Miami’s Fall From Grace Now Official
Miami dropped out of the rankings for the first time in 10 years, while Colorado climbed to No. 4 in Sunday’s Associated Press college football poll.
Miami, No. 17 last week, fell out of the Top 25 after losing to Virginia Tech 13-7 Saturday. It was the Hurricanes’ second loss of the season and their first to an unranked opponent since 1984.
Colorado rose three spots in the poll after beating then-No. 3 Texas A&M 29-21. But the victory could prove costly for the Buffaloes because star quarterback Koy Detmer injured his right knee and may be out for the season.
Florida State and Nebraska, who have been ranked 1-2 all season, remained that way following easy victories over outmanned opponents.
Now it gets worse
After being jolted Saturday, Miami faces the prospect of playing top-ranked Florida State with its backup quarterback.
Ryan Collins, who was injured in the second quarter, was diagnosed with a separated right shoulder.
He will miss at least two to five weeks, knocking him out of the Oct. 7 game against the undefeated Seminoles. If his shoulder doesn’t heal naturally, Collins will have season-ending surgery.
The Hurricanes now turn to sophomore Ryan Clement, who nearly pulled off a last-minute comeback Saturday.
Detmer may return
Further tests revealed that Colorado quarterback Koy Detmer has no damage to his right knee beyond a torn ligament, athletic department spokesman Dave Plati said Sunday.
Detmer suffered the injury in Saturday’s 29-21 victory over Texas A&M in Boulder.
However, Detmer will definitely miss this week’s Big Eight Conference showdown with unbeaten Oklahoma.
“He is hopeful he can brace it up and come back, but they have to talk about it,” Plati said. “Rick (CU coach Neuheisel) doesn’t want to take any risks.”
Redshirt sophomore John Hessler, who had never thrown a pass in college, will start against the Sooners. Hessler completed 10 of 20 passes for 177 yards and didn’t throw an interception.
Fourth and inches
Penn State coach Joe Paterno has insisted he doesn’t run up the score, but it will be hard for some to believe him after he let backup quarterback Mike McQueary throw a 42-yard touchdown pass with 58 seconds left against Rutgers Saturday night.
Without that score, Penn State would have barely escaped a 52-34 victory over the Scarlet Knights.
Phillips remains at Nebraska
Nebraska has reviewed star running back Lawrence Phillips’ status as a student in light of his trouble with the law and Phillips remains at the school.
“He is passing all his courses, and he is a qualified student,” coach Tom Osborne said. “From my viewpoint, I don’t want to get into all of what somebody else feels.”
Osborne said a decision about allowing Phillips to play is at least a month away.
Hawaii 42, Texas-El Paso 21
At Honolulu, Glenn Freitas rushed for four touchdowns and passed for a fifth late Saturday night to carry the Rainbows (1-1 WAC, 1-2 overall) past the Miners (0-1, 1-3), snapping a nine-game losing streak in the Western Athletic Conference.
Freitas, making his first start since being knocked out of the season opener against Texas three weeks ago, scored twice on 1-yard sneaks and runs of 16 and 5 yards. He also had a 9-yard scoring pass to Brannon Kennedy.
To complete the rout, Brett Washington broke off a 62-yard scoring run in the final quarter to put the game out of reach for the Rainbows, who bounced back from humiliating defeats in their first two games of the season.
xxxx COLLEGE RANKINGS
AP Top 25 The Top Twenty Five teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 23, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking: Record Pts Pv 1. Florida St. (42) 4-0-0 1,528 1 2. Nebraska (18) 4-0-0 1,498 2 3. Florida (2) 3-0-0 1,399 4 4. Colorado 4-0-0 1,315 7 5. Southern Cal 3-0-0 1,293 5 6. Penn St. 3-0-0 1,247 6 7. Ohio St. 3-0-0 1,220 8 8. Michigan 4-0-0 1,123 9 9. Texas A&M 2-1-0 1,012 3 10. Oklahoma 3-0-0 957 10 11. Virginia 4-1-0 929 11 12. Tennessee 3-1-0 851 15 13. Auburn 2-1-0 810 14 14. LSU 3-1-0 705 18 15. Notre Dame 3-1-0 623 21 16. Kansas St. 3-0-0 601 19 17. Maryland 4-0-0 453 24 18. Washington 2-1-0 396 22 19. Oregon 3-1-0 379 12 20. Alabama 2-1-0 339 23 21. Texas 2-1-0 328 13 22. Stanford 3-0-1 264 23. Arkansas 3-1-0 240 24. Texas Tech 1-1-0 146 25. Kansas 4-0-0 118 Others receiving votes: Northwestern 60, Washington St. 57, Colorado St. 52, UCLA 45, Illinois 40, Iowa 26, Miami 17, Arizona 15, Georgia 15, Mississippi 13, Baylor 12, Virginia Tech 10, Miami, Ohio 4, Syracuse 3, Wisconsin 3, Michigan St. 2, Toledo 2. Steve Bergum’s AP picks: 1. Nebraska, 2. Florida State, 3. Southern California, 4. Colorado, 5. Penn State, 6. Florida, 7. Ohio State, 8. Texas A&M, 9. Oklahoma, 10. Michigan, 11. Tennesse, 12. Notre Dame, 13. LSU, 14. Virginia, 15. Auburn, 16. Kansas State, 17. Oregon, 18. Alabama, 19. Washington State, 20. Texas, 21. Maryland, 22. Washington, 23. Texas Tech, 24. Kansas, 25. Stanford.
CNN-USA Today Top 25 The USA TODAY-CNN football coaches’ poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 23, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking: Record Pts Pv 1. Florida St. (35) 4-0-0 1,514 1 2. Nebraska (25) 4-0-0 1,502 2 3. Florida 3-0-0 1,397 4 4. USC (1) 3-0-0 1,308 5 5. Colorado 4-0-0 1,275 8 6. Ohio State (1) 3-0-0 1,246 7 7. Penn State 3-0-0 1,243 6 8. Michigan 4-0-0 1,139 9 9. Oklahoma 3-0-0 998 11 10. Texas A&M 2-1-0 971 3 11. Virginia 4-1-0 897 14 12. Auburn 2-1-0 803 12 13. Tennessee 3-1-0 720 16 14. Notre Dame 3-1-0 657 21 15. Kansas State 3-0-0 651 19 16. LSU 3-1-0 618 20 17. Maryland 4-0-0 491 25 18. Washington 2-1-0 353 22 19. Texas 2-1-0 351 10 20. Oregon 3-1-0 327 13 21. Alabama 2-1-0 278 23 22. Kansas 4-0-0 248 23. Stanford 3-0-1 207 24. Arkansas 3-1-0 172 25. UCLA 2-2-0 129 15 Other receiving votes: Fresno State 69, Baylor 65, Texas Tech 63, Colorado State 62, Illinois 55, Washington State 52, Iowa 45, Arizona 35, Miami 33, Syracuse 33, Virginia Tech 33, Georgia 32, Northwestern 28, Boston College 15, Wisconsin 10, Duke 9, Pittsburgh 4, Clemson 3, Indiana 3, Michigan State 2, Miami, Ohio 1, Toledo 1, Utah 1, West Virginia 1.