SPORTS WEEKEND : Week 5 Primer : Can Neuheisel Beat His Recruits?

GAME OF THE WEEK

Colorado (2-1) at Washington (0-2), 12:30 p.m., Channel 7

Michigan at Wisconsin may be a more important game nationally, but if you’re looking for Shakespeare in the park, the place to park this weekend is Seattle.

Crummy starts by Washington and Colorado wrecked what could have been a national headliner game, but Rick Neuheisel versus Gary Barnett still has plenty of Puget punch.

It will be Neuheisel’s first look at his former team since he left Colorado for Washington last December. Neuheisel recruited all but one of the Buffaloes’ top 22 players, which should at least give the first-year Washington coach a tactical advantage.

“He’s in a better position to create matchups, knowing the personnel on both sides,” said Barnett, in his first year as Colorado coach.

Neuheisel can’t argue the point.

“I think I would, if I was paying attention,” he said when asked if he had an edge. “I certainly know their physical attributes.”

Washington might have caught another break when Colorado quarterback Mike Moschetti suffered a severe knee sprain in last week’s victory over Kansas. Neuheisel is the man responsible for Moschetti’s success, converting the junior college transfer from safety to quarterback when he arrived at Boulder in 1997.

“Knowing Mike Moschetti, he’ll play,” Neuheisel said. “He’s been down before. Given all the events of the last nine months, I think he wants desperately to play.”

Just to stick it to his old coach?

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Neuheisel said. “I think he’s just competitive.”

If Moschetti can’t go, or isn’t effective, Colorado will have to entrust redshirt freshman Zac Colvin, or junior Adam Bledsoe, Drew’s brother.

Although he helped fan the flames of controversy by suggesting Neuheisel tried to influence Colorado recruits to follow him to Washington, Barnett says the drama of this coaching spat was diluted when Colorado lost its opener to Colorado State.

“I don’t think it’s an issue right now,” Barnett said of his feud with Neuheisel. “. . . Now it’s down to survival, trying to become a better football team.”

Line: Colorado by 1.

Rating the TV Games

**** Whoa, Nellie

*** Fix the car tomorrow

** OK to watch golf infomercials

* For WWF scouts only

** Indiana (1-2) at No. 2 Penn State (4-0), 9 a.m., ESPN

Tune in to learn that “Chafie” Fields is a French and Arabic word meaning “child who will bring great joy to parents.”

Line: Penn State by 26.

** Northwestern (2-1) at No. 13 Purdue (3-0), 9 a.m., ESPN2

A dangerous game for a Purdue team looking ahead to Michigan.

Line: Purdue by 28.

*** No. 15 Kansas State (2-0) at Iowa State (3-0), 9:30 a.m., FSW2

A dangerous game for a Kansas State team looking ahead to Texas.

Line: Kansas State by 15 1/2.

*** No. 14 Arkansas (2-0) at Alabama (2-1), 12:30 p.m., Channel 2

A dangerous game for an Alabama coach not looking ahead to retirement.

Line: Arkansas by 2 1/2.

** Oklahoma (2-0) at Louisville (2-1), 12:30 p.m., FSW

A must-win for Heisman quarterback candidate and Louisville slugger Chris Redmond.

Line: Pick ‘em.

*** No. 9 Miami (2-1) at East Carolina (3-0), 3 p.m., ESPN2

Hurricanes could be in trouble if they haven’t let the Penn State loss go.

Line: Miami by 11.

** No. 6 Nebraska (3-0) at Missouri (2-0), 4 p.m., FSW

Will Tigers show Cornhuskers anything?

Line: Nebraska by 17.

*** No. 3 Florida (3-0) at Kentucky (2-1), 4:30 p.m., ESPN

It could be the first game ever played without running backs.

Line: Florida by 20.

** Virginia (2-1) at No. 17 Brigham Young (2-0), 6 p.m., ESPN2

BYU celebrates coach’s contact extension with milk-and-cookies party.

Line: BYU by 7.

5 Things to Look for

1. Ron Dayne’s last Heisman stand? The Wisconsin back has rushed for 524 yards in three games but faces a possible make-or-break weekend when Michigan comes to town. Last year in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines held Dayne to 53 yards in 16 carries, a 3.3-yard average. Can Dayne survive a bad weekend? Possibly. Last year, Texas tailback Ricky Williams recovered to win the Heisman after a 43-yard rushing day against Kansas State.

2. Another advisory to people who think they can make money by betting on college football. Last weekend, the Las Vegas geniuses listed Wisconsin as a 27-point favorite over Cincinnati, Arizona State as a 25-point favorite over New Mexico State and Alabama and Arizona as two-touchdown favorites over Louisiana Tech and Stanford, respectively. All four of the heavily favored schools were beaten.

3. Mike DuBose’s long goodbye. The pillars continue to crumble around the beleaguered Alabama coach. This week, Athletic Director Bob Bockrath, the man who hired DuBose, resigned two days after a home loss to Louisiana Tech. DuBose, four games into his third year, is 13-13 at the helm. Not even a victory over Arkansas this weekend and over archrival Auburn on Nov. 20 may be enough to save his job.

4. Another check, please, for Central Florida. The Golden Knights must have thought quarterback Daunte Culpepper had another year of eligibility when they scheduled games against four ranked opponents in September. After losses to Purdue, Florida and Georgia Tech, Central Florida takes another one in the chops this weekend at Georgia.

5. Another statement from the upstarts. The first-year Mountain West Conference, looking to leverage respect from bowl championship series power brokers, is 5-4 against schools from BCS conferences and can make it 7-4 this weekend if BYU beats Virginia and San Diego State defeats Kansas.

The Other Games

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FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG Arizona 13 at Washington St. Arizona St. 1 1/2 at California Michigan St. 7 at Illinois at Syracuse 13 West Virginia Boston College 7 at Rutgers No. Carolina St. 6 1/2 at Wake Forest at Army 9 1/2 Ball St. Miami, Ohio 19 Central Michigan at Georgia 28 Central Florida Michigan 3 at Wisconsin Nebraska 17 at Missouri at Ohio St. 32 Cincinnati at Auburn 3 Mississippi at Air Force 9 1/2 Wyoming at SMU 14 Hawaii Florida St. 20 at North Carolina at Tennessee 30 1/2 Memphis Nevada 1 1/2 at Fresno St. at E. Michigan pick Akron Bowling Green 16 at Kent Houston 7 at Ala. Birmingham TCU 16 1/2 at Arkansas St. Texas 16 at Baylor at Duke 3 1/2 Vanderbilt at Kansas 2 San Diego St. at Marshall 28 Temple at Mississippi St. 13 South Carolina at Ohio 22 Buffalo at Rice 7 Navy at La. Lafayette 2 1/2 Middle Tennessee at Texas A&M; 10 1/2 So. Mississippi W. Michigan 8 1/2 at No. Illinois at San Jose St. 4 Tulsa New Mexico 3 at Boise St. New Mexico St. 3 at Texas El Paso Utah 14 1/2 at UNLV

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