There's a reason Michael Bishop's Heisman campaign has been largely silent this season. Namely, there isn't one. At least not in the conventional sense. With less than 30 shopping days until the Heisman Trophy is handed out at the Downtown Athletic Club on Dec. 12, Bishop hasn't spoken to the media in six weeks.

	MAKE OR BREAK
	Both Michael Bishop and Ron Dayne faced watershed games Saturday. But while Bishop thrived, Dayne took a dive out of the Heisman race during Wisconsin's loss:
	First 9 games		Saturday
	Ron Dayne   Rush yards   Avg. per car.	125.7 4.94	53 3.31
	Michael Bishop   Pass yards   Rush yards   Avg. per car.	185.4 44.7 3.99	306 140 5.6

In an era of promotional posters and weekly mailing lists designed to drub Heisman voters into submission, the Kansas State hype machine has remained idle. Coach Bill Snyder has taken the high road when it comes to the award chase, laying low and avoiding publicity. Under Snyder's direction, the school has produced nary a postcard to tout Bishop's candidacy.

"I don't think anyone can talk their way into the Heisman," Snyder told the Kansas City Star. Snyder made sure his quarterback wouldn't prove him wrong, imposing a gag order on Bishop following the Colorado game on Oct. 10.

But even Snyder can't hide his quarterback's success in the most important game of the Wildcats' regular season. On Saturday, Bishop almost single-handedly snapped Kansas State's 29-game losing streak to Nebraska, passing for 306 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for a game-high 140 yards and two touchdowns.

Bishop avenged the lone loss of his collegiate career in the Wildcats' 40-30 victory over Nebraska, and his two rushing touchdowns against the Huskers give him 12 on the season, which is one more rushing touchdown than Ron Dayne's season total. And beside leading the Big 12 in passing, his 543 rushing yards rank 11th in the conference.

Candidates ranked

RICKY WILLIAMS		STATS
1.	Breaking it down: He wasn't even the top-rushing Ricky Williams on the field Saturday. That honor belongs to Texas Tech's back, who finished with 148 yards. But before we go bashing the dredded Heisman favorite, let's remember this was a Red Raiders defense that had allowed only one 100-yard rusher this season before Williams. And Williams' 141-yards rushing make him the second player in Division I-A history to pass the 6,000-yard mark for his career. With one game to go, he's 63 yards shy of breaking Tony Dorsett's rushing record. Stock: Nov. 27: vs. Texas A&M	Opponent vs. N.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 vs. Baylor Oct. 24 at Nebraska Oct. 31 vs. Oklahoma St. Nov. 7 at Texas Tech Nov. 14 Season	Car-Yds 36-215   29-160   25-43   30-318   37-350   31-139   39-259   37-150   23-90   30-141   317-1,865	TD 6   3   0   6   5   2   2   0   1   2   27
TIM COUCH		STATS
2.	Breaking it down: Couch threw for nearly 500 yards against Vanderbilt and it wasn't even a season-high. He now has 3,938 passing yards this season, setting a new confrence record. But that's not even a new record because he set the conference passing mark last season with 3,884 yards passing. And once Couch took to the sidelines in his final home game of the year, the crowd at Commonwealth Stadium chanted, "One more year." If he heeds that advice, Couch would be the leading Heisman candidate ... for next year's award. Stock: Nov. 21: at Tennessee	Opponent 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 vs. Georgia Oct. 24 vs. Mississippi St. Nov. 7 vs. Vanderbilt Nov. 14 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   34-46-326   35-45-338   44-53-492   365-497-3,938	TD-INT 7-0   5-0   1-4   3-2   3-1   3-0   3-1   2-2   2-1   5-3   34-14
MICHAEL BISHOP		STATS
3.	Breaking it down with ESPN's Beano Cook: "Saturday's performance was unreal and he should really be considered in the running for the award. I think he will finish among the top three candidates. I don't think he will win it, but if was voting right now Michael Bishop would be my No. 1 choice." In Saturday's win over Nebraska, Bishop accounted for all but 66 yards of the Wildcats' offense. He also turned the ball over four times, but who's counting? Stock: Nov. 21: at Missouri	Opponent vs. Indiana St. Sept. 5 vs. N. Illinois Sept. 12 vs. Texas Sept. 19 vs. NE Louisiana Sept. 26 at Colorado Oct. 10 vs. Oklahoma St. Oct. 17 vs. Iowa St. Oct. 24 vs. Iowa St. Oct. 31 at Baylor Nov. 7 vs. Nebraska Nov. 14 Season	Cmp-Att-Yds 6-11-149   6-13-130   14-20-182   23-40-441   9-25-148   8-23-287   14-21-216   16-26-225   17-29-262   19-33-306   132-241-2,346	TD-INT 1-0   2-0   2-0   4-0   0-1   3-0   3-0   1-0   2-0   2-1   20-2
CADE MCNOWN		STATS
4.	Breaking it down: On a day that the two teams above UCLA in the national rankings trailed in the fourth quarter, UCLA's game at Washington turned out to be the big easy. So easy that McNown only attempted 24 passes, one of which was a 61-yard completion to Danny Farmer, giving him 20 completions of 30 yards or more this season. The Bruins have the nation's longest win streak at 19 games, and while there have been close calls, McNown hasn't let the Bruins down yet. Stock: Nov. 21: vs. USC	Opponent vs. Texas Sept. 12 at Houston Sept. 19 at Miami Sept. 26 vs. Wash. St. Oct. 3 at Arizona Oct. 10 vs. Oregon Oct. 17 at California Oct. 24 vs. Stanford Oct. 31 at Oregon St. Nov. 7 at Washington Nov. 14 Season	Cmp-Att-Yds 20-30-339   17-32-315   Postponed   14-27-205   10-24-171   20-36-395   15-27-182   19-31-254   23-37-377   12-24-233   150-268-2,471	TD-INT 3-1   1-1       1-1   2-0   3-2   2-0   1-2   4-1   0-0   17-8
JOE GERMAINE		STATS
5.	Breaking it down: One week after their national championship hopes evaporated along with a 24-9 lead against Michigan State, the Buckeyes were leading the 3-6 Iowa Hawkeyes by a mere touchdown late in the second quarter. Not exactly a bounce-back statement. But Germaine restored the two-touchdown lead by driving Ohio State 59 yards in 36 seconds, capping it with a 17-yard touchdown pass to David Boston. But while he finished with three touchdown passes, Germaine was also intercepted twice. Stock: Nov. 21: vs. Michigan	Opponent 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 at Northwestern Oct. 24 at Indiana Oct. 31 vs. Michigan State Nov. 7 at Iowa Nov. 14 Season	Att-Cmp-Yds 18-32-301   13-21-150   19-25-211   16-30-213   17-28-307   27-39-339   19-35-342   31-45-351   16-34-239   18-30-319   194-319-2,772	TD-INT 2-0   3-0   0-0   1-1   3-0   2-2   3-1   3-0   1-1   3-2   21-7