College Football: Review

Sept. 17, 2000 -- Here’s a recap of college football action this weekend:

Florida vs. Tennessee

Jesse Palmer threw a questionable 3-yardtouchdown pass to Jabar Gaffney with 14 seconds left as No. 6Florida rallied to beat No. 11 Tennessee 27-23 Saturday.

In watching their 23-game home winning streak come to an endbefore a Neyland Stadium-record crowd of 108,768, the Vols lost ona play that will debated for a long time.

On first-and-goal from the Tennessee 3, Palmer threw a quickstrike to Gaffney just over the goal line. Gaffney had the ball foran instant and then dropped it as he was surrounded by twodefenders. But line judge Al Matthews ruled Gaffney made the catch,and stuck with the call after conferring with referee Al Ford.

Florida (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference), which has beatenTennessee (1-1, 0-1) in seven of their last eight meetings, marched91 yards on 10 plays for the winning score.

Trailing 23-17 after Alex Walls kicked a school-record tyingfifth goal — a 42-yarder early in the fourth quarter — the Gatorsclosed to 23-20 on Jeff Chandler’s 32-yarder with 7:35 left.

The loss offset a magnificent performance by Tennessee’s TravisHenry, who carried 37 times for 175 yards and a touchdown. Palmerwas 20-of-43 for 290 yards and had at least a half dozen passesdropped in the first half.

UCLA 23, Michigan 20

Ryan McCann passed for 236 yards and twotouchdowns as UCLA beat the country’s third-ranked team for thesecond time in three games.

The Bruins (3-0), who opened the season with a 35-24 victoryover then-No. 3 Alabama, took the lead on McCann’s 2-yard TD passto Ed Ieremia-Stansbury with 6:30 left,

But holder Drew Bennett bobbled a low snap from center on theextra-point try, opening the door for the Wolverines (2-1) to tiewith a field goal. However, Hayden Epstein, was wide left on a24-yarder with 3:27 left.

Michigan’s Anthony Thomas gained 182 yards on 24 carries to topthe 100-yard mark for the 11th time in 12 games.

Wisconsin 28, Cincinnati 25 (OT)

Eddie Faulkner scored on a 16-yard run inovertime as Wisconsin avoided a second straight loss to Cincinnati.

A loss to the Bearcats would have been devastating to theBadgers (3-0), but not as stunning as last year’s 17-12 stumble.

Faulkner had 19 carries for a career-best 124 yards. He wasplaying in place of Michael Bennett, among a dozen players whoserved suspensions for receiving unadvertised discounts at a store.

Wisconsin went ahead 22-19 on Brooks Bollinger’s 1-yard divewith 23 seconds left in regulation. But Cincinnati’s JasonMammarelli kicked a 46-yard field goal as time expired.

In overtime, Cincinnati’s Jonathan Ruffin, who missed an extrapoint in the fourth quarter, kicked a 20-yard field goal.

Wisconsin has won 11 straight games.

Florida State 63, North Carolina 14

Chris Weinke threw four touchdownpasses as Florida State extended the country’s longest winningstreak to 15.

Weinke passed for 262 yards and connected with Snoop Minnis andAtrews Bell for a pair of touchdowns each.

The Seminoles (3-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won 24straight regular-season games since a 1998 loss at North CarolinaState. The 63 points were the most scored against North Carolinasince Virginia’s 66 points in 1912.

Stanford 27, Texas 24

DeRonnie Pitts cartwheeled into the endzone after catching a 15-yard touchdown pass from backupquarterback Chris Lewis with 1:12 to play.

Stanford (1-1) led 20-9 with 10 minutes left, but MajorApplewhite rallied Texas (1-1) with a 71-yard TD pass to B.J.Johnson with 9:29 to play, and a 38-yarder to Victor Ike with 5:44left.

The Cardinal then made a frantic four-play, 59-yard drive injust 43 seconds. It ended when Pitts caught a sideline pass, brokeJoe Walker’s tackle at the 10, leaped for the goal line, wasflipped into the air by Roderick Babers and landed in the endzone.

Kansas State 76, Ball State 0

Jonathan Beasley threw two long touchdownpasses to Quincy Morgan and ran for another score in the firstquarter as Kansas State broke a 90-year-old record.

Kansas State’s previous record was set in 1910 in a 75-0 victoryover Drury. It fell with 11:21 remaining, on Rashad Washington’s1-yard run and Kyle Altvater’s conversion.

Morgan caught a third touchdown pass from Beasley’s backup,freshman Ell Roberson, tying a school record for TD catches. BallState has lost 20 in a row, the longest streak in the nation.

Virginia Tech 49, Rutgers 0

Michael Vick scored on a dazzling flipinto the end zone, threw for a touchdown and set up a third with a45-yard escape and run.

Lee Suggs ran for four touchdowns for the Hokies (3-0, 1-0 BigEast), who led 35-0 at halftime in obliterating Rutgers’ hope forits first 3-0 start since 1981.

Vick passed for 105 yards and rushed for 104 in the openinghalf, including the 8-yard flip that made it 28-0. He finished10-for-18 for 120 yards, including a 17-yard TD pass to EmmettJohnson.

Washington 17, Colorado 14

Marques Tuiasosopo rallied Washington totwo fourth-quarter touchdowns as Huskies coach Rick Neuheisel madea triumphant return to Boulder.

Washington (3-0) trailed 7-3 until Willie Hurst ran 2 yards fora touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter, capping a63-yard drive. Tuiasosopo made it 17-7 with a 24-yard TD pass toJerramy Stevens with 8:33 left.

Neuheisel departed for Washington at the height of recruitingseason 20 months ago, creating considerable ill will. His Huskiesbeat Colorado 31-24 in Seattle last season.

Notre Dame 23, Purdue 21

Nick Setta kicked a 38-yard field goalas time expired to left Notre Dame past mistake-prone Purdue.

Shane Walton returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdownas the Irish (2-1) scored 17 points off Purdue mistakes to send theBoilermakers (2-1) to their 12th straight loss at Notre Dame.

Purdue also was hurt by a blocked punt that set up a Notre Dametouchdown and a failed fake punt that led to an Irish field goal.

Gary Godsey, making his first start in place of injured ArnazBattle, was 14-of-25 for 158 yards. Purdue’s Drew Brees was13-of-22 for 221 yards and two touchdowns.

Southern Miss 21, Alabama 0

Raymond Wall returned an interception 54yards and Joe Henley returned a fumble 18 yards for TDs as SouthernMississippi took a 21-0 lead 16 minutes into the game.

The Golden Eagles (1-1) ended an eight-game losing streak to theCrimson Tide (1-2), off to their worst start in 10 years afterstarting the season ranked No. 3. It was the first time Alabama hasbeen shut out since a 27-0 loss to LSU on Nov. 8, 1997.

Clemson 55, Wake Forest 7

Woodrow Dantzler ran for 166 yards and twotouchdowns, and threw a 52-yard TD pass to Travis Zachery.

Dantzler scored on a 39-yard keeper to put the Tigers (3-0, 1-0ACC) up 17-0 with 9:14 left in the first half. Wake Forest lostquarterback C.J. Leak to a dislocated knee.

Ohio State 27, Miami (Ohio) 16

Jonathan Wells ran for two touchdowns —including the clinching score after a Miami penalty.

Derek Combs rushed for 142 yards on 21 carries for the Buckeyes(3-0), and Wells added 113 yards on 17 attempts. Miami’s Mike Bathrushed for 105 yards on 11 carries and completed 21 of 48 passesfor 236 yards and two touchdowns.

Illinois 17, California 15

Illinois defensive end Fred Wakefieldbatted down Kyle Boller’s 2-point conversion pass with 1:26 left.

California pulled within two on Boller’s 32-yard touchdown passto Charon Arnold. Kurt Kittner threw a touchdown pass and scored ona 2-yard run for Illinois (3-0) before leaving with a leg injury onthe first drive of the second half.

TCU 41, Northwestern 14

LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 243yards on 39 carries and had two touchdowns.

Tomlinson also had touchdown runs of 34 and 74 yards called backbecause of holding calls. TCU (2-0) has won seven straight, itslongest winning streak since 1984.

Michigan State 13, Missouri 10

T.J. Duckett ran for 131 yards and atouchdown as Michigan State (2-0) overcame a 10-point deficit.

Duckett, who had a career-best 219 yards last week againstMashall, tied it at 10 on a 7-yard run in the third quarter. DavidSchaefer kicked a 27-yard field goal with 10:48 left.

Auburn 34, LSU 17

Tim Carter returned a kickoff 100 yards fora touchdown and Ben Leard threw two touchdown passes.

Rudi Johnson gained 139 yards on 36 carries, making him thefirst Auburn back to run for more than 100 yards in three straightgames since Stephen Davis did it in 1994. Auburn (3-0, 2-0 SEC) wona home conference game for the first time since 1997.