Home » Coll. Football
Coll. Football
NEW ORLEANS (AP and Staff) — The points have been piling up so fast this postseason it’s as if they’re giving away touchdowns along with all those video games and watches the bowls hand out to players. 41-38. 45-38. 67-56. 70-33. Seemingly endless offense has left LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers wondering: “Where is the defense at? Does it exist?” It will in the BCS title game. When No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama meet at the Superdome on Monday, expect every yard to be earned and touchdowns to be at a premium — again. Round 1 between the Tigers and Crimson Tide was the definition of a defensive standoff. LSU’s 9-6 overtime victory turned into a field goal-kicking contest and left many fans outside SEC country less than thrilled about watching Round 2. But for LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis, who spent 20 years as a defensive assistant at Tennessee before joining coach Les Miles in Baton Rouge in 2009, that first game was a thing of beauty. “When you got guys that are scoring every two minutes and the other team is scoring every two minutes, that’s certainly exciting football for the fans to watch, but jeez,” he said Thursday. “I got enough gray hair. I don’t ever want to see any of that.” Then the Southeastern Conference is the place to be — especially this season. Coming into the bowl games, the top four teams in the nation in total defense were from the SEC, led by Alabama at No. 1 and LSU at No. 2, and followed by Georgia and South Carolina. During the SEC’s run of what will be six straight BCS titles after Monday night, the conference’s top teams have often separated themselves from the best teams from the rest of the nation by excelling on defense and neutralizing potent spread offenses, like those from Oklahoma, Texas and Oregon. Florida’s championship teams in 2006 and 2008 finished sixth and ninth, respectively, in total defense, and held their BCS title game opponents to a total of 28 points. LSU was third in the nation in total defense after it won it all in ’07 and Alabama was second in ’09. Auburn was the exception last season, ranking 60th, though the Tigers did manage to limit Oregon to 19 points in the title game. “The SEC has the best defensive linemen, no doubt,” [...]
Read More » | Comment »
NEW ORLEANS (AP and Staff) — AJ McCarron tried it Nick Saban’s way. He really did. The quarterback for No. 2 Alabama curbed his emotions for the Crimson Tide’s first game with No. 1 LSU this season, did his best to be the calm, steady leader his coach wanted. McCarron didn’t make a lot of noise, didn’t go after any opposing defensive linemen. He didn’t produce any touchdowns, either, and the Tide lost 9-6 in overtime. So much for cool and collected. “I’ve got to play with emotion,” McCarron said Thursday in a rare visit with reporters ahead of Monday’s BCS title game with the Tigers. “Last game, I just tried to stay calm the whole game. I think, in the end, I wasn’t playing my game. After the Florida game, we had a talk and (Saban) was like, ‘Just slow your emotions down.’ “After the LSU game, we had another talk and he said, ‘All right, I want you to play with your emotions again.’ He knows how I play the game.” The McCarron-and-Saban dynamic has been anything but calm during the redshirt sophomore’s first three seasons. There’s been a sideline spank, and tirades captured on TV. But there also have been good moments, like when Saban said before the 2009 championship game that if starter Greg McElroy was hurt, forget the redshirt. McCarron would be his guy. The on-field relationship, and McCarron’s play and leadership, have certainly evolved. There’s no doubt he is Saban’s starter now. “I think our team is very confident in AJ,” Saban said. “He does have leadership qualities and he does affect other people with his positive energy and attitude.” His play hasn’t been bad, either. McCarron, whose fight for the starting spot with Phillip Sims carried over into the season, has completed 66.7 percent of his passes for 2,216 yards with 16 touchdowns against five interceptions. Only LSU’s ex-starter Jarrett Lee has a higher efficiency rating among Southeastern Conference quarterbacks. “He’s become a whole lot better since that (first) game,” LSU safety Brandon Taylor said. “He led his team to the national championship so he’s doing the right thing.” McCarron has only spoken to the media three times this season, all after games. He said that was by mutual agreement with Saban so he could “focus on my game and let the guys know that I’m here to play and here [...]
Read More » | Comment »
MIAMI (AP & Staff) — The West Virginia Mountaineers were tough to slow down, and only the Orange Bowl mascot could stop Darwin Cook. Geno Smith tied the record for any bowl game with six touchdown passes, and the No. 23-ranked Mountaineers set a bowl scoring record Wednesday night with their high-powered offense. But safety Cook made the pivotal play by returning a fumble 99 yards for a touchdown to break the game open and help rout No. 14 Clemson 70-33. Cook collided comically with mascot Obie after scoring one of the Mountaineers’ five TDs in the second quarter, including three in the final 2:29 for a 49-20 lead. It was the highest-scoring half by a team in a bowl game. “I always envisioned making great plays,” Cook said. “If you think it will happen, it will happen.” Tavon Austin tied a record for any bowl game with four touchdown catches. Smith went 31 for 42, and had 401 yards passing to break Tom Brady’s Orange Bowl record. Smith also ran for a score, helping West Virginia break the bowl record for points established six nights earlier when Baylor beat Washington 67-56 in the Alamo Bowl. “Never could we imagine we’d put up 70 points,” Smith said. The Mountaineers (10-3) won in their first Orange Bowl appearance and improved to 3-0 in Bowl Championship Series games. “The guys wanted to come in and make a statement, and the only way you can do that is if you play well on all three sides of the ball,” coach Dana Holgorsen said. Clemson (10-4) lost playing in its first major bowl in 30 years. “We’re a better team than we played tonight,” coach Dabo Swinney said. “Just too many mistakes. But we’ll be back.” The offensive showcase was the latest in a succession this bowl season, and perhaps the last. Defense is expected to dominate in the final BCS game Monday night when Louisiana State faces Alabama for the national title. Tacklers had their hands full — or rather, they didn’t — on a chilly night in Miami. Smith and Austin combined on scoring passes of 8, 27, 3 and 37 yards, and Shawne Alston scored on two short runs for West Virginia, which totaled 589 yards and 31 first downs. Smith was chosen the game’s outstanding player. Even when Clemson managed to corral the Mountaineers, the play wasn’t always over. Andrew [...]
Read More » | Comment »
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP and Staff) — Oklahoma State has its chance to be in the national-championship conversation. All the Cowboys need now is a little help from Alabama. Surviving a missed field goal at the end of regulation and getting a big kick of its own in overtime, No. 3 Oklahoma State opened the door for the chance at a split national championship with a wildly entertaining 41-38 win over No. 4 Stanford on Monday night. “There is nothing we can do from here,” said Oklahoma State receiver Justin Blackmon, who tied the Fiesta Bowl record with three touchdown catches. “I do think we do have the best team in the nation.” Oklahoma State (12-1) kept pace with Andrew Luck and the high-scoring Cardinal, getting huge performances from its two stars, Brandon Weeden and Blackmon, in their final college game. Weeden threw for 399 yards and the three touchdowns to Blackmon, who announced he’s leaving for the NFL after catching eight passes for 186 yards. All that and the Cowboys’ fortunes came down to two legs, those of Stanford kicker Jordan Williamson and their own Quinn Sharp. Williamson couldn’t come through. The redshirt freshman missed a 35-yard field goal wide left as time expired in regulation and another from 43 yards to open overtime. Given a chip shot after Weeden hit Colton Chelf on a 24-yard pass — initially ruled a touchdown but overturned on review — Sharp came through, sending his 22-yard field goal through the uprights and the Cowboys charging onto the field. Should Alabama knock off top-ranked LSU in next week’s BCS championship game, Oklahoma State will be right there, ready to stake its claim at being No. 1 in The Associated Press poll. “We feel like we could beat anyone in the country,” Chelf said. Stanford (11-2) had its chances. The Cardinal had 590 yards of offense — nearly 200 more than Oklahoma State — got another stellar game from Luck before he heads to the NFL, and ran over Oklahoma State’s defense behind Stepfan Taylor. They just couldn’t finish it off. Luck calmly led Stanford 63 yards over the final 2:35 of regulation to set up a chance at winning its second BCS bowl game in two years. Instead, Williamson missed in regulation, again in overtime and was left sobbing in front of his locker while his coaches and teammates tried to shoulder [...]
Read More » | Comment »
TAMPA, Fla. (AP and Staff) — Down a touchdown with less than two minutes remaining and a long way to go, Kirk Cousins found a way to give Michigan State a parting gift. A cornerstone of coach Mark Dantonio’s rebuilding project, Cousins led a late rally in the fourth quarter and Dan Conroy kicked a 28-yard field goal in the third overtime to lift the 12th-ranked Spartans over the No. 18 Bulldogs 33-30 Monday in the Outback Bowl. Michigan State (11-3) ended a five-game bowl losing streak with its first postseason win since beating Fresno State in the 2001 Silicon Valley Bowl. To do it, the Spartans — who had been 0-4 in bowl games under Dantonio — overcame a 16-0 halftime deficit and scored the tying touchdown with 14 seconds left in regulation. “All week, all month, really, there was a sense of urgency in our preparation because the fact that for me as a senior, this was the last shot. Certainly all game long we felt that same way,” said Cousins, who completed 27 of 50 passes for 300 yards and was intercepted three times. He was at his best during the tying 85-play, 10-yard drive in the closing minutes. “And at halftime we had our doubts because of how successful their defense was in stopping us. … But we found a way. It wasn’t perfect, but we certainly showed character, and that’s what I’m most proud of,” Cousins added. “We played with a great deal of maturity and toughness, and we weren’t afraid. We didn’t back down, and we found a way at the end. And that’s what great teams do.” Georgia’s Blair Walsh became the Southeastern Conference’s career scoring leader with a field goal in the second extra period. But he missed a 42-yarder in the first overtime after conservative play-calling and had a 47-yard attempt blocked on the final play of the game. The Spartans handed the Big Ten its lone win in three bowl matchups Monday against SEC opponents — Florida beat Ohio State and South Carolina stopped Nebraska. “Big win against a great football team, against an SEC team, against a team that won their division and that was 10-2 in the regular season. … There’s not a football team that we cannot play with and not win against. We’ve done that,” Dantonio said. “We’ve beaten every football team in the [...]
Read More » | Comment »
PASADENA, Calif. (AP and Staff) — Oregon’s incredible offense busted up Wisconsin and the record books on the way to the Ducks’ first Rose Bowl victory in 95 years. Darron Thomas passed for three touchdowns, De’Anthony Thomas scored on runs of 91 and 64 yards, and the No. 6 Ducks earned their first bowl victory under coach Chip Kelly, holding off Wisconsin 45-38 Monday night in the highest-scoring Rose Bowl ever played. And it wasn’t over until a video review confirmed the Badgers (11-3) ran out of time at the Oregon 25, out of timeouts and unable to spike the ball in time to stop the clock for a last-gasp fling. Lavasier Tuinei caught eight passes for 158 yards and two TDs for the Ducks (12-2), who had no postseason success to show for Kelly’s otherwise wildly successful three-year tenure until this landmark offensive performance in the 98th Rose Bowl. Oregon hadn’t won the West Coast’s biggest game since 1917. “It’s been 95 years since you could say: Oregon Ducks, Rose Bowl champions,” Kelly said after the Ducks held Wisconsin scoreless in the fourth quarter. The Granddaddy of Them All had never seen this many points, beating the record 80 scored by Washington and Iowa in 1991. With the Ducks wearing mirrored helmets and playing at their usual frantic pace, Oregon racked up 621 total yards, just shy of the Rose Bowl record. Montee Ball rushed for 122 of his 164 yards in the first half for the Badgers (11-3), who lost the Rose Bowl for the second straight year despite managing 508 yards of their own. Ball tied Barry Sanders’ FBS record with his 39th touchdown of the season, while Russell Wilson passed for 296 yards and two scores. “This team showed what Oregon football is all about,” said linebacker Kiko Alonso, named the game’s top defensive player after getting a key interception. Wisconsin had two drives to tie it after Oregon kicked a field goal with 6:50 to play, but Jared Abbrederis fumbled near the Oregon sideline after making a long catch. The ball plopped onto the turf without even bouncing, and Oregon’s Michael Clay jumped on it with 4:06 left. That video review went the Ducks’ way, too. The Badgers had burned two timeouts early in the second half, so Oregon was able to run the clock down to 23 seconds before punting. Wilson connected [...]
Read More » | Comment »
DALLAS (AP and Staff) — Penn State’s tumultuous year ended with a 30-14 loss to Houston in the TicketCity Bowl on Monday, a dispiriting finish to a season in which coach Joe Paterno was fired as part of a child sex-abuse scandal that shook college sports. The 24th-ranked Nittany Lions were picked apart by Cougars star Case Keenum, who threw for 532 yards and three touchdowns. Penn State was allowing 162 yards passing per game, but Keenum threw for more than double that by halftime. “I thought the guys came out and they played hard. It’s been a difficult year for them,” Penn State interim coach Tom Bradley said. “It just didn’t go our way.” Keenum burned the Nittany Lions’ veteran secondary with touchdown passes of 40 and 75 yards to build a 24-7 lead by halftime. It was the school’s first bowl game without Paterno as head coach since the 1962 Gator Bowl, a 17-7 loss to Florida. The Hall of Famer was fired Nov. 9 in the aftermath of the shocking charges against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Longtime defensive coordinator Bradley took over on an interim basis, tasked with guiding a team besieged by media scrutiny. “These kids have been through hell and back,” said assistant coach Jay Paterno, Joe’s son. Bypassed by more prominent bowls, some Nittany Lions (9-4) debated whether to travel to Dallas at all, then vowed they were over getting jilted and focused on stopping No. 20 Houston (13-1). Turned out Linbacker U. got trampled over by Keenum and Houston’s high-octane offense. Receiver Patrick Edwards burned safety Macolm Willis for a 40-yard touchdown pass from Keenum down the left sideline for a 7-0 lead just 1:52 into the game that often resembled a one-sided track meet. Keenum hit Justin Johnson for an 8-yard TD pass with 2:35 left for a 17-0 lead. Already the NCAA career leader coming into the game for passing yardage and touchdown passes, Keenum added another record to his impressive resume. His 227 first-quarter passing yards set the record for most passing yards in one quarter in any bowl game, breaking the mark previously held by Louisville’s Browning Nagle (223 yards) against Alabama in the first quarter of the 1991 Fiesta Bowl, according to TicketCity Bowl officials. Penn State All-American defensive tackle Devon Still, already slowed by turf toe, couldn’t keep up with Keenum’s quick release and [...]
Read More » | Comment »
SAN FRANCISCO (AP and Staff) — Terry Hawthorne returned an interception 39 yards for Illinois’ first touchdown late in the third quarter and the Illini snapped a six-game losing streak by beating UCLA 20-14 in the Fight Hunger Bowl. Nathan Scheelhaase added a 60-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Jenkins midway through the fourth quarter to seal the first victory for Illinois (7-6) since beating Indiana 12 weeks ago. The game between two six-win teams who have already fired their head coaches matched the underwhelming expectations as there was little excitement before Hawthorne’s third-quarter touchdown that gave Illinois its first lead. UCLA (6-8) was held to 18 yards rushing in its third straight loss. Kevin Prince threw two TD passes, including one in the closing minute to Nelson Rosario after the game had been decided. But it was an earlier pass by Prince that proved decisive and helped give Illinois its first bowl wins in consecutive seasons in school history. Three plays after Derek Dimke missed a 37-yard field goal for Illinois late in the third quarter, Prince dropped back and threw to his left looking for Shaquelle Evans. Hawthorne read the play perfectly and stepped in front of the throw for the interception and had a clear path to the end zone for the score that gave the Illini a 10-7 lead. Dimke added a 37-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and Scheelhaase and Jenkins combined on their big play to make it 20-7 with 5:36 to go. Scheelhaase finished 18 for 30 for 139 yards with 110 yards rushing to lead the Illinois offense. Prince completed just 14 for 29 for 201 yards and the Bruins were held to a season-low in rushing, well below their 190.7 yard per game average, by the stout Illini front. The matchup between Big Ten and Pac-12 teams on New Year’s weekend at a picturesque setting in California conjures up memories of Rose Bowls past. But this game was played on San Francisco’s waterfront instead of with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background in Pasadena and was between two teams that had little to celebrate this season. Both teams fired their coaches after disappointing regular seasons with Ron Zook getting let go by Illinois after losing six straight games to end the season and Rick Neuheisel getting run out at UCLA after a 50-0 loss to rival Southern [...]
Read More » | Comment »
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP and Staff) — Isaiah Pead ran for 149 yards and a touchdown, and Ralph David Abernathy IV’s 90-yard kickoff return early in the fourth quarter put Cincinnati ahead to stay as the Bearcats edged Vanderbilt 31-24 on Saturday in the Liberty Bowl. The Bearcats (10-3) capped the season with their third straight victory. But the co-Big East Conference champs had to work to put away Vanderbilt (6-7), a team that tied for fourth in the Southeastern Conference, despite forcing three turnovers and coming up with two sacks. The Commodores led 21-17 when Abernathy became the first Cincinnati player to return a kickoff for a TD in the program’s 13 bowl appearances. Vandy’s Archibald Barnes blocked Tony Miliano’s 39-yard field goal with 3:58 left, giving the Commodores the ball with plenty of time to go ahead. Nick Temple picked off a Larry Smith pass with 3:15 remaining, and Pead sealed the victory with a 12-yard TD run with 1:52 left. Pead was the game’s MVP. Vanderbilt kicked a 35-yard field goal with 35 seconds left, but the Bearcats recovered the onside kick to kneel down for the victory. Abernathy is the grandson of the civil rights leader who was in Memphis with Martin Luther King when he was assassinated in 1968. George Winn also scored on a 69-yard TD run when he replaced Pead, while the Big East Offensive Player of the Year fixed a broken chin strap. Zach Collaros, playing for the first time since breaking his right ankle Nov. 12, threw a touchdown pass but was intercepted twice. He was just 12 of 29 for 80 yards passing, though he moved around well. Vanderbilt missed notching only its second winning record since 1982 with the loss. This was only the fifth bowl for the SEC’s only private university yet the second in four seasons. But the Commodores had trouble getting their offense going to match a defense that came up with three sacks and two interceptions — both by Casey Hayward. Smith replaced Jordan Rodgers at quarterback in the third quarter, and he threw for 142 yards, including a short pass to Chris Boyd that the receiver took 68 yards up the right sideline before pulling up lame and diving into the end zone for a 21-17 lead with 14:03 left that lasted only as long as Abernathy could sprint down field after the [...]
Read More » | Comment »
EL PASO, Texas (AP and Staff) — John White plowed into the end zone from 8 yards out to give Utah a 30-27 overtime victory against Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl on Saturday. Justin Moore kicked a 34-yard field goal in Georgia Tech’s overtime possession to take a three-point lead, but White finished a 115-yard rushing day with the game-winning score on his 26th carry. The Utes (8-5) tied it in regulation when Jon Hays hit DeVonte Christopher with a 28-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-14 with 1:32 left in the fourth quarter. The Yellow Jackets (8-5) drove to the Utah 31 with 2 seconds left, but David Scully missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt as time expired. Justin Moore had earlier missed two 42-yard tries for Tech. Georgia Tech lost its seventh straight bowl appearance and Utah improved to 7-1 in bowls under coach Kyle Whittingham. Georgia Tech’s Preston Lyons, who came in with only 39 carries, rushed for a career-best 140 yards on 18 carries and Tevin Washington passed for 137 yards and ran for 97. Utah grabbed a 7-0 lead on Shawn Asiata capped the game-opening drive with a 1-yard run. With David Sims out of with an injury and Orwin Smith also ailing, Georgia Tech relied heavily on Lyons, who put the Yellow Jackets on the board with a 36-yard run up the middle tie the game at 7. Lyons finished the first half with 129 yards on 12 carries. Coleman Peterson banked in a 25-yard field goal with 14 seconds left in the first half to give the Utes a 10-7 lead. A 27-yard punt by Utah set up Moore’s 32-yard field goal to tie it in the third quarter. The Yellow Jackets scored again on their next possession. Washington hit Embry Peeples with a 58-yard pass, then found Stephen Hill for a 31-yard touchdown to make it 17-10. Moments later, Quayshawn Nealy picked off a pass by Hays and returned it down the sideline 74 yards for a touchdown with 4:14 left in the third quarter Hays hit Kendrick Moeai with a 3-yard touchdown pass with 6:50 left in the fourth quarter to make it 24-17. Hays went 15 for 31 for 193 yards.
Read More » | Comment »
HOUSTON (AP and Staff) — Ryan Tannehill threw for 329 yards and a touchdown and Ben Malena ran for two more scores to lead Texas A&M to a 33-22 win over Northwestern on Saturday in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Northwestern led 7-3 early in the second quarter before A&M reeled off 27 straight points to take a decisive lead and then fight off a late rally to capture its first bowl victory since 2001. Texas A&M broke a five-game bowl losing streak in a win the team dedicated to fired coach Mike Sherman and offensive lineman Joseph Villavisencio, who was killed in a car accident last week. Malena ran for 77 yards, filling in ably for Cyrus Gray, who missed his second straight game with a stress fracture in his left shoulder. Northwestern hasn’t won a bowl game since the 1949 Rose Bowl, a span of nine losses. A&M won a bowl for the first time since a 28-9 victory over TCU after the 2001 season. That also came in Houston, when this game was called the Galleryfurniture.com bowl and played next door at the Astrodome. The Aggies were up 30-7 before Brian Peters intercepted Tannehill early in the fourth quarter and the Wildcats took advantage of that mistake when Kain Colter scored on a 1-yard run for Northwestern’s first points since early in the second quarter. The 2-point conversion left A&M ahead 30-15. Colter found Tim Riley in the corner of the end zone for on a 2-yard touchdown pass to get Northwestern within 30-22 with less than six minutes remaining. A&M responded with a clock-eating drive capped by a 31-yard field goal to secure the win. Senior Jeff Fuller, who has had a disappointing and injury-plagued year, had a key third down catch for 29 yards on that drive and finished with a season-high 119 yards receiving. The Aggies were led by interim coach Tim DeRuyter in his last game at Texas A&M before leaving to become Fresno State’s coach. The Aggies hired former Houston coach Kevin Sumlin earlier this month to replace Sherman, but he wasn’t involved in bowl preparations. Texas A&M wore helmet decals honoring Villavisencio, who died Dec. 22. The black and white decal, which says ‘Joey V.,’ had his No. 67 and the Texas A&M logo. There was a moment of silence for Villavisencio before the game and fellow offensive lineman [...]
Read More » | Comment »
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP and Staff) — Flying cameras have been providing unique perspectives on everything from golf to college and professional football for more than a decade, becoming so commonplace that fans rarely notice the whizzing remote-controlled devices. At the Insight Bowl on Friday night, no one could miss the overhead camera when it came crashing down to the field late in the fourth quarter, nearly taking out one of the players. The ESPN camera narrowly missed Iowa receiver Martin McNutt Jr., who became entangled in the guide wire but wasn’t hurt. “First, I looked: ‘What is it that fell from the sky?’” McNutt said after Iowa’s 31-14 loss to No. 19 Oklahoma. “The next thing I know, the camera kind of scratched me a little bit. It was just pulling me and I knew I didn’t want to keep going with it.” The camera at the Insight Bowl was supplied by SkyCam, a division of Winnercomm, Inc., a sports production and development company in Tulsa, Okla. According to the company’s website, SkyCam is the only stabilized camera system in the world that can unobtrusively fly anywhere in a defined three-dimensional space. The camera is 36 inches high, weighs 25 pounds and travels up to 30 mph across the guide wire, according to the company. “We apologize for the accident,” ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said Saturday. “The independent company that operates SkyCam for us is in the midst of a thorough review to determine the cause of the problem. We will work with them and bowl officials to determine our future course of action. As always our primary concern will be the safety of fans and those on the field.” ESPN has consistently used the cameras for football coverage, making it a staple of “Monday Night Football.” The cameras also have been used occasionally in the NBA, NHL, NASCAR, NCAA basketball, baseball and at the island-green 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass during The Players Championship. The cameras, despite flying over the playing field, have rarely interfered with the action. In 2007, a cable camera was forced to make a controlled descent during an NFL game between the New Orleans Saints and the Seattle Seahawks from what was called human error. At the 2009 Las Vegas bowl between BYU and Oregon State, the overhead camera reportedly had to be taken down due to wind gusts of around 40 [...]
Read More » | Comment »
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP & Staff) — Blake Bell ran for three touchdowns to help No. 19 Oklahoma survive a late rally and a crashing camera to beat Iowa 31-14 in the Insight Bowl Friday night. Oklahoma (10-3) didn’t get a particularly great game from quarterback Landry Jones and wasn’t effective on the ground, either. Once considered national-title contenders, the Sooners grinded it out against the gritty Hawkeyes, ending a difficult year that included the death of linebacker Austin Box in the offseason. Jones threw for 161 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Bell put the game away with a 21-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds left. Iowa (7-6) fell into a 21-0 hole before rallying behind two touchdown passes from James Vandenberg. The Hawkeyes came up just short and dodged a potential disaster when an overhead camera crashed to the field next to receiver Marvin McNutt in the closing minutes. McNutt became tangled in the wire, but wasn’t hurt. The game was delayed 5 minutes while the camera was dragged off the field. Vandenberg overcame an early interception to throw for 216 yards, but had two interceptions while the Hawkeyes rushed for just 76 yards to end a school-record three-game bowl winning streak. Oklahoma’s return trip to the desert wasn’t expected, at least not this early in the bowl season. Coming off a rout of Connecticut in last year’s Fiesta Bowl, the Sooners were ranked No. 1 in the preseason, with hopes of a second national title under coach Bob Stoops. Those aspirations were gone after a string of injuries — All-American receiver Ryan Broyles’ torn ACL was the big one — and two losses in the final three games, including a 44-10 rout by Bedlam rival Oklahoma State in the Big 12 championship game. The frustrating run knocked Oklahoma out of not only the national championship chase, but out of a BCS bowl and into the Insight Bowl. Instead of making a statement in the desert, the Sooners seemed to stand still in the first half, gaining yards in little bits instead of their usual chunks. Oklahoma had just 89 yards on 27 plays in the half, but led 14-0 thanks a pair of 4-yard runs by Bell — one set up by an interception and another on the Sooners’ only sustained drive. The Sooners finally started to click in the second half. Oklahoma drove inside Iowa’s [...]
Read More » | Comment »
DALLAS (AP and Staff) — Riley Nelson threw three touchdown passes to Cody Hoffman, the last with 11 seconds left, and BYU beat Tulsa 24-21 Friday in the Armed Forces Bowl for another 10-win season. With no timeouts and the ball at the 2, the Cougars hurried up to the line. Nelson then faked a spike that would have stopped the clock and instead stood up and threw to Hoffman in the end zone. The Cougars (10-3) wrapped up their season of independence by winning 10 games for the fifth time in coach Bronco Mendenhall’s seven years. G.J. Kinne threw three TD passes for Tulsa (8-5), including a 30-yarder to Bryan Burnham with 10:42 left for a 21-17 lead. BYU needed 12 plays to go 48 yards on its last drive. Nelson converted a fourth-and-9 with a 14-yard scramble and later ran 8 yards on third-and-5. Tulsa, whose other four losses this season came against top-10 teams, failed to take advantage when BYU was penalized for running into the kicker on fourth down from the 10 with about 6 minutes left. But the Golden Hurricane punted the ball away four plays later, setting up the winning drive for the Cougars. Hoffman, who had eight catches for 122 yards, got his first TD just before halftime after an impressive block gave Nelson time to throw the ball. Nelson was scrambling to his left to avoid pressure and threw back toward the middle of the field after 305-pound offensive tackle Matt Reynolds, who had already lost his helmet on the play, retreated for a crushing block that flattened pursuing 275-pound defensive end Cory Dorris. Hoffman made the catch, then lunged forward with the ball in his stretched-out hand out for the 17-yard score that cut Tulsa’s lead to 14-10. Long snapper Reed Hornung set up Hoffman’s first score with a hustle play on special teams. The 249-pound Hornung scampered down the field to hit J.D. Ratliff at the end of a 41-yard punt, forcing a fumble that was recovered by BYU’s David Foote. The Cougars went in front for the first time on Hoffman’s 30-yard TD catch with 1:41 left in the third quarter. Hoffman helped set up his score when he reached up in traffic for a 20-yard catch on third-and-10 earlier in the nine-play, 71-yard drive. Tulsa’s Kevin Fitzpatrick was wide right on a 46-yard field goal attempt [...]
Read More » | Comment »
SAN DIEGO (AP and Staff) — The next time Texas coach Mack Brown sees Joey Harrington, the memory shouldn’t be quite so painful. David Ash added his name to the list of quarterbacks who’ve caught a touchdown pass in the Holiday Bowl and he also threw for one score to lead Texas to a 21-10 victory against California on Wednesday night. Ash caught a 4-yard pass from wide receiver Jaxon Shipley in the second quarter to join BYU’s Steve Young, Texas A&M’s Bucky Richardson and Oregon’s Harrington as quarterbacks who’ve caught touchdown passes in the Holiday Bowl. The Longhorns had the ball first-and-goal when Ash handed off to running back Malcolm Brown who then handed off to Shipley as if the Longhorns were going to run a reverse. Ash slipped into the end zone and caught Shipley’s pass to give Texas a 7-3 lead. Shipley has thrown three touchdown passes this season, all while lining up at wide receiver. Brown joked on Tuesday how much it still bugged him that Harrington caught a TD pass in the Ducks’ 35-30 win against Texas in the 2000 Holiday Bowl. The Oregon offensive coordinator then was Jeff Tedford, who has been Cal’s coach since 2002. Harrington now works for the Longhorn Network. Brown credited the play to co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, who previously had coached and played at Boise State. “Bryan Harsin grew up in that Boise system and that’s the stuff Jeff did with Oregon back in the early 2000s,” Brown said. “And it’s one of the reasons why I hired Bryan. He believes in running the football, he believes in being physical, but he’s got toys in the pocket that he’s going to take advantage of things when he can. “If you’re not moving the ball, he’s got some imagination in the offense to make a play,” Brown said. That play helped salvage a little bit of the Holiday Bowl’s reputation for high-scoring, wide-open games. “We knew they were going to throw something like that out there,” Cal defensive end Trevor Guyton said. “It was only a matter of time before they did it. They got us. No excuses.” Ash had another impressive play in the third quarter when he threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Goodwin, who made a nice over-the-shoulder catch in full stride. That gave the Longhorns a 14-10 lead. The Longhorns (8-5) were even [...]
Read More » | Comment »
WASHINGTON (AP and Staff) — Back and forth they went. A kickoff return for 87 yards. A pitch around the left end for 60. Touchdown passes for 49 and 37 yards. Two touchdowns scored on fourth downs. A pair of botched onside kicks. And that was just the first half. Toledo and Air Force ran up the score early and often Wednesday at the Military Bowl and played to a wild finish, decided only when Air Force’s 2-point conversion attempt went awry with 52 seconds to play to give Toledo a 42-41 victory. Air Force lined up to kick the extra point after Zach Kauth’s 33-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-3 pulled the Falcons within a point. But holder David Baska ran the option instead and fumbled the ball toward kicker Parker Herrington, who chased it until it went out of bounds in the end zone. Bernard Reedy’s third touchdown of the game — a 37-yard catch, spin and run on a pass from Terrance Owens — gave Toledo a 42-35 lead with 5:01 to play and put the Rockets (9-4) over the 40-point mark for a sixth straight game. The win also marked a successful debut for Matt Campbell, the youngest coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The 32-year-old Campbell, who has been the Rockets’ offensive coordinator for three years, was promoted to the head job after Tim Beckman left earlier this month for Illinois. Reedy had a career-high 126 yards on four catches and was named the game’s MVP. Owens completed 19 of 24 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Adonis Thomas ran for 108 yards on 22 carries. Tim Jefferson, the first quarterback in service academy history to lead his team to four consecutive bowl games, completed 13 of 22 passes for 159 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for Air Force (7-6). The game matched two of the top 25 scoring teams in the country, and they wasted little time living up to their reputations. It was Mid-American Conference member Toledo’s spread offense against Mountain West Air Force’s triple option, and the idea of a huddle seemed a quaint, antiquated concept. The Rockets, as expected, featured their Mr. Do-Everything, Eric Page. The junior Paul Hornung Award finalist caught 13 passes for 59 yards, but his biggest play was an 87-yard kickoff return in the first half. Page ran untouched as he followed Reedy’s [...]
Read More » | Comment »
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP and Staff) — The Southeastern Conference has unveiled its 2012 football schedule with its two newest members Missouri and Texas A&M opening play Sept. 8, and Alabama will visit LSU in a rematch of the Bowl Championship Series national championship Nov. 3. Missouri will play the 2012 season in the SEC East and hosts Georgia on Sept. 8. Texas A&M will be in the West and hosts Florida. The first conference game will be Aug. 30 when South Carolina visits Vanderbilt. SEC commissioner Mike Slive praised the league’s transition team and athletic directors for handling what he called “significant logistical challenges” in putting together the schedule released Wednesday. The 2012 SEC schedule follows divisional play of eight games with six inside the division and two outside. The SEC championship game will be Dec. 1 in Atlanta. Athletic directors will meet in the spring to decide the formula for future schedules. David Williams, Vanderbilt’s vice chancellor in charge of athletics, said adding Texas A&M and Missouri made it challenging to put this together consistent with the league’s desire to keep an eight-game conference schedule. “Fans should keep in mind that this league schedule is only for the 2012 season …,” Williams said in a statement. There remain plenty of kinks to work out for 2012, though. Texas A&M is under a 10-year contract to play Arkansas in Dallas, and Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino said recently the Aggies want a home-and-home series now that both teams are in the SEC. Texas A&M will be the home team for the Sept. 29 game for which the site has yet to be decided. It will be the first league game between these teams since 1991 when both were in the Southwest Conference. Arkansas released an 11-game schedule with the Razorbacks busy trying to line up a final non-conference opponent. Texas A&M’s current schedule has 10 opponents listed. Missouri has three non-conference games to be decided, while Auburn has its non-conference opponents lined up, including Clemson in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic with dates yet to be set. “Unfortunately, there are still several issues to be resolved in our 2012 football schedule, but we wanted to get as much information to our fans as possible so they may begin planning for next season,” Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long said in a statement. “We are pleased to have at least seven home [...]
Read More » | Comment »
STANFORD, Calif. (AP and Staff) — David Shaw gets the same question in a variety of forms: Can Stanford remain a top-tier team once projected No. 1 pick Andrew Luck is long gone for the NFL? Shaw is optimistic he can keep a good thing going when many figure the Cardinal will be down on their Luck. But the ever-positive Luck doesn’t foresee a drop-off for the No. 4 Cardinal (11-1). Shaw considers Monday’s Fiesta Bowl date with third-ranked Oklahoma State (11-1) not as the program’s last hurrah but rather just another great opportunity to build the Stanford name. “I like to think in terms of eras, and hopefully our era doesn’t come to an end with Andrew leaving,” Shaw said last week before the team headed to the desert to prepare. “I kind of like the high expectations, because it shows us that we’ve earned the right to be where we are. Then you’ve got to play up to it.” Shaw, one of two first-time coaches in BCS bowl games along with West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen, believes the top players now want to play on The Farm. Heisman Trophy runner-up Luck helped establish that reputation for the school. “I’ve searched, and I can’t find another team that’s ended back-to-back years in the top five in football and the top five in education,” Shaw said. “It doesn’t happen very often anymore.” He points to when do-everything running back Toby Gerhart departed for the pros two years ago and the chatter then about how could the Cardinal possibly succeed without him. “Good teams always handle that,” Shaw said. “Everybody wondered how good we’d be after we lost Toby Gerhart. Everybody wondered how it’d be with three new starters this year on the offensive line. And everybody’s going to wonder how good we’re going to be without Andrew next year. And that’s good.” Having played at Stanford — where his father also worked as an assistant — Shaw gets what it takes to thrive, the demands of balancing the academic standards and football. Athletic director Bob Bowlsby promoted Shaw from offensive coordinator to replace Jim Harbaugh last January. Bowlsby is optimistic, while also realistic about losing Luck, about the direction of the program looking ahead to 2012 and beyond. “There is no question that it is very difficult to improve at the same time a team is losing a great [...]
Read More » | Comment »
DETROIT (AP and Staff) — Purdue coach Danny Hope sold school officials on his vision of winning with special teams when they picked him to replace the retiring Joe Tiller after the 2008 season. That facet of the game helped the Boilermakers beat Western Michigan 37-32 on Tuesday night in the Little Caesars Bowl. Purdue recovered two onside kicks and Raheem Mostert returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score that put Purdue up for good midway through the second quarter. “The spread offense was the edge (with Tiller),” Hope said. “I wanted our edge to be special teams.” Caleb TerBush took the final snap at Ford Field, sprinted to the sideline and handed the football to Hope, who was recently given a contract extension. “It’s a moment that we’ve been waiting for the last three years,” Hope said. The Boilermakers (7-6) almost didn’t beat the Broncos (7-6) despite having a double-digit lead for two-plus quarters. Third-string running back Reggie Pegram scored the first two TDs of his career and Carson Wiggs made two field goals to help Purdue to take a 27-15 lead in the first half. Wiggs also recovered one of his onside kicks, both of which he tapped toward a sideline after running at full speed as if he was trying to boot the ball deep. “Two onside kicks really hurt us,” Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit said. “We never got a break on defense in the first half.” Purdue had another 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Big Ten team had to hold on for the win against the Mid-American Conference program. The Broncos got the ball with a chance to go ahead, but their comeback hopes ended when quarterback Alex Carder fumbled for his fifth turnover with just under 2 minutes left. Ryan Russell forced the final fumble and Bruce Gaston recovered to seal the win. “It was nerve-racking,” Purdue linebacker Joe Holland said. “But as a defender, you want the game to come to you.” The Boilermakers played in a bowl for the first time since 2007, when they beat Central Michigan — also in Detroit. Western Michigan, meanwhile, fell to 0-5 in postseason play. “I thought we’d win and walk out of here happy,” Cubit said. Purdue’s Akeem Shavers ran for a career-high 148 yards on 22 carries, filling in for the injured Ralph Bolden, and was named [...]
Read More » | Comment »
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP & Staff) — Mike Glennon threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns and David Amerson returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown as North Carolina State defeated Louisville 31-24 in the Belk Bowl. T.J. Graham made the most of his final game at N.C. State with seven catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns, including a 65-yard score on a nifty catch-and-run, as the Wolfpack (8-5) overcame a series of special teams blunders to hold off a late charge from the Cardinals (7-6). Amerson had two more interceptions to give him 13 for the season, the most in the country, while setting a new Atlantic Coast Conference record. Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater, who threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, nearly brought the Cardinals back from a 21-point deficit, but his final heave on fourth-and-23 was picked off by Amerson with 41 seconds left. Louisville used a fake punt and recovered an onside kick to get back in the game after falling behind 31-10. Bridgewater threw a pair of 2-yard touchdown passes to close the gap to 31-24 with 3:55 left in the game. The Cardinals had once last chance to send the game into overtime after stopping N.C. State on fourth-and-2. However, on a third-and-12 Dontae Johnson sacked Bridgewater for an 11-yard loss setting up Amerson’s clinching interception. The Wolfpack came into the game leading the nation in interceptions and picked off Bridgewater three times. On Louisville’s first possession, Bridgewater came under pressure and made a poor decision to try to dump the ball off, but instead threw it in the hands of linebacker Terrell Manning for an interception. Glennon took advantage, methodically driving the Wolfpack 79 yards completing 6 of 7 passes for 49 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown strike to Graham to take a 7-0 lead. Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien was worried about his young special teams unit coming into the game and his worst fears were realized on his team’s next drive. Freshman punter Will Baumann mishandled a low snap from center and was swarmed under at the 5-yard line. The Cardinals cashed in three plays later on an 8-yard touchdown run by Bridgewater to tie the game. After Louisville went ahead 10-7, Glennon bounced back from an early interception by completing five straight passes for 80 yards, capped by a 35-yard touchdown to Tobais Palmer, who [...]
Read More » | Comment »
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP and Staff) — Missouri made sure its final football game as a member of the Big 12 was decided early. James Franklin ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, and the Tigers easily beat North Carolina 41-24 in the Independence Bowl on Monday night. Missouri (8-5) ends the season on a four-game winning streak for the first time since 1965. The Tigers will join the Southeastern Conference next fall and showed one reason they should be a factor immediately: The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Franklin, a sophomore who generally did as he pleased in both the running and passing games. Franklin, named the game’s offensive Most Valuable Player, rushed for 142 yards and threw for 132 despite less than ideal conditions in the cold and rain at Independence Stadium. He led the Tigers to 31 first-half points — an Independence Bowl record. For North Carolina (7-6), a season that started with a promising 5-1 record ends with a lopsided loss. The Tar Heels lost five of their final seven under interim coach Everett Withers, who leaves to become defensive coordinator at Ohio State under Urban Meyer. North Carolina had the Atlantic Coast Conference’s second-best rushing defense, giving up just 106.2 yards per game. But the Tigers found plenty of running room with Franklin and Kendial Lawrence, repeatedly gashing the Tar Heels for big gains. Lawrence rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers racked up 337 yards on the ground. North Carolina’s poor defense wasted a productive game by quarterback Bryn Renner, who threw for 317 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Missouri’s mascot — Truman the Tiger — shattered most of the original Independence Bowl trophy before the game started in a pre-game accident. The Tigers were more than happy to claim the replacement. North Carolina scored first, with Renner hitting Dwight Jones for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 12:12 left in the first quarter. That would be the high point for the Tar Heels. Missouri responded with a 40-yard touchdown pass from receiver T.J. Moe to Wes Kemp after a lateral from Franklin. Moe hadn’t thrown a touchdown pass since his days as a high school quarterback in suburban St. Louis, and it was just his second complete pass of the season. The Tigers scored again on Franklin’s 2-yard run to take a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter. The touchdown [...]
Read More » | Comment »
HONOLULU (AP & Staff) — As if being 5,500 miles from Hattiesburg and having Waikiki beach as a backyard wasn’t enough, Conference USA champion Southern Mississippi had to deal with even more distractions. The 22nd-ranked Golden Eagles (11-2) face Western Athletic Conference runner-up Nevada (7-5) in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday in what will be the final game under coach Larry Fedora. “It’s going to be tough. There’s a piece of my heart and soul in this football team,” said Fedora, who is leaving after four seasons to lead North Carolina. “I deeply care about each and every one of those kids. … But I do know, they’re going to look back at this season and say we won however many games, a conference championship and we went to Hawaii. That’s what they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.” Southern Miss won a school-record 11 games this season en route to capturing its fifth C-USA title by upsetting Houston 49-28 in the conference championship game behind Austin Davis’ four touchdown passes. It was the Golden Eagles’ first 10-win season since 1988. Despite the record year, Davis said the team isn’t done yet as Southern Miss makes its 10th straight postseason appearance and is looking to snap a two-bowl losing streak. “I would hate to end it on a bad note. We want to finish strong and get No. 12,” said Davis, who has thrown for 3,331 yards and 28 touchdowns this year. Fedora said his team isn’t letting down after its big win over Houston. “You can go out and watch practice and you wouldn’t know if it was Aug. 5, the first day of practice for us, or if it was the next to the last practice. They’re still practicing the same way,” he said. “They understand what it takes. They understand how important it is. We’re not playing another game. We’re making history at Southern Miss.” Fedora is being replaced by South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, who was introduced in Hattiesburg while the team was in Honolulu. “There’s a lot of distractions going on with this football team and their future. So that makes it difficult,” Fedora said. “The thing is, I’ve got to allow these seniors … they’re going to be the ones that lead us through the distractions. I expect us to play as we do week in and week out.” While Southern Miss [...]
Read More » | Comment »
LOS ANGELES (AP and Staff) — Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley believed he was prepared to play in the NFL and the draft prognosticators agreed with him. He had skillfully guided the program through two years of NCAA sanctions, put up big numbers to add his name to the list of great Trojans quarterbacks. Barkley just wasn’t ready to leave. He still had some unfinished business at USC. Setting off a round of cheers at USC’s Heritage Hall, Barkley announced Thursday that he’s returning for his senior season, putting off the NFL for a chance to lead the Trojans from under the cloud of NCAA sanctions to a BCS bowl. “I am staying so I can finish what I started,” Barkley said. At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds and with a game that matured over three years at Troy, Barkley was projected as a high first-round pick in the NFL draft, an enticement that had lured his predecessor, Mark Sanchez, after his junior season. Instead of following Sanchez’s footsteps, Barkley took the route of former USC quarterback Matt Leinart and Stanford’s Andrew Luck. Leinart returned to USC after winning the Heisman Trophy and a national championship, and led the Trojans to the 2005 BCS title game, where they lost to Texas. Luck came back this season after being the Heisman runner-up last year and took the Cardinal to the Fiesta Bowl while finishing second to Baylor’s Robert Griffin III in this year’s Heisman voting. Like those two, Barkley felt as though he still had goals he wanted to accomplish after leading the Trojans to a 10-2 record and a No. 5 ranking in The Associated Press poll. Barkley let USC coach Lane Kiffin know about his decision with a Christmas ornament that had a picture of the two together during this season’s game against Colorado on one side and the words “One More Year” on the back. His announcement Thursday in front of about 200 people, including his family and Kiffin, set off a wave of applause and a quick burst from USC’s band as a pair of cheerleaders danced along. “That’s not an easy decision,” Kiffin said. “Not many people would do what Matt has done.” Barkley is the latest in a heralded lineup of USC quarterbacks that includes Carson Palmer, Leinart and Sanchez. He had an uneven first season with the Trojans, making some questionable decisions that led [...]
Read More » | Comment »
We interrupt this seamy, scandal-plagued, cash-grab-of-a-college-football season for the following public-service message: Matt Barkley is staying in school. The announcement Thursday that Barkley will return to Southern California for his senior season isn’t really a tale about great sacrifice. He knows NFL-ready quarterback prospects almost always hold their value and he’ll likely get his millions soon enough. It isn’t even the most uplifting story in the game this week. That would be Eric LeGrand’s appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated commemorating the best sports moment of 2011, when he led his Rutgers teammates onto the field in a wheelchair for a home game in late October, little more than a year after he was paralyzed playing against Army. Barkley’s decision isn’t the newsiest development this week, either, That would be the wrist slap the NCAA gave Ohio State, whose clueless president and shameless athletic director whined that the school had punished itself enough after learning that former coach Jim Tressel lied and cheated his way through the entire 2010 season. But Barkley’s story might be the most surprising, considering how rarely loyalty takes hold across the college football landscape, including the very spot on which he was standing. Not quite two years ago, Pete Carroll, the coach who recruited Barkley, left for Seattle and the NFL rather than stick around and face the harsh penalties the NCAA was about to levy on Southern California for a host of violations on his watch. The coach Barkley played for the past two seasons, Lane Kiffin, didn’t exactly cover himself in glory, either, for the way he departed Tennessee — abruptly — to take Carroll’s place. Barkley and his teammates bore the brunt of the postseason bans and all that upheaval and decided to come back anyway. “I am staying so I can finish what I started,” Barkley said to cheers inside USC’s Heritage Hall. More than a few pro scouts shook their heads at that moment, though, recalling how Matt Leinart made the same call to a similar round of cheers a handful of years earlier. “It’s another year with my pals, no matter how it turns out,” Leinart said a few days after his decision. “But I’ll tell you what: I didn’t want to look back 10 or 20 years down the road and find out I passed on the chance to be a part of something really [...]
Read More » | Comment »
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP and Staff) — Texas A&M senior offensive lineman Joseph Villavisencio has been killed in a car accident, according to the university. Witness reports say that Villavisencio swerved to avoid a buzzard and veered head-on into the path of an 18-wheeler near the town of Normangee about 40 miles from College Station, on Thursday. Villavisencio spent part of Thursday with the team delivering gifts to families at a local shelter after the Aggies finished their last workout on campus in preparation for the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Villavisencio was heading to his home in Jacksonville, Texas, at the time of the crash. Villavisencio saw very limited action in his career with the Aggies, but touched many involved in the program. Former coach Mike Sherman says everyone will remember him as a person “who would do anything for anybody.” The 22-year-old was a three-year letterman whom athletic director Bill Byrne says “epitomized selfless service” to helping the Aggies improve as a team.
Read More » | Comment »
