College Football Capsules: Playing for buckets, pigs, eggs and other things
At this time of the year, college football can seem a little like peewee soccer: Everybody gets a trophy.
Players will compete for some of the oldest and oddest hardware in the sport.
Purdue and Indiana will battle for the Old Oaken Bucket, which dates to 1925. At stake when Minnesota and Iowa meet is Floyd of Rosedale, a statue of a pig — though in 1935 the tradition started when the two governors wagered a real pig on the game.
In Columbia, Mo., the winner of Iowa State-Missouri gets the Telephone Trophy. Half red for the Cyclones, half yellow for the Tigers, the trophy dates back to 1960 and might be the only time these iPhone generation players ever see a rotary version in their lives.
Sometimes the stories seem like they're right out of a history textbook. For example, Floyd of Rosedale's origin is linked to the poor treatment of a black player on the Iowa team before the civil rights era. The story goes that the Gophers roughed up running back Ozzie Simmons badly in the 1934 game, and that made the Hawkeyes so mad it led to the governors of each state putting up a prized hog on the outcome of the '35 game.
Getting a hold of that bronze pig is still serious business for the Hawkeyes and Gophers.
"Everyone hits a little harder, everyone runs a little faster, everyone does a little more. The pig has some meaning," Minnesota linebacker Nate Triplett said. "It's something I'm going to be fighting for, definitely."
Other traditional rivalries have quirkier trophies and lighter history, often involving fraternities, thefts, fisticuffs or some combination of the three.
The Golden Egg Trophy, given to the winner of the Mississippi-Mississippi State game since 1927, was started basically to stop rival fans from beating on each other and tearing up the fields after games.
Most of the trophies are long-standing — 46 of the 65 listed in the NCAA record book date back at least 30 years. The ones that have sprung up recently, and far less organically, tend to be not quite as, shall we say, quaint.
Take the Land Grant Trophy — if you have a hand-truck to haul it away.
Penn State and Michigan State, the two oldest land grant institutions in the country — now that's something to build a rivalry upon — have been playing for the trophy since 1993, when the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten and someone decided they needed a rival.
Former Spartans coach George Perles designed the trophy, and when it comes to trophy design, Perles proved to be one heck of a football coach.
The wooden monstrosity is adorned with a figurines of a Nittany Lion and a Spartan, pictures of two pleasant but rather nondescript buildings from the respective campuses and topped with a golden football player.
So, Penn State center Stefen Wisniewski, what does the Land Grant Trophy mean to you?
"It means a lot of guys are looking around and saying, 'What is that giant piece of wood in our locker room?' I don't know if I'd rather have it than not have it," Wisniewski joked.
He said most players "don't quite understand the reason for it. ... It's weird looking, but it's cool to have."
Last year the Land Grant Trophy took a spill as Penn State workers were transporting it around Beaver Stadium on a golf cart and sustained some minor damage.
"It's in pretty tiptop shape right now. The wood is really shining, the lion is looking pretty good," Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark said.
At 4-feet tall and weighing about 50 pounds, it takes a couple players to safely celebrate with the Land Grant.
But it's not nearly as big as another newcomer to college football's trophy case.
The gargantuan Golden Boot goes to the winner of the LSU-Arkansas game.
The Tigers and Razorbacks had some history before Arkansas joined the Southeastern Conference in 1992, so to make the Hogs feel at home a rivalry was created between the two westernmost members of the league.
Former Arkansas player, now radio talk show host, David Bazzel came up with the idea of a trophy game, pitched it to then-Razorbacks athletic director Frank Broyles and what became known as the Golden Boot made its debut in 1996, all 175 pounds of it.
"Let's create one that's gaudy and big and expensive and heavy," Bazzel said earlier this week, recalling his thinking behind the $10,000 trophy.
"I want it to take three or four big guys to haul it off."
The 4-foot tall, 24-karat gold trophy is sculpted in the shape of the states of Arkansas and Louisiana, which makes it look like a boot — big enough to fit a baby rhino.
Size hardly matters to players, though. As Bazzel points out, competitors like trophies.
"You can say what you want, but if you're a player and you're playing for something, you want to win it," he said. "Whether it's a pencil or a coke can or that big shiny boot."
Black coaches group calls for progress in hiring
INDIANAPOLIS — The Black Coaches and Administrators group is looking for creative ways to get more minority football coaches into college jobs.
They'll consider almost anything — more input from college presidents in coaching searches, NCAA help to measure diversity in hiring, advice from Tony Dungy, maybe even a lawsuit.
On the day the BCA released its latest hiring report card, executive director Floyd Keith and others acknowledged that while they have made some progress, the ultimate measuring stick, hires, continues to lag.
"We are looking at every opportunity we can to advance the cause," Keith said on a conference call Wednesday. "I think the important thing for us is the part about hires, not interviews. We've hit the interview mark. Regardless of the direction, we've got to make the numbers work and they have to be better."
When the BCA started compiling these report cards, in 2004, it contended that if searches became more inclusive, hires would follow.
Charlotte Westerhaus, the NCAA's vice president for diversity and inclusion, said 85 percent of the 32 Division I schools looking for coaches last year interviewed coaches of color. Five were hired.
The problem: Of the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision coaches, only nine are minorities — seven blacks, one Latino and one Polynesian. That's a record, but a number Keith and others do not believe is good enough.
Richard Lapchick, director of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, called it "scandalous" that five of the six BCS conferences have no coaches of color. He wrote in the report that it's time for a "civil rights movement" in college sports.
In fact, Lapchick contends minority coaches lost ground last year because three black coaches at BCS schools — Kansas State's Ron Prince, Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom and Washington's Tyrone Willingham — were not retained. And the hires in the FBS did not result in prominent enough positions.
"What is lost in the improvement in numbers is that three jobs were lost in the Pac-10, Big 12 and SEC," Lapchick wrote. "Adding positions at Miami University (Ohio), New Mexico, New Mexico State and Eastern Michigan was important but these schools will likely never get a shot at a BCS championship."
So Keith is committing himself to building stronger relationships with university presidents and athletic directors.
If that doesn't work, the BCA could propose the creation of a Diversity Progress Rate, something similar to the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate that is released each spring. Coaches and athletic directors at many schools now frequently cite APR statistics because failure to consistently meet baseline academic standards can result in penalties ranging from loss of scholarships to ineligibility for NCAA tournaments.
Dungy, the first black coach to win a Super Bowl, also is getting involved. He met last week with NCAA officials and has offered his help.
"I think the reason his impact would be immense is that he's an excellent leader and he has a legacy of great coaches that he tutored," Westerhaus said.
The last resort would be filing a lawsuit under Title VII legislation.
Late last year, Keith said the BCA was actively seeking someone to bring a case. The organization has established a line for coaches to seek confidential legal advice and it continues to get two to three calls per week, Keith said.
"It would have to be the right case at the right time and it would have to fit the guidelines of the case and we'd have to feel pretty strong about the success we'd have with that," Keith said. "We'll leave that door open, but it wouldn't just be any case, it would have to be the right case."
The report showed 60 percent of all schools graded over the past six years received A's or B's, more than twice as many as those receiving D's or F's (28 percent). This year, 11 of 32 schools received A's while five schools received F's including two — Oregon and Presbyterian — that did not file reports with the BCA.
Miami (Ohio) and New Mexico State were the only schools to receive straight A's.
Schools with coaching vacancies are graded in five categories — communication with the BCA, length of the search, ratio of minority candidates who were interviewed, adherence to the school's affirmative action policies and percentage of minorities on the search committee. Point values are assessed in each category and are added together to come up with a final point total, which is then translated into an overall grade.
The study also found that the percentage of minorities on search committees at FBS schools declined from 30 percent in the 2008 report to 27 percent this year.
-- Michael Marot
Arkansas' Sheppard overcomes boyhood eye accident
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — If not for a freak childhood eye injury, Malcolm Sheppard's career would have been totally different. Or so he says.
"I probably would have been a quarterback or a receiver or something," the Arkansas defensive lineman said. "No, I'm just playing."
The truth is, Sheppard's future didn't change much when he hurt himself in a gruesome bow-and-arrow accident at age 7. The 6-foot-2, 291-pound senior has done just fine on the football field, and as he prepares to move on after this season, he can look back at his Arkansas stint with pride.
"I've taken advantage of every game here. I'm not going to regret anything," Sheppard said. "I'm going to miss it. I look at it in a positive way. I served four good years here. I've seen a lot, I've learned a lot, I met a lot of great people."
Sheppard's impact is remarkable considering he hardly uses his left eye. When he was young, he and his brother were horsing around with a bow and arrow when something went wrong.
"He shot one and I was in the wrong spot. It knocked me dead in the eye," Sheppard says matter-of-factly. "It plunged in. ... He actually pulled it out. He didn't try it on purpose. He was freaking out, but it's just one of those things.
"I was warned not to play with them. As a kid, you make those mistakes and you do things outside of what you're told."
Sheppard says he has blurred vision through the left eye, but he's adjusted to using the right one to see. There's an operation that could help his vision, but he's not going to opt for that just yet.
If you look at Sheppard's face, there's no sign that anything is wrong — and that's even more true if you watch him play.
Sheppard has lined up at both end and tackle during his career. He appeared in all 14 games as a freshman in the 2006 season, then started 12 in 2007. After Bobby Petrino took over as coach in 2008, Sheppard led the team in sacks and earned second-team All-Southeastern Conference honors.
Petrino said at first he heard Sheppard only played on one side of the ball because of his eye.
"We kind of just changed that immediately and said, 'Let's flip him back and forth and see what he does,'" Petrino said. "You don't notice any of it."
The Arkansas defense has been shaky the last couple years, but Sheppard is a model of consistency. He has 10 tackles for loss this season.
"He really has worked hard this year at understanding more about how to play," Petrino said. "How to know more about offense so he can contribute more in the run defense as well as rushing the passer."
Arkansas became bowl eligible last weekend, but the Razorbacks (6-4, 2-4 SEC) would like to improve their resume before the postseason. They face Mississippi State in Little Rock on Saturday.
Arkansas is allowing 25.5 points per game, one of the worst marks in the SEC. The Razorbacks have had to overcome some inexperience in the secondary, but when Sheppard and his linemen create pressure, they're a different team.
"They have a real solid defensive line," Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said. "Their D-line really leads the way for them — creates some pressure for them and is really good against the run."
It was Arkansas' defensive line that helped the Razorbacks keep it close in a 23-20 loss to Florida in October. The Hogs constantly pressured Tim Tebow and the Gators. Late in the game, Sheppard was called for a personal foul the SEC later said wasn't supported by video evidence. The officiating crew was suspended.
That might have been Sheppard's most newsworthy play of the year, but around the league he's known for much more.
"He's a pretty strong guy, a pretty stout guy," Mississippi State center J.C. Brignone said. "Their line as a whole is pretty good. ... It'll be kind of a test for me."
When the season ends, Sheppard will leave quite a void in Arkansas' defense, one that will be hard for anyone to fill — even with two good eyes.
"I can see everything," Sheppard said. "I've been living with it for many years now. It doesn't affect me at all."
-- Noah Trister
ND's Eric Olsen has become center coach envisioned
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame center Eric Olsen has gotten good at knocking opponents down.
Line coach Frank Verducci said that's one way he measures the progress of the 6-foot-5, 305-pound senior from Staten Island, N.Y., who moved last winter from guard to center in an effort to stabilize Notre Dame's offensive front.
Olsen had been solid all season, but in the past four games he has elevated his game, Verducci said, making the most improvement of any of the Irish linemen. Olsen knocked down 14 Pittsburgh defenders last week.
"Most of those helping out in pass protection," Verducci said.
Olsen can't put a finger on why he's playing better. He believes it's been a gradual process of feeling more comfortable. Verducci believes it's a matter of experience.
"I just think there's little nuances and timing and angles that you would expect to get better at," Verducci said.
Olsen is the only starting Irish lineman who hasn't allowed a sack. That's quite a turnaround from two years ago, when Olsen was part of a line that gave up an NCAA-record 58 sacks. That team rushed for school record-low 75 yards a game.
Olsen called that season a low point, when the Irish went from the Sugar Bowl the season before to a 3-9 finish.
"We were kind of thrown into the fire a little bit," Olsen said Wednesday. "From that point until now, obviously we don't have a perfect season going right now, but there was so much growth as football players and human beings. Guys have matured so much and learned how to handle so many different situations."
Olsen said the biggest difference was the starters his freshmen year looked like men. A year later, he and the players on the line next to him looked like teens.
"We're kind of back to those men it seemed like we had when I was a freshman," he said.
The Irish line hasn't been dominant, but they have shown progress. A year ago the Irish averaged 110 yards a game rushing and 3.3 yards a carry. This year they are averaging 131 yards a game and 3.8 yards a rush.
Still, it's well below the 5.5 yards per carry that coach Charlie Weis set as a goal this year.
That's one of the reasons Weis is under fire, with some speculating he could be fired after the season. That bothers Olsen, who said Weis has been like a father figure.
"When people attack him or say things about him, it personally offends me," he said. "It comes with the job. He knows that more than anybody else, just to calm me down a little bit, because I kind of get worked up. You have to take the good with the bad when you're in the spotlight like he is, like the team is. It's just part of the job."
With much of the focus from outside the team on him, Weis is having the captains and other team leaders speak this week to try to set the tone when the Irish (6-4) face Connecticut (4-5) on Saturday, the last home game for seniors.
Olsen's message to his teammates is to enjoy every chance they get to play at Notre Dame.
"Whether you're a freshman or a senior, whether this is your last home game or the last home game of your first season, you got to cherish every game because you're never going to have them back, have this experience again," he said. "For me personally I know I'm trying to do that as much as I can."
That, and hopefully knock down some Huskies along the way.
-- Tom Coyne
Vols become one of SEC's best passing teams
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee wide receivers coach Frank Wilson has found himself drilling a different lineup of players almost every week.
He's had players missing because of injuries. Others were booted from the team because of discipline issues. Others left on their own accord.
Somehow he's still managed to help turn a depleted receiving corps and an interception-prone quarterback into one of the Southeastern Conference's most formidable passing threats.
"We stayed to the course and continued to work hard and developed as a group as a whole," Wilson said. "Those young guys had to step up at times and make plays and be accountable, and they did."
Through the first four games of the season, Jonathan Crompton had only seven touchdowns compared with eight interceptions and an average 160 yards passing per game.
Since then, Crompton has averaged 245.5 yards per game and thrown 16 touchdowns compared with two interceptions.
The Volunteers (5-5, 2-4 SEC) now rank third in the league in pass offense with an average 226.6 yards by air per game. Their 24 passing touchdowns rank second.
"We all knew we could do it," junior wide receiver Denarius Moore said. "We knew we had all the talent we needed, but we just needed to put it together. We needed guys to get healthy and get on the same page in this new system, and once we did, we got a lot better.
"We just kept sticking with it, and we got better. Now we've just got to keep getting better," he said.
Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson has learned a few lessons from some of Tennessee's previous opponents who focused first on stopping the run. Johnson knows his Commodores (2-9, 0-7) will have to do a lot to stop Crompton and the Vols' passing game too.
"What an improvement," Johnson said. "I would say probably the most improvement of anybody in the conference. That shows he's put in a lot of hard work and did a good job."
Plenty of blame for the early problems was heaped onto Crompton, but coach Lane Kiffin said the wide receivers were just as responsible for the problems, if not more. And the receivers had plenty of reasons to shoulder the blame.
Redshirt sophomores Ahmad Paige and Tyler Maples decided to transfer after Kiffin was hired. Redshirt freshman E.J. Abrams-Ward was dismissed in January for a disciplinary reason. Senior Austin Rogers suffered a season-ending knee injury in the summer.
That was all before the season started.
Since then, juniors Gerald Jones and Moore and senior Quintin Hancock have battled injuries. Junior Brandon Warren was dismissed for conduct problems and freshman Nu'Keese Richardson was booted Monday after being arrested last week on attempted armed robbery charges.
But none of that should serve as an excuse, Wilson said.
"That's the thing that this group has shown: resilience and character," he said. "(There) was a lot of times where we could have pointed a finger or blamed it on chemistry and continuity because one guy would be there and the next week he would not be there, but we didn't."
Having so many guys missing from week to week may have even helped the rest of the receivers, who got more repetition during practice as a result.
"We're still not where we want to be, but we're making strides, and I think we're headed in the right direction," Wilson said.
-- Beth Rusker
Rodriguez era at Michigan has been full of blues
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez was handed a blue button with "Beat Ohio State" in maize letters when he was introduced as the new leader of college football's winningest program.
Rodriguez said earlier this week he has kept the button on his desk.
After being asked about the button later by a visitor to his office, Rodriguez had to do some searching. He found it tucked under some paper in the top drawer of the desk.
"I put it in there one day when I got mad," Rodriguez said.
It would be tough to figure out what day that was because there's been a lot of reasons for him to be angry during his two tumultuous seasons in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines started 4-0 this season, earning a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and Rodriguez was hailed for the turnaround after losing a school-record nine games last year.
Two closely contested losses on the road to Michigan State and Iowa snowballed into a skid that has included only one win — against Delaware State — in a seven-game stretch.
The collapse has made Saturday's game at home against No. 9 Ohio State more important than usual, but in an unusual way for Michigan.
If Michigan beats its rival for the first time since 2003, it will salvage some pride with a bowl bid and get much-needed practices.
If not, the Wolverines will have a losing record in consecutive years for the first time since the 1962-63 seasons and will endure another miserable offseason that might be compounded if the NCAA delivers bad news during an investigation it plans to complete by the end of the year.
Rodriguez hasn't gotten to enjoy many days since a messy divorce with West Virginia led to a turbulent transition at Michigan.
He insisted, though, he doesn't regret leaving West Virginia or turning down an opportunity to be Alabama's coach.
"It's taxing on my family and me, but this is a big-boy business," Rodriguez said in an interview with the AP. "I've been at big schools before. We had drama, but not as much as here.
"It's a wonderful profession, but when things are not going the way you'd like, it certainly takes a toll."
Rodriguez took his latest hit off the field on Monday, when an internal audit was released in untimely fashion with details about the football program failing to file forms that track how much players workout and practice. The forms are used to comply with NCAA rules.
He said Wednesday the process of filing forms was corrected as soon as he learned it wasn't happening. He declined further comment because of an ongoing NCAA investigation.
The office of university audits sent Rodriguez a memo on July 24, stating that forms from the 2008 regular season had not been submitted.
The Detroit Free Press, citing anonymous players, reported a month later that Michigan exceeded NCAA limits regarding practices and workouts.
Detroit Lions offensive lineman Jon Jansen, who helped the Wolverines win the 1997 national championship, says it's disappointing to know people with ties to the school have conspired against Rodriguez since he replaced the retiring Lloyd Carr in part because they wanted somebody else — such as LSU's Les Miles — hired.
"You'd have to be blind to not see there are divisions among Michigan folk," Jansen said. "I think that while he's there, he should get as much support as he can get.
"Whether you are for or against Rich Rod, everybody should be for Michigan. I hope he's successful because I want Michigan to be successful."
An e-mail was sent to every member of the school's board or regents, asking for comment on Rodriguez and the program, and no one responded.
University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman declined an interview request, but issued a statement.
"As I've said before, I continue to support our coach and our football program," Coleman said in a statement sent by her office.
If Michigan did want to fire Rodriguez — who signed a six-year deal worth $2.5 million per season — it would likely be an ugly process.
According to his contract, Rodriguez can be fired for cause if the NCAA, the Big Ten or the school determines he has committed a major violation of NCAA rules or he has intentionally committed any other type of violation of NCAA rules.
If the school completes a four-step process to fire Rodriguez for cause, it "shall be without liability to Rodriguez," according to the contract he signed Oct. 24, 2008.
Athletic director Bill Martin, who hired Rodriguez and is retiring by September at the latest, tried to voice as much support as he could as his outgoing boss.
"We're in a transition and we all have to be prepared to stay the course," Martin said earlier this week. "Is our record a surprise? Sure. Do I totally support Rich? Absolutely. You don't want to make excuses, but take a look at our personnel. We have only 71 players who came here on scholarship. We've got freshman going against fifth-year seniors in a lot of places.
"We didn't have a lot of candidates to replace Lloyd's best players in his last season."
-- Larry Lage
Cal's Best hopes to return to field this season
BERKELEY, Calif. — Star tailback Jahvid Best is eager to return to the football field after being sidelined by a frightening fall and concussion and has targeted California's season finale as a possible return date.
Best gave his first extensive comments Wednesday following the injury that knocked him out and put a scare into his Golden Bears teammates. He said that the symptoms from the concussion have cleared but he still has a sore back.
"I'm just trying to take it day by day and hoping for the best," he said. "Every day I'm feeling a little better. I'm hoping it keeps progressing that way and hopefully I'll be out here pretty soon."
Best missed last week's game against Arizona and has been ruled out of the Big Game on Saturday against No. 14 Stanford. Best hopes to be able to return to the field Dec. 5 against Washington.
Best was injured Nov. 7 when he hurdled an Oregon State defender at the end of a 7-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Best vaulted into the air over safety Cameron Collins and then was bumped even higher by another defender before falling on his back and head from about 8 feet in the air.
Best's helmet came off on impact and he briefly lost consciousness. He spent one night in the hospital with the concussion and sore back.
"Any time somebody is taken off the field on a stretcher, it always gets taken pretty seriously," Best said. "But I'm a blessed person. Thank god it wasn't as bad as it could have been."
The last memory Best has of the play was jumping in the air. The next thing he remembered was waking up in the hospital. His mother filled him in on the details of what happened. Best has seen the play twice since then and said "it still doesn't look that bad to me."
Best said if the chance came up again he would still choose to try to jump over the defender — a move that used to be illegal in college football.
"From my vantage point, there was a guy coming to tackle me low," he said. "I didn't see the other guy who actually hit me and pushed me and knocked me off-balance. I didn't see him. So if it ever happened again, I would jump over the corner."
This was the second concussion Best sustained in an eight-day period. He was diagnosed with a minor concussion after the game the previous week against Arizona State.
Cal players all get baseline testing before the season that measure balance, memory, reaction and recognition. Players are tested again after a concussion to compare the post-concussion results to the healthy ones. Best said his tests returned to normal in the past couple of days.
"It doesn't make me rethink football at all," he said. "Football is a violent game and stuff like this happens all the time."
Cal fullback Brian Holley is writing a senior thesis on concussions and has talked to Best about the dangers. The main message Holley gave his teammate was to be smart and that "you can't play with your brain," Best said.
Best returned to the team last Saturday as an honorary captain for the game against Arizona. He has been at practice the past two days, supporting his teammates as they get ready for the game against the Cardinal.
He said it will be difficult to watch Saturday's game, but his presence is serving as an inspiration to the rest of the team.
"He's a part of this team," coach Jeff Tedford said. "Everybody loves Jahvid and Jahvid loves the team. That's why he's so well respected. He is a team guy. Even though we know he's not going to play this week, he's here to support his teammates. That's Jahvid all the way. He's a first-class guy."
Best, one of the most dynamic running backs in the country and a preseason Heisman Trophy contender, has 16 touchdowns and 867 yards rushing this season. He also has 22 catches for 213 yards.
-- Josh Dubow
Arizona looks to slow No. 11 Oregon
TUCSON, Ariz. — After Arizona conceded 55 points to Oregon last year, the Wildcats' coaches might be tempted to destroy the game film.
Instead, they're studying it with their players, hoping to find clues to stopping the 11th-ranked Ducks when they visit Arizona Stadium on Saturday night.
"There's a lot we can learn off of last year's game," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "We're going to need to."
It's a painful lesson.
Oregon's 55 points is the most allowed by Arizona in Mike Stoops' six seasons in the desert. But Arizona's coaches are breaking the game into two halves, if only to maintain their sanity as they brace for the Ducks' invasion.
In the first half last year, the Ducks scored 45 points. Only three teams — No. 1 USC in 2004, No. 8 LSU in 2006 and No. 8 California in 2007 — have scored that many points in an entire game against Arizona during Stoops' tenure.
In the second half, Arizona limited Oregon to a touchdown and a field goal. Down 48-17, Arizona rallied to within 48-45 before the Ducks salted the game away on a 40-yard touchdown run by LeGarrette Blount, who had yet to become a national household name.
"When you look at the first half of last year's game, they got us moving all over the place and really (we) got a little discombobulated in that first half," Stoops said this week. "And then we finally settled down. We didn't make any major adjustments at halftime. We just started to play with a little more focus and discipline."
Oregon's coaches are picking apart the film to try to figure out what Arizona might throw at them in the rematch.
"Are we going to see what we saw in the first half or what we saw in the second half?" Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "That's the chess match that goes on with the game — what do they keep from last year's game and what do they add new?"
Arizona's coaches aren't tipping their hand.
"I think we have to change some things up and not show them the exact same looks in how we defend them," said Arizona defensive coordinator Mark Stoops, Mike's younger brother.
The Wildcats will try to learn as much as they can from film because few teams can simulate Oregon's offense in practice. It's difficult for the scout team to run the scheme as efficiently as the Ducks do, or at the same speed.
Arizona State discovered that last weekend, when its usually stout defense gave up 31 points in the first half at Autzen Stadium. The Sun Devils gave up only a touchdown and two field goals in the second half of a 44-21 Oregon victory.
"Until you get used to it for a quarter or two, it's really hard," ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. "First of all, you have to gauge the speed of what's going on early in the game, because the speed of the game is different than in practice. And if you're out on the field very long, you get tired at the end."
This much is obvious: the Wildcats have to do a better job of tackling quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, whose deft play fakes are the heart of the Oregon attack.
"Just hit him," Wildcats cornerback Trevin Wade said. "Let him know we're going to be there."
Masoli set the tone a year ago by breaking a 66-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game.
The Ducks tacked on another quick TD on Patrick Chung's 31-yard interception return less than a minute later, but Arizona answered quickly, and late in the first quarter Oregon led only 14-10.
That's when it all fell apart for the Wildcats.
Starting with Masoli's 44-yard touchdown pass to Terence Scott, the Ducks put up 34 points in a span of 17:39.
By the time that run ended, Oregon led 48-17 with 12:46 to go in the third quarter.
The game appeared over to everyone but the Wildcats. They reeled off four straight touchdowns — three by running back Keola Antolin — and whittled the deficit to 48-45 with 6:38 to play.
The Wildcats could come no closer. Blount romped for a score with 3:38 to go, and Arizona was finished. It was Oregon's fourth TD of 40 or more yards that day.
The Wildcats looked at the stat sheet and wondered what happened.
The Ducks had the ball for only 18:14. Arizona ran more plays (98 to 57), gained more yards (527 to 504) and had more first downs (30 to 18).
The game film provides plenty of clues to the meltdown. Mark Stoops said he saw many plays where the Wildcats had men in the right position only to miss tackles.
"What frustrated me last year in the first half of that game was plays we should have defended and didn't," Mark Stoops said. "That's what's so hard."
-- Andrew Bagnato
Fla. governor wants Bowden back as Seminole coach
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Embattled Florida State coach Bobby Bowden has one important alum on his side — Gov. Charlie Crist.
Bowden, who has heard calls for him to retire at the end of the season, and Crist appeared together Wednesday at a news conference promoting the National Child Identification Program created by the American Football Coaches Association.
Although Bowden's 387 wins are second to Penn State's Joe Paterno among major college coaches, some prominent Florida State supporters have called for the 80-year-old coach to retire at the end of the year following a mediocre season.
Not Crist.
The Florida governor said Bowden has been great for Florida State, the state itself and college football and should keep coaching.
The Seminoles are 5-5 this season with two regular-season games remaining.
UK's Cobb questionable for Georgia
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky could be without its most potent offensive weapon when the Wildcats travel to Georgia on Saturday.
Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said wide receiver/quarterback Randall Cobb is questionable at best for the showdown with the Bulldogs because of a bruised shoulder. Cobb did not finish practice on Wednesday and there's a chance even if Cobb does play he would be limited.
Cobb is Kentucky's second-leading rusher with 396 yards and seven touchdowns while running out of the wildcat formation. He also leads the team with 32 receptions for 384 yards and four scores.
Even if Cobb can go, it's unlikely he'd see much time behind center. Brooks said the sophomore's body has taken too much abuse the last few weeks while carrying a heavier workload following an injury to starting quarterback Mike Hartline.
Auburn RB Smith facing suit stemming from fight
AUBURN, Ala. — An Auburn student is suing Tigers running back Eric Smith for injuries allegedly sustained during a fight.
The suit filed by Decari Jenkins in U.S. District Court in Montgomery says that Smith and two unnamed Auburn players assaulted him and a friend in August.
Smith was charged with third-degree assault and suspended for one game by Auburn coach Gene Chizik. Jenkins' attorney said Smith's harassment claim against Jenkins was dismissed.
Jenkins' suit says he sustained permanent scarring and symptoms of post-concussion syndrome from the confrontation.
An Auburn athletic official declined comment Tuesday.
Judge orders Cincinnati QB to court
CINCINNATI — University of Cincinnati sophomore quarterback Zach Collaros must appear before a judge to explain why he hasn't attended a court-ordered program on the negatives of underage drinking.
Collaros was cited in May with trying to use a fake ID to enter a Cincinnati bar. He admitted Oct. 5 to a charge of misrepresenting his age to obtain alcohol. He signed a statement of guilt, and was ordered to pay a $200 fine and attend the course.
The judge says Collaros must explain Thursday why he didn't contact the program. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum sentence of 180 days.
UC spokesman Ryan Koslen declined comment Wednesday. There was no Cincinnati telephone listing for Collaros.
The No. 5 undefeated Bearcats remain in contention for a national championship.
Vols' Oliver punished internally for shoplifting
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin says a freshman cited for shoplifting was punished internally.
Defensive back Nyshier Oliver was cited after being spotted allegedly concealing a $110 polo shirt from Dillards in a shopping bag on Nov. 7. He did not dress for that day's game against Memphis and is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 23.
Kiffin praised his team's lack of discipline problems on Nov. 11, a day before three other freshman Volunteers were charged with attempted armed robbery. Two of those players, wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson and defensive back Mike Edwards, have been dismissed from the team.
La. Tech's Boyd to miss half of Fresno State game
RUSTON, La. — Louisiana Tech defensive back Chad Boyd has been given a half-game suspension for what Western Athletic Conference officials say was a flagrant foul that didn't get called during last weekend's LSU game.
Boyd will be suspended for the first half of Saturday's game at Fresno State.
Conference Commissioner Karl Benson announced Boyd's suspension Wednesday. In a statement, Benson said Boyd should have been ejected from the LSU game after he made a hard hit on wide receiver Chris Tolliver during the third quarter.
Louisiana Tech coach Derek Dooley said he is disappointed with the decision.
