___The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 7, 2002 - 5B

WEEKEND'S BEST

HOW THE AP YOP 25 FARED
Associated Press Poll for week of September 28.
Games updated through October 5.

NEW AP
TOP 25

AN ALL-NIGHT AFFAIR:. It took six
overtimes, but No. 10 Tennessee
finally squeaked past the pesky
Razorbacks.
Jason Witten caught a 25-yard
touchdown pass in the sixth
extra session to seal the Volun-
teers' 41-38 win over Arkansas.
"When it went into overtime, I
said 'This is our game," Arkansas
coach Houston Nutt said. "This
was bitter, bitter. There were alot
of times we outplayed them."
Arkansas did have two chances to

upset the Volunteers in overtime.
A fumble by Tennessee in the third
overtime was squandered by an
Arkansas missed field goal. Two
overtimes later, the Razorbacks
just had to cash in on a two-point
conversion to win, but Matt Jones'
pass was intercepted.
NOT HEISMAN-ESQUE: Florida quar-
terback Rex Grossman might
have thrown away his chances
for the Heisman Trophy.
Grossman was intercepted four
times as the sixth-ranked Gators
were shut out in the second half
and upset by Mississippi, 17-14.
For Grossman's counterpart, Eli
Manning, it was time for vindica-
tion. Eli became the first member
of his family to beat the Gators.
His brother, Indianapolis Colts
quarterback Peyton Manning, was
0-4 against Florida in his career at
Tennessee.
"He'll probably be the first one to
call me," said Eli of his older broth-
er, Peyton.

(first-place votes in parentheses)

Team:
1. Miami (Fla.)
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Virginia Tech
5. Ohio State
6. Florida
7. Georgia
8. Oregon
9. Notre Dame
10. Tennessee
11. Florida State
12. Washington
13. Kansas State
14. Michigan
15. Iowa State
16. N.C. State
17. Washington State
18. Southern Cal.
19. Wisconsin
20. Penn State
21. Louisiana State
22. Alabama
23. Texas A&M
24. Iowa
25. Colorado State

Last week:
beat Connecticut 48-14
beat Oklahoma State 17-15
beat Missouri 31-24
Idle
beat Northwestern 27-16
lost to Mississippi 17-14
beat No. 22 Alabama 27-25
beat Arizona 31-14
beat Stanford 31-7
beat Arkansas 26-23 (OT)
beat Clemson 4831
lost to California 34-27
lost to Colorado 35-31
Bye
Bye.
Bye
beat No. 18 Southern Cal. 30-27
lost No. 17 Washington State 30-27
lost to No. 20 Penn State 34-31
beat No. 19 Wisconsin 34-31
beat Louisiana-Lafayette 48-0
lost to No. 7 Georgia 27-25
lost to Texas Tech 48-47 (OT)
beat Purdue 31-28
lost to Fresno State 32-30

This week:
No. 11 Florida St.
No. 2 Oklahoma (at Dallas)
No. 3 Texas (at Dallas)
at Boston College
San Jose State
No. 18'Louisiana State
No. 10 Tennessee
at UCLA
Pittsburgh
at No. 6 Georgia
at No.1 Miami
Arizona
Oklahoma State
No. 15 Penn State
Texas Tech
at North Carolina
at Stanford
California
at Indiana
at No. 13 Michigan
at No. 16 Florida
Bye
at Baylor
Michigan State
Wyoming

TEAM
1. Miami (Fla.) (73)
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas (1)
4. Virginia Tech
5. Ohio State
6. Georgia
7. Oregon
8. Notre, Dame
9. Florida State
10. Tennessee
11. Iowa St.
12. Washington State
13. Michigan
14. N.C. State
15. Penn State
16. Florida
17. Iowa
18. Louisiana State
19. Kansas State
20. Southern Cal.
21. Air Force
22. Washington
23. Wisconsin
24. Auburn
25. Mississippi

5-0
5-0
5-0
5-0
6-0
5-0
5-0
5-0
5-1
4-1
5-1
5-1
4-1
6-0
4-1
6-0
5-1
4-1
4-1
3-2
5-0
3-2
5-1
4-1
4-1

PTS PVS
1,849 1
1,707 3
1,698 2
1,632 4
1,552 5
1,485 7
1,390 8
1,349 9
1,182 11
1,132 10
1,000 15
998 17
986 14
877 16
710 20-
687 6
587 24
569 21
435 13
301 18
298 -
293 12
223 19
222 -
173 -
No. 23 Tex as

Tennessee's Casey Clausen
AP PHOTO

Dropped out: No. 22 Alabama,
A&M, No. 25 Colorado State


AP PHOTO
Missouri quarterback Brad Smith, a redshirt freshman, jumps over Oklahoma safety Derrick Strait in Saturday's 31-24 Okla-
homa victory. Smith rushed for 213 yards on the Sooners, racking up almost 400 yards of total offense.
SCOUTING THE NATION

THE DAILY'S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
In a week of upsets and close calls, the Daily highlights a couple of heroes
from those games, as well as a player who is changing his team's offensive
scheme. The Mississippi defense played its best game in recent memory
against Florida and Texas A&M's Dustin Long nearly outgunned Texas Tech's
Kliff Kingsbury in a Big 12 shootout. Florida State's Greg Jones helped the
Seminoles overpower Clemson with a strong running attack.
MISSISSIPPI DEFENSE
Why Mississippi defense?: On a w
normal afternoon, the Mississippi
defense cannot stop your top tier
Pop Warner teams (read: Vander- i
bilt, which racked up 38 points x
against the Rebels).'
But Mississippi's defense came
through'in a big way against Flori-
da in what turned out to be a sur-
prising defensive battle. The
Rebels notched a safety, a 24-
yard interception return for a
touchdown and forced four inter-
ceptions by Florida quarterback
Rex Grossman. The defense's per-f
formance made up for a lackluster
game by quarterback Eli Manning,
who could not find a way past the
Gators. The defense provided a lift
for a Mississippi team that was in
dire need of one and surfaced crit-
ics of Florida coach Ron Zook. Mississippi's Jesse Mitchell
GREG JONES,
FLORIDA STATE
Why Jones?: Florida State has been
a bit of a disappointment thus far
this season, but running back Greg
Jones has been anything but. Jones
ran for 165 yards and three touch-
downs to lead the Seminoles to a
48-31 victory in Bowden Bowl IV. "
Jones made up for another poor per-
formance by quarterback Chris Rix
and the struggling Florida State
passing attack. Jones is averaging
more than six yards per carry and
has been breaking more tackles
than any other mortal running back.
Jones showed his power running on
his final touchdown of the game,
when he broke eight Clemson tack-
les on a 21-yard run. It takes a spe-
cial back to change the Florida
State offensive philosophy and
Florida State's Greg Jones Jones just the man for the job.
DUSTIN LONG,
TEXAS A&M
Why Long?: In a game billed as Texas
Tech's Kliff Kingsbury vs. the stingy
Texas A&M defense, it quickly turned
to a shootout, with the Aggies' Dustin
Long setting a conference record, but
not getting the victory. Texas A&M fell
in overtime after a missed extra point,
but Long's performance was immacu-
late. He threw for a Big 12 record
seven touchdowns in addition to hi
367 yards passing. Long's perform-
ance in itself was astounding, but it
was even more surprising given that he
is Texas A&M's quarterback. The
Aggies are traditionally known for put-
ting up fewer than 20 points and let-
ting their defense do the rest. But
Long threw that misconception out the
door and made up for a lackluster per- Texas A&M's Dustin Long
formance by his defense. AP PHOTOS

BIG TEN RECAPS
MINNESOTA 31,
Illinois 10
Illinois
Passing: Jon Beutjer - 14-29-0,
165, 1 TD
Rushing: Antoineo Harris - 13-47
Receiving: Carey Davis - 6-43
Minnesota
Passing: Asad Abdul-Khaliq - 15-
27-1, 144, 1 TD
Rushing: Terry Jackson - 16-159
Receiving: Antoine Burns - 6-62
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - With a short
week to prepare, Minnesota rebounded nice-
ly from a poor showing in its Big Ten opener.
Defending conference champion Illinois
continued to struggle.
Terry Jackson II rushed for a career-
high 159 yards and Thomas Tapeh added
113 yards and a touchdown Thursday night
to lead the Golden Gophers past the Fight-
ing Illini 31-10.
No. 5 Ohio State 27,
NORTHWESTERN 16
Ohio State
Passing: Craig Krenzel - 11-22-0,
170
Rushing: Maurice Clarett - 29-
140, 2 TDs
Receiving: Michael Jenkins - 4-
64
Northwestern
Passing: Brett Basanez - 24-45-
1, 283
Rushing: Jason Wright - 24-95,
1 TD
Receiving: Kunle Patrick - 6-63
EVANSTON (AP) - Ohio State fresh-
man Maurice Clarett ran for two touch-
downs, and personally outrushed
Northwestern with his fourth straight 100-
yard game.
The only number he's going to remem-
ber, though, is three - his three fumbles.
"Horrible, horrible," Clarett said. "This
win doesn't feel good, but it's a win."
No. 15 Penn State 34,
No. 23 WISCONSIN 31
Penn State
Passing: Zack Mills - 21-37-0,
287, 1 TD
Rushing: Larry Johnson - 14-
111, 1 TD
Receiving: Tony Johnson - 5-62
Wisconsin
Passing: Brooks Bollinger - 15-
25-1, 217, 2 TDs
Rushing: Anthony Davis - 11-46
Receiving: Jonathan Orr - 4-62, 1
TD
MADISON (AP) - Zack Mills found the
perfect medicine for his sprained shoulder.
Mills recovered a fumble by fullback Paul
Jefferson at the 1-yard line and tumbled into
the end zone for a first-quarter touchdown as
Penn State earned a 34-31 victory over Wis-
consin on Saturday.
Mills landed on his left (throwing) shoul-
der on the Nittany Lions' second drive and
feared he'd join Badgers' star Lee Evans on
the sideline.
No. 17 IOWA 31,
Purdue 28
Purdue
Passing: Kyle Orton - 22-37-0,
247, 1 TD
Rushing: Brandon Kirsch - 6-49,
1 TD
Receiving: Taylor Stubblefield -
13-149
owa
Passing: Brad Banks - 14-22-0,
226, 2 TDs
Rushing: Fred Russell - 22-109
Receiving: Ed Hinkel - 4-30
WEST LAFAYETTE (AP) - Iowa
quarterback Brad Banks engineered an 87-
yard scoring drive with 2:16 remaining and
no timeouts, capped by a 7-yard touch-
down pass to Dallas Clark on 4th-and-goal
to lead the Hawkeyes past Purdue 31-28.

NEWS AND NOTES
While Missouri ended up losing to highly favored
Oklahoma, its quarterback, Brad Smith, introduced
himself to the country. Smith, a redshirt freshman, made
the Sooners' vaunted defense look like a bunch of tired
old men, breaking tackle after tackle en route to 213
yards rushing - a Missouri freshman record. He ran for
two scores and threw for 178 yards and a touchdown. The
young phenom might have pulled off the upset, if not for
his three interceptions.
A man fell 30 feet from the Orange Bowl upper deck
Saturday night during Miami's game against Connecticut.
Police are not sure what happened, but think that the
man was not pushed. He is in criticakcondition with head
injuries, hospital officials said. The victim's identity has
not been released.
Colorado quarterback Craig Ochs, after suffering yet
another concussion against San Diego State earlier in
September, decided to leave the team. In his absence
Saturday, senior Robert Hodge hit 13-of-20 passes for 289.
yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Georgia's 27-25 win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa
marked the Bulldogs' first-ever win in Bryant-Denny
Stadium. The win also put Georgia at 5-0 for the first time
since 1982.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
Florida quarterback Rex Grossman might have lost his
hopes of a Heisman Trophy with his four-interception
performance in Saturday's 17-14 loss to Ole Miss. He also
helped the Gators take themselves right out of the national
title hunt with their second loss of the year. After the game,
Grossman pointed the finger right back at himself.
"It really hurts to lose a game like this," Grossman said. "Our
drives just stopped. I still can't figure out why things didn't

work out. Their 17 points that they scored are my fault and I
take the blame."
With his team trailing Missouri 24-23 in the fourth quarter,
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops put it all on the line. On 4th-and-
eight from the 14-yard line, Stoops called for a fake field goal
pass, after his kicker, Trey DiCarlo, had already missed an
extra point and two field goals. Holder Matt McCoy, a quarter-
back in high school, took the snap, rolled out and hit fresh-
man Chris Chester for a touchdown. The catch was Chester's
first of his career.
"I don't ever want to coach in a way that I'm afraid of criti-
cism," Stoops said after the third-ranked Sooners beat Mis-
souri 31-24 Saturday night. "I felt the best percentage was
to be successful doing that, rather than to try and go ahead
and kick."
U Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury has put up stagger-
ing numbers in his career with the Red Raiders, but Satur-
day's 49-of-59 performance at Texas A&M was by far the
sweetest.
"I think this was my best game ever," said Kingsbury after his
team's 48-47 win. "I wanted to come (to Texas A&M) out of
high school and I've been thinking about this for four years. To
win in one of the toughest atmospheres boosts our confidence
even more."
Ohio State hasn't looked like a top-five team since its win
over Washington State Sept. 14. After escaping with a win
against Cincinnati two weeks ago and squeaking by North-
western Saturday, 27-16, the Buckeyes know they have to
step it up to accomplish their goals.
"I was hoping Cincinnati was going to be a wake-up call," line-
backer Cie Grant said. "Hopefully this will show we've got a
lot of work to do."
The Associated Press contributed to the report.

AP PHOTO

Penn State's Larry Johnson.

WHO'S NEXT:
PENN STATE
After a week off to relax and begin
preparation for Penn State, the
Wolverines welcome Penn State,
which is coming off its 34-31 win
over Wisconsin Saturday in Madison.
Penn State has lost its last five
against Michigan.


J. Brady's day in
the Sun
Nobody circles the wagons like
the Buffalo Bills, or in this case,
J. Brady McCollough. While Horn
and Phillips wallowed in a terri-
ble week, which saw the under-
dogs go 12-3, McCollough' had
the vision to seehow overrated
several teams were. With his
11-4 record, he ties Horn and
Phillips for the lead, 18 games
ahead of Smith. This week
proved to the country that in
the BCS race, it is Miami (Fla.)
and the rest of the country trail-
ing well behind.
It was another bad week for
hbst bats, with Horn. McCol-

BIG TEN STANDINGS

Re tdachotBaft
STAFF PICKS
WEEK 5 SELECTIONS
ALL PICKS MADE AGAINST THE SPREAD.
CORRECT PICKS IN BOLD.
IowA (-8.5) vs. Purdue
WISCoNSIN (-2) vs. Penn State
Oio State (-25) at NORTHWESTERN
Florida (-13) at MissIssIPPI
TEXAs (-24.5) vs. Oklahoma State
SOUTH CAROLINA (-4) vs. Mississippi State
TEXAS A&M (-6) vs. Texas Tech

David
Horn
Iowa.
Penn State
Ohio State
FLORIDA
Oklahoma State
Mississippi State
Texas A&M

.t , r y
1. Brady
McCollough

Team
Ohio State
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Purdue
Minnesota
Penn State
Wisconsin
Indiana
Northwestern
Illinois

BI Ten
2 0
2 0
1 0
1 0
1 1
1 1
1 1
O 1
0 1
0 2
0 2

Overall
6 0
5 1
4 1
3 2
3 3
5 1
4 1
51
2 3
2 4
1 5

Jeff
Phillips

Joe
Smith

Penn State Wisconsin Penn State
Northwestern Ohio State Ohio State
Florida Florida Florida
Oklahoma State Tex as Texas
South Carolina South Carolina Mississippi State
Texas TechT .xas 'Tech Texaeeh +

THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS
MINNESOTA 31, Illinois 10
OHIO STATE 27, NORTHWESTERN 16
IOWA 31, Purdue 28
Penn State 34, WISCONSIN 31

i

I


..................


................

..................................................