COLLEGE FOOTBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : Some Shine, Others Don’t in Halfway Point’s Spotlight

Tuxedos rented? Cummerbunds in place? Patent leather shoes shined? Good. Now be seated and ready yourself for polite applause as our midseason awards banquet begins.

The envelopes, please.

MOST DISAPPOINTING TEAM

The Nominees: Iowa (2-4), Ohio State (3-2), Florida (2-2).

And the winner is . . . Ohio State, in a landslide vote.

Iowa had lots of returning fifth-year starters in key positions, but the Hawkeyes also had to play North Carolina State, Miami, Colorado and Michigan in four of their first five games.

Florida Coach Steve Spurrier, whose critics have facetiously nicknamed him “Stevie Wonder,” is wondering whatever happened to his Fun and Gun offense. The Gators were supposed to challenge for the national championship. Not anymore. These days, the Independence Bowl looks good.

But no team can match Ohio State for botched opportunities. The Buckeyes beat a good Syracuse team and seemingly were on their way to a top-10 ranking when they lost to a decent Wisconsin team on the road and a so-so Illinois team at home. Two weeks, two Big Ten Conference losses. So much for the Rose Bowl.

MOST SURPRISING TEAM

The Nominees: Washington State (5-0), Boston College (4-0-1), Stanford (5- 1).

And the winner is . . . Stanford.

Washington State is undefeated and has quarterback Drew Bledsoe, but the Cougars still have to play UCLA and USC.

Boston College finally learned its lesson and started scheduling a few gimme victories. It shows, what with shutouts against Northwestern, Navy and Michigan State (with a combined record of 2-13).

Stanford earns the vote not so much because of its record, but because of the method. Coach Bill Walsh’s Cardinal held Notre Dame, Texas A&M; and UCLA to a total of 33 points.

COACH MOST LIKELY TO NEED A GOOD REALTOR

The Nominees: Sparky Woods, South Carolina; David Lee, Texas El Paso; John Cooper, Ohio State.

And the winner is . . . Cooper.

Woods’ players want him to resign, but who cares what they want? Penn State Coach Joe Paterno says Woods is worth the wait and, hey, if you can’t trust him, who can you trust?

Lee is 0-5 this season and 9-30-1 overall at UTEP. Let’s hope he’s renting.

Cooper received a contract extension at the end of last season. So what? Ohio State will can him faster than a Christmas ham if the Buckeyes don’t find a way to beat Michigan and recover from a 0-2 conference start.

COACH OF THE HALF-YEAR

The Nominees: Dennis Erickson, Miami; Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee; Jackie Sherrill, Mississippi State.

And the winner is . . . Erickson.

In no time at all, Sherrill has managed to make opponents and all eligible bulls nervous. Thanks to Sherrill, Mississippi State might be the second-best team in the Southeastern Conference.

When Coach Johnny Majors was forced to miss the first three games because of heart surgery, Fulmer stepped in and led the Volunteers to victories against Georgia and Florida in successive weeks. Since Majors’ return, Tennessee has beaten LSU and Cincinnati and, in a bit of a shocker, lost to Arkansas. Maybe it was beginner’s luck.

With apologies to Sherrill and Fulmer, though, no one can match Erickson’s ability to cope with adversity. Miami is 5-0 and poised to win another national championship despite: a federal investigation into financial aid abuses by assorted players, the tragedy and devastation caused by Hurricane Andrew and a schedule that has included victories against then-No. 3 Florida State, No. 7 Penn State and No. 23 Iowa.

HALFWAY HEISMAN

The Nominees: Marshall Faulk, San Diego State; Shawn Jones, Georgia Tech; Marvin Jones, Florida State.

And the winner is . . . Marvin Jones.

Don’t laugh. Erickson paid the Florida State star a compliment to cherish when he said, “Marvin Jones is the best linebacker I’ve ever seen playing college football.” Ever. Already Jones has 69 tackles, one sack, one fumble recovery and the respect of anyone who has ever been hit by him. In a season when the conventional Heisman candidates are dropping out of contention every week, maybe it’s time to consider a defensive star.

Of course, conventional voters will probably give Faulk the award, and on the strength of his statistics--837 yards, a 209.2-per-game average, 13.5 points per game--it would be hard to argue. He’s the real thing, but it would be nice if the wishy-washy Western Athletic Conference provided more of a test.

Jones, Georgia Tech’s gifted quarterback, won’t be found among the nation’s passing leaders, but he’s the reason the Yellow Jackets are 4-1 with close victories over Clemson, North Carolina State and Maryland. The guy is one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the game.

TEAM MOST LIKELY TO WIN A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

The Nominees: Miami, Washington, Alabama, Texas A&M;, Michigan, Colorado, Stanford and Florida State.

And the winner is . . . Miami.

Washington, not Miami, faces the toughest part of its schedule, including games against Stanford, Arizona at Tucson, Washington State at Pullman. Any sort of Husky stumble will allow the Hurricanes, who are left with Texas Christian (1-3-1), Virginia Tech (2-3), West Virginia (3-0-2), Temple (1-4), Syracuse (4-1) and San Diego State (2-1-1), to claim control of the top ranking and the best bowl.

The longshot: Texas A&M.;

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Two leftover Miami-Penn State stories:

About midway through the fourth quarter of last Saturday’s game, Nittany Lion tailback Mike Archie fumbled at the Miami 40-yard line. Linebacker Micheal Barrow fell on the ball and was immediately smothered by at least a half dozen players. As Barrow waited for the officials to take control, he suddenly felt someone apply, uh, pressure to his groin area. Barrow began yelling, but the pain became too great and he had to release his grip on the football. Penn State recovered, scored on the drive and cut Miami’s lead to 17-14. Even Barrow had to respect the ingenuity borne from desperation. “They were Miami in disguise,” Barrow said.

Erickson said the crowd of 96,704 at Beaver Stadium was one of the loudest he has ever heard. Loud and surprisingly feisty, added his players.

“The meanest people I’ve ever seen,” Miami defensive end Kevin Patrick said. “You know how the license plates here say, ‘You’ve got a friend in Pennsylvania?’ Yeah, well like hell you do. I had people in wheelchairs yelling at me. I had old ladies yelling at me.”

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Two games after insisting that there was absolutely, positively no quarterback controversy, Washington Coach Don James announced earlier this week that Mark Brunell would replace Billy Joe Hobert in Saturday’s game against Oregon. James is the boss, but why mess with a quarterback who is 17-0 as a starter? . . . And now, your weekly bowl matchup update: Rose--Washington vs. Michigan; Orange--Colorado vs. Notre Dame or Florida State; Cotton--Texas A&M; vs. Notre Dame or Florida State; Sugar--Alabama vs. Miami; Fiesta--Stanford vs. Nebraska. . . . Florida State isn’t the only team cursed by poor field goal kicking against Miami. Hurricane opponents are a combined three for nine. . . . Pittsburgh Coach Paul Hackett was ready to declare the city’s newspaper strike an official disaster for his program’s ability to sell tickets and generate publicity. And then, after remembering the Panthers’ 2-4 record, he said, “In a sense, maybe that’s good it’s not being publicized that much.” . . . Who’s the leading rusher in Division I-A? It isn’t Faulk. . . . Notre Dame is ranked 12th in the AP poll. Until Stanford beat them two Saturdays ago, the Irish hadn’t been out of the top 10 in more than four years.

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Corky Simpson of the Tucson Citizen is going to look like a genius if Alabama ends up winning a national title. Beginning with the Associated Press’ preseason poll, Simpson has awarded the Crimson Tide his first-place vote, the only No. 1 Alabama has received each week. You might not agree with the choice, but you have to admire his nerve. In fact, Simpson said he picked Alabama to win it all during a February College Football Writers of America meeting. As for the person who split his or her first-place vote between Miami and Washington in this week’s poll, show some guts, please. . . . Nothing against the Huskies, but Miami deserves the top spot because: 1) Beating Arizona by one point wasn’t such a terrible thing, was it? Just ask UCLA, who can also attest to Arizona’s tough defense. 2) While Washington was beating USC and California at home, Miami was beating Florida State at the Orange Bowl and Penn State at University Park. 3) You have to reward a team for doing what Miami has done. . . . Alabama travels to Tennessee on Saturday in hopes of impressing someone other than Simpson, and of extending a six-game win streak against the Volunteers. For Majors, who played at Tennessee, it is the most anticipated and important game of the season. “Though it might not look like it the last six years,” Majors said. After the upset by Arkansas, the Volunteers had better be prepared for a long week of practices. “We plan to use the maximum amount of minutes that the NCAA allows,” Majors said.

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Florida State beat North Carolina by 23 points last Saturday, but Coach Bobby Bowden still benched Seminole quarterback Charlie Ward for much of the second quarter. Ward’s interception total has climbed to 13. . . . Former Philadelphia Eagle Coach Buddy Ryan’s twin sons faced each other last Saturday when Morehead State played Tennessee State. Rex Ryan is an assistant at Morehead, and Rob Ryan is an assistant at Tennessee State. Tennessee State won. . . . As Texas quarterback Peter Gardere left the Cotton Bowl field after recording his fourth consecutive victory against arch-rival Oklahoma, Sooner fans yelled, “Graduate! Graduate!” . . . How bad is Louisville? Bad enough that Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer said last week’s 21-17 loss to the Cardinals was the most disappointing defeat in his five seasons at Blacksburg. Beamer would know, too. Tech has lost 35 of 60 games during his tenure. . . . Coach Don Nehlen, whose West Virginia team was off last Saturday, said he enjoyed his afternoon off until watching this week’s opponent, Syracuse, beat Rutgers, 50-28. “It ruined my bologna sandwich,” he said. After that, he watched Miami beat Penn State. The Mountaineers play Penn State on Oct. 24 and Miami on Oct. 31. “And then I got sick again,” he said.

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. Miami 5-0 2. Washington 5-0 3. Michigan 4-0-1 4. Texas A&M; 5-0 5. Alabama 6-0 6. Colorado 5-0 7. Florida State 5-1 8. Stanford 5-1 9. Penn State 5-1 10. Georgia 5-1

Waiting list: Nebraska (4-1), Notre Dame (4-1-1), Mississippi State (4-1), Tennessee (5-1), Syracuse (4-1).