Ohio State Settles In Behind Nebraska

Nebraska strengthened its hold on the No. 1 ranking, while Ohio State moved up to No. 2 in Sunday’s Associated Press college football poll.

Nebraska, which led Florida State by only three points last week, opened up a large lead in the media poll after the Seminoles lost to Virginia 33-28 Thursday.

Ohio State rose two spots after beating Minnesota 49-21 Saturday, but the Buckeyes trail Nebraska by 60 points.

The Huskers (9-0) received 45 first-place votes and 1,530 points after defeating Iowa State 73-14. The Buckeyes (9-0) got 12 firsts and 1,470 points.

Florida (8-0) remained No. 3 after beating Northern Illinois 58-20. The Gators received five first-place votes and 1,464 points.

If they all go undefeated, Nebraska will play Florida in the Fiesta Bowl and Ohio State will meet the Pac-10 champion in the Rose Bowl.

Nebraska is the only team that controls its national championship fate. If the Huskers beat No. 10 Kansas, Oklahoma and their opponent in the Fiesta Bowl, they will win their second consecutive national title.

For Ohio State to win the championship, the Buckeyes must complete a perfect season in the Rose Bowl and Nebraska must lose or tie. But even if that happens, the Buckeyes conceivably could lose out to Florida if the Gators finish 13-0.

Florida’s best chance for a title would involve a win over Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl and an Ohio State loss.

Tennessee (8-1) was fourth in this week’s poll, followed by Northwestern (8-1), Florida State (7-1), Kansas State (8-1), Notre Dame (8-2), Colorado (7-2) and Kansas (8-1).

Texas was 11th, followed by Southern Cal, Michigan, Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, Oregon, Texas A&M, Penn State, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Washington, Syracuse, Clemson and San Diego State.

Virginia climbed 10 spots after ending Florida State’s 29-game winning streak in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Michigan fell six places after losing to Michigan State 28-25, and Penn State dropped seven spots.

Virginia Tech, Clemson and San Diego State moved into the Top 25, while UCLA, Texas Tech and Oklahoma dropped out.

Hawaii 42, Fresno St. 37

In Honolulu, seldom-used Johnny Macon rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another pair late Saturday night to lead the Rainbows to an upset over the Bulldogs in a Western Athletic Conference game.

Bests and worsts

Game of the week: USC 31, Stanford 30. For the second week in a row, the Trojans rally from a big deficit to stay on track for the Rose Bowl. This time they pull out a thriller at the L.A. Coliseum on Keyshawn Johnson’s TD grab in the waning moments.

Upset of the week: Virginia 33, Florida State 28. The Seminoles’ first-ever loss in the ACC probably cost them a shot at the national title. The Cavaliers had lost to Michigan and Texas on the final play of the game, but they rose up and stuffed Warrick Dunn at the goal line to pull off one of the great victories in school history.

Flop of the week: Michigan. So much for those back-door Maize-and-Blue-to-theRose-Bowl theories. Michigan State stuns the Wolverines 28-25, a victory that new Spartans coach Nick Saban will trumpet across the state in the coming recruiting wars.

Player of the week: Eddie George. The Ohio State tailback improved his Heisman Trophy chances by romping for 178 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries, including an 87-yarder that is the third-longest run in school history, in a 49-21 rout of Minnesota.

Quote of the week: “We get to read, ‘Who are these guys, these lowly hooligans who are beating all these good teams they aren’t supposed to?’ We have no control over what Northwestern did in the past.” - Linebacker Pat Fitzgerald, whose 20 tackles spurred the Wildcats’ 21-10 victory over Penn State.

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