AFTER THOUGHTS Well, looks like Bush wins The outcome of the Presidential election still up in the air, perhaps the outcome of The Game will shed some light on the eventual winner. Yale beat Harvard 34-24 in the 117th meeting between the teams in a 125-year rivalry. Although no one is suggesting that The Game has an impact on the presidential race, there has been an uncanny correlation: In every presidential election year since 1980, a Harvard win has been followed by a Democratic inauguration, and a Yale victory coincided with the election of a Republican president. Since 1936, the trend holds 12 of 15 times (there was no Game in 1944 because of World War II). George W. Bush is a Yale grad (1968) while Al Gore got his degree at Harvard (1969). Long distance South Florida kicker Bill Gramatica, brother of Tampa Bay kicker Martin Gramatica, kicked a 63 yard field goal today against Austin Peay -- without a tee. It is the second longest field goal wihtout a tee in NCAA history. The longest without a tee? Martin Gramatica, who played for Kansas State, kicked a 65 yarder Sept. 12, 1998 vs. Northern Illinois. The record with a tee is 67 yards, held by Russell Erxleben of Texas, Steve Little of Arkansas and Joe Williams of Wichita State. Putting the "Happy" in Happy Valley Finally, something to smile about in Happy Valley. Penn State QB Rashard Casey -- who has taken more than his share of grief this season -- threw three touchdowns and ran for two more as Penn State ended a trying season with a 42-23 victory over Michigan State. Despite giving coach Joe Paterno his 322nd victory, moving him within one of Bear Bryant's major college record, the Nittany Lions finished 5-7, their worst record since Paterno became head coach in 1966. Just a coach and a kicker The reports were everywhere -- USC coach Paul Hackett could be fired before next week's game against Notre Dame. But for one brief moment, none of that mattered. All that mattered was Hackett was asking kicker David Bell -- who had missed his previous three attempts, including a 24-yarder -- if he could kick the game-winning field goal against cross-town rival UCLA. "I said to Bell, 'Can I count on you to win the game, or should I send the freshman in?' " an ecstatic Hackett said, referring to John Wall. "He said, 'Coach, I can win the game.' " And he did, drilling a 36-yarder with just nine seconds remaining. It wasn't to save a job or anything. It was good just to get a win. "I didn't pay any attention when they called a timeout trying to freeze me," Bell said. "I was just trying to keep an even tempo. After the kick went through the uprights, I fell into a daze. When I hit it, it started to float, I didn't know if it was good. "I hit a 50-yarder in practice, but that was easier than this one. By the way, how far was it?" Of course, now the reports will resurface and Hackett could be gone soon. But for one moment, it was just a coach getting all he could from a player. SATURDAY'S STARS Drew Henson, Michigan: Completed 14-of-25 passes for 303 yards with three touchdowns and ran for the clinching score to lead No. 18 Michigan to a 38-26 victory over No. 12 Ohio State. LaDainian Tomlinson, TCU: Ran for a season-high 305 yards and three touchdowns as No. 16 TCU beat UTEP. Montrell Lowe had a career-high 208 yards rushing with four touchdowns as No. 17 Purdue beat Indiana 41-13. Damien Anderson, Northwestern: Had 179 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns as No. 24 Northwestern beat Illinois 61-23. Maurice Hicks, North Carolina A&T: Rushed for 353 yards and six touchdowns in North Carolina A&T's 66-14 win over South Carolina State. Matt Nagy, Delaware: Passed for 456 yards and three touchdowns as Delaware beat Villanova 59-42. Bart Hendricks, Boise State: Threw for five touchdowns and 405 yards as Boise State beat Idaho 66-24. Michael Turner, Northern Illinois: Rushed for 281 yards and scored one touchdown in a 40-6 win over Central Michigan. Trevor Dimmie, Hofstra: Rushed for 214 yards with a 72-yard touchdown in Hofstra's 55-28 victory over Albany. There was no worries about Gore, Bush, hanging chads or lawsuits. Instead it was just No. 3 Florida State hosting No. 4 Florida in the most important battle in Tallahassee. There was embattled Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who has been at the center of the controversy as the state's chief elections official, focusing on football. She and husband Anders Ebbesen, came in moments before kickoff. "Everything is pretty wonderful," Harris said. "We're here to enjoy the game." A few feet away, Gov. Jeb Bush, Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan and Supreme Court Justices Leander Shaw and Major Harding chatted with friends about the game, and the election. "Half the state's going to be happy and half the state's not going to be happy just like the football game tonight," Florida State fan Fred Selancy said as he mingled with other fans in the university president's skybox before kickoff. For some, Saturday's intrastate rivalry was more important than the unsettled presidential race. And unlike ballots in South Florida, there were few tickets to be found. But at least those attending knew everyone knew the outcome by the end of the night. A fitting tribute Without LaVell Edwards, there almost certainly wouldn't be a 65,000-seat stadium anywhere in Utah. It was only fitting for BYU to rename the one that's standing after the man who built it. In Edwards' final home game -- a 37-13 win over New Mexico -- Mormon church president Gordon Hinckley renamed Cougar Stadium to LaVell Edwards Stadium in a pregame ceremony. "Tonight's activities were totally a stunner for me," said Edwards, retiring after 29 seasons. "I had no idea that was going to happen, the naming of the stadium. It's just been a very emotional, very special evening for me." The festivities continued with postgame fireworks. It was a fitting sendoff for Edwards, whose wide-open passing game carried BYU to the 1984 national title and 20 conference championships. Edwards also oversaw the 1982 stadium expansion that boosted seating capacity from 33,000 to 65,000. It's hard to believe school officials recently discussed naming the field, not the stadium, after the coach. Edwards insisted he didn't care. Although the stadium name-change has been a hot topic recently in Utah, he was happy to be recognized. "It's still overwhelming," Edwards said. "It's hard to even imagine. It will sink in one of these days, but right now it's hard for me to believe." Fans know the feeling. It's hard to believe he's really leaving. The game is losing one of the classiest coaches and men around. Sweet, sweet victory Beating Oregon was especially sweet for Oregon State tight end Marty Maurer, who was passed over by the Ducks for a scholarship, despite family ties. Maurer's father, Andy, played tight end for the Ducks in the late 1960s, and spent 10 years in the NFL as an offensive lineman. Andy Maurer told Oregon coach Mike Bellotti he might want to take a look at his son, that he could catch a ball or two, but Maurer was not offered a scholarship. Maurer, whose uncles Dick and Ken played at Oregon State in the 1970s, ended up at Oregon State instead. Maurer -- who caught five pased for 73 yards -- has turned out to be a valuable option on offense for Beavers quarterback Jonathan Smith, who usually looks first for speedier wide receivers Chad Johnson, Robert Prescott and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. On Saturday, he caught Johnson for second place on the team in receptions; they have 33, while Houshmandzadeh has 42. And don't think he didn't take extra joy in knocking off the fifth-ranked Ducks. "My hat's off to Oregon, because they won the battle of talking smack this week," Maurer said. "We've got a classy group here, and it feels good to knock Oregon out of the Rose Bowl." Maurer was referring to many of the Oregon players complaining this week about the way they were treated after the 1998 loss. The Ducks weren't alone in taunting, however. Houshmandzadeh reportedly ran into a couple of Oregon players in a Eugene restaurant earlier this week, and as he was leaving, he said, "Good luck in the Sun Bowl." NUMBERS GAME Indiana's Antwaan Randle El became the second player in NCAA Division I-A history to rush for 200 points and pass for 200 points in a career in a 41-13 loss to No. 17 Purdue. Randle El has thrown 33 TD passes, rushed for 36 touchdowns and had one TD reception. Brown's Stephen Campbell broke the Division I-AA single-season receiving record as Brown beat Columbia 45-27. Campbell caught 14 passes finish the season with 120 and eclipse the mark of 115 set by Rhode Island tight end Bob Forster in 1986. TCU's LaDainian Tomlinson became the Western Athletic Conference's career rushing leader on his 68-yard TD in the first quarter and became the ninth player in NCAA history to go over 5,000 career yards with his career-long 89-yard score in the third. In just his second season, coach Dennis Erickson led the Beavers to their best season ever, one year after they stopped an NCAA-record streak of 28 straight losing seasons. Ennis Haywood rushed for 190 yards as Iowa State completed its best regular-season in 22 years with a 38-17 victory over Kansas. The Cyclones reached eight victories for just the eighth time in school history and now await a bowl invitation, which would be their first since 1978. That also was the last time Iowa State won eight games.