5 o'clock: stop for a moment at three games that eclipsed all others and cleared the national championship picture--a bit. (College Football).(Cover Story)

It's 5 o'clock in Blacksburg, Va., and only a steam room on steroids must be hotter than this. Miami offensive lineman Vernon Carey steps out of the shower, having wasted 10 minutes of his young life. First, a tough game against Virginia Tech. Now, an even more oppressive locker room at Lane Stadium. Carey roars, "This is the way they treat us?"

Carey is enormous--a 6-5 sophomore who is listed on two lines of the Miami depth chart, both as a second-stringer, at 346 pounds here and 363 pounds there. The first number is a joke. Carey barely fits between the hash marks when, earlier in the afternoon, he takes the field as All-American offensive tackle Bryant ...