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8B I Friday, September i, 2006 | The Red & Black
FIRST & GOAL
Trip to Athens costly for W Kentucky
By JASON STAMM
College Heights Herald
For the sixth consecutive year,
Western Kentucky seems to have
used the Rod Tidwell approach
when configuring its football sched
ule.
The fictional wide receiver’s
famous line from the movie “Jerry
Maguire” (“Show me the money”)
could be used to describe the
appearance of a Division I-A oppo
nent gracing the Toppers’ schedule
each season.
At 12:30 p.m. Saturday, the
Toppers travel to Georgia, last sea
son’s Southeastern Conference
champion.
The Toppers will pick up a check
for $400,000 for their trip to Athens,
Ga. Western also received $400,000
from Auburn last season in a 37-14
trouncing by the Tigers.
Western Kentucky receives con
siderably more money than many
other Division I-AA teams to play
Division I-A competition, Athletics
Director Wood Selig said.
The price range is generally
between $75,000 and $200,000, he
said.
“Georgia was our only offer this
year, but at the I-AA level, we’re at
the top of the chart,” Selig said.
“The size of the guarantee is inverse
ly proportioned to the Division I
team’s chances of winning the
game.”
Though Georgia fell 38-35 to West
Virginia in the Nokia Sugar Bowl, it
begins this season ranked No. 14 in
the ESPN/USA Today poll and No.
15 in the Associated Press poll.
Coach David Elson said he is not
part of the business aspect of the
Georgia game.
“Your first game is always a test
to see where you are, and we don’t
treat this game any differently than
any other,” he said. “We’re gonna go
in and try to give our best at execut
ing our offense, our defense and our
special teams, and let the chips fall
where they may.”
While the money is a boost to
Western’s athletic budget, Selig said
it represents only a fraction of the
athletic department’s $13 million
budget.
The payout represents about 20
percent of the football team’s $2 mil
lion.
— This article originally ran in
Western Kentucky University’s
student newspaper, The College
Heights Herald, on Thursday.
Razorbacks hoping for a shot at USC redemption
LOS ANGELES — Time of posses
sion can often be a determining fac
tor in a football game.
Sometimes, it doesn’t mean a
thing.
As was the case last September,
when Arkansas visited Southern
California. The Trojans had the ball
for only eight plays in the first quar
ter and more than eight minutes less
than the Razorbacks overall.
But USC scored four touchdowns
and gained 246 yards in those first
eight plays, then went on to beat the
Razorbacks 70-17.
“You almost wanted the offense
to slow down so we could catch our
breath,” USC defensive end
Lawrence Jackson recalled this
week.
The 70 points were the most
scored in a game by the Trojans in 35
years and the most allowed by an
Arkansas team since 1918. USC’s 736
yards of total offense were the most
ever gained against the Razorbacks.
“We’ve never experienced any
thing like that,” Arkansas coach
Houston Nutt said.
“Nobody knew we were going to
do that,” USC center Ryan Kalil
said. “We kind of caught fire last sea
son early on.”
That loss has gnawed at the
Razorbacks for almost a year.
They’ll get a shot at redemption
Saturday night when they entertain
the No. 6 Trojans to begin the new
season.
“Obviously, it was a very embar
rassing game for us as a program, as
people,” said defensive coordinator
Reggie Herring, who was in his third
game in that job when the USC ava
lanche hit. “It gutted our spirit
about as hard as you can take away
from a human being.
“To be demoralized by 70 points -
that’s something that’ll stay with
TOP 25 ROUNDUP
you the rest of your life.”
Every Top 25 team plays this
weekend as the college football sea
son starts in overdrive.
On Saturday, No. 1 Ohio State
hosts Northern Illinois in one of sev
eral Big Ten vs. Mid-American
Conference matchups.
No. 2 Notre Dame plays at
Georgia Tech.
No. 3 Texas opens its national
title defense at home against North
Texas.
No. 4 Auburn plays Washington
State on the Plains.
No. 5 West Virginia hosts in-state
rival Marshall.
No. 7 Florida hosts Southern
Mississippi.
And No. 8 LSU plays in Death
Valley against Louisiana-Lafayette.
In Saturday’s only meeting of
ranked teams, No. 9 California is at
No. 23 Tennessee.
No. 10 Oklahoma hosts UAB, and
No. 14 Michigan plays Vanderbilt in
the Big House.
No. 15 Georgia, No. 16 Iowa and
No. 17 Virginia Tech all open at
home against Division I-AA oppo
nents.
No. 18 Clemson plays Florida
Atlantic.
No. 19 Penn State faces Akron in
Happy Valley.
No. 20 Nebraska hosts Louisiana
Tech. No. 21 Oregon opens at home
against Pac-10 rival Stanford. And
No. 25 Texas Tech meets SMU.
On Sunday, No. 13 Louisville
hosts Kentucky, and No. 22 TCU vis
its Baylor. And the opening week
end concludes Labor Day night with
No. 11 Florida State at No. 12
Miami.
Arkansas will see a much differ
ent USC team this weekend.
Heisman Trophy winners Matt
Leinart and Reggie Bush are among
those who are gone and now playing
in the NFL. The Trojans, who have
won 45 of their last 47 games, return
four starters on offense and six on
defense.
“They are going to be as charged
up as a team can get, and we expect
that,” USC coach Pete Carroll said
of the Razorbacks.
“Without question, for us to go
into Fayetteville and come out with
a win would be a great accomplish
ment.”
John David Booty, a junior, will
make his first start at quarterback
for the Trojans, and it appears C.J.
Gable will become the first fresh
man in school history to start a sea-
son-opener at tailback because of
an injury to Chauncey Washington.
Akron starts season
against Penn State
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — It’s
tough enough for a team to start a
season having to play five of their
first six games on the road.
That wasn’t enough for Akron,
though. They kick off 2006 with a
trip Saturday to play No. 19 Penn
State at Beaver Stadium.
At least some of the Zips should
be familiar with the atmosphere in
Happy Valley.
Quarterback Luke Getsy trans
ferred from Pitt after the 2003 sea
son to enroll at Akron. He followed
J.D. Brookhart, who also left Pitt as
an assistant to take the Zips’ head
coaching job in 2004. The Zips’ ros
ter is peppered with other
Pennsylvania natives.
Brookhart’s first game on the
sidelines two years ago was memo
rable, though more so for Penn State
after the Nittany Lions drubbed
Akron 48-10.
The Zips have improved since
then. They won a Mid-American
Conference championship and
earned a trip the Motor City Bowl
last season. With eight starters
returning on both sides of the ball,
Akron is a favorite to win the MAC
again this season.
Nebraska upgrades
football stadium
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska will
celebrate the completion of the
Memorial Stadium north end zone
expansion, the debut of one of the
largest video screens in college foot
ball and the start of a season of high
hopes.
The No. 20 Cornhuskers better
remember they also have a game
Saturday against a Louisiana Tech
team that loves to play marquee
teams and every once in a while gets
the best of the big boys.
“They’re kind of a sleeper team
that fans don’t know much about,
but they’ve won some big-time
games,” quarterback Zac Taylor
said.
The Huskers will be playing
before their NCAA-record 276th con
secutive sellout in a stadium that
has been expanded to 81,067 with
addition of 6,500 seats and 13 sky-
boxes in the north end zone.
As part of the $50 million facilities
upgrade, Nebraska also boasts a
video screen that’s 117-feet wide and
33-feet high.
Nebraska, coming off an 8-4 sea
son, are ranked in the preseason for
the first time since 2002.
— Associated Press
Mascot
mystery
unravels
By SAM STEINBERG
ssteinber@randb.com
On Thursday a search of The
Red & Black archives in the
main library uncovered two arti
cles about a former mascot, Mr.
Angel, who stood between the
hedges from 1944 to 1946 but is
left out of the current media
guide.
Both articles were written by
former sports editor Don Downs.
In a phone interview Downs said
he does not remember most of
the articles he wrote more than
sixty years ago, including those
about Mr. Angel.
Nevertheless, the articles
have his byline and are in his col
umn titled “At Sundown.”
Downs introduced the bull
dog to fans in October, 1944.
Downs wrote, “The latest
Bulldog of the ‘42 squad weighed
in tonight at little over sixty
pounds. He has had no previous
experience but is expected to
perform this evening for the first
time. He is known, affectionately,
as Mr. Angel. ... as handsome an
English bulldog as has ever been
seen.”
Mr. Angel’s looks would
later gain him more statewide
fame.
On Nov. 3, 1944 Downs wrote,
“Georgia Bulldog wins victory in
Atlanta Saturday! ‘Mr. Angel,
Georgia Bulldog,’ said the
announcer at the Atlanta Dog
Show, and the spectators gave
him a grand hand. Mr. Angel ran
away with the first prize for the
English Bulldogs in the novice
class and won second of all
the bulldogs, in spite of his bad
behavior. He left before the
grand finale, thus giving up a
crack at another prize, to get to
the game on time. This was his
first experience in the ring. Mr.
Angel is the prized possession of
Miss Bootee Coleman, Kappa
Alpha Theta of Georgia.”
The articles confirm a story
about Mr. Angel in The Red &
Black that appeared in
Wednesday’s paper.
The articles are on microfilm
in the main library on North
Campus and are available for
public viewing free of charge.
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