Who's Hot Who's Not

WHO'S Hot

Matt Schaub
He's no Sage. With Houston trailing Miami 14--3 and Texans fans calling for backup Sage Rosenfels—the same guy whose three late turnovers caused a Week 5 loss to Indy—Schaub reversed his winless team's fortunes, throwing for a career-best 379 yards and sneaking in for the winning TD. Running back Ahman Green to the Houston Chronicle, "He was determined to win."

Noel Devine
With QB Pat White shelved, West Virginia needed Devine intervention and got it. The tailback (below) ran for 188 yards—92 on a fourth-quarter TD run—in a 17--6 win over Syracuse. Now? The Big East offensive player of the week can savor WVU's' third straight W: No game till Oct. 23.

Columbia Baseball
Pride of the Lions. Alumnus Fernando Perez (right) is shining as a Ray (page 38). The first ex-Lion to get up in the MLB playoffs in 17 years has a novel résumé: He majored in American studies with an emphasis on creative writing.

Jelena Jankovic
No. 1 makes three. The WTA's newly top-ranked player won her third straight event by cruising through the Kremlin Cup final on Sunday. How does she do it? Jankovic: "I've been trying my best."

WHO'S Not

JaMarcus Russell
He's no Stabler. In coach Tom Cable's debut the Raiders' cannon-armed sophomore QB fell to 1--5 in his career after a wild and fruitless Sunday. Russell completed 13 of 35 passes (NB: That's not so good), lost a fumble and threw an interception, and save for some stone-handed Saints defenders, it could have been worse. "Patience," said Cable after the game, "is everything."

Leigh Torrence
First the Redskins cornerback (below) got hot—he jawed face-to-face with Rams head coach Jim Haslett—and then he got burned. Torrence's blown coverage on Rams receiver Donnie Avery meant a 43-yard completion that set up St. Louis's game-winning field goal.

Columbia Football
Recalling the shame. The Ivy leaguers, who lost a I-AA-record 44 straight games in the 1980s are now on a 12-game slide—their longest since that Hapless Era. They're 0--4 this season, which began with a too-many-men penalty costing them their home opener.

Marat Safin
Not so fast, comrade. Safin lost in Moscow to fellow Russian, 71st-ranked Igor Kunitsyn. It's now 3 1/2 years with no title for No. 40 Safin. Even Kunitsyn was surprised, telling the BBC, "Everyone knows Marat is better than me."