When Mack Brown turned on the television in his den a couple of weeks ago, he might have thought to himself, “Didn’t Warrick Dunn graduate?”
There was a good reason for the North Carolina head coach’s uncertainty as he settled in to watch the Florida State-Virginia game. On the first play from scrimmage, Seminoles tailback Travis Minor took a handoff and romped 87 yards for a touchdown.
“The first play of the Virginia game, Travis Minor looked like Warrick Dunn,” Brown said. “I had to get up and throw up after watching the thing. I saw him on film last year (as a blue-chip recruit) and I didn’t want to have to play him.”
It’s easy to confuse Dunn and Minor. Both went to Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, La. Minor wears Dunn’s No. 28. And both make opposing head coaches nauseous.
Brown will enjoy a closer view of Minor when the third-ranked Seminoles visit No. 5 Carolina in Kenan Stadium Saturday night. The game will kick off right about the time No. 2 Penn State and No. 4 Michigan are wrapping up their battle in State College.
The 8-0 Tar Heels hope to live up to their billing as the best team in school history. To do that, they’ll have to overcome Florida State, which is 45-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
FSU (8-0) struggled to run the ball early in the season, but it has been a different team since head coach Bobby Bowden turned to Minor, who was slowed by an off-season ankle injury. “If you didn’t know a lot about Florida State, you might think it was another Warrick Dunn out there,” Tar Heels defensive end Greg Ellis said.
In the game that made Brown queasy, Minor romped through the Cavaliers for 159 rushing yards and 68 receiving yards. Yardage figures to come a little tougher against Carolina, which ranks second nationally to Michigan in total defense.
But FSU rates fourth nationally in defense, and first against the rush.
No matter what happens Saturday night, Carolina will go to a sixth consecutive bowl this season, a school record. But Brown, an FSU grad and Seminoles running back in 1971 and 1972, knows that Tar Heels fans aren’t going to be satisfied with just any postseason trip. They have their sights set on the Orange Bowl.
“I think the big thing Mack wants to know is how far his program has come, and have they reached our level yet,” Bowden said. “They sure look like they have to me.”
Subtitles: Maybe the Big Ten shouldn’t be in such a hurry to add a conference title game. Consider some of the games that could be coming Dec. 6:
In the Southeastern Conference, they are bracing for a possible matchup between Tennessee and Mississippi State. Where have you gone, Alabama?
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In the Big 12, how about a rematch between Nebraska and Texas Tech? The Cornhuskers slipped past Tech 29-0 in their regular-season meeting.
And out in the Western Athletic Conference, imagine the ramifications of a Colorado State-Rice showdown.
Smartin’ Spartans: In just 16 days, Michigan State has gone from a 5-0 Rose Bowl contender to 5-3 team scrambling to stay in the bowl picture.
First the Spartans lost at Northwestern 19-17. Then they were drilled by Michigan (23-7) and Ohio State (37-13), both in East Lansing.
Next up is a trip to West Lafayette, where 6-2 Purdue and a soldout Ross-Ade Stadium await.
“We want to try to get our players to have a positive attitude and look forward to finishing the season on a positive note,” Spartans coach Nick Saban said.
Fairly or unfairly, much of the blame for State’s offensive woes has fallen on quarterback Todd Schultz. He’s thrown seven interceptions in the last two games.
“I have no confidence right now,” Schultz said. “I can understand why (Saban) might consider making a change. He’s got to do what’s best for the team and I’m playing nowhere near my best.”
Saban said he wouldn’t name Saturday’s starting quarterback until after practices this week. His other option is Bill Burke, a 6-foot-5-inch sophomore.
“We’re getting to the point where we don’t even want to put the ball in the air,” Saban said.
Fourth and inches: Washington might have lost tailback Rashaan Shehee for the season with a sprained left knee. But Huskies quarterback Brock Huard, who sprained an ankle last week, probably will be available Saturday against Oregon as the Huskies gun for their 12th straight conference victory. . . . Arizona State’s Bruce Snyder ranks second on the school’s career coaching list with 38 wins. If he goes undefeated for the next 12-plus seasons, Snyder could catch Frank Kush, who won 176 games from 1958-79. “I know I’ll never catch Frank, but I’ll do what I can to make it harder for someone else to finish second,” said Snyder, whose stock is high for keeping the Sun Devils in the Pac-10 race a year after they lost Jake Plummer to the NFL. ASU is 3-1 against Top 25 opponents. . . . When Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Purdue bounced their coaches last year, officials at each school cited concerns over attendance. Purdue has two sellouts this year. The other three schools have none. . . . Purdue seeks candidates for its athletic directorship in this week’s editions of the NCAA News. The stipulation that “a criminal conviction records check is required for employment in this position” is raising eyebrows in athletic departments around the Big Ten. . . . Eighth-ranked Tennessee knows better than to overlook No. 24 Southern Mississippi this weekend. The last time Tennessee met a Conference USA team, it lost 21-17 at Memphis a year ago. “I think we have the talent to play them,” Southern Mississippi receiver Sherrod Gideon said. . . . Twice in the last three weeks, Auburn has rushed for negative yardage (minus-28 against Florida and minus-3 against Mississippi State). No shock that the Tigers dropped both games. . . . Iowa coach Hayden Fry isn’t relishing this weekend’s visit to Madison, and not only because Ron Dayne will be waiting in Camp Randall Stadium. “We’ve got to ride that dadgum bus up there and back and the weather doesn’t project to be too good,” Fry said. . . . The standings don’t show it, but 2-7 Minnesota is improving under new coach Glen Mason, especially on defense, where the Golden Gophers were awful in recent years. The Gophers lost to Penn State and Wisconsin by a point apiece, then made Michigan work for a 24-3 victory last weekend in Ann Arbor. “They’re only a few players away from being a very good football team,” Michigan Athletic Director Tom Goss said.