SPOTLIGHT / SATURDAY’S GAMES AT A GLANCE

NOTEWORTHY

With injuries to its top three quarterbacks, North Carolina was left with fourth-string freshman Jason Stanicek against Maryland. Stanicek led scoring drives of 84, 86 and 80 yards in the first half of a 24-0 victory.

Because of injuries, Oregon was also down to its fourth-string quarterback, redshirt freshman Kyle Crowston. The Ducks managed only two field goals until the final 44 seconds in a 33-13 loss to Stanford.

Mark Lookenbill of Division I-AA Lehigh was in the lineup against William & Mary only because of an injury to starter Larry Arico. Lookenbill rushed for 205 yards and four touchdowns and caught 12 passes for 137 yards in a 41-37 victory. It was Lehigh’s first victory over the Tribe in eight tries.

Happy Days: Richie Cunningham’s 46-yard field goal in the fourth quarter gave Southwest Louisiana a 13-12 victory over Northern Illinois.

Bowling Green defeated Miami (Ohio), 17-7, to clinch the Mid-American Conference title and a spot against the Big West champion in the California Bowl.

Desmond Howard caught two touchdown passes in Michigan’s 42-0 victory over Purdue, extending his streak of having caught a touchdown pass to 10 regular-season games. Howard has caught touchdown passes in eight consecutive games this season.

Pacific’s Aaron Turner caught two touchdown passes in a 51-24 victory over Long Beach, the 11th consecutive game in which he has had a touchdown catch. His 126 yards receiving marked the 11th consecutive game he has had at least 100 yards, a school record.

RECORD BREAKERS

Russell White’s 229 yards rushing were the most against USC, and California scored the most points against USC in a 52-30 victory. White broke former UCLA back Gaston Green’s record of 224 yards against USC, set in 1986. Cal eclipsed the previous high set in Notre Dame’s 51-0 victory in 1966.

Michigan’s Elvis Grbac threw two touchdown tosses to give him 22 for the season, breaking his school record of 21 set last year. And J.D. Carlson kicked six extra points, giving him the Big Ten record of 110 in a row. The old mark of 107 was set by Indiana’s Pete Stoyanovich from 1986 to 1988.

Tennessee set a school record of 603 yards in a 52-24 victory over Memphis State. The previous record was 588 yards, set in 1989 against Akron. . . . East Carolina’s Jeff Blake set school records for a career for touchdown passes (34), passing yardage (4,152) and completions (287) in a 38-28 victory over Tulane. Travis Hunter held the previous marks of 280 completions, 3,928 yards and 32 touchdown passes. Blake also set season records with 19 touchdown passes and 130 completions, breaking, respectively, marks of 16 by Dick Cherry in 1953 and 122 by John Casazza in 1970.

GREAT FOR SNOWSHOEING

All but two college football games scheduled in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota were postponed or canceled because of blizzards that packed record snowfalls and bitter-cold wind chills. “This is stupid for anybody to go out and try to play a football game in this,� said Al Bortke, athletic director at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. The entire North Central Conference football schedule was canceled. Northern Colorado, which flew on a charter plane, was the only visiting team able to get to its destination. In the only games played, both in South Dakota, Northern State beat Minnesota-

Morris, 27-0, and South Dakota Tech beat Black Hills State, 40-18.

LET IT SNOW

The snow got an assist in Tulsa’s improbable 13-10 victory over Southern Mississippi. With the score tied, 10-10, Southern Mississippi’s Lance Nations slipped and missed a 35-yard field-goal attempt with 12 seconds left. Tulsa appeared to have salvaged at least a tie.

Then Tulsa quarterback T.J. Rubley threw a long pass that was bounced around by five players before Chris Penn made the catch for a 65-yard gain to the 25. Eric Lange, kicking into the driving snowstorm, missed on his field-goal attempt from 29 yards, but Southern Mississippi had 12 men on the field. Given a second chance, Lange made the 24-yarder.

STREAKING

Virginia ran its unbeaten streak to six games with a 42-0 victory over Virginia Military, the Cavaliers’ sixth victory in a row over VMI. Virginia quarterback Matt Blundin has thrown 184 passes this season without an interception. . . . Clemson’s 28-10 victory over Wake Forest was its 15th in a row over the Demon Deacons. . . . Purdue, which lost to Michigan, 42-0, has lost its last 11 games at Ann Arbor. . . . Alabama beat Mississippi State for the 11th consecutive season, 13-7. . . . Columbia (1-6) clinched its 20th consecutive losing season with a 22-6 loss to Princeton. . . . Wisconsin, which lost to Illinois, 22-6, has lost five consecutive Big Ten games. . . . Southern Methodist lost its 23rd consecutive Southwest Conference game, 18-10, to Texas Christian. . . . Oregon State lost it’s 13th game in a row, 45-21, to Arizona.

BIG PLAYS

Colorado’s Greg Thomas blocked a 41-yard field-goal attempt by Nebraska’s Byron Bennett as time ran out, preserving a 19-19 tie. Colorado called three consecutive timeouts before the kick.

Alabama’s Stacy Harrison scored on a 64-yard interception return, then preserved a 13-7 victory over Mississippi State with an interception in the end zone on the Bulldogs’ final possession. Mississippi State had the ball on the three-yard line.

Mark Benson, who caught 10 passes for 150 yards, scored on a seven-yard pass play with 1:48 remaining to give Northwestern a 16-13 victory over Michigan State.

Doug Pelfrey kicked a school-record-tying 53-yard field goal as time expired to give Kentucky a 20-17 victory over Cincinnati.

Sophomore James Jacquet, who had only eight carries and had missed six games for disciplinary reasons, scored on a 59-yard run with five minutes left to give Louisiana State a 25-22 victory over Mississippi.

Sean Jones’ 45-yard field goal with 51 seconds left gave Utah State a 20-19 upset over Fresno State. Jones was 0 for 5 on attempts this season, all longer than the game-winner.

HEADING SOUTH IN EAST

Pittsburgh, which opened the season with five victories and was ranked in the top 25 as recently as a week ago, lost its fourth in a row, 38-12, to Boston College.

A SPARTAN EXISTENCE

When it seems things can’t get any worse for Michigan State, co-champion of the Big Ten last season, the Spartans hit a new low. Saturday, they lost to perennial also-ran Northwestern, 16-13, to fall to 1-7 overall, 1-4 in the conference. Coming up: Wisconsin and Purdue, easy prey in most seasons but big games now if the Spartans are to avoid their worst season since 1982.

IN QUOTES

Purdue Coach Jim Colletto on Michigan’s Desmond Howard, who had 169 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in the Wolverines’ 42-0 victory: “He’s everything they say . He makes a catch falling down on his back and the ball is on the other side of him and he reaches back and catches it for a touchdown. I mean, he’s a hell of a player.�

John Copeland, Alabama defensive end, after the Crimson Tide stymied Mississippi State’s final drive near the goal line in a 13-7 victory: “I looked at it like they were coming into my house. They came in saying they were more physical than us. Nobody comes into Bryant-Denny (Stadium) and outhits Alabama.�

Mississippi State cornerback Tony Harris: “(The defeat) hurts more than anything. It’s like totaling your BMW and having no insurance.�

East Carolina quarterback Jeff Blake after a 38-28 victory over Tulane in which there were 31 penalties: “Penalties killed the drives. It’s hard to convert first and 25s.�