Quick Kicks

Heisman watch

It’s Peyton and the Pretenders as the 1997 Heisman Trophy race begins. Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning is the prohibitive favorite, and proved it Saturday against Texas Tech. He hit 26 of 38 passes for 310 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in a 52-17 rout of the Red Raiders.

Manning will almost assuredly be on the invitation list for the Heisman award ceremony in December, but the rest of the list is far from being filled.

With the first full week of play yet to come, two Heisman hopefuls are already losing ground. Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb has played solidly but not spectacularly and Wisconsin tailback Ron Dayne was held to 46 yards in the Badgers’ loss last week.

Money talks

Central Florida might not win many football games, but school officials will laugh all the way to the bank.

In what is believed to be an NCAA record, the Orlando school will make about $1.4 million for being trounced in five road games against Nebraska, Auburn, South Carolina, Mississippi and Mississippi State.

Make that trounced in four road games. The Knights were more than respectable Saturday, losing to Mississippi 24-23 in overtime.

In memoriam

Morehouse College scored two touchdowns in a span of 20 seconds in the fourth period to lift the Tigers to a 24-14 victory over Morgan State in the inaugural Ennis Cosby Memorial Classic at Atlanta.

Morehouse coach Doug Williams, the Super Bowl XXII Most Valuable Player as a Washington Redskins quarterback, won in his coaching debut in a game that honored the late son of comedian Bill Cosby. Ennis Cosby, a 1992 graduate of Morehouse, was murdered in Los Angeles early this year. Bill Cosby, a Morehouse trustee, participated in the pregame coin toss.

Mississippi State players wore patches bearing the name of drowned teammate Keffer McGee and painted on the field near the south end zone was McGee’s No. 21. McGee’s game jersey and other equipment hung in his locker.

McGee drowned early this month. An autopsy revealed a heart abnormality caused the accident.

Sidelined

Northwestern’s top receiver, D’Wayne Bates, has a torn ligament in his right knee in addition to a broken bone and will miss the rest of the season.

Speaking out

“I was not as nervous today as I was Monday. But when I heard that band start up, and they were playing ‘Yea Alabama,’ I have a tendency to get a little teary-eyed. This university means so much to me and my family.” - Alabama coach Mike DuBose after his first game as leader of the Crimson Tide.

Next week’s best matchups

Two Top 5 teams play in the Los Angeles area Saturday, but not against each other.

At 12:30, No. 5 Tennessee plays UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Then, after a quick drive down the Pasadena freeway through downtown L.A., fans should be able to reach the Coliseum in time for the 5 p.m. kickoff for No. 3 Florida State and No. 23 Southern California.

Also, No. 4 Washington and No. 19 Brigham Young open their seasons at Provo, Utah; Colorado and Colorado State meet in Boulder; and Syracuse plays at Oklahoma.

, DataTimes