The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 10

COLLEGE FOOTBALL TO SPORTS BRIEF Anderson wins top rookie honors mm. Injured quarterback keys winning surge i 'A IV By John Nadel Associated Press PASADENA Because Marques Tulasosopo came back, Washington didn't need a comeback In the Rose Bowl. When the quarterback left the field with an Injured throwing shoulder late In the third quarter Monday, it appeared Washington's hopes went with him even though the Huskies led Purdue by three points. "I was mad," Tuiasosopo said. "I was like, 'Can you believe this, the Rose Bowl He missed three plays, returned before the start of the fourth quarter and then guided No.

4 Washington to two touchdowns and a 34-24 victory over the 14th-ranked Boilermakers. Voted the player of the game, Tuiasosopo ran for one touchdown, passed for another and accounted for 213 yards. He was 16-of-22 for 138 yards, and rushed for 75 on 15 carries. "He Is the absolute epitome of what a quarterback should be," Washington coach Rick Neuhelsel said. "He hurt his shoulder, he came back in there and said he could play.

The rest, as they say, is history." Washington (11-1) finished the season with an eight-game winning streak. The Huskies rallied for eight victories this season, outscoring the opposition 144-68 in the fourth quarter during the regular season. Once again, they were dominant in the final 15 Pac-1 0 in bowl games: Aloha Bowk Boston Co. 31, Arizona St. 17 Sun Bowl: Wisconsin 21 UCLA 20 Holiday Bowk Oregon 35, Texas 30 Rose Bowl: Washington 34, Purdue 24 Fiesta Bowk Oregon St.

vs. Notre Dame, late The Huskies gave the Pac-10 its first Rose Bowl victory in five years and Just Its second In the last nine games. Washington was playing in its first Rose Bowl In eight years. The Huskies started the fourth quarter with a 3-yard run by Rich Alexis on fourth-and-1 from the Purdue 35. Six plays later, Tuiasosopo threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Todd Elstrom, extending the lead to 10 points.

A little over a minute later, Greg Carothers forced and recovered a fumble by Montrell Lowe -the game's first turnover at the Washington 34. Lowe, who gained 79 yards on 20 carries, was injured on the play and didn't return. The Huskies then moved 66 yards on seven plays, scoring on an 8-yard run by Willie Hurst to make it 34-17 with 7:25 left. The Boilermakers drew within 10 points on a 42-yard run by Sedrick Brown on a fourth-and-1 with 6:37 left, and got the ball back a little over a minute later when Tuiasosopo threw a lateral Elstrom couldn't handle at the end of a 26-yard run and Ashante Woodyard recovered at the Purdue 49. KANSAS STATE TENNESSEE 35 21 And, in his finale, Beasley.

accomplished something Bishop didn't, becoming the first quarterback in school history to win two bowl games. He also helped the seniors become the second group In NCAA history to win 11 games four straight years. "It's unbelievable," said Beasley, who was 13-of-27 for 210 yards passing and raised his school-record for rushing touchdowns to 18. "Two years ago, people counted us out after Michael Bishop left. As a class, we said we didn't want to be remembered like that.

We wanted to keep the tradition alive." People around the country re Elstrom pulls down a fourth-quarter touchdown catch. dJK steps from shadows Thomas quietly sets rush record it 4" My MARK J. TERRILLAP MICHIGAN AUBURN 31 28 his career with 4,472 yards and 56 touchdowns, which also set a school record. Thomas may be the quietest star in college football. When he scored, the ball was never spiked.

When he earned a first down, his chest was never pounded. When he was Interviewed, it pained him to talk about himself. After Thomas was mobbed by his teammates on the sideline after the record-breaking run, he found his wife in the stands to give her the ball. "It was a spur of the moment type thing," Thomas said. KX? mm MARK FOLEYAP Going Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick will make a decision soon on whether to go pro.

other ways to secure Vick's future without having him turn pro before he's ready. Vick certainly was ready for the Tigers. In a game billed as a quarterback duel between Vick and the Tigers' Woody Dantzler, both made plenty of dazzling plays. Virginia Tech (11-1), which played for the national championship last season, led 21-10 at halftime and kept grinding out yards. The Hokies had 211 rushing yards to 88 for the Tigers, just 7 not counting Dantzler's.

TVr4 'it-! 7 JStaai NEW YORK Going from third-string behind two rushers to rookie of the year Is a long shot. Then again, so Is much of what Mike Anderson has achieved. Anderson was selected Monday as The Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year In bal i loting by a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL. The halfback rushed for 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns for the Denver Broncos after taking over for injured Terrell Davis and Olan-dis Gary. "Oh, wow, I'm kind of speech less right now," Anderson said when informed he beat Baltimore running back Jamal Lewis In the balloting, 40 votes to 10.

"That award, that just sums it up what kind of season it has been." TENNIS Seles leads U.S. to opening sweep PERTH, Australia Monica Seles returned to the Hopman Cup after a 10-year absence Monday, leading the United States to a 3-0 victory over Slovakia in the mixed-teams tournament. Seles played for Yugoslavia in 1991 and is the first player to represent two countries in this tune-up for the Australian Open. She beat Karina Habsudova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, and teammate Jan-Michael Gambill defeated Domlnik Hrbaty 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. In mixed doubles, Seles-Gamblll downed Habsudova-Hrbaty 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

Hingis, Kournakova split PERTH, Australia Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova have split as doubles partners. Hingis, the world's No. 1 player, said she wants to cut back on her doubles commitments this season. The Swiss star plans to play doubles with Monica Seles at the Australian Open and a warmup tournament in Sydney next week. "We will see how It goes," Hingis said.

Hingis and Kournikova reportedly clashed during an exhibition singles match In Chile last match. However, Hingis said their relationship is intact. HOCKEY Blues' Demitra out 3-4 weeks ST. LOUIS Pavol the second-leading scorer for the Blues, will be sidelined 3-to-4 weeks with a bruised retina utter being cut with the blade of a hock-; ey suck. His right eve was iniured dur-.

ing Saturday's 2-1 victory over; Phoenix. He was at Barnes-Jew- ish Hospital with blurred vision. Doctors determined the elobe of Demitra's eye remained intact and the retina was not detached. FOOTBALL Sports writer John Steadman dies BALTIMORE John Stead-- man, who chronicled NFL teams for a half century and; was one of the few sports writers to attend every Super Bowl, died! Monday at 73. He died of cancer at the Gil- direst Center for Hospice Care inj Baltimore, said Bill Marimow, ed- itorofTheSun.

Steadman, a longtime colum-; nist, attended every NFL game played by a Baltimore team since! 1950 until December when he be-J came too weakened by cancer" treatment. AUTO RACING Paris awakens for Dakar Rally PARIS Hundreds or vehl--cles bound for West Africa thun-! dered through a city awakening; from New Year's revelry for the' start of the grueling 2001 Dakar! Rally. Some 133 motorcycles. 113 cars, 30 race trucks and 82 sup port vehicles are heading to Senegal in 20 stages, covering 6,658 miles before the scheduled arrival Jan. 21.

SOCCER Iran's federation suspends nine TEHRAN, Iran Iran's soccer federation suspended seven players and two coaches from the na tion's most-popular teams for fist fights that sparked widespread fan rioting, the state-run news agency reported Sunday. The rioting broke out after players fought toward the end of a match Friday between Pirouzl and Esteqlal, both popular By Larry Laqe Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. It was Just another selfless gesture in a long list of them for Anthony Thomas. When Thomas broke Michigan's, career rushing record he gave the football to his wife, Hay-ley. "I was very surprised," Hayley Thomas said with an ear-to-ear grin from her front-row seat at the Citrus Bowl.

Thomas surpassed Jamie Morris' mark of 4,393 yards on an 11-yard touchdown, which put Michigan ahead 21-14, late in the first half of their 31-28 win over No. 20 Auburn on Monday. The two-time Citrus Bowl MVP ran for 182 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. He finished By Jaime Aron Associated Press 1 i rT" DALLAS In his 25th and final start as the Kansas State quarterback, Jonathan Beasley gave Wildcats fans reason to remember him as more than the player who replaced Michael Bishop. Beasley did a superb job running the option, gaining a career-best 98 yards and scoring a touchdown, throwing for two TDs and even pooching a quick-kick to the 4 as No.

11 Kansas State beat No. 21 Tennessee 35-21 in the Cotton Bowl Monday. Beasley, who redshlrted as a Junior in 1998 when Bishop was a senior, ended his career 21-4 as a starter. While he didn't get the Wildcats to the heights Bishop did, Beasley continued Kansas State's growing status as a perennial power. Reject leads Carolina upset By Fred Qoodall Associated Press TAMPA, Fla.

Ryan Brewer didn't fit the mold of an Ohio State tailback, so he wound up at South Carolina. The Buck S.MR. 24 eyes' loss turned out to be the Gamecocks' OHIO ST. 7 gain in Monday's Outback Bowl. Virginia Tech may Big catch: Washington's Todd member Bishop as a solid player who was the Heisman Trophy runner-up hi 1998,: but receiver Quincy Morgan compared Bish op's reputation in Manhattan, to Michael Jordan's In Chi cago.

"It's tough to replace him, but he did it," said Morgan, who had seven catches for 145 yards, In cluding touchdowns of 56 and 10 yards. "Maybe what he's doing is not as exciting, but he gets the job done." The most impressive part of this victory forthe Wildcats (11-3) was they way they went after the Volunteers' strength run de fense and destroyed It. Kansas State rushed for 297 yards, the most against Tennes see (8-4) since last year's Fiesta Bowl. Josh Scobey ran 28 times for 147 yards and two third-quar ter touchdowns as the Wildcats averaged 5.03 yards per carry. SCOTT MARTINAP Ohio State.

You're here to help your And that he certainly did," Holtz said. "The longer the game went, the better he played." Like Brewer, Holtz grew up in Ohio and got a lot of satisfaction out of the victory. He beat Ohio State for the first time in five tries, improving his bowl record to 11-8-2 in a career that includes stops at William Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota and Notre Dame. It was another frustrating day for Ohio State coach John Cooper, who fell to 3-8 in bowl games. 2 say goodbye to Vick iln S3 a- By Hank Kurz Jr.

Associated Press JACKSONVILLE, Fla. If the Gator Bowl was the final game of quarterback Michael Vick's career at Virginia Tech, he went out a winner. Vick threw for one touchdown and ran for another, and Lee Suggs ran for three scores Monday as the sixth-ranked HokiesbeatNo. 16 Clemson 41-20. "It felt like the old me out there," Vick said after VA.

TECH 41 CLEMS0N 20 passing for 205 yards, running for 19 and being named the game's most valuable player. "My ankle was 100 percent and so I was able to play my best." The sophomore quarterback. who is still trying to decide whether to return to the Hokies next season or turn pro, said he'll use the time between now and the Jan. 12 deadline to consider his options. I haven't set a timeline," he said.

"I realize I have a couple of days to think about some things and make my decision, what I'm going to do. I'm going to take advantage of those next six or seven days." Coach Frank Beamer said he and Vick plan to find out more about his situation, then meet. He also said he wants to look Into Unlikely hero: South Carolina's Ryan Brewer, an Ohio native unrecruited by Ohio State, moved from receiver to running back and starred in the Gamecocks' Outback Bowl victory. Brewer gained 219 total yards and scored three touchdowns, pacing a 24-7 victory over Ohio State that capped a remarkable comeback for Lou Holtz and South Carolina. The Gamecocks, winless in 1999 and losers of 21 straight entering the season, finished the most dramatic one-year turnaround in Southeastern Conference history.

Brewer ran for 7,656 yards and scored 761 points as a prep star in Troy, Ohio, but wasnt recruited by Ohio State. On Monday, he rushed for 109 yards on 19 carries and scored on runs of 7 and 2 yards, as well as a 28-yard screen pass play. "I never dreamed anything like this would happen," Brewer, the unlikely MVP said. "My only thought was to go out there and play the best that I can." A wide receiver most of this season. Brewer was part of a platoon of runners Holtz used In place of Derek Watson, a rusher the coach suspended for the game for violating a team rule.

The 5-10, 210-pound sophomore gained 66 yards rushing and caught 33 passes for 326 yards and one touchdown during the regular season. "I said, 'You're not here to prove anything to anybody at.