— Miami Hurricanes: After its 28-16 thumping of Oklahoma, there was no doubt that Miami, led by Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde, was the top team in the country.
BOWL GAME
— Fiesta: Miami (11-0) vs. Penn State (11-0). The only Division I teams to go undefeated will battle it out for the national title.
CONFERENCE RACE
— Southeastern: LSU won the right to go to the Sugar Bowl with a 5-1 record when Auburn beat Alabama on the final weekend. Four teams finished second in the SEC with 4-2 records.
Runner-up
— Mid-American: On the final weekend, when Miami of Ohio emerged as the winner, six schools entered with a chance to represent the MAC in Saturday`s California Bowl against San Jose State.
COMEBACK
Trailing 35-3 at halftime, Morehead State (Ky.) rallied to win 36-35 against Wichita State on a final TD with 27 seconds remaining. Wichita dropped football at the close of the season.
Runner-up
San Jose State, trailing 41-31 with 1:15 remaining, defeated Fresno State 45-41.
COACHING JOB
— Francis Peay, Northwestern: The Wildcats showed improvement in almost every department in winning four games for the first time since 1973.
Runner-up
— Mark Duffner, Holy Cross: Under the most tragic of circumstances–suicide death of coach Rick Carter in the offseason–Duffner rallied the Crusaders from a 4-6-1 record in `85 to 10 straight victories this year before a season- ending loss to Boston College.
UPSET
— Minnesota 20, Michigan 17: This was the Wolverines` only loss of the season, eliminating any chance that a school other than Miami (Fla.) or Penn State could win the national title.
Runner-up
— Miami (Ohio) 21, LSU 12: The Redskins did it in Baton Rouge, too.
RUSHING EFFORT
— Team: Oklahoma`s 681 yards in a 77-0 rout of Missouri.
— Individual: Paul Palmer of Temple ran for 349 yards against East Carolina in a 45-28 victory.
PASSING EFFORT
— Team: San Jose State passed for 508 yards against Pacific in a 44-15 victory.
— Individual: Mike Perez passed for all 508 in San Jose`s game with Pacific. DEFENSIVE EFFORT
— Steve Boswell, Georgia: The Bulldog linebacker made 19 tackles and a game- saving interception that preserved a 20-16 upset of Auburn.
THIEF
Colorado State`s Jim King intercepted four passes against Wyoming in a 20-15 victory.
TWO-WAY PLAYER
— Gordon Lockbaum, Holy Cross: He scored 22 TDs for the Crusaders at RB in addition to starting at DB, where his 22 tackles against Army help spring a 17-14 upset.
Runner-up
— Rod Woodson, Purdue: Given more opportunities than just his final game, when he rushed for 93 yards and caught 3 passes, Woodson, a DB who returned an interception 100 yards against Iowa a week earlier, could`ve made everyone forget Lockbaum.
THE REST
— Oklahoma`s Keith Jackson was a consensus first-team All-America at tight end, but he didn`t rank among the Big Eight`s leading pass-catchers because he had only 14 receptions. However, Jackson averaged 25 yards a touch because his reception yardage was 403 yards and he rushed 6 times for 98 yards.
— Critics of the quality of play at the military academies take note: When Army defeated Navy 27-7 in the final game of the season, there was not a single penalty flag.
— Colorado State RB Steve Bartalo finished his career with 1,211 rushes to set an NCAA all-time record for most carries. Bartalo, who ran for more than 1,000 yards in three seasons, was a walk-on quarterback.
— Beleaguered Northwestern fans should mark Oct. 10, 1987, on their calendars. It`s the date when Columbia could top the Wildcats` all-time major- college losing streak of 34 consecutive games. The Lions would have to lose to Princeton that day after first bowing to Harvard, Lafayette and Penn.
TV BLOOPERS
— CBS-TV: With 2 seconds remaining, Notre Dame called a timeout to set up the winning field goal in its 38-37 victory over Southern Cal. But CBS lingered too long with its commercial and the viewers next live look at the game showed Irish players celebrating after John Carney`s kick. CBS then ran a tape of the field goal.
THE BOZ
In one of Oklahoma`s games this year, linebacker Brian Bosworth had
”Flutie?” inscribed on the sole of one of his shoes because he found the Bears` QB ”arrogant” during their one meeting.
Runner-up
Going into Oklahoma`s pivotal 28-0 victory over Colorado, Bosworth predicted that the Buffaloes would accumulate first downs at the same rate OU would score TDs.
BEST BETS FOR `87
— Team: Oklahoma, with or without Brian Bosworth.
— Individual: Tim Brown, Notre Dame. The junior flanker`s exploits were overshadowed most of the season by Fighting Irish losses and a new coach, but in the final game on national TV he flashed across the screen for 252 yards in a dramatic 38-37 victory over Southern Cal.
ALTERED STATES
Everything`s A-1 in Keystone State
Penn State (11-0) was one of two schools to have an unblemished record in Division 1-A, and Penn (10-0) was one of two schools to do the same in Division 1-AA.
Hoosier hotshots
Make it the Big 1 and Little 2. Indiana, for the first time, was the only one of the state`s three majors to have better than a .500 record. The Hoosiers went 6-5 while Notre Dame was 5-6 and Purdue 3-8.
Nothing could be finer
Both North Carolina and North Carolina State are going to bowls. The last time that happened was 1977.
No California gold rush
For the first time since 1981, neither Southern Cal nor UCLA will be playing in a major New Year`s Day bowl game.
Stars keep shining in Alabama
Last year, Auburn`s Bo Jackson finished third in the nation in rushing with an average of 162 yards a game. This year, Auburn`s Brent Fullwood, his replacement, finished fourth at 126 yards.
Arizona gets its day in the sun
Arizona State, after several close calls, became the first team from the state to qualify for the Rose Bowl since the Sun Devils and Arizona were admitted to the Pac-10 in 1978.
Oregon trailed (again)
Skies continued to be overcast in Oregon, where Oregon State finished 3-8 and Oregon went 5-6. The two schools haven`t had a winning season in the same year since 1970.
No ah`s in Kansas
The combined record of Kansas` three major programs was 8-25. Kansas (3-8) and Kansas State (2-9) haven`t had winning records in the same season since 1933. Wichita State decided to drop the sport after its 3-8 record in 1986.
OVER & OUT TROPHIES
Most overlooked player
— Wendell Davis, wide receiver, junior, LSU: Quickly, now, which receiver accumulated the most yards this season?
Runner-up
— Mike Junkin, linebacker, senior, Duke: If this wasn`t the year of the linebacker, he`d be a shoo-in for first team All-America.
Most overlooked team
— Arkansas: Picked for no better than fourth in the sanction-riddled SWC, only an upset loss to Baylor prevented the Razorbacks (9-2) from going to the Cotton Bowl after beating league champ Texas A&M.
Runner-up
— Stanford: The Cardinal has had its best season (8-3) in years, but the school band got more ink.
Most over-rated player
— Mike Shula, quarterback, senior, Alabama: This guy stayed on everybody`s Heisman list, but he didn`t finish among the top 20 passers. Maybe the Dolphins will draft him.
Runner-up
— Alfred Jenkins, quarterback, senior, Arizona: He started the season as an All-America candidate and finished as an alternate starter.
Most over-rated team
— Iowa: The Hawkeyes were 8-3, but the combined record of their victims was 34-56. They beat only three teams with winning records and each was 6-5.
COACHING CHANGES
Coaches who won`t be back in 1987
Fred Akers, Texas
Bill Arnsparger, LSU
Leon Burtnett, Purdue
Ron Chismar, Wichita State
Bobby Collins, SMU
Jim Criner, Iowa State
Bill Dooley, Virginia Tech
Jack Harbaugh, W. Michigan
Jim Hilles, Wisconsin
Joe Kapp, California
David McWilliams, Tex. Tech
Don Morton, Tulsa
Bobby Ross, Maryland
Ted Tollner, Southern Cal
Gary Tranquill, Navy
Bill Yeoman, Houston
Joe Yukica, Dartmouth
AWARD WINNERS
— Heisman Trophy: Vinny Testaverde, quarterback, Miami (Fla.).
— Outland Trophy: Jason Buck, defensive end, Brigham Young.
— Lombardi Award: Cornelius Bennett, linebacker, Alabama.
— Maxwell Trophy: Testaverde.
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
— Atlantic Coast: Clemson, 5-1-1, 7-2-2 overall
— Big Eight: Oklahoma, 7-0-0, 10-1-0 overall
— Big 10: Tie, Michigan, 7-1-0, 11-1-0 overall; Ohio State, 7-1-0, 9-3-0 overall
— Big Sky: Nevada-Reno, 7-0-0, 13-0-0 overall
— CCIW: Augustana, 7-0-1, 11-0-1 overall
— Colonial League: Holy Cross, 4-0-0, 10-1-0 overall
— Gateway Athletic: Eastern Illinois, 5-1-0, 11-2-0 overall
— Gulf Star: Sam Houston, 3-1-0, 9-3-0 overall
— Ivy League: Penn, 7-0-0, 10-0-0 overall
— Mid-American: Miami (Ohio), 6-2-0, 8-3-0 overall
— Mid-Eastern Athletic: North Carolina A&T, 4-1-0, 9-3-0 overall
— Ohio Valley: Tie, Eastern Kentucky, 6-1-0, 9-3-1 overall; Murray State, 6-1-0, 7-4-1 overall
— Pac-10: Arizona State, 5-1-1, 9-1-1 overall
— Pacific Coast Athletic Association: San Jose State, 7-0-0, 9-2-0 overall
— Southeastern: Louisiana State, 5-1-0, 9-2-0 overall
— Southern: Appalachian State, 6-0-1, 9-2-1 overall
— Southland: Arkansas State, 5-0-0, 11-1-1 overall
— Southwest: Texas A&M, 7-1-0, 9-2-0 overall
— Southwestern Athletic: Jackson State, 7-0-0, 9-3-0 overall
— Western Athletic: San Diego State, 7-1-0, 8-3-0 overall
— Yankee: Tie, Delaware, 5-2-0, 9-4-0 overall; Massachusetts, 5-2-0, 8-3-0 overall; Connecticutt, 5-2-0, 8-3-0 overall
AP ALL-AMERICA TEAM
First team
Offense
TIGHT END–Keith Jackson, Oklahoma, 6-3, 242, junior, Little Rock, Ark.
WIDE RECEIVERS–Tim Brown, Notre Dame, 6-0, 192, junior, Dallas, Texas;
Cris Carter, Ohio State, 6-3, 194, junior, Middletown, Ohio.
TACKLES–Harris Barton, North Carolina, 6-5, 283, senior, Atlanta, Ga.;
Danny Villa, Arizona State, 6-6, 293, senior, Nogales, Ariz.
GUARDS–Jeff Bregel, Southern California, 6-4, 280, senior, Granada Hills, Calif.; Mark Hutson, Oklahoma, 6-4, 280, junior, Fort Smith, Ark.
CENTER–Ben Tamburello, Auburn, 6-3, 268, senior, Birmingham, Ala.
QUARTERBACK–Vinny Testaverde, Miami (Fla.), 6-5, 218, senior, Elmont, N.Y.
RUNNING BACKS–Brent Fullwood, Auburn, 5-11, 209, senior, St. Cloud, Fla.; Paul Palmer, Temple, 5-9, 180, senior, Potomac, Md.
PLACEKICKER–Jeff Jaeger, Washington, 5-11 1/2, 191, senior, Kent, Wash.
Defense
ENDS-OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS–Cornelius Bennett, Alabama, 6-4, 235, senior, Birmingham, Ala.; Shane Conlan, Penn State, 6-3, 225, senior, Frewsburg, N.Y. TACKLES–Jerome Brown, Miami (Fla.), 6-2, 285, senior, Brooksville, Fla.; Al Noga, Hawaii, 6-1, 239, junior, Honolulu, Hawaii.
NOSE GUARD–Danny Noonan, Nebraska, 6-4, 280, senior, Lincoln, Neb.
INSIDE LINEBACKERS–Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma, 6-2, 240, junior, Irving, Texas; Chris Spielman, Ohio State, 6-2, 232, junior, Massillon, Ohio.
BACKS–Bennie Blades, Miami (Fla.), 6-0, 207, junior, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Thomas Everett, Baylor, 5-8, 175, senior, Daingerfield, Texas; Mark Moore, Oklahoma State, 6-0, 198, senior, Nacogdoches, Texas; Rod Woodson, Purdue, 6-1, 200, senior, Fort Wayne, Ind.
PUNTER–Barry Helton, Colorado, 6-4, 190, junior, Simla, Colo.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Team
— Rushing offense: 1, Oklahoma, 719 carries, 4452 yards, 404.7 yards per game; 2, Nebraska, 656, 3360, 305.5; 3, Tulsa, 652, 3184, 289.5; 4, Central Mich., 591, 2798, 279.8; 5, Army, 689, 3042, 276.5; 6, Clemson, 648, 3007, 273.4; 7, Pacific, 677, 2960, 269.1; 8, Alabama, 585, 3167, 263.9; 9, Georgia, 596, 2802, 254.7; 10, North Carolina, 553, 2777, 252.5.
— Passing offense: 1, San Jose St., 456 attempts, 276 completions, 3437 yards, 312.5 yards per game; 2, Wyoming, 564, 305, 3523, 293.6; 3, South Carolina, 356, 216, 3187, 289.7; 4, Utah, 451, 264, 3157, 287.0; 5, Oregon St., 527, 312, 3149, 286.3; 6, Miami (Fla.), 338, 209, 3095, 281.4; 7, Long Beach St., 449, 259, 3089, 280.8; 8, Texas-El Paso, 437, 270, 3231, 269.3; 9, Cincinnati, 374, 237, 2831, 257.4; 10, San Diego St., 390, 241, 2766, 251.5.
— Total offense: 1, San Jose St., 909 plays, 5295 yards, 481.3 yards per game; 2, Oklahoma, 807, 5210, 473.6; 3, Texas A&M, 895, 4842, 440.1; 4, New Mexico, 897, 5269, 439.0; 5, Baylor, 889, 4827, 438.8; 6, North Carolina, 822, 4796, 436.0; 7, Michigan, 870, 5175, 431.2; 8, Utah, 823, 4684, 425.8; 9, Iowa, 772, 4628, 420.7; 10, Auburn, 766, 4580, 416.3.
— Rushing defense: 1, Oklahoma, 408 carries, 668 yards, 60.7 yards per game; 2, San Jose St., 387, 724, 65.8; 3, Penn St., 383, 767, 69.7; 4, Arizona, 392, 928, 84.4; 5, Baylor, 396, 977, 88.8; 6, Brigham Young, 439, 1066, 88.8; 7, Washington, 400, 978, 88.9; 8, Pittsburgh, 433, 1027, 93.4; 9, Nebraska, 442, 1051, 95.5; 10, Fresno St., 462, 1097, 99.7.
— Passing defense: 1, Oklahoma, 263 attempts, 128 completions, 1198 yards, 108.9 yards per game; 2, Tennessee, 203, 99, 1248, 113.5; 3, Bowling Green, 221, 109, 1257, 114.3; 4, Florida, 227, 119, 1287, 117.0; 5, Oklahoma St., 193, 105, 1331, 121.0; 6, Mississippi St., 197, 103, 1423, 129.4; 7, Toledo, 263, 146, 1464, 133.1; 8, Mississippi, 268, 127, 1484, 134.9; 9, Georgia Tech, 253, 129, 1506, 136.9; 10, Miami (Fla.), 291, 130, 1506, 136.9.
Individual
— Total offense: 1, Mike Perez, San Jose St., 2969 total yards, 329.8 yards per game; 2, Todd Ellis, South Carolina, 2975, 270.4; 3, Cody Carlson, Baylor 2640, 264.0; 4, Sammy Garza, UTEP, 3002, 250.1; 5, Vinny Testaverde, Miami, Fla., 2454, 245.4; 6, Mike Elkins, Wake Forest, 2443, 244.3; 7, Dan Henning, Maryland, 2681, 243.7; 8, Terrence Jones, Tulane, 2671, 242.8; 9, Erik Wilhelm, Oregon St., 2665, 242.2; 10, Larry Egger, Utah, 2625, 238.6.
— Rushers: 1, Paul Palmer, Temple, 346 carries, 1866 yards; 2, Kelvin Farmer, Toledo, 299, 1532; 3, Steve Bartalo, Col. St., 366, 1419; 4, Brent Fullwood, Auburn, 167, 1391; 5, Derrick Fenner, N.C., 200, 1250; 6, Rodney Stevenson, C. Mich., 208, 1104; 7, Bobby Humphrey, Ala., 236, 1471; 8, Reggie Taylor, Cin., 256, 1325; 9, Troy Stradford, Boston Col., 218, 1188; 10, Rick Calhoun, Cal St.-Fullerton, 259, 1398.
— Passers: 1, Vinny Testaverde, 276 attempts, 175 completions, 2557 yards, 165.8 rating; 2, Jim Harbaugh, Michigan, 254, 167, 2557, 157.0; 3, Dave Yarema, Michigan St., 297, 200, 2581, 150.7; 4, Shawn Halloran, Boston College, 258, 159, 2090, 146.8; 5, Mark Vlasic, Iowa 152, 93, 1234, 143.7. 6, Tom Hodson, LSU, 288, 175, 2261, 142.9; 7, Jeff Francis, Tennessee, 233, 150, 1946, 142.1; 8, Lee Saltz, Temple, 203, 117, 1727, 141.7; 9, Jeff Van Raaphorst, Arizona St., 239, 144, 1988, 141.6; 10, Ned James, New Mexico, 215, 125, 1777, 141.6.
— Receiving: 1, Mark Templeton, 99 catches, 688 yards, 9 catches per game; 2, Loren Richey, Utah, 67, 775, 7.4; 3, Wendell Davis, LSU, 80, 1244, 7.2; 4, Dave Montagne, Oregon St. 78, 862, 7; 5, Sterling Sharpe, South Carolina, 74, 1106, 6.7; 6, Guy Liggins, San Jose St., 72, 983, 6.5; 7, Marc Zeno, Tulane, 68, 1033, 6.1; 8, James Brim, Wake Forest, 66, 930, 6.0; 9, Rod Bernstine, Texas A&M, 65, 710, 5.9; 10, Craig McEwen, Utah, 64, 721, 5.8.
— Field goals: 1, Chris Kinzer, Va. Tech, 27 attempted, 22 made, 2.00 averge per game; 2, Gary Coston, Arizona, 24, 21, 1.91; 3, Scott Slater, Texas A&M, 27, 21, 1.91; 4, John Carney, Notre Dame, 28, 21, 1.91; 5, Barry Belli, Fresno St., 31, 21, 1.91.
— Punting: 1, Greg Horne, Arkansas, 49 punts, 47.20 yards average per punt;
2, Alexander Waits, Texas, 48, 46.13; 3, Chris Becker, Texas Christian, 59, 46.05; 4, Barry Helton, Colorado, 57, 45.60; 5, Bill Smith, Mississippi, 57, 44.25.
