College notepad

By Joel Buchsbaum, Contributing editor
Sunday, Sept. 19, 1999

• It looks as if Michigan is going to make the switch and go with Drew Henson at quarterback full time. The fact that Henson played the entire last three quarters in a close game vs. Syracuse heading into the Big Ten season gives every indication that Wolverines head coach Lloyd Carr is going to go with him for the duration barring injury. This should not mean that Tom Brady will not play at all; it just means that Henson will be the lead. Against Syracuse, Henson showed tremendous arm strength and physical ability, but at times his inexperience showed up, and at times he doesn’t yet have the touch that Brady has on his throws.

• Louisiana Tech QB Tim Rattay injured his right ankle at the end of the Alabama game and was taken off the field. The preliminary diagnosis was a sprain. Before going down, Rattay threw for 368 yards and three TDs vs. the Crimson Tide.

• Arkansas QB Clint Stoerner injured his right shoulder near the end of the Razorbacks’ game vs. Louisiana-Monroe. Why Stoerner was still in the game that late with a lopsided score is a mystery — one that, if the injury turns out to be serious, could come back to haunt Arkansas as soon as this week’s game vs. Alabama.

• Saturday may have been one of the worst days the Pacific-10 has ever experienced in football. New Mexico State destroyed Arizona State. Washington lost to Air Force. Arizona, which many preseason publications had picked as a top-five team, lost by four touchdowns to Stanford. Idaho beat Washington State. And Oregon State was very lucky to beat I-AA Georgia Southern 48-41. Plus, USC just got by an average San Diego State team, and UCLA had a rough time of it with Fresno State.

• In Florida’s big win over Tennessee, the most amazing thing to me was that the Volunteers made so few adjustments to compensate for what Florida was doing to them. As a result, Florida’s brilliant sophomore defensive end, Alex Brown, got five sacks in the game.

• The star of Penn State’s thrilling win over Miami (Fla.) was WR Chafie Fields, who caught a TD pass at the end of the first half and the game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Fields spent the summer working out at Vikings WR Cris Carter’s camp in Florida with numerous pro receivers instead of staying in Pennsylvania and working with his Penn State teammates.

• Notre Dame has a very good thing going. The Irish turned down the Big Ten’s offer of membership in part because they get so much more TV money than any conference member. Yet Notre Dame is only 2-7 vs. Big Ten teams in the past three seasons.

• In Nebraska’s narrow win over Southern Mississippi, Bobby Newcombe played so poorly as a receiver and return man it was almost as if he was telling his coach that he didn’t want to make the move from quarterback.

• One reason Illinois has been so surprising this year is that some of the Illini seniors who were once highly regarded but never really developed into solid players are finally starting to come into their own.

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1999 - 2000 Season