College Football Notebooks: Most Big Ten awards still up for grabs

And the winner is ...

Duck sits after rap video appearance

EUGENE, Ore. — Some are crying foul over the University of Oregon's reaction to a humorous rap video paying homage to the No. 10 Ducks that has gone viral on the Internet.

SEC

Holiday swap for Arkansas-LSU, Auburn-Alabama

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas and LSU have been displaced from their traditional spot the day after Thanksgiving.

Second-ranked Alabama will play at Auburn this Friday, meaning the Razorbacks and 17th-ranked Tigers will face off Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La.

"I really liked it on Friday. I thought that was a great deal," Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said. "We played on national TV and all the high school players watched it. Every time we went out recruiting, whether we were in a home or at school, the players or coaches and teachers all watched that game."

The Razorbacks beat LSU 31-30 last year.

Arkansas and LSU haven’t played on a Saturday since 1995. Charles Bloom, associate commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, said CBS decided it wanted Alabama and Auburn on Friday. The Iron Bowl will be on Friday next year as well.

"After that, it’s up to whatever CBS wants to do," Bloom said.

The Arkansas-LSU rivalry is by no means the SEC’s most storied, but the Friday slot made it unique, and the last two games have been thrillers. The Razorbacks beat the top-ranked Tigers 50-48 in triple overtime in 2007.

Auburn is hoping for an upset like that this week. Alabama is trying for a second consecutive unbeaten regular season.

"I think it’s great that the game’s on national TV and it’s on CBS, and it’ll be good for both teams in the exposure that we get," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Whatever people decide to do relative to what’s best for the conference and what’s best for the game, we’ll certainly do our part to try to get our team ready to play their best football."

SPECIAL RIVALRY

Greg McElroy grew up going to Texas-Oklahoma games in Dallas every year, and understands "it’s a special rivalry." No. 2 Alabama’s quarterback, who grew up in Texas, said the Alabama-Auburn game trumps it because the Iron Bowl is a statewide obsession.

"This is a state-pride game, a game everyone in the state is paying attention to and the fact there are two flagship universities in this state," McElroy said. "The battle for state bragging rights is what makes this game a little bigger than Texas-OU. I think Texas-OU became so popular because of the success of the teams.

"But if you look at the tradition of this rivalry, it far passes anything at Texas and OU."

Tight end Colin Peek has played for Georgia Tech in another in-state rivalry with Georgia.

"The Iron Bowl and Michigan-Ohio State, those are the two biggest ones in my eyes," he said.

NOT GOING ANYWHERE, FOR NOW

Kentucky’s present is going a little too well for coach Rich Brooks to think about the future.

Brooks bristled earlier this week when asked whether he had any plans on stepping down at the end of the season. Brooks has been noncommittal about his return in 2010.

"As far as whether I’m coming back next year, I’m like that old Energizer bunny; I might need some batteries recharged, but we’ll talk about that at the appropriate time," Brooks said on Monday.

The Wildcats have already tabbed offensive coordinator Joker Phillips as Brooks’ replacement. However, the Wildcats (7-4 overall, 3-4 SEC) are on the cusp of the best regular season in decades heading in Saturday’s season finale against Tennessee (6-5, 3-4).

PLAYERS FIRST

Les Miles hopes that LSU fans upset about clock mismanagement and suspect play-calling during the final minute of a 25-23 loss at Ole Miss last weekend won’t take it out on the players.

The No. 17 Tigers (8-3, 4-3 SEC) play their regular season finale at home on Saturday night against Arkansas (7-4, 3-4), with third-place in the SEC West on the line.

"The thing that I would encourage is support this football team," Miles said. "They’ve worked awfully hard. They are a quality group of men, and there are some special things left in the season for us — the opportunity to win nine in the regular season and the opportunity to win 10 in the bowl season."

GOOD KICKS

Georgia coach Mark Richt has had plenty to worry about in a 6-5 season. At least he has been able to trust his kicking game.

Punter Drew Butler and kicker Blair Walsh each are among three finalists for top national awards — Butler for the Ray Guy Award given to the nation’s top punter and Walsh for the Lou Groza Award given to the nation’s top kicker.

Butler leads the nation with his average of 48.8 yards per punt. He is on pace to break the school’s single-season top average of 45.4 yards by Chip Andrews in 1984.

Walsh has made 16 of 17 field goals, including each of his four attempts from 50 yards or longer.

"To have two guys in the top three in the country in these awards is phenomenal, and they deserve it," Richt said. "Both of them have a chance of winning it, legitimate shots."

HAPPILY EMBARRASSED

South Carolina defensive tackle Nathan Pepper is willing to be humiliated again if it means he can finally get another win over the Gamecocks’ biggest rival.

The senior earned a special place in the rivalry’s lore in 2006 when he appeared on his way to a touchdown after picking off a pass. But he started celebrating before making it to the end zone and Tigers running back James Davis knocked the ball away through the end zone.

Pepper can’t forget that play. After all, his home is in Greenville, just a short drive from Clemson. But he also can’t forget it’s the only time he has beaten the Tigers, a 31-28 win after Clemson missed a game-tying field goal at the gun.

"I think about that a lot. I really wish I had that play back. I played tough that game," Pepper said. "We came out with a win, that’s most important. I would take that again this year. That’s hard to say, but I would take that again for a W."

BRRRRRRR

The projected temperature for kickoff at Kentucky’s Commonwealth Stadium is in the 30s.

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin isn’t worried about how his players will handle the cold. He is worried about himself, though.

"I think it’s supposed to be 5 to 8 miles per hour wind, and it’s supposed to be 35 degrees. It’s really cold for me," said the coach who’s spent most of the last decade in either California or Florida. "I’ll be really cold. I get cold when it’s 50 degrees here."

-- Noah Trister

ACC

One last chance at history for Wake’s seniors

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Wake Forest’s 22 seniors figured it was only a matter of time before they took their place as the winningest class in school history.

Turns out, it’s taken much longer than they thought — and now they’re down to their last chance to get it done.

The Demon Deacons’ seniors have been chasing that elusive 33rd career win for 1½ months, and they enter their finale against Duke on a five-game losing streak.

That slide has erased all hope of making it to one last bowl game for the seniors, who were freshmen on the 2006 team that won an unlikely ACC championship and claimed a spot in the Orange Bowl. That was the first of three straight postseason appearances that revived the dormant program.

"Time and time again, you get asked about the disappointments of the season, and really it is, and it isn’t," defensive lineman John Russell said. "It’s one of those things, those bittersweet moments that you look back and think about all the times you had, all the good things that came out of it. It really overshadows some of the disappointments of this year. ... (Beating Duke) will kind of help soften the blow."

If nothing else, those seniors can say they’ve matched the mark set by last year’s bunch, led by future pros Aaron Curry and Alphonso Smith. They won 32 games from 2005-08 — and that number was matched by this year’s group in mid-October.

THE BOOK OF DABO

When Jacoby Ford arrived at Clemson three years ago, he couldn’t believe the words that came out of the mouth of his receiver coach.

So Ford and fellow wideout Aaron Kelly started writing them down. The result? The book of Dabo Swinney.

"We had pages of stuff," Ford, a senior, joked this week.

The 40-year-old Swinney has made a name for himself during his short time at Clemson for his snappy slogans like "all in" or "playing with your hair on fire." It was the same way at practice when Swinney was the Tigers receivers coach from 2003 through the middle of 2008. Ford said he’d be continually amazed at all the catchy phrased Swinney let out.

Clemson fans are finding that out, too. Swinney has a gift for gab that’s endeared him to many Tiger supporters. And if you wait long enough, you’re sure to hear it all.

"As long as he talks in interviews, you might’ve heard them all," Ford said.

Tiger star C.J. Spiller has a favorite. "All in, because that’s a way to live life," he said.

Clemson offensive line coach Brad Scott chuckled when asked about Swinney’s phraseology. "He’s got them all and he’s pretty genuine," Scott said. "I don’t think he sits up and thinks of them. They just flow."

HOMETOWN HAT TRICKS

Once North Carolina cornerback Kendric Burney managed three interceptions against Miami, safety Deunta Williams knew he had to do something to keep up.

Both players grew up in Jacksonville in the eastern half of the state and have been competing against each other since they were 8-year-olds in youth football. That’s why Williams took particular pleasure in picking off three passes a week later at Boston College.

"We’ve always had it going against each other," Williams said. "I told him I couldn’t go back to Jacksonville if I didn’t get three this year."

TACKLING THE JOB

Maryland has the worst record in the ACC and one of the best tacklers in the country.

Junior Alex Wujciak has 119 tackles this season, second-most in the conference and 10th nationally. He has reached double figures in tackles in eight games, including five of the last six.

But the Terps are 2-9, including 1-6 in the ACC.

"Obviously my personal statistics haven’t led to our team doing well, so I guess I have to take it with a grain of salt," he said. "If we were having a better year, it would feel better."

Wujciak missed the entire 2007 season with a knee injury, but over the past two seasons he’s averaged 10.5 tackles in 24 games. The 6-foot-3, 255-pounder has also picked off two passes this year, returning one for a 70-yard touchdown and the other 82 yards to set up a TD.

RENFREE’S RECOVERY

Heading into his final game with Thaddeus Lewis at quarterback, Duke coach David Cutcliffe also is focused on the health of Sean Renfree — Lewis’ heir apparent next season.

Cutcliffe said the redshirt freshman had successful surgery Monday to repair a torn right anterior cruciate ligament suffered against Georgia Tech two weeks ago. Cutcliffe said he expects Renfree will be ready for his sophomore season.

"I’m looking at adjusting some spring practice circumstances based on the information I get about him," Cutcliffe said. "I know we won’t have him full speed at spring. Whether we can get anything out of him remains to be seen.

"This is one tough son-of-a-gun. He’ll handle it well."

-- Joedy McCreary

Big East

Gilyard glad he didn’t head to NFL

CINCINNATI — Ten months ago, receiver Mardy Gilyard had a tough decision.

He had emerged as one of the Big East’s top playmakers in 2008, helping Cincinnati win its first league title during his junior season. Should he stay for one more year or head off to the NFL?

His family in Florida left it up to him.

"I really, really thought about it extremely hard," Gilyard said. "My mom said, ‘I want to see you get as much school as you can.’ My dad was like, ‘It’s your decision, son. I know the kind of person you are. You want to take care of us, but we’ll be all right. Another year is not going to hurt."’

Gilyard looked at the other receivers that would be available in the draft last April and decided he’d be better off returning for one more year and honing his skills. He leads the Big East in most receiving categories and ranks 13th nationally in yards receiving per game.

There have been no second thoughts about the decision to stay. Instead, Gilyard has relished everything about his senior season, with the Bearcats staying in contention for another league title heading into December.

"I’ve been talking with the guys all season, saying, ‘Dang, what are we going to do when we hit that last game?"’ Gilyard said. "We thought we’d never leave. We thought that day would never come. Now, it’s here. I’m down about it.

"I’m relishing every millisecond to second to hour to day. I’m hoping it can drag on as long as it can. I’m loving playing college football. That’s the whole reason I came back."

LANGUAGE ARTS

West Virginia coach Bill Stewart has probably used up most of his vocabulary by now in pregame pep talks. However, he saves some choice words when playing Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl.

"I say some things at some games probably more colorful than I do at other games. This is going to be one of those colorful games," Stewart said. "What you have to do is try to challenge them and be yourself. Don’t be fake and something that you aren’t. Tell them what they need to do, tell them how to do it and then go tell them that you have their back and that they have your full support. If you do that, the team will play for you."

Stewart will get some motivational help on Thursday night when his seniors address the team, a tradition on the night before the last home game of the season. West Virginia meets No. 8 Pittsburgh on Friday night in Morgantown, W.Va.

"I don’t know how I’m going to hold up Thursday night when our seniors talk," he said. "When they look at you, and tears are coming down their faces, and they say ‘thank you’ for recruiting me and giving me a shot when no one else did — it’s tough."

MARRONE THE MAGICIAN

Since taking over at Syracuse 11 months ago, head coach Doug Marrone has had 20 scholarship players leave the team and he’s lost 10 others to season-ending injuries.

That’s meant a lot of juggling, but one move Marrone made before the season is paying big dividends — switching junior Doug Hogue from tailback to linebacker.

"One of the things we wanted to do at linebacker was create more speed," Marrone said. "We knew we had a lot of competition at the running back position and we looked at Doug as someone who was recruited as a linebacker. I don’t know what happened last year, I wasn’t here, but obviously when we took Doug and put him on the defensive side of the ball, it’s everything that we thought."

And then some.

Hogue had a school-record 6.5 tackles for loss on Saturday in Syracuse’s 31-13 upset of then-No. 25 Rutgers, including 3.5 sacks. He also forced a fumble to earn national defensive player of the week honors.

Hogue ranks 15th nationally and second in the Big East in sacks per game (.86) and is tied for 15th in the country and tops in the conference with 1.45 tackles for loss per game.

LEARNING FROM THE BEST

Connecticut football coach Randy Edsall says one of the perks of working at UConn is having the opportunity to learn from some of the best coaches in the country, including Hall of Fame basketball coaches Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma.

"I’m just proud to be associated with those people, because when you watch their games and you watch them coach, you don’t have to ask them questions," Edsall said. "You can just watch them."

Edsall said by just observing, he’s learned a lot about handling people and different situations.

"Watching Geno, I’ve been able to pick up some things that he’s done," he said.

Then with a smile, he added, "Watching Jim, I’ve picked up some new words in my vocabulary."

WATCHING B.J.

South Florida’s B.J. Daniels became the first player in Big East history to pass for more than 300 yards and also run for 100-plus in the same game when he threw for 304 and ran for 141 more in last week’s 34-22 win over Louisville. The performance was good enough for Daniels to be selected as the Big East’s Offensive Player of the Week.

Asked how he would grade his progress since becoming a starter when conference career total offense leader Matt Grothe suffered a season-ending knee injury in September, the red-shirt freshman said: "OK."

Just OK?

"Yeah," he added, laughing.

Grothe, who’s been helping Daniels during the transition, gives his replacement higher marks.

"He’s doing better than a lot of people expected — progressing, learning from his mistakes. He’s going to be really good in the future," said Grothe.

LAST HURRAH

Trent Guy never expected his career at Louisville to end with a whimper.

The senior wide receiver/kick returner is one of four Cardinals left over from the 2006 Big East championship team that won the Orange Bowl. Guy admits standing on the field after Louisville knocked off Wake Forest to finish a 12-1 season he never thought that would be the only bowl appearance of his career.

"I thought we were just getting started," Guy said.

But coach Bobby Petrino left abruptly for the NFL a few days later, and replacement Steve Kragthorpe has been unable to duplicate Petrino’s success.

Louisville is just 15-20 over the last three years and are assured of their second straight losing season. Still, Guy believes Kragthorpe should be retained.

"Coach K is a great man," Guy said. "People may not know that outside of this program, but I’ve been with him for three years now. He doesn’t only want you to succeed on the football field but on life as a man."

-- Joe Kay