Weatherspoon off to strong start for Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri junior linebacker Sean Weatherspoon is racking up so many tackles he sometimes loses count.
That's a good thing for a defense that got off to a rocky start but is making strides for the sixth-ranked Tigers (4-0), who are coming off a 42-21 victory over Buffalo on Saturday.
"We don't take winning for granted, but we still need to fix the little things," Weatherspoon said after the Buffalo game. "I was just trying to make some plays for the team and I know I missed a few tackles so I need to work on that."
Even so, he finished with 20 to earn Big 12 defensive player of the week. He has 48 tackles for the season -- the most in the Big 12 and tied for second nationally. Eight have been for a loss. He also has three interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns.
Missouri has a bye this week and will need Weatherspoon and the defense at their best in the Tigers' Big 12 opener on Oct. 4 at Nebraska, where they haven't won in 30 years.
Fellow Missouri linebacker Brock Christopher likes the way Weatherspoon goes about his business.
"He's an animal and makes all kinds of plays and makes guys helmets come off," Christopher said.
Weatherspoon's play has been a bright spot on a defense that has shown improvement since giving up more than 500 yards and 42 points in the season-opening 52-42 win over Illinois.
Since then, the defense has moved from near the bottom nationally to the middle of the pack at No. 78. Fortunately for Missouri, the offense is averaging nearly 54 points per game.
Teammates and coaches say Weatherspoon's boisterous rallying of the troops is integral in the defensive unit's steady progression.
"He is a great kid, a great leader and is a lot of high energy," coach Gary Pinkel said. "He's a good student and a great guy."
Last season was Weatherspoon's first as a starter, and Pinkel said he's come a long way.
"He eventually turned into an All-Big 12 linebacker," the coach said. "He was a better player each month and became one of our best defensive players, going from being an average player to a good player to being a great player by the time the (Big 12) championship game came around."
Weatherspoon may not be keeping track of his tackles, but he isn't bashful about giving his teammates -- especially the defensive backs -- an earful about his other accomplishments.
"You can probably hear him talking from over near the dorms," quarterback Chase Daniel said. "His goal for this season was six interceptions and he is already halfway there, and he lets the defensive backs hear about it, too."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
No. 15 Pirates looking very young at linebacker
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Greg Hudson is seeing a familiar expression on the faces of some of his linebackers at practice this week.
Wide-eyed stares.
Hudson, East Carolina's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, is trying to take three players with only special teams experience this year and have them ready to step in after starter Quentin Cotton went down with a knee injury. The 15th-ranked Pirates had played only four linebackers all season, meaning sophomore Melvin Patterson and redshirt freshmen Cliff Perryman and Steve Spence -- who have combined for one tackle this year -- will have to play as reserves when they travel to North Carolina State on Saturday.
"We call them 'The Shock Troops' because they're in shock when we put them in the game," Hudson said. "They're at the edge of the cliff. They're like a young bird, and I'm going to push them in.
"They're going in. Whether they like it or not, they're going in the game."
At first glance, it would seem to be a small detail for the Pirates (3-0) considering they have plenty of experience in starters Pierre Bell, Jeremy Chambliss and newly elevated Nick Johnson. But for a team that has held opponents to about 270 yards per game and shut down West Virginia's offense, Cotton's season-ending injury in the second quarter of last weekend's win at Tulane has left them precariously thin at the heart of the defense.
Bell (28 career starts) is still around to anchor the middle, while Chambliss has started all three games at outside linebacker this year. Johnson had played all three positions and will replace Cotton in the lineup.
Behind them, Patterson had 20 tackles at safety last year, but his only tackle this year came on special teams against the Mountaineers. Perryman and Spence have yet to tally a hit.
Are they ready?
"We're going to find out," Chambliss said. "We're giving them a lot of tutoring. We're pulling them off to the side after each snap and we're trying to tell them to do this or line up like this. We're doing a lot of coaching to them as if we're (Hudson)."
Patterson, for one, doesn't sound too worried.
"I feel like I have a great grasp on the system," he said. "Coach is letting us know we have to step up, so I'm preparing myself on the field and off by watching extra film. I'm not worrying about going out and playing to Quentin's level, but just going out there and making plays.
"I'm definitely happy that I was put in this position and I'm looking to take it."
Still, the situation is enough to make the coaches a little antsy. Earlier this week, coach Skip Holtz admitted that young players can be scary because their inexperience could lead to game-changing mistakes. But the Pirates don't have many options, either.
Hudson, who has been with Holtz in Greenville since his arrival four seasons ago, figures it's not all on his linebackers. He is quick to point out that he's every bit as responsible for how they perform, though he also says it's impossible to know exactly how they'll react to playing in front of a game day crowd.
"They've got a lot of energy, and they don't have many bumps and bruises on them," Hudson said. "They're fresh and aggressive. We've got to put them in position where they don't fail. That's my job. If I get a guy out of position, we'll pay the consequences and inevitably that's my fault."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
North Carolina 44, Rutgers 12
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Butch Davis has North Carolina back on the road to respectability.
T.J. Yates threw three touchdown passes and the Tar Heels won for the first time outside North Carolina since 2002, beating error-prone Rutgers 44-12 in a nationally televised game that pitted Davis against his former pupil, Greg Schiano.
Yates found a wide-open Hakeem Nicks on touchdown passes of 9 and 11 yards and connected on a 69-yard scoring play with speedster Brandon Tate, who also scored on a 12-yard end around.
"You're going to see a whole lot that's changed," said Tate, who caught four passes for a career-best 138 yards. "We could go anywhere and win any game now, so everybody just has to stay focused, stay humble after the win. This win was big, nobody can take us as a joke anymore because we're gonna come in and play hard."
The Tar Heels intercepted four passes, including three by starter Mike Teel. Linebacker Bruce Carter returned a bobbled pass 66 yards for a touchdown as the Tar Heels (2-0) handed Rutgers (0-2) its worst loss since a 56-5 loss to Louisville on Nov. 11, 2005. Freshman Jay Wooten added field goals of 43, 29 and 27 yards.
The victory was the Tar Heels' biggest since a 52-17 win over Duke in 2001.
The start is the best since 2000 for North Carolina, which is looking for its first winning season since 2001. The Tar Heels were 4-8 a year ago in Davis' first season.
"For us, it's nice to win this game," Davis said. "But for us it's 12 one-week seasons. We got an unbelievable monumental task next week against Virginia Tech. I think what it does, what you hope all victories do, is validate the sacrifices you are asking your players to make because we are asking them to do an awful lot to try to become good."
Immediately after the final gun, the team walked over to their supporters in the crowd and thanked them.
"This is a great feeling," senior linebacker Mark Paschal said. "Being here so long and never winning out the state of North Carolina to have an opportunity to come in here and get a win is great. It's great for me. It's great for the team and great for all the guys who have been here."
The start is worst for the Scarlet Knights since 2002, when they finished 1-11 in Schiano's second season. It also was the worst home loss since being thrashed 40-0 by West Virginia that same year.
"You don't want to be naive," Schiano said. "I do believe like I said, don't count this team out. We've had two bad games but I believe we will turn it around."
In many ways, the Scarlet Knights looked like the Rutgers of old. They blew pass coverages on all three of Yates' TD passes, had a bad punt lead to a North Carolina score and saw their senior quarterback turn the ball over three times.
By the time the third quarter was over, North Carolina had a 38-6 lead and only a couple of thousand fans from the sellout crowd of 42,502 were on hand for a derisive cheer when Teel threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Kevin Brock.
San San Te kicked field goals of 34 and 32 yards for Rutgers, which came into the season looking for a fourth straight bowl trip. After losing two at home, the Scarlet Knights need to turn things around quickly.
Davis, who hired Schiano as his defensive coordinator at Miami, saw his team improve markedly after struggling in the season opener against McNeese State.
Yates finished 14-of-22 for 221 yards and matched his career high with the three TD passes. Tate caught four passes for a career-best 138 yards. His 69-yard touchdown catch was the longest of his career. Nicks added six catches for 63 yards with the two TDs, tying his single-game high.
North Carolina took control of the game with 38 points in the second and third quarters.
The Tar Heels scored on three straight possessions in the second to take a 17-6 halftime lead.
An interception by cornerback Charles Brown, set up Wooton's longer field goal that tied it at 3.
A 25-yard punt by Teddy Delleganne gave North Carolina the ball at its own 49 on the next series. Five plays later, Yates found a wide-open Nicks in the corner of the end zone for a 10-3 lead.
A 12-yard run by backup quarterback Jabu Lovelace and passes of 16, 11 and 10 yards by Teel led to Te's 32-yard field goal that got Rutgers to 10-6.
On the ensuing play from scrimmage, Tate ran by cornerback Jason McCourty and Yates lofted a pass down the right sideline for the 69-yard catch and run.
North Carolina blew the game open in the third quarter as Tate scored on the end around, Carter tallied on the interception and Nicks had his second TD catch.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Alabama trying to do the pushing around this time
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Apparently, Alabama players got the message.
The Crimson Tide's coaches spent plenty of time in the preseason talking to them about being physical and tough becoming the football equivalent of the neighborhood bully.
"We're not going to let anybody do anything to us that we don't want them to," offensive lineman Mike Johnson said. "Nobody is going to push us around."
That mentality carried over into the season with a bullying defensive front, a pounding running game and the resulting dominant win over preseason No. 9 Clemson that sent the Crimson Tide soaring to No. 13 in the polls.
For all the things Alabama did right in that game -- and it did enough to vault 11 spots in the rankings -- it started with physical play that caught the attention of everyone from Georgia coach Mark Richt to the Tulane players who visit the Tide Saturday night.
"They're a hard-nosed team," Green Wave offensive tackle Troy Kropog said. "They out-physicalled their opponent in that game tremendously and they played hard. They're aggressive and they play hard. They're the kind of team that poses the most problems because they play to the whistle."
"It was impressive to see," center Michael Parenton said.
The results were impressive, too: Outrushing Clemson and its heralded backfield of James Davis and C.J. Spiller 239-0 and racking up three sacks without allowing any.
It was impressive enough that Johnson and 6-foot-5, 365-pound noseguard Terrence Cody claimed the Southeastern Conference's offensive and defensive lineman of the week honors.
Richt was on hand for the Tide's performance at Atlanta's Georgia Dome.
"I just saw a team that had a mentality they were going to play physical, and they did it," said Richt, whose son Jon is a Clemson freshman. "Clemson didn't have any answers on that day."
Alabama's offensive line could be without its star against Tulane, playing in its opener. Left tackle Andre Smith is listed as doubtful after starting the first 27 games of his college career.
Johnson would move from guard to tackle, and sophomore David Ross would fill Johnson's spot. Even after Smith went down against Clemson, Alabama mounted a scoring drive that consumed nearly 9 minutes.
"We didn't miss a beat," Johnson said. "We pushed the ball down the field with (Ross) in there. We drug out the clock in the fourth quarter with him in there."
Tulane had Conference USA's top run defense last season but must replace starting linemen Avery Williams and Antonio Harris. 'Bama also has to prove it can keep it up after finishing eighth in the SEC in rushing offense last season.
"I think it's the identity that we've always tried to create, play physical, play with a lot of toughness, strike them, knock them back," Tide coach Nick Saban said. "Be aggressive and relentless in your style of how you play and how you compete. I think we did a little better in this game. I think it goes back to the players kind of buying in and believing."
The offensive line was already regarded as a strength of the team with four returning starters. The defensive front seven -- linebackers and linemen -- was more of a question mark.
Cody was a newcomer in the middle of the line and freshman Don'ta Hightower and converted safety Cory Reamer were making their first starts at linebacker.
The result? Reamer forced a fumble and Hightower recovered it.
"From the first play, we had guys getting in the backfield and disrupting everything they were trying to do," Reamer said.
Cody gave the Tide a massive presence inside, drawing multiple blockers and freeing teammates to make plays.
"I didn't see a play where they didn't double-team him, triple-team him on a couple of occasions," defensive end Lorenzo Washington said.
Like Johnson, Washington thinks the Tide approached the season with a different mentality than last year.
"We're attacking. Last year with a lot of teams, we weren't establishing our line of scrimmage," he said. "We were letting them dictate what we do. This year our main focus is attacking the line of scrimmage and knocking them back so we control what they do."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Greg McMackin hired as coach at Hawaii
HONOLULU (AP) -- Greg McMackin's first head coaching job was with the Warriors of Aloha High School in Oregon. Now, 40 years later in the land of aloha, he has come full circle.
McMackin was hired as Hawaii's football coach Wednesday after serving as its defensive coordinator last season on a team that went undefeated until losing the Sugar Bowl.
He replaces June Jones, who left the Warriors to coach SMU less than a week after they were routed by Georgia. McMackin agreed to a five-year deal that will pay him $1.1 million a season, making him the highest paid coach in school history. He will earn 10 times his 2007 salary.
The 58-year-old former assistant with the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks said the Warriors will not change their wide-open offense that flourished last season behind NFL-bound quarterback Colt Brennan.
"What we have to do is build on what we have now," he said at a news conference. "We're going to keep what June has built. There's no reason to fix something that isn't broken."
McMackin said he wants to be the "glue to hold it together."
The Warriors finished the regular season 12-0, then lost 41-10 in the Sugar Bowl. After Jones bolted for SMU, athletic director Herman Frazier was fired amid widespread criticism about failing to re-sign the coach. McMackin acknowledged losing a couple of recruits during that time, including former BYU quarterback Jacob Bower, who has committed to Tulsa. But he plans to aggressively recruit in Hawaii and American Samoa.
"I'm not really worried about this recruiting season because we're going to get who we can get," McMackin said. "We're not going to hurry. We want to bring in good kids, so we're not just going to scramble and get anybody that's out there."
McMackin's last head coaching position was at Oregon Tech from 1986-89, where he had four winning seasons. He was selected at Hawaii from nearly 30 applicants. A selection committee led by acting athletic director Carl Clapp and chancellor Virginia Hinshaw interviewed only a few finalists and unanimously chose McMackin.
"He is a quality human being who will represent our football program, the university and the state with class and dignity," Clapp said.
Linebacker Adam Leonard, who was on the nine-member committee, said McMackin was the easy choice, based on his experience, credentials and ability to lead.
The Warriors were looking forward to moving on after a chaotic two weeks.
"It tarnished the season that we had," he said. "People kind of forgot what kind of season it was. They were more concerned with coach Jones and whether he was going to leave or not."
With his wife of 40 years, Heather, in the front row during the announcement, McMackin said his goal was to become a head coach again. He had possible opportunities at Miami and Utah in the past, but the timing wasn't right.
Now it was. He was endorsed by Jones, the assistant coaches and boosters, who all wanted a seamless transition.
"This is my last contract ... unless they extend it," McMackin said. "We love it here."
Jones said McMackin was the right decision.
"Greg will do a great job," he said. "He has a lot of good young players coming back and can put his touch on the entire team this spring."
McMackin just completed his second stint leading Hawaii's defense, having also served in 1999. Hawaii won Western Athletic Conference titles in both seasons, compiling a 21-5 record.
This past season, McMackin installed an aggressive 4-3 scheme. Hawaii finished 34th in the nation in total defense, allowing 347.8 yards, the best in Jones' nine seasons at the school.
In McMackin's first season at Hawaii in 1999, his defense was ranked 35th nationally, much improved from 109th the previous season.
McMackin wouldn't comment on his staff other than to say he wanted all the assistants to stay. Three have already joined Jones in Dallas. Warriors receivers coach Ron Lee is expected to become Hawaii's offensive coordinator.
McMackin was the 49ers' linebackers coach from 2003-05. Before that, he was the defensive coordinator for three seasons at Texas Tech. He was also the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks from 1995-98 and at several colleges, including Miami.
Hawaii faces a tough schedule next season, opening at Florida. The Warriors have several key defensive players returning but will have to rebuild the offense. The team has lost Brennan and all four starting receivers.
McMackin assured only one thing: "The next time we get to the Sugar Bowl, we're going to kick their (butt)."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
New Mexico proposes own penalties in NCAA investigation
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- New Mexico plans to self-impose penalties, including the reduction of two scholarships for next season, in response to an NCAA investigation into academic fraud involving the school's football team.
According to a report released Wednesday, New Mexico also proposes cutting the number of coaches who can recruit off campus from seven to six for the next two seasons and reducing the number of official visits to recruits from 50 to 46 during the 2007-08 recruiting period.
The school cut the number of junior college recruits who were academic non-qualifiers out of high school by 50 percent for two years. UNM's four-year average of nine will be trimmed to four for next season and five in 2009.
The university imposed two years' probation on the program.
"We recognize we need to be held accountable for our actions," athletics director Paul Krebs said at a news conference. "We feel these are appropriate sanctions, based upon the violations."
The NCAA notified the university of its investigation in a Sept. 6 letter, saying it was looking into four potential rules violations involving three members of New Mexico's football coaching staff.
None of the coaches has been identified, and names were deleted from copies of the school's response that were distributed to reporters. Athletic director Paul Krebs has said two coaches are no longer on staff. Head coach Rocky Long is not accused of any wrongdoing.
"We're disappointed and we're embarrassed to say that we believe three of the four allegations are accurate," Krebs said.
New Mexico is contesting the allegation that an assistant coach who remains on the staff interfered with the NCAA investigation.
The assistants were accused of helping four prospective student athletes and one student athlete already enrolled at New Mexico to improperly obtain credits through correspondence courses at Fresno Pacific University. They were credited for work never performed and were granted eligibility.
"We will no longer accept course work from Fresno Pacific. It sounds fairly obvious, and it is," Krebs said.
Only two of the five played for the Lobos. No current players are involved in the case, which dates from the spring of 2004 and fall of 2005. The school first learned of the violations in July 2006.
Krebs has said that administrators, including Long, weren't aware of the violations when they occurred.
New Mexico administrators must appear before the NCAA's infractions committee in the spring. Committee members then will decide whether to accept the self-imposed penalties or levy additional sanctions.
"At this point, what I'm comfortable saying is that we believe we had strong processes in place but we need to strengthen some things we do," Krebs said. "We're doing that. We have a vigilant compliance staff.
"Yet if individuals choose to operate outside the rules, outside the structure, things can happen."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Report: North Dakota coach Dale Lennon headed to S. Illinois
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- University of North Dakota football coach Dale Lennon is reported to be leaving for Southern Illinois.
Lennon will be named head coach at Southern Illinois on Friday, the Grand Forks Herald said on its Web site Thursday, citing sources it did not name.
Calls to Lennon's home and office and to Southern Illinois were not immediately returned.
Southern Illinois is a Division I Football Championship Subdivision program and a member of the Gateway Football Conference.
Lennon has 90 career wins at UND, tying him with Roger Thomas for the most in school history. He became the Sioux head coach in 1999, after two years as head coach at the University of Mary in Bismarck.
He led the Sioux to one NCAA Division II national title in 2001, a national runner-up finish and five North Central Conference championships since taking over in 1999. His national title team had 12 academic all-NCC selections.
Lennon is a native of Knox, a small town in north central North Dakota. He spent more than two decades at UND as a player, assistant and head coach. He graduated from UND in 1985.
UND, which is moving from NCAA Division II to Division I, finished 10-2 this season, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Southern Illinois is looking for a successor to Jerry Kill, who left earlier this month for Northern Illinois. In Kill's seven seasons in Carbondale, the Salukis went 56-32, won three straight Gateway Conference titles made five consecutive postseason appearances, including a run to the FCS semifinals that ended in a 20-17 loss Dec. 8 to Delaware.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
|
