Big Ten starts with losses to Utah, Mizzou and Cal
This is no way to combat the critics.
The Big Ten had three games last week against teams of similar status -- and lost all three.
Michigan fell at home to Utah 25-23 in coach Rich Rodriguez's debut on the sideline. No. 20 Illinois put up 42 points against No. 6 Missouri but still lost 52-42 in neutral-site St. Louis. And a physical Cal team beat visiting Michigan State, 38-31.
"I don't really know what was going on," Michigan State safety Otis Wiley said. "They were just pounding us."
Seven other conference teams in action won (Purdue was idle), but the victories came against the likes of Maine, Western Kentucky, Northern Illinois, Youngstown State, Coastal Carolina, Akron and Syracuse. That's not exactly murderer's row in college football.
The Big Ten's signature nonconference win so far is probably Wisconsin's 38-17 win over Akron, which was uncomfortably close for a while. Northwestern owns the lone win over a BCS opponent, but the Wildcats' 30-10 win came at the expense of the Orange, who finished 2-10 last season.
The two teams may sort the issue out for themselves, as the Zips visit Syracuse on Saturday.
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, whose team beat up on FCS member Youngstown State 43-0, looked for a ray of sunshine in the doom and gloom.
"We got three losses in all three of those games, but I don't think we have to apologize for how our teams played," he said. "We didn't do what we needed to do but we played like crazy."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Scarlet Knights get safety back for 2008
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -- Two-time All Big East safety Courtney Greene will return to Rutgers for his senior season.
"There is unfinished championship business for us to take care of here at Rutgers," Greene said Monday in announcing his plans to play and to finish work on his degree.
Greene ranks eighth in school history in career tackles with 299. He led the Scarlet Knights with 101 tackles this past season.
"I look forward to big things from Courtney as a leader both on and off the field next season," coach Greg Schiano said.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Auburn defensive tackle Pat Sims to skip senior season and enter NFL draft
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Auburn defensive tackle Pat Sims said Tuesday he will skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
Sims was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference pick this season after making 11.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 quarterback sacks.
This was something that I carefully thought about and felt it was in my best interest to pass on my senior season at Auburn and make myself eligible for the NFL Draft," Sims said. "It's always been a dream of mine to play at the next level and I believe this is the right time to pursue that goal."
Sims was one of the Tigers' most high-profile recruits in 2004 but was redshirted and then didn't see any action in 2005.
As a junior, he emerged as a key part of an Auburn defense that finished sixth nationally in scoring and total defense.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Skinner shakes off slow start to lead Wake Forest
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When Wake Forest started preseason camp, coach Jim Grobe was worried about his quarterback.
A year after Riley Skinner led the Demon Deacons to an improbable Atlantic Coast Conference title, Grobe thought the sophomore was putting too much pressure on himself.
"We tried to calm him down before the Boston College game, but the problem was he had such a good freshman year, typically your thoughts are, 'I'm going to be a lot better as a sophomore," Grobe said Wednesday. "He really doesn't need to be a whole lot better. He just needs to help us take care of the football."
Skinner didn't. In a disastrous opener, Skinner threw three interceptions -- and dislocated his right shoulder -- in a 38-28 loss at Boston College. Then, he missed the next two games waiting for his shoulder to heal, only to come back and throw three more interceptions before rallying to beat Maryland.
"I felt like I needed to put more on my shoulders and try to make plays," Skinner said. "That's not all the time what you need to do. Unfortunately I learned that the hard way."
Skinner then started to trust his teammates more and didn't force the ball into bad spots. It paid off.
Skinner holds the nation's second-best completion rate of 71.9 and Wake Forest (8-4) has won eight of 10 games heading into Saturday's matchup with Connecticut (9-3) in the Meineke Bowl.
"You want a kid to accept responsibility. You want them to feel that they need to be the difference, if that's what it takes," Grobe said. "But if that gets to the point where you're forcing things too much, then you make a lot of mistakes. I think that was evident early in the year.
"After we got past the Maryland game, I think he calmed back down and became the quarterback we expected him to be."
Over the past five games, Skinner has thrown only three interceptions and five touchdown passes. Using a rejuvenated running game behind freshman Josh Adams, Wake Forest scored 38 and 31 points in beating North Carolina State and Vanderbilt to close the regular season.
"When you've got a guy that's completing 70 percent of his throws, he's obviously making a lot of good decisions," Grobe said. "I think we're getting everything we can out of Riley. Our big deal right now with Riley Skinner is the supporting cast. If the other 10 guys are pretty good, Riley will get it done."
Skinner's easygoing demeanor was on display Wednesday, when the Demon Deacons held their first practice in Charlotte. A day after spending Christmas with his family in Florida, Skinner showed up like he was still at home, underdressed in a short-sleeve jersey in cold, rainy conditions.
Yet Skinner seemed unfazed, joking around as he warmed up before practice. He trusts his teammates and they clearly respect him.
"He had a rough start, obviously, with the injury," said Kenneth Moore, Skinner's top target with 87 catches and five touchdowns. "That says a lot about him. He's done a great job for this team. He's been a leader in and out of the huddle."
And because of fewer mistakes from the quarterback, Wake Forest is preparing to play in consecutive bowl games for the first time in school history.
"In Riley's case, I think he's grown up a lot and he's learned that for the most part you don't have to be the guy," Grobe said. "You've just go to make sure you don't get us beat."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Miami fires defensive coordinator Tim Walton
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- Miami defensive coordinator Tim Walton was fired by coach Randy Shannon after the Hurricanes allowed more than 300 points this season for the first time since 1984.
Shannon announced the firing Tuesday, one day after informing university officials of the decision. Shannon, who was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach after the 2006 season, picked Walton to succeed him.
This was a very difficult decision to make both personally and professionally," Shannon said in a statement released by the university. "It is my responsibility as head coach to evaluate all aspects of the football organization at the end of the season."
A call placed to Walton was not returned, and a request for comment sent to his university e-mail address was not answered.
Walton's job security was the subject of widespread speculation during the latter stages of the season, when Miami finished 5-7 and missed a bowl game for the first time since 1997.
The Hurricanes' defense -- a longtime strength of the team -- gave up 312 points this season, including 51 against Oklahoma and 48 in a shutout loss to Virginia in Miami's final home game at the Orange Bowl.
Walton came to Miami as a secondary coach in 2004, one season after helping LSU win the Bowl Championship Series title. He has also coached at Syracuse, Memphis and Bowling Green, and played at Ohio State.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Mains calls an audible
Sometimes when talking to a player it's absolutely clear how tough of a decision they have to make. And for Naples (Fla.) Golden Gate three-star defensive end Anthony Mains the angst was crystal clear.
He had made a commitment to South Florida early in early October after taking official visits to Stanford, Wisconsin and UCF in September. But recently he started having second thoughts and the process began to really wear on him.
He said the more he thought about things, the more he wasn't comfortable with his original decision. And that's when he called an audible and decided to switch his commitment to Wisconsin.
"It was a tough decision," Mains said. "It was hard to tell myself and my family that I was going to leave Florida, but the thing that really got me to change was the academics at Wisconsin. There was also a big part of me that wanted to experience something new.
"Tampa is something I've already seen, and I wanted to get out and see th world."
Mains, who is ranked as the nation's No. 18 weakside defensive end and the No. 71 player in Florida, was recruited by Wisconsin assistant Dave Doeren. Mains said Doeren definitely played a role in his decision, but he also felt right at home with all the coaches.
"The thing about coach Doeren is that he'll be real with you," Mains said.
"It's like that with the whole coaching staff. They'll tell you what's on their minds and they don't do what most recruiters do. They'll tell you 'hell, yeah, it's cold up here, but we're a very good program with good academics and we're going to win a lot of games.' If other schools were up there, they'd just say 'it's great up here and it's really warm,' even if I know it's only 5 degrees.
"Those coaches, especially coach Doeren, have confidence in the program, and that was really refreshing and I loved it."
Mains said he's already had his coach talk to the South Florida coaching staff and that his decision is final. Mains also had scholarship offers from Stanford, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, UCF, Colorado, Louisville, South Carolina and several others.
Copyright 2007 Rivals.com. All Rights Reserved.
Virginia's Chris Long wins Hendricks Award as nation's top defensive end
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Chris Long of Virginia won the Ted Hendricks award Wednesday as the nation's best defensive end.
The award is named for the former Miami All-American, who was a teammate of Long's father, Howie, with the Oakland Raiders from 1981-1983.
"My voters were very definitive in their decision this year, and I don't think they could have made a better choice," Hendricks said.
Long received more than 60 percent of the votes, the most in the award's six-year history. The award is based on leadership, contributions to the school and the community and on-field performance.
"I try to play to the same high standards at which Mr. Hendricks played," Long said.
Long was the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year and the only unanimous selection to the All-ACC team. He led the ACC and was third nationally with 14 sacks.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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