South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 28

SDN-SENTINEL, SOUTH FLORIDA COLLEGE FOOTBALL MS THURSDAY, SRPTEMUER 16, 1999 5C BAYLOR CAN'T STEELE A WIN N.C. State eyes on storm, not 'Noles It's a tough call between feeling sorry for Baylor and feeling sorry for Baylor because their coach, Kevin Steele, did a stupid thing last week. The last time many of us saw Steele was a few years ago. He was the Carolina Panthers' assistant coach with linebacker Kevin Greene's hands wrapped around his throat. Fast forward to last Saturday.

Baylor, playing at home, was leading Nevada-Las Vegas 24-21 with about eight seconds remaining. The Bears, who lost their opener at Boston College 30-29 in overtime when their kicker missed an extra-point attempt, were on the Rebels' 8-yard line. UNLVhad no timeouts. All Baylor had to do was kneel to kill the clock. CHRIS PERKINS On College Football Penn State leads the series 50-4 1 -4.

Pittsburgh hasn't won since a 1 4-7 victory at Beaver Stadium in 1 988. The schools met every year from 1935-1992 before resuming the series in 1997. "People say there isn't a rivalry anymore, but I think it is still there," Pittsburgh guard Ethan Weidle said. "There is hatred between these two schools. In my opinion, Pitt will always come to play against Penn State.

It doesn't matter if people say that we're going to lose by 50. We're still coming to play." Said Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris: "I believe, from my perspective, the greatness of the rivalry is not part of the decision. I think there are other factors involved in the decision, and the rivalry really has nothing to do with it. The situation has changed now, and unfortunately it doesn't look very good for the rivalry." Quick hits Oklahoma averaged more than 1 0 penalties a game last year. In the season-opening victory over Indiana State, the Sooners, under first-year coach and former Florida defensive coordinator Bob Stoops, committed one penalty.

Ohio State sophomore quarterback Steve Bellisari of Boca Raton will start Saturday's game against Ohio University. Speaking of the Buckeyes, junior offensive tackle Tyson Walter said coaches have told him to be "more politically correct" in his pregame comments. So Walter feigned disbelief when told OSU is a 43-point favorite over Ohio U. "We are?" he said. "Until you guys told me that, I thought maybe they were favored by 40." The Big East has two top 10 teams, No.

8 University of Miami and No. 10 Virginia Tech, for the first time since Oct. 30, 1994. Oregon State, which hasn't had a winning season in almost 30 years, has the longest winning streak in the Pac-10 at three games. The Beavers, in fact, have won 10 consecutive nonconference games going back to 1996.

accused the Gamecocks of taking late hits on quarterback Quincy Carter. Arnaud ended up with a sprained knee. "I let the refs know afterward I thought it was a dirty play," Donnan said. "Their players piled up on him and started twisting and turning things." South Carolina coach Lou Holtz was taken aback by Donnan's comments. "I can't believe Coach Donnan would say that," Holtz said.

"I studied the film and I don't recall anything even resembling a dirty play." Oregon paranoia Oregon coach Mike Bellotti kicked an internet reporter out of practice last week because he allegedly wrote about new offensive formations the Ducks were using in practice. The reporter put the information on the Fighting Ducks Review Web site on Aug. 3 1 three days before the Ducks lost at Michigan State 27-20. Bellotti became aware of the report after the game when a Michigan State assistant coach mentioned it to an Oregon assistant coach. "I was shocked," Bellotti said, adding he didn't think the report cost his team the game.

"You never know how they're going to adjust. I'm sure they've seen it from other teams. I was hoping they wouldn't expect it from us, and that we would create some momentary confusion, if not more. Who's to know if they would be prepared, but certainly now we know they were prepared for a reason." End of a rivalry Pittsburgh and Penn State aren't scheduled to resume their longtime rivalry after next year's game, much to the dismay of many of the game's participants. Part of the reasoning was that this series no longer had been competitive.

Penn State has won seven consecutive games, but the last two meetings last year's 20-13 game and this year's 20-17 game have been close. "This is what college football is all about," Penn State linebacker Brandon Short said. "A backyard brawl between Pitt and Penn State it felt like life was on the line out there." seven years prior to spending the last four in the NFL, said people attacking him for his call "are the same ones who attacked coach Tom Osborne when he was 12-1 for losing one game. They'll attack anything that moves." Steele said he's received supportive calls from a lot of prominent coaches offering solace. "I had one coach tell me I had a better chance of winning the Texas lottery than that happening," Steele said.

Despite the bone-headed fashion in which Baylor lost, Steele said he looked into his players' eyes and determined they still believe in him. Familiar setting Idaho is using Washington State's home field, Martin Stadium, this season as the Vandals attempt to qualify for Division I-A status. But this week, when Idaho hosts Washington State, it will be a home game for Idaho. Washington State will wear their road white jerseys, but in every other way it will be like a home game for the Cougars. "We've got our same seats, our same sideline, our same locker room," Washington State coach Mike Price said.

UConn coach angry Connecticut coach Randy Edsall thought Kentucky was trying to run up the score in Saturday's 45-14 victory, so he ordered his team not to participate in the postgame handshake with the Wildcats. Edsall's reasoning was Kentucky's choice to pass with three seconds remaining instead of taking a knee. Kentucky coach Hal Mumme, when informed of Edsall's opinion, had patience for such foolishness. "If they think that's too tough," Mumme said, "they ought not take the check." UConn received $270,000 forthe game. So is Georgia coach Georgia coach Jim Donnan was upset with South Carolina after last week's game for alleged dirty play.

Donnan accused South Carolina linebacker John Abraham of going after tailback Robert Arnaud, and But that's very iffy at the moment. "It's difficult to make any kind of plans because we don't know," O'Cain said Wednesday. "The one thing I do not want is during the day tomorrow, when it's supposed to be bad, is for any coaches or players to be out traveling." After practicing outdoors Tuesday, rain already pelting the region Wednesday forced the team to practice in abbreviated fashion indoors. Other variables remain in play, too. After Fran hit Raleigh three years ago, it forced the cancellation of several flights at Raleigh-Durham International Airport the following day.

Power outages were widespread. O'Cain said N.C. State is scheduled to fly to Tallahassee on Friday. Period. "There are really no other options," he said.

"Logistical-ly, with a football team, you just don't pick up and move 75 or 100 people overnight. It takes planning, a place to stay, a place to eat. "It's hard to take a group to Greensboro or Greenville or Charlotte or someplace like that and fly out of there. We're just going to weather the storm, see what happens and go from there." NOTES: All-American kicker Sebastian Janikowski has crushed 12 of his 16 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks N.C. State tailback Ray Robinson (ankle sprain) returned to practice a day early on Tuesday, though whether he will start Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium remains uncertain, O'Cain said Wednesday.

Robinson was the ACC Freshman of the Year last fall. By STEVE ELLING Tallahassee Bureau TALLAHASSEE Forget ESPN or any of the other popular sports channels on Cable television. Over the last few seasons, Mike O'Cain has become a devout viewer of The Weather Channel. 1 Like he had a choice. The North Carolina State coach and his team again stand to be affected by Mother Nature, since Hurricane Floyd appears headed directly toward the Raleigh region as the No.

20 Wolfpack (3-0) attempts to prepare for its game Saturday in Tallahassee with top-ranked Florida State. The drill is getting old, frankly. It marks the third time in as many seasons and second time in 1999 that N.C. State has had to weather the weather during a game week. In 1996, when Hurricane Fran blasted the region with its worst storm in decades, N.C.

State played a home game with no electricity at Garter-Finley Stadium. Two weeks ago, after Hurricane Dennis reversed its field in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and washed over the Tar Heel State, the Wolfpack endured a brutal downpour during a sloppy 10-0 victory over South Carolina. c'This might beat all, though. Imagine trying to prepare for the No. 1 team in the country with only one full practice session.

the brunt of the storm expected to hammer Raleigh today, O'Cain has ordered his players and coaches to stay home. If the weather clears late the day, the team might meet for a brief practice. Instead, because Steele wanted to instill a killer mentality in his team, Baylor went for a touchdown. The handoff went to running back Darrell Bush, who, after breaking two tackles, tried to bull his way into the end zone. The ball was stripped and UNLV cornerback Kevin Thomas returned the fumble 99 yards for the winning touchdown with no time remaining.

It was bad enough Baylor blew this game in such a demoralizing fashion. But making matters worse was UNLV coach John Robinson predicted such an incident might take place. "When you play Baylor, it's always a physical game," Robinson said days before the game. "But they always do something to screw things up. That's been the history of their program." Steele denied the touchdown attempt was revenge for that comment.

"It was a one-in-a-million play and we got burned," Steele said. "It was a safe play. We were simply trying to create an attitude about lining up and getting after people." Greene, a Nebraska assistant for Chris Perkins can be reached at 7 'ffltdy i' I Tl jLV Call AutoSource the easiest way to check out all the new cars and trucks without getting into yours. And it's free! Test drive that brand new set of wheels you've been secretly admiring with AutoSource. You don't need to leave your home to get complete information on more than 200 new car and truck models.

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