College football notes
Published 10:59 pm Thursday, December 20, 2007
OHIO STATE: Ohio State backup cornerback Eugene Clifford will not play in the BCS national championship game against LSU after being suspended Thursday for an undisclosed violation of team rules.
MICHIGAN: Head coach Rich Rodriguez fired Michigan’s assistant coaches Thursday, his second day as an employee of the school.
Rodriguez met with the coaches one by one at Schembechler Hall, as retiring coach Lloyd Carr packed up his belongings in boxes, clearing space for his successor.
Carr will coach the Wolverines on Jan. 1 against Florida in the Capital One Bowl, ending his 13th season as their head coach, then Rodriguez will take over.
But the former West Virginia coach already put his mark on the program by firing each of Carr’s assistants, all of whom were given two-year deals in March that will pay them through Feb. 28, 2009. Their firings are effective after the bowl game.
WISCONSIN: Tight end Travis Beckum plans to return for his senior season with the Badgers. Beckum was a finalist for the 2007 John Mackey Award, given to the best tight end in the country.
FLORIDA STATE: Head coach Bobby Bowden isn’t concerned the Seminoles will have to forfeit games for using ineligible players this season. About two dozen Florida State players have been suspended for the Music City Bowl against Kentucky for cheating on an online exam.
UCLA: Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow pulled his name from consideration for UCLA’s head coaching job. Chow interviewed for the job last weekend while in Kansas City, the night before the Titans’ 26-17 victory over the Chiefs.
WASHINGTON STATE: Recently graduated quarterback Alex Brink was honored with the sportsmanship award from the Awards and Recognition Association. The ARA is a membership organization of 4,000 companies that works to increase the professionalism of recognition specialists and advance the awards and engraving industry.
NORTH CAROLINA: Authorities in Chapel Hill, N.C., have charged two women and a man with a weekend attack on three North Carolina football players, which police said was motivated by robbery and included the sexual assault of at least two players.
Associated Press
