Sporting News CT – SNCTTV

SCSU Kicker Chris Hazleton

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Three members of the Southern Connecticut State University football team – junior kicker Christopher Hazelton (Bristol, Conn.), senior defensive lineman Daniel Allen (Bridgeport, Conn.) and junior quarterback Kevin Lynch (Medfield, Mass.) – earned weekly accolades from the Northeast-10 Conference late Sunday night. Hazelton was selected as the Special Teams Co-Player of the Week, while Allen and Lynch were both tabbed for the league’s weekly honor roll.

Hazelton had a career day in the Owls’ 55-12 win over Pace. He set a new single-game high with 13 points by connecting on both of his field goals (20 and a career-best 37 yards) along with all seven of his extra points.

Lynch finished 12-of-16 for 232 yards and tossed a career-high four touchdowns in just one half of action for the Owls. Allen recorded three tackles, two sacks and forced two fumbles in the Owls’ win.

The Owls return to action on Thursday night at 8 p.m. when they host American International in a nationally televised game on the CBS College Sports Network. Fans who can’t make it to the game locally can tune in on Comcast channel 274 or Cox channel 135.

"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

The quote above is mentioned in Friday Night Lights - no, not the movie, nor the network drama, but the fantastic original book by Buzz Bissinger that came out some two decades ago.

(By the way, if you haven't read that book and you're reading this column, do so. Now. This can wait a few hours.)

The quote hung in Odessa Permian's locker room before their game against rival Odessa, but it must have been somewhere in Xavier's lead up to its showdown with top-ranked and defending Class L champion Notre Dame last week.

You see, as much as we want to talk about things like athleticism and strategy, there's a reason why football became America's pastime and Linda McMahon has enough money to run for the Senate, and it's violence.

Coaches and players will talk about being physical, but will rarely use the word violence because it's got a negative connotation, but it's all semantics at that point. And I'm not here to condemn violence, some of my favorite athletic memories growing up were of Mike Tyson pummeling someone. In fact, as a Giants fan, perhaps my personal best memory is Leonard Marshall knocking Joe Montana out of the 1990 NFC title game with a vicious blindside hit.

Every football player lives for a hit like that, a clean (as opposed to some of the cheapshots like the one on Wes Welker on Sunday, which should not be applauded or condoned in any way, shape, or form) blow that makes the crowd gasp. What better way to intimidate your opponent and fire up your own team?

Of course, no one wants to see people get hurt, certainly serious injuries, but you really can't get your violence without a few people feeling some pain along the way.

"We pride ourselves on being physical," Xavier coach Sean Marinan said. "We make no bones about that, that's the way a defense has to operate, especially against a team like Notre Dame."

So on the second play from scrimmage last Friday - after a long Tirrell Young kickoff return gave Notre Dame and its huge crowd early momentum - Sean Goldrich hit Phil Bentley with a flare pass down the right sideline. Bentley is listed at 168 pounds, with the operative term there being "listed". To his credit, Bentley could gave gone out of bounds, but cut up the sideline, where the play - and Notre Dame's momentum - met a violent end as safety Gerry Basadonna crushed Bentley at full speed, a collision the human body is not made to deal with too often.

With Bentley temporarily out of the game (he did later come back and score a touchdown), four plays later Austin Ahern whacked Goldrich for a 14-yard loss and a message was sent that playing against Xavier's defense is not going to be a heck of a lot of fun. And it's going to be painful.

Notre Dame coach Tom Marcucci would swear after the game that his team stood up to Xavier and was every bit as physical. And the scoreboard indicated that, if not for a bizarre fumble late in the game, the Green Knights would have won and still been the state's top team.

It's also true that violence is not the answer to all football's problems. Xavier's lack of a reliable passing game and the fact that they had trouble snapping the ball nearly derailed a much-deserved victory and probable No. 1 state ranking.

But the fact remains that Xavier came out to physically intimidate Notre Dame and you'd have to say they succeeded. Goldrich never looked comfortable, finishing 5-of-17 for 69 yards and three interceptions (and the only 2 completions in the second half were dump-offs). Young, minus the opening kickoff, wasn't really a factor. ND was held to just 180 yards of total offense.

"We want to make it our mission to come out and come after people," Xavier's Graham Stewart said. "We like to be physical, and we knew we had to be physical tonight (last Friday). That's what we do at Xavier."

Stewart, headed to Boston College, and Ahern - also one of the state's top college prospects - made a nuisance of themselves, but they were joined by Marinan's son (also Sean, and who had the biggest play in the game, stripping David Rose in the fourth quarter) and Eric Mischke in the backfield for much of the evening. After Xavier finally grabbed the lead, you never got the feeling Notre Dame was coming back.

And you also get the feeling that the Xavier defense will make plenty of people in the SCC (and, probably, beyond) extremely uncomfortable.

It won't be an accident.

LIGHTNING, LIGHTNING GO AWAY: Evidently, the football gods didn't like opening games being played on Thursdays, as all the SCC games slated for last Thursday were either never started and not completed because of heavy rain and lightning.

It set up an odd situation for the Cheshire-Hamden and North Haven-Hillhouse contests, where coaches had nearly 24 hours to design halftime gameplans. Of those four squads, apparently the Rams' staff did the best job, when play was stopped on Thursday, Cheshire and Hamden were scoreless early in the third quarter, but Cheshire ran away with a 27-0 victory in the end.

The Rams continued the two-quarterback rotation (Michael Ecke and Max Slade this year) that worked so well for them on their way to a state championship. But it was their defense that was the story, holding Jordan Teague and company scoreless.

Cheshire will have to deal with Hillhouse this week, and the Academics were able to hold off North Haven, 12-0 (a rematch of the SCC basketball title game, by the way), after having the lead by that same score Thursday when the game was stopped at halftime. Freshman Harold Cooper and senior Chris Turner had the touchdowns, and the Academics look like they might be headed back toward the top of Division II (and are the highest D-II team in the power rankings).

PENALTY KICKS: Foran and Branford played a thriller Saturday night, with the Lions eventually prevailing 28-27 in overtime after it looked like they had lost the game in regulation. The Hornets stormed to the Foran 1-yard line with time running out, but picked up a penalty and eventually had a field goal blocked.

In overtime, both teams immediately scored, and Branford originally seemed to be going for 2 points and the win, but eventually decided against it, went for the tie (and a second overtime) and missed the extra point.

Unofficially, 95 percent of overtime in the current high school format come down to a missed extra point one way or the other, so it seems like the wise thing to do is move the start back to the 25-yard line like college. At least it won't be so easy to score.

Foran's opener last season also came down to kicking. After tying Lyman Hall 20-20, Joe Capalbo missed an extra point that probably would have won the game, but redeemed himself by drilling a field goal on the game's last play to win 23-20.

Ironically, later in the year, Capalbo wasn't so lucky against Branford last season. After the Lions had cut the Hornets' lead to 21-20 in the second overtime last season, his kick was blocked to end the game (meaning it was in the 95 percent decided by the kicking game).

And put in the same situation again, it's probably safe to say that you'll see the Hornets go for the jugular when they have the chance.

EXTRA POINTS: If you thought some unique matchups in this week's crossover games, you weren't hullicanating. Three of the games feature teams that have never met (Foran-Xavier, Jonathan Law-Wilbur Cross, and Hillhouse-Cheshire). Guilford-West Haven haven't met since 1997, when the SCC was nothing but a babbling toddler. Sheehan and Shelton - division rivals in most sports - will meet for the first time since 2003. According to SCC commissioner Al Carbone (who also supplied those facts), The league’s Scheduling Committee and Athletic Directors last winter voted to eliminate the scheduling rule that avoided Division I West/Division II East and Divison I East/Division II West matchups during crossover weeks. Doesn't mean the games will be any better, but they'll be different at least, I guess ... East Haven was indeed able to field a team (and had decent numbers) and put up a fight against Guilford before falling 27-6. It will still be a struggle for the Easties, but I think they should be able to beat Platt Tech and might, just might be able to shock someone else before the season is done ... The other winless team from a year ago - Fairfield Prep - also put in a solid performance, albeit in a losing effort, falling 28-14 to Hand. Prep misses out on the crossover fun, but gets to take on Griswold this week. That's a long Friday trip on I-95 for Griswold ... For the second straight year, Wilbur Cross went on the road against a traditional power and hung a big number in an easy win, this time beating Shelton 32-21. Their schedule is much easier in the next two games than it was after last year's upset win over Xavier, with Jonathan Law and Fairfield Prep coming up before they get into the heart of their Division I schedule. Last season, they finished 5-5 ... Did I say 5-5? Just like my record last week in the picks. Yikes.

Check us out on Twitter, www.twitter.com/currenscc. If you have any story ideas or scores you want to get across, let me know.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

James Ward, Wilbur Cross - Ward ran the opening kickoff for a touchdown and rushed for 142 yards and three more TDs on just nine carries as Wilbur Cross rolled to a 32-21 win over Shelton., the second straight year the Governors have won on the road in Division I in the opening week. Ward also added an interception to round out his day of being everywhere on the field.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Hillhouse at Cheshire, Friday, 7 p.m. - Both teams made statements in games that were played over two days in the opening week, and both teams posted a shutout, which means points might be at a premium at the Maclary Complex. The Maclary Complex is brand new to Hillhouse, these teams have never played each other in their history, which adds to the intrigue of this contest. Both teams also still have some question marks which will probably be answered in this one.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

3

Number of interceptions thrown by Notre Dame quarterback Sean Goldrich in the opener, after throwing only a single one in all of the 2009 season. Xavier remains the only team to pick Goldrich off in the last two seasons, the Falcons recorded the interception last year against him as well.

.

POWER RANKINGS

1) Xavier (1-0; Last Week 2) – Don' t think it will be too much fun for Foran this Friday at Palmer Field.

2) Notre Dame (0-1; LW 1) – Knights have a lot of work to do on the lines, but should be fine in the end.

3) Cheshire (1-0; LW 3) – Again, the two-headed QB system pays dividends, but defense the story.

4) Wilbur Cross (1-0; LW 5) – Let's hope the Governors learned lesson after first game last season.

5) Hillhouse (1-0; LW 4) - Might be a little high, but we'll know exactly where to place Acs after Friday.

6) Shelton (0-1; LW 4) – Georgalas will return, but it might be a struggle against best SCC has to offer.

7) Hand (1-0; LW 6) – Not exactly an inspiring performance, but it goes in the win column for later use.

8) West Haven (1-0; LW 8) – Blue Devils had to wait until Sunday, but got season off on right foot.

9) Hamden (0-1; LW 7) – Offense was nonexistent against Cheshire, and they'll have to figure that out.

10) Lyman Hall (1-0; LW 3) - Highest Trojans have been in a while here, and they might be able to climb.

11) Foran (1-0; LW 5) - The Lions and Schumitz will most certainly battle you, especially at their place.

12) Branford (0-1; LW 1) - Tough loss to open campaign. Hornets surely hope doesn't cost them playoffs.

13) North Haven (0-1; LW 2) - Schwab was forced to leave opener. Indians could use him on field this week.

14) Sheehan (1-0; LW 6) - Gannon threw for 4 TDs, good start for a young quarterback in this league.

15) Amity (0-1; LW 9) – Tremendous defensive effort, but Spartans end up with nothing to show for it.

16) Fairfield Prep (0-1; LW 10) - Some things to build on, especially with Griswold coming to town Friday.

17) Jonathan Law (0-1; LW 7) - Didn't really see Lawmen giving up 37 points, but I didn't see a lot of things.

18) Guilford (1-0; LW 8) - Got a win, but Indians know things will only get a whole lot tougher from there.

19) East Haven (0-1; LW 9) - Played hard, played tough. What else can you ask for out of a team?

New Haven, Conn. – The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced

its Football Bowl Subdivision National Offensive and Defensive Players

of the Week for games ending September 18.

About the Award: This is the seventh year that the Walter Camp Football

Foundation will honor one offensive and one defensive player as its

national Bowl Subdivision player of the week during the regular season.

Recipients are selected by a panel of national media members and

administered by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

RYAN MALLETT, ARKANSAS

Redshirt Junior, Quarterback, Texarkana, Ark/Texas HS

Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett culminated an impressive afternoon

with a game-winning 40-yard touchdown pass with 14 seconds left to lead

the 12th-ranked Razorbacks to a 31-24 victory over SEC-rival Georgia.

For the game, Mallett completed 21-of-33 passes for 380 yards and three

touchdowns (57, 22 and 40 yards). With the win, Arkansas improved to

3-0 for the first time since 2003.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

ADRIAN ROBINSON, TEMPLE

Junior, Defensive End, Harrisburg, PA/Harrisburg HS

Junior defensive back Adrian Robinson forced a fumble and went 24 yards

for the go-ahead touchdown with 8:28 left in the game in Temple’s 30-16

win over Connecticut. For the game, Robinson had four tackles (3 solo)

and forced two fumbles as the Owls improved to 3-0 for the first time

since 1979.

Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an

All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and

football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage,

set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the

restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football

Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in

1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of

selecting annually an All-America team.

The match-up between the top two rated football teams in Connecticut put on a show in front of a crowd estimated at over 5,000 people on Friday night September 17, 2010. The game featured big hits, great special teams play, timely defensive plays and many surprises it is certainly worth a watch.

You can visit our store to download the MP4 video of the game to your digital device over order the DVD.

Read the rest of this entry »

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Five different players scored touchdowns as the Southern Connecticut State University football team cruised to a 55-12 win over Pace on Saturday afternoon. The Owls captured their Northeast-10 Conference opener in the process. The contest also featured the longest touchdown pass in program history when freshman quarterback Jacob Jablonski (Gales Ferry, Conn.) connected with redshirt freshman wide receiver Carlton Staggers (West Haven, Conn.) on a 92-yard strike in the third quarter. The old mark of 87 yards had set the standard for the last 48 years.

SCSU is now 1-2, 1-0 in league play. Pace is 0-3, 0-1.

After senior defensive back Richard Kirkland (Paterson, N.J.) put an abrupt end to Pace’s opening drive with an interception, the Owls needed just one play to take the lead for good. Quarterback Kevin Lynch (Medfield, Mass.) found Andre Privott (Middletown, Conn.) on a 26-yard pass. Christopher Hazelton (Bristol, Conn.) added the PAT to take a 7-0 lead.

The Owls struck on their next drive with a four-play, 85-yard march that culminated on a 73-yard strike from Lynch to Willie Epps (Norwalk, Conn.). Hazelton’s PAT extended to the cushion to 14-0.

On the next SCSU drive, Lynch hit Brian Tourtelott (Latham, N.Y.) on a 26-yard touchdown to make it 21-0 after the PAT from Hazelton.

Southern pushed its lead to 28-0 before the end of the opening quarter when Rashaad Slowley (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) scored from three yards out.

A nine-play, 60-yard drive came to closer early in the third when Lynch threw his fourth touchdown strike of the day, a 14-yard pass to Privott.

Pace answered with a nine-play, 77-yard touchdown drive that cut the lead to 35-6 after the Owls blocked the PAT.

Slowley added an eight-yard touchdown run with 2:16 left in the opening half to make it a 42-6 game after the PAT at halftime.

Hazelton hit on a 20-yard field goal just 4:45 into the third quarter to extend the lead to 45-6. Later in the frame, facing a third-and-long, Jablonski aired it out to Staggers. Ironically, it was the first collegiate pass for Jablonski and the first collegiate reception for Staggers.

Pace cut the lead to 52-12 after three quarters before Hazelton capped the scoring with a career-long 37-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Lynch finished 12-of-16 for 232 yards and career-best four touchdowns. Vaughn Magee (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) led the ground game with 15 rushes for 95 yards. John Wiechman (Buxton, Maine) had eight rushes for 74 yards, while Slowley had 11 carries for 70 yards and two scores.

The Owls are back in action on Thursday night at 8 p.m. when they host AIC in a nationally televised contest on the CBS College Sports Network.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – QB Patrick Witt plowed over the goal line from one-yard out on the game’s final play as Yale opened the 2010 season with a 40-35 win over Georgetown at Yale Bowl and the Class of 1954 Field.

Witt’s game-winning score capped a 10-play, 64-yard drive over the last 1:27 to give the Bulldogs (1-0) the comeback victory over the Hoyas (2-1). The junior QB, who completed 35 of 55 passes for 407 yards and two scores, went 4-for-6 with 46 yards on the final drive. WR Gio Christodoulou, who had a game and career-high nine grabs for 124 yards, had three catches for 29 yards on the winning drive.

“We repped this in practice all pre-season and were confident in our two-minute drill,” said Christodoulou, who also returned two punts. “We did it like we always do in practice.”

Yale RB Alex Thomas gained three important first downs on the final possession. He finished with three TDS, two rushing and one receiving, while totaling 161 yards. Thomas caught six passes for 71 yards and ran for 90 more.

The Elis, who had two field goals blocked and botched the hold on a PAT, outgained the Hoyas 543 to 443 in total yards while converting 10 of 18 third downs. Yale had 12 more first downs than Georgetown, which was led by Scott Darby’s impressive (24-for-47, 340 yards) passing day. Darby connected with receiver Keerome Lawrence eight times for 129 yards.

Yale junior LB Jordan Haynes led all tacklers with 10 solos, but the biggest defensive play in the game came from sophomore LB Will McHale in the fourth quarter. The Hoyas were deep in Yale territory when McHale stepped in front of a third-down Darby pass at the three yard line to keep the Bulldogs within reach.

The home team took a 27-14 lead into the half but Jeremy Moore took the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a TD to cut the lead to six before Jayah Kaisamba picked off a Witt pass. Lawrence’s two-yard run at 12:48 of the third quarter put the visitors ahead until the game’s last snap.

Please enjoy the rebroadcast of the game and visit our store to order a MP3 download of the game.

September 16, 2010 - The Guilford Indians and the East Haven Yellow Jackets opened the 2010 football season last night with the Indians rolling to a 27-6 victory. Guilford chewed up over 215-yards on the ground led by Jr. back Matt Hoey 112 yards and two touchdowns. Indian QB Ethan Curry rushed for 63-yards, aTD and threw a touchdown pass to Will Stitilis.

The Yellow Jackets put 6-points up on the board in the 3rd quarter when Sr. QB Niko Fiorillo hooked up with Jr. receiver Mike Vessicchio on a 30-yard pass for touchdown.

The Indians play West Haven next week while East Haven battles Amity.

Read the rest of this entry »

Chip Malafronte ( New Haven Register ) and I discuss UConn's upcoming game with Temple, New Haven's James Nixon and possible expansion in the Big East, with sound bytes from Randy Edsall and Temple coach Al Golden.

Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Starkey

September 13, 2010 - Ron Kramer, a 1978 College Football Hall of Fame inductee from Michigan, died September 11. He was 75. A two-time All-American in both 1955 and 1956 at end, Kramer was one of Michigan's all-time great athletes, starring on the varsity football, basketball and track teams en route to nine varsity letters.

2010 Schenkel Award winner Joe Starkey broadcasted opposite 2009 Schenkel Award winner Larry Zimmer as California beat Colorado, 52-7, on Saturday.

The NFF and Wisconsin will honor 2010 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Barry Alvarez in an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute on Saturday. Wisconsin will face Arizona State at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Alvarez also entered the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday.

The NFF and Colorado will conduct an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus salute to jointly honor 2010 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Alfred Williams. Colorado will play Hawai'i at 3:30 p.m. ET on Fox College Sports.

Several College Football Hall of Famers were revealed this week as Big Ten Icons by the Big Ten Network: No. 37 Leroy Keyes (Purdue), No. 34 Desmond Howard (Michigan), No. 33 Alex Karras (Iowa) and No. 30 Alan Ameche (Wisconsin).

Tim Tebow, the reigning William V. Campbell Trophy winner, has released his official website, TimTebow.com.

Lee Corso, who in 2006 shared the NFF's Outstanding Contributor to Amateur Football award with ESPN's College GameDay, will enter the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame this year.

Tickets go on sale today for the NCAA Division I (FCS) Championship game. The game will take place on January 7, 2011 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Tex.

The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year begins its fifth year in 2010. Fan voting begins today at CoachoftheYear.com.

Friday is the nomination deadline for the prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards are now being accepted. 15 candidates will each receive an $18,000 grant for their post-graduate educations while also being named a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy as the nation's top scholar-athlete. Sports Information Directors should email Hillary Jeffries at [email protected] to request nomination forms.

CAMPBELL TROPHY WATCH LIST

Joe Buckley, PK - Navy

Brandon Brown, DB - Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.)

Patrick Dolan, PK - Nicholls State

Grant Fleming, LB - Louisiana-Lafayette

Pete Fleps, LB - SMU

Kevin Harman, DT - Centre (Ky.)

Madison McCalmon, OL - Cumberlands (Ky.)

Mike Mohamed, LB - California

Anthony Santella, P - Illinois

Anthony Taylor, LB - Norfolk State

Nathan Uland, LB - Eastern New Mexico

Josh Windsor, DB - Dakota State (S.D.)

Robert Wood, RB - Augustana (Ill.)

The NFF has distributed its public service announcement to all 120 FBS programs. If a school is interested in showing this announcement, please contact Phil Marwill at [email protected]

The FBS television schedule, including broadcast teams, will be posted every Thursday on the NFF website, www.footballfoundation.org.

You can keep up with the NFF on Twitter at Twitter.com/NFFNetwork and on Facebook.

NFF Scholar-Athletes

Leo Dillon (Dayton), Brian Griese (Michigan), Victor Terebuh (Wittenberg Ohio) and Dr. Harry Tolly (Nebraska) have joined the National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association.

Mike Perrin (Texas) has been named to Texas' Hall of Honor.

Chapter News

The NFF Delaware Valley Chapter will host a weekly TD Club, which recognizes the best players on offense, defense and special teams in the previous week's Mercer County games.

TWO-MINUTE DRILL

New Football Programs

Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College won its first game in program history on Saturday. The Blue Raiders are coached by Chris Oliver, the son of Greg Oliver who is the president of the NFF National Capital Region Chapter.

Scheduling

LSU will face Oregon at Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Tex., on Sept. 3, 2011. . . . Hawai'i will host Tulane in 2011. . . . Oklahoma State and South Alabama will play a three-game series in 2017, 2019-20.

Media

The Atlantic Coast Conference and Raycom have announced a syndicated network to be known as the ACC Network. The network began broadcasting games last weekend by telecasting Duke at Wake Forest last Saturday. . . . NBC's ratings of Notre Dame continue to outpace last year's ratings, as Saturday's game against Michigan was up 67 percent from week two in 2009. . . . The WAC Sports Network has announced its on-air talent. Dave Harbison and Guy Haberman will be the network's play-by-play announcers, Dick Tomey and Joe Glenn will provide color commentary, Lauren Mickler and Jenny Cavnar will report from the sidelines while Ralph Gaston will split time between color commentating and sideline reporting. . . . Fox Sports North will debut Jackrabbit Insider this season, covering South Dakota State. . . . Monday night's Boise State vs. Virginia Tech game on ESPN was seen in an average of 7.25 million households, the highest number of households in the network's history, and with 9,89 million viewers, the second most-viewed college football game trailing only the 2009 USC at Ohio State game. With more than 200,000 viewers, the contest was also the most-viewed in the history of ESPN3.com. . . . The Comcast Network will air Rutgers' R Football in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey.

Sponsorships

Disney and ESPN will continue to sponsor the MEAC/SWAC Challenge through 2013. . . . Sports Illustrated and Nissan will host the College Football Experience Tour throughout 2010, beginning at last Saturday's Ohio State-Miami game and continuing to nine more campuses throughout the year.

Conference Realignment

Cal Poly and UC Davis will join the Big Sky Conference.

Awards

In addition to Perrin, 1998 Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams and Billy Wyman will enter Texas' Hall of Honor. . . . Along with former head coach Corso, former players Chuck Bennett and Van Waiters will be inducted into the Indiana Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010. . . . Former Middle Tennessee head coach Ed Bunio will be inducted into the Blue Raider Hall of Fame this year.

Facilities

Western Michigan unveiled its Head Football Coaches Tribute Wall at the Bill Brown Football Alumni Center before its game with Nicholls State on Saturday. . . . Texas unveiled statues of Red McCombs and W.A. "Tex" Moncrief outside Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Friday. . . . Syracuse will display new stat monitors at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.

Miscellaneous

Division III Wilkes (Pa.) offered free admission for all fans to its game with Waynesburg (Pa.).

Obituaries

Former Sugar Bowl Executive Director Mickey Holmes has passed away at 72. . . . Former Boston University Athletic Director John B. Simpson has passed away at 85.

2010 NFF On-Campus Hall of Fame Salute Dates

Sept. 18, 2010 - Coach Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin vs. Arizona State, Madison, Wis. (ABC)

Sept. 18, 2010 - Alfred Williams, Colorado vs. Hawaii, Boulder, Colo. (Fox College Sports)

Sept. 25, 2010 - Ronnie Caveness, Arkansas vs. Alabama, Fayetteville, Ark. (CBS)

Oct. 2, 2010 - Coach Gene Stallings, Alabama vs. Florida, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Oct. 16, 2010 - Chet Moeller, Navy vs. SMU, Annapolis, Md. (CBS College Sports Network)

Oct. 30, 2010 - Sam Cunningham, USC vs. Oregon, Los Angeles, Calif.

Oct. 30, 2010 - Ray Childress and Coach Gene Stallings, Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech, College Station, Texas

Nov. 6, 2010 - Mark Herrmann, Purdue vs. Wisconsin, West Lafayette, Ind.

Nov. 6, 2010 - Clarkston Hines, Duke vs. Virginia, Durham, N.C.

Nov. 6, 2010 - Jerry Stovall, LSU vs. Alabama, Baton Rouge, La.

Nov. 13, 2010 - Pat Tillman, Arizona State vs. Stanford, Tempe, Ariz.

2010 Key NFF Dates

Sept. 30, 2010 - NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class and Campbell Trophy Semifinalists Announcement

Oct. 17, 2010 - First BCS Standings announced, Irving, Texas

Oct. 28, 2010 - NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class and Campbell Trophy Finalists Announcement

Dec. 5, 2010 - Final BCS Standings Release, New York City, New York

Dec. 6, 2010 - Presentation of the Ivy League Asa S. Bushnell Cup, New York City, New York

Dec. 7, 2010 - Annual Awards Dinner Press Conference, New York City, New York

Dec. 7, 2010 - 53rd Annual Awards Dinner, New York City, New York

Dec. 7, 2010 - Presentation of the William V. Campbell Trophy, New York City, New York

Dec. 18, 2010 - NCAA Division II Football Championship Game, Florence, Ala. (ESPN)

Dec. 18, 2010 - NCAA Division III Football Championship Game, Salem, Va. (ESPN)

Dec. 18, 2010 - NAIA Football Championship Game, Rome, Ga. (CBS College Sports Network)

Jan. 7, 2011 - FCS National Championship Game, Frisco, Texas (ESPN)

Jan. 10, 2011 - Tostitos BCS National Championship Game, Glendale, Arizona (ESPN)

Jan. 11, 2011 - Presentation of the MacArthur Bowl, Scottsdale, Arizona

NFF Information

Advertising in NFF publications will put your organization in front of key decision makers in football including key administrators, coaches, players, former players, as well as other key sports business executives throughout the year. To inquire about the print advertising opportunities available to your organization, please contact Bret Krift with IMG College at 859-226-4406 or [email protected]

Become a fan of the National Football Foundation on Facebook - Upload your game day photos, check out pictures of the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, and chat with other college football fans.

For more information on the NFF and college football, including announcements from the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and NCAA Football, please visit www.footballfoundation.org.

Sign up for "This Week in NCAA Football" at ncaafootball.com.

The 53rd NFF Annual Awards Dinner will be held Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010, at New York City's Waldorf=Astoria. For more ticket information, please contact NFF Director of National Events Will Rudd at 1-800-486-1865 or via email at [email protected]

Notes

The NFF would like to thank correspondent Bo Carter for his contributions to this report.

NFF Chalktalk items are welcome, and should be submitted to [email protected]

On Saturday, Joe Starkey, the 2010 Schenkel Award recipient, broadcasted opposite

2009 Schenkel Award winner Larry Zimmer when California faced Colorado.

About The National Football Foundation: Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, Play It Smart, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF presents the MacArthur Bowl, the Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings.

For more information, please visit us on the web at www.footballfoundation.org

New Haven, Conn. – The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced its Football Bowl Subdivision National Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for games ending September 11.

About the Award: This is the seventh year that the Walter Camp Football Foundation will honor one offensive and one defensive player as its national Bowl Subdivision player of the week during the regular season. Recipients are selected by a panel of national media members and administered by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

DENARD ROBINSON, MICHIGAN

Sophomore, Quarterback, Deerfield Beach, FL/Deerfield Beach

For the second consecutive week, Michigan sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson earns Offensive Player of the Week honors – and is the first player to do so since the award began in 2004. Robinson accounted for a school-record 502 yards of total offense as the Wolverines defeated Notre Dame, 28-24. Robinson’s two- yard rushing touchdown with 27 seconds left was the game-winner. Robinson rushed for 258 yards – eclipsing his week-old school record for a UM quarterback -- and two touchdowns (2 and 87 yards) to go along with 244 yards passing (24-of-40) and a 31-yard scoring toss. Robinson is the ninth quarterback in FBS history to gain more than 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing in the same game.

* Robinson is the fourth FBS player to earn Walter Camp Player of the Week honors twice in a season (the last to do it was Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell, who won the award twice in a three-week span – October 26 and November 9, 2008).

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

CHIMDI CHEKWA, OHIO STATE

Senior, Defensive Back, Clermont, FL/East Ridge

Senior defensive back Chimdi Chekwa had two interceptions and six tackles (4 solo), including one for a loss, as second-ranked Ohio State defeated 12th-ranked Miami 36-24. Chekwa also broke up two passes as the Buckeyes improved to 2-0.

Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.