News Nuggets, 01.04.05
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
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Compiled from staff reports
and electronic dispatches
Auburn holds off Tech, turns attention to voters
PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
01.03.05: Tech
sack artist looks to Baghdad for inspiration ... Meyer bids
adieu as Utah relishes perfection ...
More... |
01.02.05: Utah
domination of Pitt exposes BCS ... Petrino backpedals as LSU
zeroes in on Miles ...
More... |
01.01.05: Cards
hang on in Liberty Bowl shootout with Broncos ... Utes
poised to cap off perfect season in style ...
More... |
12.31.04: Offensive
juggernauts collide in Liberty Bowl ... Tire Bowl goes flat
for North Carolina ...
More... |
12.30.04: Boston
College tests ACC waters in Tire Bowl ... Syracuse reverses
field, ousts Pasqualoni ...
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12.29.04: Petrino
flirts with LSU on eve of Liberty Bowl ... Power indexes:
Conference ratings... Team ratings ...
More... |
12.28.04: Utah
carries banner of have-nots into Fiesta Bowl ... Tampa
slaying perplexes victim's friends ...
More... |
12.27.04: Vanderbilt
football star slain by gunfire in Tampa ... Tulsa coach
resigns with C-USA on horizon ...
More... |
12.26.04: Tulane
rewards Scelfo with contract extension ... Big Ten pushes
for instant replay for all of I-A ...
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12.25.04: Chang,
Hawaii spoil UAB's bowl debut in shootout ... Memphis bumps
West up to $800K per year ...
More... |
12.24.04: BCS
produces sequel to 'Night of the Living Dead' ... Cincy
torches Herd in frigid Ft. Worth Bowl ... UAB makes bowl
debut against prolific Warriors ...
More... |
12.23.04: Bowling
Green shakes off Memphis in GMAC Bowl ... Primetime bowl
preview: Bearcats vs. Herd ... Tranghese: BCS not interested
in playoff ...
More... |
12.22.04: Up-and-coming
programs tangle in GMAC bowl ... Petrino hits jackpot with
new pact at U of L ... College basketball power indexes ...
More... |
12.21.04: Cold,
hard facts about health swayed Majerus ... Basketball panel
tinkering with RPI formula ...
More... |
12.20.04: GMAC
Bowl history sets stage for Tigers-Falcons shootout ...
Memphis reinstates Banks after one game ... Mounting
attrition challenges Pitino, Cards ...
More... |
12.19.04: Houston
AD livid with Nebraska over cancellation ... Duke cans
offensive coordinator Galbraith ... Majerus retreats back to
TV booth ...
More... |
12.18.04: Wolfpack's
Hodge not short on self-esteem ,,, James Madison rushes to
I-AA championship ...
More... |
12.17.04: Nebraska
icon Osborne irked with aloof AD's ... William & Mary QB
captures Payton Award ...
More... |
12.16.04: Pirates
hawking hoops tickets with a twist ... Majerus ditches TV
gig to rescue Trojans ...
More... |
12.15.04: Bowl
season kicks off with Southern Miss victory ... Marshall
linebacker suspended for bowl game ...
More... |
12.14.04: Preview:
USM, North Texas kick off bowl season ... Former ECU
assistants McFarland, Brindise land jobs ... McLendon to
bolt Wolfpack for NFL draft ...
More... |
12.13.04: Musical
chairs at full tilt as coaches change jobs ... List of
Division I-A coaching changes ... Heisman Trophy chronology
1935-2004 ...
More... |
12.12.04: Title
game of the Heismans set ... All-time Heisman winners list
... Blue- Gray Classic scratched again ...
More... |
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NEW ORLEANS The Auburn Tigers were
pleading for someone anyone to vote them No. 1. They must have sensed
that giving up two late touchdowns in the Sugar Bowl all but ruined their
improbable hope of sharing the national championship.
No, the No. 3 Tigers didn't get the
masterpiece performance they were hoping for. Instead, they settled for
hanging onto a perfect season, beating Virginia Tech 16-13 Monday night.
Even so, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville
vowed to get his players championship rings no matter how the polls turn
out after Tuesday night's Orange Bowl between No. 1 Southern Cal and No. 2
Oklahoma.
And Tuberville didn't pass up the
chance to make one more plea on behalf of his third-ranked team.
``I've got a subscription to Golf
Digest. I may ask them to vote us No. 1,'' Tuberville joked. ``We're 13-0.
We should be national champions. There's no doubt about it.''
Auburn had a couple of second-half
turnovers and gave up an 80-yard touchdown pass with two minutes left a
major blow to their hopes of swaying the voters to split No. 1 again.
The Tigers just wish they could settle
things on the field, yearning for a chance to play one more game.
``Bring 'em on,'' running back Carnell
Williams said. ``The neighborhood park would be fine.''
Jason Campbell threw a touchdown pass,
John Vaughn kicked three short field goals and Auburn completed its first
perfect season since 1993.
Virginia Tech (10-3) could have made
things even easier on the Bowl Championship Series by upsetting Auburn. But
the Hokies had a couple of major blunders, dropping a pass in the end zone
and missing a chip-shot field goal.
When Bryan Randall threw a 29-yard
touchdown pass to Josh Morgan with 6:58 left in the game, ruining Auburn's
shutout, one could almost sense that USC, Oklahoma and especially the
BCS were breathing a little easier.
Randall dealt a more stunning blow to
the Tigers when he threw the long touchdown pass to Morgan, who somehow
slipped behind Auburn's prevent defense.
The Tigers recovered the onside kick
and kneeled down to run out the clock, deciding to preserve the victory
rather than try to win more impressively.
The Auburn band even launched into a
Bon Jovi song that summed things up for the Southeastern Conference
champions: ``Living on a Prayer.''
``I just wanted to win by one,'' said
Tuberville, who nearly lost his job at the end of last season. ``That's all
that counts. If you have to win with style points, you might as well throw
out all the systems.''
Campbell was named MVP after completing
11-of-16 for 189 yards with one interception. Randall threw for 299 yards
but was picked off twice.
``People just don't understand how hard
it is to go 13-0,'' Campbell said. ``I'm not going to sit here and say we're
No. 2 behind anybody.''
The odd team out in a troika of 12-0
teams, Auburn settled for a spot in the Sugar Bowl against the Hokies, while
USC and Oklahoma were tapped for the Orange Bowl the BCS title game.
Nothing ever seems to work out smoothly
in Division I-A football, the only college sport that insists on using a mix
of polls and bowls to determine its champion rather than settling things
with a playoff.
Auburn's hopes were based on this
convoluted scenario: The Tigers defeat Virginia Tech convincingly, Oklahoma
knocks off USC in an ugly Orange Bowl and enough voters in The Associated
Press media poll picks Auburn as the No. 1 team, creating another split
championship.
The winner of the Orange Bowl is
assured of being voted No. 1 in the coaches' poll. But the AP rankings
aren't tied to the BCS. Last season, USC was voted No. 1 by the AP after
winning the Rose Bowl, while LSU won the BCS title by beating Oklahoma in
the Sugar Bowl.
The overlooked Hokies hurt themselves
with those two major miscues. Jesse Allen dropped a sure touchdown pass on
fourth-and-goal at the 1 midway through the second quarter. Then, Brandon
Pace yanked a 23-yard field goal just left of the upright early in the
fourth.
``Well we played hard, we just didn't
play well enough,'' Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said.
Trotting onto the Superdome turf beneath a sign that said, ``Go Auburn,
Biased Championship Series,'' the Tigers got off to a roaring start.
Campbell threw a 35-yard pass to Cooper
Wallace on Auburn's first offensive play, then Ronnie Brown broke off a
31-yard run on the next snap. But the Tigers bogged down at the 5, settling
for Vaughn's first field goal.
That would set the tone. Auburn drove
inside the 10 on two more possessions, but the Hokies bucked up to keep the
Tigers out of the end zone. Vaughn connected two more times from chip-shot
range, tying the Sugar Bowl record for field goals in a half.
A voter in the coaches' poll, Beamer
has already decided to anoint the Orange Bowl winner as No. 1. Auburn will
have to settle for No. 2 on his ballot.
That sounds about right to one of his
players, cornerback Eric Green.
``People were expecting it to be a
blowout. People were expecting Auburn to show they should be in Miami,''
Green said. ``I think they're right where they belong.''
Petrino sets out to mend
fences at Louisville
LOUISVILLE Louisville football coach
Bobby Petrino apologized Monday for his
dalliance with LSU just days after
signing a new contract with the Cardinals, and said he needs to mend his
relationship with the school's athletic director and its fans.
Petrino met with LSU officials on Dec.
26, less than a week after Louisville nearly doubled his salary to $1
million a year. The Cardinals finished 11-1 this season and led the nation
in points and yards per game.
Speculation about Petrino's future came
as the seventh-ranked Cardinals prepared for the Liberty Bowl, which they
won 44-40 against 10th-ranked Boise State on New Year's Eve.
``I'd like to apologize for the uproar
that I caused for the fans and the administration last week,'' Petrino said
Monday at the school's football complex. ``It was certainly not my intent.''
Petrino said he is committed to
Louisville, echoing statements he made when he signed his contract last
month.
``This is where I want to be,'' he
said.
Petrino's new contract, like the old
one, runs through the 2010 season. Petrino will earn a $1 million bonus if
he stays through the 2007 season.
Petrino announced Saturday he was no
longer a candidate for the LSU job. Les Miles, the coach at Oklahoma State,
was hired Monday by the Tigers to replace Nick Saban, who left for the Miami
Dolphins.
Louisville athletic director Tom
Jurich, who hired Petrino two years ago, said Sunday he would honor the
coach's contract, but expressed disappointment with the timing of Petrino's
meeting with LSU officials and said it was up to Petrino to smooth things
over with fans.
``My toughest job now, I think, is to
repair my relationship with Tom Jurich and the fans, and I'm committed to
doing that,'' Petrino said.
It was the second year that Petrino has
angered Louisville fans by talking with officials from another school. In
his first season at Louisville, Petrino met secretly with officials from
Auburn, where he formerly was offensive coordinator.
University trustee Bill Stone predicted
that Petrino would be successful.
``The fans of this community are very
forgiving,'' Stone said. ``They care so much, that's why they were so
hurt.''
Petrino said he followed proper
protocol in meeting with LSU officials, but admitted ``the timing was
awful.'' Jurich, who gave LSU permission to talk to Petrino, said Sunday he
asked the Tigers to wait until after the Liberty Bowl to meet with the
coach.
``I felt like I owed that opportunity
to myself, and that it was something that I should do,'' Petrino said.
``Obviously if I had it to do over again, I probably would have just said
no.''
Louisville will join the Big East next
season and compete for the league's automatic berth in the lucrative Bowl
Championship Series.
News Nuggets are
compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data
published by ECU, Conference USA and its member
schools; and reports from Associated Press and
other sources. Copyright 2004
Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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