Some Alabama fans stayed home Saturday to give about 300 victims of Hurricane Katrina a chance to see the Crimson Tide. Fans dropped off their tickets against Middle Tennessee at a Red Cross shelter at the school's recreation center, which has been home to about 500 people. As kickoff approached, some volunteers at the shelter were teaching the victims, many fans of rival LSU, to say "Roll Tide," Alabama's rallying cry. "I know all about Roll Tide," said Raydell Hayes, who added the gift is even more special because he knows how much Alabama fans love their team. "When Alabama plays LSU, the fans come to the French Quarter, and pretty much what you hear is Roll Tide."
WE NEED A NAME FOR THIS FEAT
Wearing a golden sombrerro means a baseball player struck out four times in a game. So what then for Rutgers' Jeremy Ito, who missed four field goals in a 33-30 overtime loss to Illinois. He missed wide right from 34 yards and wide left from 46. One 43-yarder came up short, and another was blocked. Give the sophomore credit, though, he made a 40-yarder in overtime after a 21-yarder in the first quarter.
HIGH-PROFILE COACHING DEBUTS
(NON-URBAN MEYER DIVISION)
SKIP HOLTZ, EAST CAROLINA: Lou's son beat Duke 24-21.
FRANK SOLICH, OHIO: The ex-Nebraska coach lost 38-14 to Northwestern.
TYRONE WILLINGHAM, WASHINGTON: Fired by Notre Dame after last season, he lost 20-17 to Air Force.
OBSCURE GAME OF THE DAY
HOLY CROSS 56, SACRED HEART 21: Steve Silva ran for three touchdowns, threw two and caught one for the host Crusaders. Silva threw for scores of 8 and 16 yards to quarterback John O'Neil, ran for scores of 4, 9 and 6 yards and caught a score of 25 yards.
PLAYERS OF THE DAY
BRIAN CALHOUN, WISCONSIN: The Milwaukee-area native, who transferred from Colorado, ran 43 times for a career-high 258 yards and school record-tying five touchdowns in a 56-42 win over Bowling Green.
OMAR JACOBS, BOWLING GREEN: Last season, the redshirt junior threw for 4,002 yards and 41 touchdowns. Saturday, it was 305 yards and four touchdowns ... in the first half! He finished with 458 and five touchdowns.
ZACH BAKER, EAST CAROLINA: The senior safety had two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
SHAUN CARNEY, AIR FORCE: The junior directed a 14-play, 83-yard drive, capped by his 1-yard run with 34 seconds left, to beat Washington 20-17. He converted on fourth and 2 by scrambling for 4 yards and hit Jason Brown for 20 yards and Greg Kirkwood for 14 on third downs.
ANTWAN BARNES, FIU: In a 35-21 loss to Kansas State, his forced fumble and recovered fumble set up touchdowns, and he blocked a punt that Nick Turnbull returned 17 yards for a touchdown.
CONFERENCE OF THE DAY
MOUNTAIN WEST: It could have been a huge day for the league that sent Utah to the BCS last season. It will have to settle for good. TCU started it by upsetting No.7 Oklahoma 17-10. But Colorado State lost 31-28 to Colorado on a last-second field goal. BYU fell 20-3 to No.22 Boston College, and Wyoming lost 32-24 to No.10 Florida. Air Force did pick up a win, though, 20-17 against Washington.
NUMBER OF THE DAY
664: Days between Saturday and the last appearance of Boston College quarterback Quinton Porter. A hand injury Nov.8, 2003 ended his junior season, and he redshirted last season. Saturday, he passed for 232 yards against BYU.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"It was fun to watch. But I wish it wasn't against us." - Arkansas State quarterback Nick Noce on Missouri's new spread offense; in 21/2 quarters, quarterback Brad Smith completed 29 of 37 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 95 yards on 12 carries in a 44-17 win.
