and No. 5 Michigan blanked Wisconsin 24-0. The top five remained the same in the next poll. October 14: No. 1 Notre Dame visited No. 17 Air Force and won 41-27. Gino Torretta, subbing for the injured Craig Erickson, set a school record with 468 passing yards in No. 2 Miami’s 48-16 win over San Jose State. No. 3 Colorado won 52-17 at Iowa State, No. 4 Nebraska beat Missouri 50-7, and No. 5 Michigan squeaked past No. 21 Michigan State 10-7. The top five again remained the same in the next poll. October 21: No. 1 Notre Dame came back from a 10-point halftime deficit to pull out a 28-24 victory over No. 9 USC. No. 2 Miami was idle. No. 3 Colorado beat Kansas 49-17, No. 4 Nebraska won 48-23 at Oklahoma State, and No. 5 Michigan defeated Iowa 26-12. The top five once again remained the same. October 28: No. 1 Notre Dame defeated No. 7 Pittsburgh 45-7. No. 2 Miami visited No. 9 Florida State, whom they had defeated 31-0 in 1988, and FSU took revenge with a 24-10 victory. No. 3 Colorado won 20-3 over Oklahoma; the Sooners were entering a down period after a series of off-field scandals and the forced resignation of longtime coach Barry Switzer. No. 4 Nebraska beat Iowa State 49-17, and No. 5 Michigan defeated Indiana 38-10. In a matchup between No. 6 Alabama and No. 14 Penn State, the Nittany Lions had the ball inside the one-yard line with 13 seconds left. Penn State coach Joe Paterno elected to go for a field goal rather than a touchdown, but the kick was blocked and Alabama won the game 17-16. The next poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Colorado, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Alabama. November-December November 4: No. 1 Notre Dame shut out Navy 41-0. No. 2 Colorado made it two wins in two weeks against Big 8 powerhouses, preserving a 27-21 victory over No. 3 Nebraska with a last-second deflection in the end zone. No. 4 Michigan defeated Purdue 42-27, No. 5 Alabama beat Mississippi State 23-10, and No. 6 Florida State won 35-10 over South Carolina. The next poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Colorado, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Florida State. November 11: No. 1 Notre Dame overwhelmed SMU 59-6, one of many blowout