8B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 1, 2003 Wpo will strike the pose in the Big Apple? I A look at the young superstars who might have a chance to walk away with the Heisman Trophy 4 APPHzOO Oklahoma quarterbackJason White 6-foot-3, 221 pounds - 3,479 yards, 40 TDs, 6 INTs Oct.11: Oklahoma 65, Texas 13 - White throws for 290 yards and four touchdowns in the rout. Nov.8: Oklahoma 77, Texas A&M 0 - White completes 16 of 18 passes for 263 yards and five touchdowns. , Why White? White leads the nation with 177.87 quarterback rating, and his touchc interception ratio is phenomenal. While 1e the Sooners to the only undefeated season ion I, White has thrown at least four touc in half of his games and at least two in eve game. White gets one more chance to prc worth in this week's Big 12 Championsh AP PHOTOw JNorth Carolina State quarterback Philip Rivers 6-foot-5, 218pounds -4,016 yards, 29 TDs, 7INTs *Nov.15: Florida State 50, North Carolina State 44 (20T) - Rivers completes 28 of 38 passes for 422 yards and four touchdowns in the double-overtime loss. Why Rivers? Rivers ranks second in both passing yards and quarterback rating, and he was ver efficient - he completed 71percent of his asses. Rivers threw at least 400 yards four times and threw or more than 200 yards in every g His Wolfpack will play Kansas in the Tangerine Bowl on Dec. 22. sissippi quarterback Ali Manning 6-foot-5, 218 pounds -3,341 yards, 27 TDs, 9 INTs 27: Texas Tech 49, Mississippi 45 - Manning completes 29 of 49 passes for 409 nd three touchdowns. 1: Mississippi 43 South Carolina 40 - Manning completes 30 of 42 passes for ds and three touchdowns. Why Manning? Manning's numbers lag behind the other two quarterback contenders (his quar- terback rating is 22nd and he's 10th in passing yards), but his value has more to do with his team's overall performance. This was the first time since the SEC was sepa- rated into two divisions that Ole Miss finished above .500. And the Rebels' 7-1 record tied Louisiana State for tops in the conference. Mis- sissippi's success this season was due largely to its senior quarterback. Manning put up solid numbers, as his Rebels almost pulled off the upset of their biggest rival, Louisiana State. Manning's Ole Miss team is still waiting to find out its bowl fate, but it will likely be picked to play on Jan. 1 in either the Cotton, Capital One or Outback Bowl. Pittsburgh wide receiver foary Jitzgerald 87 a 6-foot-3, 210 pounds - down-to_ 87 catches, 1,595 yards, 22 Tds eading * Oct. 18: Pittsburgh 42, Rutgers 32~~. , in Div- Fitzgerald snags eight catches for 207 chdowns yards and two touchdowns. ery ove his Nov.8: Pittsburgh 31, VirginiaTech ip game. 28 - Fitzgerald makes eight catches for 108 yards and a touchdown. Why Fitzgerald? He has more yards and touch downs than an other receiver in the countr. His 22 touchdowns were nearly double his 2002 total and the next closest receiver was seven behind him. Fitzgerald caught at least one touchdown in alE 12 of the'7Panthers' games, and his 18-game streak that dates back to 2002 is an NCAA record. Fitzgeraldput up a 12-catch per- formance against oledo. The sophomore averaged more than 18 yards per catch ord POOwhile leading Pittsburgh to an 8-4 record AP PHOTO and a third- place regurar season finish in game. the Big East. The Panthers will play Vir- ginia in the Continental Tire Bowl.AHOT Michigan tailback Chris Per 6-foot-1, 228pounds - 315 carries, 1,589 rushing yards, 17 TDs - 42 catches, 366 receiving yards, 2 TDs . Sept. 13,2003: Michigan 38, Notre Dame 0 - Perry picks up 177 total yards and scores four touchdowns. Nov.1, 2003: Michi an 27, Michigan State 20 - Perry carries the ball a schoorecord 51 times for 219 yards and a touchdown. Nov. 22,2003: Michigan 35, Ohio State 21- Perry rushes 31 times for 154 yards and two touchdowns, and catches five passes for 55 yards. Why Perry? The Bi Ten Offensive Player of the Year showed up big-time in all three o Mi 's rivalry games,and he ran through a vaunted Ohio State defense at many xpced to stop him cold. And Perry gave quarterbackjohn Navarre ano heo tion through the air. His 5I cares against Michigan State and the Ohio State game - when Perry played through pain -showed that the senior never quits. I I a AND DENNNNNN ... While there were no major BCS shake-ups this past holiday weekend, the Wolverines, BCS No. 4, still have a chance to back their way into the No. 2 slot in the standings after next weekend. There is precedence for a jump like this on the last Saturday of the season. In 1998, the first year of the BCS, No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 Kansas State all played on the final Saturday. Tennesee beat Missis- sippi State; UCLA lost to Miami (Fla.) and Kansas State lost to Texas A&M, opening the door for one-loss No. 4 Florida State to join the Volun- teers in the Fiesta Bowl. Here are the scenarios for the Bowl Championship Series. Saturday's games: - No. 1 Oklahoma v. Kansas State (Big 12 Championship game) - No. 2 Southern Cal. v. Oreegon State - No. 3 Louisiana State v. No. 7 Georgia (SEC championship game) Scenario 1 - Oklahoma wins, South- em Cal. wins, Louisiana State wins. Unless the Tigers received enough of a boost in strength of schedule and in the computers by beating the Bulldogs, Oklahoma and Southern Cal. would play for the title. Scenario 2- Oklahoma wins, South- em Cal. loses, Louisiana State wins. Oklahoma and Louisiana State play for the title. Scenario 3 - Oklahoma wins, South- em Cal. wins, Louisiana State loses. Oklahoma and Southern Cal. play for the title. Scenario 4 - Oklahoma wins, South- em Cal. loses, Louisiana State loses. Odds are, Oklahoma and Michigan would play for the BCS title. If Okla- homa lost to Michigan, the Wolverines would win the BCS national champi- onship (Coaches' poll), and Oklahoma would likely win the AP poll vote, by virtue of its better record than Michi- gan (the Coaches' poll is obligated to rote the BCS title game winner as its national champion). Scenario 5 - Oklahoma loses, South- em Cal. loses, Louisiana State loses. A one-loss Oklahoma plays two-loss Michigan for all the marbles, unlike Scenario 4. Who will Michigan play, assuming the Wolverines go to Pasadena? BCS conference champions to choose from: Michigan (Big Ten), Miami (Big East), Florida State (Atlantic Coast), Southern Cal. (Pac-10), the Okla- homa/Kansas State winner (Big 12) and the Louisiana State/Georgia winner (SEC). At-large possibilities: No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 Texas, No. 8 Tennessee and (if it loses to Georgia) Louisiana State. I 6 6I i m