Conference Call

Sporting News, The, Nov 8, 1999

                        Team on                    Team on
                       the rise                    the wane

Atlantic       Georgia Tech. Yellow        North Carolina. Hit rock
Coast          Jackets continued to hum    bottom with 28-3 loss to
               in a 48-21 win over NC      I-AA Furman, Heels'
               State, Tech's fifth         sixth defeat in a row.
               victory in a row. Trip      Still winless in ACC
               to Virginia is next.        with Wake Forest up
                                           next.

Big East       Miami. Two weeks ago,       Syracuse. After a 62-0
               overcame 28-0 deficit to    loss at Virginia Tech,
               top Boston College. Last    Orangemen fell 24-23 at
               week, escaped 13-0 hole     home to Boston College.
               for 28-20 win over West     Chance to get well with
               Virginia.                   Temple, Rutgers next.

Big Ten        Wisconsin. A 35-19 win at   Iowa. A 41-11 loss at
               Northwestern was fifth in   Ohio State was Hawkeyes'
               a row for what may be       fifth in a row. A visit
               hottest team in nation.     from Illinois may cure
               Next up: trip to Purdue.    Iowa, which remains
                                           winless in Big Ten.

Big 12         Kansas State. A 48-7 win    Oklahoma State. Has lost
               over Baylor makes           four of last five after
               Wildcats 8-0. But now it    21-3 defeat at Texas
               gets tough with games       A&M. Visit from Texas
               against Colorado and at     won't help struggling
               Nebraska on tap.            Cowboys offense.

Conference     Louisville. Looking for     Tulane, A 49-7 home loss
USA            second straight bowl bid    to Memphis was Green
               after registering third     Wave's fourth defeat in
               win in a row with 23-14     past five games. Next up
               victory over UAB. Trip to   are trips to Houston and
               Cincinnati is next.         Navy.

Mountain       Colorado State. A 31-24     Air Force. Falcons'
West           win over Utah, Rams'        27-20 loss at BYU was
               second in a row, has        their second in a row
               Colorado State thinking     and likely ended league
               about postseason, Visit     title hopes. Can get
               to New Mexico is next.      well with Army, UNLV
                                           next.

Pacific-10     Washington. Posted fifth    USC. Offense continued
               win in six games with       to flop in 17-7 loss at
               35-30 triumph over          California, the Trojans'
               Stanford. Now in title      fourth loss in a row and
               chase with trips to         fifth in six games.
               Arizona and UCLA next.      Visit from Arizona State
                                           next.

Southeastern   Arkansas, A 34-10 win       LSU. Tigers suffered
               over Auburn was third in    sixth loss in a row in
               a row after consecutive     42-23 home defeat to
               losses. But Mississippi,    Mississippi. Trip to
               Tennessee and Mississippi   Alabama next for LSU,
               State next.                 losers of nine straight
                                           SEC games.

Western        SMU. Mustangs pulled        Tulsa. After firing Dave
Athletic       shocker with 27-2 win       Rader, Golden Hurricane
               over Rice for second win    still dropped seventh
               in a row. Good time to be   game in a row in a 28-14
               on roll with rip to rival   home loss to Fresno
               TCU next.                   State.

                      Saturday's                   Game of
                         stars                     the week

Atlantic       Brandon SWeeter, QB,        Maryland at NC State.
Coast          Clemson. Out since Oct. 2   Terrapins still looking
               with injury, came off       for break-through road
               bench in fourth quarter     victory. This may be it,
               to rally team to 12-3 win   Wolfpack has won seven
               at Wake Forest.             of nine in 1990s.

Big East       Devin Scott, QB, Temple.    Virginia Tech at West
               Completed 36-of-45 passes   Virginia. Game is
               for 311 yards and school-   dangerous for Hokies
               record six TDs in Owls'     because Mountaineers
               56-28 win over Rutgers.     have nothing to lose.
                                           Tech has won four of
                                           last five.

Big Ten        Courtney Brown, DE, Prom    Wisconsin at Purdue.
               State. Netted four sacks,   Badgers want to keep
               which tied school mark      ball from Drew Brees,
               and made him Lions'         who threw 83 passes vs.
               career leader, in 27-7      them last year, by
               win at Illinois.            running Ron Dayne.

Big 12         Ben Kelly, CB, Colorado.    Texas A&M at Nebraska.
               Had two of Buffaloes'       Start of tough run of
               picks, four which led to    games for Huskers (K-
               10 points, in a 38-24 win   State, Colorado follow),
               against Oklahoma.           who remember last year's
                                           loss at A&M.

Conference     Robed Cooper, RB, Cincin-   Southern Miss at
USA            nati. Ran 37 times for      Memphis. If you like
               209 yards and three TDs,    great defense, you'll
               including winning score,    like this game. Tigers
               in 52-42 win over Miami     have beaten USM just
               (Ohio).                     three times since 1977.

Mountain       Brian Urlacher, S, New      Wyoming at Utah. This is
West           Mexico. Had 15 tackles,     a must-win for the Utes
               including a sack, and       to keep their league
               broke up three passes in    title hopes alive,
               a 27-6 wit over UNLV.       Cowboys may not have
                                           enough offense to win.

Pacific-10     Margues Tulasosopo, QB,     Washington at Arizona.
               Washington. Became first    Teams still harbor title
               player to pass for 300      hopes. If Huskies can't
               yards (302) and run for     take advantage of shaky
               200 (207) in a 35-30 win    Wildcats secondary, they
               over Stanford.              have no chance.

Southeastern   Alex Brown, DE, Florida.    Notre Dame at Tennessee.
               Forced a fumble, had an     Irish have nothing to
               interception and totaled    lose, so they're
               2 1/2 sacks in a 30-14      dangerous. But do they
               win over Georgia.           have enough offense to
                                           threaten tough Vols
                                           defense?

Western        Jay Stuckey, QB, UTEP.      Rice at Fresno State.
Athletic       Was 19-of-28 for 215        It's the Owls' triple
               yards with three passing    option against the
               TDs and a rushing score     Bulldogs' prolific
               in a 42-26 win over San     passing, Team with the
               Jose State.                 better defense figures
                                           to win. That's Rice.

                        Matchup              Johnny Unitas Award
                       to watch                front-runners(*)

Atlantic       Maryland QB Calvin          Joe Hamilton, Georgia
Coast          McCall vs. NC State LBs.    Tech. He has displayed
               McCall is a redshirt        remarkable consistency
               freshman whom the active    all season while
               Pack line-backers must      brandishing a flair for
               contain.                    the dramatic.

Big East       Miami DBs vs. Pittsburgh    Marc Bulger, West
               QB David Priestley. The     Virginia. He isn't a
               Hurricanes have a strong    finalist because of
               secondary, but it will be   injury, but he has made
               tested by a fancy pass      the most of a shaky
               attack.                     receiving corps.

Big Ten        Ohio St. OL vs. Michigan    Bill Burke, Michigan
               St. DL. If struggling       State. A midseason slump
               Buckeyes attack has         likely kept him from
               trouble getting on track    being a finalist, but he
               vs. athletic Spartans       has taken advantage of
               front, OSU doomed.          strong wideout support.

Big 12         Colorado RB Cortlen         Randy McCown, Texas
               Johnson vs. Kansas State    A&M. The Aggies' offense
               DL. Buffaloes want to       isn't flashy enough for
               run, which will be          him to be a finalist,
               difficult against a         but he's deserving of
               strong Wildcats front.      recognition.

Conference     Houston RBs vs. Tulane      Chris Redman, Louis-
USA            DL. It's vital for          ville. The records are
               Cougars' strong run game    falling for one of the
               to dominate so Green        sport's best ever. He
               Wave's crazy passing        also plays for Johnny
               attack stays off field.     Unitas' alma mater.

Mountain       Air Force option vs. Army   Kevin Faterik, BYU. He
West           LBs. If Falcons control     has had a solid season
               the ball, they'll           after failing to fulfill
               dominate a soft Cadets      fans' expectations.
               defense and win             Still, uneven play means
               Commander-In-Chief          he's not a finalist.
               Trophy.

Pacific-10     Arizona OL vs. Washington   Keith Smith, Arizona. If
               DL. Huskies must stiffen    he didn't have to share
               against underrated Wild-    the spot with Ortege
               cats rush attack that may   Jenkins, he might be in
               eat up lots of yards and    the running. His
               clock.                      efficiency rating is
                                           impressive.

Southeastern   Notre Dame QB Jarious       Tee Martin, Tennessee.
               Jackson vs. Tennesse DL.    He has battled through
               Jackson will need to        injury to become a big-
               continue his trend of       time leader while also
               limiting mistakes, That     refining his passing
               won't be easy.              skills.

Western        Fresno State QB Billy       Billy Volek, Fresno
Athletic       Volek vs. Rice DBs. A       State. If not for him,
               battle for WAC supremacy.   the Bulldogs would be an
               The Owls' solid secondary   average team. If he
               must contain Volek's        played for a higher-
               passing.                    profile school, he'd be
                                           a finalist.