The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 865

6BB THE PALM BEACH POST SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2000 After routing La-Monroe, UCF has eyes on Alabama whose defense allowed the Indians only 162 yards of total offense and two of 16 third-down attempts. "I think it's a great confidence booster for the whole football team. We'll take this emotional confidence into this week's practice, develop game plans in all phases of the game, gain some confidence in that and go into Tuscaloosa and just turn it loose. We have nothing to lose. We're just going to let it fly and get after those people." That's the plan UCF used against Louisiana-Monroe (1-7) and it worked to near perfection.

UCF jumped out to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter with the Golden Knights scoring on 7-of-9 first-half drives. Redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Schneider passed for 312 yards and four touchdowns in the first half before resting a slightly separated shoulder in the second half. Schneider, who completed 14-of-22 attempts, injured his non-throwing shoulder just before halftime and was replaced by freshman Brian Miller in the second haft. Schneider is not expected to miss any time next week in practice and said he could have played in the second half if needed. Schneider has passed for more than 300 yards in three of his four starts.

He replaced senior Vic Penn after he separated his shoulder against William Mary Sept. 23. Schneider said. "It'll be fun going intd 'Bama country and try to get the big W. Schneider started the scoring at the 12:56 mark of the first quarter with a 15; yard strike to Tyson Hinshaw, who alsq caught a 55-yarder in the second quarter; Hinshaw, who entered the game leading the nation in receptions per game with 8.29, finished with six catches; for 136 yards.

Schneider also had scoring passes of 19 yards to Tavirus Davis and 18 yards to Jimmy Fryzel. Tailbacks Edward Mack (14 yards), and Omari Howard (15) added touchdown rushes in the second quarteh Howard led UCF with 43 yards on 14 carries. UCF also got 44- and 38-yarxl field goals from Javier Beorlegui. Division l-AA Ivy League Conf. Overall Conf.

Overall With Penn cleared to play, Kruczek would not say who will start against Alabama. But he has been impressed with Schneider. "Ryan Schneider did a remarkable job of throwing the football, they protected him very well and the kids caught the football," Kruczek said. "We jumped on them pretty quick and kept the pressure on them most of the football game. I was pretty pleased about all phases of the game." Schneider says he's looking forward to preparing for Alabama, whether he's the starter or not Either way, the Louisiana-Monroe game was just about history in his mind.

"I'll enjoy this tonight but already I'm starting to think about Alabama," CONFERENCE STANDINGS Division l-A Atlantic Coast Mid-American Conf. Overall EAST 1 Clemson Florida St. C. Slate Georgia Tech Virginia Maryland North Carolina Duke Wake Forest Big East Conf. Overall Virginia Tech Miami Pittsburgh West Virginia Syracuse Boston College Temple Rutgers Big Ten Conf.

Overall LA Tulsa WR Donald Shoals (87) is brought and Russell Gary. (1-6, 0-3) at Reno, Nev. Julien scored three TDs in the fourth quarter as San Jose State, which trailed 16-15 in the third quarter, scored 28 points in the final period. Julien had 1 10 of San Jose State's 265 yards rushing. Rice 38, Hawaii 13: Corey Evans ran for two TDs and threw for another and linebacker Dan Dawson tied a school record with three interceptions as the Owls (2-5, 1-3) beat the Rainbow War Ohio 3 2 5 3 (Ohio) 3 2 4 3 Akron 3 2 4 4 Marshall 2 2 3 4 Buffalo 2 2 2 5 Bowling Green 2 3 2 6 Kent St.

14 17 WEST W.Michigan 4 0 6 1 Toledo 3 16 1 N. Illinois 2 14 3 Ball St. 2 2 2 5 Cent. Michigan 13 16 E. Michigan 0 4 17 Mountain West Conf, Overall Colorado St.

3 0 6 1 New Mexico 2 14 4 San Diego St. 2 12 5 Air Force 3 2 5 2 UNLV 2 2 4 3 BYU 12 3 5 Utah 12 2 5 Wyoming 0 4 17 Pac-10 Conf. Overall Arizona 3 0 5 1 Oregon 3 0 5 1 Oregon St. 3 16 1 Washington 3 16 1 Arizona St. 2 2 5 2 Stanford 2 2 3 4 UCLA 13 4 3 Washington St.

13 3 4 California 13 2 5 Southern Cal 0 4 3 4 SEC Conf. Overall EAST South Carolina 5 17 1 Florida 4 1 6 1 Georgia 4 16 1 Tennessee 13 3 3 Kentucky 0 5 2 6 Vanderbilt 0 5.2 6 WEST Mississippi St. 2 14 1 Auburn 3 2 6 2 Alabama 3 2 3 4 Mississippi 2 2 4 2 LSU 2 2 4 3 Arkansas 12 4 2 WAC Conf. Overall UTEP 4 0 5 2 TCU 3 0 6 0 Fresno St. 2 0 3 2 San Jose St.

3 15 3 Tulsa 2 2 3 5 Rice 13 2 5 Hawaii 14 15 Nevada 0 3 16 SMU 0 3 16 li rt Yale 2 1 5 Harvard 2 1 3 Penn 2 1 3,3 Cornell 2 1 2 4 Princeton 2 1 2 Brown 1 2 4 "2 Columbia 1 2 33' Dartmouth 0 3 1 i MEAC Conf. Overall Bethune-Cookman 4 0 7 0 Hampton 4 0 6" 1 Florida 5 1 6 2 N. Carolina 3 1 5,2 Howard 2 2 2 Delaware St. 1 3 3 4 Norfolk St. 14 2)5 S.

Carolina St. 0 4 1.6 Morgan St. 0 5 1,6 Patriot League Conf. Overall Lehigh 2 0 7-0 Colgate 2 0 5 2 Bucknell 11 5 4 Holy Cross 11 4 3 Towson 2 3 4 8 Lafayette 1 2 2.5 Fordham 0 2 2 Southern Conf. Overall I Georgia Southern 6 0 Appalachian St.

4 1 5 Furman 3 2 6'. 2 ETSU 3 2 4 3 Wotford 3 2 4 W. Carolina 2 4 3,6 Chattanooga 1 3 3,4 The Citadel 14 2' 6 VMI 0 5 1.7 Southwestern Conf. Overall EAST I Alabama St. 5 0 5 '2 Alabama 2 2 4 3 Jackson St.

2 3 4- 3 MVSU 0 4 0.j..f Alcorn St. 0 6 0 8 WEST W' GramblingSt. 6 0 7 Texas Southern 4 0 6 0 Ark -Pine Bluff 3 3 3 8 Southern U. 3 3 3 4 Prairie View 1 5 1 1 Independents 3 I Davidson 6 0 Hofstra 6' i Eton 5. 3 MoreheadSt.

3 2 Charleston Southern 4 1 3 South Florida 4 3 St. Mary's, Cal. 4,4 CalPoly-SLO 3 3 S.Utah 3 .,4 Samtord 3 5 Liberty 2 5 Jacksonville 1. 6 Austin Peay 16 Michigan 4 16 2 Purdue 4 16 2 Ohio St. 3 16 1 Northwestern 3 1 5 2 Minnesota 3 2 5 3 Indiana 2 2 3 4 Penn St.

2 2 3 5 Illinois 1 3 4 3T Iowa 13 17 Wisconsin 14 4 4 Michigan St. 0 4 3 4 Big 12 Conf Overall NORTH Nebraska 4 0 7 0 Kansas St. 3 17 1 Iowa St. 2 2 5 2 Kansas 2 2 4 3 Missouri 13 2 5 Colorado 13 16 SOUTH Oklahoma 3 0 6 0 Texas 3 1 5 2 Texas 3 15 2 Texas Tech 13 5 3 Oklahoma St. 0 3 2 4 Baylor 0 4 2 5 Big West Conf.

Overall Utah St. 2 0 3 4 Boise St. 10 5 2 Idaho 113 5 Arkansas St. 1117 New Mexico St. 0 12 5 North Texas 0 2 16 Conference USA Conf.

Overall Southern Miss. 2 0 5 1 East Carolina 3 15 2 Louisville 2 15 2 UAB 115 2 Memphis 2 2 4 3 Cincinnati 2 2 3 4 Houston 112 4 Tulane 13 3 4 Army 14 16 ma i iinni ii stays unbeaten in MAC By Scott Wallin Special tone Palm Beach Post ORLANDO It didn't take long for the post-game conversation about Louisiana-Monroe to turn into a pre- game talk about 55 UCFs next opponent, 0 Alabama. UCF scored 45 first-half points en route to a 55-0 victory against the Indians. But the hot topic was next week's game in Tuscaloosa. With his team improving to 5-3, coach Mike Kruczek said UCF heads into the Alabama game with ail emotional boost following Saturday's victory.

"I think it's huge," said Kruczek, TCU (6-0) struggles with Tulsa Vie Associated Press TULSA, Okla. LaDainian Tomlin-son struggled on a rainy night but No. 11 Texas Christian got big plays from its defense and quarterback Casey Printers to beat Tulsa 17-3 on Saturday. The Horned Frogs (6-0, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference) took advantage of interceptions to finally score twice in a two-minute span late in WAC Quarter and early in the fourth. TCU 17 Tomlinson, leading TULSA 3 the nation with 194.8 yards rushing per game, had 119 on 27 carries against a Tulsa defense that gave up 450 yards rushing to New Mexico State last week.

The Hurricane (3-5, 2-2) came in ranked fifth-worst nationally against the run. TCU has won 11 straight and is 6-0 for the first time since 1938, when the Horned Frogs won the national title behind Heisman Trophy winner Davey O'Brien. Tomlinson has 1,093 yards this season and is the first TCU player with two seasons. He ran for 1,850 last year. San Jose St.

49, Nevada 30: Jamar Julien tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns and Deonce Whi-taker ran for 167 yards and two scores as the Spartans (5-3, 3-1) beat the Wolf Pack W. Michigan flu Associated Press KALAMAZOO, Mich. Jeff Welsh passed for two touchdowns and Robert Sanford and Charles Woods each had two scoring runs as Western Michigan beat Northern Illinois 52-22 on Saturday to remain unbeaten in the Mid-American Conference. Sanford carried 32 times for 172 yards. His 3-yard TD run with 12:02 left in the second quarter put the Broncos (6-1, 4-0 MAC) ahead to Other stav at His 1 yard TD run in the mdJOrS fourth quarter was W.

MICHIGAN N. ILLINOIS 52 22 the 6bm ot nis career, second on Western's career list. The Huskies (4-3, 2-1) nearly matched the Broncos' offensive output, amassing 162 yards rushing and 193 passing while Western gained 209 yards. But the Broncos controlled the ball nearly 11 minutes longer. Ball St 44, Buffalo 35: Marcus Merriweather ran for a career-high 178 yards and Talmadge Hill threw for a career-high 248 yards to lead the Cardinals (3-4) over the Bulls (1-6) at Amherst, N.Y., stretching the nation's most improbable winning streak to three games.

Ball State (3-4), which had lost 21 games in a row before its current winning streak, pulled out the victory despite being outscored by 19 points in the second half. Marshall 34, Kent St 12: Byron Leftwich threw two touchdown passes and reserve running back Franklin Wallace ran for two scores as the Thundering TCU will have A perfect record may not be enough for the Horned Frogs to earn a spot in the BCS. The Associated Press Of the five major college teams that are undefeated, No. 11 TCU has the easiest road to a perfect season but the toughest obstacles to overcome to earn a shot at the national title. Welcome to the world of the Bowl Championship Series.

According to BCS bylaws, six of its eight bowl spots are guaranteed to champions from the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-10 and Southeastern conferences. The others are reserved for at-large entries, conference runners-up and other league champs ranked No. 6 or higher in the BCS standings. The first official ECS standings will be mm tJ DAVID CRENSHAWThe Associated Press down by TCU defenders Bo Springfield (30) riors (1-5, 1-4) at Houston to end a five-game losing streak. Evans finished with 85 yards rushing on 15 carries, and completed 3-of-7 passes for 45 yards.

Hawaii freshman Timmy Chang threw interceptions on four of the Warriors' first five possessions to help put his team in a 28-3 halftime hole. Chang finished 25-of-48 for 247 yards with a touchdown and five interceptions. for another as the Rebels (4-3, 2-1) beat the Cowboys (1-7, 0-4) at Las Vegas. CONFERENCE USA Army 21, Tulane 17: The Black Knights (1-6, 1-4) snapped the nation's longest losing streak at 10 games, beating the Green Wave (3-4, 1-3) on Joe Gerena's 18-yard TD pass to Clint Dodson with 40 seconds left at West Point, N.Y. UAB 14, Middle Tennessee 9: Jeff Aaron and TJ.

Simmons connected on key passes on each of Alabama-Birmingham's scoring drives as the Blazers (5-2) beat Middle Tennessee (3-4) at Birmingham, Ala. IVY LEAGUE Yale 27, Penn 24: Eric Johnson caught two touchdown passes and had 172 receiving yards on 13 catches to lead Yale to a 24-24 win over the Quakers (3-3, 2-1) at New Haven, Conn. Harvard 35, Princeton 21: Matt Leiszler ran for three touchdowns and Neil Rose threw for two more as the Crimson (3-3, 2-1) matched its longest winning streak ever (five games) against Princeton, beating the Tigers (2-4, 2-1) at Princeton, NJ. Brown 56, Cornell 40: The Bears (4-2, 1-2) piled up an Ivy League record 690 yards of offense and Mike Malan scored five touchdowns in a 56-40 victory over Cornell (2-4, 2-1) at Providence, R.I. Columbia 49, Dartmouth 21: Johnathan Reese ran for a school-record 236 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Lions (3-3, 1-2) beat the Big Green (1-5, 0-3) at New York.

sales, too. The Irish are 5-2 after defeating West Virginia 42-28 on Saturday. While potential problems usually work themselves out, TCU could meet all the BCS criteria yet still lose out to Notre Dame and a conference runner-up such as Nebraska or Virginia Tech. Kansas State can relate. The Wildcats went 10-1 a few years back and wound up in the Alamo Bowl.

The BCS standings will be released during halftime of ABC's telecast of the New York Jets-Miami Dolphins game. The two teams with the best rating at the end of the season will play in the national championship game in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3 at Miami. Except for the first release Monday and the final release Dec. 3, the standings will be announced each Monday.

The standings consist of four major components: the writers' and coaches' computer rankings, schedule strength and team record. 1R, Herd (3-4, 2-2) beat Kent State (1-7, 1-4) at Huntington, W. Va. Ohio 52, Cent Michigan 3: Dontrell Jackson ran for 141 yards and a touchdown and Chad Brinker added three TD runs as the Bobcats (5-3, 3-2 MidAmerican) piled up 444 yards on the ground in a victory against the Chippewas (1-6, 1-3) at Athens, Ohio. Bowling Green 20, E.

Michigan 6: John Gibson and Josh Harris each ran for a touchdown in the second quarter and the Falcons (2-6, 2-3) beat the Eagles (1-7, 0-4) at Bowling Green, Ohio. Connecticut 38, Akron 35: Holder Luke Richmond handled a low snap and Geoff Heyl kicked a 30-yard field goal with eight seconds left to give the Huskies (3-4) a victory against the Zips (4-4) at Akron, Ohio. MOUNTAIN WEST New Mexico 29, Air Force 23: Rudy Caamano threw for 170. yards and a touchdown and Holmon Wiggins ran for 99 yards and another score as the Lobos (4-4, 2-1) beat the Falcons (5-2, 3-2) at the Air Force Academy, Colorado. San Diego St 16, Brigham Young 15: Nate Tandberg kicked a 36-yard field goal with five seconds left to give the Aztecs (2-5, 2-1) a victory against the Cougars (3-5, l-2)atProvo, Utah.

Colorado St 24, Utah 17: Matt Newton threw two long touchdown passes in the fourth quarter as the Rams (6-1, 3-0) rallied to beat the Utes (2-5, 1-2) at Salt Lake City. UNLV 43, Wyoming 23: Jason Thomas ran for one touchdown and passed Independents Notre Dame Central Florida Connecticut Middle Tennessee Louisiana Tech Louisiana -Monroe Louisiana-Lafayette Navy, j. Can't hold that Tiger 4 1 7Mv Clemson's Rod Garnder (right) hauls in a 43-yard touchdown catch one of his three over North Carolina's Errol Hood during the Tigers' 38-24 victory, the toughest road to a title SCORES STATE 1 GRANT HALVERSONThe Associated Press it Bowling Green 20, E. Michigan 6 Dayton 41, Drake 13 Geneva 20, Walsh 18 Hope 35, Alma 25 Illinois SI. 64, Prairie View 0 Indiana 51 Minnesota 43 Kansas 23, Colorado 15 Michigan 14, Michigan St.

0 Murray St. 38. SE Missouri 28 Iowa 49, Indiana St. 17 Nebraska 59. Baylor 0 Northwood, Mich.

41, Findlay 22 Ohio 52, Cent. Michigan 3 Ohio St 38. Iowa 10 Purdue 30, Wisconsin 24 (OT) it SW Missouri St. 27, S. Illinois 9 San Diego 38.

Butler 37 St. Joseph's, Ind 34. Valparaiso 23 Texas ASM 30, Iowa St. 7 Illinois 24, Youngstown St. 10 W.

Michigan 52, N. Illinois 22 SOUTHWEST Arkansas St. 39, New Mexico St. 35 (OT.) Rice 38, Hawaii 13 SW Texas 28, Jacksonville St. 24 46, Missouri 12 FAR WEST Arizona St.

23. Washington St. 20 Boise St. 59, North Texas 0 CS Northndge 24, Montana St. 12 Montana 17.

N. Arizona 7 New Mexico 29. Air Force 23 Utah 62, Idaho St 24 i Sacramento St 25, Washington 22 San Diego St 16, BYU 15 San Jose St 49, Nevada 30 Stanford 32, Southern Cal 30 Utah St 31. Idaho 14 Weber Sf 41 Portland St 9 i -i Slippery Rock 27, Clarion 14 St. Mary's, Cal.

37, Colgate 20 Villanova 49, New Hampshire 42 Wagner 35, St. Francis, Pa. 6 Westminster, Pa. 23, Grove City 0 Yale 27, Penn 24 SOUTH Appalachian St. 42, Wofford 16 Aubum 38.

Louisiana Tech 28 Clemson 38, North Carolina 24 Davidson 20, Randolph-Macon 12 Delaware St 20. Morgan St. 12 E. Illinois 27, Tennessee Tech 16 E. Kentucky 27, 0 Gardner-Webb 36, Samtord 17 Georgia 34.

Kentucky 30 Georgia Southern 27, The Citadel 10 Georgia Tech 45, Duke 10 Grambling St. 33, Jackson St 30 Hampton 40, S. Carolina St. 37 Howard 17, N. Carolina AST 16 James Madison 28.

William Mary 14 Marshall 34. Kent St. 12 Maryland 37, Wake Forest 7 Morehead St. 56, Bowie St. 14 Northwestern St.

37, McNeese St. 34 Richmond 17, Maine 6 South Carolina 30, Vanderbilt 14 Southern U. 30, Alcorn St. 14 Tennessee 20, Alabama 10 UAB 14. Middle Tennessee 9 UCF 55.

Louisiana-Monroe 0 VMI 40, Charleston Southern 7 Valdosta St 50. West Alabama 20 Virginia-Wise 24, Jacksonville 14 Carolina 41, Chattanooga 36 Kentucky 52. Tennessee St 14 Midwest released Monday, and after the Horned Frogs beat Tulsa on Saturday they move to 6-0 and perhaps into the Top 10 in the AP poll. Entering the weekend, TCU was No. 13 in unofficial BCS standings compiled by Chicago-based computer expert Jerry Palm.

The other unbeaten teams Nebraska, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Clemson were all ranked ahead of TCU. To meet the requirements for a BCS game the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose bowls the Horned Frogs would need several upsets involving teams ahead of them in the standings. And even if that happens, a final hurdle looms in Notre Dame. BCS rules also state that if the Fighting Irish have nine winsor are in the Top 10, they are guaranteed a BCS spot, and that would probably knock out TCU. The BCS could take a 9-2 Notre Dame and an 11-0 TCU but isn't required to.

Bowls, remember, lJok at TV markets and ticket Miami 45, Temple 17 Florida ASM 42, Norfolk St. 14 Florida St. 37, Virginia 3 EAST Amherst 9, Wesleyan, Conn. 7 Army 21, Tulane 17 Bentley 27, Plymouth St. 23 Bloomsburg 41, Manslield 7 Brockport 41, St.

John Fisher 0 Brown 56. Cornell 40 Buffalo 35, Ball St. 44 Columbia 49. Dartmouth 21 Cortland St. 42, William Paterson 3 Curry 10, Fitchburg St 7 Dickinson 30, Swarthmore 13 Duquesne 56.

lona 28 Georgetown, C. 41, Marist 17 Harvard 35, Princeton 21 Hofstra 38, Elon 27 Kutztown 35, Cheyney 12 La Salle 39, Shenandoah 14 Lafayette 28. Holy Cross 13 Lehigh 21, Bucknell 14 UMass 21, Amer. International 0 Monmouth, N.J 34, Stony Brook 7 Moravian 36, FDU-Madison 13 Muhlenberg 41, Gettysburg 0 Notre Dame 42. West Virginia 28 Penn St.

39, Illinois 25 Pittsburgh 42, Boston College 26 Rhode Island 38, Northeastern 24 Robert Morris 41 Cent Connecticut St. 3 Rutgers 28, Navy 21 Sacred Heart 35, Albany, Y. 28 (OT) Salve Regma 53, Maine Maritime 18 Shepherd 44, W. Virginia St 8 Shippensburg 17, Stroudsburg 14 (OT) Siena 19, Canisius 14 Baldwin-Wallace 52, Muskingum 7.