance against Huskers' ferocious defense? ... NEB-ASKA56-7.
No. 7 Tennessee (minus 13 1/2) at Georgia
Vols leave state for first time this sea
SSEE-95.21
No. 8 Alabama (minus 12) at North Carolina
Wolfpack coming off first win of season... ALABAMA 33-13.
Oklahoma State (plus 32) at No.9 Colorado
Auffs can't wait to shut down Cowboys' running back David Thompson. ... COLORADO 42-14.
Purdue (plus 21) at No. 10 Penn State Curtis Enis and the rest of the offense show up for this one... PENN STATE 45-7.
No. 16 Washington (plus 11) at No. 11 Notre
Irish tailback Autry Denson outruns the Huskies' Rashan Shehez. NOTREDAME 27.20.
Maryland (plus 24 1/2) at No. 13 North Carolina
Tar Heels defense second in points allowed at 5.8... NORTH CAROLINA 28-0.
UNLV (plus 46) at No.19 Brigham Young
No. 18 Auburn (minus 11) at Mississippi State Tigers have won last three vs. Buldogs by average of 19.7 points ... AUBURN 35-17.
Minnesota (plus 10) at No. 15 Northwestern.
Wildcats roaring again after early-season stumble...
NORTHWESTERN 35-17.
Just a hunch, but Steve Sarkisian will throw a touchdown pass in this one... BRIGHAMYOUNG 56-7
No. 22 Kansas State (minus 16
1/2) at Missouri
K-State still reeling from loss to Nebraska. KANSAS STATE 28-19.
Western Michigan (plus 27 1/2) at No.24 Wyoming
Cowboys' quarterback Josh Wallwork should add to his 16 touchdown passes. *WYOMING* 42-10.
Florida hopes to increase conference standing
las)
This could get ugly for Sooners... TEXAS 49-0.
No. 25 Texas (minus 22) vs. Oklahoma (at Dal-
Victory on Saturday may secure spot in SEC championship game
The Associated Press
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Coach Steve Spurrier said Saturday's game against No. 12 Louisiana State University is the biggest one of the season for Florida, and not just because it's the next game.
The top-ranked Gators took control of the Southeastern Conference East division by beating Tennessee three weeks ago.
Spurrier warned, however, that just because Florida has won eight straight games more than the Tigers, that doesn't mean a win against LSU will be easy.
They can take a huge step toward securing a spot in the SEC championship game on Saturday.
Using an aggressive defense that harassed the
A year ago, the Tigers (4-0, 2-0 SEC) held Florida to one of its lowest offensive outputs of the regular season.
receivers, the Gators managed only 322 yards in a 28-10 victory.
Of course, 300 yards and four touchdowns is not a bad day for most teams. But under Spurrier's "Fun 'N Gun" offense, Florida (5-0, 3-0 SEC) has come to expect much more.
The Gators are second in the nation with 51.8 points a game and eleventh nationally in total offense with 492.8 vards a game.
They are coming off a 42-7 victory against Arkansas, in which Danny Wuerffel threw for a school-record 462 yards.
He threw for only 155 yards against Tennessee, but his four touchdown passes gave the Gators a 35-0 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half.
S spurrier is perplexed by those two games — one in which his offense was outside by Peyton Manning and Tennessee, another in which he was accused of running up the score by leaving Wuerfel in to set the school record.
"The object of the game is to win it," Spurrier said. "I'm sure the Tennessee coaches could be bragging
about how they held us to 305 yards if they want to, but when somebody gets way ahead early, you don't make a bunch of yards.
"If we'd have been ahead 35-0 at Arkansas, Danny Wuerffel doesn't set a school record. We'd have been running it, killing the clock a little bit. We're not going to make 500 games every game or 50 points every game."
That's the style LSU defensive coordinator Carl Reese used when he was at Vanderbilt in 1994, and the Gators managed only a 24-7 victory.
"If LSU can cover us man-to-man all over the field, it'll be a tough day for us," Spurrier said. "We've got to get open, got to pass block and we've got to run good routes."
"If you can do those things, we feel like we've got a chance against any defense."
Cornhuskers' Kris Brown prepared to take on Baylor
The Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. — Kris Brown didn't sound like he was taunting anone.
The kicker for No. 5 Nebraska was using a matter-of-fact tone of voice that some folks might expect from a guy from Slakeh, Texas.
Brown said that Saturday's homecoming game against Baylor was of special interest to him since he comes from the Lone Star state.
He said the game would give Nebraska a chance to show the Texas schools what real college football was all about.
Having booted four field goals on five attempts against Kansas State last week, at the "Huskers" weekly news conference Brown said that he thought the Corn-
"As far as I'm concerned, I've got the 10 best kickoff guys in the nation."
Kris Brown Nebraska kicker
hunken belting units more first rate
husker kicking units were first-rate.
to hust people up.
"As far as I'm concerned, I've got the 10 best kickoff guys in the nation," Brown said.
Running back Damon Benning showed up after Brown had left the room.
He described his colleagues as men he could count on
When Benning said he always avoided any war of words with opponents, reporters told him of Brown's comment.
Benning was silent for a few seconds.
Well, he said with a smile. That's his kiss.
He also said the Bears had other incentives.
"It's important for us to go out and play well because those Texas schools, I think, want a big part of Nebraska," he said. "I think they feel the Southwestern Conference hasn't gotten the respect that they think it deserves. And they're going to go out here and try to make a statement for the South Division of the Big 12."
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