College Football Capsules: Twitterati to BCS: ‘We hate you. Signed, Everyone'

Say you’re a college football fan who still can’t make up your mind. Then one day you discover your hair is on fire. When you pick up the phone, do you call:

a.) The nearest fire department; or

b.) your hairdresser?

If you chose b.), congratulations! The folks who run the Bowl Championship Series are dying to meet you.

Ever since hijacking college football’s postseason in 1992 by forming the Bowl Coalition, they’ve had a tough time making friends and influencing people. They’ve thrown money around, tweaked the rules a dozen times and twisted themselves into a stadium’s worth of pretzels trying to explain why the sport doesn’t need a playoff.

Yet almost two decades later, only one out of every 10 fans agrees — and the number of coaches and players is only slightly higher.

The fact is there’s no good way to sell a bad idea. But that hasn’t stopped the BCS from trying. And trying. Even so, this latest scheme might be the most hare-brained ever.

First, they hired Ari Fleischer, the PR veteran who established his bona fides in damage control while trying to make George W. Bush look good. Next, armed with a Twitter account and Facebook page, the conference commissioners who run the cartel and the college presidents who enable them launched a charm offensive.

Early reports from the front were not encouraging. The Twitterati virtually carpet-bombed (at)insidethebcs. Even if you discard the over-the-top comments, there were so many stinging rebukes left that it was difficult to compile a list of the best. But here are excerpts from five personal favorites, collected on huffingtonpost.com:

"We hate you. Signed, Everyone."

"We especially hate you. Signed: Utah."

" ... not getting enough venom via the traditional media?"

"Do they also send themselves hate mail?"

"You are like a black, ichorous boil on the sporting world that should be lanced with rusty nails."

The Facebook page hasn’t fared much better. For starters, it threatened to undo the smartest decision the BCS had made since its inception: convincing Bill Hancock, one of the most-respected and best-liked administrators in college sports, to sign on last week as the first executive director and new face of the organization.

Instead of generating goodwill, as Hancock’s appointment did among the BCS’ legion of critics in the media, his foray into the social-networking world was greeted with catcalls of "stooge" and worse.

Fortunately, Hancock was his usual calm, collected self during a telephone conversation Tuesday. The personal attacks haven’t made a dent, because he never takes himself too seriously. On top of that, the conversations have become more civil with each passing day.

"We just thought it was time to take our place on the field, so the critics don’t have it all to themselves. We have a story to tell," Hancock said, finally, "and we’re going to tell it."

Good luck with that, since the narrative still has more holes than Notre Dame’s defense.

Fewer and fewer people buy the line about the regular season being a playoff, now that unbeatens from conferences both large (Auburn) and small (Utah) have been denied a chance to play for the increasingly mythical national championship. Almost no one believes, either, that a playoff would spell the end of the existing bowls, their pageants and traditions, let alone the junkets that players, coaches, their families and boosters demand as their due.

And even some BCS coaches (see: Paterno, Joe; and several others) refuse to mouth the party line about how a playoff would rob their kids of much-needed classroom time. They know that dozens of schools participating in the lower divisions that do stage playoffs would clobber their programs if the game was College Bowl instead of a college bowl game.

None of this is new, of course, and the people in charge of the BCS have tabled discussion of a playoff until the current TV contract runs out in 2014. In the meantime, they’ll continue praying that the TCUs and Boise States lose and fade away, along with the congressmen who keep threatening them with antitrust hearings every time they don’t.

Oh, and they’ll be regularly updating their Facebook page and Twitter account.

"People should not be afraid of their critics," Fleischer said during a telephone interview later Tuesday. "Playoff advocates have had it easy up to now. They’re dealing in a hypothetical world."

True enough — if by "hypothetical" he means a world in which the national champion is determined on the playing field, as opposed to being anointed by a cartel that exists to control who doles out all those Benjamins every postseason generates, and to whom.

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org.

Browns QB Quinn backs embattled Weis

BEREA, Ohio — Brady Quinn’s best game as a pro seemed to make him nostalgic about his college days.

With Charlie Weis perhaps down to his final days at Notre Dame, Cleveland’s quarterback said he would love to be reunited with his former coach.

"It’d be nice," Quinn said. "I’d like to play under him again if I had the opportunity. It’d be cool."

Quinn set career-highs with four touchdown passes and 304 passing yards in a gut-wrenching loss at Detroit on Sunday. On Wednesday, he spent a portion of his locker room availability addressing speculation about Weis’ future with the Fighting Irish.

Quinn played two seasons for Weis. One of the most popular and successful players in ND history, Quinn believes the school would be making a mistake if they fire Weis.

"Personally I think it would be a horrible decision if they did make that change," Quinn said. "I think there are a lot of circumstances that play into seasons like this. Hopefully he’ll have an opportunity to have another year with the guys."

There are signs Weis is on his way out at Notre Dame (6-5), which will conclude its regular season on Saturday at Stanford. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Weis will return to campus after the game, detouring from a previously planned West Coast recruiting trip.

With a manageable schedule, this was supposed to be the season the Fighting Irish returned to national prominence and made a BCS bowl. Instead, they have been plagued by close losses — five by a total of 21 points — failed to beat rivals Michigan and USC and lost for the second time in three years to Navy, a school Notre Dame beat 43 straight times before 2007.

Weis is just 35-26 in five seasons at the school, but has gone only 16-20 without Quinn, who led ND to the Fiesta and Sugar bowls.

Quinn said it’s tough to pinpoint why the Fighting Irish have slipped nationally.

"I know as a player there, one of the things we prided ourselves on was winning games and not worrying about stats or individual accolades, but pulling through tight games and winning games and going in there and fighting every week," Quinn said.

"I think if you’ve got enough talent on that team, there’s guys that need to pull together and start finding ways to win."

One of the arguments often given for Notre Dame’s struggles is that the school’s high academic standards make it difficult to recruit. Quinn sees it differently.

"It plays to their advantage too that smart players on the team are able to do a lot more from a schematic standpoint and prepare for teams in better fashion than other teams," he said.

Quinn had sympathy for Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who was punched in the eye outside a South Bend bar early Sunday morning, hours after the Fighting Irish lost in double overtime to Connecticut.

"It’s unfortunate anytime that sort of situation occurs," Quinn said. "You just hope everything is all right and there’s nothing else from it. That’s just part of it sometimes when the season is tough."

Quinn’s breakout performance against a horrible Detroit defense gave the Browns (1-9) and their fans some hope in an otherwise bleak season. Cleveland’s offense has struggled under first-year coordinator Brian Daboll, who employed a no-huddle attack that had the Lions scrambling.

The Browns scored four touchdowns — one less than their season total — in Detroit, and Quinn’s passing yards were more than in Cleveland’s three previous games combined.

The trick is to do it again.

"You don’t want to be a one-hit wonder," coach Eric Mangini said.

Quinn is trying to make the most of his second chance. He began the season as Cleveland’s starter, got benched after 2½ games and was reinstated after the team’s bye week. Before his four-TD game in Detroit, Quinn, just 1-7 as a starter, completed just 13 of 31 passes for 99 yards in a loss against Baltimore.

He threw three TD passes in the first quarter on Sunday, hooking up with rookie Mohamed Massaquoi for a 59-yard score on the first play of Cleveland’s second offensive series. The quick-strike play silenced a few of Quinn’s critics, who don’t believe he has the arm strength to stretch defenses.

Quinn also effectively used a pump fake to keep the Lions guessing and the Browns, who visit Cincinnati this week, moving down the field better than they have all season.

It was a major step for a unit that has looked mostly lost through 10 games. Still, it didn’t end with a win.

"I always think we’re turning corners and making progress every week," Quinn said. "But obviously, we didn’t put enough points on the board."

-- Tom Withers

Weis will help Tate decide whether to return to ND

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The much-anticipated talk between coach Charlie Weis and athletic director Jack Swarbrick won't be the only conversation next week that will have a big impact on Notre Dame's future.

ATHENS, Ga. — Mark Richt’s worst season as Georgia’s coach may not have hit bottom.

Richt’s 6-5 Bulldogs are underdogs for Saturday’s game at No. 7 Georgia Tech. Georgia must upset the Yellow Jackets or win its bowl game to avoid the program’s first losing season since Jim Donnan’s 5-6 debut in 1996.

So little has gone right this season that fans are demanding changes on Richt’s staff to ensure the 2009 decline remains the exception to the coach’s otherwise impressive resume.

Even Uga VII couldn’t survive Georgia’s dog days.

The 4-year-old mascot died of heart problems last week. A wreath was placed on Uga VII’s empty doghouse, setting a somber sideline backdrop for Georgia’s 34-27 loss to Kentucky.

Georgia beat FCS team Tennessee Tech 38-0 but otherwise has allowed more than 29 points per game, including more than 40 to Arkansas, Tennessee and Florida.

Defensive coordinator Willie Martinez drew criticism last year after Georgia gave up more than 40 points in losses to Alabama, Florida and Georgia Tech. More defensive breakdowns in 2009 have raised the volume of the complaints.

Richt fielded questions on his weekly radio show on Monday night about the defense’s problems under Martinez and the play-calling of offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.

"I think our fans love their team," Richt said Tuesday. "I think they want the highest level of success they can get. When they don’t get it, they get passionate about it. Some people want to tell you what you did wrong, some people just want to know. But the good news is they love the Dogs. I think without the passion of the fans, Georgia is not Georgia."

Richt hasn’t revealed his plans for Martinez or other assistants.

"Focusing on anything too far down the road is not healthy for me or the team," he said recently.

What about after the season?

"Every offseason you must reevaluate," he said.

Georgia players can’t help but wonder if some of their position coaches could be in trouble.

"I know that people outside of this football program talk about it and they certainly want changes," said freshman receiver Rantavious Wooten, who defended the assistants. "They’re going to call the right plays and we have to go out and execute them. It has nothing to do with the coaches. It’s us as players. We have to do everything right, not the coaches.

"It’s just as much our fault as their fault but some people just look at the coaches."

Richt and his assistants were celebrated for ending Georgia’s 20-year Southeastern Conference championship drought in 2002 and bringing home another SEC title in 2005.

Among active coaches, only Florida’s Urban Meyer, Southern Cal’s Pete Carroll and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops have better winning percentages than Richt’s .765 mark (88-27).

Georgia has two top-three finishes under Richt but tumbled to a 10-3 finish after a preseason No. 1 ranking last year. Then came this year’s losses to Oklahoma State, LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Kentucky.

"I think that all programs go through some cycles," he said. "We’ve been on a pretty good upswing for quite some time. This year has certainly been a downswing when it comes to the record. It is what it is.

"Will we get it back on track and get back to the winning ways we’re used to? I think we will. There’s no doubt about it."

Richt appeared immune to downswings as he posted six seasons with 10 or more wins while switching from David Greene to D.J. Shockley to Matthew Stafford at quarterback.

There was an expectation of another smooth transition when Stafford was the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, but this time Richt had to replace more than one playmaker. Running back Knowshon Moreno, another first-round pick, and receiver Mohamed Massaquoi also were lost.

Richt and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo expected senior Joe Cox would be a steady, if unspectacular, replacement for Stafford. Instead, Cox has been up and down. He tied the school record with five touchdown passes against Arkansas but he has 14 interceptions with his 21 touchdowns for the season.

Most frustrating for Richt is Georgia’s persistent problems with penalties and turnovers. Repeated boos came down from the Sanford Stadium stands as Georgia’s four second-half turnovers set up Kentucky’s comeback.

Georgia is the SEC’s most-penalized team and is next to last in the nation in turnover ratio.

Through it all, Cox said Richt hasn’t wavered.

"I think he’s stayed the same person," Cox said. "He hasn’t changed when we’ve struggled or changed when we’ve done well.

"He still preaches the same things that he believes is right and he has been consistent the whole year and that has been good."

-- Charles Odum

Multitalented Perry gives football 1 last shot

SAN JOSE, Calif. — At all of 23, Patrick Perry is a college football player, graduate student, substitute teacher, husband and father of two young girls.

Talk about a juggling act.

That's just how it goes when you're a sixth-year college senior who has already graduated and several years older than most of your teammates. The San Jose State running back received a medical hardship from the NCAA because of two seasons he lost with an injured knee. Between football practice and fatherhood, he finds time to substitute teach at an after-school program not far from campus.

"It's cool because I have my degree and there are options on the other side, but it's fun that I don't have to go to work every day and can go play football," said Perry, who seems almost larger than life sitting on a low lunch table in an elementary school cafeteria. "Being here, there's a lot of things you can take from working with kids that transfer to football. Here, I come and I'm the boss. I get to tell them what to do. Then I go to football practice and I'm just another athlete. I'm not the boss anymore. I get to look at it from the kids' point of view."

On a recent Tuesday in a low-income neighborhood of San Jose, Perry was leading a bunch of third-graders at Jeanne R. Meadows Elementary School. When he subs, he might be assigned to students ranging from first-graders to seventh-graders — good preparation considering he hopes to become a counselor.

He took charge in a hurry. He had no choice with this rowdy group.

"Listen, nobody should be talking except me. I'm going to start calling parents," Perry demanded. "Hey, it is quiet in here! Pull out your homework! Don't touch anything on the board. You know the rules."

Perry has come a long way to reach this point. He's not the same football player he was before having right knee surgery in August 2007, yet that didn't keep him from wanting to finish the college football career he started during his 2004 redshirt season.

He ran for a team-leading seven touchdowns in 2006 as a sophomore and became the first Spartans player in six years to score three or more rushing TDs in a game when he had three in a win against Idaho that made San Jose State bowl-eligible. After that, Perry missed the 2007 and '08 campaigns with injuries.

It's been a grueling road back, but he wrote an essay to the NCAA to make his case for another year. He found out he'd been approved only a few days before the season opener this year, though coach Dick Tomey was confident.

"I just practiced and didn't worry about it. It was a very long process," Perry said. "Coach Tomey always preaches about finishing. It was only right for me to finish. I had a decent year before I got hurt. I didn't want to finish with an injury, at least give me a chance to walk away on two feet."

Now, Perry has an ice machine at his house, which he uses for about 40 minutes when he gets home each night while he's studying.

The schedule is chaotic to say the least.

Tomey holds morning practices, so Perry takes classes at night.

"I'm very impressed with what Pat Perry has done," Tomey said. "He's coming back off of a serious injury for a running back. He's done a terrific job of showing he can be a big help."

Perry typically leaves home at 5:45 a.m. for a 6:30 a.m. football meeting, then has practice. From about noon to 2 p.m. he has time to do homework and pay bills online. From there, he rides his bike to teach, then gets back to campus just in time for film session. He's in class from 7 p.m. until 9:45 p.m., then gets home in time to briefly see his oldest daughter, 4-year-old Lailyn, before she goes to bed.

"It's a busy day," Perry said, smiling.

Perry also has a 1-year-old daughter, Riley. His wife, Sarai, is a law clerk in San Jose.

He knows most people wouldn't have tried to come back at his stage — not with so much other life stuff to balance. It's especially hard considering the Spartans' struggles and dismal rushing attack. San Jose State is 1-9 and 0-6 in the Western Athletic Conference, its lone win coming against non-Football Bowl Subdivision school Cal Poly on Sept. 26.

The team has been outscored 349-132 and Tomey announced last week he would retire after the season.

Perry is the team's second-leading rusher with 55 carries for 174 yards and one touchdown. He has two games left, then he can get on in earnest with his life after football.

"It's unfortunate how our season's been going," Perry said. "I could have stopped working and thrown in the towel and started my life. I think a lot of people would have. It's all in your character. There are a lot of people who come back from an injury as well."

Perry's final home game is Saturday against New Mexico State.

His teammates appreciate Perry's dedication and extra effort in challenging circumstances.

"We know his story with his knee. I've seen guys hurt like that and you don't see them for a year," linebacker Travis Jones said. "He was here every day in the weight room, conditioning, and fighting to get back. This year he was expected to play a lot and maybe it hasn't gone the way he'd like it. But when you look at practice, he's out there on the scout team working against our defense. He's doing whatever he can to help the team. If that's not a leader, I don't know what is."

Perry teaches two to four days a week depending on his football and school schedule. He has a bachelor's degree in communications and sociology and is nearly halfway through his master's in counseling. Initially, he started with the program as a volunteer, then expressed interest in a regular job. The nonprofit Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning, or CORAL, has some 140 students involved in the San Jose area.

"The big thing is his patience," said Dan Fukuyama, site manager of the program. "I think a lot of things he's taught them is the ability to go above and beyond. He is a father, he does have football practice. He does all those things."

The Los Angeles-raised Perry has followed the footsteps of big brother Roderick, who's just 13 months older. Roderick was the first in the family to graduate from college, then recently received his master's in business management from Grambling.

As far as his teaching goes, Perry knows it is helping prepare him for the various stages he'll face in parenting.

"I get to be on both sides of the spectrum," he said. "As a kid, both my parents worked and I attended the YMCA after school program. I think they kind of helped build community around my area. Even though my parents weren't there every day right after school, they gave me a safe place to go. When I was there I learned things and it helped form the person I am today."

-- Janie McCauley

One year later, Apple Cup still sour in Washington

SEATTLE — They came storming on the field a year ago, a wave of crimson and gray fans rushing the turf to cap an awful season for Washington State, defining the sad state of the Apple Cup where finishing the year 2-10 was something to celebrate.

That was 12 months ago when the Apple Cup served as the punching bag for the national media, a matchup of woeful programs battling for residency of the Pac-10 basement.

A year later football in the Evergreen State isn’t that much better.

They might not be the joke of rivalry matchups this season, but the 2009 version of the Apple Cup on Saturday between Washington and Washington State is still pretty rotten.

The Cougars (1-10) and Huskies (3-7) bring a combined four victories and zero postseason hopes into the pillow fight for state supremacy that for a quarter-century regularly had Rose Bowl or other major bowl implications on the line.

Improvement may be on the horizon for both programs. For now it’s hard for fans to see promise through the losses.

"What helps us keep our sanity and sleep well is the improvement we’re going to make," Washington State coach Paul Wulff said. "We just know this program is going to jump by leaps and bounds."

A year ago, it was Wulff leaping and bounding off the field in Pullman like a clumsy dancer after the Cougars rallied for a 16-13 double overtime victory over Washington that all but ensured the first 0-12 season in Pac-10 history for the Huskies.

The game was competitive and entertaining, but far from well played.

Getting any carry-over from that victory for the Cougars never developed. Their season finale this Saturday arrives with few fans feeling optimistic about the future. They’ve been beset by countless injuries from the mundane sprained ankle or sore shoulder to the extreme. Running back James Montgomery, a bright spot early in the season, likely will never play football again after suffering from "acute compartment syndrome" in the calf muscle, a condition that can cause serious illness or even death, and needed emergency surgery following the Cougars lone win over SMU in September.

Statistically, they are among the worst in the country and easiest the worst from a BCS conference. WSU ranks last in the Pac-10 in 12 of the 14 statistical categories tracked by the conference. They rank 104th or lower nationally in 11 of those, and are next to last in total offense (256.3 yards per game) and dead last in total defense (516.6 yards per game).

Of all the stats that can be traced, perhaps one is as damming as any: Washington State has not led a game in regulation since Nov. 8, 2008, when the Cougars jumped out to a 7-0 lead against Arizona. It later became a 59-28 loss.

The growing pains faced by Washington State the last two seasons were expected by Wulff. His job when the former Cougars center arrived back in Pullman was changing an attitude that became complacent after three straight 10-win seasons earlier this decade.

Fans accepted that. But they wanted to see wins in the process, and just three of them the last two years is making Wulff an easy target for disgruntled Cougs.

The big defeats haven’t helped either: losses of 69, 63, 58, 53, 49, 46 and 41 points have happened in Wulff’s two seasons. In the 10 years before the 2008 season, the Cougars were blown out by 40-plus points only four times.

"It didn’t surprise us. We knew that the first two seasons were going to be tough ones for us. It was pretty evident once we got here," Wulff said. "But at the same time, we felt we could be a little more competitive in both years. As you look at it, we’ve just endured more injuries than anybody could have imagined. That’s lowered our competitiveness. I think that’s been a big issue with us, and our depth and how that’s suffered."

At least across the state, fans at Washington can point to some progress under first year coach Steve Sarkisian. The task early in his first head coaching job was mental healing of his players as much as improving on the field.

"To go winless and to be a part of that messes you up mentally," Washington tight end Kavario Middleton said. "It takes a while to recover out of that."

Recovery arrived in late September with the Huskies upset of then No. 3 Southern California. It also instantly raised expectations that were likely unrealistic considering the depths of Washington’s fall last year. Those inflated hopes were even more crushed with near misses at Notre Dame, Arizona State and UCLA,

But there’s been the growth of quarterback Jake Locker in Sarkisian’s pass-first offense as another bright spot. His performances have pro scouts drooling about the Locker’s professional future that should continue Washington’s long history of producing NFL quarterbacks.

But while the Washington name has been somewhat redeemed after last year’s 0-12 stain, the inconsistencies that have the Huskies on a five-game losing streak entering Saturday still fluster players, coaches and fans.

Those lingering problems for the Huskies and the Cougars’ struggles again keep this Apple Cup from meaning anything more than bragging rights.

"You’re not playing for yourself," WSU linebacker Andy Mattingly said. "You’re playing for your coaches and teammates and family and friends and all the fans around the state. You hate to let people down by losing the game."

-- Tim Booth

Memphis: No offer made, Gray reportedly new coach

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson has not offered the Tigers' coaching job to anyone and plans to wait until the season ends before announcing their new coach, according to a university spokesman.

Leading candidate Jerry Gray, the Washington Redskins secondary coach, won't say if he has been offered the job.

Gray told Washington reporters Wednesday the Redskins are preparing to play Philadelphia when asked if he had been offered the Memphis job. He said a coach will know it's time to become a head coach when people are trying to get him and talked lots about distractions.

"I think our guys are grown enough to understand that distractions are going to be there, but the thing you've got to do is focus in a little bit harder, and it's good in my case because the distractions are out there and I know I've got to keep myself more focused on Philadelphia and not look around and say, 'OK, this happened, this happened,'" Gray said.

He reportedly interviewed with Johnson on Tuesday, and ESPN.com reported Memphis will announce Gray as its new coach once the Tigers season ends. The Tigers (2-9) finish up Friday at Tulsa.

Gray is in his 22nd season in the NFL, the past four with the Redskins. He played nine seasons in the NFL and was a four-time Pro Bowler. He started his coaching career in 1995 at Southern Methodist and moved to the NFL in 1997 as a defensive quality control assistant with the then-Tennessee Oilers as they played games at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

Gray stayed with the Tennessee franchise through 2000 before going to Buffalo as defensive coordinator through 2005.

"I'm just telling you, it is real hard," Gray said. "And to me with a lot of stuff going on, I think it makes you a better coach because the guys don't get off track because you don't let yourself get off track."

FedEx chairman Fred Smith is part of the Redskins' ownership group. He lives in Memphis where FedEx is based, and his son, Cannon, is a quarterback sitting out this season at Memphis after transferring from Miami.

Memphis spokesman Bob Winn said Wednesday that no decision had been reached and that no coach would be announced until after the Tigers' season ends. Winn said no announcement is being planned right now and that Johnson was in the office Wednesday morning before leaving at midday.

Tommy West was fired Nov. 9 but is finishing out the season. He is 49-60 and led Memphis to five bowl games in the past six years. He said the day he was fired that Memphis needed to improve its facilities or consider ending the football program.

The other candidate for the job is LSU running backs coach Larry Porter, one of the top recruiters in the country and a former running back at Memphis. The Commercial Appeal newspaper reported Porter interviewed for the job last Friday.

The Redskins currently are 3-7, and players there think Gray would make a great college coach. Gray said he hopes for a resolution to the distractions at the end of the season but was a big vague when asked which season.

"Hopefully the NFL season," he said.

Will he be with the Redskins for the rest of the year?

"We'll see," Gray said.

MSU's Fletcher finalist for Buchanan Award

JACKSON, Miss. — Jackson State offensive coordinator James Woody, offensive line coach Bruce Johnson and director of football operations Jack Bush have been fired.

The school announced the firings Tuesday in a press release.

"This will give us the opportunity to take the program in a new direction," head coach Rick Comegy said in a written statement.

Comegy and his staff took over the program in 2006, won the SWAC championship in 2007 and returned to the title game in 2008.

But the offense has steadily declined — averaging 21.1 points in 2008 and just 13.9 this year, 109th nationally among teams in the Championship Subdivision. The Tigers finished with a 3-7 record.

UCLA mascot gets USC paint job ahead of big game

LOS ANGELES — UCLA’s bruin mascot has gotten a messy paint job — in the colors of cross-town rival USC.

UCLA spokesman Phil Hampton says the statue in Bruin Square was splashed with red and gold paint sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Vandals cut through a protective tarp to vandalize the statue in the middle of the west Los Angeles campus days before Saturday’s Bruins-Trojans game.

No arrests were made but campus police are investigating.

Meanwhile, USC students in shifts are guarding their Tommy Trojan statue, which also is under wraps.