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PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
09.29.05: Schnellenberger
faces program he helped build |
09.28.05: Storm-weary
USM starts tough stretch at ECU ... ECU Letterwinners/Hall
of Fame Weekend schedule |
09.27.05: Paper:
Liberty Bowl seals deal with C-USA, SEC ... Busted legs
deplete Memphis quarterback corps |
09.26.05: College
football headliners: stars & storylines ... Conference USA
standings, schedule & scores |
09.25.05: Scoreboard:
C-USA teams & ECU opponents |
09.24.05: Big
names helping UNC-P restore grid program ... Conference USA
schedule, standings & scores |
09.23.05: NCAA
okays instant replay in all 28 bowl games ... Conference USA
schedule, standings & scores |
09.22.05: C-USA,
NFL teams thrown off stride by Rita ... Conference USA
schedule, standings & scores |
09.21.05: Hurricane
Rita threatens disruption of schedule ... Indian mascot ban
extended to bowl games |
09.20.05: Vandy
sheds doormat image in breakout start ... C-USA Standings,
Schedule, Scoreboard |
09.19.05: Injured
Clemson player has spleen removed ... College football
headliners: stars & storylines ... C-USA Standings,
Schedule, Scoreboard |
09.18.05: Scoreboard
[C-USA teams & ECU opponents] |
09.17.05: Fed
judge labels NCAA monopolistic, okays trial ... UTEP wins
double OT thriller in C-USA debut ... C-USA schedule,
standings, scores |
09.16.05: Slive's
contract with SEC extended until 2009 ... Conference USA
Standings and Schedule |
09.15.05: ECU
football ticket sales picking up momentum ... Tulane teams
on a mission to make impression |
09.14.05: Dye
headlines ECU's Hall of Fame Class of 2005 ... Ophelia
shutters ECU; dormitories remain open |
09.13.05: Conference
USA Standings and Schedule ... Auburn player learns family
escaped Katrina |
09.12.05: College
football headliners: stars & storylines ... Conference USA
Scoreboard and Schedule |
09.11.05: SMU
springs milestone upset of No. 22 TCU ... Scoreboard: C-USA
teams & ECU opponents |
09.10.05: Green
Beret parachutist hurt in pre-game jump ... NCAA rebuffs
appeal on Tulsa player's eligibility |
09.09.05: Tulane-MSU
game shifted out of harm's way ...
Ex-Marshall coach latest to pull out of BCS poll |
09.08.05: CSTV,
DISH satellite service finally strike deal |
09.07.05: Pirates
capture two of league's three awards ... Tulane teams to
carry on at five host schools ... Two players jailed on
murder charges |
09.06.05: Conference
USA Schedule and Scoreboard ... N.C. Central wins thriller
in Aggie-Eagle Classic |
09.05.05: College
football headliners: stars & storylines ... Scoreboard:
C-USA teams & ECU opponents |
09.04.05: Dave
Odom brings back lessons from Kuwait ... Scoreboard: C-USA
teams & ECU opponents |
09.03.05: ECU's
"Total Access" expected to launch today ... Uprooted Green
Wave to "carry the torch" ... Storm-trapped sister of UCF
player found safe ... Sun Belt evacuates New Orleans
headquarters |
09.02.05: Green
Wave football team in limbo about future ... Southern Miss
sets up ad hoc camp in Memphis ... Thursday night's college
football scoreboard |
09.01.05: Pirate
QB's second shoulder surgery a success ... East Carolina
fans on the verge of Total Access |
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News Nuggets, 09.30.05
— — — — —
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
Previous Day Nuggets...
Next Day Nuggets...
Compiled from staff reports
and electronic dispatches
Bowles in line to head 16-campus UNC system
North Carolina's 16-campus university
system is poised to turn to a successful businessman and
politically-connected native son to lead it into the future.
Erskine Bowles, the former chief of
staff to President Clinton, is expected to become the next president of the
University of North Carolina system.
A search committee unanimously
recommended Bowles earlier this week, the UNC Board of Governors said. The
32-member board will hold a special meeting Monday, where his election is
all but assured.
"He's everything we want, everything we
need," said Craig Souza, the board's vice chairman and an East Carolina
University alumnus. "Every time we turned, he just came out on top."
Bowles did not immediately return a
phone call from The Associated Press.
If approved, Bowles will start Jan. 1.
He'll earn a salary of $425,000, but officials said he intends to donate
$125,000 a year to need-based student aid funds.
Bowles would replace Molly Broad, who
has led the 16-campus system since 1997.
One of the first challenges he would
face would be wading into a burgeoning political controversy over demands by
UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University for special leeway in raising
tuition rates.
Bowles received his bachelor's degree
from UNC-Chapel Hill. A center on alcohol studies is named for his late
father, prominent Greensboro businessman and one-time North Carolina
gubernatorial candidate "Skipper" Bowles.
An investment banker, Erskine Bowles
ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate in 2002 and 2004,
losing to Republicans Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, respectively.
The 16 institutions of the
University of North Carolina system:
Appalachian State
University
East Carolina University
Elizabeth City State University
Fayetteville State University
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
North Carolina Central University
North Carolina School of the Arts
North Carolina State University
University of North Carolina at Asheville
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Western Carolina University
Winston-Salem State University
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End of VPI-WVU series dampens fiery traditions
MORGANTOWN — Upsets, noisy stadiums,
burning couches and garbage cans... and
Michael Vick. Those are just a few of the lasting memories of the West
Virginia-Virginia Tech rivalry.
Now there's one game left.
No. 3 Virginia Tech's move to the
Atlantic Coast Conference last year and the subsequent addition of other
teams to the Big East made it more difficult for the two schools to schedule
each other, making Saturday's matchup the finale of the 33-year rivalry.
``This will be the rubber match, so it
will be nice to try to get on the top,'' West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez
said. ``That will be an upset, for sure.''
The schools have met every year since
1973, when Bobby Bowden was the Mountaineers' coach and Charlie Coffey was
in his final season with the Hokies. Since then, West Virginia leads the
series 17-15.
Besides the Hokies, West Virginia has
only been playing Pitt (since 1944) and Syracuse (since 1955) longer. For
Virginia Tech, the series' length is surpassed only by its current 36-year
run with Virginia.
West Virginia athletic director Ed
Pastilong is optimistic the stoppage is only temporary.
``There's a good relationship among the
two schools and there's a desire to put together another series,'' Pastilong
said Tuesday.
Each team has dominated at one time or
another. West Virginia did so early on, but Frank Beamer turned things
around after becoming Hokies coach in 1987.
Over the past decade, the rivalry's
intensity has increased because of close wins, upsets, and what's been at
stake. Including this year, it has involved a top-10 team six times, with
national title chances being extended, postponed or vanquished. The teams
have split the last four meetings.
Beamer takes away memories of his good
friend, former WVU coach Don Nehlen, and the often-unfriendly atmosphere at
Mountaineer Field, which is sold out for Saturday's game.
``I'd much rather play in a stadium
that's jumping, that's moving,'' Beamer said. ``If you've got a lot of empty
seats and no one's moving, I find that's when you have a hard time
playing.''
In 1999, West Virginia led third-ranked
Virginia Tech 20-19 after scoring two touchdowns in two minutes. But the
Hokies had Vick.
On the game's final drive, the redshirt
freshman completed two passes, and the next play became part of series lore.
Vick went back to pass, couldn't find
an open receiver and took off toward the right sideline. It appeared he
would step out of bounds 10 yards downfield. Instead, he darted ahead for 16
more to put Tech in field-goal range with 23 seconds left.
Shayne Graham's 44-yarder as time
expired won it. Virginia Tech went on to play for the national championship,
losing to Florida State in the Sugar Bowl.
In 2002, Jay Henry was a freshman
linebacker who got left behind when the Mountaineers traveled to Blacksburg.
He watched the defense make two late fourth quarter stands, including Brian
King's interception of Bryan Randall in the end zone with 12 seconds left to
preserve a 21-18 win.
That night, 75 fires — many fueled by
couches — lit up the night sky over a student-dominated neighborhood in
Morgantown. Seven students were eventually expelled.
``I remember ... how crazy this place
was. I kind of got my first taste,'' Henry said. ``We went downtown and saw
everybody going nuts. That's really the first time I got a taste of this
rivalry and what it means to everybody.''
A year later in Morgantown, it was even
crazier.
Early in the game, the referee ordered
West Virginia to cease using artificial noisemakers through the speaker
system to stir the fans. Spurred by the announcement, the sellout crowd got
on its feet and never let up in WVU's 28-7 win over Tech, again ranked No.
3.
``That may have been the most electric
crowd that I've seen since I've been here and even as a player,'' Rodriguez
said.
It was the highest-ranked opponent West
Virginia had ever beaten. After the Mountaineers posted their first
back-to-back wins in the series in a decade, more than 100 fires were set in
Morgantown. Police used pepper spray to hold back fans rushing to tear down
the goal posts.
Offensive lineman Dan Mozes and his
roommate, defensive back Mike Lorello, have a running debate on which team's
stadium is louder. Lorello says it was Mountaineer Field in 2003. Mozes
believes it was Lane Stadium in Blacksburg last year, when No. 6 West
Virginia's national title chances were dashed.
``Combine them both and they won't be
as loud as it will be this year, hopefully,'' Mozes said.
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 2005
Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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