Quarterback Dave Wilson of Illinois established an NCAA single-game record of 621 yards passing on November 8, 1980, but Wilson's spree was in vain as Ohio State scored a 49-42 victory at Columbus, O. Wilson, who completed 43 of 69 passes and was intercepted three times, threw six touchdown passes against the Buckeyes, with five coming in the second half after the Illini fell behind, 35-7.

Wide receiver Carlos Carson's first six receptions as a college player couldn't have produced better results - Carson scored on each catch. As a Louisiana State sophomore in 1977, Carson caught his initial college pass in the opening quarter of a September 24 game in Baton Rouge, La., against Rice and turned it into a 22-yard scoring play. Before the first half was over, Carson had caught three more passes - all for touchdowns - as LSU built a 28-0 lead on the way to a 77-0 triumph.

Carson added a fifth TD reception in the second half and finished the game with five catches for 201 yards and five touchdowns. The following week, Carson had one catch against Florida  - and it went for 15 yards and a touchdown.

Through the 1975 season, no major-college placekicker had booted two field goals of 60 or more yards in one season, and only Air Force's Dave Lawson had connected on two such attempts in a career (a 60-yarder in 1974 and a 62-yarder in 1975). Furthermore, no one had made one beyond 63 yards. However, on October 16, 1976, in College Station, Tex., Texas A&M's Tony Franklin boomed 64- and 65-yard field goals in one game, sparking the Aggies to a 24-0 triumph over the Baylor Bears.

Franklin, who had kicked a 24-yard field goal in the first quarter, made his 64-yarder in the second period and hit on his 65-yarder in the third quarter.

A former safety making his first collegiate start at quarterback, Nolan Cromwell quickly found the knack of running Kansas' newly installed wishbone offense in a September 27, 1975, game against Oregon State in Lawrence, Kan.

Cromwell carried the ball 28 times for 294 yards, setting a major-college rushing record for a quarterback and breaking Kansas' overall rushing mark of 283 yards established by Gale Sayers in 1962. Cromwell, a defensive back under Coach Don Fambrough in his first two seasons as a Jayhawk, was moved into the starting quarterback job in the third week of the '75 season (Bud Moore's first year as Kansas coach). With Cromwell, a junior, running 79 yards for a second-quarter touchdown and averaging 10.5 yards per carry overall, the Jayhawks downed the Beavers, 20-0.

Playing against New Mexico on November 3, 1973, Brigham Young's Jay Miller caught 22 passes, a major-college record. Miller's exploits, which included three touchdown receptions, helped BYU to a 56-21 triumph over the Lobos in Provo, Utah. Wayne Bower. He caught three passes for the Cougars that day - and all went for touchdowns. Randy Litchfield. Reserve BYU quarterback who teamed with Miller for the receiver's final two receptions of the day, four-yard plays in the fourth quarter.

Only two players in major-college history have rushed for 1,000 or more yards in all four of their varsity seasons. Pittsburgh's Tony Dorsett was the first to turn in such a performance, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark from 1973 through 1976.

In the first year after Dorsett's departure from the collegiate ranks, North Carolina's Amos Lawrence began a 1,000-yards-a-season streak that ran through 1980. The year-by-year rushing figures for Dorsett, who averaged 5.7 yards per carry in his Panther career, and Lawrence, who averaged five yards per attempt for the Tar Heels:

DORSETT        
1973    288    1586    
1974    220    1004    
1975    228    1544    
1976    338    1948    
          1074    6082    

LAWRENCE
1977    193    1211
1978    234    1043