SPOTLIGHT: SATURDAY’S GAMES AT A GLANCE : UGLY, UGLY, UGLY

After a few of Saturday’s games, some players might have been better off had they left their uniforms in their lockers and gone trick or treating instead. They certainly got no goodies on the football field. Some of the more grotesque matchups:

--UCLA lost its fifth in a row convincingly, 48-12 to California, which had lost three in a row. The Bruins, down to their fourth-string quarterback, were never in it, falling behind, 31-0, early in the second quarter.

--Nebraska provided the most unexpected rout. The No. 8 Cornhuskers beat No. 8 Colorado, 52-7, winning for the first time against a top-10 team since 1988. Nebraska limited Colorado to 144 yards and ended the Buffaloes’ Big Eight winning streak at 25 games.

--Navy, which lost to Division I-AA Delaware last week, didn’t have a chance against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish scored on five of their six possessions, converted 10 of 12 third-down plays and piled up 315 yards in offense in building a 31-0 halftime lead. Navy lost, 38-7.

--Pittsburgh, which had hoped the arm of Alex Van Pelt, the school’s career passing leader, would carry them to a successful season, lost for the fourth time in its last five games, 41-10 to Syracuse. Van Pelt, the nation’s total offense leader, left the game after being sacked in the second quarter.

--Temple’s season has been one long nightmare, and the Owls haven’t awakened yet. After Saturday’s 45-6 loss to Boston College, their record against Division I-A teams is 0-7 and they have been outscored, 271-72.

--Tulane averaged about 2.5 yards a rush, fell behind, 35-7, in the first half and lost to Memphis State, 62-20. Memphis State also had two apparent touchdowns on interceptions called back because of penalties.

--Penn State hasn’t been the same since its 17-14 loss to Miami on Oct. 10. The Nittany Lions lost to Boston College and needed a couple late scores to beat West Virginia. Saturday, they sank a bit lower with a 30-17 loss to Brigham Young, a team that was 4-4 and having its own troubles.

FORTAY’S FORTITUDE

Rutgers quarterback Bryan Fortay was up and down all day against Virginia Tech. Fortay fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, setting up Virginia Tech’s first touchdown. He had five passes intercepted and, because of that, was replaced three times during the game by Ray Lucas. But Fortay was on the field at the end, when it counted most. He connected on a 46-yard pass play to Mario Henry with 14 seconds remaining, then hit Chris Brantley on a 15-yard scoring pass to give the Knights a 50-49 victory.

STREAKS

Miami has won a nation’s-leading 26 in a row, 50 in a row in the Orange bowl. It’s 35-23 victory over West Virginia was its 55th without a loss to an unranked team. . . . Washington has won 22 games in a row. . . . Michigan’s 24-17 victory over Purdue was the Wolverines’ 18th in a row in the Big Ten, a conference record. . . . Notre Dame’s victory over Navy was its 29th in a row over the Midshipmen. . . . Syracuse, which beat Pitt, has won all nine of its Big East games over the last two seasons. . . . Boston College’s Chuckie Dukes, with 184 yards against Temple, has rushed for at least 100 yards seven games in a row. . . . Dan Eichloff set a Kansas record with his 54th consecutive extra point without a miss. . . . Oklahoma has beaten Kansas State 22 consecutive times. . . . Texas A&M; has won 17 consecutive regular-season games.

SPARKS ARE FLYING

What has gotten into those guys down at South Carolina, anyway? After the Gamecocks had gone 0-5, players called for the resignation of Coach Sparky Woods. Woods stayed put, and the team has reversed field. South Carolina upset No. 16 Tennessee, 24-23, on Saturday for its third consecutive Southeastern Conference victory. Woods, who grew up about an hour from Knoxville, Tenn., and began his coaching career with the Volunteers, said it was “the greatest victory I’ve ever been a part of.”

MOONSHINE MADNESS

Those good ol’ boys at West Virginia must have been hitting the moonshine pretty hard this week. A sampling of their pregame comments about Saturday’s opponent, Miami:

Linebacker James Wright: “I say if our offense gets us 17 points, we’ll win the game. The defense will hold them under 17.”

Center Mike Compton: “We need a win, and we’re going to get one in Miami.”

Receiver Jay Kearney: “We’ve got the same personnel, same speed, same size. There’s nothing different that Miami has that we don’t have.”

Something was different. The No. 1 Hurricanes won, 35-23. The Mountaineers scored all their touchdowns in the last 3:40, well after the game was decided and Miami’s reserves had come in.

GOOD START, ANYWAY

Stanford started fast against Washington, but was soon put in its place. The Cardinal took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, the first time the Huskies had trailed in a game since they fell behind Washington State, 7-6, on Nov. 23, 1991. Washington won that game, 56-21. Saturday, the Huskies stormed back, sacking Stanford quarterbacks seven times and scoring 41 consecutive points for a 41-7 victory. Stanford was held to 42 yards rushing.

GOOD THOUGHTS, ANYWAY

Give Tennessee Coach Johnny Majors and Northwestern’s Gary Barnett credit, even though you can’t give their teams the points that would have won the games. The Volunteers cut South Carolina’s lead to 24-23 with a touchdown with 1:28 remaining, and Majors decided against going for a tie. The two-point conversion failed and the Gamecocks won the game. Northwestern scored with 5:14 to play to cut Michigan State’s lead to 27-26, and the Wildcats also failed on their two-point try. They had a chance to win when Pat Leahy got set for a field-goal attempt of 34 yards with seven seconds remaining, but Leahy’s kick was wide. Northwestern had another Big Ten loss but plenty of support from its fans.

NOTEWORTHY

Arizona, which gave up 35 yards rushing in a 30-0 victory over New Mexico State, has given up a total of 65 yards on the ground in its last five games. . . . California’s Russell White rushed for 148 yards in a 48-12 victory over UCLA to increase his career total to 3,065 yards, breaking Chuck Muncie’s school record of 3,052. . . . Curtis Conway became USC’s all-time leader in kickoff-return yardage with 1,488 yards, breaking the record of 1,361 set by Anthony Davis. Conway’s 95-yard return for a touchdown was the first for USC since Davis did it against Notre Dame in 1974. . . . Scott Sisson became Georgia Tech’s all-time scoring leader with two extra points and two field goals in a 20-17 victory over Duke. His 283 points broke the record of 276 set by running back Robert Lavette from 1981-84. . . . John Biskup kicked two field goals to give him 54 for his career, breaking the Syracuse record set by Dave Jacobs. Biskup also passed Floyd Little to become the school’s all-time scoring leader with 279 points. . . . Jay Fiedler, the grand nephew of the late Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler, set the Dartmouth record for touchdown passes in a season (18) in a 31-7 victory over Harvard. He broke Dan Gibianelli’s 1987 record of 17. . . . Lloyd Hill became Texas Tech’s all-time receiving leader with 10 catches in a loss to Texas. His 115 catches broke the school record of 107 set by Donny Anderson in 1963-65.

IN QUOTES

Navy Coach George Chaump, on an early fourth-down gamble that failed in a 38-7 loss to Notre Dame: “What do you have to lose? . . . I have confidence we can make a foot. If we can’t, we deserve to get our tails whipped.”

Purdue Coach Jim Colletto, after a 24-17 loss to No. 3 Michigan: “We didn’t fold our tents. We’ve told these kids this is not a Mickey Mouse, run - down football program anymore, and I hope today that they believe.”

GAINING GROUND

With no winning numbers in the Marshall Faulk-Garrison Hearst Heisman lottery on Saturday, Miami’s Gino Torretta could have the new hot ticket. Faulk, the early front-runner, suffered an injured leg muscle in the first half of San Diego State’s 20-13 victory over Colorado State. He finished with 60 yards in 18 carries, acting only as a decoy in the second half. Hearst was shackled by Florida, almost an afterthought in Georgia’s offense during a 26-24 loss. He carried 14 times for 41 yards. Torretta is beginning to live up to his preseason billing. He completed 28 of 40 passes for 363 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-23 victory over West Virginia. His teammates got the picture. Receiver Lamar Thomas struck a Heisman pose at the goal line after catching Torretta’s final touchdown pass, which gave the Hurricanes a 35-3 lead.