News Nuggets, 09.12.04
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NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
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Compiled from staff reports
and electronic dispatches
Southern Miss bags big prey in Big 12 country
PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
09.11.04: Tulane football crisis turns into boon for program ...
Sooners licking chops over visiting Houston?
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09.10.04: ECU
boomer Dougherty nominated for punting award ... Army's Ross
still fired up about coaching
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09.09.04: Golden
Eagles in countdown mode for Nebraska ... ESPN branching out
with new ventures ... Tar Heels book trip to Maui
Invitational
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09.08.04: It's
official: Holland the chosen one ... AP agrees: Holland the
chosen one ... Delayed start an unforgiving one for USM ...
Old skeptic Holtz goes positive
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09.07.04: Storm-related
tragedy slams Bowden family ... Army AD Greenspan enlists
with Hoosiers
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09.06.04: Backup
back bids for start after bulldozing Pirates ... Last-second
boot decides Aggie-Eagle Classic ... Frances blows Pitt-USF
game into December ... C-USA standings, scoreboard &
schedule ... Associated Press college football poll ...
College football weekend: Stars and storylines
...
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09.05.04: Shooting
deaths overshadow debut of State QB ... Conference USA
scoreboard & schedule ... Sunday's college football TV
capsules
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09.04.04: Big
hat tossed in the ring for ECU AD position? ... Talk 1070
slates marathon football Saturday
...
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09.03.04: Auburn
AD job still open after Baird, Dooley confer ... Pirate
Radio launches ECU game-day lineup ... Mountaineers prepared
to lead pared-down Big East ... O'Leary to miss UCF opener
after mother's passing
...
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09.02.04: Walker
panel picks Pirate-less group from C-USA ... Tye named Top
Gunn at TCU ... Satellite radio company 'Sirius' about
college football
...
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09.01.04: Pirates
grow numbers in Pennsylvania old-fashioned way ... Hurricane
Frances sacks Citadel home opener
...
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08.31.04: AP:
West Virginia among programs on the rise, Virginia Tech
among those in decline ... Legendary names set for Army Hall
of Fame
...
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08.30.04: Tulane
TV lineup includes East Carolina game ... C-USA's postseason
pal flees ESPN for CSTV ... League trio lands on Unitas
Watch list
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08.29.04: Keydets
hire Pirates' strength and conditioning boss ... Remorseful
Huggins hits the ground running ... Southern Cal handles
Hokies in BCA bout
...
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08.28.04: Trio
of outsiders poised for potential BCS runs ... Va. Tech
looks to regain luster against No. 1 USC
...
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08.27.04: Thompson
TV show set for primetime debut ... ECU names Lee to
basketball position
...
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08.26.04: Bell
departs besieged LaSalle program for ECU ... VPI, USC kick
off Sirius college football slate
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08.25.04: Inter-division
slate pairs ECU with Rice, SMU, Tulsa ... LSU transplant
named starting QB at Tulane
...
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08.24.04: College
football goes on after offseason of upheaval ... Scandalized
UCF turns to tarnished coach for discipline
...
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08.23.04: ECU
hit-man Moore in chase for elite award ... Smooth sailing to
BCS bowl for West Virginia?
...
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08.22.04: USM
announces cutoff date for Huskers, Tide tickets ... Terps
extend coach's pact into next decade
...
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08.21.04: Hurricane
warning in effect for ACC country ... NCAA shuts out
Globetrotters ... DePaul regional tickets going, going, gone
...
More... |
08.20.04: Jacksonville
beats Charlotte for ACC title bout ... Billikens basketball
books trip to 'Paradise' ... UConn coach nabbed in vice
sting ...
More... |
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LINCOLN — Very few teams that visit
Nebraska's Memorial Stadium leave a winner, just seven in the last 16 years
to be exact.
Despite the numbers, Southern
Mississippi coach Jeff Bower liked his team's chances.
"Our kids believed they were going to
win," Bower said. "We came up here in '99, and turnovers killed us. It was
the other way around today."
Southern Miss converted four of the
Cornhuskers' five turnovers into points, beating Nebraska 21-17 Saturday to
become the first non-conference opponent to win in Lincoln since 1991.
The Huskers, 102-7 at Memorial Stadium
since 1988, lost at home to an unranked opponent for the first time since a
20-16 defeat to Texas in 1998. Washington was the last non-conference foe to
beat Nebraska at home.
"We showed if we make errors, we can
get beat by lower opponents," Nebraska defensive tackle Le Kevin Smith said.
Dustin Almond threw a 46-yard touchdown
pass to Marvin Young with 7:47 left and Southern Mississippi, which saw a
9-3 halftime lead evaporate in the third quarter, made a defensive stand in
the final minute to preserve the win.
The Eagles had come into Lincoln five
years ago and led much of the game before losing 20-13.
Saturday's victory wasn't secure until
Southern Miss linebacker Dillon Cleckler chased quarterback Joe Dailey out
of bounds short of the first-down marker on fourth-and-long with 37 seconds
left.
"We want the game to be on us,"
linebacker Antoine Cash said of the Eagles' defense. "That's what we've been
waiting for all week. We want the game to be on us in the fourth quarter."
Linebacker Michael Boley said he
pleaded with his teammates as the Huskers moved down the field in the late
going.
"We were giving up a lot of yards early
in drives, and there comes a point where we say we have to stop them and
create some type of play," Boley said. "I was telling the players in the
huddle, 'Fight, scratch. Don't let them in the end zone.' "
Southern Miss won despite being
outgained 476-239.
"We beat those guys fair and square,
but at the same time, we beat ourselves," Dailey said. "We had the game in
our pocket. It's all about fundamentals. You can dress it up and say what
you want, but when it comes down to it, you've got to take care of the
football."
Coach Bill Callahan won his first game
with the Cornhuskers 56-17 over Division I-AA Western Illinois last week.
The new-look Huskers and their West Coast Offense had a much tougher time
against more suitable competition.
"This is a game that was there for the
taking, and we gave it away," Callahan said. "There's nobody to look at but
ourselves."
Nebraska started its last drive at its
41 with 3:18 left and moved to the Southern Miss 12. Darrell Bennett, who
had two fumble recoveries earlier in the fourth quarter, got his right hand
in front of Terrance Nunn to break up an end-zone pass. Then Caleb Hendrix
made up ground quickly to deflect a ball away from Matt Herian in the corner
of the end zone.
"We hung in there," Bower said. "It was
a little like last year on defense — bend but don't break. We gave them some
yards, but we made plays and created turnovers."
Almond was 12-of-28 for 142 yards, with
one interception and one touchdown. Anthony Harris led the Eagles with 72
yards on 19 carries.
Dailey was 22 of 42 for 202 yards and
two touchdowns. He was intercepted three times after being picked off four
times by Western Illinois last week. His 42 attempts tied the school record.
Cory Ross rushed for a career-high 169
yards on 27 carries and Herian caught a career-high eight passes for 71
yards and a touchdown.
Nebraska went up 17-9 on Dailey's two
touchdown passes on the Cornhuskers' first two series of the second half.
All three of Dailey's interceptions led
to Southern Miss points, including Naton Stewart's 49-yard interception
return for a touchdown at the end of the third quarter that pulled the
Eagles to 17-15. Dailey was trying to pass to Nunn on the play.
"I thought they were coming on an
all-out blitz, and I was ready to bang my crossing route," Dailey said.
"That guy (Stewart) came out of nowhere and took it from me."
The Eagles got the ball back when
Bennett recovered Tierre Green's fumble at the Nebraska 49. Two plays later,
Almond lofted the go-ahead touchdown to Young.
Darren McCaleb kicked field goals of
39, 41 and 21 yards in the first half for the Golden Eagles.
Dailey threw touchdown passes of 9
yards to Grant Mulkey and 13 yards to Herian to give the Huskers a 17-9 lead
early in the third quarter.
"They played great defense, I've got to
hand it to them," Mulkey said. "We hurt ourselves. We would have won the
game if we had executed.""
Pitcher sues over weight-training injury
PROVO, UT — A former Brigham Young
University baseball player is suing the university, claiming a weight
training exercise injured him so severely he will never realize his dream of
pitching at the professional level.
Scott Koffman recently filed a $9.2
million suit in U.S. District Court against BYU and a conditioning coach.
He claims he suffered three herniated
discs from being forced to use too much weight while performing an elevated
leg press in September 2001.
Koffman claimed when he tried to take
off some weight, he was stopped by Justin McClure, the assistant strength
and conditioning coach.
He alleges McClure, who is named in the
lawsuit, called him a vulgar name, added another 100 pounds and ordered him
to lift.
Koffman suffered the spinal injury on
his first repetition, the lawsuit contends.
The Olympus High School product was
drafted in the 27th round by the Baltimore Orioles before deciding to attend
BYU.
The debilitating pain caused by the
claimed injury affected his performance and his ability to study, causing
his grades to drop, according to Koffman.
Koffman says he will be affected
physically and financially for the rest of his life because of the injury.
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
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