It was a headline that would make a New York tabloid proud: McNone. It appeared in an issue of UCLA's student newspaper -- the Daily Bruin -- last week in big, black letters.
Truth be told, after four games McNown's stats weren't as sterling as expected. He was completing only 53.98 percent of his passes and averaging 257.5 yards passing. But stats only say so much.
Forget that UCLA was 4-0 and riding a 15-game win streak -- the nation's longest. Forget that McNown is the undisputed leader of an offense that has yet to score fewer than 40 points this season. Apparently the Daily Bruin is only impressed by truly Couchian numbers. But more than stats separate McNown from Tim Couch: McNown's team is winning.
That may be the greatest measurement.
"If a team is going to win the Pac-10 or the national championship, it needs a leader who keeps his composure," said ESPN's Rod Gilmore. "Cade McNown has been everything that Bob Toledo has wanted. His statistics may not be what people thought they would be at this point, but I can guarantee that Toledo doesn't care and McNown doesn't care.
"McNown has made plays when he has had to make them, which is what you care about."
Case in point: Saturday's game against Oregon. In the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, McNown dropped back, rolled left and heaved a ball 60 yards in the air. Then he did it again on the next possession. The first was a 60-yard touchdown to Danny Farmer, the second a 53-yard completion to backup quarterback Drew Bennett to set up what would have been the game-winning field goal had it not been wide left.
McNown's final stat line: 20-of-36 passing, 395 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions.
But McNown wasn't the only Pac-10 quarterback in the Rose Bowl to help his cause. Oregon's Akili Smith showed why he has been the conference's most dangerous quarterback in 1998, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for another in Oregon's loss.
Smith's performance bumped Kevin Faulk from the list. The LSU back finished with 108 yards from scrimmage against Kentucky, but failed to score for the third consecutive game -- this after totaling 12 touchdowns in the last five regular-season games of 1997.
| MICHAEL BISHOP |
STATS |
Breaking it down: He completed eight of his 23 pass attempts, and that otherwise miserable 34.8 completion percentage was tolerable only because three of those eight completions went for touchdowns of 46 yards or longer. Bishop also ran the ball 14 times for 89 yards, including touchdown runs of 12 and three yards.
Stock: 
Next: vs. Iowa State, Oct. 24
|
Opp.
vs. Indiana St.
Sept. 5
vs. N. Illinois
Sept. 12
vs. Texas
Sept. 19
vs. NE Louisiana
Sept. 26
at Colorado
Oct. 10Sept. 26
vs. Oklahoma St.
Oct. 17
Season
|
Cmp-Att-Yds
6-11-149
6-13-130
14-20-182
23-40-441
9-25-148
8-23-287
66-132-1,337
|
TD-INT
1-0
2-0
2-0
4-0
0-1
3-0
12-1
|
| CHAMP BAILEY |
STATS |
Breaking it down: It looks like last week's loss to Tennessee won't derail Bailey's hopes after all. He responded to that disappointing loss -- the Bulldogs' eighth straight to Tennessee -- with his best single-game receiving performance of the season, catching five passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns as he made his third start of the year at wide receiver.
Stock: 
Next: at Kentucky, Oct. 24
|
Opp.
vs. Kent
Sept. 5
at South Carolina
Sept. 12
vs. Wyoming
Sept. 19
at LSU
Oct. 3
vs. Tennessee
Oct. 10
vs. Vanderbilt
Oct. 17
Season
|
Rec-Yds
2-44
3-74
6-100
7-114
3-21
5-130
26-483
|
TD
1
0
1
1
0
2
5
|
| TIM COUCH |
STATS |
Breaking it down: Astronomical numbers for Couch don't necessarily spell good things for the Wildcats. Couch is averaging 452.5 yards in Kentucky's two losses and 375.4 yards in the five victories. After completing 37 of his 50 pass attempts (74 percent) for 391 yards in Saturday's victory at LSU, Couch has Kentucky 5-2 for the first time since 1984.
Stock:
Next: vs. Georgia, Oct. 24
|
Opp.
at Louisville
Sept. 5
vs. E.Kentucky
Sept. 12
vs. Indiana
Sept. 19
at Florida
Sept. 26
at Arkansas
Oct. 3
vs. South Carolina
Oct. 10
at LSU
Oct. 17
Season
|
Cmp-Att-Yds
29-39-498
32-41-372
38-53-301
40-61-406
47-67-499
29-42-315
37-50-391
252-353-2,782
|
TD-INT
7-0
5-0
1-4
3-2
3-1
3-0
3-1
25-8
|
| DAUNTE CULPEPPER |
STATS |
ESPN's John Mackovic: It's very hard for a player to win the Heisman trophy when his team does not have success. Tim Couch might be playing as well as any player in the nation, but look at Culpepper who has completed 73 percent of his passes this season, putting him on track to break the single-seasons NCAA Division I-A record.
Next: at SW Louisiana, Oct. 24 |
Opp.
vs. La. Tech
Sept. 5
vs. Eastern Illinois
Sept. 12
at Purdue
Sept. 19
at Bowling Green
Sept. 26
at Toledo
Oct. 3
vs. Northern Illinois
Oct. 10
Season
|
Cmp-Att-Yds
24-37-370
28-33-406
30-47-368
23-32-320
36-49-342
28-33-327
169-231-2,133
|
TD-INT
4-0
4-0
1-1
4-0
2-0
1-1
16-2
|
| RON DAYNE |
STATS |
ESPN's Rod Gilmore: He is just as good a player as he has always been. In fact he's lighter than he has been in the past. But he will continue to see teams overplay the front side, forcing him to cut back and he will continue to see eight men in the box. Dayne is eighth in the nation in rushing, but he hasn't carried the ball too much. He could be pretty fresh toward the end of the year, which has been the one question scouts have had about his future in the NFL. Can he play 16 or 20 games without being nicked up?
Stock:
Next: at Iowa, Oct. 24 |
Opp.
vs. Ohio
Sept. 12
vs. UNLV
Sept. 19
vs. Northwestern
Sept. 26
at Indiana
Oct. 3
vs. Purdue
Oct. 10
at Illinois
Oct. 17
Season
|
Car-Yds
20-111
13-108
22-168
28-130
33-127
39-190
155-834
|
TD
3
0
1
1
1
3
9
|
| JOE GERMAINE |
STATS |
Breaking it down: What separates Germaine's 300-yard passing performance Saturday against Minnesota from last week's 300-yard performance at Illinois? A piece of laundry. Against the Illini, Germaine was flagged for holding on Ken-Yon Rambo's second-half run. "Can you believe that?" Germaine said after the game. "A quarterback, called for for holding? I guess I might have a little bit, but has any quarterback ever been called for holding?" Not sure about that, but this much is certain: No other Ohio State quarterback has as many 300-yard passing games in his career as Germaine. His 339 yards against the Gophers Saturday was the fourth 300-yard game of his career, pushing him past Art Schlichter in the school record books.
Stock:
Next: at Northwestern, Oct. 24 |
Opp.
at West Virginia
Sept. 5
vs. Toledo
Sept. 12
vs. Missouri
Sept. 26
vs. Penn State
Oct. 3
at Illinois
Oct. 10
vs. Minnesota
Oct. 17
Season
|
Att-Cmp-Yds
18-32-301
13-21-150
19-25-211
16-30-213
17-28-307
27-39-339
110-175-1,521
|
TD-INT
2-0
3-0
0-0
1-1
3-0
2-2
11-3
|
| DONOVAN MCNABB |
STATS |
Breaking it down: McNabb entered the season with a reputation for the spectacular. He is building this year's Heisman campaign around a theme of consistency. Against Boston College he completed 68.4 percent of his pass attempts, and it was his third lowest single-game percentage of the season. In three of his six games this season, McNabb's completion precentage has been at least 70 percent.
Stock:
Next: vs. Pittsburgh, Oct. 31
|
Opp.
vs. Tennessee
Sept. 5
at Michigan
Sept. 12
vs. Rutgers
Sept. 26
at N.C. State
Oct. 1
vs. Cincinnati
Oct. 10
at Boston College
Oct. 17
Season
|
Cmp-Att-Yds
22-28-300
21-27-233
8-12-119
17-32-170
15-18-255
13-19-182
96-136-1,259
|
TD-INT
2-0
3-0
1-0
1-2
4-0
2-0
13-2
|
| CADE MCNOWN |
STATS |
ESPN's John Mackovic: You judge football players on how they play in the big games. That's when the stars are supposed to step up and perform. McNown took his game to a new level when he had to, and really helped his Heisman chances.
Stock:
Next: at California, Oct. 24
|
Opp.
vs. Texas
Sept. 12
at Houston
Sept. 19
at Miami
Sept. 26
vs. Washington St.
Oct. 3
at Arizona
Oct. 10
vs. Oregon
Oct. 17
Season
|
Cmp-Att-Yds
20-30-339
17-32-315
Postponed
14-27-205
10-24-171
20-36-395
81-149-1,425
|
TD-INT
3-1
1-1
1-1
2-0
3-2
10-5
|
| AKILI SMITH |
STATS |
Breaking it down: In front of a regional television audience, Smith made sure his name got known by standing toe to toe with Cade McNown in an offensive slugfest. His fleet feet and 221 yards passing kept Oregon in the game, but in the end he was overshadowed by the long arm of McNown.
Stock: 
Next: vs. USC, Oct. 24 |
Opp.
vs. Michigan St.
Sept. 5
at UTEP
Sept. 19
vs. San Jose St.
Sept. 26
vs. Stanford
Oct. 3
at Washington St.
Oct. 10
at UCLA
Oct. 17
Season
|
Cmp-Att-Yds
15-25-266
17-33-295
8-11-220
18-29-357
15-22-280
15-37-221
88-157-1,639
|
TD-INT
4-0
1-1
3-0
4-1
3-1
3-1
18-4
|
| RICKY WILLIAMS |
STATS |
ESPN's Rod Gilmore: Ricky Williams has come on to be the sentimental choice. Not only was the leading candidate coming into the season, not only is he the leading rusher, but his relationship with Doak Walker is really tugging at everyone’s heart strings of everyone. He is the most likely candidate, and I think a lot of people are pulling for him to get it.
Next: vs. Baylor, Oct. 24
|
Opp.
vs. New Mexico St.
Sept. 5
at UCLA
Sept. 12
at Kansas State
Sept. 19
vs. Rice
Sept. 26
vs. Iowa St.
Oct. 3
at Oklahoma
Oct. 10
Season
|
Car-Yds
36-215
29-160
25-43
30-318
37-350
31-139
188-1,225
|
TD
6
3
0
6
5
2
22
|
