The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 40

I i wwwkan8a8citycom STAR 2003 THE KANSAS CITY Sunday September 7 4 Next week's top matchup COLLEGE FOOTBALL ME DAY Notre Dame at Michigan Emotions run high in this matchup between the programs with the most victories in college football history Notre Dame's win over Michigan last year was a huge step in the Irish resurrection under coach Tyrone Willingham NO 23 NEBRASKA 31 UTAH STATE 7 Backup QB play adds spice to victory By BLAIR KERKHOFF The Kansas City Star Stingier by the quarter Nebraska's defense might bend early in the game but it broken when the game is decided LINCOLN Neb The ovation had an about quality to it when Nebraska backup quarterback Joe Dailey entered the game Then came the fans chanting his name as he left the field and the media throng that surrounded him after the 31-7 victory over Utah State on Saturday Uh-oh Coach Frank Solicit Dailey and starting quarterback Jamaal Lord said all the right things to defuse a quarterback controversy that appears to be in the budding stage I coached running backs put one in at the end of the game go for 100 yards and get letters and phone calls from people telling me he should be starting" Solich said the nature of the game" Nebraska Solich said merely is trying to develop depth at quarterback Dailey a true freshman made his college debut late in the third quarter and finished completing four of five passes for 47 yards and rushing nine times for 47 yards Lord a senior and two-year starter went eight for 12 for 85 yards and rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown and tipped his hat to the understudy I was chanting his name too" Lord said pushes me and I push As Lord was speaking Dailey sat in the back of the interview room sipping a sports drink and nodding in agreement become friends these New Jersey natives and Lord has helped him adjust to college life Dailey said Dailey said you make plays people love you When you people hate you" The Nebraska fans exactly warmed up to Lord the quarterback on last 7-7 team And Lord interested in addressing the fans you just keep playing Lord said And though Nebraska is playing some pretty good football 2-0 with Penn State coming to Lincoln this Saturday there still is some cause for concern Both quarterbacks had trouble getting Nebraska into the end zone The Comhuskers settled for four short field goals and missed another scoring opportunity when Dailey lost a fumble trying to push the ball across the goal line Because of that Nebraska feel comfortable about the outcome until about midway through the third quarter Utah State quarterback Travis Cox set a blistering early pace completing 13 of 15 including a touchdown that gave the Aggies a 7-6 lead after one quarter Utah State gained 145 yards in the first quarter But Nebraska adjusted and linebacker Demorrio Williams changed the game on two snaps He sacked and stripped the ball from Cox then recovered it on the 1 setting up ludd touchdown plunge The Aggies got the ball back and Williams ripped through once again with a sack that jarred the ball loose from Cox End Titus Adams recovered this one at mid-field and the Huskers got a field goal have athletes like him Utah State coach Mick Dennehy said is a difference BIG 12 -it Buffaloes rally past Bruins The Associated Press BOULDER Colo Joel Klatt threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Joe Klopfenstein with 2 minutes 15 seconds left rallying No 24 Colorado to a 16-14 win over UCLA on Saturday The Buffaloes 2-0 trailed 14-10 with 5 Tninutes remaining before marching 63 yards in 1 1 plays for the winning score After freshman Mason Crosby's extra-point attempt was blocked by Brandon Chilian UCLA 0-1 had a chance to win if it could move into position for a field goal But after Maurice Drew fumbled the ensuing kickoff and returned it only to the 10-yard line backup quarterback Drew Olson who replaced injured starter Matt Moore late in the first quarter threw incomplete on four straight passes A roughing-the-passer penalty against the Bruins triggered winning drive Klatt completed an 8-yard pass to Derek McCoy on third-and-7 and a 10-yarder to DJ Hackett on third-and-3 Rolling right Klatt who earlier left the game for one play after being hit in the head found Klopfenstein in the right side of the end zone win spoiled the head coaching debut of Karl Dorrell who was an assistant at Colorado for six years in the 1 990s UCLA enjoyed favorable field position throughout the first half including midway through the first quarter when Chris 46-yard punt was downed at the Colorado 2-yard line by Keith Short But Colorado responded with a 98-yard 1 1 -play touchdown drive for its first score capped by Bobby Purity's 1-yard run with 2:21 left in the quarter 1vo plays later UCLA lost Moore when he was hit low on a pass play and injured his left knee Iowa Stale 48 Ohio 20 AMES Iowa Austin Flynn threw for two touchdowns and had 330 yards in total offense and Michael Wagner rushed for 115 yards and two scores for Iowa State The Cyclones 2-0 were much sharper offensively than in their 17-10 victory over Northern Iowa a week ago but still got a scare from the Bobrats 1 -1 who burned Iowa State with three big plays Fred 68-yard touchdown run and Ryan Hawk's 80-yard TD pass to Scott Mayle left Ohio trailing 17-14 late in the first quarter Ray added a 1-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter But Iowa State blanked Ohio the rest of the way and secured the victory with touchdown drives of 88 yards and 78 yards 0F RAYMOND The Associated Press Notre Dame kicker Nicholas Setla (right) and holder DJ Fitzpatrick could breathe easy after field goal won the game for the 19th-ranked Fighting Irish in overtime Saturday in South Bend Ind Luck of Irish shows Notre Dame wins in OT after Cougars miss field goal The Associated Press An upsetting The Kansas City Star NO 19 NOTRE DAME 29 WASHINGTON STATE 26 offense came through in the clutch "We struggled They came in with a plan which was to pressure pressure pressure pressure and they benefited from it for a long Notre Dame offensive coordinator Bill Diedrick said it cost diem a couple of times for some big runs and a couple of other plays" Washington State 1-1 jumped out to a 19-0 lead but Notre Dame 10 chipped away at the deficit The two fourth-quarter touchdowns ended a streak of 12 quarters without an offensive touchdown for the Irish The Irish were helped in their comeback by several Washington State mistakes The Cougars had 14 penalties for 1 18 yards including numerous miscues that kept Irish scoring drives alive Washington State drove 80 yards to score with 53 seconds left though to force the overtime A diving Sammy Moore made a diving catch into the end zone despite being interfered with on the 34-yard play The mostly costly error for the Cougars though is they were not able to capitalize on Notre Dame mistakes Three Notre Dame turnovers led to a touchdown and two field goals "Our defense took the ball away and gave us opportunities early in the ball game and we got field goals instead of touchdowns" Washington State coach Bill Doha said They were also hurt by locker Drew Dunning who hit the left crossbar on a point-after in the first quarter and a 34-yard field goal in overtime Doha though said the Irish deserved to win Dame quit" Doha said "They had an opportunity to go down when we had a good lead on them and they just kept coming SOUT1 1 BEND Ind The West Coast offense finally showed a spark just in time for No 19 Notre Dame Trailing 19-6 and in danger of los ing for the fourth time in six games dating back to last season the Irish offense amassed 181 yards of total offense and 20 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 29 26 overtime win over Washington State on Saturday Nicholas Setta kicked a 40 yard field goal in the extra period as the sea of green cheered wildly at I he narrow escape Setta had five field goals in the game "We re lucky" coach Tyrone Will ingham said "Were fortunate" The game had the blueprint of some of the games the Irish won in getting off to a surprising 8-0 start last year: some luck and some big turnovers forced by the defense The difference Saturday: the Irish day in top 25 But perhaps the people with the most right to wear a sheepish grin were the Top 25 voters After all Ohio State looked nothing like the No 2 team in the nation in barely surviving San Diego State And No 19 Notre Dame needed overtime to beat Washington State at home And not to mention the victories by Wisconsin and Tennessee that were a little tougher than those schools had hoped And to think Bill Snyder gets all this grief about Kansas schedule The Wildcats by the way were 2-0 heading into Saturday game Nothing embarrassing about that A1 Groh said it alL was very embarrassed by the touchdown" the Virginia coach said after South Carolina and conservative Lou Holtz of all people burned his club with a 99-yard touchdown pass Groh and his 15th-ranked Cavaliers the only ones embarrassed this weekend No 14 North Carolina State exactly boosting Neither was No 16 Purdue not No 17 Auburn Those schools all lost games they were favored to win And win handily HOW THE TOP 25 FARED No 6 Texas did not play NEXT SATURDAY: vs Arkansas No 7 Kansas State vs McNeese State No 18 Wisconsin 48 Akron 31 MADISON Wis Lee Evans had 214 yards receiving and Anthony Davis rushed for 247 yards the first time in Wisconsin's 114-year history that a Badgers running back and wide receiver each had 200 yards in the same game NEXT SATURDAY: vs Nevada Las Vegas Na 19 Noire Dame 29 Wash State 26 (0T) See story on this page NEXT SATURDAY: at No 5 Michigan No 20 Arizona Stale vs Northern Arizona right NEXT SATURDAY: vs Utah State No 22 Washington 38 Indiana 13 SEATTLE Cody Pickett threw three touchdown passes and freshman Shelton Sampson ran for two more scores as Washington rebounded from a 28-9 loss at Ohio State last week SEPT 20: vs Idaho No 23 Nebraska 31 Utah State 7 See story on this page NEXT SATURDAY: vs Penn State No 24 Colorado 16UCU14 See story on this page NEXT SATURDAY: vs Wash State No 25 Teas Christian vs Navy night NEXT SATURDAY: vs Vanderbilt Star Newsservices No 10 Pittsburgh vs Kent Slate night NEXT SATURDAY: vs Ball State No 11 Rorida Slate vs Maryland night NEXT SATURDAY: vs Georgia Tech No 12 Tennessee 34 Marshall 24 KNOXVILLE Tenn Despite losing its starting quarterback Marshall still made things miserable for Tennessee which struggled to win Casey Clausen threw three touchdown passes and James Wilhoit kicked two fourth-quarter field goals for the Volunteers who led for good after halftime but never comfortably Marshall's Stan Hill threw three touchdown passes before leaving the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a lower left leg injury Hill led Marsnall on an 80-yard touchdown drive that pulled Marshall to within four points in the third quarter £ut the Vols scored on their next possession SEPT 20 at No 21 Florida No 13 LSD at Arizona right NEXT SATURDAY: vs Western Illinois Wake Forest 38 No 14 HC State 24 WINSTON-SALEM NC Wake Forest stunned North Carolina State taking a 25-point lead in the first ha if and held on for the upset despite 433 yards passing and three touchdowns from Philip Rivers The Wotfpack was penalized 10 times for 90 yards including two personal fouls NEXT SATURDAY: at No 2 Ohio State South Carolina 31 No 15 Virginia 7 COLUMBIA SC South Carolina took the lead on a school-record 99-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and ran away for its first victory over a ranked opponent in over a year Virginia was leading 7-3 when it pinned South Carolina on its own 1-yard line Usually conservative coach Lou Holtz called a pass play and Dondrial Pinkins connected with Troy Williamson for the score NEXT SATURDAY: at Western Michigan Boning Green 27 No 16 Purdue 26 WEST LAFAYETTE Ind Josh Harris directed Bowling Green to victory throwing a 32-yard touchdown pass to Charles Sharon on fourth-and-14 with 2 minutes left in the game Harris completed 22 of 40 passes for 357 yards with three touchdowns and one interception NEXT SATURDAY: at Wake Forest Georgia Tech 17 No 17 Auburn 3 ATLANTA Heralded in the preseason Auburn is still seeking its first victory and its first touchdown two games into the year Freshman Reggte Ball threw for one touchdown and set two other scores as Georgia Tech beet the Tigers ranked sixth in the preseason A poll After getting routed at home by Southern California 23-O the Tigers were held to 230 yards by Georgia Tech NEXT SATURDAY: at Vanderbilt No 1 Oklahoma at Alabama night NEXT SATURDAY: vs Fresno State No 2 Ohio State 16 San Diego State 13 COLUMBUS Ohio Defending national champion Ohio State stayed perfect despite an imperfect game San Diego State had more first downs (20-10) and more yards (216-196) than Ohio State which converted only one of 14 third-down opportunities and turned over the ball twice Buckeyes quarterback Craig Krenzel completed only five of 20 passes for 76 yards threw one interception and was sacked three times NEXT SATURDAY: vs No 14 North Carolina State No 3 Miami (Ra) yj No 21 Rorida right NEXT SATURDAY: Miami vs East Carolina: Florida vs Rorida No 4 US( vs Bngha hung night NEXT SATURDAY: vs Hawaii No 5 Michigan SO Houston 3 ANN ARBOR Mich Michigan's Chris Perry had another big rushing day against an overmatched opponent and the Wolverines' attention quickly turned to next wreek's showdown with rival Notre Dame Perry who ran for a career-high 232 yards in last 45-7 victory over Centra) Michigan had 184 yards and two score Saturday NEXT SATURDAY: vs No 19 Notre Dame NEXT SATURDAY: vs Massachusetts No 8 Georgia 29 Middle Tennessee 10 ATHENS 6a The Bulldogs led only 10-3 at halftime set a school record with 18 penalties and lost freshman receiver Fred Gibson to a hamstring injury in a sloppy victory Gibson was hurt returning a kickoff with less than two minutes left in the game and he might not be available for the Southeastern Conference opener next week against South Carolina never know how quickly a guy can recover from that" Georgia coach Mark Richt said knew Fred was in the game and that just should not have happened NEXT SATURDAY: vs South Carolina No 9 Virginia Tech 43 James Madison 0 BLACKSBURG Va Virginia Tech rushed for five touchdowns without running back Kevin Jones who injured both wrists after being hit out of bounds and crashing into a concrete wall Jones was hit early in the second quarter after running toward the sideline Demetrius Shambley shoved Jones well out of bounds Personal fouls were called on both teams and Shambley was ejected from the game X-rays showed Jones did not break any bones NEXT THURSDAY: vs Texas.