Quick Kicks
Heisman watch
Ron Dayne, Wisconsin: So what if Michigan held him to 88 yards. As long as he makes a solid run at the NCAA career rushing record, he’ll be in the Heisman race. Yards to go: 1,105.
Drew Brees, Purdue: 99-yard touchdown passes always look good on the highlight shows. They also help those yardage totals and Brees had 405 yards against Northwestern.
Shaun Alexander, Alabama: The Crimson Tide are trying hard to keep Alexander in the race. In Alabama’s win over Arkansas he gained 165 yards and passed Johnny Musso for second place on Alabama’s career rushing list. Alexander has 2,796 yards.
Heisman Trivia: Who was the first black to win the Heisman?
Georgia assistant dies
Pat Watson, an offensive line coach for 11th-ranked Georgia, died Saturday night in Athens, Ga., apparently of a heart attack.
Watson, 56, died a few hours after Georgia’s 24-23 victory over Central Florida.
Go long … way long
Drew Brees’ 99-yard touchdown pass to Vinny Sutherland was the longest scoring play in Purdue’s 112-year football history. The previous long was a 95-yard pass from Len Dawson to Erich Barnes against Northwestern on Nov. 12, 1955.
It’s been a long time coming
Michigan State is 4-0 for the second time since 1966, the year the Spartans played their epic 10-10 tie against Notre Dame.
Purdue (4-0) extended its winning streak to 10 games with a 31-23 victory over Northwestern. It’s the longest streak for the Boilermakers since an 11-game run from Nov. 17, 1928 to Oct. 4, 1930 and the first time Purdue has opened with four victories since 1967.
They call them the streaks
Florida State is 32-4 when playing as the top-ranked team.
Air Force’s loss to Wyoming ended the nation’s longest winning streak at 11 games.
Baylor has lost 10 straight and is off to its worst start since 1978.
Kent defeated Bowling Green to snap the longest losing streak in the nation at 16 games. That leaves South Carolina in first place at 14 games. Washington State is next at 12.
Sputter, sputter, cough, cough
Nine of Akron’s 18 possessions against Eastern Michigan ended in negative yardage.
Duke’s offense continued to sputter against Vanderbilt but did cross one hurdle, reaching the end zone for the first time this season when Duane Epperson scored on a 6-yard run with 3:26 to go in the first half. The Devils even added a touchdown in the third quarter.
Then there’s South Carolina which has scored one touchdown and has been shut out twice. But that’s not as bad as Temple, which has been shut out three times in four games.
In the right place at the right time
Washington’s victory over Colorado was the Huskies’ 600th win, making UW coach Rick Neuheisel the first coach to lead the 600th win at two different schools. Last year, Neuheisel was the coach when Colorado won its 600th.
Maybe he’s finally learned to share
Wake Forest right guard Sam Settar was sidelined by a sprained left knee in the first quarter of the Demon Deacons’ win over North Carolina State. The injury meant that the Deamon Deacons’ offense had to operate without Settar on the field for the first time since 1997 - a streak of 1,729 consecutive plays.
Division I-A stars 300 yards passing
Josh Heupel, Oklahoma: 429 (5TDs)
Chad Pennington, Marshall: 406 (3TDs)
Drew Brees, Purdue: 405 (3TDs)
Major Applewhite, Texas: 333 (3TDs)
David Garrard, E. Carolina: 324 (1TD)
Joe Borchard, Stanford: 328 (5TDs)
Clint Stoerner, Arkansas: 316 (1TD)
Dan Robinson, Hawaii: 304 (2TDs)
Kevin Feterik, BYU: 303 (3TDs) 200 yards rushing
LaDainian Tomlinson, TCU: 269 (2TDs)
Thomas Jones, Virginia: 210 (2TDs) 200 yards receiving
Troy Walters, Stanford: 278 (3TDs)
Trivia answer: Syracuse running back Ernie Davis in 1961.