Hawaii’s Timmy Chang needs 559 yards passing Saturday night against San Jose State to break the NCAA record of 15,031 yards set by Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer from 1988-91. Considering that Chang threw for 534 yards against Louisiana Tech last year, 559 doesn’t seem impossible. But the right-hander is nursing an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, meaning Chang probably will have to wait for next week’s game at No. 19 Boise State.
Chang has a “quick release similar to Jeff George, and his arm ability reminds me of a Chris Miller type of guy,” Hawaii coach June Jones said. “He has unbelievable vision. He’s got a lot of things that are rare.”
In five games this season, Chang has thrown for 1,659 yards and 13 touchdowns, with one interception. On the other hand, with 68 interceptions Chang is close to Purdue quarterback Mark Herrmann’s record of 73.
Bush sprouts
When Washington’s defense lines up against Southern California this weekend, the first job for the Huskies will be finding No. 5. Because where Reggie Bush goes, the ball often follows, which usually leads to another big play for the Trojans.
“You better know where he is on every snap, because it is going to be hard to miss him,” Huskies coach Keith Gilbertson said. “He can run and catch while making you miss.”
Said Stanford coach Buddy Teevens: “The only place you feel comfortable is when he’s on the bench.”
Oregon State coach Mike Riley, a former NFL head coach, compared Bush to seven-time Pro Bowl back Marshall Faulk.
“He’s that dual-purpose guy,” Riley said. “That’s a good comparison. He’s a versatile football player. He’s a problem wherever they play him.”
To stay or to go?
When the season is over, Georgia offensive guard Max Jean-Gilles will decide whether to return for his senior year or enter the NFL draft. He said he would give the pros serious consideration if he was projected to go in “the top 10 or top 20” of the draft. But he doesn’t want thoughts of an NFL career to interfere with his play for the No. 10 Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1 SEC), who travel to Arkansas on Saturday.
“It’s kind of like recruiting in high school all over again,” he said. “I’ll just deal with it after the season.”
On the rebound
Kansas’ Mark Mangino and Texas A&M’s Dennis Franchione are making cases to be Big 12 coach of the year by rebuilding programs that had fallen on hard times.
Mangino’s long-dormant Jayhawks (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) have three losses by a combined 10 points. They’re headed to No. 2 Oklahoma this week as something less than the patsies they have been in recent years. “We try to stay as positive as we can, even in tough times,” said Mangino.
Even more impressive is the way Texas A&M has risen in Franchione’s second year. After opening with a loss to Utah, the No. 17 Aggies (5-1, 3-0) have reeled off five straight wins, including a 36-20 upset of Oklahoma State. “I don’t know if any of us could have projected we would be 5-1 at this point,” Franchione said. “But I do know there was a good belief system after the Utah game that this was not the team we thought it could be, that we could be better than that.”
Berlin a wall
In 17 starts, Brock Berlin has engineered four fourth-quarter comebacks for Miami. Two have come this season.
“He seems to play better when the chips are down and things don’t look good,” coach Larry Coker said. “But I know this: He never flinched during the game.”
Extra points
UCLA running back Maurice Drew rushed for 322 yards against Washington last month and had 625 yards during a three-game stretch. But the Bruins have only 193 yards on the ground the last two games. … Nebraska is at Kansas State this week in a game that once upon a time meant a great deal. Now it’s a match of two programs struggling to regain their old status. “I don’t think it’s a matter of where the program is, it’s a matter of where our teams are right now,” Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. “We are not where we’d like to be.” . . . Three young linebackers will make their first career starts for struggling Mississippi State against No. 20 Florida. Freshmen Gabe O’Neil and Titus Brown will join sophomore Quinton Culberson in the starting lineup. Their jobs are to contain the SEC’s top passer, Chris Leak, and its second-leading rusher, Ciatrick Fason.
