UCLA win over Tennessee generates conference pride
SAN FRANCISCO -- Everyone in the Pac-10 has heard all the talk about how dominant the Southeastern Conference is after its teams have won the last two national titles.
That made for plenty of interested observers when UCLA knocked off No. 18 Tennessee 27-24 in overtime in coach Rick Neuheisel's first game as Bruins coach.
"We get a lot of stuff from the SEC," Southern California coach Pete Carroll said. "I think it was a great statement that UCLA was able to knock those guys off for the arguments. I don't know what they'll say from the other end of it. I think you can't make a stronger statement than one of their top-ranked teams gets beaten by a team in its first opportunity for a new coach. That was a great win for UCLA and I think it does make a great statement."
The win by the Bruins was part of an impressive opening weekend for Pac-10 teams, who went 5-1 in nonconference games. Included in that total were three wins against teams from other BCS conferences.
California beat Michigan State of the Big Ten 38-31, USC overwhelmed Virginia of the ACC 52-7 on the road, and UCLA upended Tennessee. Washington State was the only team to lose a nonconference game, falling 39-13 to Oklahoma State.
"The Pac-10 had a really dominating weekend," Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said. "It really gives you a lot of pride as a member of the Pac-10 conference the way all of our teams played this weekend."
That's nothing new for the Pac-10. The conference went 25-12 in nonleague games last year, including an 8-4 mark against teams from BCS conferences.
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TIGHTEN THE TY: After Washington opened the season with its worst loss to rival Oregon in 35 years, the Huskies fans were predictably upset.
Following the 44-10 loss to the Ducks, Internet message boards and radio talk shows have been inundated with comments from disgruntled fans upset with coach Tyrone Willingham.
One fan calling a radio show said he planned to show up at Saturday's home opener against No. 15 BYU wearing a shirt reading "Save Husky Football ... Fire Tyrone Willingham."
"I'm aware of it," Willingham said of the criticism. "I'm as disappointed as they are. I think all of our football team is."
The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Huskies, who host No. 4 Oklahoma following this week's game against BYU.
Ducks coach Mike Bellotti offered some support to his beleaguered rival, saying the Huskies are a young team that will improve as the season goes on.
"I do think they're going in the right direction," Bellotti said. "I think it's very early, way too early to make any assumptions or decisions about any football team."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Ohio State LB Laurinaitis to return for senior season
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Two-time All-America linebacker James Laurinaitis will stay at Ohio State for his senior year.
"After a long thought process and strategic evaluation of the pros and cons of this decision with my close family and friends, I've decided to stay at Ohio State," Laurinaitis said in a statement issued by the school.
Laurinaitis, a 6-foot-3, 244-pounder from Hamel, Minn., won the 2007 Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker and the 2006 Nagurski Award as the top defensive player in college football.
The Big Ten defensive player of the year this past season, he set a BCS championship game record with 18 tackles against LSU in the Buckeyes' 38-24 loss, their second consecutive national title game loss.
Laurinaitis, the son of WWE professional wrestler Animal from the Legion of Doom, led the Buckeyes with 121 tackles for the season.
Most NFL draft projections have pegged Laurinaitis as a high first-round draft pick. During Ohio State's preparations for the game with LSU he had batted away questions about what he would do next season.
"I know I can still improve as a player, and I know there is still much more to me and for the Buckeyes to accomplish," he said. "I want stay a Buckeye for another season. You only get to do this once, so I want to take full advantage. There are a lot of things that money can't buy, and some of those things are the experiences of a senior season."
Coach Jim Tressel disclosed in December that he had urged 13 juniors to file the paperwork with the NFL to receive scouting evaluations to determine what round the players might be taken in this spring's draft.
So far, only second-team All-American defensive end Vernon Gholston has said he will give up his senior year to make himself eligible for the draft. The deadline for third-year players to declare their intentions is Tuesday.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
New Orleans laborers take low-pay work in post-Katrina city
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Half an hour after the Louisiana Superdome showcased this city's penchant for hosting a national party, the clean up crews moved in and showed how much is left to scrub down 28 months after Hurricane Katrina.
Temporary workers, many with limited job opportunities and substandard housing, accepted the $8.00-an-hour wage to mop up the spilled beer and nacho cheese that stained the aisles after Monday's BCS Championship game. They are happy for the work in the struggling city, they said, but many ache for normalcy to return.
"I think we're still going through a disaster," said Kalvin McCrimmon, a roofer by trade who said many rebuilding jobs have been taken by out-of-town firms, or Latino immigrants willing to accept working conditions and pay he will not.
"Things like this game help the city. In some ways it helps me," he said, explaining that a lack of better jobs had driven him to the clean up crew for the first time. "But instead of taking the jobs we can do, we're taking what we can get."
The Superdome is a model of what New Orleans can accomplish despite the widespread destruction of Hurricane Katrina, which submerged 80 percent of New Orleans in 2005. It has gone from evacuation center of the disaster to a centerpiece of its the city's resurgence.
But the work crews deal with many of the issues that continue to frustrate the Katrina recovery. The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center found that the unemployment rate has improved from 5.3 percent to 4.5 percent since the storm, but fair market rent has risen 46 percent, and large patches of the area are abandoned.
About 350 workers like McCrimmon scoured the 269,000 square-foot dome after the event, supervisors said. Their shifts began at 11 p.m., and continued overnight while much of the city celebrated the game. The workers wandered out of the dome at 5:30 a.m. and will not log as many hours now that football season is over. They also cleaned up after New Orleans Saints games.
Superdome managers declined to grant access to the building for interviews with the work force. But as groups of about a dozen workers milled outside, they explained the cleanup routine and job site culture that has developed.
"Almost everything is done by hand," said Charles Ordel, who watched the final seconds of LSU's victory on television, then walked out his door to work at the dome. "You put on your latex gloves. You put your trash (bag) at the end of each aisle and you clear section-by-section."
Another worker who asked that his name not be used said anything of value left behind by fans is kept for profit. The low pay is his justification for pilfering, he said, offering to sell two Blackberries that he found after a previous event.
Superdome spokesman Bill Curl said any Superdome worker who doesn't deposit items to a lost and found is fired, and the same rule applies to the temp agencies. "We expect the contractor to abide by our policies," Curl said.
Long timers like Arnold Covington, who has worked the cleanup crew on and off for 11 years, frowned upon workers who kept valuables. "The crew was a lot better before" Katrina, he said.
Covington said the city's climbing rent drove him into a two-bedroom apartment that he shares with four people. The strain of losing his house to seven feet of water during Katrina, he said, was the breaking point for an already troubled marriage. She moved away, but he chose to stay in his hometown of 33 years.
"It's the right direction," Covington said of high-profile events like the BCS game, and the attention they draw to the city. "But it's not always helping us."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Hawaii, Georgia arrive for Sugar Bowl
NEW ORLEANS -- Six of the University of Hawaii's seven previous bowl appearances were on the Warriors' home turf.
This year, Hawaii is the team that will have to adjust.
After an 11-hour flight through four time zones, the Warriors arrived in New Orleans on Wednesday for their Sugar Bowl game against Georgia.
"I've been trying to prepare these players for the media and the hype surrounding a game of this magnitude," Warriors coach June Jones said after arriving in the pre-dawn hours at Louis S. Armstrong International Airport. "It's going to be a Super Bowl-like atmosphere. I don't think they have any idea what they're getting into."
Jones' team got a bit of a taste when they were greeted by a brass band, per Sugar Bowl tradition, as they disembarked from the plane.
Wide receiver Ryan Grice-Mullen said he's been to New Orleans once -- when he was in first grade.
"I've heard about Bourbon Street, so maybe we'll check it out," Grice-Mullen said. "I don't think my parents took me there. We went to see some of the Mardi Gras, but it was during the day. I guess that's the kiddie Mardi Gras."
Shortly after checking into their downtown hotel, several players ventured to nearby shopping malls but most tried to counter their jet lag.
"After we checked in, my roommate and I went to sleep about 7 (a.m.) and said we'd wake up in two hours," linebacker Brad Kalilimoku said. "When we woke up it was 1 o'clock."
Guard Hercules Satele said Jones warned the players "to stay away from where we shouldn't be."
Hawaii held a team meeting Wednesday night and was scheduled to practice for the first time Thursday afternoon at the New Orleans Saints' facility in Metairie.
The Bulldogs' traditional Sugar Bowl welcome came when they convened at their hotel Wednesday evening for a team meeting that was followed by a practice at the Superdome.
Georgia is making its third appearance in the Sugar Bowl in six years. One of their appearances was in the Georgia Dome, though, because Hurricane Katrina rendered the Superdome unusable.
"To be able to go to the Sugar Bowl every other year would be pretty exciting," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said. "We've been able to do that the last six years. It's so good to be back here and see the city up and running again.
"We probably have more coaches' kids here than we have players. The families will have plenty of opportunities to enjoy themselves."
Richt said he'll give the players an opportunity to enjoy themselves too, within certain restraints. They've been told not to go to any casinos and not to leave the hotel alone.
They, like the Warriors, will have curfew.
After several teams ranked in front of them were upset late in the season, the Bulldogs hoped to come to New Orleans a week later than this, to play in the BCS Championships. But after a 35-14 drubbing at the hands on Tennessee on Oct. 6, Georgia's postseason expectations were far more modest.
Then the Bulldogs won their final six games and are satisfied with where they wound up.
"What a difference six games can make," center Fernando Velasco said. "After that Tennessee loss, a lot of people thought we'd be going to the Music City Bowl at best. To be in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl is very prestigious. It's a blessing."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Kentucky RB Locke out for bowl game
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY (TICKER) -- Kentucky running back Derrick Locke will miss the Music City Bowl due to a fractured rib he sustained in practice, coach Rich Brooks announced on Thursday.
The 5-10, 180-pound freshman, Locke led the Wildcats with five rushing touchdowns and was second in rushing yards with 521. The Hugo, Oklahoma native also made 13 tackles on punt and kickoff coverage.
Doubtful for Kentucky's matchup against Florida State on December 31 are senior wide receiver Keenan Burton and sophomore cornerback Paul Warford.
The 6-2 Burton, who could miss his final collegiate game because of a knee injury, was the Wildcats' leading receiver with 59 catches for 685 yards and nine touchdowns. He had battled a sprained ankle since the second game of the season and then incurred a knee strain in a loss to Florida on October 20.
The 5-11 Warford has an injured shoulder. He was second on the team with two interceptions and seven passes defended, and had 36 tackles on the season.
Copyright 2007 PA SportsTicker. All Rights Reserved
All Tebow, McFadden can do is wait
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is trying his best to avoid getting nervous as the hours count down until Saturday night's Heisman Trophy announcement. Arkansas tailback Darren McFadden already knows that's an exercise in futility.
The attitudes of the top two Heisman Trophy candidates illustrate the difference between the Southeastern Conference standouts.
Tebow isn't downplaying the importance of the award. He appreciates the honor of being a finalist for college football's most prestigious prize, but he also doesn't want to get too wound up over something he can't control.
"You can't do anything about it," he said, "so there's no need to waste your energy worrying about it."
Then again, Tebow hasn't experienced anything quite like this. McFadden has. McFadden, the 2006 Heisman runner-up, still remembers the knot he felt in his stomach last year just before Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith was announced as the winner.
"Right before they called the name, it seemed like my heart wanted to jump out of my chest," McFadden said.
And that came during a year when Smith won in a landslide. McFadden can only imagine the anxiety he will experience Saturday, now that he feels he has a much better chance of hearing his name called. The other finalists for the award are Tebow, Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan and Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel.
McFadden has joined 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker of Georgia as the only SEC players to rush for 1,000 yards in their freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. He ran for more yards this season than last year. He played his best when it mattered most.
So why shouldn't he feel confident?
"I feel like (my chances) are a whole lot better this year than they were last year," McFadden said. "Last year I didn't feel like I came on until the last few games of the season. I've been around all year this time, just trying to keep my name in the Heisman race."
McFadden is trying to avoid joining Army's Glenn Davis and North Carolina's Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice as the only two-time runners-up in Heisman history. Davis went on to win the 1946 Heisman Trophy after finishing second in the '44 and '45 balloting, but McFadden probably won't get that chance since it's widely assumed he will turn pro after his junior season.
Though McFadden has a better shot of winning the Heisman this season, he doesn't head to New York as the favorite. That distinction belongs to Tebow.
Tebow threw 29 touchdown passes and set an SEC record with 22 touchdown runs this year, making him the first player in Division I-A history to have at least 20 rushing touchdowns and 20 passing touchdowns in the same season. He ranks second in the nation in passing efficiency, and his 51 total touchdowns were more than 87 Division I-A teams.
The main criticisms of Tebow's candidacy are that no sophomore has won the Heisman and that nearly half his touchdowns came from 5 yards or less. Tebow can't do anything about the first issue and shrugs off the second one.
"I could care less if I have a long touchdown run or 1 yard," Tebow said. "It doesn't matter to me. It's still six points."
McFadden has rushed for 1,725 yards this season and matched an SEC record with his 321-yard performance in a 48-36 victory over South Carolina. He has rushed for 15 touchdowns and also has thrown four touchdown passes (in 11 attempts).
The only thing tougher than stopping Tebow or McFadden is trying to choose between them. Even a look at how they fared against common opponents really doesn't settle the issue.
McFadden rushed for 206 yards to lead Arkansas to a road upset of LSU, while Tebow completed less than half his passes in a loss to the Tigers in Baton Rouge.
On the other hand, Tebow threw two touchdown passes and ran for a pair of scores in a 59-20 blowout of Tennessee. McFadden rushed for 117 yards in a 34-13 loss to Tennessee and did much of his damage after the game was out of reach.
SEC coaches chose McFadden as the league's offensive player of the year. Tebow was named the conference's top offensive player on The Associated Press' All-SEC team, which was selected by a panel of regional media.
Tebow won the Maxwell Award that goes out annually to the nation's best all-around player, while McFadden was selected as the Walter Camp national player of the year.
Even the players who have faced both can't decide which candidate is better. If they do have a preference, they're keeping it secret.
"They're both tremendous players," LSU strong safety Craig Steltz said Wednesday each time he was asked for his opinion on the debate. "I'd love to have both of them on my team."
At least a couple of players at Walt Disney World this week for the College Football Awards Show were willing to take a side on the issue.
Even though he remains a finalist for the award himself, Daniel said he'd cast his vote for Tebow "without a doubt."
"When you're the first 20-20 guy in college football history, you're (a) 50-touchdown guy if those numbers don't win it, I don't know what does," said Daniel, whose team faces McFadden's Arkansas squad in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day.
Michigan tailback Mike Hart also sided with Tebow and said the Florida quarterback shouldn't be punished just because no sophomore has won the award before. "That's the only thing that's against him, but you can't hold him back (just) because he's a sophomore," said Hart, whose Wolverines battle Florida in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day.
Will the Heisman voters feel the same way? Tebow won't know for sure until Saturday night.
Until then, he's trying not to dwell on what may happen. Tebow simply is looking forward to visiting New York for the first time in his life.
"I've never seen any of it, so I'm looking forward to seeing all of it," Tebow said. "Central Park. The Christmas tree. Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty. Everything. I'm just looking forward to it. Just walking the blocks. I've never been to a city like that."
McFadden also is trying to enjoy the moment and not think about what's at stake, though his Heisman experience last year has taught him that task is much easier said than done. He already has put together the type of season he considers worthy of the award. He can only hope enough voters agree with him.
"I had a great season," McFadden said. "I put in a lot of hard work this year in the SEC. After the LSU game, I think I left everything out on the field. I did my part and did what I could do. Now I have to let everything else just fall into place."
Copyright 2007 Rivals.com. All Rights Reserved.
Texas center Dallas Griffin wins Draddy Award as college football's top scholar
NEW YORK (AP) -- Texas center Dallas Griffin won the Draddy Award as the top scholar-athlete in college football.
Griffin, a senior, was honored by the National Football Foundation at its Hall of Fame induction banquet Wednesday night at the Waldorf-Astoria in midtown Manhattan.
Griffin has already graduated with a double major in business and finance and is enrolled in UT's MBA program.
Fifteen other players were nominated from all levels of college football for the so-called academic Heisman.
The finalists from the Bowl Subdivision were Washington State quarterback Alex Brink, Notre Dame tight end John Carlson, Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon, Iowa linebacker Mike Klinkenborg, Illinois linebacker J Leman, Rutgers linebacker Brandon Renkart, Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith and Kentucky tight end Jacob Tamme.
The Championship Subdivision finalists were Texas State defensive end Nick Clark and Dayton safety Brandon Cramer.
Delta State linebacker Michael Eubanks and Chadron State running back Danny Woodhead were the Division II finalists. Woodhead set an all-division career rushing record this season.
Representing Division III were Mount Union center Eric Safran and Illinois College defensive back Jake Weller.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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