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Goodfellas
06-18-2009, 06:50 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia State is wasting no time jumping into big-time college football.

Georgia State will play at Alabama in its first season in 2010 in a game that will mark Bill Curry's return to the state.

The schools announced Wednesday plans to play on Nov. 20, 2010 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The game will conclude Georgia State's inaugural season.

Curry, Georgia State's coach, said playing at Alabama -- where he coached the Crimson Tide to a Southeastern Conference championship -- "quickens the pace of everything we are doing."

Curry coached at Alabama from 1987 through 1989. Alabama won the 1989 SEC championship.

Goodfellas
06-18-2009, 06:54 AM
AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads has signed the five-year, $5.75 million contract he agreed to in December.

Rhoads will be paid $950,000 this season. His annual compensation will increase by $100,000 every year starting January 1, 2010.

Rhoads will receive an additional $100,000 for every win after Iowa State's seventh in any given season. The Cyclones have won more than seven games just once since 1978.

Rhoads will also receive $100,000 for a Big 12 championship game appearance and an additional $100,000 if the Cyclones win the conference title. Rhoads also has incentives tied to bowl game appearances, coach of the year honors and final rankings in the top 25.

Rhoads took over for Gene Chizik, who left to become the coach at Auburn.

Goodfellas
06-18-2009, 06:54 AM
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- The Atlantic Coast Conference's football championship game is moving back to prime-time television.
The ACC said Wednesday this year's game will kickoff at 8 p.m. on Dec. 5 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. ESPN will broadcast the game.

It's the first prime-time kickoff for the ACC title game since the inaugural contest in 2005. The game has started at 1 p.m. in each of the past three seasons. ABC televised the first four title games

Goodfellas
06-18-2009, 06:56 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- George Belotti, a three-year football letterman at Southern California in the mid-1950s who was a member of the American Football League's first championship team, has died. He was 74.

Belotti died Monday in suburban Arcadia from complications of a stroke, the university said Tuesday. He lived in Covina.

Belotti played left tackle at USC from 1954-56, and appeared in the 1954 Rose Bowl and the 1957 Hula Bowl.

He was an eighth-round draft pick by the NFL's Green Bay Packers, but instead played center with the Houston Oilers in 1960 when they won the first AFL championship. In 1961, he played briefly for both the Oilers, who repeated as AFL champions, and the San Diego Chargers.

Belotti worked for Jorgensen Steel and Aluminum and Pacific Clay Products after his football career ended.

He is survived his wife, Marie, twin daughters Mara Spilker and Cristina Witham, and a granddaughter

Goodfellas
06-18-2009, 06:56 AM
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Former Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage will be Alabama's football color analyst.

Crimson Tide Sports Marketing general manager Jim Carabin announced Monday that Savage will replace Ken Stabler in the fall.
Savage was senior vice president and general manager during four seasons with the Browns after nine years with the Baltimore Ravens.
Savage got a dress rehearsal when he handled analyst duties for Alabama's spring game.

The Mobile native spent three seasons as a graduate assistant for the Tide under coach Bill Curry and worked under offensive coordinator Homer Smith in 1988-89.

Stabler did drunken-driving charge a year ago. He was found not guilty by a Robertsdale judge.

Goodfellas
06-18-2009, 06:57 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Bob Frederick, who took criticism for hiring an obscure assistant named Roy Williams as Kansas basketball coach and later helped create the Big 12 Conference, died Friday night following a bicycling accident. He was 69.

An accomplished cyclist, Frederick was riding on a city street in Lawrence, Kan., near the campus Thursday evening when he hit a pothole, flew over the handlebars and struck the pavement. He was taken by helicopter to the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., with massive head injuries.

He died at University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., according to family spokeswoman Kelly Hale.

"As fine a man as could possibly be, that was Bob Frederick," Williams told The Associated Press from his home in North Carolina.

Goodfellas
06-18-2009, 06:58 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/players/615) has graduated from UCLA 21 years after starring for the Bruins.

Aikman participated in Saturday's graduation ceremony on the Westwood campus along with 450 other graduates. He earned his sociology degree earlier this year, having left college as the No. 1 pick in the 1989 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/teams/cowboys).

He was mobbed with requests for pictures with his fellow graduates and received a loud cheer when his name was read while receiving his diploma.

"I'm glad I came back and went through the ceremony," Aikman said. "I had some reservations because I didn't really know any of the other students, but I had a great time and it brought back a lot of great memories of my time here. UCLA is a great place and I'm glad to be a part of it."

Aikman was joined by his wife Rhonda, two of his daughters, his mother and one of his sisters.

He quarterbacked UCLA to a 20-4 record during the 1987 and 1988 seasons. He later was enshrined both the college and pro football halls.

Also in cap and gown was current Bruins quarterback Kevin Craft, who will graduate after fall quarter.

Goodfellas
06-18-2009, 06:59 AM
I'm not really in a position to talk about the prospects of that game in any particular year. What I can say is that we would love to play Texas. We love playing the schools that have had a comparable history. But also that share our values," Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said. "I think Texas is one of the great athletic programs in the country. Not just now, but for many years. I'm a huge fan of the program, their coaches, and (athletic director) DeLoss (Dodds) is one of the giants of our industry. So, if we can figure out how to play Texas at some point, we would love to do it."
San Antonio Express-News (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/college_football/48034557.html)

Goodfellas
06-18-2009, 07:00 AM
It has been a difficult offseason for Pitt football. The program has battled off-field discipline issues and, more recently, some key recruiting losses. It certainly was not the discussion that Wannstedt wanted to have yesterday, but it was not something he shied away from when he met with reporters. His message was loud and clear: The sky is not falling at Pitt, the program is in good shape and, though the Panthers have lost a few key recruiting battles, it is early in the process. Wannstedt has had to deal with the fact that the "recruiting fence" he has tried to build around Western Pennsylvania prospects has seemingly developed a major hole. There have been eight players from the WPIAL this year with offers from Pitt who have already made verbal commitments, and only one of them (Penn Hills' Aaron Donald) has committed to the Panthers. Worse for Pitt, five recruits have committed to Penn State, including two players with deep Pitt ties -- Fox Chapel's Miles Dieffenbach (his father is Pitt's tennis coach) and North Allegheny's Tom Ricketts (his dad is a former Pitt player).
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09168/977855-233.stm)

Goodfellas
06-18-2009, 07:01 AM
Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell will tell the school's trustees this week that he wants to retire. Two school officials close to Wetherell told The Associated Press on Monday that he will inform the school's board of trustees on Wednesday. They asked not to be named because they aren't authorized to make the announcement. Wetherell, 63, was treated for prostate cancer in recent years, but has received a clean bill of health from doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.
The Miami Herald (http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1098135.html)

Goodfellas
06-18-2009, 07:02 AM
Radical change likely won't come quickly to college football's Bowl Championship Series. If it comes at all. The conference commissioners who oversee the 11-year-old system meet Tuesday in Colorado Springs, amid little apparent sentiment -- at least for the moment -- to adopt sweeping changes proposed by the Mountain West Conference. The commissioners are expected to emerge from Tuesday's meetings with a recommendation -- stay put or modify -- to be forwarded to the school presidents and chancellors on the BCS' oversight committee.
USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2009-06-15-bcs-commissioners_N.htm)

Goodfellas
06-19-2009, 07:00 AM
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (AP) -- It's an early rite of college football season. Conferences bring in coaches and top players to answer questions from reporters, meet, greet and munch on a buffet. The media take home lots of stories to write. The leagues, schools and teams enjoy loads of publicity.

Nothing is free and now that schools are slashing budgets the Media Day tradition is going away -- at least this year -- for some mid-major conferences trying to save money.

"Our main job is to distribute revenue back to the schools," Kyle Schwartz, the Ohio Valley Conference's assistant commissioner for media relations, said Thursday. "Anything we save by not having an in-person media day, we can give back to the schools. Maybe that'll help them with some of the tough economic decisions they're having to make."

The OVC is not alone in scrapping its annual media days.

Goodfellas
06-19-2009, 07:02 AM
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The NCAA infractions committee intends to uphold sanctions against Florida State that would take away wins in 10 sports, including as many as 14 by football coach Bobby Bowden.

After a public records lawsuit and intervention by Florida's attorney general, the NCAA allowed Florida State to release the committee's June 2 response to FSU's appeal of the NCAA punishment that would strip the school of the victories.

Though university officials had said earlier Thursday that there would be no comment from Florida State, president T.K. Wetherell denounced the NCAA's response.

"This committee is just wrong," Wetherell said. "The rationale for doing that isn't accurate."

Wetherell, a former Seminole football player, said the school would exhaust all appeal opportunities with the NCAA "before going anywhere else."

If the penalty sticks, Bowden would have little chance to stay abreast of Penn State's Joe Paterno in their competition to finish as major college football's winningest coach. Paterno begins the 2009 season with 383 wins, right now that is one more than Bowden has entering his 34th season at Florida State.

Goodfellas
06-19-2009, 07:03 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A prosecutor is opposing former Ohio State football star Maurice Clarett's request for early release from prison.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien says Clarett hasn't made a strong case that he should be released so early.

He was sentenced in September 2006 to serve at least 3 1/2 years for a holdup outside a Columbus bar and a separate highway chase that ended with police finding loaded guns in his SUV.

Clarett has asked the Ohio Parole Board for a pardon, reprieve or commutation of his sentence.

His attorney says Clarett has an opportunity to play NFL, arena or Canadian professional football if he's released within a few months.
Clarett led the Buckeyes as a tailback to the 2002 national championship.

Goodfellas
06-19-2009, 07:04 AM
Tom Starr, the former executive director of the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, is working with Dallas officials to bring a new bowl game to Cotton Bowl Stadium in Fair Park, perhaps as early as the 2010-11 bowl season, said Roland Rainey, stadium manager. "We'd very much like to bring in a bowl game if we could," Rainey said in an interview Wednesday. It could be an existing bowl or a newly created game, Rainey said, adding that Starr is also working on attracting another big-time regular-season college game to the renovated stadium, which can seat as many as 92,000 for football.

The Dallas Morning News (http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/06/cotton-bowl-seeking-new-bowl-game.html)

Goodfellas
06-20-2009, 05:51 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee will pay former football strength and conditioning coach Mark Smith up to $300,000 after firing him without cause.

Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton refused to say why Smith was fired after only five months with the Vols.

Smith in January signed a memorandum of understanding that was to keep him with the Vols though December 2010 and pay him $190,000 for this year and $200,000 in 2010.

Hamilton says should Smith be hired elswhere, he will be paid the difference in the salary promised by Tennessee and the salary from his next employer.

Tennessee spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter says no one has been hired as a replacement, though the Denton Record Chronicle in Texas reports North Texas strength coach Aaron Ausmus, a former track All-American for the Vols, will take the job.

Goodfellas
06-20-2009, 05:53 AM
The University of Florida football team committed two secondary NCAA violations in the last 12 months for improper contact with recruits. Florida self-reported violations in June 2008 and January 2009 for instances involving Coach Urban Meyer and an assistant, according to school records obtained by the Orlando Sentinel through a public records request. Meyer and a Gators assistant violated NCAA bylaw 13.1.3.1.1 after placing a call to the same prospect. Florida reported the violation on June 3, 2008. The NCAA rule states telephone contact is limited to once per week outside of a contact period. The identity of the recruit is unknown.

Orlando Sentinel (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-florida-gators-ncaa-violations-0618,0,7104646.story)

Goodfellas
06-20-2009, 05:54 AM
Not long ago, BYU's defensive line looked like one of the deepest positions on the team. Now? Not so much. BYU announced Thursday that junior defensive lineman Bernard Afutiti has been ruled academically ineligible and will not compete for the Cougars in 2009. Afutiti is the latest in a string of D-linemen who will not play for BYU this season. Starters Ian Dulan and Russell Tialavea, both juniors, have opted to serve missions. Afutiti, who was projected to be a major contributor this season, was sidelined for almost all of spring ball for academic reasons.
Deseret News (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705311402/BYU-football-Lineman-Afutiti-ruled-ineligible-for-09-season.html)

Goodfellas
06-20-2009, 05:55 AM
The McDonald family from Fresno is going to have an interesting time during the UCLA-USC football game in 2010 now that cornerback Tevin McDonald from Fresno Edison has committed to the Bruins. His older brother, T.J., will be a freshman defensive back at USC this fall. And his father is former Trojan Tim McDonald.
Los Angeles Times (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/06/ucla-gets-football-commitment-from-a-player-with-usc-ties.html)

Goodfellas
06-20-2009, 01:42 PM
South Paulding cornerback Ryan Ayers committed to Georgia Tech today, his high school coach Tim Glanton confirmed moments ago. It gives the Yellow Jackets their second pledge from a high-profile prospect in as many weeks. Ayers, a speedy 5-foot-10, 175-pound rising senior, is considered the consensus top cornerback in the state. He liked Georgia Tech from the start, and even while he was receiving offers from the Georgias, Alabamas and Auburns of the college football world, had to constantly downplay the notion that the Jackets were clearly in the lead.
Atlanta Journal Constitution (http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2009/06/19/tech-lands-south-paulding-cb-ayers/?cxntfid=blogs_recruiting)

Goodfellas
06-20-2009, 01:43 PM
In the oft-muddled and rumor-thick world of football scheduling, hope and reality are often very, very different matters. But it is interesting that Alabama coach Nick Saban continues to voice his interest in playing big-name opponents, and it is interesting that Notre Dame keeps coming up in the discussion. "Let's say you had four or five teams," Saban told the Birminghham News. "Notre Dame, Penn State, (schools) that had some sort of connection with the history and tradition of this school. And you just roll home-and-homes (on and off the schedule) so the fans could relate a little bit and look forward to playing that particular team." Continuing, Saban added: "Like maybe we play Penn State this year, Notre Dame next year... Texas, Southern Cal -- if you just got those and just kind of rolled (them over). It would make it easier for scheduling, too."
Chicago Tribune (http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/aroundthebend/2009/06/alabamas-nick-saban-says-bring-on-notre-dame.html)

Goodfellas
06-22-2009, 01:04 PM
CINCINNATI (AP) -- The University of Cincinnati on Monday said football coach Brian Kelly has signed a contract extension, adding a year at nearly $1.5 million.

School officials said Kelly is guaranteed $1.475 million to stay through the 2013 season. The school said there are also performance-based incentives for Kelly, and that the new deal also raises the pay of his assistants.

Kelly signed a five-year contract worth $6.3 million in December 2007 following his first full season at Cincinnati. The new deal must be approved by the school's board of trustees.

Kelly last season led the Bearcats to a Big East title and an Orange Bowl appearance. After there were overtures Kelly might be a candidate for other coaching jobs, Kelly and athletic director Mike Thomas announced last December they were working on an extension.

The 2008 Bearcats went 11-3, appearing in the school's first Bowl Championship Series game, a 20-7 loss to Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

In his first full season, Kelly led the Bearcats to a 10-3 record, including a victory in the Papajohns.com Bowl. He has a 22-6 record as Bearcats' coach.

He was hired from Central Michigan in December 2006 to replace Mark Dantonio, who left Cincinnati after three seasons for Michigan State. Kelly took over the team for its game at the International Bowl in January of 2007, leading the Bearcats to a victory over Western Michigan.

Goodfellas
06-22-2009, 01:05 PM
Coming soon to a television, radio or webcastnear you: Colt McCoy. This whirlwind surrounding McCoy gusts in various directions but has three distinct aims: 1. Garner the national exposure needed to help McCoy in a Heisman Trophy race that's sure to be between him, Florida's Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford of Oklahoma. Since Tebow (2007) and Bradford (2008) already have Heismans, the more we see of Colt, the better. Plus, keeping the face of the program on a national stage gives Brown a built-in recruiting weapon. 2. Give McCoy a chance to develop his public speaking skills, given that he's the unquestioned leader of a team expected to contend for a national title. College football voters watch television in the off-season as well. It can't hurt. 3. Allow McCoy to include his own interests in this blitz, making for a well-rounded off-season for a Longhorn who has a great chance to play pro football. Longtime Texas spokesman John Bianco said he went through a similar preseason media push with Ricky Williams a decade ago, but not to this level because Williams was still playing minor-league baseball at the time.
Austin American-Statesman (http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/2009/06/21/0621golden.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=54)

Goodfellas
06-22-2009, 01:06 PM
No one would have blamed Mike Glennon had he decided to transfer from N.C. State. While Glennon redshirted in 2008, Russell Wilson, only a freshman, emerged as the ACC's best quarterback. Glennon, one of the top quarterback prospects coming out of high school in '08, could have followed the path of Ole Miss' Jevan Snead, who left Texas after losing the starting job to Colt McCoy, and found success on his second stop. But Glennon, who has four seasons of college football in front of him, is not going anywhere. "I've never once thought about transferring," Glennon said. "I love N.C. State. I'm staying in this program, regardless of how much playing time I get. I think this coaching staff will prepare me better to be successful."
Charlotte Observer (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college-football/story/792147.html)

Goodfellas
06-24-2009, 05:43 AM
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -- Northwestern University has extended the contract of football coach Pat Fitzgerald through the 2015 season.
Northwestern athletics director Jim Phillips announced the new deal in a release Tuesday.

Fitzgerald, a former All-American linebacker at Northwestern, has been the Wildcats' head coach since 2006. He joined the coaching staff in 2001.

The 34-year-old is 19-18 in three seasons as head coach and led Northwestern to a nine-win season in 2008.

The Wildcats achieved bowl eligibility the past two seasons and went to the Alamo Bowl in December, the same month Fitzgerald was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for his years as a player.

Fitzgerald replaced Randy Walker, who died in June 2006.

Goodfellas
06-24-2009, 05:44 AM
coach Bill Snyder said he found most of what he read in the university audit released by the Board of Regents on Friday to be "accurate." "All compensation noted in my contract was paid to me or to the corporation," Snyder said in a statement Saturday. "I received nothing more than what was stipulated in my contract." Former athletic director Tim Weiser, in Omaha on behalf of the Big 12 for the College World Series, had essentially the same reaction. "I was never paid any money that I was not owed under my agreements with Kansas State (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/5970) University," Weiser said in an e-mail Monday. As for the 13 payments totaling $845,000 to Snyder and Weiser -- as well as former vice president for institutional advancement and athletic director Bob Krause -- that were made without documentation, Weiser and Snyder said they were unaware of any accounting problems.
Kansas City Star (http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1267640.html)

Goodfellas
06-24-2009, 05:45 AM
assistant football coach James Coley takes some gentle ribbing from co-workers if they're nearby when his thumbs mambo across his BlackBerry keyboard to tap out yet another tweet. The idea for Coley and an increasing number of college coaches across the country -- including Florida (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6015)'s Urban Meyer, USF's Jim Leavitt, Southern California's Pete Carroll and Georgia (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6016)'s Mark Richt -- is to connect on a more personal level with fans and prospects. Instead of hastily drafting legislation specific to Twitter, the NCAA has opted to apply an existing Division I recruiting rule that equates a tweet to a fax or an e-mail. Such electronic transmissions, unlike instant messaging or text messaging, are permissible. Direct messaging via Twitter -- like Facebook, another popular social networking Web site -- is allowed by the NCAA, provided the prospect has reached the permissible year in school.
St. Petersburg Times (http://www.tampabay.com/sports/college/article1011874.ece)

Goodfellas
06-24-2009, 01:21 PM
While University of Florida (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6015) president Bernie Machen apparently is ready to extend the contract to play the Georgia (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6016)-Florida (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6015) football game in Jacksonville, Georgia (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6016) is not at that point, UGA athletics director Damon Evans said Tuesday. Machen was quoted by the St. Petersburg Times as saying at Florida (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6015)'s athletics board meeting Monday that he will meet soon with officials in Jacksonville and expects the game to remain there on an annual basis. Machen said he thinks Georgia (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6016) is "leaning the same way we are" and the parties are "headed toward a meeting of the minds." Not so fast, Evans basically replied.
Atlanta Journal Constitution (http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2009/06/24/the-latest-on-georgia-florida-and-jacksonville/?cxntfid=blogs_uga_sports_blog)

Goodfellas
06-24-2009, 01:23 PM
Najee Tyler doesn't have the resume of a typical Big Ten quarterback. He grew up in Fresh Meadows and played at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn before signing with Purdue (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/5984), where Drew Brees and Kyle Orton starred before becoming NFL starters. But Purdue (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/5984) noticed the strong-armed quarterback while watching tape of Xaverian teammate Oday Aboushi, an offensive lineman who will play at Virginia (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/5957), and wound up signing Tyler.
New York Post (http://www.nypost.com/seven/06242009/sports/highschool/city_qb_heads_due_west_175847.htm)

Goodfellas
06-24-2009, 01:23 PM
Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt said last week he was confident the Panthers would be able to assemble a good recruiting class for next year despite losing a few high-profile recruiting battles in Western Pennsylvania. After a weekend of stepping up their recruiting efforts on a number of key prospects, it appears that Wannstedt and his staff are making good on that promise. The Panthers received a verbal commitment over the weekend from Paterson (N.J.) Catholic standout defensive end T.J. Clemmings. Clemmings, who is 6 feet 6, 266 pounds, chose the Panthers over offers from a number of top programs, including Penn State (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/5983), Notre Dame (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6052), Florida (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6015), Tennessee (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6019), South Carolina (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6018), Miami and Rutgers (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/5962).
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09174/979249-233.stm)

Goodfellas
06-25-2009, 05:35 AM
Bowl Championship Series presidents have rejected the Mountain West Conference's playoff plan.

The MWC proposed an eight-team playoff system that would allow greater access to the national championship game to teams outside the six most powerful leagues. The BCS presidential oversight committee rejected the concept during a teleconference on Wednesday.

"There was no overall support for the proposal, although some conferences were interested in considering certain elements of it in the future -- particularly those related to revenue, access and governance of the BCS arrangement," said University of Oregon president David Frohnmayer, the outgoing committee chairman.

Goodfellas
06-25-2009, 05:36 AM
ARDMORE, Okla. (AP) -- Football coach Bob Stoops and basketball coach Jeff Capel have received new contract extensions featuring bonuses intended to keep them at Oklahoma for a long time.
Regents governing the university voted Wednesday to approve the new contracts that would keep both of the coaches in charge of the Sooners for seven more seasons, adding two years to both coaches' deals.

Stoops' new package would pay him more than $30 million through the end of 2015. He would earn a total of $3.675 million next season, including an annual "stay" bonus of $700,000. He will get the bonus in October this season, but in July in subsequent years.

"This is an obvious statement, but it can't be said enough: This university is so fortunate to have a terrific leader, an outstanding football coach, a person with impeccable character like coach Stoops with a proven record of success," athletic director Joe Castiglione said.

Goodfellas
06-27-2009, 05:37 AM
CLINTON, S.C. (AP) -- Former Presbyterian assistant Klay Killingsworth has been brought back to the football staff by new coach Harold Nichols.

The school announced Killingsworth's hiring Friday and said he'd be in charge of Blue Hose linebackers.

Killingsworth had spent time on the Presbyterian staffs of former head coaches Daryl Dickey and Tommy Spangler.

After leaving Presbyterian, Killingsworth coached at Washington & Lee and Columbia. He then moved on to several high school coaching jobs.

He spent the past two seasons at North Paulding High School in Dallas, Ga., as defensive coordinator.

Nichols took over the Blue Hose job in January.

Goodfellas
06-27-2009, 05:38 AM
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Three Auburn football players will not return for their second season.

Linebacker/safety Marcus Jemison, defensive lineman JoMarcus Savage and safety Christian Thompson have left the team, according to Auburn spokesman Kirk Sampson. It wasn't clear if they left of their own accord or were dismissed.

Thompson was the only one of the three to see action as a freshman. He had one tackle but played a bigger role during the spring with starters Zac Etheridge and Mike McNeil limited by injuries.

Jemison and Savage had redshirted after sustaining injuries

Goodfellas
06-29-2009, 06:23 AM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Myles Brand is still carrying the banner for America's young athletes, even as he continues waging a bigger battle in his own life.

The 67-year-old NCAA president who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January, used an awards ceremony Sunday night in Indianapolis to remind people how rewarding it can be to help others.

"It's been my great pleasure to help lead the work of the NCAA these past seven years," he said. "I believe it's a great mission, and we are now harvesting the benefits of our hard work."

Brand was talking about the increase in graduation rates, which he has championed since taking over the NCAA in January 2003.
Since January, Brand has scaled back the public appearances. He skipped the NCAA's annual convention in metro Washington while undergoing treatment and did not travel to San Antonio or Orlando, Fla., recently to pick up other awards.

This time, Brand simply couldn't miss the opportunity to share the stage with three other high-profile names -- Jack and Barbara Nicklaus and WNBA star Tamika Catchings -- who were all honored for their commitment to young people

Goodfellas
06-29-2009, 06:24 AM
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina State linebacker Nate Irving has been charged with careless and reckless driving after a wreck that left him with a broken leg and a collapsed lung.

State Highway Patrol spokesman Capt. Everett Clendenin said the one-vehicle wreck occurred about 4:40 a.m. Sunday on Interstate 40 in western Johnston County. He said Irving's vehicle ran off the road twice before striking two trees.

Clendenin said troopers believe Irving may have fallen asleep at the wheel. The school said Irving was expected to undergo surgery Sunday night at WakeMed Trauma Center in Raleigh.

Irving's mother, Frances Corbett, told The Charlotte Observer that her son was returning to N.C. State from his home in Wallace, located near Wilmington.

"He's doing really well," Corbett said. "He knows he's lucky to be alive."

Goodfellas
06-29-2009, 06:25 AM
Oklahoma won another recruiting battle this weekend in reeling in a verbal commitment from 4-star running back Roy Finch, OUESPN.com reported Friday night. Finch, a 5-foot-8, 170-pound back out of Niceville, Fla., had offers from Tennessee (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6019), Alabama (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6021), Florida State (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/5952), Georgia (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6016), Ole Miss and North Carolina (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/5955), among others. As a junior, Finch rushed for almost 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns last season.
The Oklahoman (http://newsok.com//article/3381356?custom_click=rss)

Goodfellas
06-29-2009, 06:27 AM
Tennessee leads most SEC schools in football-related secondary violations since Lane Kiffin was hired as coach on Dec. 1, 2008, according to information obtained through Freedom of Information requests by the News Sentinel. Tennessee (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6019) has had six. Ole Miss is next with five. Alabama and Auburn (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6023) did not respond to the FOI requests and Vanderbilt (http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/6020), as a private school, is not subject to FOI requests. Kiffin admits he has made some mistakes, but he does not believe the number to be over the top.
Knoxville News-Sentinel (http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2009/jun/27/secondary-violations-not-primary-concern/?partner=RSS)

Goodfellas
06-29-2009, 06:28 AM
HOUSTON (AP) -- The family of a former Rice University football player who died during a workout has settled its lawsuit with the school and the NCAA, which has agreed to recommend that its member universities test all athletes for sickle cell trait.

Dale Lloyd II died a day after he collapsed during a conditioning workout Sept. 24, 2006. The 19-year-old freshman's death was linked to sickle cell trait and created the basis for the lawsuit filed in state district court in Harris County.

At the time of Lloyd's death, Rice did not test its athletes for sickle cell trait.

Much of the settlement is confidential, Houston television station KRIV reported Sunday

Goodfellas
06-29-2009, 06:29 AM
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) -- Former Oregon quarterback Justin Roper has confirmed that he will transfer to the University of Montana.
Roper started for Oregon last season until he injured his knee in Week 3.

He confirmed his decision to play for Montana on Saturday in an interview with The Missoulian.

Oregon coach Chip Kelly said last month that the 6-6, 204-pound Georgia native made the decision to leave that program after emerging from spring drills behind Ducks starter Jeremiah Masoli.
By transferring from a major college program to one in a lower tier of Division I, Roper is eligible to play this season.

Goodfellas
06-30-2009, 06:52 AM
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina State linebacker Nate Irving is recovering from surgery after being hurt in a car crash.

A WakeMed Trauma Center spokeswoman said Irving was in good condition Monday after surgery Sunday night. Irving was hospitalized with a broken leg and a collapsed lung after running his vehicle off the road at 4:40 a.m. Sunday on Interstate 40 in Johnston County.
State troopers think Irving might have fallen asleep at the wheel before crashing into two trees. Irving has been charged with careless and reckless driving.

It's unknown if Irving will be able to play this season. The junior was an honorable mention all-Atlantic Coast Conference player last year despite missing one-third of the season because of injuries.

Goodfellas
06-30-2009, 06:53 AM
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas linebacker Khiry Battle has been dismissed from the team after being arrested during the weekend on a charge of driving under the influence.

Coach Bobby Petrino announced Battle's dismissal Monday, saying only that he'd violated team rules.

The 20-year-old Battle was arrested early Sunday on a charge of misdemeanor DUI. Police say Battle failed a field sobriety test and refused to take a breath alcohol test, leading to a charge of violating the state's implied cons 6, Battle was arrested after an incident in which a background check revealed he had an arrest warrant for failure to appear for a careless driving ticket.
Battle played in 10 games last season as a freshman and made five tackles

Goodfellas
07-01-2009, 06:23 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate plans to hold a hearing next week looking into antitrust issues surrounding the Bowl Championship Series. It's the second time this year that Congress is shining a light on the polarizing system college football uses to crown its national champion.

The hearing will be held next Tuesday in the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights, according to a posting on the committee's Web site.

Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the subcommittee's top Republican and the lawmaker who sought the hearing, did not return telephone and e-mail messages left at his office Tuesday.

In an essay for Sports Illustrated being released Wednesday, Hatch wrote that the Sherman Antitrust Act prohibits contracts, combinations or conspiracies designed to reduce competition.

"I don't think a more accurate description of what the BCS does exists," Hatch wrote. He noted that six conferences get automatic bids to participate in series, while others do not. The system, he argued, "intentionally and explicitly favors certain participants."

Goodfellas
07-01-2009, 06:24 AM
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- The NCAA has reduced the probation period for Alabama State University's football program from five to three years.

In December the NCAA placed the Hornets football program on probation for 17 rules violations that allegedly occurred from 1999-2003. Violations included changing grades, allowing ineligible players to play and practice and conducting offseason workouts not allowed by NCAA rules.

The NCAA said in a release Tuesday that it was reducing the length of probation because it determined ASU officials took actions to correct the problems while the case was being investigated.
The NCAA did not lift a penalty that prevents the Hornets from competing for the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship in the 2009 season.

Goodfellas
07-03-2009, 05:49 AM
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) -- A lawyer for Ryan Leaf (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/players/4255) says a fugitive action filed against the former NFL quarterback in Washington state has been dismissed.

The Whatcom County prosecutor had filed an interstate fugitive case against Leaf after he was arrested by federal Customs agents as he crossed the border from Canada in mid-June on his way to face drug and burglary charges in Texas.

Goodfellas
07-03-2009, 06:24 AM
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Former Florida offensive lineman Drew Miller remembers all the team meetings, the lengthy lectures about hanging out with the right people, making smart decisions and avoiding situations that would draw negative attention.

To Miller, it seemed like Gators coach Urban Meyer or one of his assistants was always talking about staying out of trouble.

Miller also knew that message wouldn't reach all his teammates.
"It's not going to get to everyone," said Miller, who graduated last year and is trying to catch on in the NFL. "There's so many players. You can't baby-sit them all. There's too many guys to keep them all out of trouble. Someone's going to screw up."

That's certainly been the case at Florida, where there have been 24 arrests involving Gators over the last four years under Meyer.

Goodfellas
07-03-2009, 06:25 AM
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -- Rutgers and UCLA have agreed to play a home-and-home football series for the first time.

Rutgers announced the agreement Thursday. The Scarlet Knights will host the Bruins at Rutgers Stadium in the 2016 season opener for both teams. Rutgers will travel to Pasadena the following September.

The schools have never faced each other on the gridiron. Rutgers has played in the state of California only once before, in 1999 against California.

Rutgers opens its 2009 season against Cincinnati on Sept. 7 at Rutgers Stadium. The Scarlet Knights won their last seven games last season -- including a bowl win over North Carolina State -- to finish 8-5.

Goodfellas
07-03-2009, 06:25 AM
ARNOLDS PARK, Iowa (AP) -- Northern Iowa offensive lineman Austin Steichen and two other men have been arrested in connection with an alleged assault.

Arnold Park Police CHief Alan Krueger said Thursday that Steichen, his brother, Andrew Steichen, and Adam Dwyer were arrested on Tuesday after a fight that left an unidentified man unconscious. Police said the man injuries to his head, face and torso.

Police said Austin Steichen, who will be a senior next season, was charged with willful injury, public intoxication, disorderly conduct and simple assault

Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley says he's aware of the situation and is looking into details before making any decisions.
The arrests were first reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.

Goodfellas
07-07-2009, 06:30 AM
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Former University of Kansas football coach Jack Mitchell, who was also publisher of the Wellington Daily News, has died.

John Hadl, associate athletic director at Kansas, said Mitchell died Sunday in Sun City, Ariz., from cancer. He was 85.

Mitchell coached the Jayhawks from 1958 to 1966 and left with an overall record of 44-42-5. His best teams were in 1960 (7-2-1), 1961 (7-3-1) and 1962 (6-3-1).

He was fired after the Jayhawks compiled records of 2-8 in 1965 and 2-7-1 in 1966.

After leaving coaching, Mitchell bought the Wellington Daily News in Wellington, Kan., and was its publisher for 20 years until he retired to Arizona.

A native of Arkansas City, Mitchell was an All-American quarterback at Oklahoma.

Goodfellas
07-07-2009, 06:31 AM
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa linebacker Jacody Coleman is leaving the program and another player is recovering from surgery.
Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz announced the status of the players in a news release on Monday.

He says Coleman, who had 28 tackles as a sophomore last season, decided to transfer for personal reasons. He had a total of 52 tackles in his two years at Iowa.

Ferentz also says that junior offensive guard Julian Vandervelde has undergone surgery that could limit his playing time early in the season.

Vandervelde started in nine games last season as a sophomore.
The news release did not specify the nature of Vandervelde's injury

BK
07-07-2009, 09:41 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia State is wasting no time jumping into big-time college football.

Georgia State will play at Alabama in its first season in 2010 in a game that will mark Bill Curry's return to the state.

The schools announced Wednesday plans to play on Nov. 20, 2010 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The game will conclude Georgia State's inaugural season.

Curry, Georgia State's coach, said playing at Alabama -- where he coached the Crimson Tide to a Southeastern Conference championship -- "quickens the pace of everything we are doing."

Curry coached at Alabama from 1987 through 1989. Alabama won the 1989 SEC championship.
Bill Curry is going to set this program back to a D II level. HE could'nt coach his dick thru a hula hoop.

Goodfellas
07-08-2009, 08:31 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch urged the Justice Department on Tuesday to investigate college football's Bowl Championship Series for what he views as violations of antitrust laws.

Hatch made the comment after conducting a standing-room-only hearing in the Senate subcommittee with antitrust oversight, where he serves as the top Republican.

"Frankly, there's an arrogance about the BCS that just drives me nuts," he told reporters. "Hopefully this hearing will open the door to have some people reconsider their positions. And if nothing else, the Justice Department ought to be looking at this." He said that it's clear to him that the BCS is in violation of antitrust laws.

Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona said: "We're aware of his request and will respond as appropriate."

Goodfellas
07-08-2009, 08:33 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee fan blogs have been buzzing about the possibility of the Volunteers playing in black jerseys this fall.

Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton indicated that such a drastic change from the Vols' traditional orange jerseys isn't likely.
Hamilton wouldn't say no to black jerseys, though he did say Tuesday that he doesn't foresee Tennessee in black "anytime in the near or distant future."

He also says the uniforms are ordered at least a year in advance of the season in which they will be worn, ruling out any changes made by coach Lane Kiffin to the 2009 season.

Hamilton says minor uniform decisions are made by the coach and equipment managers, but he's included in major decisions.

Goodfellas
07-08-2009, 08:34 AM
SEATTLE (AP) -Washington running backs Brandon Johnson and David Freeman have been ruled academically ineligible for the upcoming season.

The announcement from the school came Tuesday.
Johnson, a junior from Hawthorne, Calif., rushed for 194 yards in nine games last season, making him the team's third-leading rusher. Freeman, a sophomore from Inglewood, Calif., ran for 152 yards in four games with the winless Huskies.

Neither player was expected to start for the Huskies this season. After spring practice, Washington listed three freshman - Chris Polk, Willie Griffin and Demetrius Bronson - on its depth chart at tailback

Goodfellas
07-09-2009, 05:40 AM
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- After taking its fight to change the Bowl Championships Series to Congress, the Mountain West Conference is reluctantly agreeing to a BCS television deal.

That doesn't mean the conference is finished pushing for a playoff.
University of Utah president Michael Young issued a statement on behalf of the conference Wednesday, one day after he testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee.

In the statement, Young said the Mountain West felt it had no choice but to sign the agreement with ESPN, which runs through the 2013 season. The Mountain West champion would still not automatically qualify for a spot in one of the top-tier bowls.

"While the Mountain West has expressed serious concerns with the various fundamental flaws in the current BCS system, our various good faith initiatives to generate reform have thus far not been accepted," Young said. "If a conference wishes to compete at the highest levels of college football, and the only postseason system in place for that is the BCS, no one conference can afford to drop out and penalize its football programs and student-athletes."

Goodfellas
07-10-2009, 05:53 AM
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- A California jury has acquitted former University of Montana cornerback Jimmy Wilson of homicide charges for the June 2007 shooting death of his aunt's boyfriend.

Los Angeles Superior Court officials say Wilson was acquitted Thursday and freed from custody. He had been jailed on $2 million bail since his arrest on June 12, 2007.

Wilson was charged with shooting 29-year-old Kevin Smoot of Lancaster, Calif., on June 2, 2007. Court records say the shooting occurred during a confrontation at the home of Wilson's aunt.
Wilson's attorney, Jerome Bradford, argued that his client was acting in self defense.

Wilson started 14 games in 2006 for Montana.

Goodfellas
07-11-2009, 06:08 AM
Sen. Orrin Hatch joined the show to discuss his efforts to modify the BCS.
Hatch said that he is happy because he has raised a lot of attention about the public's issues with the way college football is set up over the last month. Hatch thinks the BCS is unfair, from a money standpoint and for other considerations.

"What's more important is that every team in the country, at least in Division I, should have a chance to play for the national title," Hatch said.
Hatch thinks the people that run the BCS should volunteer to change it before Congress or the courts have to get involved directly. Hatch says there are legal concerns, since we're talking about tax-exempt entities. There are anti-trust concerns.

Goodfellas
07-11-2009, 06:10 AM
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State's Navorro Bowman trudged up the field with hands on hips, sweat dripping from the soaked blue-and-white shirt bearing his new No. 11.

The last notable Nittany Lion linebacker to wear that number was LaVar Arrington, one of the best to ever play the position at Linebacker U.

Coincidence, Navorro?

"I just want to have a better season than last year, be a better player," Bowman said Friday with a chuckle. Arrington apparently had asked his friend and protege to switch from No. 18 to No. 11 this year.

"No. 11, that's just me," Bowman said. "I made a choice, and I'm going to rock with it."

Bad news, Big Ten opponents. After a troubling spring marred by a court appearance, it looks like the talented Bowman is back in head coach Joe Paterno's good graces.

Bowman burst in the spotlight last year with a team-leading 106 tackles and athletic play that reminded Penn State fans of Arrington. With fellow linebacker Sean Lee back after missing 2008 with a knee injury, Happy Valley could be home to one of the most dynamic linebacking duos in the country this season.

Goodfellas
07-11-2009, 06:11 AM
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- The Auburn Tigers are lagging in one recruiting regard: early verbal commitments.

Gene Chizik's staff has lined up nonbinding pledges from eight prospects so far, compared to 19 as of July 9 in Tommy Tuberville's class last year.

While it's hardly cause for concern seven months before national signing day, the Tigers are also falling behind several Southeastern Conference rivals and national powers in the numbers game.
Among them, Texas had lined up 19 commitments, three more than Alabama. LSU, Oklahoma and Florida have 15 each, and Georgia has 13, according to Rivals.com.

Decatur, Ga., defensive back Jonathan Mincy was Auburn's last coms has said the Tigers have an "urgent need" for replenishing a thin group of big men.

Goodfellas
07-14-2009, 05:46 AM
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Mississippi standouts Greg Hardy and Dexter McCluster avoided serious injury during a two-car accident Saturday.

Both were bruised and sore afterward, but avoided serious injury, the school said in a statement Monday.

Hardy, an all-Southeastern Conference defensive end, aggravated a right foot injury that cost him several games last season and spring practice.

Hardy has twice had surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot and will now wear a boot for the next 10 days. Doctors will re-evaluate the senior after the boot comes off. He was working out daily before the accident with no problems, the school said.

McCluster, a senior who plays wide receiver, running back and quarterback in the Wildcat formation, suffered bruises.

Goodfellas
07-14-2009, 05:47 AM
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas State is putting football coach Bill Snyder at the head of the parade in its campaign to recapture the trust of angry donors and disillusioned fans.

"There is no better scenario in all human history than to come into a new presidency and a new athletic directorship and have the greatest coach in the history of the institution (be) a `new' coach on the sideline," athletic director John Currie said while introducing a series of new initiatives on Monday.

"It couldn't be a more comforting or reassuring thing for both president (Kirk) Schulz and I."

Even though Snyder's name was mentioned in an audit that embarrassed the school and infuriated its fan base, the Wildcats have decided that he is nevertheless the most respected asset they have. He has not been accused of wrongdoing and steadfastly maintains he never received anything that was not due him.

"We have unbelievable confidence in coach Snyder and I've been really, really honored to spend time with him," said Currie. "I've already learned so much from him and have even more respect for him than I had when I first walked on the campus six weeks ago."

Goodfellas
07-15-2009, 06:18 AM
FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) -- Florida State coach Bobby Bowden isn't ready to give back those wins the NCAA wants to remove from his record due to an academic cheating scandal.

The 79-year-old Seminoles Bowden said Tuesday he still hopes the NCAA-vacated wins will be restored after a university appeal, keeping his race with Penn State's Joe Paterno going.

Paterno's 383 wins is currently one more than Bowden.

"Of course, I'm hoping to win that appeal. I've been coaching 55 years and I never have been involved in cheating," said Bowden, seated next to his three coaching sons at the University of North Alabama. "Here I've done nothing and I'm going to lose 14 ball games. It doesn't seem right, but it could happen. And I won't cut my wrists if that doesn't happen. There are more important things in life.

Goodfellas
07-15-2009, 06:20 AM
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer thinks current Sooners coach Bob Stoops will one day surpass his accomplishments at OU.

"Bob will someday break my record because he's a smart enough guy to know that you don't leave Oklahoma when you have Oklahoma," Switzer said Tuesday night while accepting a community service award from the Knights of Columbus. "There's no pro job out there worth a damn."

Switzer went 157-29-4 with the Sooners, winning national titles in 1974, 1975 and 1985 before resigning under pressure 20 years ago. He went on to win a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys, but still lives near the Oklahoma campus in Norman

Goodfellas
07-15-2009, 06:21 AM
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Minnesota lost two key players for next season when coach Tim Brewster announced that safety Tramaine Brock and star recruit Hasan Lipscomb will not play for the Gophers.

Brock started all 13 games last season after transferring from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He finished third on the team with 73 tackles and also had an interception, adding some toughness to a defense that was one of the worst in the nation the year before he arrived.

Brock left school for academic reasons in January, and Brewster said then he expected the hard hitter to return in time to play this fall. But he has been unable to improve his academic standing enough in the ensuing six months to become eligible to return to the Gophers.

Kim Royston, who sat out last season after transferring from Wisconsin, will likely step in to fill the void.

Academic issues also will keep Lipscomb, a highly regarded running back from Houston, from playing for Minnesota this season. Lipscomb scored 41 touchdowns in the last two seasons for Cypress Ridge High School and was expected to compete for major playing time in the backfield.

Goodfellas
07-15-2009, 06:22 AM
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Mississippi standouts Greg Hardy and Dexter McCluster avoided serious injury during a two-car accident Saturday.

Both were bruised and sore afterward, but avoided serious injury, the school said in a statement Monday.

Hardy, an all-Southeastern Conference defensive end, aggravated a right foot injury that cost him several games last season and spring practice.

Hardy has twice had surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot and will now wear a boot for the next 10 days. Doctors will re-evaluate the senior after the boot comes off. He was working out daily before the accident with no problems, the school said.

McCluster, a senior who plays wide receiver, running back and quarterback in the Wildcat formation, suffered bruises.

Goodfellas
07-15-2009, 06:23 AM
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- A former University of California lineman who spent time in the Tennessee Titans' camp in 2001 has pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

Prosecutors say 30-year-old Reed Diehl entered his plea Monday in Orange County federal court. He was indicted last year by a federal grand jury on charges that he bilked a developer out of $2.5 million.
The U.S. Attorney's office says Diehl falsely represented himself to potential clients as a banker who made hard money loans.
According to a plea agreement, Diehl admitted that he caused losses of just over $5 million.

Diehl is scheduled to be sentenced September 28. He faces up to 70 years in prison.

Goodfellas
07-15-2009, 06:24 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee wide receiver Austin Rogers has torn a knee ligament and will miss the entire 2009 season.
Head athletic trainer Jason McVeigh says Rogers tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on Friday and will undergo reconstruction surgery in the coming weeks.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior from Nashville had his best season as a sophomore, starting all 14 games in 2007 and finishing second on the team with 624 yards on 56 catches and four touchdowns. In 2008 among a crowded corps of receivers, he caught 14 passes for 180 yards.

Rogers' brother, Zach Rogers, is set to join the Volunteers this year as a freshman wide receiver

Goodfellas
07-16-2009, 06:18 AM
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora said Wednesday that he believes wide receiver DeAndre Brown is on track to start the season even though his left leg is back in a hard boot.

Brown suffered a horrific break during the New Orleans Bowl last year that left his lower leg hanging at a 90-degree angle. Doctors warned Brown's recovery from the break and subsequent surgery would likely be slow and take much of the offseason. Fedora said nothing has changed despite the doctors' decision to slow the record-setting receiver's rehabilitation.

"There's never been a specific date given for his return," Fedora said. "My understanding is he's still on target."

Goodfellas
07-16-2009, 06:19 AM
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina defensive back C.C. Whitlock has been reinstated to the Gamecocks -- again.

South Carolina athletic spokesman Steve Fink said Whitlock had been brought back to the team by coach Steve Spurrier.

Whitlock had been suspended twice the past four months, the last time in May when he was arrested and accused of trespassing at club in Fairfield County. That arrest came just days after Whitlock first team suspension was lifted.

Last month, a magistrate found Whitlock not guilty of the charge.
Whitlock's latest reinstatement also was approved by athletic dirter, played in nine games last fall. He is expected to contend for a starting job in the secondary when drills begin next month.

Goodfellas
07-16-2009, 06:20 AM
FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) -- Tommy Bowden was working in his office at about dawn when the expected visit from Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips came.

The meeting last Oct. 13 ended with Bowden agreeing to step down six games into his 10th season with the Tigers, but he now says leaving wasn't his choice.

"I just signed a seven-year contract and never quit or resigned in my life," Bowden said. "I went to work that morning fully anticipating coaching that day and that night. (Phillips) came to my office. It was a little after 6, and then the discussions started.
"I was just sitting there, but I understood the climate. I anticipated a knock."

Bowden, who was replaced by then-assistant head coach Dabo Swinney, declined to go into specifics about the conversation with his boss on that October morning. After previously saying little about his departure from Clemson, he did discuss the situation with reporters Tuesday during a fundraising event for the athletics program at the University of North Alabama, where brothers Terry and Jeff are coaching.

Goodfellas
07-17-2009, 05:40 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Mt. San Antonio Community College says published reports that its quarterback Nick Lamaison is headed to Tennessee are premature.

A spokesman for the junior college in Walnut, Calif., says Lamaison hasn't formally signed with the Volunteers.

The Vols are looking to add depth at quarterback after the departure of B.J. Coleman left only senior Jonathan Crompton and junior Nick Stephens at the position.

Lamaison is a 6-foot-1, 200-pound rising sophomore from Covina, Calif. He finished his freshman year with 36 touchdown passes and an average 267.6 yards passing per game. He completed 64 percent of his pass attempts with eight interceptions

Goodfellas
07-17-2009, 05:41 AM
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora said Wednesday that he believes wide receiver DeAndre Brown is on track to start the season even though his left leg is back in a hard boot.

Brown suffered a horrific break during the New Orleans Bowl last year that left his lower leg hanging at a 90-degree angle. Doctors warned Brown's recovery from the break and subsequent surgery would likely be slow and take much of the offseason. Fedora said nothing has changed despite the doctors' decision to slow the record-setting receiver's rehabilitation.

"There's never been a specific date given for his return," Fedora said. "My understanding is he's still on target."

Fedora was responding to an ESPN.com report based on an anonymous source that said Brown reinjured the leg playing basketball and was likely to miss the season opener against Alcorn State on Sept. 5.

Goodfellas
07-17-2009, 04:18 PM
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Auburn players say there's no mistaking coach Gene Chizik is serious about discipline on the team.

Quarterback Neil Caudle said there are no gray areas in rules for the Tigers. He and other players say several reserves have been dismissed for violating team rules.

Auburn hasn't identified those players, but the message was apparently received.

Chizik said he strives for fairness in handling issues with players, giving warnings and other punishments before taking more extreme steps. He said that encompasses everything from attending class to practice habits. Chizik said if players refuse to cooperate, they won't get to stick around

Goodfellas
07-17-2009, 04:20 PM
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- It's hard enough coming off knee surgery and dealing with a new home. Freshman quarterback Tajh Boyd, though, has bigger things planned for his first season at Clemson.

Less than six months removed from ACL surgery on his left knee that can often take a year or more to recover, Boyd says he's ready to contend for the Tigers opening under center.

"To me, I feel like I've got just as good a shot as any of those guys," Boyd said this week. "I'm just trying to prepare myself as best I can."

Boyd was the surprising completion to what first-full-year coach Dabo Swinney called his "dandy dozen" back in February. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound passer from Hampton, Va., looked hard at Oregon and Ohio State, barely considering Clemson until his friend -- and fellow Tiger recruit -- receiver Bryce McNeal decided to come there last January

Goodfellas
07-18-2009, 06:11 AM
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- The NCAA has asked Oklahoma to enhance its compliance education program relating to the employment of athletes as part of the school's continuing probation following rules violations by former quarterback Rhett Bomar.

In a letter sent to the school last month, Committee on Infractions assistant director James A. Elworth asked Oklahoma to emphasize the proper use of forms provided to athletes, their employers and coaches.

When the school ran into trouble because Bomar and two other football players were being paid for work they didn't do at a Norman car dealership, Oklahoma was unable to detect the violations because it wasn't making sure athletes were filling out employment forms.

The letter was released Friday after an open records request by The Associated Press.

Oklahoma must submit annual compliance reports to the NCAA as part of its probation, which is set to end in May. Elworth's one-page letter informed the school that the NCAA had received and approved its 2009 report, but was seeking more information on the monitoring of athletes' employment in next year's report.

By failing to collect the forms -- claiming that athletes didn't fill them out -- Oklahoma was unable to detect that Bomar was paid more than $7,400 in extra benefits and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn got more than $8,100 from their time at Big Red Sports and Imports. The school also blamed a change in who was responsible for monitoring the forms for leading to the violations

Goodfellas
07-22-2009, 06:10 AM
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) -- The Mountain West has extended its contract with commissioner Craig Thompson through the summer of 2012.

Thompson has been in charge since the conference formed in October of 1998 before beginning play in 1999.

He led the conference to propose a playoff system to the BCS after a season in which conference champion Utah was the only undefeated team in major college football, but did not get a chance to play for the national title.

Goodfellas
07-22-2009, 06:11 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee has launched an "Eric Berry for Heisman" campaign to promote the All-American safety for college football's most prestigious award.

The 5-foot-11, 203-pound junior posted a Football Bowl Subdivision-best seven interceptions last season, returning them for a single-season Southeastern Conference record 265 yards.

He holds the SEC career record with 487 interception return yards and lacks only 15 yards to become the NCAA career leader.

Tennessee launched the berry4heisman.com Web site featuring Berry stats, videos and photos. A large, inflatable Berry jersey was on the field at Neyland Stadium for a Tuesday media breakfast.
Berry is the first Vol to be promoted for the Heisman since quarterback Peyton Manning in 1997. Mainning finished second in voting as did tailback Johnny Majors in 1956 and quarterback Heath Shuler in 1993.

Goodfellas
07-22-2009, 06:12 AM
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) -- TCU football coach Gary Patterson said Tuesday he was happy that college football media picked his Horned Frogs as the preseason favorite to win the 2009 Mountain West Conference.

But after going 7-1 in the conference and 11-2 overall only to lose the title to undefeated Utah last season, he said he told his players it's not where they start, but where they finish.

"We'll take it as a compliment that people voted for us," Patterson said during MWC football media days at the Green Valley Ranch resort casino in Henderson. "But it's not what they say in August, it's what they say in November."

The 24 media members contributing to the poll picked BYU second, with 190 points, and undefeated 2008 MWC champion Utah third, with 179.

Goodfellas
07-22-2009, 06:13 AM
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Mississippi defensive end Greg Hardy should be ready for the start of the preseason after a car accident 10 days ago.

Hardy was nearing the end of rehabilitation after a second surgery to repair a broken bone in his right foot when the accident aggravated the injury again.

The preseason first-team all-SEC selection will be in a walking boot for two more weeks, but trainer Tim Mullins said Monday in a news release that Hardy will continue therapy on an underwater treadmill with no setback.

Hardy was hurt July 11 when he and teammate Dexter McCluster were hit by another driver near Pontotoc, Miss. Neither was seriously hurt, but Hardy's Cadillac caught fire and completely burned

Goodfellas
07-22-2009, 06:14 AM
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State backup receiver James McDonald is off the football team after police charged him with drunken driving.

A one-sentence statement Tuesday from the athletic department said the fifth-year senior would not be invited back to the Nittany Lions this fall. The statement did not elaborate.

State College police on Monday filed two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence against McDonald after he was pulled over July 9 for an expired registration.

The 22-year-old from Washington, D.C., also faces a violation of driving a car with an expired registration.

Goodfellas
07-22-2009, 06:15 AM
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Running back Anthony Dixon, Mississippi State's top returning offensive player, was arrested over the weekend and his status for the season is unclear.

An arrest report from the Starkville Police Department says Dixon was charged with driving under the influence after officers found him intoxicated late Saturday night with two empty champagne bottles on the floorboard of his car.

"Obviously I'm extremely disappointed in Anthony Dixon's selfish decisions on Saturday night that led to his arrest," first-year coach Dan Mullen said. "This is a topic that we've discussed with our team several times; and we expect each of our student-athletes to not put themselves in this position. We'll continue to work with law enforcement while educating our players about these matters

Goodfellas
07-23-2009, 06:47 AM
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Burglars who broke into the Texas A&M football complex stole some athletic items and left behind a rival's message.

KBTX-TV reports athletic tape was used to write the words "The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You" on the carpet of the locker room.
The tune by that name is a tradition of the University of Texas.
Associate athletic director Alan Cannon says some football equipment was stolen. The extent of the losses was under investigation.

Texas A&M's police believe the break-in at the Bright Football Complex happened Monday night. So far no arrests.
The complex includes the Aggie locker room, athletic training room, rehabilitation complex, meeting rooms, coaches offices and a lounge

Goodfellas
07-23-2009, 06:48 AM
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -Backup running back Tony Jackson has been dismissed from the Duke football program.

Blue Devils coach David Cutcliffe said Wednesday that Jackson was kicked off the team for failing to uphold the standard of conduct expected of a Duke football player.

Jackson was listed on the preseason depth chart as the third-string running back behind Re'quan Boyette and Jay Hollingsworth.
Jackson started three games as a sophomore in 2008, rushing for 259 yards on 76 carries. He also had 12 receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown. As a freshman, he played mostly on special teams as a reserve defensive back.

Goodfellas
07-23-2009, 06:51 AM
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -- Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive says the league won't be able to sustain recent success without avoiding "self-inflicted wounds," such as NCAA sanctions and coaches drawing attention to themselves at the expense of others in the SEC.

At SEC Media Days in Hoover Wednesday, Slive said he has told conference coaches it is time to recommit to following the rules.
Five years ago, the league adopted a policy requiring coaches to report concerns about other SEC schools to their athletic directors.
Several coaches have publicly aired out complaints or accusations about their peers or other schools in recent months.

Slive also pointed to the league's three straight football national titles and other athletic successes in saying this period might someday be regarded as the league's "golden age."

Goodfellas
07-23-2009, 06:52 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin says Florida quarterback Tim Tebow earned his vote for the coaches' preseason All-SEC team.

Tebow wasn't a unanimous first-team pick, but Kiffin praised him Tuesday as "potentially the best college player ever" if the quarterback's senior season is anything like his previous seasons.

Kiffin recruited Tebow when he was an assistant at Southern California. He said he was struck by Tebow's confidence and was convinced Tebow would win a lot of college games. Tebow has since won the 2007 Heisman Trophy and two national championships with Florida.

And Kiffin thinks Tebow will have little problem acheiving that level of success in the NFL

Goodfellas
07-24-2009, 07:13 AM
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow joined the show to discuss the upcoming season.

-- Dan asked Tebow if he it was quarterback or nothing. Tebow said no. He believes he can play quarterback at the next level, but he'll do anything for the team.

-- Dan asked Tebow if he would consider forgoing the NFL and focusing solely on preaching. Tebow said no, he wants to use football to reach people.

"[It] gives you a congregation," Tebow said. "[Football] gives you an opportunity to influence so many people."

-- Tebow explained how he talks to prison inmates when he's trying to encourage them. He says he shares his faith and tries to give them hope. Tebow said that no one gives death-row inmates any attention, but his visits to them mean a lot.

danpatrick.com

Goodfellas
07-24-2009, 07:14 AM
CHICAGO (AP) -- Illinois football coach Ron Zook has received a one-year contract extension.

University trustees on Thursday approved the agreement keeping the fifth-year coach under contract with Illinois through January 2014.

The agreement does not include a raise. Zook makes just over $1.5 million a year.

Zook's last raise was in January 2008. That followed the Illini's surprise trip to the Rose Bowl and a 9-3 season.
The team went 5-6 last season and didn't play in a bowl game

Goodfellas
07-24-2009, 07:15 AM
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Boise State will head east to play Virginia Tech in 2010.

School officials announced the matchup Thursday.
The Broncos and Hokies will play Oct. 2 at FedEx Field, in the Washington suburb of Landover, Md. Boise State will get a payout of $1.25 million to play the Hokies, one of the most successful college football programs in the last decade.

Virginia Tech has a 100-30 record over the last 10 years.
The game completes the non-conference portion of the Broncos' 2010 schedule. Other non-conference games include Toledo, a trip to Wyoming and home game against Oregon State

Goodfellas
07-24-2009, 11:37 AM
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -- Steve Spurrier cleared up the biggest mystery at Southeastern Conference media days: How Tim Tebow got left off a preseason All-SEC ballot.

Spurrier said South Carolina's director of football operations filled out the ballot in his stead and voted for Mississippi's Jevan Snead.
The other coaches picked Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner two years ago.

Spurrier said he was embarrassed about it and has already apologized to Tebow. He said the SEC has let him amend the ballot to add Tebow.

The former Florida coach called Tebow the best football player in the country. He said Tebow and ex-Gator Danny Wuerffel might go down as the two best quarterbacks in college football history.
Spurrier said he has never filled out a preseason All-SEC ballot himself

Goodfellas
07-26-2009, 08:30 PM
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Greg Boone beamed Sunday when he showed off the bulky, glittering ring he earned last season for helping Virginia Tech win the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Then the tight end wondered how heavy a national championship ring might be.
For the first time in a while, it's not a stretch to think he and the Hokies could find out.
No, there's not quite as much laughing at the ACC these days. Not after the super-sized league set an NCAA record last year by sending 10 teams to bowls, and not after its champion finally broke through to win a Bowl Championship Series game for the first time in nearly a decade.

"That (Orange Bowl win) took a lot of pressure off the conference," Boone said.

The league built on its basketball powerhouses is looking to take another step toward finally becoming the football heavyweight many expected a few years back when it expanded to 12 teams.

"People (used to) say our league is a weak conference, but there's no way you can feel that way when you have the Virginia Techs, the Miamis, Florida State," Clemson running back C.J. Spiller said. "I really think our conference is the best in the country."

It's been a while since someone from the ACC could make that claim with a straight face.

Goodfellas
07-26-2009, 08:30 PM
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- John Swofford already faced Congress. This time, it was the media's turn to grill him.

The Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner who's entering the second year of his two-year term as Bowl Championship Series coordinator defended college football's postseason as "very successful in what its goals are" and predicted very few tweaks for the new contracts that run through the 2013 season.

"In terms of the next five years, I think what we're going to see is the BCS, by and large, as it is today, and then we'll go from there," Swofford told a packed conference room of reporters Sunday at the ACC's media day.
"It's not perfect. We know that. It is controversial. We know that," he added. "But like it or not, I think it has reached its goals and what it's there for."

Those goals, Swofford said, are to match the Nos. 1 and 2 teams while maintaining the bowl system.

Goodfellas
07-28-2009, 06:08 AM
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The NCAA on Monday said it cannot be forced to release documents in Florida State University's appeal of academic cheating penalties because the papers are not covered by the state's public records law.

The NCAA asked Circuit Judge John C. Cooper to dismiss a lawsuit filed by The Associated Press and other news organizations seeking the records under Florida's sunshine law.

The documents concern Florida State's appeal of a plan to remove wins from the individual records of all coaches and athletes in several sports even though many, including football coach Bobby Bowden, had no roles in the cheating scandal.

Bowden could lose 14 victories. That would make it difficult for him to catch Penn State's Joe Paterno in their race to post the most wins in major college football. Paterno has 383 victories, just one more than Bowden.

Cooper will hear the NCAA's motion and others on Aug. 5.
He agreed, though, to delay a final two-day hearing, which had been set to start on that date, until Aug. 20-21.

The NCAA sought the delay because two of its key witnesses -- both executives of the organization -- will be unavailable on the original dates as they'll be attending NCAA meetings on those days.

In the motion to dismiss, NCAA lawyer Thom Rumberger argues the documents are not public records and that the NCAA is neither a custodian of records, public body nor agency covered by the law.
Rumberger also contends the records are not public because the university, although a state institution, does not use public money to pay its NCAA dues or membership fees.

The news organizations sued last month for access to records that include the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions' response to Florida State's appeal of penalties for cheating by 61 athletes in several sports. They received improper help from staffers who gave them answers to an online music test or typed papers for them.

The suit accuses the NCAA, Florida State, school officials and a law firm working for the university of participating in "a scheme created to avoid public access."

Goodfellas
07-28-2009, 06:09 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio State is the team to beat in this year's Big Ten football race.

The Buckeyes were picked to win it all by voters at the conference's football media day. The results were announced Monday. Penn State was the runner-up, followed by Michigan State.

"Almost every day when you walk into our building you're reminded of the tradition Ohio State has -- what you're trying to live up to," coach Jim Tressel said. "Then you lose 28 seniors and three juniors (who left early). All of a sudden you come back in and your preseason ranked again."
Tressel said the prediction would serve as incentive for his team.

"I guess it's just another reminder: That's what's expected of Ohio State," he said. "We have a lot of work to do to live up to that."

Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor was selected as the preseason offensive player of the year and Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones was singled out on defense.

Pryor is set to lead the Buckeyes following a season in which he was named the conference's freshman of the year. He led the Big Ten with a pass-efficency rating of 151.3 in conference games, making him the first freshman to top the Big Ten in the category since the stat was introduced in 1980. Pryor produced an 8-1 record as a starter and became the first Ohio State true freshman since 1978 to start at quarterback.

The Buckeyes are pursuing their fifth-straight Big Ten title after going 10-3 a year ago and tying Penn State for the title with a 7-1 mark. Twelve starters will be returning for Ohio State.

Tressel became just the fourth coach in Big Ten history to win five or more titles in his first eight years with a conference team.

Penn State ended last season with an 11-2 overall record. Last year's Big Ten title marked the program's second in the last four years and the school's third overall in football. At the helm once again for the Nittany Lions is Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A). Penn State welcomes back nine starters from last year's squad.

Michigan State went 9-4 overall with a 6-2 mark in conference play a year ago. MSU is led by third-year head coach Mark Dantonio, who has guided his team to back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time since 1997. The Spartans return 15 starters, including eight on defense, led by Jones.
Jones was third in the Big Ten with 127 tackles in 2008 while earning first-team All-Big Ten and ranking among the conference's top 10 with 14 tackles for a loss.

The 114th season of Big Ten football kicks off on Sept. 3 when Indiana hosts Eastern Kentucky. The conference open two days later.

Goodfellas
07-28-2009, 06:10 AM
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Frank Beamer isn't worried about the pressure of being picked to win the Atlantic Coast Conference again. The Virginia Tech coach has had plenty of practice dealing with high expectations.
The Hokies are the overwhelming preseason pick to win a third straight league championship, earning 69 of 87 votes from media members at the ACC Football Kickoff preseason event in results released Monday. Virginia Tech was picked to beat Florida State -- predicted to win the Atlantic Division -- in the title The Hokies have claimed three league titles since joining the ACC in 2004, winning the past two championship games. They return 16 starters from their fifth straight 10-win team.

"I do like this football team," Beamer said. "I tell them, 'I don't mind high expectations as long as you don't forget what got those high expectations,' and that's a lot of togetherness and a lot of hard work and grinding."

Virginia Tech earned 78 votes to win the Coastal Division, while Georgia Tech earned the other nine. North Carolina was picked third, followed by Miami, Virginia and Duke.

In the Atlantic, Florida State earned 56 votes, followed by Clemson (14), North Carolina State (10), Wake Forest (7), Maryland and Boston College.
"You can't stay on top forever," said Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, whose Seminoles won at least a share of the ACC title their first nine years in the league. "But it's a cylinder. It'll come back. I think now, we're on the way back. We'll get back up there."

Georgia Tech's Jonathan Dwyer was named the preseason player of the year, earning 39 votes to outdistance Clemson's C.J. Spiller (28) and N.C. State's Russell Wilson (16).

Goodfellas
07-28-2009, 06:11 AM
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Oklahoma or Texas in the Big 12 South? Both for now.

The Sooners and Longhorns are tied for the top spot in the preseason poll determined from a media vote. Texas got 17 first-place votes and Oklahoma got the other 15, but both had the same number of poll points.
Nebraska is favored in the North Division.

The Cornhuskers, who have won the North only once since taking three of the first four titles by 1999, finished coach Bo Pelini's first season with four consecutive victories.

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, the Heisman Trophy winner last season, was picked as the preseason offensive player of the year. Nebraska tackle Ndamukong Suh (en-DAHM'-eh-ken SOO) is the top defensive player.

Goodfellas
07-28-2009, 06:12 AM
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Nebraska is favored to win its division. The Cornhuskers can score points in bunches and no Big 12 team enters the season with a longer winning streak.

Sure seems like the good old days again for the Cornhuskers.
Not quite yet, second-year coach Bo Pelini cautioned Monday, though things are moving in the right direction again.

"Our players don't feel like Nebraska's back," Pelini said during the opening session of the Big 12 media days. "They're starting to understand what they can become as a football team and where this prorgram needs to be headed."

The Cornhuskers were coming off their second losing record in four seasons, after none the 42 seasons before that, when Pelini took over.

Goodfellas
07-28-2009, 06:13 AM
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Ryan Tannehill was Texas A&M's leading receiver as a freshman. But he was recruited as a quarterback and he'd rather throw passes than catch them.

Coach Mike Sherman will give him that chance and let him compete against returning starter Jerrod Johnson for the job under center.
"Ryan is a fast picker-upper, so to speak. He wastes no time. He's a very intelligent young man, very athletic young man," Sherman said Monday at the Big 12 media day. "I think he will compete and give this challenge every (thing) he has."

Tannehill certainly adapted to catching the ball. He tallied 55 catches for 844 yards and five touchdowns for the Aggies.
Johnson -- who became the starter after Stephen McGee got hurt last season and finished with 2,435 yards and 21 touchdowns -- is ready for the challenge.

"Ryan had a great year as a receiver, would be a great receiver for us this year, but he's also a really good quarterback," Johnson said. "But from my case, I'm confident what I can do."

Johnson and Tannehill have spent the summer throwing passes. While Johnson has the upper hand based on experience, Sherman expects Tannehill to make it a competition.

Goodfellas
07-28-2009, 06:14 AM
COWETA, Okla. (AP) -- Rick Bryan, an All-America defensive end at Oklahoma who played his entire NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons, has died. He was 47.

Bryan died Saturday night at his home in Coweta, the Wright Funeral Home in Coweta said Monday. Former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer says Bryan suffered congestive heart failure.

Bryan was a three-time All-Big Eight selection and a two-time All-American. He holds the OU record for tackles by a lineman with 365.
Bryan started for Oklahoma from 1981 to 1983 and was drafted ninth overall by the Falcons in 1984. He had 29 sacks over the next 10 seasons with the Falcons. He retired to Coweta to farm.

Bryan is survived by his wife and three children. Two of his brothers, Mitch and Steve, also played for the Sooners.

Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday in Coweta.

Goodfellas
07-28-2009, 06:15 AM
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- The Southeastern Conference championship game will remain at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta at least through 2015.
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said Monday the league has agreed on a five-year extension to keep the game at the Dome.

The game has sold out every year except for 1995, the year after its move to the dome.

Last year's matchup between Alabama and Florida drew nearly 76,000 fans, the most to attend a sporting event in the Georgia Dome.
The 2009 championship game will be Dec. 5.

Goodfellas
07-28-2009, 06:16 AM
DALLAS (AP) -- Family members say the father of SMU record-setting quarterback Justin Willis was fatally shot while in Dallas.

Samuel Willis of Denton was the victim of a home invasion murder late Friday at a residence he was visiting. He was 46.

Sandra Willis told The Dallas Morning News that her husband was a psychiatric technician and counseled adolescents dealing with substance abuse problems.

Dallas police say there was an exchange of gunfire between the homeowner and the assailants. Police said Monday that no one was arrested and the investigation continues.

Justin Willis was the 2006 Conference USA freshman of the year and set numerous school passing records in 2007. Willis, entering his senior season, is now a wide receiver for the Mustangs. His 57 touchdowns are the most in the program's history

Goodfellas
07-30-2009, 06:49 AM
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- It took Kentucky and Western Kentucky nearly a century to meet on the football field.

The schools won't have to wait quite that long for the rematch.
The Wildcats and the Hilltoppers announced a four-game series beginning in 2010 that includes a pair of games at LP Field in Nashville.

Kentucky will host WKU at Commonwealth Stadium in 2010 and 2012 while the Hilltoppers will serve as host for the Wildcats when the teams meet in the season-opener in Nashville in 2011 and 2013.

Kentucky won the only game between the two schools 41-3 last year in Lexington.

The Hilltoppers begin 2009 as a full-fledged member of the Sun Belt Conference after moving up from the Football Championship Subdivision.
WKU athletic director Wood Selig said playing in Nashville gives fans of both teams a unique opportunity. The Hilltoppers will be designated the home team for both games.

"Opening the 2011 and 2013 seasons in Nashville is a creative and unique way to grow our program's visibility," Selig said. "It will also be great for football fans and youth players throughout the region."

The Wildcats have had plenty of success at LP Field in recent years, winning the Music City Bowl there in 2006 and 2007. Kentucky's ability to draw large crowds to the home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans made them an attractive pick for the bowl and the stadium was an obvious choice for the meeting.

Though Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium has undergone a major renovation that's coincided with WKU's move to the Football Bowl Subdivision, the new 25,000-seat capacity was far too small to accommodate the fans of both teams.

"It wouldn't make sense, financially, for either team when you have the opportunity to draw a large number of fans to an area that's beneficial for both sides," Selig said.

Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said the combination of venue, location and opponent is a perfect fit.

"It makes sense for our fans, it makes sense for our players, who enjoy the experience of playing in an NFL stadium," he said.

Goodfellas
07-30-2009, 06:52 AM
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Reigning player of the year Jonathan Dwyer and rookie of the year Russell Wilson headline the all-Atlantic Coast Conference preseason team.

The ACC on Wednesday announced the 24 selections as determined by a vote of 44 media members who attended the league's media days earlier in the week.

Dwyer had a league-best 41 votes, and the Georgia Tech running back is attempting to become the ACC's first two-time player of the year since 1992-93. Last season, Wilson was the first freshman named quarterback of the all-ACC team.

Preseason favorite Virginia Tech placed four players on the team. Three teams -- North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Clemson -- had three selections. Two of the Tigers' picks went to C.J. Spiller, honored as a running back and kick returner

Goodfellas
07-30-2009, 06:53 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Southern California freshman Frankie Telfort has a heart problem that will prevent him from playing for the Trojans.

Telfort, a 17-year-old Miami native considered one of the top linebacker prospects in the country, has been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a serious genetic heart condition that has figured prominently in the lives and deaths of many notable athletes in recent years.

USC couldn't clear Telfort to play after examinations by several top heart specialists in Los Angeles and another opinion from the Minneapolis Heart Institute. The condition causes the heart muscle to thicken, making it difficult to pump blood.

"This is obviously very difficult news for Frankie, his family and all of us in the football program," coach Pete Carroll said. "But we're very thankful doctors discovered the issue before it led to anything worse."

USC will honor Telfort's full scholarship, athletic director Mike Garrett said.
Telfort, who attended Miami's Gulliver Prep, was ranked the No. 8 linebacker in last spring's recruiting class by Rivals.com. Though somewhat undersized at 5-foot-11, Telfort was thought to have a promising career ahead at linebacker or safety for the Trojans.

"Everybody's football career unfortunately ends at some point, and no one's ever ready for it," Carroll said. "For some guys, it comes sooner than expected. But you're a football player and a Trojan for life, and Frankie is definitely both."

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy affects roughly one in every 500 people, according to the Mayo Clinic, and is the top cause of sudden heart-related death in people under 30 years old. Although it causes no significant health problems for many, the condition can produce dangerous problems with the heart's rhythm.

Veteran NBA guard Cuttino Mobley retired last season after being diagnosed with the condition, which also was linked to the deaths of Boston Celtics forward Reggie Lewis, Loyola Marymount star Hank Gathers and retired Portland Trail Blazers center Kevin Duckworth.

Marathoner Ryan Shay, San Francisco 49ers lineman Thomas Herrion, Atlanta Hawks center Jason Collier and former NHL player Sergei Zholtok are among many other athletes also believed to have died from conditions related to enlarged hearts.

Goodfellas
07-30-2009, 06:54 AM
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- The six-win mark means more than bowl eligibility for Kansas State quarterback Carson Coffman.

It means matching the number of victories his father, tight end Paul Coffman, had in three years with the Wildcats in the 1970s.

"We'll definitely surpass that total," said Coffman, also the younger brother of former standout Missouri tight end Chase Coffman. "In one year, yes."
Coffman's declaration during Big 12 media days Wednesday would have qualified as a bold statement 30 years ago. Bill Snyder has changed the expectations in Manhattan, Kan., which is why the father of Kansas State football has returned from a three-year coaching hiatus to replace his replacement, Ron Prince.

The Wildcats have reached six wins just once in the past five years (two under Snyder) after 11 straight seasons that were at least that good, and usually much better.

Now Kansas State will try to recapture the Snyder magic with a quarterback who grew up idolizing the coach.

"I never thought I'd have this opportunity," Coffman said. "When he was named head coach, it was pretty intimidating because of what he's done and his credentials. I'm really excited to learn from him."

Of course, Coffman's least favorite elementary school teacher could be the coach and he'd still be excited. Since quarterback wasn't the problem during Prince's three years, Coffman watched while Josh Freeman played his way into the first round of this year's NFL draft.


Now Coffman is trying to replace the school's career leader in yards, completions and touchdowns while playing in a home stadium that bears his coach's name.

"I've been sitting for three years just dying to get an opportunity to play," Coffman said. "It's finally here, and I'm going to make the most of my opportunity."

Snyder said Coffman was the starter but didn't declare the competition closed.

"He's making the transition like everyone," Snyder said. "So there's a learning curve, but he handles that. Sharp young guy, handles it quite well."

Goodfellas
07-30-2009, 06:55 AM
No Hard Feelings

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said he has moved on from the messy contract stalemate that was aired out in public during the offseason.
Leach and the school had agreed on financial terms, but Leach objected to some of the clauses in the deal. The biggest sticking point was a requirement that Leach notify the school before he interviewed elsewhere or risk being fired and penalized $1.5 million.

Ultimately, the sides agreed on a five-year, $12.7 million deal without the contentious clause and with favorable buyout arrangements for Leach.
"There's always bumps in the road and ups and downs," Leach said. "In the midst of that, you just go to work every day and continue to work, and then once it all got solved, just continue to proceed without distractions."

When a reporter suggested Leach now had the best deal in the Big 12 because of the buyout arrangements, he said there were at least three Big 12 coaches with better deals. Pressed further, he wouldn't name names

Goodfellas
07-30-2009, 06:55 AM
10-Win Challenge

The buzz for Colorado coach Dan Hawkins revolved around his supposed guarantee of 10 wins in 2009 at the end of last year's season-ending banquet.

While trying to dismiss the chatter as "Internet rumors," Hawkins said there was nothing wrong with expecting the Buffs to double their number of wins in one season. He offered repeated examples: the Arizona Cardinals from nowhere to the Super Bowl and Minnesota-Duluth from 4-6 to 15-0 and a Division II national championship, just to name a couple.

"I'm never going to sell our guys short, and I think I'm a big believer in what your expectations and your vision and what your standard is," Hawkins said. "If you're not a high-standard guy, you're a low-standard guy."

Goodfellas
07-30-2009, 06:56 AM
Snyder 2.0

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder was asked to compare in several ways the differences between now and when he left coaching three years ago. Technology stood out to him as much as anything else.

"You know, I get up every morning early in the morning, and you get this BlackBerry thing out, and it's got all the recruiting services, and they each have a long story on every youngster that is above the age of 4 in the nation. Tells you what he had for breakfast and what position he plays and who's recruiting him and so on," Snyder said. "It's a change for me, but ... over the past two or three years it's been a change for everybody, I think."

Goodfellas
07-31-2009, 05:43 AM
BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. (AP) -- Steve Spurrier has more regrets over his all-Southeastern Conference ballot: That he took his omission of Florida's Tim Tebow from the first team so seriously and that he involved one of his most trusted staffers.

The South Carolina coach said Thursday he made way too big a deal of not voting for the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback at the Southeastern Conference's annual media gathering. Spurrier also made it clear he took responsibility for the incident and that his director of football ope got into too much detail," Spurrier said after his annual summer golf outing. "We should not have gotten Jamie Speronis involved at all because he does a heck of a job as director of football operations. He's an important, key guy."

Spurrier's admission was perhaps the denouement to the biggest whodunit at SEC gathering in Hoover, Ala. The media had asked each league coach if they were the one who failed to place Tebow, who led the Gators to a national championship last fall, on the preseason first team.

Finally, Spurrier admitted the oversight, offering how sick he was when he realized he hadn't put his fellow Gator Heisman Trophy winner as his No. 1 choice. Spurrier then detailed what happened, including why Speronis had gone with Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead over Tebow.
Spurrier called Tebow to apologize and had the SEC redo his ballot to include the Florida star as his choice.

"Sometimes, you look back and say, 'Why did we give them too much detail?"' Spurrier said. "It was an oversight, first list we sent in, it was my fault, and then we corrected it. That's all we needed to say."

Goodfellas
07-31-2009, 05:44 AM
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas running back Broderick Green will not have to sit out a season after transferring from Southern California.
The Arkansas athletic department confirmed Thursday that the NCAA has cleared Green to play. When Green said in November he was leaving USC, he said it was to be with his ailing grandmother in Little Rock.

"Our compliance staff worked closely with Broderick's family to develop a thorough waiver request based on his personal circumstances," Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino said. "The NCAA carefully considered his waiver and granted Broderick immediate eligibility. We are obviously pleased with their decision."

The 6-foot-2, 248-pound Green should add depth at running back for the Hogs, who relied heavily on starter Michael Smith last season. The 5-foot-7 Smith rushed for 1,072 yards, but he was the only Arkansas running back with over 36 carries and showed signs of being overworked.
Green was a high school star at Little Rock's Pulaski Academy, then signed with USC in 2007. He redshirted that year and played six games last season. He rushed for 168 yards on 32 carries.

"I am excited about the opportunity to play for Arkansas this season," Green said. "I appreciate the support of coach Petrino, the rest of the coaching staff and the athletic department administration in helping make this outcome a reality."

Goodfellas
08-01-2009, 07:12 AM
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- Former Clemson starter Barry Humphries has decided to leave the Tigers to regain a starting job somewhere else.
Humphries, who would have played as a graduate student this fall, began 2008 as the team's starting guard. However, the 6-foot, 300-pound offensive lineman tore knee ligament in the loss to Alabama, reinjured it during midseason and eventually had surgery that ended his season.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney announced Humphries choice Friday.

Humphries was listed as a fourth-team center and guard, the school said.
Swinney also had suspended Humphries for two games for his drunken driving arrest in May. The school said Humphries was riding a motor scooter when he was arrested and charged.

Humphries said in a statement Friday he wasn't going to see much work during camp since he wouldn't be eligible to play the opener.

"I would like to be a starter in my final year of college and it would be very difficult for that to be the case at Clemson this year," Humphries said.
Humphries started seven games for the Tigers in 2007, five at center and two at right guard. He was on the team with 86 1/2 knockdown blocks.
Humphries earned his undergraduate degree this past May.

Goodfellas
08-01-2009, 07:14 AM
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (AP) -- Marist College is seeking monetary damages for breach of contract from former basketball coach Matt Brady, James Madison University and the commonwealth of Virginia.

Notice of the lawsuit was served six months ago as required by Virginia law. Papers were filed July 20 in New York's Dutchess County Court.
The suit alleges Brady was in breach of contract for leaving his job last year without written permission and then signing four players who he had offered scholarships at Marist. The players followed Brady to James Madison.

Attempts to reach Brady were unsuccessful. James Madison athletic director Jeff Bourne said Friday that school officials cannot comment on pending litigation.

Goodfellas
08-01-2009, 07:15 AM
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A former federal prosecutor was appointed Friday to represent a woman charged with trying to extort Louisville coach Rick Pitino, three weeks after her prior attorney quit the case citing "irreconcilable differences" with her.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James Moyer tapped James A. Earhart, who used to work in the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's office in Louisville, to handle the case of Karen Cunagin Sypher. She has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of trying to extort money from Pitino and lying to the FBI.
Cunagin Sypher is accused of demanding college tuition for her children, her house to be paid off and, eventually, $10 million.

Cunagin Sypher's previous attorney, Thomas Clay, resigned from the case on July 9, but did not disclose the cause of the rift.

Cunagin Sypher would not comment after Friday's hearing.
During the hearing, Cunagin Sypher answered questions about her finances from Judge Moyer, disclosing that she has $1,600 monthly income from an ex-husband and Tim Sypher.

Moyer told Cunagin Sypher he didn't want to know the details about what caused the problems with Clay. Moyer then appointed Earhart, calling him "well familiar" with the federal criminal justice system. Moyer told Cunagin Sypher that cooperation is key to a case progressing smoothly.
"It's a two-way street," Moyer said. "The lawyer and client have to work together."

Goodfellas
08-01-2009, 07:16 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- John Wooden's friends, family and former players all say they didn't need an award from a national magazine to confirm the identity of the greatest coach in American sports history.

Yet the Sporting News made it official Wednesday, recognizing the 98-year-old Wooden as the pinnacle of a profession that was redefined by the UCLA coach over his unmatched career in Westwood.

During a luncheon in the John Wooden Room at one of his favorite restaurants in Sherman Oaks, the coach saw the real reward for a life spent teaching, mentoring and improving lives: A room packed to overflowing with the recipients of those lessons, from his daughter, Nan, to current UCLA coach Ben Howland, to former Bruins center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

"I thank you all for the very kind words," Wooden said in a voice altered but not slowed by age. "No one can really honestly be the very best, no one ... (but) these youngsters that have spoken -- and some of them aren't so young anymore -- they're the ones that make the coaches."
Former Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi was second behind Wooden, who received 57 first-place votes from a panel of 118 sports experts assembled by Sporting News. Alabama football coach Bear Bryant was third, with the NBA's Phil Jackson and football's Don Shula fifth.
Wooden arrived at the luncheon in a wheelchair after a series of minor health setbacks in recent years, but the coach still has an appetite both for conversation and a hearty lunch. He sat at a table with Howland, UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero and former players Abdul-Jabbar, Marques Johnson and Andy Hill, while several other players gathered next to him.
"You get older, your memory gets a little bad, but a lot of other things get worse," Wooden said during a short lapse in his train of thought.
Wooden won 10 national championships at UCLA, winning more than 80 percent of his games over 27 seasons. The Indiana native has been in the Basketball Hall of Fame since 1961, and has kept busy as a speaker and teacher since his retirement from UCLA in 1975.

"It was really very easy, I think, for the people on the panel to vote for this award," said Howland, who has reached three Final Fours in his first six seasons at UCLA. "He was the greatest teacher ever. His integrity, the way he lives his life, is a model for all of us."

Former players Jamaal Wilkes, Ken Heitz, Mike Warren, Lucius Allen and Gary Cunningham, who later became Wooden's assistant, also attended the luncheon. The tall guests frequently left the low chandeliers in the John Wooden Room swaying from accidental contact.

Johnson shared memories of an encounter with Wooden during his freshman year at UCLA, when the coach spotted Johnson shooting pool. Wooden walked up to the table, grabbed the cue and sank eight straight shots, all with a toothpick dangling from his lip.

Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar both pointed out Wooden's influence in their day-to-day habits as well as their overall views of life.

"He has an impact on us, even if we don't want him to," Johnson said, producing a handful of Wooden's favorite white index cards from his jacket pocket. They were inscribed with notes for Johnson's job coaching his 10-year-old's summer league basketball team.

"The enduring thing is that sense of family," Johnson added. "The example that he gave us in that area is one thing that's outlasted all the basketball and all the accolades and everything else."

Wooden's daughter, granddaughter and several of his 13 great-grandchildren also attended the luncheon.

"The most important thing in the world is family and love," Wooden said. "Love is the most important thing in the world. Hate, we should remove from the dictionary. ... They say you never use love in your Pyramid (of Success). I just say I never thought of it."

Goodfellas
08-04-2009, 07:52 AM
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida State cannot use a law firm as a go-between to keep documents on an academic cheating scandal secret, media lawyers wrote Monday in an appeal to have the papers released publicly.

An appellate court in 1990 ruled against a similar move by St. Petersburg and the Chicago White Sox to hide an agreement for moving the team to Florida, lawyers said in court papers.

The argument is over documents on the school's appeal of an NCAA plan to remove wins from the individual records of coaches and athletes in 10 sports regardless of whether they were involved in the cheating.
The NCAA sent the information electronically to law firm GrayRobinson rather than to Florida State. The media motion argues they became public records when GrayRobinson received them on behalf of the school. They also argue the agreement between Florida State and GrayRobinson to keep them confidential is illegal. GrayRobinson and the NCAA earlier asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.

"The records relate to the official business of FSU in connection with educating students and running a student athletic program," the media lawyers wrote. "Consequently, the records then meet the definition of 'public records."'

Longtime football coach Bobby Bowden stands to lose 14 victories that would make it difficult for him to overtake Penn State's Joe Paterno in their race to be major college football's winningest coach. Paterno holds that title with 383 victories, just one more than Bowden.

The law firm contends the NCAA alone has custody of the records because they were placed on a Web site that can be viewed with a secret password but not downloaded. The media lawyers contend GreyRobinson has the password and ability to provide public access to the site, making it possible to capture screen shots of the documents.
Circuit Judge John C. Cooper on Thursday will consider motions in the lawsuit filed by The Associated Press and other media against the NCAA, Florida State and the law firm.

The media lawyers referred to the White Sox case in their written response to the GrayRobinson motion to dismiss.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal found the baseball team and St. Petersburg had violated Florida's public records law by keeping documents out of the city's physical possession. St. Petersburg's lawyers and managers, instead, could review the papers at the office of a local law firm hired by the White Sox. The deal fell through when Illinois agreed to finance a new stadium in Chicago.

Goodfellas
08-05-2009, 05:45 AM
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida receiver Riley Cooper, who has agreed to play baseball for the Texas Rangers, is returning for his senior season.
Gators coach Urban Meyer announced Cooper's decision Tuesday.
It was welcome news for Florida, whose biggest challenge this fall is replacing leading receivers Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy.

"He will be counted on heavily to be one of our go-to receivers," Meyer said. "I've said numerous times during the offseason that we need someone to step up with the departure of Percy Harbe someone that does."

Cooper started 12 games for the eventual national champions last season and caught 18 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. He has 30 career receptions for 535 yards and nine scores. He's also quarterback Tim Tebow's roommate.

Goodfellas
08-06-2009, 06:13 AM
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama coach Nick Saban says four players have been dismissed for violating team rules.

Linebackers Brandon Fanney and Prince Hall, defensive back Alonzo Lawrence and running back Jermaine Preyear weren't on the roster released Wednesday, when the team reported for fall camp.

Charlie Higgenbotham and Chris Jackson have already transferred while four reserves left for medical reasons.

Saban said the most important mission of fall camp is not finding a starting left tackle or a backup quarterback. He said it's cultivating the intangible things like focus and discipline.

Running back signee Eddie Lacy got word from the NCAA clearinghouse that he was eligible on Wednesday.

The veterans will open practice Thursday morning and the newcomers will work separately in the evening.

Goodfellas
08-09-2009, 06:05 AM
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- West Virginia football coach Bill Stewart has given top returning wide receiver Jock Sanders another chance.
Sanders has been reinstated to the team and practiced with the Mountaineers on Saturday, six months after his arrest on drunken driving charges in Morgantown.

"It's the right thing to do," Stewart said in brief remarks about Sanders after practice. "It needed to be done to get this behind him."

Sanders was the team's leading receiver last season with 53 catches for 462 yards and seven touchdowns. His actions off the field will be monitored closely and Stewart hasn't decided yet on whether the junior will miss any playing time during the upcoming season.

"He's on a very short leash," Stewart said.

Teammates were glad to see Sanders, who was suspended indefinitely from the team shortly after his arrest. He wasn't made available for comment after Saturday's practice.

"It was a blessing to get him back out there," said quarterback Jarrett Brown

Goodfellas
08-09-2009, 06:06 AM
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas reported to training camp Saturday with a message from coach Mack Brown: Forget the system.

Forget the Bowl Championship Series formula. Forget the Big 12 tiebreaker that used the BCS ratings to send Oklahoma to the conference title game last season.

And forget how that system ultimately sent the Sooners, a team Texas beat on the field, to play for a national championship instead of the Longhorns.

Quarterback Colt McCoy said the Longhorns have already pushed all that out of their minds. He added there's no talk of preseason rankings or pursuing a national title. Not among the players, anyway.

Goodfellas
08-09-2009, 06:07 AM
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Weeks after signing a seven-year contract worth $15.7 million, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy says he isn't interested in ever coaching anywhere else.

A former quarterback for the Cowboys, Gundy has said in the past that he considered his post his "New York Yankees job," one that he desires more than any other.

"I have still said publicly that I'll always coach at Oklahoma State, unless somebody doesn't want me to coach at Oklahoma State," Gundy said Saturday at Oklahoma State's media day. "I don't have any interest in going anywhere else, and I think to a certain degree that's helped Oklahoma State a little bit, because players want to go to a school where they know their coaching staff's going to be in tact

Goodfellas
08-09-2009, 06:08 AM
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- Mark Richt isn't ready to predict the winner of Georgia's tailback competition. He won't even predict that one winner will emerge in the effort to replace first-round draft pick Knowshon Moreno.
Georgia fans, brace for a tailback-by-committee approach.

"We are going to find out who is the best back, if there is such a thing," the Georgia coach said this week. "We might have a situation where two or three are the best backs. I doubt one man will get every carry. More than likely it will be by committee."

Goodfellas
08-10-2009, 07:24 AM
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- If LSU's defense fails to improve, the unit's new "Chief" promised he won't be making excuses.

"You won't hear me say, 'Hey, we don't have any talent,"' said new defensive coordinator John Chavis, who goes by the nickname Chief, a nod to his native American heritage.

"There's no question in my mind that we have the talent to be a very good defense and we're going to expect to be a very good defense," he continued on Sunday. "I'm not standing up here making any predictions ... but when we walk out on that field, we expect to be a championship defense."

The talent level of LSU's defense was never more evident than in last year's Chick-fil-A Bowl, when the Tigers mauled Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets' triple-option offense, which last season averaged 377 yards and 26.2 points per game, couldn't score a touchdown against LSU.

Goodfellas
08-10-2009, 07:25 AM
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Make no mistake: Steve Spurrier's in charge of South Carolina's attack.

"I'll be responsible for the playcalling, how's that?" Spurrier said Sunday.
For many Gamecocks fans, that's just what they wanted to hear.
A season ago, Spurrier's decision to let son Steve Jr. take on more of the game preparation and playcalling set off concern the 64-year-old ball coach might be ready to hang up his visor for good. But after another late-season collapse by the Gamecocks in 2008, an overhaul of the coaching staff and a recruiting class that might go down as the school's best ever, Spurrier sounds more energized than ever and ready to put his touch back on South Carolina's offense.

Spurrier will take suggestions. However, he made clear where the final call will come.

"Who'll fire them in there first, we haven't set in stone who's going to do that yet," he said. "But I'll be ultimately responsible like I'm ultimately responsible for everything."

Goodfellas
08-10-2009, 07:26 AM
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida State's Bobby Bowden says he wants one more national title before retirement.

At the annual football media day, Bowden said Sunday he believes the Seminoles are rebuilt and ready to win another national championship. He has two years to deliver before his successor-in-waiting, Jimbo Fisher, takes over in January 2011.

"Definitely I want to win a national championship again," said the 79-year-old Bowden, who enters his 34th season at Florida State. "I wish I could leave here on top."

Bowden's 1993 and 1999 teams won national titles. The Seminoles narrowly missed another half dozen times between 1987 and 2000, often denied by rival Miami.

The coaches are also bringing back a slogan from the undefeated 1999 Seminoles team that won the national title: "It's Not About Me ... It's About Us."

Goodfellas
08-10-2009, 07:27 AM
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- The long-awaited debut of University of Colorado wide receiver Markques Simas will be delayed two games this season following his suspension for violating unspecified team rules.

Simas, a third-year sophomore, can practice with the team but must sit out its Sept. 6 opener against Colorado State and a Sept. 11 game at Toledo. He will be eligible to play in the Buffaloes' third game, against Wyoming.

Simas, from San Diego, redshirted in 2007 and was ruled academically ineligible before last season.

Sophomore offensive lineman Sione Tau has also been suspended for the fall semester also for violating an unspecified team rule. He has been excused from all team activities

Goodfellas
08-11-2009, 05:54 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Accusing Kansas State of "wanton and malicious misconduct," lawyers for former football coach Ron Prince asked for more than $6 million in damages Monday and said it was the school, not Prince, who wanted a controversial contract to be confidential.

In their written response to a lawsuit filed against Prince by Kansas State, Prince's attorneys also indicated that former Kansas State President Jon Wefald may have known about the agreement calling for Prince to be paid $3.2 million in deferred compensation between 2015-2020.

Kansas State filed suit in U.S. District Court in Topeka, Kan., in May seeking to void the agreement, claiming it was made in secret between Prince and former athletic director Bob Krause and without the knowledge of other university officers, including Wefald.

In documents filed Monday, Prince's attorneys said the university agreed to guarantee a $1.2 million buyout and that the school's Intercollegiate Athletic Council, headed by Krause, subsequently agreed to fund the $3.2 million in deferred compensation

Goodfellas
08-11-2009, 05:55 AM
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan's Rich Rodriguez says as soon as he found out Justin Feagin was getting into trouble off the field he was dismissed.

The coach also insists he didn't know about the player's previous run-ins with the law.

Rodriguez faced questions about the former quarterback on Monday as the team had its first practice on the same day the Detroit Free Press published a report about Feagin.

The newspaper reported that Feagin acknowledged his role in a botched cocaine deal to campus police and admitted he sold drugs and was arrested twice in Florida while in high school.

Rodriguez kicked Feagin off the team last month. Feagin played sparingly in four games last season as a freshman, carrying the ball four times for 52 yards.

Goodfellas
08-11-2009, 07:45 AM
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan State has reinstated sophomore running back Glenn Winston as the team begins practice for the 2009 season.

Winston pleaded guilty earlier this year to misdemeanor assault charges over a fight that briefly left a Michigan State hockey player hospitalized. Winston was sentenced to six months in jail and probation.
He was with the team as practice began Monday.

Authorities say Winston was in an off-campus fight Oct. 19 that briefly hospitalized Michigan State hockey player A.J. Sturges.

Winston was indefinitely suspended from the football team after entering the guilty plea.

Goodfellas
08-11-2009, 07:47 AM
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier jogged to the sideline with a request.

"Can I get some of the air out of this?" Forcier asked.

Equipment manager Bob Bland helped him out, using a device to deflate some air from the freshman's helmet.

"It's the first day," Bland said Monday.

Better get used to it, kid.

Forcier felt pressure on his head after taking just a few snaps during the Wolverines' first practice and asked for help to relieve it.

It won't be as easy when he's the No. 1 quarterback for college football's winningest program, which is coming off a school-record nine losses in Rich Rodriguez's debut season with the Wolverines.

Forcier might not start the opener next month at home against Western Michigan, but it's difficult to envision him spending a lot of time on the sideline behind Nick Sheridan or fellow freshman Denard Robinson

Goodfellas
08-11-2009, 07:48 AM
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- There's less of Ralph Friedgen on the Maryland sideline these days, thanks to a diet that has enabled the Terrapins head football coach to drop a whopping 105 pounds.

Friedgen won't say how much he weighed before he began the diet in October, but this much is certain: He was well over 300 pounds and not in a very healthy place.

"A couple of years back I looked into doing lap band surgery, and then a week away I decided not to do it because it would limit what I could eat and how I could eat it," Friedgen said Monday. "But the doctors had told me when things start going bad, being overweight, they're going to go bad fast."

Friedgen knew it was time to get rid of the two extra chins and the massive belly that was making it difficult for him to walk without losing his breath. So he began a diet that provided him with five packaged meals a day and healthy snacks.

Goodfellas
08-11-2009, 07:49 AM
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- Clemson has run afoul of the NCAA fashion police.
The Tigers were docked two preseason practices for wearing improper attire at its first two workouts last week.

NCAA rules say players can only wear jerseys and shorts during the five-day acclimatization period. However, the Tigers wore long, compression shorts with padding on the top, referred to as girdles. Pictures of Clemson players in the improper shorts are on the school's athletic Web site.

Coach Dabo Swinney says the team did not knowingly break the rule, considered a secondary violation by the NCAA. A second practice scheduled for Monday was canceled. The Tigers will work out just once Friday after orginally scheduling two sessions.

Swinney referred to the matter as "Girdlegate."

Athletic spokesman Tim Bourret said no other penalties are involved

Goodfellas
08-16-2009, 06:48 AM
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- Clemson coach Dabo Swinney isn't ready to say who his starting quarterback will be.

Swinney wouldn't name a starter after Saturday's scrimmage.

Sophomore Willy Korn and freshman Kyle Parker are the front runners to lead the Tigers offense this fall. Korn was 5 of 11 passing for 56 yards in the two-hour session at Death Valley. Parker was 5 of 10 for 39 yards.
But Swinney says he's still evaluating the position and was pleased that both played well and worked hard.

Clemson's defense stood out in the scrimmage with defensive lineman Da'Quan Bowers and Ricky Sapp combining for five sacks.
The Tigers open the season at Death Valley against Middle Tennessee on Sept. 5.

Goodfellas
08-16-2009, 06:49 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee's offense seemed to take a step back in time during the Volunteers' second fall scrimmage Saturday.
After shining in the first scrimmage the week before, the offense -- which struggled last season and in spring practice -- committed eight penalties, fumbled twice and dropped a number of passes.

"The defense really got after the offense and played extremely physical, played extremely well mentally as well," coach Lane Kiffin said. "Obviously we've got to do a much better job as a staff on offense, and we have to keep the consistency up on defense."

Goodfellas
08-16-2009, 06:50 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia Tech backup quarterback Jaybo Shaw will miss at least the start of the season after breaking a collarbone during Saturday's scrimmage.

Head coach Paul Johnson said Shaw is expected to miss six to eight weeks. Johnson said it was too early to speculate on the possibility that Shaw could miss the season as a redshirt after playing as a true freshman in 2008.

Shaw was expected to again play behind starter Josh Nesbitt after seeing substantial playing time, including one start, last season. Shaw was 9-of-14 passing for 230 yards while starting in a 27-0 win over Duke. He also played most of the game in a 38-7 win over Mississippi State.

"It's really unfortunate," Johnson said of the injury. "Jaybo was playing really well and was having a good camp."

Shaw made a quick adjustment to Johnson's spread option offense after playing in a similar formation at Flowery Branch (Ga.) High School near Atlanta.

He had a touchdown run early in the scrimmage and then was injured when a teammate fell on him after a routine pass completion.
Sophomore Tevin Washington is expected to move up as Nesbitt's top backup. Freshmen David Sims and Jordan Luallen, who has missed a week with an ankle injury, are behind Nesbitt and Washington on the depth chart.

Goodfellas
08-16-2009, 06:51 AM
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- De'Vion Moore ran for two touchdowns and Blaine Gabbert threw a touchdown pass and added an 18-yard scoring run in Missouri's intersquad scrimmage Saturday.

Gabbert, a sophomore who inherits the quarterback job from Chase Daniel, was 17 for 22 for 219 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Danario Alexander had seven receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Marcus Malbrough had a sack and two tackles for loss.
Missouri, 10-4 last season, opens Sept. 5 against Illinois in St. Louis.

Goodfellas
08-17-2009, 05:45 AM
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- There were some bad snaps, a few poor throws and several errors that had South Carolina coaches screaming.

Still, head coach Steve Spurrier found hope in his team's offensive performance in a Sunday scrimmage.

Things didn't start so well at Williams-Brice Stadium with South Carolina's offense struggling to move the ball and show any progress at improving an attack that ranked last in Southeastern Conference rushing.

But the Gamecocks discovered their rhythm as the session went on, scoring touchdowns on their final five full possessions.

"It was somewhat encouraging," Spurrier said.

Starting quarterback Stephen Garcia completed 8 of 16 for 110 yards with an interception and a 2-yard TD pass to tight end Mike Triglia. Backup Reid McCollum went 7 of 11 for 166 yards, an interception and a pair of touchdown passes to Tori Gurley and Alshon Jeffery.

The best news of all may have come out of South Carolina's running game where freshmen Kenny Miles and Jarvis Giles, along with 5-foot-6 track and field athlete Bryce Sherman brought some pop to an area that was troubling in 2008

Goodfellas
08-17-2009, 05:45 AM
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema says suspended safeties Aubrey Pleasant and Shane Carter have been removed from the team's 105-player roster and will not be reinstated before camp ends.
But Bielema on Sunday still would not explain why the fifth-year seniors were indefinitely suspended.

The suspensions leave junior Jay Valai as the starter at strong safety and senior Chris Maragos as the starter at free safety.

Bielema said if Carter and Pleasant are not reinstated, the team will "just live with 103" players.

Goodfellas
08-17-2009, 05:46 AM
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Another August and the beginning of training camp begs the annual question: Who is Wisconsin's starting quarterback going to be this season?

Head coach Bret Bielema didn't have an answer yet Sunday. But he expects a starting QB to be named soon -- certainly before the Badgers' Sept. 5 opening game against Northern Illinois.

"We have four quarterbacks," Bielema said at the team's annual media day "and we're excited about all of them. Like I said going back to last spring, we'd probably name someone 10 days out (from the first game). Hopefully that might be more accelerated."

One of the players competing for the job is fifth-year senior Dustin Sherer played in 11 games a year ago, including seven starts. He ended spring drills atop the depth chart.

Fifth-year senior Dustin Sherer, who played in 11 games a year ago, including seven starts, ended spring drills atop the depth chart. He completed 104-of-191 passes for 1,389 yards and six TDs with five interceptions.

Pushing Sherer are red-shirt freshman Curt Phillips, junior Scott Tolzien and freshman Jon Budmayr

Goodfellas
08-17-2009, 05:47 AM
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- More than 100 Louisville football players took a break from routine football drills to travel to Fort Knox and take part in a portion of basic training that Army recruits normally experience.

The players participated Sunday in the leadership development course, which is based on real-life combat situations and helps identify leaders and evaluate intelligence, ingenuity and teamwork.

Coach Steve Kragthorpe says he wants the Cardinals to communicate with each other and hoped to learn something from the way the players responded to stressful situations.

Louisville's season opens Sept. 5 at home against Indiana State

Goodfellas
08-18-2009, 05:57 AM
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas cornerback Isaac Madison is out for the season with a knee injury.

The school said Monday that Madison will need surgery on a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Madison underwent an MRI after hurting his left knee in a scrimmage Saturday.

Madison started 11 games last season, and although he struggled at times, coach Bobby Petrino had singled him out as the secondary's most improved player in the spring.

Goodfellas
08-18-2009, 05:58 AM
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State linebacker Michael Mauti will miss the 2009 season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during a scrimmage Sunday.

Team doctor Wayne Sebastianelli says Mauti, who made 26 tackles as a true freshman in 2008 and was expected to compete for a starting job this fall, faces a nine-month recovery time.

The 6-foot-2, 231-pounder from Mandeville, La., is the third key defensive player the Nittany Lions have lost since the spring. Defensive end Pete Massaro suffered an ACL tear in April and defensive tackle Abe Koroma was suspended for the season for what coach Joe Paterno termed personal reasons last month.

Goodfellas
08-19-2009, 05:51 AM
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- At Miami, a star running back is hurt, a promising defensive end is out indefinitely and even an assistant coach is hobbling around.

The dog days of training camp have clearly arrived for the Hurricanes.
Graig Cooper became the team's latest injury concern Tuesday, missing practice and wearing a protective boot over his right foot and lower leg. Cooper has been Miami's leading rusher in each of the past two seasons, and was one of only three players in major college football to score touchdowns four different ways in 2008 -- rushing, receiving, returning and passing.

"Cooper, he's a little banged up with his ankle," Miami coach Randy Shannon said. "But he'll be fi

Goodfellas
08-19-2009, 05:52 AM
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah quarterback Corbin Louks plans to transfer to Nevada.

Louks said Tuesday that transferring will give him a better opportunity to continue playing quarterback. He was listed at No. 1 on the depth chart entering fall camp, but was passed last week by freshman Jordan Wynn and junior college transfer Terrance Cain.

Louks was the only quarterback on Utah's roster to play in an NCAA game. He completed nine of 15 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns in his career as a Ute.

Louks will have two years of eligibility remaining after sitting out this year.

Goodfellas
08-19-2009, 05:53 AM
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- The Big East announced a four-year agreement Tuesday that will give the Champs Sports Bowl the choice of any conference team not headed to a Bowl Championship Series game.

But under the deal, the conference runner-up may have to step aside in favor of Notre Dame once during those four years.

The Big East's No. 2 had gone to the Gator or Sun Bowls under an arrangement that also involved Notre Dame as well as the Big 12. That agreement ends after this season.

The new deal allows the Champs Sports Bowl to pick Notre Dame over a Big East team once, if the Fighting Irish's record is at least 7-5 and within two wins of the Big East's No. 2 school, said Steve Hogan, the chief executive of Florida Citrus Sports, which runs the bowl.

That means a 9-3 Big East team could lose its spot in the bowl to a 7-5 Notre Dame squad.

Goodfellas
08-19-2009, 05:54 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Southern California center Kristofer O'Dowd could be out for a few weeks after dislocating his right kneecap during a scrimmage.

O'Dowd is likely to be replaced in practice by Alex Parsons, a senior who began his career with the Trojans as a defensive lineman. Parsons started 10 games at right guard last season before filling in at center during spring ball while O'Dowd recovered from shoulder surgery.

O'Dowd, a junior who started every game for the Trojans last season, was injured during Monday night's scrimmage at the Coliseum. He sustained the same injury in 2007, missing four games during his freshman year.
O'Dowd underwent further tests Tuesday while his teammates practiced.

Goodfellas
08-19-2009, 05:55 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin says the NCAA is investigating an eligibility problem involving freshman tailback Bryce Brown.
At issue is Brown's amateur status as a high school athlete, a person familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press. The NCAA is reviewing whether money was raised for Brown to visit colleges during his sophomore year. Tennessee was not recruiting Brown then, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

"I think it's a gigantic distraction. I think it's very unfortunate," Kiffin said in announcing the investigation after Tuesday's practice.
The investigation has nothing to do with Brown's recruitment by Tennessee or any other school or his grades, Kiffin said.

Goodfellas
08-20-2009, 07:08 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- USC quarterback Aaron Corp expects to return to practice next week, keeping him in the race with Matt Barkley and Mitch Mustain to be the Trojans' starter next month.

Corp participated in throwing drills again Wednesday, making dropbacks while wearing a helmet for the first time since sustaining a small break in a bone below his left knee Aug. 10.

"It just feels like I have more range of motion," Corp said after practice, holding his lightweight knee brace in his hand. "It's not restricting me at all. It keeps getting a little better each day. Today is the best it's ever felt."

Corp was chosen as the Trojans' replacement for Mark Sanchez out of spring ball, but was hurt in USC's second practice of camp. Barkley has led the first-team offense for much of the last week, and the Trojans' touted freshman looked sharp in Wednesday's workouts.

"It's definitely a competition, no doubt," Barkley said. "I don't know what the situation is right now, who's ahead of who. I feel like we're all putting forward a strong case."

Goodfellas
08-20-2009, 07:10 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Three leading media organizations sent a letter to the Southeastern Conference on Wednesday protesting new restrictions on use of sideline video and audio plus photos from college football games.
Schools in the SEC include Florida, Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Tenneseee, whose football programs are usually ranked among the Top 25 teams in the country. The season starts next week.

The letter was sent to SEC commissioner Mike Slive by Associated Press Managing Editors, Associated Press Sports Editors and the American Society of News Editors.

The editors said that though the SEC revised its initial credential, "we still see significant problems with the most recent version."

"The letter objects to the restrictive nature of the credentials, and it asks for negotiations so that ASNE members and others have the opportunity to fully inform readers and viewers about their favorite SEC team," the editors said.

Among the restrictions the media groups object to are:

-- An effective ban on using video or audio clips from SEC games on a newspaper's Web site.

-- A prohibition on "real-time" description of in-game events

Goodfellas
08-20-2009, 07:10 AM
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A recurring neck injury will force Texas sophomore tight end Ian Harris to miss the 2009 season.

Longhorns trainer Kenny Boyd made the announcement Wednesday. Harris played in three games in 2008 but has struggled to overcome a nerve injury.

Harris is the fourth tight end to be lost for the season to an injury.
Redshirt freshman D.J. Grant injured his knee last week and will need surgery. Former starter Blaine Irby has not yet recovered from a 2008 knee injury. Josh Marshall missed last season with a broken collarbone and announced at the start of training camp that he would give up football.
The Longhorns still have tight ends Greg Smith and freshman Barrett Ma

Goodfellas
08-21-2009, 06:33 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- USC defensive lineman Armond Armstead is likely to be sidelined for six weeks after breaking his left foot in a morning practice, adding to an uncomfortably long list of early injury setbacks for the Trojans.

USC already has lost fellow defensive lineman Averell Spicer, center Kristofer O'Dowd and quarterback Aaron Corp to minor injuries during camp, possibly hindering their progress in replacing 10 starters from last season's Pac-10 champions.


Armstead was hurt when safety Shane Horton accidentally stepped on his foot during drills. The 295-pound sophomore had been working out with the Trojans' first-team defense, and was expected to win a starting spot at defensive end.

"It's going to be a good six weeks before he gets back," coach Pete Carroll said. "We've had guys who had that injury before, and it's hard to beat that time frame, so we'll see. Being a big guy, it's tougher coming back than a lighter guy."

Goodfellas
08-21-2009, 07:12 AM
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- A court hearing is scheduled for next week regarding the eligibility of Oklahoma linebacker Mike Balogun, who joined the Sooners last season after playing semipro football.

Balogun was still practicing with the Sooners on Thursday. The 25-year-old was had his eligibility decertified by the NCAA last week, and he subsequently filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction that would allow him to play this season.

A Cleveland County judge has scheduled a hearing on Balogun's request for Monday.

The NCAA is reviewing whether Balogun participated in any games with the North American Football League after the age of 21. The school says the NCAA was aware of Balogun's participation in the league before the 2008 season and certified him

Goodfellas
08-21-2009, 07:13 AM
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, who's replacing several skill players on offense, said the defense had the upper hand in a scrimmage on Thursday.

The Tigers, rebuilding after the departures of Jeremy Maclin, Chase Daniel and Chase Coffman, were "sloppy" overall. Missouri, coming off consecutive 10-win seasons, opens Sept. 5 against Illinois in St. Louis, and the coach said there were too many penalties and sacks.
The Tigers have one more scrimmage next Thursday.

Sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert was 14 of 21 for 121 yards and a touchdown, with an 11-yard scoring pass to Danario Alexander. Together, three kickers were 15 for 24 but only 1 for 6 from the 40 and beyond.

Goodfellas
08-21-2009, 07:14 AM
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah defensive end Koa Misi is out indefinitely with a back injury.

Coach Kyle Whittingham said in a release Thursday that Misi is out until further notice, but would not elaborate on the injury, citing federal medical privacy regulations.

Whittingham said earlier Thursday that Misi missed practice while having his back examined and was hopeful the injury was only spasms, which flared up during a practice the night before.

Misi is one of seven returning starters on Utah's defense and was third on the team in tackles last season with 68, including three sacks

Goodfellas
08-21-2009, 07:15 AM
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas wide receiver Lucas Miller will have surgery Friday after breaking his collarbone at practice.

The school says Miller will be out for four to six weeks. He was hurt Thursday when the Razorbacks were practicing indoors because of the weather.

Miller has played in 33 games and made 10 career starts, including six last year. He finished the year with 490 yards and two touchdowns on 30 receptions.

Goodfellas
08-22-2009, 06:46 AM
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- About a dozen Tulane football players have come down with what the school describes as flu-like symptoms. An athletic spokesman says two have tested positive for the variety that includes swine flu.

Roger Dunaway said Friday that all the sick players have been told to stay home or in their dorm rooms or apartments, and are being treated there. He says all the symptoms are mild and the players are recovering quickly.
He says that samples from the two with Type A influenza will be tested by the state to see whether they have the H1N1 virus.

The affected players will return to practice only after team physician Greg Stewart has cleared them.

Stewart and his staff are screening every football player and football staff member every day to check for flu-like symptoms.

Goodfellas
08-22-2009, 06:47 AM
PROVO, Utah (AP) -- BYU offensive lineman Houston Reynolds has torn the ACL in his right knee.

Reynolds injured his knee during practice Friday and an MRI showed the tear. BYU was still evaluating the injury Friday and wasn't sure whether Reynolds will need surgery or whether he could return this season.
Reynolds is the son of BYU assistant coach Lance Reynolds and younger brother of left tackle Matt, the only returning starter on the Cougars' offensive line.

Houston Reynolds is in his first season after serving a two-year Mormon church mission and had been working with the second unit at right guard.
Fullback Manase Tonga returned to the team Friday after sitting out a year because of academics

Goodfellas
08-22-2009, 06:48 AM
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida State officials say they have no issues with Oklahoma.

The school said Friday it contacted Oklahoma's compliance office earlier this year about the eligibility of a former semipro player, Mike Balogun, who was playing linebacker for the Sooners.

Florida State compliance director Brian Battle said the inquiry was a fact-finding call related to a similar eligibility case involving former Seminole receiver Corey Surrency.

Surrency, who also played in a semipro football league beyond his 21st birthday, was denied a second year of eligibility by the NCAA following Florida State's appeal in April.

Florida State and Oklahoma can resolve any differences on Sept. 11, 2010 when they play at Norman, Okla.

Goodfellas
08-23-2009, 05:15 AM
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Running back Quentin Castille has been dismissed from the Nebraska football program for violating unspecified team rules.
Coach Bo Pelini did not elaborate on the violations committed by the junior from La Porte, Texas. Pelini announced the dismissal following the No. 24 Cornhuskers' practice on Saturday, even though Castille has not practiced with the team for several days.

"It's pretty black and white my expectations and what we lay out as a staff, and if someone doesn't follow those policies and guidelines, they're no longer going to be with the program, and that's the case with Quentin," Pelini said in a statement

Goodfellas
08-23-2009, 05:17 AM
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was held out of contact drills this week because of a sore lower back.

Coach Urban Meyer said Saturday that Tebow is "fine, 100 percent," adding that the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner will be back to full speed in practice Monday and had no disk issues.

"He has not missed practice at all," Meyer said. "He has been held out of live situations against the defense, mostly to get (backup) Johnny Brantley reps. His lower back was a little sore."

Tebow has thrown for 6,390 yards and 67 touchdowns in three seasons at Florida. He also has 2,037 yards rushing and 43 scores. He returned for his senior season in hopes of leading the Gators to a third national title in four years.

He hasn't missed a game in his career, but he has played hurt. He received painkilling injections before the final six games in 2007 and played against Florida State and Michigan with a broken bone in his non-throwing hand.

He played three games last year with a hyper-extended knee. He also had surgery on his right shoulder in January to remove a bone spur and reduce chronic inflammation

Goodfellas
08-23-2009, 05:18 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A strong performance by Jonathan Crompton in Tennessee's scrimmage wasn't enough for him to lock up the starting quarterback job.

"It's going to be interesting to see as we watch this out and make some final decisions as the week progresses and what coach wants to do in regards to that," Volunteers offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said. "I think it's been the best thing for our football program to keep the competition on."


Crompton, a senior, was 17 for 31 with 266 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception. His competition, junior Nick Stephens, finished 9 for 17 with 90 yards and no touchdowns.

Coach Lane Kiffin has said he likes how the competition has forced the two quarterbacks to improve but wants to have a starter chosen at least a week before the Sept. 5 opener against Western Kentucky

Goodfellas
08-24-2009, 05:10 AM
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson was lounging on the turf when a couple reporters approached, asking for the story behind the fact that he doesn't tie the laces of his cleats.

"I want to know, too," fellow freshman Fitzgerald Toussaint said.
Robinson sighed, rolled his eyes and explained the odd look.

"When I was 7, I started playing little league football and never tied my shoes," Robinson said Sunday. "My coach started calling me `Shoelace' and that has stuck with me."

Robinson says he only ties the laces of dress shoes when he's going to church.

At a school where football is like a religion, fans will adore Robinson if he helps the Wolverines win football games after they had a school record nine losses last year.

Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez says he plans to use Robinson and two other quarterbacks in the season opener Sept. 5 against Western Michigan.

Goodfellas
08-24-2009, 05:11 AM
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- Redshirt freshman Kyle Parker feels more confident and assertive in his first week as Clemson's starting quarterback. Imagine how much better it will be once he learns to handle the Tigers' traditional pre-game entrance.

The Tigers' strong-armed thrower will debut Sept. 5 against Middle Tennessee and says he's grown already since coach Dabo Swinney's decision -- particularly in his teammates' eyes.

"I think the guys are expecting me to make plays and manage the offense," Parker said Sunday. "I can tell they're already looking at me to do that."

Goodfellas
08-25-2009, 10:45 AM
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama has asked an Athens man to stay away from two Crimson Tide football players he took on a Gulf Coast fishing trip, though the university didn't report any NCAA violations or penalize itself over the outing.

The university investigated the trip that Curtis Anderson took this past spring with star receiver Julio Jones and running back Mark Ingram and forwarded its findings to the Southeastern Conference.

Anderson, who has a condominium in Gulf Shores, has been asked to end his relationship with the players during their playing careers, and Jones and Ingram were told not to contact him. He paid for the trip.

"The university is aware of Mr. Anderson, and has taken appropriate steps," said Alabama spokeswoman Deborah M. Lane. "Mr. Anderson is not affiliated with UA. He is not a UA booster, fan or alumnus, and is not a UA season ticket holder. In fact, Mr. Anderson told us that all of his family are fans of another SEC school."

Goodfellas
08-25-2009, 10:46 AM
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- Coach Jeff Tedford announced that Kevin Riley will be his starting quarterback when No. 12 California opens the season against Maryland on Sept. 5.

Tedford made the announcement after practice Monday. Riley had been competing with Beau Sweeney and Brock Mansion since the start of fall camp. Tedford says Riley's experience, accuracy and consistency were the deciding factor.

Riley started nine games for the Golden Bears a year ago and has made 10 starts in his career at Cal. He has completed 53.4 percent of his passes with 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Goodfellas
08-25-2009, 07:25 PM
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- Miami backup quarterbacks Taylor Cook and Cannon Smith say they are leaving the Hurricanes. Both are trying to find new schools in time for the fall semester.

Their decisions mean freshman A.J. Highsmith, whose father Alonzo Highsmith was an NFL running back and a member of the Hurricanes' 1983 national championship team, likely will enter the season as the backup to starter Jacory Harris. Holder Matt Perrelli saw time at quarterback in one game in 2006.

Cook was named No. 2 quarterback after the spring practice season, but Miami coach Randy Shannon revealed Monday that competition for the backup spot had reopened.

Smith completed his only pass last season, for two yards. Cook didn't have any passing stats in his lone Miami season.

Goodfellas
08-27-2009, 06:40 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee freshman tailback Bryce Brown will not be punished as the result of an NCAA investigation into his eligibility, coach Lane Kiffin said Wednesday.

"I think that that's a heck of a deal by the NCAA to get it done right and get it done with a sense of urgency, so we're very grateful for that," Kiffin said.

The NCAA was reviewing whether money was improperly raised for Brown to visit colleges and collegiate football camps during his sophomore year of high school. Tennessee was not recruiting him at the time.

Kiffin said the NCAA was considering a four-game suspension and a hefty fine as punishment initially, but continued to review the case until deciding to drop it.

Goodfellas
08-27-2009, 06:41 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee center Josh McNeil has undergone knee surgery, but coach Lane Kiffin still isn't sure when the senior will be available.

McNeil had a knee scope performed Wednesday morning, though Kiffin says he may have to have additional procedures performed on the already surgically repaired knee which has troubled him throughout his career.
Kiffin says at best McNeil might be available in three to four weeks to play.

The Collins, Miss., native has started 35 of his 38 games as a Volunteer but has been competing for the starting job with fellow senior Cody Sullins, who will start Sept. 5 against Western Kentucky.

Goodfellas
08-27-2009, 06:42 AM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida linebacker Jelani Jenkins missed practice Wednesday because of a sprained left ankle.

Jenkins, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound freshman from Maryland, injured his ankle during practice Tuesday. X-rays were negative, coach Urban Meyer said. Jenkins had been hobbling around campus on crutches, but was wearing a protective walking boot during practice Wednesday.

Jenkins is the fifth linebacker to miss practice time this month, joining Dustin Doe (suspension), Brandon Hicks (ankle), Jon Bostic (trapezius muscle) and Brendan Beal (neck). Hicks is the only starter in the group

Goodfellas
08-27-2009, 06:43 AM
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt isn't changing his mind: Bill Stull is his starting quarterback.

Stull didn't play himself out of the job despite struggling during much of preseason camp, which ended Wednesday. Wannstedt says the senior hasn't made any big strides but has performed well enough to remain the starter.

Stull had several poor practices last week after Wannstedt first said he was the starter. Stull was competing with redshirt freshman Tino Sunseri and junior Pat Bostick, who has made nine career starts.

Stull is scheduled to start his third consecutive opener Sept. 5 against Youngstown State. He injured his right thumb in Pitt's 2007 opener and missed the rest of the season.

Goodfellas
08-27-2009, 06:44 AM
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe has named junior Justin Burke the starter for the season opener against Indiana State on Sept. 5.

Kragthorpe said Burke's consistency during training camp earned him the nod over Adam Froman and Zack Stoudt.

Burke sat out last season after transferring from North Carolina State. Kragthorpe said Burke's intelligence and ability to grasp the offense quickly helped him win the job.

Froman, a junior college transfer, had been Burke's strongest competition but has been slowed by a shoulder injury over the last week that forced him to miss last Saturday's scrimmage.

The start will be Burke's first since his senior year at Lexington Catholic, where he threw for a then-record 62 touchdowns.

Goodfellas
08-27-2009, 06:54 AM
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- The University of Michigan has sold much of the premium seating at the Big House despite a poor economy, a school-record nine losses last season and a finished product people couldn't see.

Senior associate athletic director Joe Parker said Wednesday the school has commitments for 70 percent of the luxury suites and almost 70 percent of the club seats that will be in the new-look Michigan Stadium in 2010.

"We're pleased with where we are," Parker said during a tour of the $226 million renovation. "When the project is complete, we expect all of our premium seating to be sold."

For $55,000 to $85,000 per season and at least a three-year commitment, well-heeled fans will have 16 comfortable seats in a 15-foot wide by 28-foot deep box that comes with two TVs, granite countertops and sapele wood cabinets

Goodfellas
08-28-2009, 06:54 AM
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Auburn receiver Montez Billings will miss the first four games because of an academic issue.

Auburn associate athletic director Rich McGlynn said Thursday that university officials worked to get Billings on the field as quickly as possible. He said they don't necessarily agree with the NCAA's ruling.

Auburn has not elaborated on the issue for Billings, who has already graduated. He was sidelined for spring practice.

Billings is the team's top returning receiver after catching 24 passes for 277 yards last season.

The Tigers open the season on Sept. 5 against Louisiana Tech. Billings can return on Oct. 3 at Tennessee.

Goodfellas
08-28-2009, 06:55 AM
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama coaches are taking precautions to keep the flu from spreading around the team.

Coach Nick Saban said nose guard Terrence Cody has missed the last two days and "four or five guys" have been sidelined with the flu or flulike symptoms. He said players with the flu have been quarantined by themselves in dorm rooms to avoid getting others sick.

Most of the ailing players have been able to come back to the field in about three days, according to Saban. The training staff has passed out hand wipes and sanitizers.

Saban said he's hoping the flu does not become an issue for college football or sports in general this fall.

In football news, he identified the likely starters on the offensive line.

Goodfellas
08-28-2009, 06:57 AM
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas coach Mack Brown handed the top running back spot to Vondrell McGee on Thursday.

McGee and Fozzy Whittaker were the front-runners for the job for the No. 2 Longhorns. McGee pulled ahead when Whittaker missed several days with minor injuries. Whittaker is expected to be available for the Longhorns' season opener against Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 5.

McGee, a 5-foot-10, 205-pound junior, rushed for 376 yards and four touchdowns last season. Quarterback Colt McCoy led the Longhorns in rushing last season with 561 yards and 11 TDs.

McGee had a good training camp, but others will still be in the mix to get plenty of carries, Brown said.

"If Vondrell is making yards, he'll get a bunch. If not, we'll get someone else in there," Brown said. "Fozzy had an outstanding summer. He will play if he's healthy."

Goodfellas
08-29-2009, 07:55 AM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Five true freshmen are among the possible starters for the Tennessee Volunteers when they open Sept. 5 against Western Kentucky.

Tennessee released a depth chart for the game on Friday that listed running back Bryce Brown, wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson, defensive tackle Montori Hughes, cornerback Mike Edwards and free safety Janzen Jackson as freshmen who may start.
Coach Lane Kiffin has repeatedly said all players would have a chance to win a starting job.

Goodfellas
08-29-2009, 07:57 AM
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri reserve quarterback Blaine Dalton has been kicked off the team after an overnight campus arrest on suspicion of drunken driving.

Coach Gary Pinkel announced the move Friday morning.

Campus police said the highly touted freshman was arrested at 1:16 a.m. Friday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, failing to drive in a single lane and operating an unlicensed motor vehicle. He posted $500 bond and was released Friday morning.

Dalton had been competing with Jimmy Costello for the No. 2 quarterback job behind Blaine Gabbert.

The arrest was the second for Dalton in Columbia. He was charged following a traffic stop in April and pleaded guilty in June to two traffic offenses and being a minor in possession of alcohol.

robert da strongman
09-02-2009, 07:13 PM
http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_ncaaf_experts__20/ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-49902914-1251844506.jpg?ymaWz0BDEv85rjZj

chitownmscle
09-03-2009, 10:40 AM
Yea they making a big stink about that sign here in ChiTown. Apparently we got a lot of love for the man who has fallen short of expectations

robert da strongman
09-03-2009, 12:21 PM
if he doesnt make it this year he is done....
maybe they can swap with michigan.
weiss for rodriguez

Goodfellas
09-03-2009, 01:52 PM
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- No. 5 Alabama will have two of its key offensive players for the opener Saturday night against No. 7 Virginia Tech.

The NCAA reinstated receiver Julio Jones and tailback Mark Ingram on Wednesday on the condition that they repay the cost of a Gulf Coast fishing trip paid for by businessman Curtis Anderson during the spring.

"According to the facts of the case submitted by Alabama, the student-athletes received impermissible food, lodging, transportation and entertainment from an individual with whom one of the student-athletes had become acquainted prior to enrolling in college," the NCAA said in a statement.

Goodfellas
09-03-2009, 02:00 PM
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- Georgia running back Caleb King, who was beaten out for the starting job by Richard Samuel, will likely miss the No. 13 Bulldogs' season opener at ninth-ranked Oklahoma State because of a lingering hamstring injury.

King entered preseason drills as the No. 1 tailback, but he was bothered by his ailing hamstring and fell behind both Samuel and redshirt freshman Carlton Thomas on the depth chart.

Coach Mark Richt also announced after Wednesday's practice that defensive end Kiante Tripp will likely stay at home due to a shoulder "stinger." The Bulldogs are hopeful that both players will be able to play in the home opener Sept. 12 against South Carolina.

Georgia held the first of two dress rehearsals at Sanford Stadium, practicing for 90 minutes with deafening crowd noise pumping from the speakers. Richt said the workout "was not super sharp."

Goodfellas
09-03-2009, 02:01 PM
Even if Lyle Moevao's shoulder had been 100 percent for Oregon State's opener against Portland State, there's a chance he still might not have played.

Moevao, who is the Pac-10's leading returning passer, had rotator cuff surgery in the offseason and has not progressed as quickly as the Beavers would have hoped. To top its off, he's been under the weather, coach Mike Riley said.

The senior quarterback's shoulder is almost ready, but he hasn't reached the final stage, "which is the zip on the ball,'' Riley said.
But it's not that big of a crisis for the Beavers, given that backup Sean Canfield has established himself as a capable starter

Goodfellas
09-03-2009, 02:02 PM
DETROIT (AP) -- The Motor City Bowl was rechristened Wednesday as the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, with the Detroit-based pizza chain stepping up to sponsor the college football bowl game as two of the region's beleaguered automakers step down.

"What can go better with football than pizza?" said Little Caesars Enterprises Inc. president David Scrivano at a news conference Wednesday unveiling the title sponsorship and name change.

The bowl began at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1997 and, since 2002, has been played at Detroit's Ford Field. It tries to pit a team from the Mid-American Conference against a team from the Big Ten and has a television contract with ESPN through the 2014 season.

This year's game will be played Dec. 26 at Ford Field.

Goodfellas
09-03-2009, 02:03 PM
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- Miami defensive end Eric Moncur is expected to miss the Hurricanes' opener at No. 18 Florida State with a groin injury.
Moncur missed most of last season with a torn abdominal muscle and got a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA for 2009. He had been working out in recent days with hopes of playing against the Seminoles on Monday night.

Miami coach Randy Shannon, though, said Wednesday that he expects Moncur would be out for the opener. The Hurricanes also will be without defensive end Adewale Ojomo, who could miss the entire 2009 season with a broken jaw.

Shannon said there are no other major injury issues that could affect Miami for the opener.

Goodfellas
09-03-2009, 02:04 PM
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama defensive end Brandon Deaderick was released from the hospital Tuesday after being shot in the arm during a robbery attempt at an off-campus apartment.

Diane Carroll, a nursing supervisor at DCH Regional Medical Center said the 6-foot-4, 306-pound senior from Elizabethtown, Ky., was released sometime during the day.

Capt. Greg Kosloff, a spokesman for the Tuscaloosa Police Department, said the player was in an apartment parking lot with a female acquaintance about 10 p.m. Monday when he was approached by a lone man wearing dark clothes, a dark ball cap and a blue bandanna over his face.

Police Chief Steve Anderson told the Tuscaloosa News the gunman told Deaderick to "Give it up." When Deaderick refused, the assailant opened fire and ran away.

Goodfellas
09-04-2009, 07:49 AM
KENT, Ohio (AP) -Uegene Jarvis ran for 141 yards and a touchdown to lead Kent State to an 18-0 win over Coastal Carolina on Thursday night.
Jarvis also returned five punts for 77 yards and caught three passes for 30 yards.

Tyshon Goode led the Golden Flames receivers with 84 yards on six catches.

The Golden Flashes held Coastal Carolina to 185 total yards and scored on two safeties. Cobrani Mixon led Kent State's defensive effort with 12 tackles.

Kent State outgained Coastal Carolina 143-78 on the ground.
The Chanticleers were led by Zach MacDowall with 107 yards on 12 of 26 passing and Jeremy Height ran for 52 yards

Goodfellas
09-04-2009, 07:50 AM
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Brian Maddox had a short touchdown run while Stephen Garcia completed a key third-down pass in the final minutes to help South Carolina beat North Carolina State 7-3 on Thursday night.
Garcia threw for just 148 yards on a frustrating night for both offenses, but the sophomore came through with a 33-yard completion to Moe Brown that allowed the Gamecocks to run out the final 2 1/2 minutes of the game. It gave South Carolina a second straight season-opening victory against the Wolfpack, who were shutout 34-0 in last year's meeting and failed to reach the end zone in the rematch.

Maddox scored from a yard out in the first quarter and finished with 66 yards rushing, which ended up being about the most reliable form of offense for typically pass-happy coach Steve Spurrier. Garcia completed 13 of 22 passes with an interception that gave the Wolfpack a needed burst of momentum and led to N.C. State's only scoring drive.

It was just one of numerous mistakes for the Gamecocks, the most costly being an offensive pass interference penalty on Tori Gurley that negated his 38-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. There was also a low snap that killed a second-quarter field-goal attempt and a missed 27-yard kick from Spencer Lanning in the third.

Goodfellas
09-04-2009, 07:51 AM
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Terrance Cain passed for 286 yards and two touchdowns in his Utah debut and the 19th-ranked Utes extended the nation's longest winning streak by beating Utah State 35-17 on Thursday night.


Matt Asiata ran for a career-best 156 yards and two touchdowns as the Utes won their 15th in a row, beating longtime Utah assistant Gary Andersen in his first game as Utah State's coach. Utah has won the past 12 in the rivalry.


The Aggies kept the score close by forcing three turnovers and getting a 96-yard touchdown run by Robert Turbin , but overall Utah was in control most of the night. Utah State was 0 for 12 on third down and finished with 342 yards.

Turbin ran for 148 yards and his touchdown run in the fourth quarter accounted for nearly a third of the Aggies' offensive total. Diondre Borel finished 10 for 26 for 121 yards for Utah State.

Cain, a junior college transfer, was making his first start for Utah and finished 20 for 30 with one interception.

Goodfellas
09-04-2009, 07:52 AM
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount talked before the game about keeping emotions in check. Then he lost his own cool after No. 14 Boise State pushed around its big-conference neighbors.
Kellen Moore threw for 197 yards and a touchdown and the biggest home game in Boise State history became a four-quarter bullying of the No. 16 Ducks, 19-8 on Thursday night, clearing the biggest apparent obstacle between them and a possible second BCS bowl.


D.J. Harper added a 1-yard scoring run for Boise State, but the impressive effort by the Broncos was overshadowed in the postgame scrum when Blount punched Boise State's Byron Hout and was then restrained from fans by police on the field.

''I just apologize to anyone watching that,'' Blount said. ''I just apologize to all of our fans and all of Boise's fans. That's something I shouldn't have done. I lost my head.''

Rumors even swirled afterward the Blount would be arrested, but Oregon spokesman Dave Williford said that talk was ''absolutely false.''

''Our position is that we have full confidence in the NCAA that they're going to address that. As far as from a criminal standpoint there's nothing that I'm aware of that we're doing,'' Lt. Bryan Hagler of the Boise Police Department told The Associated Press.

Goodfellas
09-05-2009, 07:27 AM
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -G.J. Kinne's debut as Tulsa quarterback was almost as good as Damaris Johnson 's homecoming.

Johnson, who grew up in suburban New Orleans, had 252 all-purpose yards, including a crushing 66-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Tulsa beat 37-13 Tulane in the season opener for both teams on Friday night.

Kinne, who sat out 2008 after transferring from Texas, passed for 211 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass to Trae Johnson , and also rushed for 77 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown.

Damaris Johnson had played in the Louisiana Superdome before, winning a state championship with current LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson when the two played for Destrehan High School. Against Tulane, with family in the stands, he had 85 punt return yards, 76 kickoff return yards, 60 yards receiving and 31 yards rushing

Goodfellas
09-05-2009, 07:29 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ray Small, a kick returner and wide receiver for No. 6 Ohio State, will probably not play in the Buckeyes' season opener on Saturday against Navy.

Small, a senior who has frequently been in coach Jim Tressel's doghouse, was sick and in bed on Friday night. Ohio State spokesperson Shelly Poe sent a text message to The Associated Press to say Small was not likely to play against the Midshipmen.

There had been rampant speculation on the Internet that Small had left the team or had been suspended. Poe added that the Internet rumors were exaggerated and that he was just sick.

Small, the team's top punt returner the past two years, was suspended in 2008 by Tressel for "repeated violation of team rules." Small's father then blasted Tressel, saying he was intentionally trying to ruin his son's career.

Goodfellas
09-05-2009, 07:30 AM
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Virginia Tech redshirt freshman Ryan Williams will start at tailback when the No. 7 Hokies play No. 5 Alabama.

Coach Frank Beamer announced the decision on Friday.

Williams' elevation to the top spot came after he reported to preseason camp overweight and was dropped to third on the depth chart behind Josh Oglesby and freshman David Wilson.

Earlier in the week Beamer had said he would not name his starter publicly and that the three tailbacks would play against the Crimson Tide on Saturday night.

The school also announced that fullback Kenny Jefferson was suspended Aug. 16 for violating team policy and will not play in Saturday night's game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta

Goodfellas
09-05-2009, 07:31 AM
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham will miss the third-ranked Sooners' season opener against No. 20 Brigham Young because of cartilage damage in his right knee.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said Thursday that Gresham and team officials were considering treatment options "that could have a bearing on his return" but didn't elaborate.

Gresham played a big role in Oklahoma's record-setting offense last season with 66 catches for 950 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson says Trent Ratterree and James Hanna will be listed on the depth chart at tight end.

The Sooners face BYU on Saturday at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas

Goodfellas
09-05-2009, 07:32 AM
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina receiver Dwight Jones will be out two to three weeks after having knee surgery.

The school had announced that the sophomore would miss the opener against The Citadel on Saturday, though it was unclear how long he would be out. He had missed practice Wednesday, then had arthroscopic surgery to deal with pain in his right knee Friday.

Jones was expected to start opposite Greg Little for the No. 21 Tar Heels, who are trying to replace three receivers who went on to become NFL draft picks

cobra
09-05-2009, 07:22 PM
Rooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lll tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiddddddddddddddddddddddddde! Roll!

Julio jones ftw!!!

robert da strongman
09-05-2009, 09:18 PM
looking like a good game tonight.


GO IRISH!!

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:23 AM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Bill Cosby watched his Temple Owls blow a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in a 27-24 loss to Villanova on Thursday night.
Nick Yako kicked a 32-yard field goal with no time remaining after a John Dempsey interception of Temple quarterback Vaughn Charlton with 49 seconds remaining.

Villanova took over at the Temple 46 and drove to the 15 with 3 seconds remaining to set up the winning kick.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Cosby were among those at the game, dubbed the inaugural Mayors Cup between the two area schools.
Chris Whitney completed 24 of 35 passes for 278 yards and threw two touchdown passes for the Wildcats. Villanova had dropped five straight against Division I teams and its last victory over a Division I team was in 2003, a 23-20 win over Temple in double overtime

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:24 AM
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) - Tyler Sheehan threw two touchdown passes to help Bowling Green defeat Troy 31-14 on Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.

Sheehan was 32 of 44 passing with one interception for the Falcons, and Freddie Barnes caught 15 passes for 157 yards and both of Sheehan's touchdown passes.

The Falcons outgained the Trojans 394-293, helping new Bowling Green coach Dave Clawson notch a win in his debut.

Levi Brown was 28 of 42 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions for the Trojans, and Tebiarus Gill had eight catches for 102 yards.

Trailing 14-7 at halftime, Sheehan threw a touchdown to Barnes to tie the game with 3:49 left in the third quarter and Chris Bullock 's 1-yard rush put the Falcons up 24-14 with 7:19 to play.

Adrien Spencer 's 64-yard interception return sealed the game for Bowling Green with 2:14 left

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:25 AM
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - Riley Dodge threw for 216 yards and a touchdown to Michael Outlaw , leading North Texas to a 20-10 victory over Ball State Thursday night.

Cam Montgomery rushed for 149 yards for the Mean Green (1-0) and Lance Dunbar added 63, including a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Jeremy Knott kicked 24- and 19-yard field goals.

MiQuale Lewis ran for a 27-yard touchdown for the Cardinals (0-1) with 12:41 to go. Ian McGarvey kicked a 21-yard field goal in the third

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:26 AM
AMES, Iowa (AP) - Austen Arnaud threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns, both to Marquis Hamilton , and Iowa State beat North Dakota State 34-17 Thursday night to make coach Paul Rhoads a winner in his debut.

Alexander Robinson added 83 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Cyclones (1-0), who snapped a 10-game losing streak.

North Dakota State (0-1) got as close as 24-17 midway through the third quarter before Iowa State pulled away.

Grant Mahoney hit a career-long 50-yard field goal and Arnaud found Hamilton for a 42-yard touchdown pass with 9:58 left to make it 34-17.
Pat Paschall rushed for a career-high 146 yards and a touchdown for North Dakota State, an FCS program that fell to 3-3 against FBS opponents since 2006.

Perhaps the best news for Iowa State was the crowd, which was the largest for a home opener since 1987 - and that came against rival Iowa. The Cyclones drew 48,831, or about 1,500 more than former coach Gene Chizik had on hand for his much-anticipated debut in 2007. Rhoads had been an Auburn assistant.

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:28 AM
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -G.J. Kinne's debut as Tulsa quarterback was almost as good as Damaris Johnson 's homecoming.

Johnson, who grew up in suburban New Orleans, had 252 all-purpose yards, including a crushing 66-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Tulsa beat 37-13 Tulane in the season opener for both teams on Friday night.

Kinne, who sat out 2008 after transferring from Texas, passed for 211 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass to Trae Johnson , and also rushed for 77 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown.

Damaris Johnson had played in the Louisiana Superdome before, winning a state championship with current LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson when the two played for Destrehan High School. Against Tulane, with family in the stands, he had 85 punt return yards, 76 kickoff return yards, 60 yards receiving and 31 yards rushing.

None of that came as a great surprise. Johnson set a Tulsa record for kickoff return yards last season with 1,382 and led Conference USA in all-purpose yards with 2,47

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:38 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -All the elements were in place for an epic upset of No. 6 Ohio State by Navy.

''If Ohio State comes in totally focused on us, we had no chance,'' Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. ''We felt like we had them in the perfect storm.''

The Buckeyes weathered that storm with the help of a college football rarity.

Brian Rolle intercepted a potential tying 2-point conversion in the closing minutes and returned it for two points the other way, helping the Buckeyes hold off pesky Navy 31-27 on Saturday.

''It wasn't a dazzling fourth quarter for us, by any means,'' coach Jim Tressel said in the understatement of the day.

A crowd of 105,092 - the largest ever to see the Buckeyes open a season - sat in stunned silence after the 21-point underdog Midshipmen scored twice in 4 minutes to cut a 29-14 deficit to two points with 2:23 left

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:39 AM
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -The most compelling part of Penn State's 31-7 win Saturday over Akron turned out to be the pregame introductions.
Joe Paterno jogged out of the Beaver Stadium tunnel with his players, his first game back on the sideline since the Hall of Fame coach had hip replacement surgery last November.

Then quarterback Daryll Clark and the rest of the No. 9 Nittany Lions overwhelmed the Zips in a first half so dominant, the rest of the game was a mere formality.

Clark threw for a career-high 353 yards and three touchdowns, and a tenacious defense held Akron without a first down until the third quarter as Penn State celebrated their 82-year-old leader's return to the field.
''Did you clock me in the 100 meters?'' Paterno jokingly asked afterward.
Wearing his trademark black sneakers and khakis - without the pants rolled up - Paterno struck familiar poses pacing the sideline and arguing with officials.

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:46 AM
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Jeremiha Hunter wanted to pick up the ball, because he thought it was all that separated No. 22 Iowa from an improbable win. His teammates screamed at him to leave Northern Iowa kicker Billy Hallgren 's blocked field goal alone, and that's what he did.

Oops.

The Panthers scooped up the ball and, after a long chat by the officials, got a second chance to stun the Hawkeyes.

This time, Hunter was ready.

He made up for his earlier mistake by blocking Hallgren's second field goal try in the closing seconds, allowing Iowa to escape with a 17-16 victory Saturday.

''I was praying the whole time, like 'This is why I'm out here,''' Hunter said. ''I was just focused on getting that block the second time.''

The Panthers lined up for the potential winning field goal with 7 seconds left, but Broderick Binns blocked Hallgren's 40-yard attempt on first down. Believing the game was over, Hunter and several Hawkeyes allowed UNI to recover the ball with a second left.

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:50 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -Coach Paul Johnson was hardly pleased to watch as Georgia Tech fumbled five times, dropped several passes and failed to come up with more interceptions.

''We have a little problem with killer instinct and our intensity levels and playing hard,'' Johnson said. ''That is something we have to work on.''

The Yellow Jackets ' powerful running game was working just fine in their easy season opener.

Jonathan Dwyer ran for two touchdowns, and No. 15 Georgia Tech had 335 yards rushing in a 37-17 victory against Jacksonville State on Saturday.

The Yellow Jackets rested many of their starters in the second half with Clemson visiting Bobby Dodd Stadium on Thursday.

Dwyer, the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year, scored on the first play from scrimmage, taking an option pitch for a 74-yard touchdown.

''That play is designed to get the ball to the edge, and they made good blocks, and (quarterback) Josh (Nesbitt) made a big read,'' Dwyer said. ''Just give me the ball and let me make a play. That is what the offense is about, making the big plays

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:57 AM
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -Mike Gundy was in the midst of a ribbon-cutting ceremony to rededicate Oklahoma State's renovated stadium when he heard public address announcer Larry Reece say that the game that followed marked the biggest day in the history of the university.

''No pressure,'' he said.

No problem.

With a record crowd looking on, Gundy and his Cowboys lived up to the expectations that came with the best preseason ranking in school history.
Zac Robinson threw two touchdown passes to star receiver Dez Bryant and also scored on a quarterback sneak as No. 9 Oklahoma State beat 13th-ranked Georgia 24-10 on Saturday.

''It's huge. It's a great feeling. Starting off 1-0 against such a great team in Georgia, we knew it was a big game coming in and obviously it feels great to get this win,'' Robinson said. ''It kind of jump starts the season.''

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:58 AM
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Jimmy Clausen must have felt as if he was still in paradise.

Clausen, last seen playing nearly flawless in a Hawaii Bowl victory, completed 15 of 18 passes for 315 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 23 Notre Dame to a 35-0 victory over Nevada on Saturday.

For Fighting Irish coach Charlie Weis, a pivotal season began with Notre Dame's first easy season-opening win since his first game in 2005. The Irish ended a disappointing 2008 season, one in which they finished 7-6 and had to deal with plenty of speculation about Weis's job security, with a 49-21 victory over Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl that provided at least some hope for the future.

''How do you keep momentum rolling from a game that was so long ago? A lot of it has to do with hunger. These guys are hungry,'' Weis said. ''This was their first opportunity to show that they're a different team. It was just a good start.''

A much needed one, too, with a trip to Michigan, coming off its own impressive opening victory, up next week.

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 05:59 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Matt Barkley 's first pass at Southern California went for minus-2 yards. His first four series with the Trojans resulted in two fumbles, two punts and a 3-0 deficit to San Jose State.

A typical freshman quarterback surely would have tensed up at this burgeoning Coliseum calamity. Instead, Barkley showed why coach Pete Carroll insists there's nothing ordinary about his teenage starter - although the Trojans will find out a whole lot more next week at Ohio State.

Barkley passed for 233 yards after a slow start to his USC debut, and the No. 4 Trojans' fleet of tailbacks ran for six touchdowns in a 56-3 victory Saturday.

Barkley acknowledged a brief tickle of butterflies when he exited the stadium tunnel and experienced the Trojans' home crowd for the first time in uniform. Otherwise, the Orange County product who grew up going to Trojans games was wholly unintimidated as the first freshman quarterback to start a season opener at USC.

''It was so much fun to be out there,'' Barkley said. ''It felt slow out there. I felt calm. The guys did a great job saying, 'This is you, be yourself

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 06:00 AM
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -North Carolina built its identity the past few years around three star receivers. During their first game without them, the Tar Heels wound up defining themselves by their ability to run - and to stop The Citadel from doing so.

Shaun Draughn rushed for 118 yards, Ryan Houston had two short touchdown runs and No. 21 North Carolina had its best rushing game under coach Butch Davis during a 40-6 rout of the Bulldogs on Saturday night.

''Great way to start a season,'' Draughn said. ''It didn't even feel like I had that many yards.''

T.J. Yates threw for two touchdowns in the decisive first half, finishing 9 of 20 for 114 yards in three quarters with scoring passes of 18 yards to Johnny White and 21 yards to Greg Little for the Tar Heels (1-0).

North Carolina rolled up 375 total yards, and its 261 on the ground marked its most productive rushing performance since 2004 - three years before Davis' debut in Chapel Hill.

''There's definitely some things we can work on in the passing game, but our running game was absolutely awesome,'' Yates said.

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 06:01 AM
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Tim Tebow 's most memorable moment Saturday came long before the 90,000-plus arrived at The Swamp.

Tebow spent pre-game warmups pushing around a boy confined to a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy. He included 7-year-old Boomer Hornbeck, a huge Tebow fan from Atlanta, in drills, handed him a football and even took him to the locker room for autographs.

''That was so cool to see his face,'' Tebow said. ''It was a really special moment for him. He'll remember it, and that's what's so meaningful.''
It might have been the top highlight in a night filled with them for the defending national champions.

Tebow accounted for two touchdowns, Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps had scoring runs, and Brandon James ended the school's longest special-teams drought in a 62-3 victory over Charleston Southern

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 06:01 AM
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -Northern Colorado dared Kansas to run, and Todd Reesing was happy to oblige. It's just one more thing he does well.
With the Bears dropping extra men into coverage, Kansas' career passing leader ignited a slow-starting offense with two rushing touchdowns and the 25th-ranked Jayhawks ran for 328 yards in a 49-3 rout Saturday night before the biggest home crowd in school history.

Reesing, who has virtually rewritten his school's passing records, hit 13 of 20 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns - relatively paltry totals for him.

''They didn't want to let us throw the ball down field too much, so they dropped more guys in coverage than maybe we're used to,'' said Reesing. ''When they do that, you've got to run the ball and we were able to do that effectively and that's why we were able to score points.''

Jake Sharp scored on a 2-yard run and a 10-yard pass before the Memorial Stadium record crowd of 53,530, a fan base that's been energized by 20 wins the past two years and seems to appreciate no longer being known as a basketball-only school

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 06:03 AM
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -Roy Helu Jr. was getting better for No. 24 Nebraska as the game went on, and by the third quarter he was nearly unstoppable.
With Helu running for two of his three touchdowns and 95 of his 152 yards in the quarter, the Cornhuskers broke open the game and went on to a 49-3 victory over Florida Atlantic on Saturday night.


Helu put to rest any concerns about hamstring problems that bothered him last season and in preseason practices. He also showed he's quite capable of being the Huskers' featured back in the wake of Quentin Castille 's dismissal for breaking team rules.

''In the first quarter I was impatient with my reads,'' Helu said. ''The feeling was good in the third quarter. The type of offense we're trying to become, you saw it in the third quarter.''

If Helu keeps running like he did against the Owls, it will make things much easier for quarterback Zac Lee

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 06:04 AM
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -Coming off a trip to the national title game, and having Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford back under center, Oklahoma had grand expectations this season.

One jarring hit might've changed everything for the Sooners - and BYU.

Bradford sprained his throwing shoulder in the closing seconds of the first half. A mediocre performance by his backup, a questionable decision by coach Bob Stoops and a late meltdown by OU's defense let Max Hall and the 20th-ranked Cougars pull out a 14-13 victory Saturday night in the first college football game at Cowboys Stadium.


The severity of Bradford's injury won't be known for days. But there's no doubt this dents his bid to repeat as the Heisman winner and it throws Oklahoma's championship hopes for a loop.

''This loss hurts,'' Sooners offensive lineman Brian Simmons said. ''But the last two or three years, the national champion has had one loss. There's still a chance for us to accomplish our goals.''

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 06:11 AM
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Colt McCoy to Jordan Shipley looked as unstoppable as ever for No. 2 Texas. However, it was the Longhorns' new speedy weapon that was drawing raves after an easy opener.

McCoy passed for 317 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown to Shipley, and freshman tailback D.J. Monroe returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown the first time he touched the ball as the Longhorns romped past Louisiana-Monroe 59-20 on Saturday night.

''We've known he was going to be great the whole time,'' McCoy said of Monroe, who also rushed for 64 yards. ''He's a playmaker for us.''
Monroe redshirted last season and dazzled Texas coaches with his speed in practice. His TD return in the second quarter came at a big moment after Louisiana-Monroe had struck for a 75-yard touchdown catch by Luther Ambrose .

Monroe, a state high school champion in the 100 meters, took the kickoff at the 11, split a seam in the defense and bolted nearly untouched to the end zone.

''I don't remember anything during the play. It was a really great feeling,'' Monroe said. ''I just wanted to be ready when they called on me.''

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 06:12 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -''Sweet Home Alabama'' blared from the speakers at the Georgia Dome.

The Crimson Tide felt right at home.

Getting off to another rousing start in Atlanta, No. 5 Alabama overcame a 98-yard kickoff return, costly turnovers and silly penalties to wear down No. 7 Virginia Tech for a 34-24 victory Saturday night.

Mark Ingram rushed for a career-high 150 yards and finished off Virginia Tech with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Greg McElroy threw for 230 yards in his debut as Alabama's starting quarterback, taking quite a beating but standing tall at the end.

The Crimson Tide began a national title run in Atlanta last season by thumping Clemson, and this sure looks like a team that will be in the thick of things again this year. Alabama held a 498-155 edge in total yards, even though it had to rally in the final quarter.

''We actually played better than the score is. We made a lot of mistakes,'' said Nick Saban, beginning his third year as coach. ''But we responded better to adversity than maybe we ever have.''

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 06:13 AM
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Jahvid Best was on the wrong end of the highlight film last year against Maryland, seen on his knees vomiting following a hard hit from a Terrapins defender.

Best was back in his usual role in the rematch, finishing off a long run to the end zone as California turned the tables on Maryland.

Best ran 73 yards for one of his two first-quarter touchdowns and the 12th-ranked Golden Bears avenged an early-season loss to the Terrapins last season with a 52-13 victory Saturday night to open this season.
''Last year we went down there and we felt like we didn't play Cal football,'' Best said. ''We wanted them to know what Cal football was all about. We wanted to jump on them early.''

Kevin Riley added a career-high four touchdown passes for the Bears, who avenged last year's 35-27 loss. Cal finished with 542 yards of offense and got touchdowns from five players.

''Everybody got involved in the action today which was good to see,'' coach Jeff Tedford said.

Goodfellas
09-06-2009, 06:14 AM
SEATTLE (AP) -Thanks to career nights from Jordan Jefferson and Terrance Toliver , LSU finally got going and put away a revived Washington team looking to end a streak of futility that stretched back to 2007.

Jefferson threw a career-high three touchdown passes to help the 11th-ranked Tigers hand the Huskies their 15th consecutive loss, 31-23 Saturday night in new coach Steve Sarkisian's Washington debut.

Jefferson's third, 6 yards to a wide-open Brandon LaFell with 1:54 remaining sealed it for the Tigers, though Jake Locker threw a touchdown pass to Kavario Middleton on the final play.

''We sputtered in the first half at times on offense,'' LSU coach Les Miles said. ''There were opportunities to take advantage of our opponent, and we didn't attack them the way we should have.''

The Huskies are one loss from tying Oregon State's Pac-10 record for consecutive losses. Still, they started strong, getting out to an early 7-0 lead and were down only 17-13 nine minutes into the second half.

Locker completed 25 of 45 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns, but Jacob Cutrera returned an interception 29 yards for LSU's first touchdown late in the first quarter. Locker said he never saw the linebacker

Sandpig
09-06-2009, 01:22 PM
So glad BYU won yesterday.

I hate the BCS. So I always hope that there will be no undeafeated teams and about 10 with one loss. Except maybe a non BCS school.

Goodfellas
09-07-2009, 06:02 AM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Jevan Snead sure knows how to finish.
The Mississippi quarterback recovered from an awful start to throw two late touchdowns and Dexter McCluster scored twice to lead the No. 8 Rebels to a 45-14 win over Memphis on Sunday. Snead hit 4 of 5 passes for 73 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, breaking open a close game.

''Another thing you have to love about Jevan is that when things don't go just right, he doesn't put his head down,'' Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said. ''You don't have to be concerned about that. He's a winner, and the guy really came back and played well.''

Those who having been watching Snead at Ole Miss will start to notice a trend. Snead got off to a slow start last season before rallying the Rebels to six straight wins. He did just the same in microcosm in the team's seventh consecutive victory.

Goodfellas
09-07-2009, 06:14 AM
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount called Boise State defensive end Byron Hout and coach Chris Petersen to apologize for the punch he threw following Thursday's game between the two teams.

Blount and Ducks coach Chip Kelly made the conciliatory phone call on Saturday. A spokesman for Oregon confirmed it took place, but would not discuss what was said.

Blount punched Hout in the jaw following the 16th-ranked Ducks' 19-8 loss to the 14th-ranked Broncos on Thursday night. Hout was knocked to his knees.

On Friday, Kelly suspended Blount for the rest of the season, effectively ending his career at Oregon. Blount will remain on scholarship and be allowed to practice with the team, but will not play in games or a bowl.
Saturday's apology was first reported by The Register-Guard newspaper in Eugene and ESPN. Blount had apologized after the game when he spoke with reporters

Goodfellas
09-08-2009, 06:58 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Center Kristofer O'Dowd expects to play for No. 4 Southern California in its game at No. 6 Ohio State on Saturday.

O'Dowd practiced with the Trojans on Monday after missing last weekend's season opener against San Jose State to rest his dislocated kneecap. The junior is considered to be among the nation's top centers, and is a key component of an already powerful USC offensive line.

O'Dowd says he's "definitely going to be back for this game," but coach Pete Carroll says he won't agree until he sees how O'Dowd does in Tuesday's practice in pads.

Defensive tackle Averell Spicer practiced with the Trojans after missing the opener with a sprained ankle. Spicer also hopes to play Saturday in Columbus

Goodfellas
09-08-2009, 06:59 AM
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly unleashed his high-speed, no-huddle offense - and quarterback Tony Pike pushed it into overdrive.

Pike threw for a career-high 362 yards and three touchdowns, and the defending Big East champion Bearcats hurried past Rutgers 47-15 on Monday.

''The pace was absolutely crucial today,'' said Kelly, who began his third season with the Bearcats as a rising star in the business. ''You knew what Rutgers was going to do and that is control the clock. So we knew it was absolutely crucial to push the ball down the court.''

Courted by Washington and Tennessee last season, Kelly might not be long for the Queen City and his team showed why in the season opener.
The Bearcats pushed it Oklahoma-style and put up 510 yards and 45 points in the first three quarters. They also got a jump on the conference race by improving to 4-0 against Rutgers since joining the league.

Goodfellas
09-08-2009, 07:00 AM
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Jacory Harris stood motionless on the Miami sideline with five seconds remaining, silently pleading for one more stop.
He had done his part.

And after one last review, so did Miami's defense.

Ailing arm and all, Harris threw for 386 yards - including a 40-yard pass over double coverage to Travis Benjamin that set up Graig Cooper 's 3-yard touchdown run with 1:53 left - and led the Hurricanes past No. 18 Florida State 38-34 in a wild, back-and-forth game on Monday night.
''I was just thinking my team fought through this so long and so hard. All the preparation and it came down to this,'' Harris said of watching the final series from the sideline. ''Our defense, I know they was going to pull through at the end.''

It went down to the very last play, a pass that Florida State's Jarmon Fortson nearly scooped off the garnet-colored grass in the end zone as time expired. Fortson argued to no avail, replay officials confirmed that he didn't have the ball, and Miami (1-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) flooded the field that bears Bobby Bowden's name in celebration.

Goodfellas
09-08-2009, 07:01 AM
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Tate Forcier was groomed by his father, two older brothers and Marv Marinovich to be a quarterback.

When the freshman threw three touchdowns before halftime in his college debut at Michigan, Forcier's mentors insisted they weren't awed.

"I'd be lying if I said I was surprised," Michael Forcier said Monday before a question was even asked about his son in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "Tate has been doing this at every level.

"Me and Marv were just laughing about it because the kid just has so much moxie."

He was 13-of-20 for 179 yards and three scores -- connecting on an array of passes from the pocket and on the move -- in a win over Western Michigan. Back at home in San Diego, Michael Forcier watched and paced in front of his TV.

There's no way, though, he won't be at the Big House for his son's second game on Saturday against No. 23 Notre Dame.
"Oh yeah, I'll be there for that one," he said.

Goodfellas
09-08-2009, 07:01 AM
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- As many as 12 Mississippi players could miss practice because of flu-like symptoms.

Coach Houston Nutt said Monday that affected players are being tested for swine flu. Whatever strain it is, it's passing through the team quickly. Symptoms include vomiting and fever.

Nutt says several players were throwing up during Sunday's 45-14 win over Memphis. Safety Johnny Brown played through illness and took intravenous fluids at halftime but still led the team in tackles with 15.
Most troubling, perhaps, is that quarterback Jevan Snead's roommate, Clayton Moore, has taken sick, exposing the team's starter.

But the illnesses come at a good time. The No. 8 Rebels have the week off, then play Football Championship Subdivision opponent Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 19.

Goodfellas
09-08-2009, 07:02 AM
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Auburn coach Gene Chizik will make at least $1.9 million this year in a contract heavy on incentives.

Auburn released details of the five-year contract on Monday. The list of incentives include $500,000 for a national title and $200,000 for winning the Southeastern Conference.


If the Tigers make a bowl game this season, Chizik gets $50,000, plus double that each for being named national coach of the year or SEC coach of the year and for making the league title game.

He has escalating bonuses from $75,000-$200,000 for winning from 10 games up to 14.

The university also released contracts for the assistant coaches. The top paid is defensive coordinator Ted Roof at $370,000. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn gets $350,000, receiver coach Trooper Taylor $320,000 and defensive line coach Tracy Rocker $300,000.

The total for Chizik's assistants is more than $2.5 million. That's still well below the $3.3 million Lane Kiffin's staff is making at Tennessee.

Goodfellas
09-08-2009, 07:03 AM
Running back LeGarrette Blount did not practice with Oregon on Monday even though he was allowed to under a season-long suspension for a postgame punch in the Ducks' opener.

Coach Chip Kelly said he did not expect Blount at practice.

"People I think should respect he's been through a lot the past few days," Kelly said during a conference call. "He's got to make some decisions on where he is and everything. But we have a plan in place for him and when he decides to come back."

Goodfellas
09-08-2009, 07:04 AM
Boise State coach Chris Petersen defended his decision not to suspend Byron Hout for his taunting that led to LeGarrette Blount's punch after the No. 14 Broncos' victory over Oregon on Thursday.

On a Western Athletic Conference teleconference Monday, Petersen said the defensive end is being disciplined for yelling in Blount's face and slapping him on the shoulder pad. But Petersen added he believes "we've done the right thing" in not suspending him for any games.

"I do think Byron is being disciplined, there is no question about that," Petersen said. "It was the wrong thing to do to say anything to anybody.
... It's something everybody has learned from, in our program and teams from the outside, to say nothing and just play ball."

Goodfellas
09-08-2009, 07:06 AM
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Arizona has removed the "or" from its depth chart at quarterback.

Heading into last weekend's season opener, the Wildcats listed "Matt Scott or Nick Foles" as the starter.

Scott played every snap in the Wildcats' 19-6 victory over Central Michigan, and he'll start against Northern Arizona on Saturday night.
"Matt'll continually start until things change," coach Mike Stoops said Monday at his weekly campus news conference.

That's a change from last week, when the identity of Willie Tuitama's successor remained a closely guarded secret. Scott and Foles had dueled on even terms throughout spring and fall drills, and both players were expected to see action in the first game

Goodfellas
09-09-2009, 06:55 AM
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Top-ranked Florida will have to wait a year to see highly touted freshman Andre Debose on the field.

Debose, coach Urban Meyer's prized recruit in February, will have season-ending surgery to repair a torn hamstring. Meyer announced Debose's decision after practice Tuesday night.

Meyer had tabbed the 5-foot-11, 185-pound speedster as Percy Harvin's replacement this fall. But Debose injured his hamstring at the Florida state high school track meet in April, tweaked it during summer workouts and then hurt it again on the first day of fall practice.

Team doctors initially thought it was just a pulled muscle, but tests later revealed a partial tear. Debose has been considering his options for two weeks.
"There's a tendon, part of the muscle, that's detached from the bone and they're going to attach it," Meyer said. "It's a significant time period (for recovery). He won't play this season."

Goodfellas
09-10-2009, 08:09 AM
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Mississippi running back Dexter McCluster spent Tuesday night in the hospital because of flu symptoms and nearly two dozen other Rebels players missed practice Wednesday as the virus continued to sweep though the team.

McCluster, a versatile star for the sixth-ranked Rebels, was released Wednesday morning but did not attend the afternoon practice. So many were out coaches moved practice up and shortened it. Still, they were shuffling the lineup all day.

"Boy, it's tough," Ole Miss offensive coordinator Kent Austin said. "We lost another quarterback today, too, so we're down to Nathan Stanley and Clayton Moore. About half our receiving corps is out, half our starting line."

As many as 22 players -- or about 20 percent of the team -- are in some stage of the flu. The list includes starting quarterback Jevan Snead, McCluster and several other starters.

Goodfellas
09-10-2009, 08:10 AM
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- If Alabama coach Nick Saban sticks around for another nine years, it will be worth $5 million to him and, the Crimson Tide hopes, a few more championships for the program.

The university system's Board of Trustees compensation committee unanimously approved the three-year extension through Jan. 31, 2018, on Wednesday that doesn't include a salary hike but rewards him for staying put and guarantees that he will remain among college football's five highest paid coaches.

"I'm very pleased and happy that the university offered us an extension. (Wife) Terry and I are both happy to be here," Saban said on Wednesday's weekly Southeastern Conference teleconference. "It expresses the university's commitment to us and our commitment to want to be here for a long time."

The trustees also approved a seven-year deal for new basketball coach Anthony Grant, who will make $1.8 million annually plus bonuses escalating to $250,000 for winning a national title.

Saban would receive a series of three completion bonuses totaling $5 million if he is still the coach through 2011, 2014 and 2017. That means the contract would be worth $42.35 million if he remains through the nine-year deal, or just over $4.7 million annually

Goodfellas
09-10-2009, 08:11 AM
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -- Rutgers freshman Tom Savage will start at quarterback on Saturday against Howard.

Savage, one of the most highly touted recruits to ever sign with Rutgers, played the entire second half in the Scarlet Knights' 47-15 loss to Cincinnati on Monday night. He passed for 135 yards and a touchdown.
Coach Greg Schiano ended two days of noncommittal answers about his starting quarterback by giving the job to Savage on Wednesday.

"Tommy's going to be the starter," Schiano said. "I don't think you make a decision based on just one day, but like I said, 'Tests count more than quizzes.' And we have 12 final exams."

Domenic Natale, a fifth-year senior who threw three interceptions in the first start of his career against Cincinnati, will serve as the backup.
"Dom's disappointed, but also wants to win," Schiano said. He added that quarterback Jabu Lovelace will continue running the Wildcat package.

Goodfellas
09-10-2009, 08:14 AM
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Team captain Brody Eldridge is expected to play for No. 13 Oklahoma this week despite having a broken pinkie finger on his right hand.

Sooners coach Bob Stoops said after practice Wednesday that he didn't expect Eldridge to miss any time because of the injury.

Eldridge had previously played as a backup tight end for Oklahoma, but was moved to the offensive line this preseason and started at center for the Sooners last week against BYU. Coaches have said Eldridge recorded 20 knockdowns against BYU.

After starting tight end Jermaine Gresham had season-ending knee surgery, Sooners coaches had Eldridge practice more at tight end this week while determining his role for Saturday's home opener against Idaho State.

Goodfellas
09-10-2009, 08:15 AM
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama coach Nick Saban says tailback Mark Ingram has the flu, but he doesn't expect him to miss Saturday night's game with Florida International.

Ingram and backup quarterback Star Jackson both missed Tuesday's practice with the flu. Saban said Jackson is improved and was set to practice Wednesday.

The two players are roommates, and Jackson caught the bug first. Saban said the training staff starts treating players quickly when someone around them gets the flu, so he's hoping that makes Ingram's recovery faster.

He said Wednesday Tide players have been able to get past the flu in two or three days, and he's more worried about a player getting sick late in the week.

Ingram ran for 150 yards in the opener against Virginia Tech.

Goodfellas
09-10-2009, 08:16 AM
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Illinois will be without one of its leading rushers Saturday when it tries for its first win of the season.

Illinois coach Ron Zook says Mikel Leshoure is suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules. The sophomore back won't play in Illinois' home opener against Illinois State.

Leshoure and fellow back Troy Pollard led Illinois with 38 yards each in last weekend's 37-9 loss to Missouri.

Zook says Leshoure is suspended for a week.

Leshoure's absence and the ankle injuries hobbling starter Daniel Dufrene and Jason Ford leave Illinois with just two healthy, eligible backs -- senior Pollard and freshman Justin Green.

Goodfellas
09-10-2009, 08:17 AM
AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa State reserve tight end Kurt Hammerschmidt has been suspended indefinitely after being arrested on drunken driving charges.

Police records show that Hammerschmidt was arrested by university police just after 2 a.m. Monday.

Cyclones coach Paul Rhoads issued a statement Wednesday announcing Hammerschmidt's suspension. The statement says Hammerschmidt violated team rules but Rhoads had no further comment.


Iowa State athletics department spokesman Tom Kroeschell confirmed Hammerschmidt had been arrested.

The 20-yard-old Hammerschmidt is a redshirt freshman from Chesterfield, Mo.

He did not have a catch in Iowa State's 34-17 win over North Dakota State last week.

Iowa State hosts rival Iowa on Saturday.

Goodfellas
09-11-2009, 07:21 AM
ATLANTA(AP) Scott Blair had never thrown a touchdown pass. Scratch that one off the list.

He'd never kicked a game-winner for Georgia Tech. Took care of that one, too.

Blair threw a touchdown pass off a fake field goal, then booted a 36-yard kick with 57 seconds remaining as the 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets rallied to beat Clemson 30-27 after squandering a 24-point lead Thursday night.

''I was just trying to treat it like a normal kick, not psych myself out,'' Blair said. ''I wasn't paying attention to the score at all. I didn't want to think at the time that it was a game-winner. It was just another kick.''

Hardly. Georgia Tech (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) pulled itself back from the brink of a potentially devastating loss that looked like an easy victory early on. The Yellow Jackets raced to a 24-0 lead 4 1/2 minutes into the second quarter.

But Clemson (1-1, 0-1) scored 27 straight points, taking its first lead of the night on Richard Jackson 's 53-yard field goal with 11:33 to go

Goodfellas
09-11-2009, 08:46 AM
5mhW_rIePPs

BLUEBARON75
09-11-2009, 09:49 PM
that eric paige kid is a slot reciever for toledo is the real deal man.

Goodfellas
09-12-2009, 06:38 AM
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- Bill Snyder agreed to a five-year contract with Kansas State on Friday, giving the 69-year-old coach the opportunity to pull off another reclamation project after the program he built unraveled under Ron Prince.

Snyder will be paid a base salary plus supplemental licensing payments totaling $1.85 million this season, $1.875 million next season, $1.925 million in 2011-12, $1.95 million in 2012-13 and $1.975 million in 2013-14.
Performance incentives could reward Snyder up to an additional $455,000, including $75,000 for winning the Big 12 title game and $250,000 for winning the BCS national championship.

"The reason we came to Kansas State was because of the people, we have stayed here all of these years because of the people and our reason for returning was because of the people," Snyder said in a statement Friday.

Snyder compiled a 136-68-1 record over his first 17 seasons -- a remarkable turnaround for a program that had won only 130 games the previous 51 years. He retired in November 2005, citing fatigue and the desire to spend more time with his family, only to come back this season.

Goodfellas
09-12-2009, 06:42 AM
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- Colorado looked helpless trying to stop Aaron Opelt and Toledo.

Now the Buffaloes have to find a way to keep their season from flying apart after starting off coach Dan Hawkins' fourth season with two discouraging losses in less than a week.

Colorado (0-2) gave up big play after big play against Toledo (1-1) which averaged nearly 10 yards per play and amassed 624 yards in Toledo's 54-38 win over the Buffaloes on Friday night.

The tired-looking Buffs were pushed around by archrival Colorado State just five days earlier in a 23-17 loss on Sunday that was capped by the indignity of Rams fans storming Folsom Field.

Hawkins exhaled deeply afterward when asked about what was wrong with his defense.

"Too many big plays for sure," he said.

Opelt threw a 70-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and scampered 61 yards early in the fourth to thwart a late Colorado rally and put the Rockets up by 20.

Goodfellas
09-12-2009, 06:42 AM
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) -- Coach Larry Fedora says Southern Miss wide receiver DeAndre Brown will play Saturday against Central Florida.

The 6-foot-6 sophomore sat out last week's 52-0 win against Alcorn State still recovering from a broken leg he suffered last year in the New Orleans Bowl. Fedora says he could see about 25 plays against UCF.

Brown set the single-season school records for catches and touchdowns as a freshman and should add another dimension going against the Knights' stingy defense.

He was cleared for contact last week but was held out because Fedora didn't see a need to rush him back after he began to experience soft-tissue swelling near the break in July

Goodfellas
09-12-2009, 06:43 AM
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- Two North Carolina players will miss Saturday's game at Connecticut with apparent cases of swine flu.
The school says Friday that starting fullback Bobby Rome and defensive tackle Jordan Nix have tested positive for "probable" swine flu.
Neither player practiced this week for the No. 19 Tar Heels (1-0).

Goodfellas
09-12-2009, 10:08 AM
yk3bdvvepIo

Goodfellas
09-13-2009, 06:54 AM
EAST HARTFORD, Conn.(AP) North Carolina needed to make a big defensive stop, and wound up getting some help from Connecticut's Dan Ryan .
The Huskies' senior tackle was flagged for holding defensive end Robert Quinn in the end zone with 1:32 left in the game Saturday, giving the No. 19 Tar Heels a safety and a 12-10 comeback win over the Huskies

''I had him beat around the corner,'' Quinn said. ''I was just out there trying to make a play, and then I saw the flag.''

The play capped a 12-point fourth quarter for North Carolina (2-0). Casey Barth started the comeback with a 22-yard field goal, and T.J. Yates led the team on a 13-play drive that ended with his 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zack Pianalto with 2:36 left.

Goodfellas
09-13-2009, 06:55 AM
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) Point guard-turned-Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus got a good look at how to run an offense. Penn State's own signal-caller, Daryll Clark , and do-it-all tailback Evan Royster provided the lesson.

Clark threw for 240 yards and three scores, Royster had two touchdowns and the No. 7 Nittany Lions contained the pesky Paulus in a 28-7 win Saturday at Beaver Stadium.



Paulus, the former Duke basketball player, performed relatively well for a second straight week, especially for someone who hadn't played competitively on the gridiron since he was a high school star in 2004.
He finished 14 of 20 for 105 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, both of which came on tipped balls. Alternating at quarterback with backup Ryan Nassib , Paulus threw mostly short, quick passes to counter Penn State's pressure.

''This is his first crack for him, second game ever,'' Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said. ''Impressive kid, a lot of poise

Goodfellas
09-13-2009, 06:56 AM
GAINESVILLE, Fla.(AP) Before Florida coach Urban Meyer even started his postgame speech, his players had already said it all in the locker room.
''The season starts now,'' receiver David Nelson said.

Indeed. The top-ranked Gators finished their ''preseason'' undefeated and unchallenged.

Now, it's Tennessee time.

Tim Tebow threw four touchdown passes, ran for another score and Florida beat Troy 56-6 Saturday in its final tuneup before beginning Southeastern Conference play.

''We're thinking about Tennessee right now,'' linebacker Ryan Stamper conceded.

The Gators have won four in a row against the Volunteers, and Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin's recruiting accusations in February and his promise to beat Florida has the Gators eager for this meeting. Even though they downplayed the matchup Saturday, it was a motivating factor during the offseason.

Goodfellas
09-13-2009, 06:57 AM
BLACKSBURG, Va.(AP) From one of the biggest national television spotlights of the season to a game only available on the Internet. From a top 5 opponent to one that struggled to beat a lower-division team the week before.

Didn't matter for Virginia Tech. After looking very non-BCS-like in the Kickoff Classic against Alabama, the No. 14 Hokies needed a feel-good, cathartic win, no matter what the setting. They got just that Saturday in a 52-10 victory over Marshall.

''We just needed to prove to ourselves that we can do it,'' said tailback Ryan Williams , one of two Virginia Tech backs to rush for 160-plus yards, a first in modern Hokies history.

''Outside of football, we really don't care about what anybody has to say about us, or what critics have to say, but we had to prove to ourselves that we can move the ball down the field, we can run the ball, we can pass the ball, we can block, we can pick up blitzes, all those things offensively.''

Williams ran for 164 yards on 16 carries and scored three touchdowns. Fellow freshman David Wilson , performing mostly mop-up duty in the second half, actually outdid Williams by a yard, gaining 165 on 12 attempts. Virginia Tech (1-1) managed only 155 total yards a week ago, but that tally was topped before the end of the first quarter against the Thundering Herd (1

Goodfellas
09-13-2009, 06:58 AM
LINCOLN, Neb.(AP) After beating up on a second straight opponent from the Sun Belt Conference, Zac Lee and his Nebraska teammates are about to find out how good they really are.

With Lee passing for 340 yards and four touchdowns, the 22nd-ranked Cornhuskers warmed up for next week's trip to No. 14 Virginia Tech with a 38-9 victory over Arkansas State.

Seemingly never-satisifed Nebraska coach Bo Pelini called his defense ''soft'' after a season-opening 49-3 win over Florida Atlantic. He said Saturday that the Huskers still aren't playing up to his standards as they prepare to go on the road for the first time.

Lee's play at quarterback, however, got a passing grade.

''He's playing at a high level,'' Pelini said. ''Other than the quarterback being new, we do have experience and some guys who have played some games. Our offense has been playing well, and I expect that to continue. I like what I've seen from that group.''

There was plenty to like against Arkansas State. The Huskers (2-0) scored on five of their first six possessions, ending any hopes the Red Wolves (1-1) had of pulling an even bigger upset than their win at Texas A&M last year.

Goodfellas
09-13-2009, 06:59 AM
ANN ARBOR, Mich.(AP) Tate Forcier lifted Michigan to its biggest win under coach Rich Rodriguez.

Charlie Weis provided an assist.

Forcier's 5-yard touchdown pass to Greg Mathews with 11 seconds left capped a game-winning drive and lifted the Wolverines to a 38-34 win over No. 18 Notre Dame on Saturday.


''It will go down in history as one of the greatest games in the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry,'' Mathews said. ''I'm glad I got a chance to play in it.''
Weis called for two passes, both of which fell incomplete, late in the game with a three-point lead and Michigan got the ball back at its 43 after a punt with 2:13 and two timeouts left.


''I think it was mistake that they were throwing the ball because they let us save our timeouts,'' Forcier said. ''Those timeouts definitely came in handy.''

Weis defended his choice to put the ball in the air after Armando Allen , who ran for 139 yards, opened the pivotal drive with a 13-yard run and twisted an ankle. Robert Hughes then got the ball for the first time all day and was stuffed at the line.

''They loaded up the box and made it clear that they weren't going to let us do that, so we had to throw the ball,'' Weis said. ''On third down, we could have run and made them use a timeout, but we were trying to win the game.''


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