Florida St.; Nebraska Stay On Top

There were no suprises atop The Associated Press college football poll - Florida State and Nebraska remained 1-2 - LSU and Maryland found themselves ranked for the first time in the ‘90s.

Nebraska got 19 firsts and 1,488 points after overpowering Arizona State 77-28.Rounding out the Top 10 are Texas A&M, Florida, Southern Cal, Penn State, Colorado, Ohio State, Michigan and Oklahoma.LSU jumped to No. 18 following its

12-6 upset of Auburn. It is the first ranking for the Tigers since early in the 1989 season.

Maryland moved to No. 24 after beating West Virginia 31-17. The Terrapins’ 3-0 start is their best since 1986, which also was the last year they were ranked.

Also, three Southeastern Confer ence teams - Auburn, Tennessee and Alabama - plunged in the poll after losing for the first time.

Air Force and Northwestern fell out of the Top 25 after losses on Saturday.

Holtz back in office

Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz watched Saturday’s 41-0 victory over Vanderbilt on television, but he was back in the office Sunday for a 1 o’clock staff meeting. Holtz - who underwent surgery to remove pressure on his spinal cord Tuesday - plans to spend four hours a day at work this week. He plans to be in the press box for Saturday’s game with Texas. After that, it all depends on how he feels.

Interim coach Bob Davie, Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator, acquitted himself well all week. Notre Dame was Lou-less, not clueless. The Irish held the Commodores to 94 yards of total offense on 44 snaps. “I guarantee Beth Holtz (his wife) had Lou strapped in,” Davie said.

Just to make sure Holtz liked what he saw, Davie called the coach’s home at halftime.

“He was totally complimentary,” Davie said, “although he did suggest that we run the option a little more in the second half.”

Sweet revenge

For LSU quarterback Jamie Howard, the Tigers’ 12-6 victory over Auburn was especially sweet. A year ago, he was intercepted six times, three of which were returned for touchdowns and fueled an Auburn rally for a 30-26 victory.

But this time, Howard was carried off the field by teammates after completing 19 of 30 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown.

LSU captain Sheddrick Wilson asked that Howard be named co-captain for the Auburn game, and walked onto the field hand in hand with Howard. Said Wilson: “When we walked out like that, it was to show Jamie that it wasn’t important what he did … the rest of his teammates would be with him.”