Columnist Ron Kantowski: Thrills and spills were all over the dial

Monday, Nov. 3, 2003 | 9:51 a.m.

People often wonder why I prefer college football over the professional kind.

If they were at my house Saturday, they wouldn't have to ask.

My day started in front of the TV in a literal fog, as the visibility was near zero when Air Force and Utah kicked off a rare Mountain West Conference televised triple-header. It ended some 12 hours later in a literal fog, as Arkansas outlasted Kentucky 71-63 in seven overtimes.

When was the last time you saw a 71-63 game in the NFL? You'd have to watch a a month of Raiders Sundays to see that many points scored/allowed.

And when was the last time you saw a 265-pound tight end rush for three touchdowns in the same game, then throw a jump pass for the decisive 2-point conversion? That's what Utah's Ben Moa, pressed into service as a single-wing quarterback due to injuries, did in the Utes' 45-43 triple-overtime win against Air Force.

"Who was that old Giants quarterback who used to throw the jump pass?" flabbergasted ESPN analyst Chris Spielman asked broadcast partner Pam Ward.

"Can't help you there," said an equally stunned Ward.

Spielman was probably thinking of Charlie Connerly, who used to throw jump passes to Frank Gifford. But even though Connerly wore No. 42, he was a quarterback by nature. Moa had only imitated one in practice.

Next up was the ancient Border War between Wyoming and Colorado State, who now play for a traveling trophy known as the Bronze Boot. The Cowboys stunned the Rams 35-28 to put the boot where the sun doesn't shine. That would be Laramie, as a game that began in 25-degree weather ended in a blinding blizzard that turned Bradlee Van Pelt, the Rams' indomitable quarterback, into an abominable snowman.

Like Van Pelt, whose dad Brad was an all-pro linebacker with the Giants, UNLV's Scott Turner has a famous football father, as his old man Norv is the Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator. But that may be the first and only time the names of Bradlee Van Pelt and Scott Turner are used in the same sentence.

Turner completed 3 of 6 passes for just 12 yards after coming on for injured Kurt Nantkes in the second quarter, yet has to be considered one of the heroes of the Rebels' 37-35 upset victory against turnover-plagued New Mexico, if for no reason that he didn't make the kind of mistakes that doomed the Lobos. In addition to the Mountain West drama, I saw Penn State's freshman kicker just miss a 60-yard field goal on the last play of the game against Ohio State, Georgia miss another last call against Florida in the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" and a 285-pound quarterback who answers to J. Lo -- Kentucky's Jared Lorenzen, who also has a big rear end -- torment Arkansas until well after midnight by running the quarterback draw as if he were Steve Young. What a day! There were more twists and turns than a game of Twister played by contortionists.

And the best part was all you needed to see it was a cable-ready TV set with a mute button for Lee Corso.

/sub The starting 11

VIRGINIA TECH 31, MIAMI 7: After the previously unbeaten Hurricanes suffered a tropical depression against the Hokies, another of the nation's one-loss teams, Miami coach Larry Coker said in that a once-beaten probably would play Oklahoma in the BCS title game, it might as well be the Hurricanes. As Lee Corso (and Moe Howard) would say, not so fast, Larry. Even if Miami wins out, it no longer controls its destiny in the Big East. "The funny thing is they could go 11-1 and make it to the Sugar Bowl, or go 11-1 and not even make it to a BCS game," said BCS analyst Jerry Palm. Well, maybe that's funny, or maybe it's just another flaw in the hand-me-down national championship system.

OKLAHOMA 52, OLKLAHOMA STATE 9: The Cowboys talked trash all week, then had theirs taken out to the Big 12 curb by the dominant Sooners. During the week, OSU coach Les Miles said the Sooners were the nation's best team "so we are told." Apparently, the Cowboys were told, but they didn't listen. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops didn't stoop to criticizing Miles until after the game. "There's enough good things said about us," he said. "Sometimes it's good to have that sarcasm said about you."

SOUTHERN CAL 43, WASHINGTON STATE 16: The early bird gets the worm, while an early loss in college football almost always gives a good team the chance to worm its way back into the national championship hunt. After the Trojans whipped Washington State in a showdown of the West's top two teams, they can realistically set their sights on bigger prey -- such as No. 1 Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. It's as if that loss to Cal never happened. Who said there aren't Mulligans in college football?

FLORIDA STATE 37, NOTRE DAME 0: Somewhere, the Irish eyes of Gerry Faust are smiling. With every crushing loss, this year's Notre Dame team is bridging the gap between itself and some of those forgettable teams that masqueraded as the Fighting Irish under Faust some 20 years ago. Notre Dame was held scoreless at home for the first time since 1978, and fell to 2-6 for the first time since 1963.

FLORIDA 16, GEORGIA 13: The World's Longest Hangover at the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party lives on, as favored Georgia lost for the 13th time in the past 14 years to Florida, suddenly one of college football's hottest teams. "A lot of this game is mental," Florida cornerback Keiwan Ratliff said. "If they get it into their head that they always lose to us, that could hurt them. But I would love it to be in their heads, and stay in their heads, for the next 20 years." That's a lot of Alka-Seltzer, Bulldogs fans.

TEXAS 31, NEBRASKA 7: The Cornhuskers managed just eight first downs and crossed midfield just twice in the second half against a Texas team many in Nebraska had called "soft" after losses to Arkansas and Oklahoma. They must have had the Longhorns confused with the Huskers' nonconference schedule.

OLE MISS 43, SOUTH CAROLINA 40: The Rebels led 43-14 and then nearly saw their dreams of an SEC title vanish without a cause. Actually, there was a cause -- a leaky defense that allowed South Carolina touchdowns on four consecutive possessions. Ole Miss is 5-0 in the SEC West and took another step -- albeit a shaky one -- toward its first conference championship since 1963, with showdowns against Auburn and LSU set for the next two weeks.

LSU 49, LOUISIANA TECH 10: Note to Georgia and anybody who lost to Northern Illinois this season: This is how you prepare for a capable nonconference opponent. LSU scored 35 points in the first 16 minutes to rout a Bulldogs team that had handed Michigan State its only loss before Saturday.

OHIO STATE 21, PENN STATE 20: The Buckeyes won yet another one in the closing seconds, as backup quarterback Scott McMullen tossed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins with 1:15 to play and David Kimball, Penn State's howitzer-legged freshman kicker, just missed a 60-yard field-goal attempt on the final play. Buckeyes tight end Ben Hartsock said it's "crazy" how Ohio State keeps wining close games at the end. "I don't know how many times we can continue to allow ourselves to do this," he said. Maybe no more times, as the Bucks will close with Michigan State, Purdue and Michigan.

MICHIGAN 27, MICHIGAN STATE 20: Not even Black and Decker has seen a workhorse like Michigan's Chris Perry, who carried 51 times for 219 yards as Michigan beat Michigan State in Spartan Stadium for the first time since 1997. "I hope he wasn't complaining, because he said he wanted the football," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said after Perry broke Ron Johnson's Wolverines record for most carries in a game, 42, that had stood since 1967. Perry wasn't complaining, but toward the end of the game, he did lean on an official for support.

ARKANSAS 71, KENTUCKY 63 (7 OT): It's a good thing college football doesn't pay overtime wages, or Arkansas would put the NCAA in the unemployment line. Its seven-overtime victory matched the Razorbacks' seven overtime, 58-56 win against Ole Miss in 2001. Arkansas also lost to Tennessee in six overtimes last year, and beat Alabama in double overtime earlier this season.

Big men on campus

Stat's enough

John Gagliardi tied Eddie Robinson as college football's career victory leader, guiding Division III St. John's (Minn.) to a 15-12 victory against St. Thomas. Gagliardi is 408-114-11 in 55 years as coach at St. John's and Carroll College. ... Larry Fitzgerald set an NCAA record with a touchdown catch in his 14th consecutive game in No. 25 Pittsburgh's 24-13 victory against Boston College. The catch, a 35-yard halfback option pass late in the fourth quarter, was his 28th touchdow in his first two seasons, also an NCAA record. ... John Standeford broke the Big Ten record for career receiving yards in Purdue's 34-14 win against Northwestern. His 88 yards gave him 3,418 yards for his career, surpassing Illinois' David Williams, who had 3,392 yards from 1983-85. ... Texas Tech's Wes Welker set a Division I-A record with his eighth career punt return for a touchdown in the Red Raiders' 26-21 win against Colorado. ... B.J. Symons faile! d to throw for at least 400 yards for the first time in eight games in Texas Tech's 26-21 victory against Colorado. Symons was 30-of-51 for 399 yards and a season-low one touchdown pass. He threw five interceptions. ... No. 24 Minnesota's 55-7 rout of Indiana was the most lopsided Big Ten win for the Gophers since a 55-7 victory against Iowa in 1949.

Division I-A Lite

A look at the top teams in the non-BCS conferences:

1. Miami of Ohio (MAC): Tuesday night lights? RedHawks, Bowling Green matched in early-week MAC showdown.

2. Bowling Green (MAC): Falcons beat Purdue, almost beat Ohio State, beat Northern Illinois.

3. TCU (USA): Is undefeated season in the Cards for Frogs? Louisville next up.

4. Northern Illinois (MAC): Huskies bounce back by bouncing Ball State.

5. Boise State (WAC): Mountain West wanna-bes score half a hundred against Mountain West used-to-bes (BYU).

6. Louisville (USA): Least respected of the one-loss teams.

7. Utah (MWC): Moa constrictor: Tight end runs, passes Utes to big win over Air Force.

8. Air Force: (MWC): Falcons' MWC title hopes slip away on 2-point try.

9. Navy (IND): Rushing Middies sink Tulane to go 6-3.

10. Marshall (MAC): Four wins in a row since losing to other men of Troy (State).

Games we'd like to see

In this space each week the Sun will present a dream college football matchup, with statistics and highlights provided by Lance Haffner Games' 3-in-1 computer simulation. Readers who would like to propose future matchups can do so by contacting the Sun via e-mail at ron@lasvegassun.com.

1995 Nebraska 121, 1995 Prairie View A&M 3: What would happen if the best college football team ever (at least according to ESPN) met the worst? In honor of Halloween weekend, we re-enact a nightmare college football matchup this week that only fans of sadomasochism and Lon Chaney Jr. would appreciate. Lawrence Phillips scores three of Nebraska's 17 touchdowns as the 'Huskers roll up 611 yards while holding Prairie View to minus 68 on the ground. The Panthers score their only points on a 35-yard field goal just before halftime when Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier fumbles while practicing the "fumblerooskie."

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