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News Nuggets, 12.06.03
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Wintry weather grounds Pirates vs. Pirates

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The basketball game between Seton Hall and East Carolina, scheduled for noon on Saturday at noon at Continental Airlines Arena, has been postponed. ECU's team flight on Friday was canceled due to inclement weather in the northeast.

Seton Hall is in the process of determining an alternative date for the game and any announcements regarding tickets or rescheduling will be made at a later date.

Seton Hall is next in action on Wednesday, Dec. 10, when the Pirates travel to Louisville for a 7:30 p.m. game at Freedom Hall.

ECU's variety of Pirates will hit the hardwood again that same evening, hosting North Carolina A&T in Minges Coliseum's Williams Arena at 7 p.m.

Saturday TV capsule: Army vs. Navy

CBS, 4 p.m.
Army (0-12) at Navy (7-4), at Philadelphia

Opening Line: Navy by 22½.
Series Record: Army leads, 49-47-7.
Last Meeting: 2002, Navy, 58-12.

WHAT TO WATCH: At stake for Navy is the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, awarded annually to the team with the best record in games between the three service academies. The Midshipmen, who will be going to their first bowl since 1996, haven't won the coveted trophy since 1981. Their chances look good. Under coach Paul Johnson, the Midshipmen's triple-option offense leads the nation in rushing with 323 yards rushing per game - a school record. QB Craig Candeto needs 36 yards rushing for a 1,000-yard season. RB Kyle Eckel, meanwhile, already has 1,026 yards. None of this bodes well for Army, which has the nation's sixth-worst offense. The Black Knights have allowed 468 yards per game, nearly 200 of it on the ground. Mired in a school-record 14-game losing streak, Army interim coach John Mumford took over when Todd Berry was fired six games into the season. The Black Knights have relatively few threats, though WR William White is a dangerous kick returner. QB Zac Dahman holds Army's season records for completions and attempts, and has 2,119 yards passing. These marks are largely attributable to the Knights' need to play from behind so often this season. RB Carlton Jones is Army's leading rusher with 593 yards and five TDs.

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES: Navy has guaranteed itself a winning season for just the third time in 20 years and the ninth time in 40 years. ... Navy has also set school records this year for total offense (4,763 yards), rushing yards (3,554 yards), rushing touchdowns (38), and total offense per game (433 yards). ... It is the 104th meeting in the rivalry, which dates to Navy's 24-0 win at West Point in 1890. ... Navy has won four of the past six meetings. ... The helmets to be worn in this game use the shock-absorbing technology that protects paratroopers from head injuries. The helmets' manufacturer is publicly announcing the new model at the game. ... Navy coach Paul Johnson took over a program in 2002 that was coming off the worst two-year span in its 123-year history (1-20) and had only two winning seasons in the last 20 years. He was 62-10 in five seasons at Division I-AA Georgia Southern.

Schnellenberger still on quest for titles

BOCA RATON — Players say he's an inspiration. Contemporaries call him a master motivator. Above everything else, Howard Schnellenberger is a winner. Other than one ill-fated season at Oklahoma, Schnellenberger has won — and won fast — everywhere he's gone.

Twenty years after guiding Miami to its first national title, Schnellenberger is three wins away from another championship, with Division I-AA Florida Atlantic.

Schnellenberger, 69, learned his trade at Alabama, where he was an assistant to Bear Bryant on three national title teams in the 1960s. In the late 1970s, he needed five years to turn the Hurricanes from chumps to champs in 1983. And then, he made Louisville known for something other than basketball.

Even though his one and only Oklahoma team went 5-5-1 in 1995, Schnellenberger was not dismayed. He started Florida Atlantic's football program from scratch three years ago, and now he has the team on the road to a title and poised to make the jump to Division I-A and the Sun Belt Conference.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who lost his share of games to Schnellenberger's Miami teams. "I was amazed at how he's just brought them up. I'm amazed, but not surprised."

The Owls (10-2) play at Northern Arizona (9-3) Saturday, with the winner heading to the I-AA semifinals. Florida Atlantic, a team that won only six games in its first two seasons, has a nine-game winning streak.

"I've never been prouder of any other team I've coached than I am with this group of boys," Schnellenberger said.

Bowden recalled the impact Schnellenberger had at Miami, where he built a program that would win four more national titles under three different coaches. Bowden first met Schnellenberger when FAU's coach was still an assistant at Alabama.

"Of all the coaches I've known, Howard is the closest I've seen to being like Bryant," Bowden said. "There's a reverence about him. Kids can't help but give their best for him. He builds a great aura of confidence."

Not only did Schnellenberger learn under Bryant, he also won two Super Bowls as an assistant to Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula.

"That's like someone being with Einstein and somebody who wins the Pulitzer Prize every year," said longtime Schnellenberger assistant Chris Vagotis, FAU's offensive line coach.

It was as an assistant under Bryant that Schnellenberger learned the value of tough practices, which even today's players credit for Florida Atlantic's quick improvement. Peers say it's Schellenberger's attention to preparation that sets him apart.

Longtime friend Ron Steiner, a sports information director for Schnellenberger's teams for more than a decade, notes the toughness the coach instills in his players.

"He makes you feel like you're on a crusade," Steiner said. "If you're on a crusade, you act a whole lot different than if you're going to punch a clock. ... That gets a lot more out of people."

Routine has also stuck with Schnellenberger, who still runs the prostyle offense he learned under Shula when he was with the Dolphins. His practice schedule is nearly identical to the one he used at Miami and Louisville.

"He presses the physical and mental limits every way possible," said Don Bailey, who played under Schnellenberger at Miami and is now the Hurricanes' radio color analyst. "But as hard as he pushes you, he has the ability to know when to pull off of you at the last second, which is an art."

Schnellenberger left Miami after guiding the Hurricanes to the 1983 national title. He spent 10 seasons at Louisville, highlighted by a Fiesta Bowl win over Alabama in 1990. He spent that one tough year at Oklahoma, then left coaching for several years before agreeing to build Florida Atlantic's program.

The Owls' turnaround has been nothing short of amazing. FAU was the second-worst rushing team in I-AA last season, scoring just 16 points a game while giving up nearly 31. The team started the year with an eight-game losing streak before finishing 2-9.

This year's team showed promise early, beating I-A Middle Tennessee to open the season. Two losses followed, and the Owls have won all the rest.

"Everybody thinks there some sort of magical formula and there's not," Vagotis said. "You just have a bunch of guys and a bunch of coaches working very hard under a guy who knows what he's doing and has done it before."

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2003 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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