Brooks' old Kentucky home may hit market soon.

Byline: AROUND THE NATION By Bob Clark The Register-Guard

By his third year at Oregon, Rich Brooks had the elements in place to follow consecutive 2-9 seasons with a 6-5 record. In his third season at Kentucky, Brooks may be down to a make-or-break game Saturday against Mississippi State, and that's probably the optimistic view of his future as a college coach.

As a columnist for the Louisville Courier-Journal recently wrote of Brooks: `He's a proud man and a fighter. He won't quit. But you get the feeling he won't holler injustice when - it no longer should be if - he's let go.'

The Wildcats are 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the Southeastern Conference entering the homecoming game against Mississippi State. That lone victory, and it was decided in the fourth quarter, was over Idaho State. It means the Brooks record is 7-22 in his three seasons, with five games left in this one.

Kentucky is young, injury-decimated and turnover-prone. The roster is still short in numbers because of NCAA sanctions that limited recruiting, a penalty assessed because of the transgressions of a previous staff.

`Revisionist history now holds that Brooks took over a program that NCAA probation had made into a hopeless quagmire from the start,' wrote Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Mark Story.

Instead, Story maintains that Brooks caused his own undoing by attempting to change the Wildcats from a wide-open passing team to an option team in his first season of 2003, and a squad that included a strong nucleus of seniors struggled to a 4-8 record when it should have been in a bowl game.

`So if Brooks never gets to a year four at Kentucky, the reason will not be because he never had a chance,' Story concluded. `It will be his wasted year one.'

There hasn't been a great deal of public support shown lately by Mitch Barnhart, who went from Oregon State to Kentucky as director of athletics, and subsequently hired Brooks. Barnhart said he's waiting to evaluate the season.

There is already media speculation on who might replace Brooks, and probably about all that can save him is a strong finish, and how likely is that?

Saturday's visit by Mississippi State (2-5) offers an opportunity for a win, but even homecoming may not bring out much of a crowd to Commonwealth Stadium, where the Wildcats haven't played since Sept. 24, when Florida put up 49 points in the first half of a romp.

`I'm hopeful we'll do something early to get the fans enthused and give us an emotional boost,' Brooks said.

And if not? `If we have a thousand people at the game, that's who we have to play for,' Kentucky senior Antoine Huffman said.

After this, the schedule gets brutal. The Wildcats play Auburn at home Nov. 5 before taking trips to Vanderbilt and Georgia, with the finale at home against Tennessee on Nov. 26. The Wildcats have shown no signs they'll win any of those November games.

`There's a lot of frustration right now because we're killing ourselves with penalties and turnovers,' quarterback Andre Woodson said. `We came into the season thinking we were going to be this real talented team ...

`I think a lot of that frustration is hurting our performance. There's yelling on the field with some of the players and ... I don't know. We've just got to figure out how to win a game.'

Knights of the turnaround

Maybe the coach of the year in college football should be George O'Leary, who then could be known for something more than an exaggerated resume.

In his second season at Central Florida, O'Leary has the Knights at 4-3 overall and 3-1 in Conference USA, which puts them tied for first place in the East Division. This is a program that was 0-11 in O'Leary's first season last fall, and now could be headed for one of the five bowl berths that Conference USA is contracted to fill.

One problem: Three of UCF's final four games are on the road, beginning with a Saturday trip to East Carolina. The Knights have one victory in their last 17 road games.

`We have to overcome not being able to get it done on the road,' O'Leary said. `We need to keep the focus where it needs to be, not on new surroundings, a new stadium or anything else. Take care of business.'

This isn't the first dramatic turnaround for an O'Leary program. He inherited a team at Georgia Tech that had been 1-10 in 1994 and led them to a 6-5 record the next season.

The amazing thing at Central Florida is that O'Leary has only 10 seniors on scholarship and 23 freshmen or sophomores have started this season, including seven true freshmen.

`Everybody that I've talked to so far says that UCF is the most talented team in the league,' East Carolina coach Skip Holtz said.

A lasting memorial

It's probably got nothing to do with the results of a certain game against Texas - then again, one could wonder - but Collegiate Memorials said it has sold more college-themed caskets with an Oklahoma logo this season than for any other school.

Behind the 50 Sooners who have been buried in a casket decorated with Oklahoma colors and insignia, the next three schools in order of sales of themed caskets this year are Alabama, Kentucky and Auburn. The season leader in 2004 themed-casket sales was Nebraska, which coincidentally had a losing season.

The firm that makes them is based in Forsyth, Ga., and currently has models for 46 different schools. The cost is about $4,600, with 7 1/2 percent of that going to the school for logo licensing.

`We have some very devoted sports fans here,' Collegiate Memorials president Scott Watson told the Oklahoma Daily, the university's student newspaper. He insisted, though, that `it's not just a sports thing, and we've buried as many women as men' in themed caskets.

Does defense matter

So defense wins games? Check out Northwestern, which is 5-2 despite ranking 117th - that's dead last - in total defense in this week's NCAA statistics.

What offsets that is that Northwestern ranks fourth in the nation with 20 turnovers from opposing teams. And the fact that Northwestern's spread offense is a threat to put up 50 points on any Saturday.

It should be quite a matchup in Evanston, Ill., on Saturday when the Wildcats host Michigan, with both teams still in contention in the Big Ten. The Wildcats will score and give up points, and a Michigan game goes to the wire.

Check out the five Michigan games in the Big Ten this season:

A loss at Wisconsin on Sept. 24 on a touchdown by the Badgers with 24 seconds left.

An overtime win on Oct. 1 at Michigan State.

A defeat to Minnesota on a field goal with a second remaining on Oct. 8.

A victory over Penn State on Oct. 15 on the game's final play.

An overtime win at Iowa last week.

A run for the books

New Mexico tailback DonTrell Moore needs 32 yards in tonight's game against Colorado State to reach 1,000 yards for the season, which would be his fourth.

The only other college backs who have gained 1,000 yards in each of their four seasons were Tony Dorsett, Ron Dayne, Cedric Benson, Denvis Manns and Amos Lawrence.

It should be a sure thing for Moore tonight. In his three previous games against Colorado State, he's averaged 192 yards per game and 6.2 yards per carry.

`He ought to donate some of his money to CSU when he signs his NFL contract,' Rams coach Sonny Lubick said.

There was a question about whether Moore would play this season after he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the Emerald Bowl last December. He had surgery six weeks later and missed spring practice, but is averaging 121 yards through eight games.

`I worked just as hard in the six weeks before the surgery as the six weeks after,' Moore said. `The biggest thing is going into surgery the strongest you can be.'

The running passers

The changing times in college football is illustrated nowhere better than in the Big 12, where the top two rushers are quarterbacks, Brad Smith of Missouri (123.6 yards per game) and Reggie McNeil of Texas A&M (89.1). There's also a certain running quarterback named Vince Young in that league, but the Texas junior is 11th in the league in rushing.

So what's up with this trend of the Big 12?

`That's the name of college football right now,' Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. `Spread out as many wide receivers as you can, get yourself a mobile quarterback, and go to work.'

One other item helps: an injury to Oklahoma sophomore running back Adrian Peterson. Due to his ailing ankle, he gained six yards in eight carries over two games, then sat out last week. He's due back Saturday for the Sooners, who play at Nebraska.

One other note on that matchup: it'll be the first time since 1961 that the Sooners and Cornhuskers have played when neither was ranked in the national polls.

Yes, it is a new day in the Big 12.

Still the last 0-0

That 1983 Civil War had some company when Florida Atlantic and Arkansas State were knotted 0-0 after four quarters last Saturday, but the NCAA rule on overtime forced them to play on, and Arkansas State triumphed in the first extra session, 3-0.

It was the first time a Division 1-A game had been scoreless at the end of regulation since the Beavers and Ducks traded turnovers and missed field goals in their scoreless epic. The overtime rule was instituted in 1996.

There were some similarities between last week's game and the Civil War of '83, for those with long - if not fond - memories.

In their scoreless 60 minutes, Arkansas State and Florida Atlantic combined for 15 punts and six turnovers.

The three overtime points kept Arkansas State (4-3, 3-1) alive for the Sun Belt Conference title, and a berth in the New Orleans Bowl.

`You've got to tip your hat to our defense,' Arkansas State quarterback Nick Once said. `That's just rare in college football to see a shutout.'

And a shutout both ways? Oh, once every 22 years ... if there wasn't overtime.

TODAY'S TV GAME

Colorado State at New Mexico: 5 p.m., ESPN2

SATURDAY'S TV GAMES

No. 15 Wisconsin at Illinois: 9 a.m., ESPN

Clemson at Georgia Tech: 9 a.m., ESPN2

No. 17 Texas Tech at Baylor: 9:30 a.m., FSN 

Washington State at No. 1 USC: 12:30 p.m., ABC 

No. 4 Georgia vs. No. 16 Florida: 12:30 p.m., CBS 

North Carolina at No. 6 Miami: 12:30 p.m., ESPN

UTEP at Rice: 3 p.m., PAX

No. 8 UCLA at Stanford: 3:30 p.m., FSN

No. 22 Fresno State at Hawaii: 4 p.m., ABC

No. 2 Texas at Oklahoma State: 4 p.m., TBS

No. 25 Michigan at No. 21 Northwestern: 4 p.m., ESPN

South Carolina at No. 25 Tennessee: 4:45 p.m., ESPN2

ELSEWHERE IN THE PAC-10

Arizona at Oregon State: 1 p.m.

Washington at Arizona State: 3:30 p.m.

ELSEWHERE IN THE TOP 25

Utah State at No. 5 Alabama: Noon

North Texas at No. 7 LSU: 5 p.m.

Maryland at No. 10 Florida State: 12:30 p.m.

Purdue at No. 11 Penn State: 12:30 p.m.

No. 12 Ohio State at Minnesota: 9 a.m.

Mississippi at No. 19 Auburn: 9:30 a.m.

No. 20 TCU at San Diego State: 5 p.m.