College Capsules: McGee ‘Horns No. 1 tailback as training camp ends

AUSTIN — Texas coach Mack Brown handed the top running back spot to Vondrell McGee on Thursday.

McGee and Fozzy Whittaker were the front-runners for the job for the No. 2 Longhorns. McGee pulled ahead when Whittaker missed several days with minor injuries. Whittaker is expected to be available for the Longhorns' season opener against Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 5.

McGee, a 5-foot-10, 205-pound junior, rushed for 376 yards and four touchdowns last season. Quarterback Colt McCoy led the Longhorns in rushing last season with 561 yards and 11 TDs.

McGee had a good training camp, but others will still be in the mix to get plenty of carries, Brown said.

"If Vondrell is making yards, he'll get a bunch. If not, we'll get someone else in there," Brown said. "Fozzy had an outstanding summer. He will play if he's healthy."

Cody Johnson, who rushed for a team-high 12 touchdowns last season, most of them in short-yardage situations, also could be used as the first backup.

McGee, whom Brown called "tough as nails" had his best game last season against Florida Atlantic when he rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries and also caught three passes.

His touchdown with 1:29 left to play against Texas Tech briefly gave Texas the lead before the Red Raiders scoring the winning touchdown 88 seconds later to hand the Longhorns their only loss.

Brown said he is still unsure of the running game at the end of training camp. He said Texas must run the ball better late in games than it did last season but won't get a true feel for that until the first game.

Basketball

Former A&M coach Gillispie charged with DUI

LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. — Former Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie was arraigned on a drunken driving charge Thursday after refusing sobriety tests during an early morning traffic stop in which officers said they smelled alcohol on his breath.

Police say they arrested Gillespie at 2:47 a.m. along a highway in Lawrenceburg about 30 miles from Lexington, where Gillispie coached the Wildcats until he was fired in March. Charles F. O’Connor, a passenger in the car, also was arrested on a charge of alcohol intoxication in a public place.

Gillispie was jailed overnight in neighboring Franklin County and wore an orange prison jumpsuit at his video arraignment later that morning, a copy of which The Associated Press obtained. Attorney William L. Patrick entered a not guilty plea on Gillispie’s behalf.

Judge Linda Armstrong also told Gillispie his right to drive in Kentucky was being suspended for up to 120 days and set his next court appearance for Sept. 23.

Gillispie talked little during the brief hearing. When Armstrong asked if he had any questions, he replied: "No ma’am. Thank you."

Jail records say he was released at 9:33 a.m. to the custody of Darran Winslow, a Louisville attorney. O’Connor was not arraigned Thursday.

Police responded after dispatchers received complaints of an intoxicated driver. Gillispie was driving a white Mercedes with Texas plates.

Lawrenceburg police officer Michael Corley clocked Gillispie doing 63 mph in a 45 mph zone and pulled up behind him at a red light. When the light turned green, Gillispie’s car stayed motionless for one or two minutes before continuing down the road, Corley wrote in his report.

Corley eventually pulled Gillispie over in a school parking lot.

"Billy had a strong fruity smell coming from his person (possibly wine) and had red, glassy eyes and slow, slurred speech," Corley wrote.

Corley asked Gillispie for his license. Gillispie said it was in the trunk. The coach appeared to be unsteady on his feet, Corley wrote. When Corley asked Gillispie if he had been drinking, Gillispie replied no, that he had been golfing all day.

The report said Gillispie refused breath and blood tests for alcohol.

At a Lawrenceburg golf course near the site of the arrest, Wild Turkey Trace, Gillispie’s name did not appear on a sign-in list of Wednesday’s golfers.

Police Chief Tommy Burris said in an interview he didn’t know where Gillispie had been drinking but assumed it was somewhere outside the county and he was just passing through.

"It was just a routine DUI arrest like the guys do a dozen times a night," Burris said. "They didn’t even know who he was until he was out of the car."

Gillispie was replaced by Memphis coach John Calipari this year after a rocky two-year tenure in which the Wildcats went 40-27. The arrest comes five months after Gillispie was fired, and the fallout has been messy.

Gillispie sued the university in federal court in Texas, alleging that the school’s athletics department owes him $6 million for firing him two years into a seven-year agreement. The university says he never signed a formal contract and the school doesn’t owe the money.

Despite the firing, Gillispie has retained a high profile in Kentucky and was a fixture at Keeneland Race Course during its spring meet, standing in the paddock before races and talking to fans.

The arrest marks at least the third time Gillispie has been accused of driving under the influence. In 1999, Gillispie was arrested on two charges: driving while intoxicated and improper use of a lane in Tulsa, Okla., where he was an assistant coach under Bill Self.

He eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless driving. The other charges were dismissed.

In 2003, in his first year as head coach at the University of Texas-El Paso, he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. The charges eventually were dismissed after a specially appointed prosecutor decided that there was not enough evidence to suggest that Gillispie was drunk. The coach, then 43, maintained his innocence through that process.

Gillispie addressed his mistakes during his introductory press conference at Kentucky in April 2007, saying he wasn’t "proud of some of things that I’ve done."

-- Jeffrey McMurray

Other Football

Column: Bowden passes up a chance to win by losing

Today’s lesson is about winning by losing, about surrendering something to get something better in return. It shouldn’t be a difficult concept for the second-winningest college football coach of all time, let alone a university president.

But Florida State coach Bobby Bowden doesn’t get it. Neither does his enabler, outgoing FSU president T.K. Wetherell.

More than 60 FSU athletes who played 10 different sports from the fall of 2006 through summer 2007 got caught cheating in the classroom. Of those, 26 players were on Bowden’s team. The nexus for all was a course called Culture of World Music, in which staffers provided the athletes with answers to an exam and even typed their papers. Apparently, kids aren’t the only ones having trouble telling Gnarls Barkley and Charles Barkley apart.

The cheating is not at issue, because Florida State uncovered the academic funny business and reported it to the NCAA in the fall of 2007 in hopes of cutting a more lenient deal. According to FSU, the punishment included four years of probation, loss of a few scholarships and sitting down some ballplayers for a handful of games — something Bowden, without fully explaining, took care of on his own.

When the NCAA announced the penalties in March, it listed those penalties and added a fourth: vacating every one of the wins those athletes piled up. Included was a national track championship and 14 belonging to Bowden, who turns 80 in November and has been locked in a rivalry with close pal and 82-year-old Penn State coach Joe Paterno for career wins.

Back then, this was what educators like to call a teachable moment.

Bowden could have accepted responsibility, made a point that academic integrity mattered as much as a topflight football program and taken the medicine without a squawk. Or Wetherell could have forced him to do that. Instead, they called the lawyers and appealed.

Now it’s a dogfight.

"To hold coaches accountable for something they had nothing to do with," Wetherell said at the time, "to penalize teams two years later when people have already graduated and don’t even know that they were involved, just flat-out isn’t right."

The tail has been wagging the dog at Florida State ever since Bowden grabbed the Seminoles spear and planted the team atop the college football heap. Beginning in the late 1980s, his teams put together one of the greatest sustained runs the game has seen. For all that winning, Bowden still trails Paterno by one, 383-382 — or 15 if the NCAA has its way.

"There ain’t nobody but me and Joe involved in this thing," he said during a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press recently.

"If you had me and Joe up here, and coach so-and-so was right there with us, then it wouldn’t bother me. But it’s just the two of us. It’s a two-man race. Don’t wipe the race out. Joe’s probably going to win the thing anyway, and that’s all right," he added. "But let us play. Let us play! They’re taking away our play time."

Paterno said as much and even Steve Spurrier — who memorably called FSU "Free Shoes University" during a 1994 scandal involving Bowden’s players’ and an unauthorized shopping spree at Foot Locker — came down on his side. That should come as little surprise. Few guys in the fraternity are better liked.

The school expects to be called to appear before the NCAA in Indianapolis sometime in mid-November, when a relatively tough schedule could have the Seminoles hovering around .500.

Bowden is in what looks like the last, or next-to-last year of a series of 1-year deals.

His chances of overtaking Paterno look slimmer by the moment. To really be fair about it, the race is already over. All 383 of Paterno’s wins came at Penn State; 31 that Bowden counts among his 382 came at Samford, which isn’t major college football by any stretch of the imagination.

When Paterno said he thought Bowden should keep the 14 wins, he said it mattered little which one of them wound up with the record.

"I think people are making more of it than they should. When they put me underneath," Paterno said, "I’m not going to know whether he had more wins, or if I had more wins, and who cares? Who cares?"

Even the athletes at Florida State wouldn’t need help to answer that.

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

USC’s Mays stays in school for big senior year

LOS ANGELES — Taylor Mays occasionally receives photos of shiny new cars with ostentatious rims, and he sometimes hears tales of landscaped McMansions in faraway suburbs. His former Southern California teammates haven’t stopped tweaking and critiquing his decision to stay behind.

"Cush is the worst," Mays says of ex-Trojans linebacker Brian Cushing, his former roommate and the Houston Texans’ first-round draft pick. "He just bought a nice house and a Porsche Cayenne. He sent me pictures. I’m like, where’s mine? He still owes me money, too."

But the NFL rookie lifestyle can wait a few more months. Mays still has a few things to do before he leaves L.A.

The All-American safety surprised even himself last spring when he returned to USC for his senior season. A near-certain first-round pick who always figured he would be a three-and-done Trojan, Mays instead chose to do his part to keep USC at the sport’s pinnacle for another year.

"The NFL is always going to be there, but your senior season isn’t always going to be," Mays said. "I’ll have a chance to put that last, final stamp on everything. USC is more than just me. It’s about leaving something for the guys who come behind you."

Mays is more than a defensive standout for the No. 4 Trojans, who are favored to win their eighth straight Pac-10 title. He has become the face of the West Coast’s marquee program, adorning the cover of the media guide and spurring talk of a Heisman Trophy run with his highlight-reel hits and a new attention to interceptions.

Mays carries major responsibilities this season for the Trojans, who have little time to get their rebuilding project together before a Sept. 12 trip to face No. 6 Ohio State.

Despite three new starting linebackers and a revamped line, USC’s defense must be outstanding this fall to assuage the growing pains of a rebuilt offense around freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, who was selected to be the Trojans’ starter Thursday by coach Pete Carroll.

In a program built on the steady leadership of Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez, Mays is the most important leader in uniform this fall — and if USC’s fortunes ride on Mays and his defensive teammates, that’s exactly how he wants it. After all, that’s why he’s still here.

"I would love to leave something with this program to remember," Mays said. "With the standards we have at SC, that’s got to be a national championship. We’re going to work hard every day to get there, but I wanted another chance to do that. It’s important to me."

Mays is the Trojans’ highest-profile holdover since Leinart, who also postponed NFL riches for another run at the national title. Both players also love the USC experience, with its picture-perfect weather, exciting campus life and remarkable connections to Hollywood and other industries.

While his former teammates sweated through training camp and whiled away their free time in Cincinnati or Green Bay, Mays filmed funny YouTube videos with the USC Song Girls, dated a Trojans volleyball player and went to the beach.

The Seattle native also didn’t have many players’ financial impetus to go pro: His father, a former NFL lineman, is a manager at Microsoft, while his mother is an executive at Nordstrom.

"Everybody who knows me well is glad that I came back," Mays said. "We talked about it every day for two months, just back and forth, but I know I made the right decision, even before we start playing."

Carroll famously wasn’t thrilled by Sanchez’s decision to leave USC last spring. He says he would have supported Mays’ departure, but Mays’ decision made the entire coaching staff’s life much easier, given his unimpeachable example in the weight room and the meeting room.

"I know Taylor, so I wasn’t surprised at all," Carroll said. "He was unflappable. He did a great job of understanding what was important to him and what he wanted to do, what legacy he wanted to leave at USC. I admire him for grasping that and doing what he thought was right. It’s more than a program to him."

Mays is considered the fastest player on a speedy team, but he’s also a musclebound hitter who strives to emulate Sean Taylor, the late Redskins and University of Miami star whose jersey and framed photo are in Mays’ room.

After making just four interceptions in his first three seasons, Mays will be going after the ball more aggressively, and his role on defense has been altered slightly to provide more opportunities to do so. If ball awareness was among Mays’ few perceived weaknesses, he realizes staying in school provided him with another year to study.

"You can be the best defensive player in the country and make all the big plays and all the tackles, and nobody knows about you," Mays said. "But if you get one touchdown on an interception, everybody loves you. ... I just want to show everything that I can do, every aspect of my game, while helping us win."

-- Greg Beacham

Freshman Barkley named USC’s starting QB

LOS ANGELES — Matt Barkley felt honored and thrilled when he learned he’ll be No. 4 Southern California’s starting quarterback in his first college game.

What this precocious freshman didn’t feel was surprise.

From the moment the nation’s most coveted high school player chose the Trojans last year, he envisioned his first season on campus working out exactly this way.

"I don’t feel intimidated at all," Barkley said Thursday night after another practice with the first-team offense. "There’s been some great quarterbacks here, we all know that, and I’m just excited to be a part of it. ... I’ve been preparing this whole time like I’m the starter. That’s what I came in here in January hoping to do."

Barkley will become the first non-redshirt freshman quarterback to start a season opener for the Trojans.

With an outstanding performance in training camp, Barkley beat out sophomore Aaron Corp to start the Trojans’ season opener against San Jose State at the Coliseum on Sept. 5.

Coach Pete Carroll unexpectedly announced his decision two days before USC’s mock game, which was expected to be a deciding factor in the derby between Barkley, Mitch Mustain and Corp, the starter out of spring practice.

Instead, Carroll and quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates felt they didn’t need to wait.

"Matt earned it," said Bates, in his first year running the Trojans’ offense. "It’s not based on (Corp’s) injury or anything like that. Matt has made some mistakes, but he’s learned from it and come back. He’s made it exciting."

Barkley was almost every college recruiter’s favorite passer coming out of Orange County’s Mater Dei High School, the alma mater of fellow USC quarterback Matt Leinart. After choosing the Trojans, Barkley graduated one semester early to participate in USC’s spring practice.

By the fifth spring workout, Carroll was shaking his head in wonder at Barkley’s maturity. Carroll and Bates only worried about Barkley picking up the intricacies of the offense — play-calling, signals and shifts — but the freshman now has it all under control.

"It was huge to get that head start with the offense," Barkley said. "If I wasn’t here in January, there’s no way I’d be in this position now."

Corp, another Orange County prodigy in his third year at USC, led the competition through spring, but Barkley took advantage when Corp missed two weeks of workouts this month after developing a small crack in a bone below his left knee Aug. 10.

Corp returned to full-speed practice Tuesday while wearing a knee brace, but Carroll said he will have a limited role in Saturday’s camp-ending scrimmage. Corp acknowledged he’s not at full speed, though he’s medically cleared to play.

"I’m more disappointed (than angry)," Corp said. "I continued to get better, and my legs are strong enough. Keep fighting, that’s all I can do. I still want to play. I still expect to play. When I do get an opportunity, I’m going to make the most of it."

Barkley also beat out Mustain, the former Arkansas starter who played eight games as Mark Sanchez’s backup last season. Sanchez, now the New York Jets’ starting quarterback, left USC with a year of eligibility remaining, a decision that initially bothered Carroll and set off the three-way competition.

Now Barkley must shoulder the enormous expectations of his position at USC. He’s following a near-decade of outstanding Trojans quarterbacks, including Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Leinart, and Rose Bowl champions John David Booty and Sanchez in the past two years.

USC opens its run at an eighth consecutive Pac-10 title next weekend against the Spartans before its most daunting early test: a trip to Columbus to face No. 6 Ohio State on Sept. 12.

"I couldn’t be more proud of this guy and what he’s done to position himself for this," Carroll said. "Of course he’s got a lot of new stuff to learn, but you couldn’t do more than what he did. ... He’s not a typical freshman. He hasn’t acted in any way like anybody else we’ve had in here. Hopefully we can play well around him, and the guys are going to rally around him."

-- Greg Beacham

Syracuse QB Greg Paulus back on old turf

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — It didn’t take Greg Paulus long to impress new Syracuse coach Doug Marrone, and it’s easy to understand why.

Listening to the former Duke point guard speak, he could pass for a cadet at West Point, Mike Krzyzewski’s alma mater. That’s a common trait in many of Krzyzewski’s players and one Marrone cherishes.

"Yes sir," Paulus said with a confident smile when asked if he was progressing as rapidly as he had hoped after not playing football for four years. "We’ll just keep trying to get better, keep trying to improve, just be more comfortable with the system. I’m just trying to learn to the best of my ability."

Marrone didn’t see Paulus throw a pass in person until the team’s first practice on Aug. 10, when the coach said Paulus’ right arm looked good enough to compete for the position with sophomore Ryan Nassib, who was first on the depth chart after spring practice.

Less than a week later, Marrone named Paulus the starter.

"He’s played, he’s thrown a football, he’s been an athlete, he’s made quick decisions, and he’s done a lot of things that correlate to the game of football for the last four years," said Marrone, who quit his job as offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints in December to coach at his alma mater. "For the people who question it, they haven’t been out on the field to see it."

Former Syracuse quarterback Don McPherson was one who greeted Marrone’s decision with skepticism.

"I’m a little bit of an old school football guy. I know that no matter how many national championships you can play in in basketball, big games you can play in, no one’s punching you in the mouth, and there’s no fear of anyone punching you in the mouth," said McPherson, who led Syracuse to an 11-0-1 season and a No. 4 national ranking as a senior in 1987. "But I think it’s kind of like riding a bicycle — once you do it once and you get back on it, you go, ‘OK, I remember this.’ Once he gets hit in the mouth, he’ll get used to that part.

"I think he’ll have success," McPherson said. "It’s hard to tell how quickly that success will come. It’s just a matter of how quickly he can knock off the dust and get back into the form he was in four years ago."

That form was special.

As a senior running a potent spread offense at Christian Brothers Academy, located less than two miles from Marrone’s office, Paulus threw for 3,700 yards and 43 touchdowns in a 13-0 season. He finished his prep career with 11,763 yards and 152 touchdowns passing and was named 2004 Gatorade High School National Football Player of the Year.

Heavily recruited in football, Paulus opted for basketball and became an Academic All-American and two-year team captain at Duke.

Just days after his basketball career ended in the spring, Paulus received a call from the Green Bay Packers, worked out for them, and had contact with more than 20 college programs, including Michigan and Nebraska.

In the end, Paulus found the best fit for his football revival was at home. After graduating from Duke in May with a degree in political science, he signed with Syracuse as a graduate student in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and began voluntary workouts with the football team.

Because he graduated from Duke in four years and did not redshirt, Paulus was able to obtain a waiver from the NCAA, allowing him to play one season of football at a different school without sitting a year.

One season is all he has, though, and there are many doubters who wonder if this is just a publicity stunt to fill those empty seats in the Carrier Dome that have become more numerous during the Orange’s plummet to the depths of college football’s top division. Syracuse went 10-37 the past four years under Greg Robinson and were 110th or worse in total offense each of those seasons.

At least one doubter has been won over.

"Do you put your eggs in a one-year basket? That’s one of the reasons I was a little skeptical, especially for coach Marrone as a first-year guy," McPherson said. "You want to come out of the gate as strong as you can. I was a cynic when he was signed and I was a cynic even during practice. I had all the questions.

"But one day after practice in the tunnel on the way out of the dome I had two minutes with him and I’ve got to tell you — there’s something about him that instills confidence," McPherson said. "Given who I am, the old guy hanging around, he had the respect and deference of a military guy, but he had this look in his eye, ‘Give me a pointer, tell me something.’ He was just soaking everything up that he could get.

"This kid’s got it. He’s got that leadership and that presence that makes you stand up and take notice. That’s what makes guys around you get better."

McPherson said Paulus has done things in practice that one would expect from a former point guard.

"He looks guys off, he’s comfortable in traffic," McPherson said, adding that the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Paulus had demonstrated the necessary arm strength to make the difficult throws. "But the thing that you just don’t see at this level until the whistle blows at game time is speed and intensity. There are things that he probably got away with in high school that he won’t be able to get away with at this level. I think he’ll be fine. It’s just a matter of when that happens. It’s a lot of pieces to put together."

It has to happen quickly: The season opens at home against Minnesota in less than two weeks.

"I understand that physicality is part of the game," Paulus said Wednesday night after the final practice of preseason camp, admitting he had rarely been hit. "That’s the way it is. I’ve tried to do the best I could in a short amount of time to gain some weight and some muscle. I understand the challenges that lie ahead, and I’ve done the best I can to prepare for those."

So far, the experiment remains on track.

"That guy improves every single day," star senior defensive tackle Arthur Jones said. "It’s amazing just to see a guy that played basketball for four years and just jumps back in there. If I didn’t know anything (about him), I would have thought he played football for three or four years. To see him grow from the beginning of summer to now is unbelievable. He’s going to shock a lot of people."

-- John Kekis

Hurricanes trying to get work done early

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The first wave of Miami players began trudging toward the practice field Thursday at 5:28 a.m. Hurricanes coach Randy Shannon followed 10 minutes later, the track of his footprints visible under the lights in thick morning dew.

Rise and shine, Hurricanes.

Early morning workouts are about to become the norm at Miami. The sun didn’t rise over the Greentree Practice Fields until 6:59 a.m., but by then, the Hurricanes were nearly done with their on-field work — even as most students were likely still asleep on the second day of school.

"It’s better for us in a lot of ways," Shannon said. "You get your work in, and then you’ve got the rest of your day."

Shannon came up with the plan midway last season, seeking a way to avoid having scheduling conflicts with classes and minimize the chance of afternoon workouts being interrupted by storms — a common event in steamy South Florida. For years, Miami’s typical practice time during the school year was around 3 p.m., and many players either arrived a few minutes late or left a bit early for classes.

This isn’t a short-term experiment, either: Tentative plans call for early workouts to continue for several weeks, possibly the remainder of the season.

"Man, I hate it," said senior defensive back Randy Phillips, tongue firmly in cheek. "You can’t even realize. No, it’s great to come out real early and see the guys respond to the conditions, and all that, getting up early and playing football while everyone else is asleep. It’s great."

Strength and conditioning coach Andreu Swasey sprinted out of the locker room at 5:39, shouting "Good morning, good morning, good morning" to whomever he passed on his 200-yard run across the typical football facility to the baseball diamond, where practice began. There’s no lights on the football fields at Miami, but the baseball field was brightly illuminated.

The air horn, officially ushering in the start of practice, blew at 5:42, mere moments after the last couple players sprinted on the field, one of them tugging up his pants as he ran. Shannon said everyone made it on time.

By 5:59, Swasey was barking "Hands on the line," as players ran a long series of sprints with Shannon looking on.

"Coach Shannon, he’s kind of an early bird," Phillips said. "He likes to get it out of the way so he can feel good the rest of the day. ... He’s just keeping us disciplined, keeping us away from the nightlife so we can focus on school."

Miami will likely continue having at least one afternoon practice per week, just to keep body clocks fresh.

"Actually, to be honest with you, I think we came out and did a really good job," left tackle Jason Fox said. "That’s the challenge of getting up in the morning, and for a whole team to do that, come out here ready to practice, that takes a good attitude and we did that this morning."

Many players darted into the locker room quickly when the workout was over, hoping to grab breakfast before, in some cases, 8 a.m. classes. It wasn’t a huge adjustment; 6 a.m. offseason workouts weren’t uncommon, and many practices during training camp started at 8 a.m.

Shannon liked what he saw, before retreating to his office to break down the tape and prepare for afternoon meetings.

"We came out and it was good, crisp, sharp, no layoff, no slackoff," Shannon said. "Guys were enthusiastic. We got practice done in about an hour and 30 minutes, we flew around ... it was focused, it was good."

-- Tim Reynolds

Spiller runs own path to Clemson success

CLEMSON, S.C. — C.J. Spiller sat with a satisfied smile, pleased his former Clemson roommate and close friend James Davis finally listened.

Davis, the "Thunder" to Spiller’s "Lightning" in the Tigers backfield the past three years, had run for 81-yard TD to continue an impressive camp for the Cleveland Browns last weekend.

"It’s what I always told him," Spiller said. "If he just put his head down, he wouldn’t be caught from behind."

Spiller would know — few have caught up to the speedy, mind-of-his own back since high school.

He long ago set a Clemson best with 12 career TDs of 50 yards or better as a rusher, pass catcher and returner. Six of those were at least 80 yards. Spiller, though, has raised just as many eyebrows with his career path.

Head coach Dabo Swinney, Spiller’s recruiter, remembers being about the lone voice in the Tiger coaches room thinking Spiller, a Lake Butler, Fla., native, would pick Clemson over closer-to-home powers like Florida and Florida State.

Then after Spiller’s freshman year in 2006, it was all but done he’d transfer back to the national champion Gators — some reports had him in class at Florida — to be near his then infant daughter.

And finally last January, Spiller surprised people again, telling a crowd of cheering teammates, coaches and friends that despite a first-round NFL draft projection and the desires of his mother to go, he’d return to the Tigers.

"He’s uncommon," Swinney said simply.

To Spiller, he’s just being C.J. He studied everyone’s advice at each career milepost, then listened most to what he felt inside.

"I’ve been here four years," he said. "What you see is what you get."

Clemson has gotten quite a lot so far from a player with just seven career starts in 38 games. He’s the school’s leader with 4,908 all-purpose yards and needs 921 this fall to set the Atlantic Coast Conference career mark. His performances are YouTube.com must sees, like his 96-yard kickoff return in last year’s opener with Alabama, his 64-yard return TD at Boston College last November, and, still Spiller’s personal favorite, his sideline double-juke of two Georgia Tech tacklers in a 2006 game at Death Valley.

In his first three seasons Spiller was surrounded by playmakers like Davis, Clemson’s second all-time leading rusher; quarterback Cullen Harper; and ACC’s career pass-catcher Aaron Kelly. This time, Spiller will carry the bulk of the Tiger attack. Swinney plans on more carries, catches and kicks for the 5-foot-11 senior.

Spiller’s plans? "To do more special things," he says with a laugh.

Tiger running backs coach Andre Powell watched Spiller defer to Davis, an outsized personality who loved to punch up practices with shouts and talk. Now, Spiller’s been more vocal, Powell says, pointing Clemson’s younger players down the right path.

Spiller has loved his increased leadership roll, pushing teammates to work harder each snap and every workout. And if they get too complacent as the Tigers prepare for their opener with Middle Tennessee on Sept. 5, "I’ll play some ‘Roll Tide’ music just to remind them," Spiller said, recalling the Tigers 34-10 loss to Alabama in last year’s first game.

"They know this year I’ll be more focused," Spiller said.

Clemson’s athletic department certainly thinks so. It has promoted Spiller for the Heisman Trophy, producing 6-foot posters for voters reminiscent to ones sent out in support of William "Refrigerator" Perry 25 years earlier.

"My line on that is, ‘How can he have a 6-foot poster when he’s not even six feet?"’ Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker said.

Spiller doesn’t let the attention sway him from his main goal — Clemson success. A year ago, the Tigers were picked as runaway favorites for the ACC title. Questions about the team’s offense and coaches — Swinney had never been a head coach or coordinator before taking over as interim last October — this season have Clemson in the middle of the ACC pack.

"I’m part of this team," Spiller says. "If my team’s under the radar, then I’m under the radar."

Expect that to change, if Spiller has a say.

"I know I still have to go in and put in the hard work," he said. "I still have to go out and perform and put our team in position to win games."

-- Pete Iacobelli

SEC issues new guidelines on game coverage

ATLANTA — Responding to a protest by four leading media organizations, the Southeastern Conference put out new guidelines Thursday for media coverage of football games.

The SEC issued the latest revision of its credential rules after discussions that involved commissioner Mike Slive and representatives of the Associated Press Managing Editors, Associated Press Sports Editors, the American Society of News Editors and the Radio and Television News Association.

Those groups sent a letter to the SEC last week, complaining that new guidelines would hinder coverage of games through new outlets on the Internet.

"It’s a very significant step forward from where this whole thing began," said David Tomlin, The Associated Press’ associate general counsel. "It’s still not going to be universally acceptable by any means to all news media. But the SEC has clearly tried very hard to address some of the concerns."

The SEC was eager to take care of the credential dispute with the season beginning Sept. 5.

"We feel we’ve addressed most of the concerns that were brought to our attention by media associations who filed the complaint with us," associate commissioner Charles Bloom said. "We took care of most of the major issues right at the beginning of the review process."

John Cherwa, chair of the APSE legal affairs committee, said the media organizations won’t issue a formal recommendation about the latest credential, leaving it up to individual members to decide whether it meets their demands.

One area that’s likely to raise additional complaints: television stations only will be allowed to show game highlights on the Internet as part of a simulcast with their regular newscast.

"There were some things that were important to us that we felt we needed to keep," Bloom said. "Mainly, the digital rights on the Internet and game footage on the Internet."

The SEC will make game highlights available to newspaper Web sites at no cost through its own, soon-to-be-launched digital network. Also, there are no in-game restrictions on the use of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, as long as they are not used to provide play-by-play descriptions.

"There’s been a lot of improvements since last week, and some of the credit goes to the SEC for being responsive to our concerns," Cherwa said. "No, we didn’t get everything we wanted. It’s not a perfect credential. But we got some stuff that was important to us."

For example, media outlets have unlimited rights to all audio and video they produce outside the game itself. Also, proposed restrictions on the use and resale of photographs were removed from the revised guidelines.

"One thing I am sure of is this is an improved credential from where we started," Cherwa said. "And the SEC is willing to continue the dialogue with us."

-- Paul Newberry

Sullivan replaces Carpenter at QB for ASU

TEMPE, Ariz. — In three years as Rudy Carpenter’s backup, Arizona State quarterback Danny Sullivan sometimes wondered if he had come to the wrong school.

Who could blame him?

Carpenter finished his career by starting 43 straight games, and with each passing week Sullivan wondered if his time would come.

"I told my family members, ‘I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stick it out if I have to,’ " the 22-year-old Sullivan said after practice this week. "But at the same time, that was the toughest three years of my life, just sitting there going, ‘Why can’t I be the starter?’

"It was just like, ‘God, when are we going to get to 2009?’ " Sullivan said.

The wait is over. Sullivan, a 6-foot-4, 242-pound senior from Los Gatos, Calif., will make his first start on Sept. 5 against Idaho State.

"This has made me a more patient person," Sullivan said.

Sullivan knew it would take a miracle — or perhaps a disaster — for him to play much as a freshman. The next year, though, Sullivan said he began to improve in practice, and that’s when he began having doubts about his decision to sign with ASU.

"I was like, ‘What would happen if I had went somewhere else? What would it be like?’ " Sullivan said. "At times, you think about that. But at the same time, in the back of my head, I was like, ‘This is where you’re supposed to be. This is your time. Just stick it out and good things will come to you, hopefully.’ "

Quarterback has long been a strength at ASU, which has produced such stars as Danny White, Jake Plummer and Andrew Walter.

Carpenter left ASU with 81 touchdown passes, four fewer than Walter, the school’s all-time leader. Carpenter also ranks third in Pac-10 history behind Walter and USC’s Matt Leinart, who leads with 99.

Carpenter’s departure created a quarterback derby among Sullivan, sophomore Samson Szakacsy and true freshman Brock Osweiler.

Szakacsy is more mobile than Sullivan, and Osweiler is said to have the most promise of the bunch. But Sullivan is the only one who has taken a snap in college, and his steadiness and experience tipped the scales with coach Dennis Erickson and his staff.

"He understands what we’re trying to do, and that’s so important," Erickson said.

Last year, Sullivan played in every game, completing only 15 of 43 passes (34.9 percent) for 151 yards, and he had one touchdown pass and two interceptions. For his career, Sullivan is 40-of-87 for 409 yards, with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Erickson said Sullivan had learned much as Carpenter’s understudy.

"If you spend time really watching and study and really observe the guy that’s playing in front of you, you can learn a lot," Erickson said. "And he’s done that. He’s a student of the game, and that’s what separates him right now from the other quarterbacks."

Carpenter could produce spectacular results when plays broke down, but he was also erratic. Sullivan offers reliability.

"He hasn’t made any mistakes," Erickson said. "He’s not going to throw it in a crowd, turn it over. He’s been very careful with the ball. I call it playing within yourself, not trying to make plays that you can’t make."

Sullivan is charged with helping to revive a program whose aspirations often outpace its achievements.

Carpenter led the Sun Devils to a share of the 2007 Pac-10 title. But after opening last year ranked 15th in The Associated Press Top 25, the Sun Devils lost to UNLV at home, launching a six-game losing streak that matched a school record.

The Sun Devils finished 5-7 and lost to their only ranked opponents, Georgia and USC, by a combined 55-10. With that embarrassment still in their minds, Sullivan said he sensed a renewed commitment among his teammates during offseason workouts.

"We had a different attitude going into this year, because 5-7 does not cut it anywhere, no matter where you are," Sullivan said. "So we’ve had a way different mindset than years past."

It’s a cliche that the backup quarterback is often the most popular man on campus, and when Carpenter struggled last season, fans called for Sullivan to start.

Now Sullivan hopes the same fans will be patient with him.

"All I hope is our fans can back me for this year," Sullivan said. "I’m sure they’re waiting for Samson or Brock to take me over. But I just hope they give me a chance."

-- Andrew Bagnato

Pinkel satisfied with Missouri’s final scrimmage

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Coach Gary Pinkel saw some things he liked in Missouri’s final scrimmage Thursday, but he also spotted room for improvement.

Now, the Tigers have a little more than a week to "fix things" — as Pinkel put it — before they open the season Sept. 5 against Illinois in St. Louis.

Missouri begins the pursuit of its third straight Big 12 North title having lost impact players at multiple positions.

Six members of the 2008 team were taken in the NFL draft, but the toughest Tiger to replace may be the one who wasn’t drafted — quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Chase Daniel, who threw two touchdowns for the Redskins last week in a 17-13 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

Daniel’s successor at quarterback is sophomore Blaine Gabbert, who led the first-team offense through its repetitions Thursday and will be the starter against Illinois.

Gabbert showed off great athleticism Thursday, making accurate throws and moving in and out of the pocket well. But most importantly, he is inspiring confidence in his receiving corps.

"He can be as good as he wants to be," senior wide receiver Danario Alexander said. "I feel like he’s learned the offense and gotten better throughout this camp."

Gabbert was 11-for-14 passing in the scrimmage. His biggest gain of the day was a long ball down the left sideline that Alexander was barely able to snag and stay in bounds.

"We have pretty good communication," Alexander said of Gabbert. "We’ve been working on this since July."

One position that won’t need filling is tailback.

Junior Derrick Washington had 17 touchdowns in 2008 and scored the only touchdown Thursday. Speedy sophomore De’Vion Moore has also drawn attention in camp and picked up a nice fourth-down conversion in the scrimmage.

"Derrick Washington did some real good things, and so did Moore," Pinkel said. "But we are going to focus on things that we need to do better."

The Tigers’ first-team defense did not allow any points, and the familiar sight of linebacker Sean Witherspoon dealing out punishment in the open field drew some oohs and aahs from onlookers.

Still, the Tigers will have to improve a defense that was last in the Big 12 in stopping the pass and ninth in total defense last year. The losses of defensive tackle Ziggy Hood, safety William Moore and defensive end Stryker Sulak — all taken in the NFL draft — won’t make that task any easier.

Overall, though, Pinkel was generally satisfied with what he saw Thursday.

"We got everything done we wanted to get done here," Pinkel said. "Now we have to watch the film tomorrow and get in here Saturday morning for our first practice. We have seven days to fix things."

Entering the start of the regular season, the Tigers have some dings and dents.

Sophomore tight end Andrew Jones suffered a hip pointer earlier in the week but played Thursday and made a couple of nice catches.

But the Tigers lost junior safety Jarrell Harrison to a dislocated elbow, and Pinkel was unsure of the status of tackle Dan Hoch, who sprained a knee Tuesday.

-- Harry Plumer

Bo Jackson says he’s been lucky despite hip injury

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Bo Jackson wouldn’t change a thing.

The 1985 Heisman Trophy winner told about 300 people attending a College Football Hall of Fame luncheon Thursday that people often tell him how sorry they are that his football and baseball careers were cut short by a hip injury he sustained in 1991.

"Don’t be sorry for me. It was a blessing in disguise," he said. "We as humans have to realize that God puts speed bumps in our road of life. My speed bump was me injuring myself. I’ve gotten over that. I’ve moved on from being an employee to being an employer."

The 46-year-old businessman, who played two more seasons with the White Sox after hip replacement surgery in 1992, still lives in the Chicago area. He is a part owner of the Burr Ridge Bank & Trust and own the Bo Jackson Elite Sports Complex in Lockport, Ill.

Jackson said he finds being a businessman just as rewarding and challenging as being an athlete.

"I’m learning something new every day. I’m eager to learn," he said. "I’m also learning that if you don’t watch yourself you can be taken advantage of quickly in the business world. The thing I try to do is surround myself with smart, astute business people and that seems to help out a great deal."

Jackson, 46, entertained the crowd, telling them his name is short for "Boar Hog," a nickname neighborhood kids gave him because he was so tough. His mother named him Vincent Edward because she had a crush on actor Vince Edwards who starred in the 1960s TV show "Ben Casey."

He also said he always had extra motivation to play well against the New York Yankees because he believed team owner George Streinbrenner had told people that he had accepted a payoff to attend Auburn after he passed up a $250,000 signing bonus with the Yankees.

"He said in print the reason Vincent Jackson didn’t sign with the Yankees was because since he signed with Auburn University he and his brothers and sisters are all driving nice cars and his mother just became owner of a chain of 7-Eleven stores," Jackson said. "I’m thinking, ‘How can he say that?’ And if it’s true, where’s the Porsche I’m supposed to be driving."

Jackson said he chose college because he wanted to be the first in his family to go to a four-year school. It took a little longer than originally planned, but in 1995 he earned his degree in family and child development from Auburn.

Jackson surprised the sports world back in 1986 when he was taken No. 1 in the NFL draft and spurned a $7 million offer from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Instead he signed to play baseball with the Kansas City Royals. He said he made the decision after visiting Tampa Bay and getting some advice from a well-known veteran defensive player on the Buccaneers, who went 2-14 the previous season.

"He said, ‘Man you don’t want to come here,"’ Jackson said. "I said, ‘OK."’

A year later his agent asked him if he had a problem with an NFL team drafting him and signing him to play football part time.

"I don’t as long as it’s not the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," Jackson said.

He was eventually taken by the Los Angeles Raiders, for whom he played until he was hurt.

With the Royals, Jackson recalled meeting Ronald Reagan at the 1989 All-Star game when he and Wade Boggs hit back-to-back home runs at the All-Star Game. He said shaking the former president’s hand was more memorable than the home run.

"That’s a big deal in everybody’s life," he said.

Another big event for Jackson happened that year. He made the "Bo Knows" commercial in which Michael Jordan, Kirk Gibson, Jim Everett and other sports stars attest that Bo knows their sport, then Wayne Gretzky skates up and says, "No." The commercial ends with Jackson trying to play a guitar on stage along with Bo Diddley.

Jackson said his mother, uncles and aunts, all big fans of Diddley, wouldn’t believe he was with the famous musician until they saw the commercial.

"That’s part of what makes my life so unique," Jackson said. "I’ve gotten to do things, go places, see people, that I never dreamed of. It’s fun."

-- Tom Coyne