Football Gazette's Small College Football Blog

Davis Stars, Azusa Pacific Rolls

2007-10-02T15:11:00.000-05:00

By Gary Pine, Azusa Pacific SID

AZUSA, Calif. –- It would never have been said publicly but behind closed doors and only amongst whispers it could be heard last week. Azusa Pacific was more than just the best 1-4 team in the nation. The Cougars believed they were among one of the NAIA’s 25 best teams in the nation.

Southern Nazarene University, a team on the doorstep of its own Top 25 recognition, just might be the star witness in a case for Azusa Pacific after the Cougars dismantled SNU, 38-7, before a crowd of 2,083 Saturday evening in the “Canyon City.”

For the second time this season All-American candidate Jon Davis tied a school single-game record with 4 touchdown receptions and senior QB Rudy Carlton threw for 221 yards and had a hand in all 5 Cougars TDs as Azusa Pacific systematically and thoroughly put away an upstart Southern Nazarene which made its first-ever venture into California with aspirations of making a national statement to the pollsters. Instead, it was the Cougars who made a pronouncement that will surely leave the NAIA rating committee collectively scratching its head about how to properly evaluate a now 2-4 Azusa Pacific team that has certainly been a victim of a most daunting schedule among all NAIA teams and yet defeated 2 NAIA foes both considered among the top 30 programs in the country this year.

Azusa Pacific closed out with 31 unanswered points over the final 3 quarters and scored touchdowns on 5 consecutive drives to post its first blowout victory in nearly 2 seasons. Not since a 47-6 thumping of Eastern Oregon back on Oct. 29, 2005, had Azusa Pacific enjoyed such a large margin of victory, and the Cougars tallied their points in a variety of ways. They used an assortment of long drives, SNU miscues, physical force, lightening speed, and dazzling plays, particularly a couple by Davis, to run away from the Crimson Storm and in the process avenge last year’s 17-10 overtime loss at SNU in Bethany, Okla.

It took a pair of possessions for Azusa Pacific to figure out how to best attack the Crimson Storm defense but it was an ill-advised SNU decision that led to the game’s first score. After the Cougars failed to punch the ball into the end zone from 4 yards out on a fake field goal attempt, Southern Nazarene designed a fake of its own – from the Crimson Storm 9-yard line where punter Peter Orth, instead of kicking the ball, ran with it only to be caught by Joe LaPorta and Todd Dini a yard shy of the first down.
Azusa Pacific took over at the SNU 9 and 3 plays later Carlton hit Davis on a 5-yard slant to put the Cougars up 7-0.

Wendell Thompson, though, returned the ensuing kickoff 73 yards to the Cougar 21-yard line, and on the first play from scrimmage Tyler Schneider hit Jared Elmore on a perfectly thrown lob to the corner of the end zone to knot the game at 7 apiece. But that was the last time Schneider would be at ease in his own backfield.

Led by defensive ends Casey Roel and Kenny Simmons, the Cougars pummeled Schneider, sacking him 4 times, putting on a hurry on at least 3 of his throws and holding him to just 154 passing yards, 50 yards under his season average.
The Cougars moved out to a 14-7 lead when Carlton again teamed with Davis on a 1-yard TD lob on the first play of the second quarter. It was the cap on what could be considered a 2-play TD strike. On the previous snap, the final one of the first quarter, Davis beat one-on-one coverage and made a spectacular one-handed grab down the right sideline in a dead sprint to highlight a 59-yard catch-and-run that ended at the SNU 1-yard line.

“Rudy and I are really good friends,” said Davis, “and there are plenty of times where he just gives me a head nod and I know exactly what he wants. When it comes to the football field, we just connect.”

And that was just the beginning.

After SNU was held to just 12 yards on the next possession, the Carlton-Davis tandem went back to work as Carlton hit a wide open Davis down the middle for a 32-yard touchdown which pushed the Azusa Pacific advantage to 21-7 midway through the second quarter.

“We’ve always had this connection, where I know that if drop back and have time, Jon is going to make the play,” said Carlton. “I have all the confidence in the world in him, and it was great to get him some opportunities to score.”

Roel, who seemingly was in the Crimson Storm backfield on every play, then recovered a Schneider fumbled snap at the SNU 33-yard line to set up yet another Cougar first half score. An SNU pass interference call on a Carlton to Paul Hardiman attempt put the ball at the 10-yard line and 3 plays later Carlton leaned in from a yard out for his second rushing TD of the season and a 28-7 Cougar halftime lead.

Azusa Pacific held the Southern Nazarene on the opening drive of the second half and the Carlton-Davis tandem wasted no time getting back to work, connecting on a 58-yard scoring strike on Azusa Pacific’s first snap of the second half, giving Davis his fourth touchdown reception of the game to match the school single-game record that he equaled in this year’s season-opener vs. MidAmerica Nazarene University and that 2 other Cougars have matched over the past 40 years.

“They seem to be on the same wavelength,” Santa Cruz described of the Carlton-Davis duo. “It’s a great connection.”

Davis now has 12 touchdown receptions in just 6 games this season and is only 3 shy of Dexter Davis’ school-season record of 15 TD catches that he set in 14 games during the Cougars’ 1998 NAIA championship season.

“Records are fun, but when you’re 1-4, you just want to win,” said Davis. “This win feels so good. This is a team sport – Pelt (Alex Peltier) had a great block for me on a touchdown, Rudy put an amazing touch on the ball for me, and this was just a great team win.”

Azusa Pacific capped the scoring the with a Ben Hansen career-long 49-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, which in turn allowed Santa Cruz to turn to the reserves and offer nearly 65 players playing time.

Southern Nazarene, which came into the game averaging 333 yards of total offense, managed just 56 yards in the first half and didn’t help itself with 2 turnovers. The Crimson Storm got into a rhythm in the second half, moving into Cougar territory on its final 4 drives but the last 3 all stalled out on downs, including the final one which ended the Cougar 13-yard line with just under a minute to play.

“Anytime you come out and only give up 7 points, that’s a big statement game for our defense,” said Santa Cruz. “I expected them to get better this week, and that was what they did. Football is all about details, and I saw a team this week taking care of the details much better than before.”

Brandon Smith rushed for a game-high 79 yards on 21 carries to spearhead the SNU offense. Carlton finished the game an efficient 10-for-17 passing for 221 yards and 4 TD tosses. He becomes the first Cougar since Neo Aoga in 1999 to throw for over 200 yards in 6 straight games. Davis finished with 6 receptions for 162 yards. Simmons recorded a season-high 10 tackles and had a hand in 2 sacks.

With the setback, Southern Nazarene falls to 3-2. Azusa Pacific, now 2-4, preps for Southern Oregon, which brings its 2-2 record to Azusa next Saturday (Oct. 6) for a 6 p.m. game.

RED ZONE for 9/24/07

2007-09-24T13:39:00.000-05:00

THE RED ZONE By Craig Burroughs

This season is shaping up to be one of the most interesting and memorable in college football history, what with the remarkable upsets already played and the long list of major powerhouse programs not ranked in today's Top 25, and it has been exceptionally exciting so far in my personal football travels as well. To start it all off with a bang, I stopped at St. Johns University in Collegeville, MN, the morning after this year's first game, North Dakota's rout of Humboldt State in Grand Forks on August 23rd. I had long been curious how college football's all-time wins leader, John Gagliardi, runs his practices without whistles and full-pads-contact, and the Johnnies had a 9:30AM session that day, giving me the perfect opportunity to slake that curiosity. I was amazed to find at least 150 red-clad players on the field when I got there, all taking turns doing play run-throughs in two groups on opposite ends of the field, dressed in shorts, shoulder pads and helmets. Roughly an hour was spent this way before alternate groups started at midfield with 40-second, one time-out end-game drills to see how many times they could score before time ran out. An assistant coach served as referee, calling penalties and keeping track of the clock time with a stopwatch. Tackles were made by tagging the ball carrier or running him out-of-bounds. SJU's offensive teams scored about 75% of the time during this half hour of drills. After practice ended for the morning, I asked Coach Gagliardi if I could take a few pictures of him in his office, and he graciously accommodated. Not only did I get some great photos both of and with this extraordinary coaching legend, we spend more than an hour chatting about football and my extensive travels as his assistants drifted in one by one. He was particularly impressed with my indestructible automobile, a 1992 Oldsmobile station wagon which now has more than 760,000 miles in its rear-view mirror, and he was kind enough to ask me to join him and his staff for lunch at the school cafeteria. One of his assistants, his son Jim, had just purchased a used van with 150,000+ miles on its odometer, and they both wanted to know the secrets behind auto longevity, leaping to the questionable conclusion that I must be some sort of expert because mine had traveled so far. Coach Gagliardi suggested I should write a book on the subject, and I assured him that I would include a car-care chapter in my book-in-progess. He also noticed that I got a spontaneous nose bleed during lunch, a problem I have been tolerating for the past 21 years with little effective treatment. He told me that he had the same condition when he was young, and a doctor recommended a simple solution which he passed on to me and which seems to be working well for me. So I ended up with far more than I had expected when I stopped to watch a St. Johns practice...I got some fantastic pictures, a much better understanding of the SJU dynasty, a terrific lunch, effective medical advice, a handful of new friends, four hours of indelible memories, and a date to come back in the spring to monitor a session of Coach Gagliardi's locally-famous "Theory of Football" class, which is, in reality, a theory of life class. Ironically, two days later as I was heading back toward Collegeville on my way home from a Canadian Juniors game in Winnipeg, the engine in my car finally blew, breaking the crankshaft and stranding me in Rothsay, MN, for a couple of nights before arrangements could be made for its replacement. I drove a rental car from the Fargo airport for a couple of weeks while mine was being rebuilt, putting over 6,000 miles on it in nine States and one Canadian Province in the process. I also bought the rental car company a new airbag at a cost of $1,600, thanks to a gap in the pavement in the middle of a poorly marked construction zone in Indianapolis that caused quite a shock but no physical damage to either me or the car. As a direct result of my automotive adventures, I have been home for exactly one night in the past month, since I had to drive back to Rothsay and Fargo during the two days I might have had at home last week. If I'm lucky, I'll have the luxury of two more nights at home in the next six weeks, as an emergency business trip to Alaska has interjected itself into my football schedule in mid-October. I'm not sure how much more of this excitement I can stand, but I'm hoping that more of it will be on the football field and less of it on the road for the rest of 2007!
* * * * *
I had another wonderful coach-related experience last weekend which took me back to my beginnings as a peripatetic football vagabond in 1990. That was Roland Ortmayer's last of 43 years as head football coach at the University of LaVerne in Southern California, and it was the first of my now 18-season-long quest to capture the essence of North American college football, and the year in which I met him at a Leopards game at California Lutheran. Ort is now 90 and residing with his faithful dog Sport in an assisted-living apartment three blocks from the stadium which fittingly bears his name on the ULV campus. I visit Ort regularly when I'm in California (I have family living 10 miles from LaVerne), and I promised him early this year that I would take him to the opening home game at Ortmayer Stadium this year. That game was last weekend against Whitworth, a team I wanted to see again since I had missed the first quarter of the only game I'd seen the Pirates in against Menlo a couple of years ago. It also gave both Ort and I the chance to see the first game of the Andy Ankeny era at ULV. Ankeny is a former assistant at East Texas Baptist, and he is the first coach at LaVerne since 1947 who was neither Roland Ortmayer nor someone who both played for and coached under Ort. The travel gods conspired to make the day a challenge for me, as my morning flight from Atlanta to Ontario, 15 miles from LaVerne, got away 90 minutes late. Then the rental car I chose had a mechanical "hold" on it when I got to the exit gate, so I had to choose another, which got me to Ort's apartment just 25 minutes before kickoff. Ort's daughter Corlyn and granddaughters Reina and Denise were there to help me with his wheelchair, but complications arose with the chair's leg extensions and we barely got to the field in time to see the kickoff. Despite the logistical frustrations, Ort and his family were able to spend two hours at the game, parked along the sideline near the LaVerne bench, and he was honored at halftime as part of the Community Day ceremonies. Many of his old friends came to visit with him while he was there, including LaVerne's AD, its President, its Public Relations Director and several former players and coaches.
He seemed to enjoy the hot dog and the carne asada taco from Cornie's Corner, the student-run concession stand which was operated for decades by his late wife and which still bears her name. The ballgame itself, which no one at ULV expected to win against the playoff-calibre Pirates, was competitive for the 1st Half, with Whitworth getting only a TD and a safety in the opening period and a lone field goal in the second, while LaVerne gained several first downs and looked good on defense. But the roof caved in after intermission, and Whitworth flew home with a 34-0 win, which Ort did not stay around to see end. Corlyn took him home midway through the 3rd Quarter, but it did my heart a great deal of good to see this extraordinary coach and even more amazing human being sitting on the sideline that he patrolled so faithfully for 43 years. One of my fondest wishes is that Ort be given, while he is still alive and alert, the best honor that could be bestowed upon him, induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. He certainly has enough wins (almost 200), but his philosophy was not the win-at-any-cost regime followed by many of the Hall's inductees, so his winning percentage does not meet the Hall's minimum requirements. There are, however, exceptions that can be made to those prerequisites, and Ort will have all the support anyone could ever have from the legions of players whose lives he influenced for the better during his lifetime of devotion to football at LaVerne. My job here will not be done until Ort has a bust in South Bend!
* * * * *
I was appalled, as I'm sure you were, to read the reports of the on-field melee that took place last Saturday after the Henderson State at Delta State D-II Gulf Coast Conference game in Cleveland, MS. After a 9-7 DSU win in which two HSU field goal tries from inside the 20 were blocked in the waning minutes of the game, Henderson's coach Scott Maxfield and Delta's Rick Roberts exchanged both heated words and blows instead of the usual handshake. Their behavior incited their teams to engage in a helmet-swinging, pushing and kicking riot which was a major embarassment to both schools and to their conference. Conference Commissioner Nate Salant, with the endorsement of the presidents of both schools, suspended both coaches for their games this week, put both on probation for two years with the threat of serious consequences for any future violations of conference sportsmanship and behavioral standards, and also reprimanded DeltaState for lax security both during and after the game. DSU also was cited for ignoring conference rules restricting the seating of home fans in the visitors' seating area, which had resulted in taunting and harassment of HSU fans during the game. Last year's on-field violence between Miami and Florida International players should have given all football fans and school administrators enough of a warning about lack of player discipline and sportsmanship training, but when something like this happens at the Division II level and is incited by the coaches themselves, it is beyond reprehensible. Maybe Delta State should rethink their team nickname...Statesmen seems more than a little ironic in this case!
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RED ZONE for 9/12/07

2007-09-13T14:42:00.000-05:00

THE RED ZONE By Craig Burroughs

This football season has certainly gotten off to a wild and woolly start! Four 1-AA teams (yes, I, like USA Today, will continue to refer to that subdivision of D-1 by its historic monicker, as the confusing "FCS" and "BCS" nomenclature is, in my mind, just another example of the NCAA shooting itself in the proverbial foot by its failure to focus group their changes for public reaction) have already beaten 1-A teams. Northern Iowa's decisive 24-13 win over my Iowa State Cyclones was the most lopsided, and was a shocking outcome for the largest crowd in the history of Jack Trice Stadium, but it was hardly the biggest shocker of this season, or any season in living memory. Two-time defending 1-AA champion Appalachian State rocked the football world with its stunning upset of then-#5-ranked Michigan in front of more than 109,000 Maize and Blue fans at the "Big House" in Ann Arbor.
You've all heard about the historical superlatives of this game by now, but it puts me in mind, once again, about how deep the pool of college football talent, both players and coaches, has become. If the top 1-AA team can beat a Top 10 1-A program on the road, who's to say that major college football's #16 can't upset the #1 team in the country in an opening round playoff game. Each year the argument for a 16-team playoff in 1-A intensifies, and App State has clearly shown the way.
I will not stop commenting about the clear injustice and hypocrisy of the 2-team popularity contest of the current BCS system until the bowl game mavens and major college administrators figure out that everybody wins when 16 teams vie for a real National Championship by actually playing the games! Tens of thousands of fans of schools like Boise State, TCU, Fresno State, Toledo, Hawai'i, Southern Miss and their underappreciated ilk will be extremely, and justifiably, grateful!
* * * * *
My season has gotten off to an unusual start as well. On my way home from my second Canadian Juniors game of the season, at Winnipeg on August 29th, my faithful Battleship JB, with over 750,000 miles behind, finally broke the crankshaft on an engine that had needed only one tuneup in 15 years. Rather than pay the price for a new car or shell out $10,000 or more to buy someone else's problems, I made the easy decision to put a rebuilt engine and accessories in my intrepid and widely-traveled Olds wagon at a cost of $4,500. While driving a rental during the past two weeks, I had a minor contretemps with a gap in the concrete while going through a construction zone in Indiana...no damage to me or the car, fortunately, but the shock deployed the airbag, meaning another $1,100 out the window since my insurance didn't cover it! I am safely back on the road now in my own wheels, and headed for a truly exciting and adventurous year. This weekend I'll be in California to see Whitworth at LaVerne, and I'll be taking legendary LaVerne coach Roland Ortmayer to the game with me. Ort is now 89 years old and spends most of his time in a wheelchair as a result of a stroke several years ago, but he is still quite lucid and enjoys reminiscing about his 45-year head coaching career, and it will be a real pleasure to see him visit the stadium that bears his name to watch the first Leopards home game in 59 years under the direction of a coach who isn't himself or someone who played for him. By the end of this year I hope to have seen at least 83 college games, in addition to another couple of dozen NFL, CFL and high school games. I've already seen 2 Canadian college games and a CFL game, and plan to see both the Vanier Cup(Canadian college championship) and Grey Cup(CFL title game) this year, as both are at the Rogers Centre in Toronto just two days apart. This may also be the season that I end with the Super Bowl, a game I haven't attended since Super Bowl IV at the late Tulane Stadium in 1970.
College football game #1,000 occurred for me at the first game in Saint Vincent's brand-new Chuck Noll Field on September 1st, which was also SVC's first varsity football game in 45 years. The opponent was Gallaudet, playing its first varsity game in 10 years, after fielding a club team during that time. GU's Bison won the game 32-13 against a coach who had been their mentor in 1970 and '71. I've seen three of the seven new teams for 2007 already, and will see the final two playing against each other when Faulkner meets UNC-Pembroke in Pembroke, NC, on the 27th of October. Until then, I will keep you posted on a regular basis as the thrills and excitement of a very promising season continue to unfold.
* * * * *
I have noticed a strange trend already this season that makes me feel even more strongly about a position I've taken for a long time....teams should try for 2 points on conversion attempts more often, if not most of the time. I was reminded of this while watching the Minnesota JuCo Kickoff Classic at Saint Cloud State in late August. Over a span of five games in two days, I witnessed 21 missed conversion attempts, 18 of the kicking attempts. Only one of the 10 teams made all of its extra point tries, and in one game only 1 of 7 XP's was good, while another game saw just one successful conversion in six tries. Of course, the success ration of less than 40% of kicks in these five games is far from representative, I have witnessed more missed kicking attempts than usual in four-year college games as well. It has long seemed to me that if you can't make three yards 50% of the time for a two-point conversion, you're not preparing very well. This is especially true when you consider that most teams don't prepare much for 2-point conversions. If you assume that only about 90% of kicking tries are successful, that means you only have to make 45% of 2-pointers to break even. Anything more than that gives you an advantage, and the odd scoring patterns created by successful 2-point tries is a further advantage, because it often forces the opposition to match the score, or possibly to settle for a field goal when they might be in good position to go for the TD. My advice to coaches: Spend more time on 2-point conversions. I was very pleased to see Lake Erie College's first college game last weekend, a 33-3 win over Ohio Wesleyan's JV, and the Storm's head coach, Mark McNelly, went for two successfully with a "swinging gate" formation early in the game. I would love to see more teams follow his lead and take control of the game's scoring patterns at the outset.
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RED ZONE

2007-09-13T08:12:00.000-05:00

THE RED ZONE By Craig Burroughs

The University of Alabama's January hiring of Nick Saban away from the NFL's Miami Dolphins has brought to the fore some pressing questions about the direction in which major college football is heading. Coaching salaries at school's in BCS-automatic-qualifying conferences have soared out of sight with all the dollars that are now at stake, thanks to television money. Mosthead coaches at large State universities now make more than their schools' Presidents and the Governor of their respective States (combined!). Saban's $4 million deal at 'Bama, where football is apparently a lot more important than State Government, puts his base salary at more than 35 times the Governor's, and that could well be 45 times if his incentives are met! Not surprisingly, while Saban has set a new gold standard, most States with BCS schools have a large imbalance between coaches' pay and public servants' pay. For example, California's "Governator" earns a $175,000 annual salary, which is in the Top 5 of all State Governors, compared to the $1.5 million paid to Cal's Jeff Tedford and the $1.25 million collected by Fresno State's Pat Hill. Even UCLA's Karl Dorrell, whose yearly $881,000 paycheck isn't even in the Top 50 of today's major college head coaches', is still more than 4 times Governor Schwartzenegger's. The "new" coaches at California's other big schools, Chuck Long at San Diego State ($701,500) and Dick Tomey at San Jose State ($342,100), have less gaudy salaries, but still make much more than their famous movie star boss. The differences are most apparent in less populous States, like Iowa, where Hawkeye
Head Coach Kirk Ferentz pulls down more than $2.8 million, while Governor Chet Culver earns less than $110,000, not even 4% of his fellow State employee's paycheck in Iowa City! West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez, at $1,750,000, is compensated more than 18 times the $95,000 salary of Joe Manchin, the Governor of the Mountain State. Because of the plethora of TV money, and the perceived threat of coaches being hired away by the NFL, big-time college coaches have become the latest rock stars of our generation. Saban used the reverse psychology of being "bought back" into the college fraternity by Alabama after leaving LSU for a $5,000,000-plus income with the NFL's Miami Dolphins just 2 years earlier. His somewhat unusual situation has had an unfortunate effect on college football economics, by setting the salary bar unrealistically high compared to the reality of the NFL "threat." There are 119 1-A (Bowl Championship Division) football programs, but only 32 NFL franchises. Most NFL teams prefer to hire coaches who have already been in the league for years, primarily, I believe, because there are major differences between the college and pro games. Very few top college coaches, perhaps no more than 10-15%, would even be offered the chance to jump to the NFL, and if the opportunity did present itself, many of them would be loath to leave something they love, and with which they are comfortable, to enter the dog-eat-dog world of professional football. To a large number of the college coaches I know, money is not the determining factor in their choice of livelihood...it is their passion for the game and their love of the young men they mentor. As an example of this observation, I can offer a few names who have never been paid over $400,000 for a year of coaching a major college football team: 1) Joe Novak, Northern Illinois University, annual salary today of $212,496...Novak's Huskies have beaten Alabama, Maryland and Iowa State in the same season, all of whom went to bowl games, and he has coached the nation's leading rusher as well as coaching NIU to two bowl games and to winning seasons that should have led to bowl game invitations if NIU had been given the respect it deserves. 2) Then there's Chris Ault ($360,000) at Nevada, currently entering his 23rd year of coaching in three different stints at his alma mater;
Ault has a 185-78-1 record and has already been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame;
3) Jeff Bower ($349,983) at Southern Miss, has led his alma mater and Conference USA "Team of the Decade" to seven bowl games in the past eight years, and his 96-67-1 record over his 14-year head coaching career has included a 47-17 CUSA record, a 52-13 home record and road wins over such heavyweights as Alabama and Nebraska; 4) Toledo's Tom Amstutz ($376,400), whose record in his first five years at his alma mater is 45-18, including four division titles, two outright MAC championships and 3 bowl games. I'd rather have any one of these men coaching for me if I were a major college AD, instead of chasing the superstar multimillion dollar men! * * * * *If unbeaten Boise State's not-to-be-forgotten 43-42 overtime win over heavy favorite Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl wasn't resounding proof of the desperate need for a playoff in major college football, I can't imagine what would be. The lightly-regarded Broncos, who led 28-10 late in the 3rd Quarter, saw the Sooners tie the game with just 86 seconds to play, with a 2-point conversion no less, then had their first subsequent snap result in an Oklahoma interception and TD return to put them in a 35-28 hole with just 64 seconds to play. The haughty Big XII champions thought they had dodged a bullet, but the Broncos delighted the largely BSU crowd and a rapt national TV audience by firing three more shots at OU, each more damaging than the last. The first, of course, was the 50-yard "hook-and-ladder" play with 7 seconds on the clock to send the game into OT. Then it was the first pass ever thrown by a 2nd-team wide receiver to score an answering TD in overtime after OU's star RB Adrian Peterson had ripped off a 25-yard scoring run to open the OT. And finally, it was the underhand "Statue of Liberty" run by Ian Johnson for the winning 2-point conversion to top off a game in which 37 points were scored in the final 19 snaps, beginning at the 1:30 mark of the 4th Quarter. I heard many veteran reporters in the pressbox remark that this game had to be the best bowl game in history, and some even said it was the best football game they'd ever seen, period! Since Boise State represented the first-ever appearance in a BCS bowl game by a Western Athletic Conference team, it's awfully hard for the BCS bigwigs to argue that games like this one can happen every year, or that only teams from the top six "power" conferences deserve to play for the national title. Remember that Oklahoma is a team that played for three BCS titles in the past six years, winning one of them. Remember also that Boise State manhandled a very good Oregon State team, 42-14, early in the season, and the Beavers went on to give USC its first PAC-10 loss in four years and end the season by beating three other bowl teams in a row. USC, of course, played for three of the last four BCS titles, so maybe the have-nots from the WAC can play with the big boys after all! And if the WAC has teams that can beat perennial BCS title contenders, then it only follows that the Mountain West, Conference USA and the Mid-American have teams that can just as well. TCU showed that when they opened the 2005 season in Norman, beating the Sooners by a 17-10 margin on their way to an 11-1 season in which they beat four other bowl teams, including another Big XII team in the EV1.net Bowl.
Sports Illustrated responded to the Boise State-Oklahoma game with an imaginative proposal for an 8-team playoff using campus sites in mid-December for the first round, 2 of the current BCS bowls on a rotating basis for the semi-finals, then a championship bowl one week into January just as was done this year for the "chosen" Top 2. SI's idea would be a major step forward, but doesn't go far enough, in my mind. I've seen enough college football (990 games to date, and many more ahead, I hope) to know that the only way to know who's going to win on a particular day is to play the game. Did you think you'd watch a one-loss Florida team manhandle the Big Ten's supposedly unbeatable Buckeyes by the largest margin of victory ever by a #2 team over a #1? Nor did I, and it points up the fact that nothing beats playing head-to-head games. No poll or computer analysis or power ranking or strength-of-schedule rating will ever replace the actual playing of games, and there are, beyond the slightest doubt, more than eight teams capable of winning three straight at the end of a given season. The only way I can imagine ever seeing a real "National Champion" in most major college seasons is to have a 16-team FBS (nee 1-A) playoff, maybe by expanding the SI proposal to eight on-campus games in mid-December, with four bowl game quarterfinals, two bowl game semi's, and the Big Kahuna in early January. We've already seen that two college teams can play 8 days into the New Year, so why not let 16 teams vie for the privilege. The SI piece neatly debunks all the specious arguments against a playoff in the only division of any NCAA sport that doesn't have one, so here's hoping that before long the folks in the BCS cabal will realize that they're short-changing not only the people who buy tickets to their bowl games, but also the people who make those games possible...the college students on whose backs they're making untold millions! * * * * *After the exciting football travel year I had in 2005, I didn't think it would be possible to have an even better year in 2006. But, as they say, that's why they play the games...you never know what's going to happen on a given day at the ol' ballpark, and 2006 was littered with unexpectedly good games, and some surprising records as well. Not only did I get to see the aforementioned Boise State-Oklahoma thriller (the second-best football game I've ever seen), I got to see another game in Arizona just three nights earlier that was the third-best game in my years of football travels. It was Texas Tech's unbelievable 31-point comeback in the final 20 minutes of the Insight Bowl game against Minnesota. After the Gophers upped their lead to 38-7 halfway through the 3rd, the Red Raiders outscored them 37-3, including an improbable 51-yard field goal to tie the game as time expired. I had been kicking myself for several years about missing the second GMAC Bowl in Mobile back in 2001, the highest-scoring game in bowl history. In that game, Marshall wiped out a 38-8 halftime deficit against East Carolina to win 64-61 in double OT, thus establishing the all-time bowl-game record for largest deficit overcome to win. I would have been at that game if it had not conflicted with the New York holiday trip I take with my darling Sandy every year. We got back from theatre that night in time for me to watch the game's last quarter and OT's, all the while wishing secretly that I were in Mobile instead. Texas Tech's comeback let me come clean with Sandy about my 2001 regrets, and she actually apologized to me for "making" me miss such a thriller in 2001. I told her that there was no way to know in advance, and that now all I need is to see a bowl game that has a combined score of more than 125! And it looks as though we can expect more of the same in 2007. My college season begins on Thursday night, August 23rd, at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, ND, as the hometown Fighting Sioux entertain Humboldt State. That will be the first of what I hope will be a personal-best 82 college games this season, ending in New Orleans at the BCS Title Game on January 7th. But technically speaking, my football season has already begun...I am sending this column in from Canada in late July, where I've already seen the unbeaten and league-leading British Columbia Lions of the CFL outlast the winless Hamilton Tiger-Cats by a 22-18 score. I've also taken in a Canadian Juniors game, the first home contest in the history of the Kamloops Broncos, a disheartening 57-2 pasting at the hands of this year's BC Football Conference favorites, the Victoria Rebels. This season will also bring in ten more new college football programs, including eight 4-year schools and 2 playing JuCo schedules. The latter include Arkansas Baptist, which will play a schedule loaded with strong Texas JuCo teams, while Manhattan's Globe Institute of Technology will play mostly New York-area JV teams. The four-year schools, in alphabetical order, are: Birmingham-Southern(AL), Dordt College(IA), Faulkner University(AL), Kentucky Christian University, Lake Erie College(OH), Marian College(IN), North Carolina-Pembroke and Saint Vincent University(PA). I will have game stories and more details about each of these new programs as I cover them, with the final two planned to be seen against each other on October 27th, when Faulkner visits UNC-Pembroke. During the year we'll also have more news about the four new programs scheduled to kick off in 2008 and the three we know about so far due to start in 2009. Details on those programs, as well as my updated schedule, will appear in later columns, but you can go to the Football Gazette website to see my currently planned schedule, which will be updated in a few days. Happy Football!

- 30 -

One last cheer from proud dad on the sidelines

2006-11-15T14:43:00.000-06:00

Rob Kasper/Baltimore Sun
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOV 11, 2006
Today I wrap up my career as a football dad, a guy who sits in the stands on Saturdays cheering for his offspring. Our younger son, a senior at Johns Hopkins, straps on his helmet for the last time as the Blue Jays take on the McDaniel Green Terror in the final game of the year this afternoon at Homewood Field.

In some ways, the experiences of being a sideline parent are the same regardless of the sport being played. Over the years of watching my two sons play various sports, the four horsemen of emotion - pride, elation, frustration and worry - have often kept me company.

When your kid plays football, however, you have to come to grips with the fact that collisions, planned and unplanned, are central to the game. "They all go down in a pile," I recall one middle school mother saying years ago as we watched our sons play their first football game. "But as long as they all get up, I am OK."

It is a mantra I have silently repeated to myself a few times this year as my son's body disappeared from view under some 300-plus-pound opposing lineman. But my kid would emerge from the pile seemingly unscathed, sometimes getting credit for a tackle, which in the world of defensive linemen, is a prize.

Today's game is Division III football, where there are no athletic scholarships, where there are always plenty of free seats on game day, and where the members of the spirited John Hopkins Pep Band are volunteers.

It is not big-time college football, but it is big enough. The players are skilled, serious and far from tiny, a fact that was reinforced when I wandered onto the practice field a few weeks ago. There, in the deepening dusk, I looked around for my "little boy" and all I could see were square-shouldered giants. Eventually I found him. But as I was standing next to him, with the sweat pouring off him, I had a hard time believing that not so long ago, when he was a toddler, I used to carry him up three flights of stairs. Now I couldn't lift his leg.

After several highly successful seasons, the Blue Jays have struggled this fall. They need a win today to finish at 5-5. All of the games have been tight; the outcome was often determined late in the fourth quarter. This tightrope walk has made for a series of drama-filled, if sometimes disappointing, Saturday afternoons.

Beyond the wins and losses, playing college football has been good for my kid. It is hard work, requiring discipline and time management skills. Even with all the work, there is no guarantee of playing time. The level of competition is high. My son did not see much action until he was a senior. Now he is one of a series of players rotated in the middle of the defensive line.

Still he stuck with it and liked it. Many of his friends are on the team. Several of them live in a Charles Village rowhouse. They help each other out. A few weeks back when my son had a job interview, one of his housemates, tight end Kevin Smith, lent him a suit. When my son wanted to move a large box spring and mattress up several flights of stairs, Chris Whitehorn, another defensive lineman who has been knocked out of football action with knee problems, lent my son his truck and a hand with the move.

In the academically demanding and sometimes-frosty environment of college, the football boys have found fellowship. High school rivalries, which loom large in Baltimore, lose much of their edge in college. For instance, back when my son was playing high school ball for St. Paul's, wide receiver Anthony Triplin was playing for Gilman and was regarded as "the enemy." But in college, the two have become teammates and friends.

After looking at colleges up and down the East Coast and spending his freshman year at Dickinson in Carlisle, Pa., my kid ended up at a campus so close to our home that I sometimes ride a bike to the home games. Parents of other players, however, travel considerable distances. Brian Cook's family is one of many clans that drive down from Pennsylvania, Zach Rupert's parents fly in from Ohio, Anthony Woodard's dad motors in from Virginia. It's what football dads, and some moms, do on game day.

My wife is not a fervent football fan. Last weekend, for instance, she worked a crossword puzzle while sitting next to me as Hopkins beat Hampden-Sydney. She was concentrating so hard on completing the puzzle, the difficult Saturday New York Times version, that she missed Mark Nesbitt's game-clinching touchdown. She did ride along with me in mid-October to Gettysburg, Pa. For her, the highlight of that outing was the halftime performance by the Gettysburg College marching band.

For me, the Gettysburg game was frustrating. In the fourth quarter, the Blue Jays were moving toward the end zone and it looked as if they were either going to score a touchdown or rely on kicker Ben Scott's foot to knock through yet another field goal. But there was a fumble, Gettysburg pounced on it and to its credit marched down the field and put the game away.

I was bummed. But I often take the outcome of a game too seriously. It is, after all, an extracurricular activity, a part of the college experience, a pleasant way to spend an autumn afternoon.

James and Will Margraff seem to have the right perspective. They are the young sons of the Hopkins head football coach. At every game, they get their hands on a football and play catch. At halftime of the Gettysburg game, for instance, their mom, Alice, was throwing them passes. Those boys and their dad have a lot of football adventures ahead of them. But for me and the other parents of senior players, today is our last chance to hurrah. (Editor's Note: Johns Hopkins defeated McDaniel, 48-7) rob.kasper@baltsun.com

Colleges benefit from student athletes

2006-10-20T11:07:00.000-05:00

President's Message

10/20/2006

In high school I was a confirmed pencil neck. At 6 feet 2, I was more than painfully thin and called "Stretch" by a few friends. Naturally, I was picked on by the usual group of males, some of whom were athletes and all of whom were much stronger than me. By the time I was in college, I had developed a healthy skepticism of everything athletic, if not a downright bias.

Once I completed a graduate degree, I took my first teaching job at small university in the Midwest and started teaching college students. Much to my surprise, I grudgingly found that some of my best students were also athletes. They attended class regularly, asked me to sign progress reports for their coaches, and were mostly A to B students. There were a few bad apples, but I found young men and women athletes generally more motivated and engaged in their education. They tended to graduate at a higher rate than their non-athlete peers.

After a few years, it became clear to me that I needed to pursue a Ph.D. if I wanted to continue to teach at the university level. I requested a leave of absence and was fortunate to land a fellowship at Northwestern University. My assignments included teaching some introductory courses in communication theory and serving as a teaching assistant and grader for a senior professor. During my two years at N.U., I encountered many student athletes and was again impressed at their level of academic engagement. One of the finest final essays I read in an advanced argumentation course - which included some very tough readings - was written by a starting offensive lineman for the Northwestern football team (who later became an M.D.). Although in those days the N.U. football team was locked in the throes of one of the longest losing streaks in Division I history, many of those players were fine students who went on to succeed in life, in spite of losing seasons.

After Northwestern I taught at two other institutions - one a large state institution, the other a small college in the South. My experience continued to be that, for the most part, college athletes persisted and succeeded more than students not engaged in athletics. But it was only after my arrival at Adams State College that I fully came to understand the importance of athletics on a small college campus.

Adams State has a tradition of excellence in intercollegiate athletics. A recent athletic Hall of Fame banquet drew one of the largest audiences I have seen at ASC outside of spring graduation. The inductees represented nearly every generation of ASC students since the 1950s, when ASC athletic programs grew as enrollments increased. But what most impressed me is that the inductees, to a person, cited their professors as the individuals who made a difference in the lives. Certainly, coaches like Dr. Joe Vigil and Dick Drangmeister and "Doc" Cotton provided inspiration and were role models for these athletes. But athletics was the vehicle that allowed them to experience their wonderful professors and attain the college education that transformed their lives. Over the years, only a handful of ASC athletes have "gone pro." But thousands of ASC athletic graduates have gone on to lead successful lives and careers.

Student athletes account for nearly 25 percent of Adams State's on-campus undergraduate enrollment. Last year, 372 ASC students engaged in at least one of our intercollegiate sports teams. We currently have 14 athletic programs, 6 men's and 8 women's. Like their predecessors, most of these young people are only able to pursue a college degree because of an athletic scholarship.
When I look at the academic success rates of our athletes and compare them to other ASC students, I am again impressed. Athletes have nearly double the graduation rate of non-athletes, and in some years, particular sports boast a 100 percent graduation rate.

Of course, athletes do more than play ball, or run, or whatever. It is important for other former pencil necks like me to understand that these 372 young people are also biology majors, history majors, art majors, English majors, etc. Almost every measure of academic success shows athletes as a group succeeding at a higher rate than non-athletes.

NCAA Division II statistics show that an athlete brings at least one additional student with them when they choose an institution. It's clear that athletes have a big impact on enrollment.

Adams State College owes a significant thanks to former and current ASC athletes who have started their "Great Story" at ASC and helped to make the campus a vibrant and interesting place for all of us. Even reformed "pencil necks."

Webmaster's Note: This column, written by ASC President, Dr. David Svaldi, appeared in Friday's Valley Courier.

Visit ASCGrizzlies.com for the latest news and info on Adams State College Athletics.

Record-setting Antwan Harris – Mount Ida College Football Captain

2006-10-17T19:41:00.000-05:00

Contact: Mike Raposo
Sports Information Director
( 617) 928-7202

Antwan Harris – Mount Ida College Football Captain

NEWTON, Mass. (Oct. 17, 2006) – Every time he bursts for another gain on the football field, Mount Ida College senior running back Antwan Harris of Hartford, Conn. adds to his school rushing record. At mid-season, Harris was on track to become just the ninth Division III college player in New England to gain at least 4,000 yards.

But it is the strides he has made off the field that have transformed Harris from an initially uninvolved freshman just trying to adapt to a new position on the football team into the consummate student-athlete, an individual who strives to make the most of his potential.

``Antwan is an exceptional young man who takes pride in everything he does,’’ said Mount Ida head football coach Ed Sweeney. ``Antwan’s work ethic is what sets him apart. He embraces challenge both in the classroom and on the field. He cares about his teammates and works extremely hard not to let them down. I have coached for 36 years and Antwan prepares himself on a daily basis as thoroughly as any player I have ever been around.’’

A defensive end/lineman in high school, Harris didn’t mind hitting and getting hit in that role. But he relished the opportunity to carry the football once Sweeney and his staff converted him to offense early in his freshman season. Now, as the team’s premier ball-carrier, he prides himself as being as fresh in the final quarter and he was in the first.

``It’s not the records that are important,’’ said Harris, ``it’s how you leave your mark on the game through your presence and the key plays you make. Numbers don’t describe character. Pushing myself to the limit is a big part of me.’’

Harris’ efforts to improve on and off the field were in evidence last summer when he stayed on campus and put himself through a grueling self-designed training program to improve his conditioning and quickness. He also met weekly with Mount Ida professor Ronald Greenwald to hone his language and communication skills.

``I’d like to go for a Masters Degree once football is over for me,’’ said Harris, who was captain of the football and indoor and outdoor track teams at Weaver High School in Hartford, Conn. and who has a special interest in history and American Studies. A student-teacher at West Roxbury High School, Harris would like to be a teacher-coach someday and he has invited some of the West Roxbury students and staff to attend Mount Ida’s home football games.

``It’s a lot of fun listening to what high school students have on their minds,’’ said Harris.

Aside from delivering on the football field, Harris works five days a week in the mail room delivering packages. He is also vice president of the Black Student Achievement Coalition, is active on the Student Government Committee and is a member of the college’s Learning Circle Program that provides resources and services through academic coaches.

``I take the same approach whether it’s for football or school work – that prior preparation is crucial,’’ said Harris, the first 3,000 yard rusher in Mount Ida football history whose 377 yards against Becker College in the 2005 season set a New England Division III single game record and were the most yards gained in a single game the entire season by any player in the nation.

This season, his 243 rushing yards versus Becker ranked second amongst DIII players for a single game at the time, a feat that earned Harris recognition on the D3Football.com Team of the Week and selection to the Football Gazette’s National Player of the Week list for his division.

In addition, Harris’ 99-yard touchdown run at the Norwich Academy tied an NCAA record and his 31-yard scoring rush late in the Homecoming Day Game on September 30 enabled the Mustangs to come back and defeat Husson College, the tenth-ranked team in New England.

``He’s everything you could want in a football player,’’ said Mount Ida athletic director Jackie Palmer, ``and as a citizen of the Mount Ida community. Wherever he goes on campus, Antwan Harris is a contributor.’’

Antwan Harris Career Highlights

*676 yards and 5 TD’s on 129 carries in 2006

*First 3,000 yard rusher in Mount Ida College football program history

*3,875 career rushing yards – 12th best in New England Division III history

(Note: There are only eight players in the history of New England DIII with 4,000 career rushing yards)

*Rushed for 377 yards versus Becker College on September 24, 2005

-Most in the history of New England Division III

-Most in all of NCAA Division III in 2005

-10th Most in the history of Division III

-25th Most in history of NCAA (all divisions)

-Boston Globe Gold Helmet Award Winner

-ECAC Northeast Offensive Player of the Week

-D3Football.com Team of the Week

*Rushed for 243 yards versus Becker College on September 23, 2006

-2nd Most in all of NCAA Division III this season

- D3Football.com Team of the Week

-Don Hansen’s Football Gazette Players of the Week

*Broke off a 99-yard touchdown run at Norwich University on September 2, 2006

-Best in NCAA Division III history

*1,370 rushing yards in 2005 were 23rd best single-season total in New England Division III History

*2005 Final NCAA Rankings

-178.6 all purpose yards per game ranked fifth nationally

-137.0 rushing yards per contest were tenth best

*1,128 rushing yards in 2004 were 69th best single-season total in New England Division III history.

*2004 Final NCAA Rankings

-146.6 all purpose yards per game ranked 37th nationally

-141.0 rushing yards per contest were 15th best

-8.5 points per game were 35th best

Mike Raposo
Sports Information Director/Assistant Athletic Director
Mount Ida College
777 Dedham Street
Newton, MA 02459
Phone: 617-928-7202
FAX: 617-928-7299

News and Notes From Around College Football

2006-10-17T00:41:00.000-05:00

Monday’s Chalktalk

for October 16, 2006

Four On-Campus Salutes Slated for This Weekend

Coach Bobby Bowden, Thomas Everett, Mike Rozier and Charlie Ward will celebrate their 2006 induction into the College Football Hall of Fame with an On-Campus Salute this Saturday, Oct. 21.

Coach Bowden and his former quarterback Charlie Ward will be honored together this Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium on the FSU campus. Bowden, the winningest I-A coach in history, has led the ‘Noles to 12 ACC conference championships and two national titles. Ward, perhaps the most highly decorated player of all-time, set seven ACC records and 19 school records en route to winning the 1993 Heisman Trophy.

Baylor will honor its 1986 Jim Thorpe Award recipient, Thomas Everett, during the Bears’ Homecoming game against Kansas. Everett was a two-time Southwest Conference MVP and ranks in the top 10 for several Baylor records, including interceptions, tackles, punt returns and punt return yardage.

Nebraska’s Mike Rozier returns to Norman on Saturday as the Huskers take on conference rival Texas. Rozier won the 1983 Heisman Trophy and led Nebraska to a perfect 21-0 conference record. He ranks fifth in NCAA history in single-season rushing yardage.

Two-Minute Drill

Tulsa's 5-1 start is the team’s best since 1982... Williams (Mass.) received its eighth consecutive Division III U.S. Sports Academy Directors Cup for overall excellence on Saturday during halftime of their game against Middlebury (Vt.). The football team moved to 4-0 Saturday... Wisconsin won “Paul Bunyan’s Axe” with its win over Minnesota... Louisville is 6-0 for the first time since 1972 when Lee Corso was the coach. Corso and the rest of the College GameDay crew will be honored with the NFF’s Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football award, Dec. 5 in New York City... Pittsburg State RB Germaine Race (school-record 6,011 yards – ninth in NCAA Division II history) set an NCAA Division II career scoring record with 580 points... Of the top five NCAA Division I-A teams in total blocked kicks since the 2000 season, two are from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The five best at blocked kicks over the last seven seasons include Texas (46), N.C. State (41), Virginia Tech (36), Air Force (31), and Syracuse (30)... Pittsburgh (6-1) is off to their best start since 1982... West Texas A&M claimed the coveted Wagon Wheel Trophy with their win over Eastern New Mexico... Virginia Tech is now 12-2 on Thursday nights after losing to Boston College... Miami’s win over Florida International featured Hurricane defensive coordinator Randy Shannon coaching against his son, FIU center Xavier Shannon... Alabama wore commemorative jerseys versus Ole Miss to honor the 25th anniversary of Hall of Fame coach Bear Bryant’s 315th win and his final SEC championship team... Nebraska won their 800th game on Saturday, joining Michigan, Notre Dame and Texas... Rutgers, now 6-0, is ranked in the top 20 for the first time since 1977.

Minnesota will launch a grassroots fundraising program this spring to help raise the school's portion of the cost for its new football stadium. The campaign will include the sale of personalized bricks for the stadium. The school has already raised nearly half of the necessary funding... Western Kentucky's Smith Stadium is currently undergoing a $37 million renovation which will increase capacity form 17,500 to 24,000 by March 2008... Appalachian State is considering an expansion of its 18,000-seat Kidd- Brewer Stadium. The Mountaineers are averaging a standing-room-only 24,927, highest in Division I-AA... The official website for UCF now offers a web-cam that allows fans to follow the progress of the construction of the Knights’ new stadium on-line.

Texas-San Antonio has begun an aggressive marketing campaign in hopes of adding a football program to the university... The Buc Football and Friends Foundation has been established to support the reinstatement of college football at East Tennessee State University.

Penn State football will be part of the breaking news feature that sports fans will be able to receive via the Philadelphia Inquirer's recently launched information service for mobile phones... Ohio State's scarlet and gray colors are The Home Depot's No. 1 selling collegiate paint scheme in its Team Colors Program. Forty- four schools are involved in the program, and the rest of Top Five includes: Georgia, Michigan, Florida, and Notre Dame... First-year Bethany College (W.Va.) head coach Tim Weaver and three of his student-athletes recently traveled to a nearby preschool recently to kick off their new “Boomer and Books” program... The Western Athletic Conference recently unveiled a 479-page document entitled Strategic Plan 2006, outlining the conference's plan to become a premiere Division I-A conference... Arizona State just hosted the Fitbones Festival to raise funds and in recognition of the Arizona Osteoporosis Coalition... Georgia Tech athletics director Dan Radakovich was the guest speaker at a recent Columbus (Ga.) Quarterback Club gathering... Oklahoma and Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer will deliver the keynote address at the upcoming Inside Self- Storage Las Vegas Expo at the Mandalay Bay Resort on February 21, 2007... Michigan State placekicker Morton Anderson became the second-oldest player in NFL history when the Atlanta Falcons signed him for the remainder of the season... Former Tennessee QB Heath Shuler, a Heisman Trophy runner-up in 1993, is running as a Democrat for North Carolina's 11th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives... Princeton announced that it will be working with Nike on a collaborative sponsorship effort to outfit all of the Tigers varsity sports... South Carolina will have a pep rally in Nashville’s entertainment district the night prior to the Gamecocks’ game versus Vanderbilt this weekend... New England Patriot head coach Bill Belichick moved his family’s historic football book collection to Navy’s Ricketts Hall. Bill’s late father Steve was part of the Naval Academy family for 33 years as an assistant football coach and associate professor in the P.E. Department... Pittsburgh and Duquesne Light are asking fans to donate a bag of groceries to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. In return, contributors will receive $10 off their ticket for the Panthers game versus Rutgers on Saturday... East Carolina has announced the Tickets for Troops campaign which encourages fans to purchase specially priced tickets to be donated directly to active service members and their families.

2006 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Anderson was inducted into the Colorado University Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, alongside former sports information director Fred “The Count” Casotti, former CU coach Bill McCartney and former Buff athletics director Bill Marolt. CU painted the number “11” on the field, and commemorative postcards with Anderson’s picture and stats were also passed out to fans. A parade was also held in his honor.

College Football Hall of Famer and former Nebraska NG Rich Glover was inducted into the Jersey City Recreation Foundation Hall of Fame... Washington LB Dan Howell is the latest nominee for the FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award to be announced at the end of the 2006 season... Louisville Vice President and Director of Athletics Tom Jurich was inducted into the Kentucky Hall of Fame... Former Baylor All-America quarterback Don Trull was named to his school's Hall of Fame recently. Trull, who also was a quarterback for the Houston Oilers, is on the Board of Directors for the NFF Touchdown Club of Houston Chapter... The Davey O'Brien Foundation has named football great and College Hall of Fame member Paul Hornung of Notre Dame as the recipient of its 2006 Davey O’Brien Legends Award.

The Orange Bowl named Jeff Purinton director of media relations and communications... The Columbus Destoyers of the Arena Football League named former Ohio State lineman Jim Lachey senior vice president of football operations.

The 26th Annual Orlando Citrus Parade presented by Delta Air Lines will be held on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2006, at 11 a.m. (EST) in downtown Orlando and will be seen on syndicated television in 149 markets... The Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Bowl announced that former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan will coach the National squad in the inaugural game set to take place Feb. 2 in El Paso, Texas. UTEP coach Mike Price will lead the Texas squad. Ryan is 1-1 as a head coach in college all-star games, leading Team USA's efforts in the 2000-01 Gridiron Classics in Orlando. The bowl also announced that CSTV will provide live television coverage... The Hula Bowl announced that Georgia’s Mark Richt will be one of four co-head coaches for the Jan. 14 game in Honolulu. He joins West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez, Houston’s Art Briles, and Fresno State’s Pat Hill... Don Shula and Dan Reeves were named head coaches for the 2007 East-West Shrine Game Jan. 20 in Houston, Texas.

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) recently announced a new marketing agreement with Host Communications Inc. of Lexington, Ky. that will allow Host to expand and manage the NFF’s corporate sponsorship program... Fox College Sports signed a one year agreement with the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to carry games on a tape- delayed basis this season... Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis recently appeared on ESPN2’s “Quite Frankly” with Stephen A. Smith... “Tillman’s Final Mission,” the story of the Pat Tillman tragedy as told by soldiers who were there, aired for the first time on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” Sunday, Oct 15. Tillman will be honored posthumously with the NFF’s Distinguished American award, Dec. 5 in New York City... A recent Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal poll found that most people would rather see a game at Notre Dame Stadium over Lambeau Field in Green Bay... AT&T plans to announce that it will carry the Big Ten Channel when it launches its U- Verse Digital Video Service next August... The Boston Globe has begun a new feature called "One Fall Day,” which captures the scene and pageantry around college football at nationwide venues. Last week’s offerings were at Georgia, Howard, Abilene Christian, Williams, and San Mateo College. For additional coverage, please visit www.Boston.com.

The new book Career in Crisis: Paul "Bear" Bryant and the 1971 Season of Change by John David Briley delves into Alabama’s switch to the Wishbone offense, social change and the rejuvenation of the UA program... The Missing Ring by Keith Dunnavant covers the close race for the 1966 mythical national championship, the Crimson Tide’s near-miss for the college crown and the social climate of the mid-1960s in America... Author Gene Duffey has released 60 Years of the Outland Trophy, a 320-page book covering the winners of the coveted lineman trophy back to 1946.

The NFF announced that Jonathan Jackson, a senior RB-DB at Dunbar Vocational Academy in Chicago, Ill., has been selected as the September Student-Athlete of the Month for Play It Smart - the NFF’s highly successful mentoring program targeted at student-athletes in underserved communities. Jackson was selected from the more than 12,000 participants and 20 finalists from across the country.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl served as honorary co-captains for Washington & Jefferson's homecoming game versus Westminster. Goodell was recruited to play defensive back for the Presidents but suffered a knee injury before his freshman year. Ravenstahl, 26, was the Presidents' starting placekicker for three years and still holds school records for career field goals and consecutive extra points made.

Former Arizona State athletics director Donn Kinzie has died... Former Purdue athletics director George King passed away at age 78... Former McNeese State All-American running back Darrell Lester passed away at age 65... Sam Mrvos, a former Georgia football player and coach, died at age 76.

Bevo XIII, mascot for the Texas Longhorns for a school-record 16 seasons, died Oct. 11 at an Austin ranch. He was 22.

With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy presented by HealthSouth and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, the NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College (Mass.), the NFL-NFF Coaching Academy, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes.

For more information, please visit us on the web at www.foot ballfoundation.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

phone: 973-829-1933
web: http://www.footballfoundation.com/

This Week in College Football History: Oct. 2 - Oct. 8

2006-10-04T02:54:00.000-05:00

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, Inc.

http://www.footballfoundation.com/news.php?id=962

MORRISTOWN, N.J., Sept. 26, 2006 – As part of an on-going series throughout the fall, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame circulates in advance This Week in College Football History, which takes a look back at some of college football’s landmark moments over the last 138 years. During the season, many of these events are featured in a changing exhibit at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.

*If you choose to use this content in whole or in part, as a courtesy, please credit The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.

Featured Moment:

October 4, 1997: Kentucky beats Alabama 40-34 in overtime, defeating the Crimson Tide for first time in 75 years (2-31-1).

Bama’s 30-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter sent the game into overtime, tying the game at 34. But, a Tide fumble in OT forced a change in possession, and UK scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass for the game-winner. Kentucky QB Tim Couch passed for 355 yards and four touchdowns en route to the overtime victory.

Other Notable Dates:

October 2, 1970: A chartered plane carrying the Wichita State football team to a game at Utah State crashes in Clear Creek Canyon, Colo., killing 31 of the 40 people on board. Another chartered Martin 404 arrives safely in Logan, Utah.

October 3, 1998: Texas RB Ricky Williams states his case for the Heisman Trophy with a school-record 350 net rushing yards on 37 attempts in the Longhorns’ 54-33 victory over Iowa State in Austin.

October 5, 1968: Arkansas’ Bill Burnett starts a 23-game scoring streak in a 17-7 victory over TCU. The streak ends on Oct. 31, 1970, a record that stood for 32 years.

October 5, 1985: Legendary Grambling head football coach and 1997 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Robinson surpasses fellow Hall of Famer Paul “Bear” Bryant’s career win mark (324) with a 27-7 win over Prairie View A&M.

October 6, 1923: 1951 College Football Hall of Famer Red Grange of Illinois debuts against Nebraska and rushes for touchdowns of 50, 35, and 12 yards.

October 7, 1916: Georgia Tech wins by the largest margin in college football history, beating Cumberland 222-0 in Atlanta.

October 8, 1955: Oklahoma becomes the first team in 282 games to shut out Texas, defeating the Longhorns 12-0 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

ABOUT The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame

With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy, presented by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, the NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College (Mass.), the NFL-NFF Coaching Academy, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.

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NFF Contacts:

Phil Marwill, director of communications

1-800-486-1865, ext. 118

Hillary Jeffries, special projects assistant

1-800-486-1865, ext. 123

Bo Carter, correspondent

Mobile: 214-418-6132

This Week in College Football History: Oct. 9 - Oct. 15

2006-10-04T01:37:00.000-05:00

MORRISTOWN, N.J., Oct. 3, 2006 – As part of an on-going series throughout the fall, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame circulates in advance This Week in College Football History, which takes a look back at some of college football’s landmark moments over the last 138 years. During the season, many of these events are featured in a changing exhibit at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.

*If you choose to use this content in whole or in part, as a courtesy, please credit The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.

Featured Moment:

October 14, 1950: The late Francis “Reds” Bagnell, longtime National Football Foundation benefactor and College Hall of Fame member, rushes for 214 yards and passes for 276 yards for a then-national-record 490 yards of total offense in a 42-26 Penn victory over Dartmouth.

Bagnell, who was recipient of the 1950 Maxwell Trophy, was listed as a 160-pound tailback and was eulogized in the U.S. Senate for his contributions to society and sports after his death in 1995. He still is listed in several categories in the Quakers’ record book – 56 years after his illustrious college career ended in ’50.

Other Notable Dates:

October 9, 1943: In the first- ever meeting of Associated Press poll Nos. 1 and 2-ranked teams, No. 1 Notre Dame outlasts Michigan 35-12 in Ann Arbor. The AP national polls began in 1936, and the United Press International coaches’ polls started in 1950.

October 9, 2004: California QB Aaron Rodgers ties an NCAA record with 23 straight completions in a 23- 17 loss to eventual national champion USC.

October 11, 1984: Mark Ryahcych of Concord (W.Va.) intercepted 10 passes against Shepherd (W.Va.), a record among all divisions.

October 11, 1997: LSU upsets four-time defending SEC champion Florida 28-21 in Baton Rouge. The Tigers snap the Gators’ 25-game SEC win streak.

October 12, 1968: Missouri sets an NCAA record with 99 rushing attempts in a 27-14 victory over Colorado. The Tigers rush for 421 yards, turning back the Buffaloes led by 2006 Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Anderson.

October 14, 1889: Christy Mathewson of Bucknell kicked a field goal (worth five points at the time) from 40 yards to help the Bison edge Lehigh 5-0. Mathewson later won 373 games in 17 seasons (1900- 16) with baseball’s New York Giants and Cincinnati Reds.

October 15, 1960: Baylor defeats Texas Tech 14-7 in the Red Raiders first-ever Southwest Conference home game.

Click here to download the PDF and view the photo

With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy presented by HealthSouth and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, the NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College (Mass.), the NFL-NFF Coaching Academy, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes.

For more information, please visit us on the web at www.foot ballfoundation.com

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Herb Jeffries
phone: 973-829-1933
web: http://www.footballfoundation.com/ NFF Contacts:

Phil Marwill, director of communications
1-800-486-1865, ext. 118

Hillary Jeffries, special projects assistant
1-800-486-1865, ext. 123

Bo Carter, correspondent

EAST COAST BOWL 2006

2006-09-21T06:11:00.000-05:00

Petersburg, VA - The East Coast Bowl game is an annual small college All-Star football game that is played the first Saturday following Thanksgiving in Petersburg, VA. East Coast Bowl VI will be played this year on November 25, 2006 at Historic Cameron Field with kickoff scheduled to be around 12:00 noon.

The East Coast Bowl game has quickly become the Thanksgiving tradition in Petersburg. The game last year, won by the South 27-14, featured top seniors from 22 different states. The East Coast Bowl Committee will gather more than 250 nominations for this year’s game, which will be narrowed down to the top 70 Division I-AA, II, III and NAIA athletes. Players will report to Petersburg the day before Thanksgiving and spend the holiday with community members that are less fortunate, including visits to community centers, convalescent homes, and children’s hospitals. The game itself is set-up as a scholarship event, with all of the revenue generated going into a fund for a local high school senior who plans on attending a Division I-AA, II or III college.

We look to build on that success and make this year’s event more memorable. The East Coast Bowl committee would like to invite all Virginia High School Football teams to the game free of charge. To get tickets in advance or free tickets for football teams please email EastCoastBowl@aol.com or go to www.petersburgsports.com for more information.

News and Notes From Around College Football for September 18, 2006

2006-09-21T06:06:00.000-05:00

National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, Inc.

Monday’s Chalktalk

http://www.footballfoundation.com/news.php?id=948

First On-Campus Salute for Class of 2006 Announced

Former Jackson State All-American defensive back Kevin Dent will be honored this Saturday by the National Football Foundation for his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame this past summer. The On-Campus Salute will take place at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson prior to the Tigers’ game versus Mississippi Valley State. Dent was enshrined August 13 in South Bend, Ind., at the NFF's College Football Hall of Fame. The three-time All-American will be the first member of 2006 class to have his On-Campus Salute.

Two-Minute Drill

Indiana head coach Terry Heoppner is “resting comfortably” after brain surgery on Sept. 13, according to the Indiana University website… TCU ran the nation’s longest winning streak to 13 games after defeating Texas Tech on Saturday. TCU QB Jeff Ballard is now 11-0 as a starter, breaking the record for wins to start a career set by College Football Hall of Fame member Davey O'Brien … USC’s Pac-10 record home winning streak now stands at 28 games. USC has scored 20 points or more in 54 straight games. Play It Smart graduate Dwayne Jarrett became USC's career touchdown receptions leader with 31… Oregon is 24-1 in non-conference home games under head coach Mike Bellotti. The Ducks are 5-0 at home versus Top 25 non-conference opponents under Bellotti… North Texas WR Johnny Quinn has caught a pass in 39 straight games… Boston College's Tom O'Brien became the school's all-time leader in wins with 69... Georgia has posted back-back shut-outs for the first time since 1980. That year, Hall of Fame coach Vince Dooley led the Bulldogs to the national title… Southern Illinois became the fifth I-AA school to knock off a I-A school, beating Indiana last Saturday… Tulane recorded its first road win over an SEC opponent since 1989… Florida coach Urban Meyer is the first Gator coach since Galen Hall in 1984-85 to record back-back wins over Tennessee in his first two tries… Auburn's 7-3 win over LSU was the lowest scoring game at Jordan-Hare Stadium since 1973… The Ivy League kicked off its 50th season last Saturday… Michigan was named Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week… Rutgers is 3-0 for first time since 1981… Wake Forest is 3-0 for first time since 1987… Florida QB Chris Leak became Florida's career yardage leader, surpassing the record established by former Draddy Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel… Iowa LB Mike Klinkenborg (eight tackles) was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation Defensive Player of the Week after leading UI past Iowa State… Alabama starting QB John Parker Wilson’s younger brother, senior QB Ross Wilson of Hoover (Ala.) HS near Birmingham, has been featured on MTV’s “Two-A-Days” documentary as well as the cover of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED… Northwestern State won their 100th game in 31 seasons at Turpin Stadium, defeating Delaware State.

Army coaches and staff members visited the Brooke Army Medical Center and three elementary schools in advance of Saturday's game versus Texas A&M in San Antonio, and the city was treated to a 90-minute parade downtown featuring the bands from both schools and more than 2,000 West Point and Texas A&M cadets. Five hundred tickets were distributed to local service members, with 100 earmarked for burn victims at Brooke Army Medical Center. Six hundred Army cadets made the trip to San Antonio for the game with Texas A&M, half of them were quartered at Lackland AFB, with the other half on their own.

West Virginia might have the most comprehensive walk-on program in the nation: there are 34 non-scholarship youngsters on the 2006 roster, and 26 walk-on student-athletes have been awarded grants-in-aid since 2001… USF is negotiating a home-and-home deal with Illinois… Colorado has agreed to home-and-home series with LSU, Oregon and Utah… Freshman Ray Ray McElrathbey of Clemson was granted a waiver by NCAA to receive assistance from the school in order to take care of his youngest brother, whom he has temporary custody… NCAA President Myles Brand announced an ultimate goal of 80 percent annual graduation rates for all student-athletes after an improvement from 62 to 76 percent in NCAA Division I from 2004-05 to 2005-06… Tennessee’s Volunteer Athletics and Scholarship Fund (VSAF) had a record $13.86 million in donations for the 2006 fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, from over 10,000 contributors… Former letterman and current Shaw University president Clarence Newsome joined Duke athletic administrators and former Blue Devils in a closed door pep talk to Duke athletic teams… Oregon has 384 game-day uniform choices according to an article in USA Today. The Ducks can choose from the following: four colors of jerseys and pants, two helmet options, four colors of socks and two colors of shoes.

Lafayette debuted Fisher Field at Fisher Stadium against Penn… Duke is designing architectural plans for a structural upgrade of Wallace Wade Stadium, including additional restrooms, concession stands and cosmetic improvements… Atlanta-based Gameday Centers announced that they will build a 212 suite luxury complex near the campus of the University of Tennessee… Miami City Commission has selected HNTB and Bermello Ajamil & Partners to provide architectural and engineering services and specifications to redevelop the Orange Bowl.

The 1982 and ’83 Air Force football teams, coached by Ken Hatfield, will be honored at the seventh annual Colorado Springs World Arena Hall of Fame ceremonies on Oct. 25… Former North Carolina coach Bill Dooley’s 1971 Atlantic Coast Conference championship team was honored on its 35th anniversary during the UNC-Furman contest… 1990-93 Memphis teammates Danton Barto and Russell Copeland were inducted into the University of Memphis M Club Hall of Fame… Finalists for the President Gerald R. Ford Legends of Center Award have been named by the Dave Rimington Trophy Committee. They are Bob Johnson of Michigan State, NFF board member and Hall of Famer Alex Kroll of Rutgers, Jim Otto of Miami (Fla.) and 1998 Hall of Famer Jim Richter of N.C. State… The University of South Carolina Hall of Fame inducted Gamecock greats TE Willie Scott and QB Steve Taneyhill on September 14… Play It Smart National Advisory Committee chairman and Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott taught a class and spoke to the football team at Northern Illinois last Thursday… Former Arkansas Razorback and current Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was on hand for the dedication of the Gene and Jerry Jones Family Stadium at the Episcopal School of Dallas last Friday. A donation from the Jones Family helped fund the project.

The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year winner will be decided through online voting as well as judging by a selection committee composed of College Football Hall of Fame players and coaches, media and Liberty Mutual representatives. The winner will be announced during a one-hour ABC special on Dec. 16, hosted by Keith Jackson… Former Colorado head coach Gary Barnett has joined Sports USA Radio Network as a commentator for pro and college games… Wheaties announced that three special edition packages out this week will feature Georgia, Michigan and Notre Dame… The Ohio State-Texas game drew an 8.2 rating, the highest-rated regular season college football game since 2000… Former Iowa State, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M and Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill will speak to the Tallahassee Quarterback Club on Tuesday night.
The Ray Guy Award, sponsored by the Touchdown Club of Augusta, has released its latest watch list of 31 candidates… Dell Computer Corp. will sponsor the 2007 Dell East-West Shrine Game at Houston’s Reliant Stadium… Fresno State head football coach Pat Hill was selected to coach in this year’s Hula Bowl… The Gator Bowl Association and Southeast Toyota Distributors, Inc., have extended Toyota’s sponsorship through the 2007 postseason game… Fans can cast votes online (capitalonebowl.com) for the Capital One National Mascot of the Year by selecting one of the 12 featured in the 5th Annual Capital One All-America Mascot Team.

The NCAA promoted Damani Leech to director of football issues…Syracuse promoted Scott Sidwell to senior associate athletics director for development…Travis Furbee was named assistant athletics director of ticket operations at Clemson… Montana hired Jared Nessland as its director of athletic performance… Western Carolina head coach Kent Briggs was given a three year contract extension…The University of Alabama extended the contract and increased the salary of athletics director Mal Moore… Collie Nicholson, the legendary former sports information director at Grambling died last Wednesday. He was 82.

With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy presented by HealthSouth and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, the NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College (Mass.), the NFL-NFF Coaching Academy, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. For more information, please visit www.footballfoundation.org

- NFF -

Contacts:

Phil Marwill, director of communications

1-800-486-1865, ext. 118

Hillary Jeffries, special projects assistant

1-800-486-1865, ext. 123

Bo Carter, correspondent

Peterson to Be Recognized at Halftime of Football Game

2006-09-14T13:34:00.000-05:00

Senior to Be Honored for Act of Heroism

ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley College football team member Jake Peterson (Birdsboro, Pa./Daniel Boone), who helped save the life of a young child earlier this summer, will be recognized for his act of heroism at halftime of Saturday’s home game versus Juniata.

In July, Peterson, a senior safety for the Dutchmen, and his sister, Allison, were working as lifeguards at a pool when 6-year-old Seth Boyce went under the surface. He was removed from the pool by other swimmers, but had stopped breathing after water had filled his lungs. But after Jake and Allison administered CPR, Boyce began breathing on his own.

Boyce and his mother, Jennifer, will join Jake and Allison for the halftime ceremony.

Saturday’s game is a 1 p.m. kickoff.

Peterson to Be Recognized at Halftime of Football Game

2006-09-14T13:33:00.000-05:00

News and Notes From Around College Football for September 11, 2006

2006-09-14T12:32:00.000-05:00

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame News Release www.footballfoundation.com Monday’s Chalktalk

Bowden Bowl VIII

The Bowden Bowl between Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden, a 2006 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, and his son, Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden, is set for its eighth bout this Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla.
The eighth meeting between father and son - the first series of its type in Division I-A football history between a patriarch and his offspring - finds the elder Bowden with a 5-2 edge. Bobby Bowden currently touts a 288-75-4 record in his 31st season at FSU and 361-107-4 overall record during his 41st college campaign, which also includes stints at Samford (then Howard
College) and West Virginia before his tenure began at FSU in 1976. Tommy Bowden has amassed a 71-38 record as of his 10th year as a head coach after starting at Tulane before arriving at Clemson. The first game between the father-son duo also was the closest - a 17-14 win by the ‘Noles at Clemson in 1999. At least one of the two teams has been ranked nationally in each of the eight Bowden Bowls, including the No. 10 ranked 2006 Seminoles.

Aftermath of Ohio State-Texas Battle for No. 1

Ohio State is now 3-0 in No.1 versus No. 2 match-ups…The Buckeyes win gives No. 1 ranked teams a 22-13-2 all-time record in No 1 vs. No. 2 match-ups…A number of Texas streaks ended on Saturday night, including their 21 game winning streak, 16 game home-win streak, Mack Brown’ s 72 game win streak when the Longhorns out rush their opponent, and defensive coordinator Gene Chizik’s personal 29-game win streak…The game drew a Memorial Stadium record crowd of 89,422…Among the celebrities in attendance were Lance Armstrong,
2006 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Emmitt Smith, Lebron James, former Buckeye great Eddie George, and actors Matthew McConaghey and Jake Gyllenhaal. Armstrong participated in pre-game ceremonies, acting as an honorary captain during the coin toss…Ohio State LB James Laurinaitis is the son of Joseph Laurinaitis, better known as professional wrestler “Animal,”
one-half of the “Road Warriors” legendary tag team… United States Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, owes fellow Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, Blue Bell ice cream after losing a friendly wager on the outcome of Saturday night’s game… The Buckeyes are the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week…Ohio State’s win ties them with West Virginia for the nation’s second longest winning streak at nine. The nation’s longest streak belongs to TCU with 12 wins a row.

Two-Minute Drill

Erk Russell, who led Georgia's "Junkyard Dawg" defense under Vince Dooley and then built a small-college powerhouse of his own at Georgia Southern, died Sept. 8, in Statesboro, Ga. He was 80. Russell came to prominence during 17 years as Georgia's defensive coordinator from 1964-80 under College Football Hall of Fame coach Vince Dooley. Over 2,000 friends and fans attended a special memorial service at Statesboro’s Paulson Stadium for the late coach on Sept. 9.

Seven games this weekend will feature match-ups between ranked teams. They
include: No. 19 Nebraska at No. 2 USC; No. 13 Michigan at No. 3 Notre Dame; No. 7 LSU at No. 4 Auburn; No.6 Florida at No. 17 Tennessee; No. 11 Oklahoma at No. 18 Oregon; No. 15 Miami at No. 12 Louisville; and No. 22 Texas Tech at No. 20 TCU…. NCAA Division I-A football opening games in 2006 ran 17 minutes shorter than the 2005 season lid lifters, averaging 3:20 compared to their 2006 counterparts, which ran 3:03…. OL Baker Steinkuhler, son of former Nebraska All-American Dean Steinkuhler, has committed to the Cornhuskers…

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine addressed the Rutgers team following their victory over Illinois, the governor’s alma mater… Texas A&M saw a return of the all walk-on kickoff team late in their win vs. Louisiana-Lafayette… New Hampshire gave Division I-AA its’ 4th victory over an I-A opponent, when they upset Northwestern… Houston Quarterback Kevin Kolb became the school’s all-time leading passer… A commemorative coin, featuring Notre Dame’s seven Heisman trophy winners, was used for the coin flip prior to the Irish-Penn State game… The LSU Tigers have a nine-game winning streak against Pacific-10 Conference teams after downing Arizona… Tennessee retired the uniform numbers of four student-athletes who died in service during World War II prior to the Sept. 9 UT-Air Force game. The honored veterans were Bill Nowling, Willis Tucker, Rudy Klarer, and Clyde Fuson… Super Freshmen
Quarterbacks: Arkansas's Mitch Mustain was 9-17-111 yards passing in his first start, while Georgia's Matthew Stafford was 8-19-171-3 INT in the Bulldogs win over South Carolina…. Mustain’s first start versus Utah State drew 69,491, or 7,000 more than the average Razorback home non-conference game with exceptions for Texas and USC… The Penn sprint football team beat the Alumni team 13-8 at Franklin Field on Sept. 9…

Michigan extended its record against MAC opponents to 21-0 all-time… Virginia Tech has gone 9-0 in ACC road games since joining the conference in 2004… Oklahoma State has won 13 straight non-conference regular season games… Appalachian State has a 19-game home winning streak… For the first time in 30 years, Georgia Tech returned two interceptions for touchdowns in a single game during their bout with Samford… Lightning and weather delays effected games at BYU, Kentucky, and Michigan… Texas Tech wore red pants for the first time since 1991… Texas State Senator Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, will have to visit Lubbock and dine on Rocky Mountain oysters, thanks to losing a friendly wager with fellow State Senator Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock as the Red Raiders beat the Miners in El Paso… North Texas’s home win over SMU produced the third largest crowd in school history, 25,231… Washington coach Tyrone Willingham invited former Oklahoma Sooner and College Football Hall of Famer Jim Owens to be a “guest coach” for the Sept. 9 Oklahoma-Washington game in Norman, but Owens declined for health reasons.
Owens, 79, starred for the 1946-49 Sooners and coached the Huskies from
1957-74 and guided them to three Rose Bowl appearances.

Georgetown DE Alex Buzbee will wear No. 35 for the Hoyas this season.
Former Hoya Joe Eacobacci, who died during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center while working for the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, wore the number from 1993 -1995. Each season the Eacobacci Family selects a member of the squad to wear the number in honor of Joe.

Stanford will open the new Stanford Stadium this week against Navy. Pre-game ceremonies will include a U.S. Navy jet flyover, special entrance by Navy Leap Frog Teams and a ribbon-cutting ceremony by former Cardinal greats… Boise State celebrates the 20th Anniversary of its Blue Turf, aka Smurf Turf, on Sept. 13… The first phase of improvements for the Cotton Bowl in Dallas include a $5 million Daktronics scoreboard that will be ready for the October 7 Texas-Oklahoma game… HNTB will design renovations for the Orange Bowl in Miami and Iowa State's Jack Trice Stadium. With a targeted-2010 completion, the $35 million Jack Trice Stadium renovation includes 24 suites, enclosing and adding seats to the south end zone, and an expansion of the club suite section… Minnesota will break ground on their $248 million TCF Bank Stadium on Sept. 30… Texas State has erected a memorial to former Coach David Miller, who passed away last February… California-Davis will move into a new on-campus stadium in 2007 - the first year it is eligible for the I-AA playoffs.

Florida State's 13-10 victory over Miami on Sept. 4 earned honors as ESPN's most-viewed college football game ever. The Labor Day game, carried on ESPN and ESPN2, drew an average of 6.33 million households… Former USC and UNLV head coach John Robinson will be a spotter for John Madden during NBC's 2006 NFL coverage…The Sept. 9 Georgia-South Carolina game was one of 25 games that ESPN will simulcast on ESPN cell phones… Fox Sports Net Arizona and Arizona State extended their partnership with a new long-term agreement, which includes exclusive rights to all event and ancillary programming for Sun Devil Football… CBS is considering streaming its SEC national game of the week as part of CSTV's online football packages… 2006 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Joe Paterno of Penn State was featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric on Sept. 7 as part of Couric's debut week… Fox Sports Net Bay Area’s coverage of Navy-Stanford will feature former Stanford greats coach Bill Walsh and Jim Plunkett, a 1990 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame, as color analysts… Florida head coach Urban Meyer spent two days shooting tape and photos for Nike ads in Los Angeles and quipped that he said two words during his 20-plus hours in front of the camera.

College Sporting News and I-AA.org announced a new poll for coaches, the CSN Coaches Poll…Walt Disney World extended the title sponsorship of the Florida Classic, featuring Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M. The game played annually in Orlando is hosted by Florida Citrus Sports… Hofstra unveiled new home uniforms produced and manufactured by Riddell Corp… Florida and Georgia administrators are taking extra steps to guarantee safety and security at the annual UF-UGA tussle in Jacksonville, Fla., Oct. 28. The measures include a “Student Safe Zone” to prevent incidents before and after the contest… Minnesota has established new criteria to allow more Golden Gopher fans to attend the Nov. 18 game against Iowa in Minneapolis. In recent years Iowa fans have purchased large blocks of tickets for the Floyd of Rosedale Trophy game when it was played at Minnesota… Coaches at Idaho and Washington State favor discontinuing the long-standing series… Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney, former Kansas All-American quarterback Bobby Douglass, former Tennessee State and Chicago Bear Richard Dent and retired Big Ten official Tom Quinn will be inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame on September 14.

Old Dominion has hired former Navy and Virginia coach George Welsh, a 2004 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame, and former North Carolina State coach Dick Sheridan, to serve as consultants as the Monarchs prepare to reinstate a football program for the 2009 season…Texas State named Ingrid Sobrino Bobcat Athletic Foundation Coordinator… Miami (Ohio) announced that Anthony Azama, who spent eight years with Florida Citrus Sports, will serve as the athletics department’s director of marketing.

Editors’ Notes

With this release, Bo Carter, a veteran of over 35 years in college media relations, becomes the first official correspondent for the NFF's Chalktalk, which was launched this past February. Carter will also assist with the NFF's "This Week in College Football", which is released each week during the season. Carter currently serves as the director of public relations for the Texas Collegiate League. Previously, he served as the sports information director/historian for the Big 12 Conference from 1996-2006. A native of Sheffield, Ala., he graduated from Vanderbilt in 1974 and earned induction into College Sports Information Directors (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame in July 2005 after an illustrious career in media relations. His other jobs include reporter for the Tennessean, sports information director at Mississippi State, and assistant commissioner for media relations with the Southwest Conference.

Please email news@footballfoundation.com to submit an item for the NFF’s “Monday Chalk talk”. Thanks!

With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy; the Draddy Trophy presented by HealthSouth and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, and the NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College (Mass.), the NFL-NFF Coaching Academy, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes.

For more information, please visit www.footballfoundation.com

NFF Contacts:

Phil Marwill, director of communications 1-800-486-1865, ext. 118

Bo Carter, correspondent