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News Nuggets, 09.29.03
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

College football weekend: The good, the bad and the ugly

STARS: -B.J. Symons, Texas Tech, threw for 661 yards - a school and Big 12 record - and six touchdowns, in the Red Raiders' 49-45 win over Mississippi. Symons, 44-for-64 with one interception, threw for 586 yards in a loss to North Carolina State last week. His sixth TD pass came with 1:04 left. ----- Philip Rivers, N.C. State, threw for 423 yards and a touchdown and added two rushing TDs as the Wolf Pack beat North Carolina 47-34.

BITING BACK: No. 25 Florida scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to rally from an 18-point deficit and beat Kentucky 24-21, the biggest road comeback in school history. Florida's largest previous road rally was from 17 points behind in a 1993 win at South Carolina.

PERFECT: No. 20 Northern Illinois is 3-0 against teams from BCS conferences, following a 24-16 win over Iowa State. The Huskies, ranked for the first time ever, beat Maryland in overtime to open the season, and Alabama on the road last Saturday.

SHUTOUTS: South Florida beat Army 28-0 in the Bulls' first Conference USA game.

STREAKING: No. 5 Virginia Tech extended its winning streak in games played before October to 28 with a 47-13 victory over UConn. ... No. 6 Florida State improved to 12-0 against Duke with a 56-7 win.

SLUMPING: Duke lost a record 27th straight ACC game, 56-7 to Florida State. ... Buffalo dropped its 15th straight game, 38-21 to Akron, extending the nation's longest losing streak. ... South Carolina fell to 0-12 at Neyland Stadium and has dropped 11 straight to No. 8 Tennessee after a 23-20 overtime loss.

SAFETY DANCE: North Texas tied an NCAA Division I-A record by scoring three safeties in a 44-23 win over Louisiana-Lafayette. In the first quarter, running back Travis Smothers was tackled in the end zone. On consecutive possessions in the second half, Eric Rekieta was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, and the ball was snapped over punter Grant Autrey's head out of the end zone.

DENZEL'S SON: John David Washington, son of actor Denzel Washington, ran for a school-record 242 yards and a touchdown as Morehouse beat Johnson C. Smith 39-21.

SPEAKING: "I knew we had a real good football team. But in my wildest dreams, I didn't think we'd be 4-0 at this point." - Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak, after the No. 20 Huskies beat Iowa State 24-16. ----- "We felt like it would be more classy if we just let our fans take care of that." - Kansas quarterback Bill Whittemore, on Jayhawks fans tearing down the goalposts after a 35-14 win over No. 23 Missouri. Last year, after the Tigers beat Kansas 36-12 at home, Missouri players helped their fans rip down the goalposts.

Cincy rolls out ticket promotion for USM game

CINCINNATI — In a show of appreciation to the fans for their support of Cincinnati's first two home football games, the Bearcats athletic department is offering a buy-one, get-one-free ticket option for the team's Oct. 4 game vs. Southern Miss.

The offer is limited to the first 3,000 tickets sold for the game. No coupons are required. The buy-one, get-one-free offer begins immediately and ends at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3, or whenever the first 3,000 tickets are sold.

Tickets are regularly $22 for adults and can be purchased at the UC Athletic Ticket Office at One Edwards Center on the UC campus from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, on-line via www.ucbearcats.com or by calling 513-556-CATS.

The Bearcats attracted 28,011 to their season opener on Labor Day and 30,405 to last weekend's win over Temple. The Temple crowd was the eighth-largest ever at Nippert Stadium.

UC's game against Southern Miss kicks off at 7 p.m. and pits a pair of teams undefeated in Conference USA play.

Polls unkind to unbeaten TCU; Cardinals, Wolfpack on the cusp

Nick Browne sent the game into overtime with a 24-yard field goal with 1:07 left in regulation and kicked the game-winner from 33 yards out in overtime to lift Texas Christian over struggling Arizona, 13-10, in Tucson. Still, despite the fact that the Horned Frogs are off to a 4-0 start for the first time since the 2000 season, when they started 7-0, they slipped from 19th to 20th in this week's Associated Press Poll and fell from No. 17 to No. 21 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.

Among other teams receiving votes, Louisville is 26th in the AP poll and 29th in the Coaches poll, while N.C. State is No. 26 in the Coaches poll and No. 27 in the AP poll. South Carolina picked up votes in the AP poll, and Clemson and Wake Forest received votes in the Coaches poll.

Following are both sets of rankings, with Conference USA and Carolinas teams denoted in bold:

Marquette books Costa Rican hoops journey

MILWAUKEE — The Marquette men's basketball team will get an early start on the 2003-04 campaign when it plays a five-game docket of contests in Costa Rica in the middle of October. The Golden Eagles of Head Coach Tom Crean will leave Milwaukee on Wednesday, October 15, before returning on Sunday, Oct. 19.

During its tour, Marquette will compete against five Central America professional club and national teams. All games will be played at the National Stadium in Escazu, a suburb on the west side of San Jose, the capital city. Tickets for the games will be available at the door only.

The Golden Eagles are allowed 10 days of practice before embarking upon their trip and will begin those in early October.

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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