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News Nuggets, 09.30.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Deja Vu ECU? Florida A&M prez fired amidst turmoil

In a move reminiscent of East Carolina's recent rocky times within its administration, the president of Florida's historically black public university was fired this week after a tenure of little more than two-years marked by a dispute over the school's football program and bookkeeping problems.

Florida A&M board of trustees voted 9-4 Tuesday to dismiss Fred Gainous effective Dec. 31. The board provided what all agreed was a meaningless caveat — that he could keep the job if he wins unanimous board support by then.

"We knew the job was dangerous when we took it," Gainous said. "We thought we could make a difference. And I think we have."

Gainous became president of the 13,000-student university in July 2002. His decision earlier this year to delay moving the football program to NCAA Division I-A left a badly split board and divided loyalties among the school's alumni.

William Muse was forced out as East Carolina's chancellor in September 2003 in the wake of his oversight of a series of hotly-contested firings and personnel moves that split the school's supporters into warring factions.

Muse's ouster — which followed within weeks of the pressure-accelerated departure of controversy-plagued former ECU AD Mike Hamrick in a parallel career move to Nevada-Las Vegas — was brought to a head by University of North Carolina System president Molly Broad soon after questions were raised by a federal audit of the school's handling of grants. Broad also cited ECU's hiring and firing practices under Muse as concerns.

Gov. Jeb Bush said he supported the decision to remove Gainous, saying in a statement: "It is my sincere hope that the interests of FAMU's students remain the school's number one priority."

Trustees chairman James Corbin said there would be a national search for a replacement. Trustee Barney Bishop III, however, called the ouster "a railroad job."

"This agenda was manipulated to get the result that they wanted," Bishop said.

Though Bishop said he feared the decision would slow fund-raising efforts, a faculty member said it was time for a change.

"Sooner or later, you can't continue to say, 'Sorry I made a mistake," said William Tucker, president of the university's chapter of the United Faculty of Florida. "Too much water had gone under the bridge for the situation to be salvageable."

Among other problems, a 2003 review found the school's construction budget was off by more than $3 million.

The rough ride at East Carolina began to subside this summer with the appointment of new chancellor Steve Ballard and his hiring this month of Terry Holland as athletic director.

Marshall hangs on to break into win column

HUNTINGTON, WV — Stan Hill and Jonathan Goddard wouldn't let future Conference USA member Marshall slip to its worst start in 35 years.

Hill, playing with elbow tendinitis and a strained thumb on his throwing hand, threw three touchdown passes and Marshall held off a late rally to beat Miami, Ohio 33-25 Wednesday night in a Mid-American Conference showdown.

Marshall (1-3, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) avoided its first 0-4 start since 1969 with the help of its defense. The Thundering Herd, which next season will depart the MAC for C-USA, sacked Josh Betts six times and converted three turnovers into points.

Goddard had four sacks, recovered a fumble and forced another.

Miami (2-3, 1-1) lost to Marshall for the sixth time in seven meetings, the exception a 45-6 home win last year. Hill sat out that game, missing the second half of the season with a knee injury. On Wednesday, he beat Miami for the second time in Huntington.

Hill had first-quarter scoring passes of 27 yards to Brad Bates and 16 yards to Josh Davis. He also had a 6-yarder to Bates midway through the third quarter to put Marshall ahead 26-14.

Hill, who finished 23-of-37 for 184 yards, said having a week off after a 13-3 loss at No. 3 Georgia helped his body recover. ``My arm felt a lot better,'' Hill said. ``My body was able to heal.''

Betts, the league's top passer, continued an up-and-down season as the heir to Ben Roethlisberger, now the Pittsburgh Steelers' starting quarterback.

Betts, 14-of-23 for 144 yards, was without his favorite target, Martin Nance, who left the game with a leg injury on Miami's second series and did not return.

Betts was intercepted twice and fumbled three times, losing two. ``How can you expect to win a game like that?'' Betts said. ``I take responsibility for four of those. I need to step up and do something.''

He almost did, nearly bringing Miami back from a 33-14 deficit.

Betts scored on a 1-yard run midway through the fourth quarter and threw for a 2-point conversion to Ryan Busing to make it 33-25.

Joey Card intercepted Hill on the next play from scrimmage and returned it 26 yards to the Marshall 16. But Mike Smith couldn't handle Betts' pitch and the ball went through the end zone for a touchback.

Betts got another chance with 3 minutes left, marching Miami to the Marshall 33. Jamus Martin sacked Betts on third down and Betts threw an incompletion to end the threat.

Pessimism wanes at SMU after long skid ends

DALLAS — Future Conference USA member Southern Methodist is feeling confident after breaking a 15-game losing streak, but it may be a little early to say the Mustangs have turned things around.

Sure, they looked impressive in a 36-13 victory over San Jose State on Saturday that snapped the nation's second-longest losing streak.

But San Jose State was the one team SMU was expected to beat. The Spartans were picked to finish last in the Western Athletic Conference and the team's only win this season came against I-AA Morgan State.

This week SMU (1-3, 1-0) will get a much bigger test at No. 23 Boise State. The Broncos (4-0, 1-0) have the nation's longest winning streak at 15 in a row and their 21 consecutive wins at home is also tops in the country.

"We are still not where we want to be," SMU athletic director Jim Copeland said. "The next step is to win a game we are not supposed to or to win a close game."

While coach Phil Bennett knows beating San Jose State doesn't mean his team is ready to compete against a WAC power like Boise State, he is encouraged.

"There are a lot of things that we need to improve on," said Bennett, who is 4-24 with the Mustangs. "But I saw some things (against San Jose State) that give me a lot of hope. I've told the players that we are just looking for improvement from week to week."

It's been a while since there's been hope at SMU, a one-time powerhouse that went 11-0-1 in 1982 and won 10 games three times in early 1980s.

But then the NCAA shut down the program for a year for rampant violations and the school voluntarily made it two to clean up the program. Since coming back in 1989, SMU has had just one winning season, going 6-5 in 1997.

Last year the Mustangs were 0-12, and this year hasn't started much better. SMU lost its first three games by a combined score of 130-20.

There are some bright spots for the Mustangs, and all of the bright spots will be particularly needed next season when SMU departs the WAC for C-USA.

The Mustangs have three capable quarterbacks. The position has been a revolving door in recent years, after the team lost one quarterback to a rock band, another to an accounting job and a third who quit last year after being benched.

Junior college transfer Tony Eckert got his first start against San Jose State in place of injured starter Chris Phillips. He was 8-of-15 for 91 yards and led the team to touchdowns on its first two possessions.

Even though the team has struggled on offense, averaging 14 points and 298 yards, that's actually an improvement. Last year the Mustangs were ranked last in Division I total offense, with just 260 yards and 11 points a game.

The 36 points in last week's win was the most by an SMU team since a 42-35 win over UTEP in November 2002.

A lot of credit goes to new offensive coordinator Rusty Burns, who helped Cincinnati to a C-USA championship in 2002 as well as school records for passing yards, total offense and points.

He implemented a spread offense, but was disappointed that no SMU quarterback had thrown a touchdown pass in the first three games. That changed against San Jose State as Eckert and backup Jerad Romo threw one each.

Foy Munlin, a transfer from Texas Tech, finally got a running game going for SMU. His 116 yards against San Jose State were more than he managed in SMU's other three games combined.

Bennett credits his players' youth as a factor in their ability to bounce back from 22 months without a win.

"Our guys are so young that they always feel like they have a chance," he said. "This has been some tough times, but we've got some eager guys that believe in what we are doing."

Throughout the losing streak, SMU officials stood behind Bennett and they are still convinced he is the man to lead the Mustangs back.

"Our goal is not to win one game," Copeland said. "Our goal is to win a championship. We're still a work in progress, but I know that Coach Bennett is the key to us turning things around."

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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