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News Nuggets, 09.06.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Backup back bids for start after bulldozing Pirates

MORGANTOWN, WV — Kay-Jay Harris still needs to prove to West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez that he deserves to be the Mountaineers' starting running back — even after a record-setting performance in the season opener.

Harris rushed for a Big East-record 337 yards and four touchdowns in the 10th-ranked Mountaineers' 56-23 win over East Carolina on Saturday night.

But Rodriguez said Harris still needs a good week of practice in order to start next Saturday's game at Central Florida over Jason Colson.

"He made some nice reads, but he missed some too," Rodriguez said Sunday. "We felt we had 100 more yards out there rushing if everything went the right way.

"We think he can play even better. But I don't know if we'll ever have that many opportunities again."

Rodriguez had questioned Harris' ability to carry the ball 25 to 30 times a game after he reported to camp at 245 pounds. He shed 20 pounds during camp and carried the ball 25 times Saturday.

Colson was selected the starter for the season opener late in the week. Harris entered the game on the third play and ran for 223 yards by halftime.

He went on to break the school record of 291 yards set by Kerry Marbury in 1971 against Temple. He also set the conference record, eclipsing the mark of 299 set by Miami's Edgerrin James in 1998 against UCLA.

Of course, Harris' big day came against an East Carolina team that was coming off a 1-11 season and had surrendered an average of 449 yards rushing to West Virginia the past two years. The Mountaineers had 478 yards on the ground Saturday.

Despite not being selected the starter, Harris — who has never started a game — is already well on his way to becoming West Virginia's ninth-straight 1,000 yard rusher.

Harris credited a veteran offensive line for opening holes that allowed him to get into the secondary with regularity.

"The first person I ever saw was the safety. Every time," Harris said.

Frances blows Pitt-USF game into December

South Florida and Pittsburgh have been thrown off track by the weekend's extreme weather in Florida. With Hurricane Frances barreling through the state, the schools agreed to postpone their Labor Day football game set for Raymond James Stadium to the weekend of December 3-4.

“After consultation with the University of Pittsburgh, the Tampa Sports Authority and other area public safety officials, due to the uncertainty of the weather created by Hurricane Frances and the desire to provide a safe environment, we have decided to reschedule the game,” said USF Director of Athletics Doug Woolard in an announcement.

Jeff Long, director of athletics at Pittsburgh stated, "Although we were looking forward to opening the season at South Florida on Monday, we believe rescheduling the game is the prudent course to take given the emergency conditions in the southeast. The safety of our student-athletes as well as the uncertainty of travel in and out of Tampa played a significant role in our decision making."

All tickets (season and single game) with the original September 6th date will be honored on the new game day, noted the announcement, which also indicated that USF will conditionally waive its no-refund policy because of the special nature of the situation.

Written refund requests with extenuating circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis, the announcement noted. Refund requests must be sent to: USF/Pittsburgh Tickets, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, ATH100, Tampa, FL 33620 or e-mailed to usfinsiderticketinfo@admin.usf.edu.

All requests must be received by October 1, 2004, specified the announcement.

C-USA standings, scoreboard & schedule

(Through games of Sept. 5)

Conference Overall
                  W L Pct. W L  Pct.
Louisville        0 0 .000 1 0 1.000
Memphis           0 0 .000 1 0 1.000
Texas Christian   0 0 .000 1 0 1.000
UAB               0 0 .000 1 0 1.000
Army              0 0 .000 0 0  .000
Southern Miss     0 0 .000 0 0  .000
South Florida     0 0 .000 0 0  .000
Cincinnati        0 0 .000 0 1  .000
East Carolina     0 0 .000 0 1  .000
Houston           0 0 .000 0 1  .000
Tulane            0 0 .000 0 1  .000

THURSDAY
Texas Christian 48, Northwestern 45

SATURDAY
Mississippi State 28, Tulane 7
Memphis 20, Mississippi 13
UAB 56, Baylor 14
Ohio State 27, Cincinnati 6
West Virginia 56, East Carolina 23

SUNDAY
Louisville 28, Kentucky 0
Rice 10, Houston 7

MONDAY
Pittsburgh at South Florida, 4:30 PM*
* Rescheduled for Dec. 3-4 because of Hurricane Frances.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 11
Louisville at Army, 1:00 PM
Southern Miss at Nebraska, 12:00 PM
Florida A&M at Tulane, 6:00 PM
Houston at Oklahoma, 6:00PM
Southern Methodist at Texas Christian, 6:30PM
Tennessee Tech at South Florida, 7:00 PM
Chattanooga at Memphis, 7:00 PM
Wake Forest at East Carolina, 7:00 PM
Miami (OH) at Cincinnati, 7:00 PM

Last-second boot decides Aggie-Eagle Classic

RALEIGH — Carlos Davalos kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired to give N.C. A&T a 16-15 win over N.C. Central Sunday before a crowd of 27,852 in the annual Aggie-Eagle Classic at N.C. State's Carter-Finley Stadium.

The win marks the 14th Aggie win out of the last 15 early-season meetings between the in-state rivals.

Davalos got his chance after N.C. A&T covered 28 yards in the last 1:08.

The Aggies were down 15-7 after the third field goal by N.C. Central's Brandon Gilbert. Greg Pruitt had scored on a 2-yard run just before halftime for the Eagles, but a conversion attempt failed.

The Aggies' Marshall Glenn hit Kenny Perry with a 50 yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 15-13. Micau Hollingsworth was stopped as he tried to run for a tying 2-point conversion.

N.C. Central last won the Aggie-Eagle game in 2002, ending a 12-game losing streak.

College football weekend: Stars and storylines

STARS

-- Kay-Jay Harris, West Virginia, piled up a school and Big East Conference record 337 rushing yards in the Mountaineers' 56-23 win over East Carolina.

-- Vernand Morency, Oklahoma State, rushed for 261 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cowboys to a 31-20 win over UCLA.

-- Dan Orlovsky, Connecticut, tied a school record with five touchdown passes and had 382 yards passing to lead Connecticut to a 52-14 win over Murray State.

-- Charlie Whitehurst and Kyle Browning, Clemson. Whitehurst threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Browning in the second overtime to lift the Tigers to a 37-30 victory.

-- Wali Lundy, Virginia, ran for 104 yards and three touchdowns in the No. 16 Cavaliers' 44-14 victory over Temple.

-- Ronnie McGill, North Carolina, rushed for three fourth-quarter touchdowns and the Tar Heels rallied to beat William & Mary 49-38.

-- John Sciarra, Wagner, threw three touchdown passes and was 29-for-38 for 333 yards to lead the Seahawks to a 35-28 victory over La Salle.

-- Jayson Davis, Rhode Island, scored his fourth touchdown on a 1-yard run with 1:19 left to give Rhode Island a 37-36 win over Fordham.

-- Rob Blount, C.W. Post, threw three touchdown passes and finished 16-for-24 for 253 yards in a 61-14 win over Pace.

-- Corey Bramlet, Wyoming, threw for two touchdowns and 239 yards to help the Cowboys beat Appalachian State 53-7.

-- Drew Geyer, Robert Morris, set a school record with six touchdown passes in the Colonials' 47-10 win over of Buffalo State.

SURPRISING START

Freshman Chad Henne threw two touchdowns to help No. 8 Michigan beat Miami of Ohio 43-10 and end the nation's longest winning streak. Henne is the second quarterback to start as a freshman for the Wolverines. Rick Leach was the first in 1975 at Wisconsin. The RedHawks (1-1) had won 14 straight games.

SECOND LOOK

The Big Ten's new instant replay system had mixed results and drew the ire of Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez and the record crowd of 82,116 at renovated Camp Randall Stadium.

The replay official correctly called back Dontez Sanders' 50-yard fumble return for a touchdown. The replay official had to correct another call and missed another call. Unlike the NFL, the coaches can't call for a review.

The Big Ten is the first conference to use instant replay to review officials' calls. The NCAA authorized the conference to use video replay to correct officiating mistakes on a one-year trial basis.

SECOND HEISMAN?

Mark Clayton caught two of Jason White's three touchdown passes as No. 2 Oklahoma beat Bowling Green 40-24. White, the returning Heisman Trophy winner, completed 21 of 31 passes for 238 yards, but also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

SOLID DEFENSE

No. 19 Iowa held Kent State to 110 total yards and minus-13 yards rushing in a 39-7 rout Saturday. The only score for the Golden Flashes came late in the first half when linebacker Jack Williams picked off a pass in the end zone and ran 100 yards for a touchdown, the longest interception return in school history.

STREAKS

Temple's losing streak against Top 25 teams was extended to 18 games with a 44-14 loss to No. 16 Virginia, which began the season with its highest ranking since 1998. The Owls have 13 straight losing seasons and are getting kicked out of the Big East after this season.

TRIPLE THREAT

Zack Mills ran for a touchdown, caught a TD and threw two scoring passes to lead Penn State to a 48-10 victory over Akron on Saturday. The Nittany Lions quarterback became the first Penn State player to accomplish the rare triple under Joe Paterno, who started his 39th season as head coach with career victory 340.

BIG WIN

Iowa State won for the first time in a year, beating Northern Iowa 23-0 Saturday. It was the Cyclones' first victory since a 48-20 win over Ohio on Sept. 6, 2003, and their first shutout since beating the Panthers 41-0 in the 2001 opener.

NICE START

Danny Ware, making his college debut, rushed for 135 yards and three touchdown to lead No. 3 Georgia to a 48-28 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday. Ware, who was the first freshman running back to start his first game at Georgia since 1943, became the first Bulldogs players since Musa Smith in the 2001 opener to score three TDs in a game.

UNHAPPY HOMECOMINGS

Cincinnati coach Mark Dantonio lost his debut to his former employer as Ohio State beat the Bearcats 27-6 Saturday. Dantonio was the defensive coordinator for the No. 9. Buckeyes for three years. ... Troy State held Marshall to 177 total yards in a 17-15 victory Saturday. It was the Thundering Herd's lowest offensive production since they opened their stadium in 1991 and its first season-opening home loss since 1977.

BEAR DEFENSE

Air Force allowed the most points on opening day in school history in a 56-14 loss to No. 13 California on Saturday. J.J. Arrington ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns, and Aaron Rodgers threw for 208 yards and a touchdown to help the Golden Bears pull away from the Falcons in the second half.

OPEN SEASON

North Carolina coach John Bunting won his first season-opener in four tries with a 49-38 victory over William & Mary on Saturday. The Tar Heels - whose defense ranked among the nation's worst by allowing 38 points and 505 yards per game last year - had won just one of their past six season openers. Next week they travel to No. 16 Virginia - where they haven't won since 1981. ... Northeastern won 71-0 over Cheyney in coach Rocky Hager's debut on Saturday. It was the second straight year the Huskies have scored more than 70 points in their opener, following last season's 78-6 win over Stonehill.

RECORD BREAKERS

Rob Giancola caught five passes for 119 yards in Valparaiso's 41-0 win over Wisconsin Lutheran on Saturday, becoming the school's all-time leading receiver with 3,231 yards. The previous record was 3,212 by Mike Healey, who played from 1982-85. ... Drew Geyer set a school record with six touchdown passes in Robert Morris' 47-10 win over of Buffalo State. Geyer broke the previous record of five, which was held by Jake Newman and Tim Levcic.

SPEAKING

"He made one mistake. But considering running out into this stadium after he just got out of junior-senior prom, I was impressed." - Michigan coach Lloyd Carr on freshman quarterback Chad Henne, who threw two touchdowns in the eighth-ranked Wolverines' 43-10 win over Miami of Ohio on Saturday. The RedHawks (1-1) had won 14 straight games.

Associated Press college football poll

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 4, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

Record Pts Pvs
 1. Southern Cal (51) 1-0 1,609 1
 2. Oklahoma (10) 1-0 1,548 2
 3. Georgia (4) 1-0 1,481 3
 4. Florida St. 0-0 1,326 5
 5. Miami 0-0 1,306 6
 6. LSU 1-0 1,292 4
 7. Texas 1-0 1,276 7
 8. Michigan 1-0 1,260 8
 9. Ohio St. 1-0 1,012 9
10. West Virginia 1-0 987 10
11. Florida 0-0 840 11
12. California 1-0 839 13
13. Kansas St. 1-0 732 12
14. Tennessee 0-0 662 14
15. Virginia 1-0 642 16
16. Iowa 1-0 578 19
17. Utah 1-0 570 20
18. Auburn 1-0 552 17
19. Missouri 1-0 535 18
20. Clemson 1-0 490 15
21. Wisconsin 1-0 346 21
22. Minnesota 1-0 259 25
23. Maryland 1-0 195 22
24. Oregon 0-0 181 23
25. Purdue 0-0 131 24

Others receiving votes: Nebraska 92, Louisville 89, Memphis 80, Boise St. 60, N.C. State 49, Oregon St. 34, Oklahoma St. 16, TCU 14, Washington St. 11, Alabama 9, Penn St. 7, Arkansas 3, Southern Miss. 3, Boston College 2, Fresno St. 2, Mississippi 2, Rutgers 1, Stanford 1, Virginia Tech 1.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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