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News Nuggets, 09.25.06
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

O'Brien: Buckeyes, Auburn, USC, WVU tops

Bonesville columnist Denny O'Brien is a member of the 2006 voting panel for the Harris Interactive College Football Poll, commissioned by the Bowl Championship Series. O'Brien is also the editor of The Pirates' Chest, a senior writer for Bonesville Magazine and co-host of WNCT-AM Talk 1070's Game Day Countdown Show.

When selected to the panel, O'Brien indicated he would disclose his ballot each week in conjunction with his regular Monday column on Bonesville.net. Here is O'Brien's ballot for this season's first Harris Poll, which was released Sunday by Harris Interactive:

Ohio State, Southern Cal lead Harris BCS poll

From staff reports and a HarrisInteractive.com release

ROCHESTER, NY — This week’s Harris Interactive College Football Poll rankings, the first for the 2006 college football season, show the Top 25 results compiled from rankings submitted by Harris Interactive’s panel of former coaches, players and administrators, and current and former media. The panel has been designed to be a statistically valid representation of all 11 Division I-A Conferences and independent institutions. For this week’s poll, 113 panelists, including Bonesville columnist Denny O'Brien, submitted their top 25 college football team rankings. One panelist did not submit rankings this week.

Sept. 24 Harris Interactive College Football Poll

Rank Team  (First Place Votes)   Record    Points
  1. Ohio State          (107)     4-0      2,816
  2. Southern Cal          (4)     3-0      2,654
  3. Auburn                (2)     4-0      2,632
  4. West Virginia                 4-0      2,390
  5. Michigan                      4-0      2,364
  6. Florida                       4-0      2,320
  7. Louisville                    4-0      2,065
  8. Texas                         3-1      2,001
  9. Georgia                       4-0      1,827
 10. LSU                           3-1      1,793
 11. Virginia Tech                 4-0      1,699
 12. Notre Dame                    3-1      1,503
 13. Oregon                        3-0      1,421
 14. Iowa                          4-0      1,413
 15. Tennessee                     3-1      1,170
 16. Oklahoma                      3-1      1,078
 17. Texas Christian               3-0      1,035
 18. California                    3-1        864
 19. Clemson                       3-1        846
 20. Florida State                 3-1        815
 21. Nebraska                      3-1        573
 22. Boise State                   4-0        319
 23. Rutgers                       4-0        155
 24. Missouri                      4-0        147
 25. Boston College                3-1        135

Number of first place votes shown in parentheses.

Other teams receiving votes: Purdue (4-0) 117; Georgia Tech (3-1) 102; Arizona State (3-1) 85; Texas Tech (3-1) 79; Michigan State (3-1) 55; Wake Forest (4-0) 36; Penn State (2-2) 32; Texas A&M (4-0) 31; Arkansas (3-1) 30; Alabama (3-1) 29; Washington (3-1) 20; Miami (FL) (1-2) 19; Houston (4-0) 17; NC State (2-2) 7; Wisconsin (3-1) 7; UCLA (2-1) 6; Utah (3-1) 6; Washington State (3-1) 4; Southern Miss (2-1) 2; Oregon State (2-1) 2; South Carolina (3-1) 2; Air Force (1-1) 1; BYU (2-2) 1.

Dropped out of the Top 25: N/A for this week.

Blazers topped in OT for Bulldogs' first win

The UAB and Mississippi State offenses took turns trying to out-ugly each other on Saturday night in front of an announced crowd of 36,014 at Legion Field, according to a Birmingham News report.

In the end, a nice 21-yard run by Mississippi State quarterback Omarr Conner put an end to a 16-10 non-conference victory over the Blazers. It was the first win of the season for Mississippi State (1-3) and came one week after the Bulldogs lost to Tulane at home.

UAB (1-3) falls for the second successive week to an SEC team, but last week's loss to then No. 10 Georgia is easier to explain.

Where did things go wrong for UAB in the Blazers' first visit from an SEC school? A good place to start — and perhaps finish — was with an offense that got little going against a Mississippi State defense that allowed 32 points to Tulane just seven days ago.

The Blazers ran 58 plays on Saturday night and gained just 210 yards. Quarterback Chris Williams threw two interceptions, including one on the second play of overtime, and the running game managed just 94 yards on 32 carries.

UAB's lone win came by a 17-12 margin over East Carolina on Sept. 9 as the Pirates lost a fumble at the Blazers' 1-yard line with 1:12 remaining.

Tulsa edges Midshipmen on blocked kick

Defending Conference USA football champion Tulsa handed host Navy its first loss of the season as Nick Graham of the Golden Hurricane blocked the conversion kick by Matt Harmon of the Midshipmen for a 24-23 overtime victory on Saturday.

Paul Smith's 6-yard touchdown pass to Donnie Johnson and Jarod Tracy's extra point had given Tulsa (3-1) a 24-17 lead on the first overtime possession.

Navy (3-1) answered on its first snap in overtime on Brian Hampton's 25-yard pass to O.J. Washington.

Navy topped East Carolina 28-23 in the Pirates' season opener on Sept. 2. ECU hosts Tulsa on Oct. 14 at 3 p.m.

UTEP tops East Carolina 3-0 in volleyball

The East Carolina volleyball team dropped its second straight match, 3-0, to Texas-El Paso on Sunday afternoon at Minges Coliseum, according to a university athletic media relations release.

The Miners won in three straight games, 32-30, 30-23, 30-28. UTEP improves to 5-10 on the year, getting its first Conference USA win of the season, while the Pirates fall to 9-8, 0-3 in league play.

Kelley Wernert and Mignon Dubenion led the Pirates with 14 kills each. Wernert added 10 digs for the double-double. Trish Monroe led the Pirates with 17 digs while Dubenion tallied 4 total blocks. Heidi Krug had 53 assists in the loss.

East Carolina hits the road this weekend, traveling to Dallas to face SMU on Friday. The Pirates will then head to Tulsa to play the Golden Hurricanes on Sunday.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from electronic services and other sources. Copyright 2006 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:51 PM