By BRENT BEAIRD
www.jaxsportsnews.com
Florida State eceiver Taiwan Easterling caught Strength & Conditioning Coach Todd Stroud's attention, as well as his FSU teammates this week. The red-shirt sophomore wide receiver ruptured his Achilles during offseason conditioning and underwent surgery to repair it Feb. 24. Slightly more than four months later, he was going through the rigorous paces of an afternoon workout on FSU's turf field.
USF has obtained an additional 1,000 tickets for its game at Florida State on Sept. 26. That brings the total number of tickets allocated to the visitors to 8,500. USF, by the way, is marketing its game in Tallahassee as a “stampede to Tallahassee.”
North Alabama Coach Terry Bowden has added his brother and former FSU offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden to his staff as a volunteer coach. (He is being paid more than $107,500 annually by Seminole Boosters as part of an agreement made during the 2006 season to step down). Former Seminoles Preston Parker and Will Furlong have joined the Bowden at UNA.
With the loss of Willie Downs and C.J. Mizell to academics, I doubt any media outlet would now rank FSU as high as they did on National Signing Day. What does matter for FSU is that it will be without two players who could have helped right away. That their FSU careers are on hold isn’t really a surprise. (Tallahassee Democrat)
N.C. STATE: Linebacker Nate Irving was scheduled for surgery Sunday evening after suffering non-life-threatening injuries in a car crash early Sunday morning. Irving has a broken leg and collapsed lung and was taken to Wake Med Trauma Center according to a statement released by the school. He was cited with careless and reckless driving, according to a state highway patrol report, after a one-vehicle crash at 4:40 a.m. near the 314-mile marker on Interstate 40. There is no indication in the police report that alcohol was involved, but the report indicates that being tired or sleepy may have contributed to the crash.
MIAMI: Newark (Del.) High School OL Malcolm Bunche told CaneSport.com last month that he was looking forward to the challenge of trying to get early playing time as a freshman at Miami. But now it is uncertain when Bunche will see the field as a Cane. The NCAA Clearinghouse has held up his admission to UM - freshmen are due to report to Miami June 30 for the second summer session. At issue: Bunche's core GPA, when combined with his ACT score, falls short of what he needs to qualify. Bunche is now making alternate plans to attend prep school in the event he isn't cleared by the first day of regular classes. Working against Bunche's chances of qualifying by August: He only recently learned of the problem and there are no ACT or SAT test dates remaining. If Bunche does wind up attending prep school, he should have no problem returning to UM for January enrollment. Prince Kent is also unlikely to report June 30 and could be headed to prep school.
Washington (D.C.) Dunbar linebacker Javarie Johnson has made it official and become a Hurricane. At 6-foot-4 and 208 pounds, he says speculation he could play defensive end down the road is just that. The Rivals250 prospect chose UM over 16 other scholarship offers. In the end he chose Miami over Michigan, Maryland and Michigan State. Florida was another top program that dangled an offer. He had 90 tackles and 10 sacks as a junior. Miami first offered the four-star prospect at their summer camp.
A day after the University of Miami said it expected safety Joe Wylie to remain with the program, Wylie has decided to transfer to Tennessee State. Wylie, from Lauderdale Lakes (Fla.) Boyd Anderson, played only one game during his freshman season and wanted to go to a school where he would get more playing time. UM defensive coordinator John Lovett said in the spring he was concerned about depth at safety behind projected starters Vaughn Telemaque and Randy Phillips. Chavez Grant, who played cornerback last season, might be used at safety. Jared Campbell and JoJo Nicholas also are in contention for playing time at safety, and ballyhooed freshmen Ray Ray Armstrong and Jamal Reid are expected to compete for immediate playing time at the position
NEW BIG EAST COMMISH: John Marinatto has served as Big East senior associate commissioner since 2002 and has been friends with former Commissioner Mike Tranghese for 35 years. He was instrumental in helping to save the league from near-ruin after Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech decided to leave for the ACC in the summer of 2003. The Big East added Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida and stabilized itself.
The Big East also faces questions about the strength of its football teams, and the fact it gets one of the six automatic BCS spots. None of its teams is projected to be in the top 20 at the start of this college football season. The league also has challenges with its member institutions: it has 16 teams playing basketball, and only eight playing football. There has been tension on both sides, because the football-only teams would love to add another member. (Orlando Sentinel)
PAUL MCGUIRE DEMOTED: One of TV football's longest-running fixtures won't be regularly popping up on games this fall. Although not formally announced, ESPN's Mike Soltys confirmed Sunday that college football analyst Paul Maguire, 70, will have a "reduced role" this season. Rather than having a full slate of games, says Soltys, Maguire will work only "the occasional game and do some studio shows and radio."Other changes on ESPN's college football will include adding Matt Millen as a game analyst.
WASHINGTON - The Senate plans to hold a hearing next Tuesday looking into antitrust issues surrounding the Bowl Championship Series. It's the second time this year that Congress is shining a light on the polarizing system college football uses to crown its national champion.
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the subcommittee's top Republican and the lawmaker, in an essay for Sports Illustrated being released Wednesday, wrote that the Sherman Antitrust Act prohibits contracts, combinations or conspiracies designed to reduce competition.
"I don't think a more accurate description of what the BCS does exists," Hatch wrote. He noted that six conferences get automatic bids to participate in series, while others do not. The system, he argued, "intentionally and explicitly favors certain participants."
Citing the money generated by the BCS, Hatch wrote, "If the government were to ignore a similar business arrangement of this magnitude in any other industry, it would be condemned for shirking its responsibility." When asked about Hatch's comments, BCS coordinator John Swofford said the BCS' lawyers have "worked diligently to ensure that the BCS is in compliance with the law." Football fans in Hatch's state were furious that Utah was bypassed for the national championship despite going undefeated in the regular season. Hatch noted that President Barack Obama and others have called for the BCS to be replaced with a playoff system.
Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has introduced legislation that would prevent the NCAA from calling a game a national championship unless it's the outcome of a playoff. At a May hearing, Barton warned that the legislation would move forward "if we don't see some action in the next two months" from BCS on switching to a playoff system. (Gazette.com)
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that USC quarterback Mitch Mustain has been cleared to play football in the upcoming season. Last week, Pete Carroll confirmed rumors that Mustain was dealing with academic issues that put his athletic eligibility in doubt.
