By Scottie Bricker
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 2, 1997

Leaf denies Heisman race is his to win - Pac-10 Notes

The Associated Press Arizona Daily Wildcat Washington State's Ryan Leaf drops back to throw during the first half of Saturday's game in Pullman, Wash. Leaf's name has been mentioned as a Heisman candidate more often now that Peyton Manning struggled in Tennessee's loss to Florida.

Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf has had so much success early this season there is talk of the Heisman Trophy coming to Pullman, Wash.

No Cougar has ever won the prestigious award given annually to college football's most outstanding player and Leaf refuses to buy into the Heisman hype.

"There is no pressure because Peyton Manning is going to be the guy who gets it," Leaf said following Saturday's 58-0 blowout of Boise State.

Washington State is currently 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference and Leaf is in the top-10 nationally in both total offense and passing efficiency.

In four games, Leaf has completed 76 of 136 passes for 1,327 yards with 13 touchdowns against 5 interceptions.

Leaf looks to improve those statistics this weekend as the Cougars travel to Oregon to take on the Ducks at Autzen Stadium at 1 p.m.

Last year, the two teams played a thriller in Pullman as they combined for 99 points and 930 yards of total offense, with the Cougars coming out on top in the game, 55-44.

Leaf had a big day through the air as he passed for 225 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for another score.

The Cougars can put distance between themselves and the rest of the conference with a win this week and back-to-back victories at home against California and Arizona in the coming weeks.

UCLA's Hicks running at record pace

UCLA tailback Skip Hicks is in the midst of a serious assault on the Bruin record book.

Hicks has already rushed for 484 yards and 11 touchdowns and broke the school record for touchdowns in a career in Saturday's 40-27 victory over Arizona.

Hicks scored four times, bringing his career total to 42, two better than Gaston Green's old record set between 1984-87. He is also within reach of the Pac-10 record of 53 held by former USC Heisman Trophy winner and current Bruin assistant coach Charles White (1976-79).

Hicks is also on a pace to break school records in rushing yards and touchdowns in a season.

"He is tough enough to run over you, elusive enough to run around you and fast enough to run by you," Arizona head coach Dick Tomey said after Hicks ran all over the Wildcats.

The Bruins offense has also taken off, scoring 106 points in their last two wins over Arizona and Texas.

UCLA now leads the conference in scoring offense at 41 points per game.

USC's Robinson close to century mark

USC head coach John Robinson is one win away from his 100th career college coaching victory and he is expected to hit the century mark Saturday when the Trojans host 25-point underdog UNLV.

Robinson is confident, but is making sure that his team does not look past the Rebels.

"UNLV is a threat to us," Robinson said. "They have the ability to come in here and score five touchdowns against us."

The much-respected coach was also a bit unsure of what to make of the game because his focus is on winning each week, not working towards accolades such as this.

"It's kind of a funny deal," Robinson said of reaching the milestone. "You're right in the middle of just trying to win one game.

"I've never really thought I deserved a win any more than my assistant coaches. If I get there, I would like to have flash in my mind the guys who helped me along the way."

Washington hosts Arizona State with revenge on its mind

In last year's season opener for both teams, Arizona State's Robert Nycz booted a game-winning, 42-yard field goal with two seconds remaining as the Sun Devils won a wild 45-42 contest that started them on the road to Pasadena.

Quarterback Brock Huard, then a freshman, came in with 12 minutes to go and his team down by 21 points, and engineered three touchdown drives in a four-minute span to tie the game before Nycz's heroics.

Huard has been nothing short of perfect this year in leading the nation in passing efficiency, despite last week's loss at home against Nebraska.

Huard has completed 38 of 57 passes this season with seven touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Sun Devils J.R. Redmond is seventh in the nation in all-purpose yards averaging 204 per game.

The Huskies are the consensus pick to represent the Pac-10 in the Rose Bowl this year and seem to have all the elements in place to be there on New Year's Day.

Arizona State is 1-0 in conference play thus far while the game is Washington's first of the season.