Sports

Colleges

College Gameday

Published November 10, 2007

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By the numbers

11 National championships decided at the stadium.

 

3 Of those titles won by Miami on its home field

 

58 Cosecutive victories by UM there at one point.

 

467 Games the Hurricanes have played there.

 

1 More game UM will play there, today against Virginia.

 Five things

1. Nebraska gave up more points to Kansas in one afternoon than it had in the entire decade of the 1970s (60) against the Jayhawks or the '80s (67). KU's 76-point output matched its basketball squad from last year's game in Lincoln.

2. Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan needs three touchdown passes against Fresno State to break the all-time NCAA mark of 121 held by Brigham Young's Ty Detmer.

3. Ty Willingham was 21-13 through 34 games as Notre Dame coach. Charlie Weis is 20-14.

4. Five times in the past six games, opponents have held North Carolina under 17 points.

5. Mississippi State's Wes Carroll is two attempts shy of the NCAA freshman record for passes without an interception to start a career. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy set the record of 138 without an interception playing for the Cowboys in 1986.

 A Flash of success

This year marks the 125th anniversary of Fordham football and the Rams have commemorated the best way possible - with an unexpected run to the playoffs.

Fordham, the private Jesuit school in the Bronx that has produced Vince Lombardi and the famed Seven Blocks of Granite line he played on in 1936, hasn't had much success since moving up to Division I-AA in 1990. The Rams had made the playoffs one other time before this season.

Last week, the Rams clinched at least a share of the Patriot League title with a 24-21 victory over Holy Cross and the automatic berth in the I-AA playoffs.

"We talk to our kids about the tradition at Fordham," coach Tom Masella said. "It gets overlooked being in the big city."

Not much was expected of the Rams (8-2, 5-0) in their second season under Masella, a former New York city firefighter.

Fordham went 3-8 and 1-5 in the Patriot League last season, but this season started with promise: The Rams began 2-2, beating rival Columbia and playing well in losses against solid competition, Albany, N.Y., and Dayton.

Fordham has won four games by seven points or fewer.

The Rams aren't flashy, they just win.

"It's a great story that we've been able to build on that tradition," Masella said. "We've added our own little niche to the Lombardi era and the Seven Blocks of Granite."

 Bulldogs in black?

Georgia's seniors are calling on all Bulldog fans to wear black Saturday between the hedges.

Will the players be part of the blackout, too?

There's plenty of speculation that Georgia will don black uniforms against Auburn, though coach Mark Richt scoffed at the notion of giving up the traditional red jerseys on such short notice.

"It's hard to order up jerseys in a week's time," he said. "That's impossible."

Still, it's an intriguing idea, and Georgia wouldn't be the first team to break out new uniforms in hopes of getting an emotional boost. Notre Dame is known for switching to green jerseys for some of its biggest games.

"We probably should go with some black jerseys," said linebacker Marcus Washington.

Don't count on it, said cornerback Asher Allen.

"You ain't ever going to see that happen," he said.

Taking up a request from the seniors, Richt askedfans to wear black to Sanford Stadium, normally a 92,000-seat sea of red.

"I'm just doing what the seniors asked me to do," Richt said. "They said, 'We think it would be cool.' I think it would be a very good sign of unity."

Richt even came to his weekly news conference wearing a black shirt and pants.

"I'm trying to get it started," he said.

Information from the Associated Press, Charlotte Observer, Los Angeles Times and Miami Herald was used in this report.

Quotable

"I get a winning streak going in the Orange Bowl and they tear it down. What the heck?"

N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien,who had never won at the Orange Bowl as a coach or player until last weekend, when his Wolfpack beat the Hurricanes in overtime

Quotable

"We've got some kids that we have offered, and I think they want to commit. But they want to wait and see if the Internet fires me."

Washington State coach Bill Doba, addressing a Web report that the 3-5 Cougars had no commitments from recruits

Quotable

"I get a winning streak going in the Orange Bowl and they tear it down. What the heck?"

N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien, who had never won at the Orange Bowl as a coach or player until last weekend, when his Wolfpack beat the Hurricanes in overtime.

Information from the Associated Press, Charlotte Observer, Los Angeles Times and Miami Herald was used in this report.

[Last modified November 9, 2007, 23:26:39]

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