College Football News & Notes: Big Ten splits up Michigan and Ohio State
Any Michigan man will tell you, there is nothing quite like beating Ohio State. Every Buckeye agrees, a win over that team from up North is priority No. 1.
Well, now Michigan and Ohio State could get two chances in a season to beat their fiercest rival.
What would Woody and Bo have thought of that? A rematch!
The Big Ten announced its divisional breakdown for football Wednesday night, and Ohio State and Michigan will be in different six-team divisions when the league expands to 12 members in 2011.
Neither division has been named, but they break down like this: Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern in one; Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana in the other.
Commissioner Jim Delany said creating football divisions with competitive balance was the top priority and No. 2 was maintaining a cross-division rivalry game for each team.
"We felt like we could do equal competition and tradition with this move," Delany said.
Michigan and Ohio State will be a cross-divisional rivalry and continue to play each other each year in the Big Ten regular-season finale, as they have since 1943. That means they could wind up meeting again for the conference championship a week or two later. Not in the Big House or the Horseshoe but on a neutral field. Maybe even a domed stadium.
"Basically, we decided to go with the final season date because that was a way to maintain the tradition," Delany said. "The conference has a wonderful history of not only rivalry games but also trophy games."
Big Ten teams will play eight conference games the next two seasons, but that could increase in the future.
"The athletic directors have the intention of exploring a ninth conference game in 2015," Delany said.
For now there are no plans for divisions in other sports. Delany said he sees no benefit to basketball divisions, but if conference leaders decide they want them, they would have to be drawn differently.
Nebraska will join the Big Ten as its 12th team next year, allowing the conference to split into two divisions and add a lucrative championship game. The first Big Ten football championship game will be played in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium, the indoor home of the NFL's Colts.
The expansion put the conference in a delicate balancing act, trying to add to its coffers without diminishing its rich traditions, none bigger than Michigan vs. Ohio State.
"I'm very pleased that we came out of this with protected rivalries that will go on permanently with Ohio State and Michigan State," Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon told The Associated Press. "We'll play Ohio State in the last game of the regular season, following a tradition that has lasted for decades. And if we both earn the right, we can play the Buckeyes again in the Big Ten championship game."
There was speculation the Michigan-Ohio State game could be pushed out of its end-of-season spot, maybe even into October. It sent some fans into an outrage and Delany said that was a factor in the final decision.
"We heard the fans, there's no doubt about their voices mattered," Delany said.
For years, the matchup known simply as "The Game" in Big Ten country has been the conference's signature rivalry, one of the most storied and tradition-rich in all of sports. The Buckeyes and Wolverines have played 106 times since 1897.
Twenty-two times "The Game" has determined whether Ohio State or Michigan won the Big Ten championship.
Never was the rivalry more intense or more significant than from the late 1960s through the '70s, when Ohio State coach Woody Hayes and Michigan coach Bo Schembechler waged what has been dubbed "the Ten-Year War."
While "The Game" will never be the same since the title won't be at stake in the regular season, the league is still banking on it to be a big deal. And then there's the tantalizing possibility of even bigger TV ratings if the maize and blue meet the scarlet and gray in the league championship less than a month later.
"I think it's a great opportunity for both programs to win divisions and be in the championship games," Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said on the Big Ten Network, "and if we do play back to back, and if you look back over history quite frankly it's rare that happens, if it does happen it's great for fans."
Delany said the Big Ten was not motivated to preserve the possibility of having Michigan and Ohio State, its two highest-profile programs, play in the new championship game.
"I'm convinced that whoever makes it, the championship is going to do a great (television rating)," he said. "I'm not worrying about repeats or Ohio State or Michigan."
Michigan-Ohio State wasn't the only tradition for Big Ten officials to consider. No conference has more trophy games than the Big Ten.
Longtime rivals such as Iowa and Minnesota, Michigan and Michigan State, and Purdue and Indiana wound up in the same division. Wisconsin and Minnesota were split, but the Badgers and Gophers will be cross-divisional rivals and play each season.
That means Iowa can still square off each fall with Minnesota for Floyd of Rosedale, a bronze statue of a pig, and Minnesota and Michigan can now play for the Little Brown Jug every season.
The other cross-divisional rivalries will be: Nebraska and Penn State, pitting the Big Ten's two newest members; Indiana and Michigan State, which play for the Brass Spittoon; and Iowa and Purdue; and in-state rivals Illinois and Northwestern.
Rivalries that took a hit were Iowa and Wisconsin, which play for the Heartland Trophy, and Penn State and Michigan State, which play for the Land Grant Trophy.
Big Ten gives Nebraska no breaks in 2011 schedule
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Big Ten's welcome gift to Nebraska looks more like a booby prize.
The football schedule for 2011-12, the Cornhuskers' first two seasons in the Big Ten, pits Nebraska against a lineup no sane coach would envy.
The Cornhuskers open the 2011 conference schedule at Wisconsin. They come home to play Ohio State, then it's off to Minnesota and home games against Michigan State and Northwestern.
Here comes the big finish: at Penn State, at Michigan and home against new border rival Iowa.
Conspicuously absent: Indiana, Illinois and Purdue, aka three of the four Big Ten teams that did not make a bowl last season.
"The schedule will be challenging but also interesting for our players, coaches and fans," athletic director Tom Osborne said.
Osborne pointed out that Nebraska is not a voting member of the Big Ten until next July, so he was not able to vote on the schedule. He said he was allowed to give input. Osborne surely couldn't have asked for this.
"The scheduling process was difficult because the Big Ten is attempting to preserve a large number of rivalry games and have as many of those games as possible fall at approximately the same point in the season as they have in the past," Osborne said.
Nebraska was placed in a division with Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern. The Huskers' annual crossover game will be against Penn State.
How tough is the schedule? Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, like Nebraska, are among the six programs that have won 800-plus games all-time.
Seven of the eight teams on the conference schedule appeared in a bowl game in the 2009 season. The only team that didn't go to a bowl was Michigan, the winningest program in college football history.
Three of the 2011-12 opponents — Ohio State, Iowa and Penn State — were ranked in the final Associated Press top 10 last year, with Wisconsin 16th.
This year Ohio State is No. 2, Iowa No. 9, Wisconsin No. 12 and Penn State No. 19 in the preseason.
"I know the Big Ten Conference has made a great effort to create divisions that are competitive and fair, while protecting rivalries, and I am confident they have done that," Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. "I know it is exciting for our fans to think about, but that is a year away. Our focus is completely on the task at hand, which is Western Kentucky on Saturday night."
For the sake of the volatile Pelini's blood pressure, it's definitely better that he think about Western Kentucky rather than what awaits a year from now.
-- Eric Olson
Penn St keeps Ohio St in new Big 10 division
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — The Big Ten's new football divisional breakdown and schedules going into effect next season leaves Penn State in the same six-team division as border rival Ohio State.
The Nittany Lions also get an annual "crossover" game with the conference's newest member, Nebraska. The Cornhuskers will be in the other Big Ten division.
The conference Wednesday night announced the new alignment going into effect in 2011, along with the new schedules for the next two seasons. The moves were necessitated by Nebraska this summer accepting a bid to join the Big Ten at the conference's 12th member.
Besides Ohio State, the other teams in Penn State's division will be Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin.
Gophers get to keep playing their football rivals
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota's big three football rivalries have been preserved in the Big Ten's divisional split, giving the Gophers their greatest wish for the 12-team alignment.
The conference announced Wednesday Minnesota will join Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State and Northwestern in one division. Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana are in the other.
That means the Gophers will play Iowa and Michigan for their trophy games each season. They'll also maintain the annual matchup with Wisconsin, as part of the inter-division guarantee to keep one pair of rivals playing each year.
Coach Tim Brewster says "everything else on top of that is a plus."
Minnesota will host Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois in the revised 2011 schedule.
Business booming in resurgent Big East
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich heard the rumblings four years ago when he led the push to expand Cardinal Stadium.
Even though the program was in the midst of a record-breaking season in which it eventually won the Big East title and the Orange Bowl, Jurich knew some wondered if there really was a need to spend millions upgrading a stadium that was less than a decade old at the time.
"I took a lot of criticism, like 'what's this idiot doing?'" Jurich said.
Construction continued even as the program and the economy faltered. When Louisville and new coach Charlie Strong take the field against Kentucky on Saturday in the Governor's Cup, the Cardinals will do it in front of a sellout crowd of over 56,000.
The facelift includes 33 new luxury suites, over 1,700 club seats, an upper deck with 13,000 chairback seats and a south terrace that provides a view of the twin spires at nearby Churchill Downs.
"It's a big-time looking stadium right now," Jurich said. "This puts us in an elite group."
To keep up in the Big East these days, it's part of the game.
Five years after the conference was left on life support after Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College bolted for the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big East is thriving both on the field and at the gate.
Rutgers finished a $100 million renovation of its football complex last year. Cincinnati, fresh off back-to-back conference championships, is mulling changes to rowdy but tiny Nippert Stadium. South Florida and Pittsburgh are roommates with NFL teams. West Virginia has made a major push to modernize Milan Puskar Stadium, and it also happens to be one of the toughest places in the country to play.
"Since the reorganization, I think every school without exception has made a commitment to improving all facilities," said Rutgers coach Greg Schiano. "It's paramount for the continued growth of our league."
And interest is growing.
Average attendance in the Big East last year was higher than it was before Boston College split following the 2004 season. The current lineup averaged 44,804 fans a game in 2009, compared to 37,805 in 2004. Those numbers are skewed a bit by Temple, which averaged just over 16,000 fans during it's final year in the conference.
Still, attendance at four of the five holdover schools — Pittsburgh, Rutgers, West Virginia and Syracuse — was higher in 2009 than in 2004, while Connecticut's average attendance dropped by less than 1,000.
Why the uptick in a conference prematurely pronounced dead a few times? Winning helps.
Schiano has revitalized Rutgers. West Virginia has won a pair of BCS bowls. South Florida has beaten the likes of Florida State to carve out a niche in the football-heavy Sunshine State.
Though Big East teams don't play in the sprawling palaces that can be found in places like the Southeastern Conference, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Fewer seats mean fewer tickets, and buzz can build when a program gets hot. Cincinnati's startling run under former coach Brian Kelly turned the Bearcats into more than a mere afterthought in a city dominated by the NFL's Bengals and baseball's Reds.
Interest has grown so high the Bearcats will play Oklahoma in Paul Brown Stadium on Sept. 25, which has nearly double the capacity of 35,000-seat Nippert Stadium.
"They've all been very smart in terms of the size of their stadiums," said Big East associate commissioner of football Nick Carparelli. "I think their stadiums have been built to a size where there's a demand and a great atmosphere but also built to be expanded as their programs grow."
It worked at Rutgers, which expanded to 52,454 seats after Schiano led the longtime conference doormat to respectability. The Scarlet Knights averaged over 49,000 fans while going 9-4 last year, nearly 20,000 more than in 2004 when they won just four games.
Schiano said the renovation not only helps recruiting, but gives the program a heft. When he took the job a decade ago, the stadium had "that sleepy little college look."
Not anymore. The stadium renovation included adding 1,000 club level seats, a massive scoreboard and a 7,656-square-foot football recruiting lounge and welcome center.
"Now it feels like a real place," he said.
It's exactly what Jurich is hoping for at Louisville. Though the original expansion called for capacity to rise from 42,000 to around 60,000, that number was modestly trimmed over budget concerns.
Jurich didn't skimp, however, on amenities. He fell in love with the idea of a terrace connecting the east and west sides of the stadium after visiting Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, and was adamant that chairback seats be used in the upper deck, a rarity in college football.
Though attendance fell sharply in the last three years at the program slipped, Jurich didn't second-guess himself.
"I never looked back once," he said. "I didn't build it for this year or next year, I built it for the next 50 years."
Despite three straight non-winning seasons under Steve Kragthorpe, the fan base has been revitalized by Strong's hiring. The school plans to sell around 44,000 season tickets, and Jurich's optimism that Louisville's best days are in front of it is shared by the conference as a whole.
"We can compete with anybody in the country," Carparelli said. "I'm not into saying we're better than this conference or that conference, but the goal is for people to say the Big East belongs and they can compete with the best. I think they see it on the football field and in terms of our facilities."
-- Will Graves
BYU signs football deal with ESPN
PROVO, Utah (AP) — BYU is perfectly happy with "Plan B."
Two weeks after BYU's original intention to go independent in football collapsed in a matter of hours, athletic director Tom Holmoe made the announcement Wednesday that has been haunting him for much of the last month: The Cougars are going solo in football, accepting the many risks with the hopes of greater rewards.
BYU's other sports have found a new home in the West Coast Conference, which is a non-football league and turned out to be an ideal fit after BYU's deal with the Western Athletic Conference crashed hard on Aug. 18.
"I'd say it was exhilarating, fun, hard, terrible, great — and done," Holmoe said with a weary smile during a news conference at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Holmoe said BYU is trying to gain more exposure and immediately announced two moves that will get the Cougars some notice.
BYU and ESPN have reached an eight-year deal for the network or one of its affiliates broadcast the Cougars' home games, which at the moment are a lot of open dates.
Holmoe said scheduling as one of just four independents in major college football was an obvious risk that BYU considered, but felt the Cougars still have enough name recognition and a large fan base that should make building a schedule without eight conference games at least a little easier.
One of the future opponents will likely be Notre Dame, which Holmoe said is working with BYU to iron out the details on a six-game deal through 2020. Another is archrival Utah, which is also leaving the Mountain West after getting an invitation to join the Pac-10 next year.
Holmoe said he has been talking with Utah athletic director Chris Hill about ways to keep the annual clash going while no longer in the same conference.
"We both are in agreement in that it's an important game to continue," Holmoe said.
The Cougars will also be without the Mountain West's guaranteed bowl spots and there will be no league title to try and win. But Holmoe said BYU will have more chances to play in the spotlight on ESPN, where BYU was once a regular when the network was still a cable newcomer.
With quarterbacks like Jim McMahon, Steve Young and many, many others launching passes on nearly every offensive play, the Cougars were good TV.
"We had a lot of exciting games. We started throwing the football before anybody else did, and so that right away created a lot of excitement," former coach LaVell Edwards said after the announcement. "ESPN was a new company and we were kind of the new kids on the block. We just kind of grew up together that way."
Edwards said he was initially leery of the independence idea until he got a call from Holmoe — one of his former players — on Tuesday night explaining what was being planned and why.
Holmoe's dealings over the last two weeks had been so undercover that even Edwards — for whom the football stadium was renamed — was out of the loop. Edwards could have likely learned whatever he wanted to know with a quick call, but said he didn't want to interfere with something the athletic department was so adamant about keeping quiet so it would hopefully go through this time.
"I'm excited about it," Edwards said. "I think it's going to be interesting to see how it goes."
BYU had a deal in place with the WAC that would have allowed the Cougars to join the league in all sports but football. It nearly happened, but the Mountain West pulled off a block by getting Fresno State and Nevada to join the MWC. The invitations were extended and accepted within the same day, leaving the Mountain West protected if BYU did depart and not giving the Cougars much of a destination if they chose to go before the Sept. 1 deadline.
West Coast Conference commissioner Jamie Zaninovich saw the predicament BYU was in and began talks about the Cougars coming on board the WCC. The eight conference members are all private, faith-based schools, making the league a very good match for the school owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Men's basketball coach Dave Rose said he was excited to be joining the league that includes Gonzaga and St. Mary's, but will be more excited once he's done with the Cougars' final year competing in the Mountain West.
He also noted that WCC member Loyola Marymount beat BYU in the 2005 season opener, Rose's first game coaching the Cougars.
"They're all pretty good teams," Rose said.
The WCC does not compete in track and field, swimming and softball, so there are still some BYU teams without homes. Holmoe said that is one of the many details left to resolve, one of many ahead now that BYU has committed to leaving the Mountain West, effective in June 2011.
-- Doug Alden
Orange prepare for Zips
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Doug Marrone embarks on his second year at Syracuse with the optimism that comes with the start of a new season, even if it's tinged with an aura of mystery.
"We're looking forward to it. We've been preparing for a long time and we're excited, I'm excited. " Marrone said of Saturday night's season-opener at Akron. "We don't get a lot of reports from Akron as far as what they're doing from an offensive and defensive standpoint. They're not covered as much as some other teams in the country.
"Knowing what to expect is different in the first game. I don't know what to expect from them," Marrone said of the Zips. "That is really the only anxiety we have right now."
Well, maybe not entirely.
Marrone announced his two-deep roster earlier in the week with some surprises. The biggest might have been Jose Cruz, a transfer from Hofstra. He beat out returning starter Nick Provo for first-string tight end. Two freshmen are listed in key roles — Prince-Tyson Gulley as the starting kick returner and linebacker Marquis Spruill.
"We have four or five tight ends who can play," Marrone said. "He (Cruz) has been by far the most improved player (from spring). Depending on what we do, it will determine who will go in there."
What the Orange plan to do is run the ball a lot as Ryan Nassib adjusts to his new role as the starting quarterback. Last season, he was the backup to Greg Paulus, and at times Nassib seemed to resent playing second fiddle.
Not anymore.
"I did a lot of good things and made a lot of mistakes, but I did learn a lot from those mistakes," Nassib said Wednesday. "I've been here a year. I feel like a veteran now. I feel pretty good. The game plan is coming along great. There's still a little nervousness, but I'm excited."
Nassib has a strong backfield tandem in tailbacks Delone Carter and Antwon Bailey, and Carter especially is glad to have another chance in his checkered career. After watching it nearly end with a dislocated hip three years ago, he rebounded last fall and paced the Orange with 1,021 yards rushing and 11 TDs. Then he was suspended from school in the spring after being charged with misdemeanor assault.
Carter rejoined the team for his final year when camp opened, and he couldn't have picked a better place to start the season. He grew up in Copley, Ohio, just outside Akron, and will have a host of family and friends at the game.
"I just want to go out there and do better than I did (last year)," Carter said. "The mindset that I had was I wanted to work hard and earn back my spot. We have a lot of young players. Coach is waiting to see how they react. (The veterans) want to give them confidence."
Marrone said he would keep close tabs on Carter during the game considering the circumstances.
"You don't want a player to try and do too much and do the extra stuff that gets him out of his play," Marrone said. "He just needs to play like he has been playing. He has been a good player here in the past and we feel his skill level is up from last year."
Marrone said he was pleased with the development of the players as he continues to try to make Greg Robinson's awful four-year tenure as head coach a distant memory.
"I see a closer football team," said Marrone, 4-8 as a rookie but only 1-6 in the Big East. "I see a team that is more accountable for each other. I see a level of trust between the coaches and players. Those are the things I'm looking for.
"You make decisions on players who you can count on, and then you put them out there in a situation where they can be successful."
Hurricanes eyeing 2013 game at Yankee Stadium
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami is looking to play at Yankee Stadium.
Hurricanes athletic director Kirby Hocutt engaged in talks with New York Yankees officials Tuesday and Wednesday about the possibility of Miami playing in the team's new ballpark during the 2013 season, and emerged believing that an agreement could be struck.
"I feel confident to say the Miami Hurricanes are going to have a presence in New York City," Hocutt told The Associated Press.
No potential date, or opponent, has been revealed, although it's likely any game would take place in November because of the baseball playoff schedule. Hocutt said there are "a couple options" on the table, but stressed he wants to make sure any deal is the right fit.
"There's obviously a desire on our part to get up into this market," Hocutt said. "The Yankee organization, they've expressed their interest and desire to have the game in the stadium. So I'm confident that there's interest on both sides."
Miami already has 10 games — five home, five away — scheduled for 2013, eight of them being Atlantic Coast Conference matchups. The Hurricanes plan to host longtime rival Florida on Sept. 7, 2013. Miami is scheduled to visit South Florida on Nov. 30 of that year in Tampa, Fla., the Yankees' spring training home.
That leaves two non-conference dates for the Hurricanes still to fill, and if the Yankee Stadium plan comes together, their likely preference would be to make the sixth road game of the year a neutral-site contest in New York.
"I think it's great for college football and the University of Miami," Miami coach Randy Shannon said. "You play teams outside of the conference a lot ... and it's an opportunity for us to be in the Northeast, which is a big University of Miami alumni base area."
Miami has already added one marquee non-conference, neutral-site game to its upcoming schedule. The Hurricanes will play Notre Dame at Chicago's Soldier Field in 2012.
There's a number of ties between the Hurricanes and Yankees — including Alex Rodriguez.
The Yankees' third baseman nearly enrolled at Miami before signing his first pro deal, has donated millions to his adopted university and is a member of the school's board of trustees. Rodriguez regularly works out at Miami during the offseason as well, but has not been part of these talks between the Hurricanes and the Yankees, Hocutt said.
Miami played in the old Yankee Stadium in 1962, losing to Nebraska in what was the final edition of the Gotham Bowl.
-- Tim Reynolds
Christensen supports new wedge rule
LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming coach Dave Christensen says he supports a new NCAA rule this season banning wedge blocks on kickoffs.
"It's probably going to take away some of the big, big collisions that happen with a wedge buster running down there," Christensen said. "It won't change it a ton."
The new rule says that when the team receiving a kickoff has more than two players standing within two yards of one another, shoulder to shoulder, it will be assessed a 15-yard penalty — even if there is no contact between the teams.
"So you can have two wedges of two, but you can never have more than two players side-by-side in a wedge on a kickoff return," Christensen said.
The NFL banned wedge blocking because of safety concerns about a year ago, and the NCAA followed the lead this year.
NCAA studies have shown that 20 percent of all injuries occurring on kickoffs result in concussions.
The idea behind the new rule is to reduce concussions, an issue that has received greater attention recently.
Another rule change this season bans the use of eye black containing symbols or messages, a trend that grew in popularity because of the use by Heisman Trophy winners Reggie Bush and Tim Tebow.
In 2011, a third new rule will take effect that is designed to clamp down on taunting on the field of play.
Currently, players who are penalized for taunting on their way to the end zone draw a 15-yard penalty on the extra point attempt, 2-point conversion attempt or the ensuing kickoff.
Beginning in 2011, live-ball penalties will be assessed from the spot of the foul and eliminate the score. Examples include players finishing touchdown runs by high-stepping into the end zone or pointing the ball toward an opponent.
Celebration penalties following a score will continue to be assessed on conversion attempts or the ensuing kickoff.
-- Bob Moen
EMU's English says he wasn't attacking single moms
YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) — Eastern Michigan's football team has always had a hard time creating buzz because its program gets lost in the shadow of college football's winningest program in Ann Arbor.
Eagles coach Ron English unwittingly pulled it off this summer at the Mid-American Conference's media day, saying he wanted recruits with a father in their background because they didn't need to learn how to be taught by a man.
"I regret that some people thought I was attacking single moms," English said Wednesday in his office that looks over Rynearson Stadium. "I was raised by my grandmother because my mom died when I was 18 months old. My father wasn't really a part of my life until I was a teenager. So, I have all the respect in the world for women raising kids on their own.
"I received some great e-mails from women, telling me they didn't know how rational people couldn't understand what I was saying and encouraging me to stick by my guns."
English insisted that recruiting players from only two-parent households is unrealistic as he tries to build a program that went winless last season in his debut as a head coach.
"Who could do that and survive? That's not realistic," he said. "Look at the landscape in America, where there might be more single-parent homes than traditional ones with a mom and a dad."
The Eagles open the season Saturday night at home against Army.
While English would've rather just talked football with the reporters who have followed up with him about his attention-grabbing comments, he's glad people want to talk to him at all.
"I'm not sure the attention is bad because no one in this program committed a catastrophic crime," he said. "I'm sure there's a faction of people on campus who think I did a lot of damage to Eastern Michigan, but I don't think people who know me believe I've done that."
English's boss is clearly on his side.
Athletic director Derrick Gragg was the one who made English aware he was being criticized for his comments.
"I'm very supportive of him and the way he's tried to explain himself," Gragg said. "The positive we can take from it is people are getting a chance to see who he really is, how he was raised and what he stands for as he leads our football program at Eastern Michigan."
-- Larry Lage
Penn State mascot cited for drinking, suspended
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — The man behind the mascot at Penn State is in trouble with the law.
Police in State College, Pa., issued an underage drinking summons to Clint Gyory on Aug. 24. He was also cited for public drunkenness and criminal mischief on August 1.
Gyory was supposed to don the Nittany Lion costume for Saturday's opener against Youngstown State. But athletic department officials said he's been suspended for a month.
Penn State cheerleading coach Curtis White said in a statement this week that Gyory regretted his actions.
"We are certainly disappointed in the news of this incident, perhaps no one more so than Clint himself," White said. "He understands that his poor judgment does not come without impact on the athletic department and the University, and he is most regretful of that. He will not be in uniform throughout the month of September."
An athletic department spokesman says someone else will wear the mascot costume this month and appear at all football games and other scheduled events.
Another student who played the mascot was suspended for the 2009 Rose Bowl against Southern California after a DUI charge.
Drake says it will play football game in Africa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Drake University plans to face an all-star team from Mexico in Tanzania next year in what the school says will be the first American football game ever played in Africa.
The school announced Wednesday that the Bulldogs, who compete in the Football Championship Subdivision, will play on May 21 in Moshi, Tanzania, in the inaugural Global Kilimanjaro Bowl.
Players from each team will hold a football clinic for local children. They'll also stay after the game for community service projects, including work on an orphanage, and to hike Mount Kilimanjaro.
Drake coach Chris Creighton says the trip will meet his dream of bringing American football to a place that's never experienced it before.
Drake officials didn't specify the cost of the trip but say they were accepting donations to help cover expenses.
More health problems for Ragone
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Notre Dame backup tight end Mike Ragone is suffering from an inner ear infection and his status for Saturday's opener against Purdue is uncertain.
It's the second physical setback of the preseason for Ragone, who was hospitalized for a day earlier this summer after a practice because of heat illness.
Head coach Brian Kelly said Wednesday after practice that Ragone is "in the infirmary right now. The report was vertigo, inner ear infection."
Kelly said Ragone had been doing well after his earlier bout with heat illness.
Ragone, a senior from Camden, N.J., started seven games last season and made six catches for 60 yards with a long play of 30 yards.
WVU's Pitt game uniforms are a nod to mine victims
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — For one game only, the West Virginia Mountaineers will forgo blue and gold.
For the long-running rivalry known as the Backyard Brawl — the Nov. 26 game at Pitt — the Mountaineers will suit up in black and white uniforms that pay tribute to the 29 men killed in the Upper Big Branch mine explosion.
Nike is footing the bill for the gear, dubbed Pro Combat.
The white is a shade that appears as if it's covered in a fine layer of coal dust. The numbers are in smudged black.
Accents and footwear are brilliant gold, which doubles as a reference to the canaries miners used generations ago to signal trouble in the underground atmosphere.
Troy keeping starting QB a secret
TROY, Ala. (AP) — Troy fans will have to wait until Saturday's opener to find out who's the starting quarterback.
Junior Jamie Hampton and redshirt freshman Corey Robinson have been battling to replace Levi Brown throughout fall camp. Coach Larry Blakeney says he has picked a starter for the opener against Bowling Green. He's just not saying publicly who won the competition.
Blakeney says he wants Bowling Green to have to prepare for both. Hampton is more of a runner than Robinson.
Receiver Jerrel Jernigan expects both Hampton and Robinson to play.
Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield says each has the whole offense down.
Ohio Senate asked to urge no change in 'The Game'
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio lawmaker is asking colleagues to join a cheer to keep the Ohio State-Michigan football game at the end of season.
Republican Kevin Coughlin of Cuyahoga Falls says he's sponsoring an Ohio Senate resolution urging the Big Ten not to tinker with the timing of the annual showdown.
League officials have suggested they may not be able to guarantee the late-season scheduling as the Big Ten expands to 12 teams in 2011 and moves to divisional play and a conference championship game.
Coughlin said in a statement Tuesday that it would be unfortunate to dilute one of college football's most important traditions. He says seven other senators are co-sponsoring his resolution.
Montana picks up former Washington TE Middleton
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A tight end who was dismissed from the University of Washington for a violation of team rules has joined the University of Montana football team.
Kavario Middleton practiced with the Grizzlies on Tuesday.
Middleton, a junior, caught 26 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns in 2009 and was slated to start for the Huskies this year. But he was dismissed from the team in July for what The Seattle Times reported was a failed drug test.
Middleton tried to transfer to Nebraska, but he told the Lincoln Journal-Star on Aug. 23 that he was going to have to play elsewhere because of academic and admission hold-ups.
