Shannon has seen good and bad against Florida
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- There's a handful of people in the Miami locker room, coach Randy Shannon among them, who have experienced the sort of joy that comes when the Hurricanes beat rival Florida.
Shannon also knows the opposite feeling.
He was a freshman linebacker in 1985, when the Gators came into the Orange Bowl and beat the Hurricanes 35-23 behind 248 yards and four touchdowns from quarterback Kerwin Bell. The programs have met six times since and Miami has won them all, a streak that'll be seriously tested Saturday night when the three-touchdown-underdog Hurricanes (1-0) visit No. 5 Florida (1-0) at The Swamp -- which will be filled with people longing to see Miami get beaten.
And whether Shannon will say it or not, it's almost certainly the biggest game of his coaching career at Miami so far.
"It's a big game for the program. For the program," Shannon said, walking off the field after practice. "It's going to show where we're at as a football team. And I'm part of the program. It's going to show where we are as a coaching staff, where we are as a football team, how we compare to a top-five football team in the country."
Maybe more than anything else, an upset -- and it would be a major one -- may also get Miami back into the national spotlight.
"It'd change a lot of perceptions, maybe the perception of me as a coach and the perception of our staff and the perception of our football players," said Shannon, who went 2-1 against Florida as a player and returned an interception for a touchdown against the Gators in a 1987 victory, one of his top college highlights. "That's probably what you'd see."
Shannon hasn't had much to celebrate since taking over before the 2007 season.
The Hurricanes were 5-7 in his inaugural campaign, their worst record in 30 years, and missed a bowl game. It's been nearly two full years since Miami has appeared in the national polls, and Shannon has gone only 1-3 so far against ranked teams, getting outscored 160-61.
Oddly, since that 1985 loss to Florida, the Hurricanes have outscored the Gators by the same margin -- exactly 99 points -- in their last six meetings. They've won in blowouts (31-4 in 1987, 41-16 at The Swamp in 2002), won in bowl games (27-10 in the Peach Bowl in 2004) and won in stirring comebacks (38-33 in Miami in 2003, a game Florida led by 23 points in the second half).
"It's the best gauge of the season, without a doubt," said Miami receivers coach Aubrey Hill, a former Gators star back in the Steve Spurrier era. "They'll be throwing stuff at me. It won't be like a homecoming. They'll be trying to kick my tail, personally."
There are some parallels between Florida's last win over Miami on Sept. 7, 1985 and Saturday night's matchup.
Florida was ranked No. 5 entering both games, and each contest had a Miami quarterback making his first career start; Vinny Testaverde did then, Robert Marve will on Saturday.
Shannon says he doesn't recall much in the way of specifics from that 35-23 defeat.
"It was a loss. It was a big game, they were stacked, they had two great running backs, Kerwin Bell was just coming along, they had some good tight ends, they had an unbelievable defense," Shannon said. "You look at Florida back then, they were really rolling. But I don't worry about it."
But the thing Shannon remembers most from that night?
"Oh, we were in all orange," Shannon said, even 23 years later still unable to shake the memory of the garish orange-jersey, orange-pant ensemble that Hurricanes coach Jimmy Johnson selected for that game. "That's the last time we wore all orange. We never wore orange again ... and you won't get any orange (Saturday)."
Only three Miami players -- Glenn Cook, Romeo Davis and Anthony Reddick -- have ever faced the Gators before, so they're the ones in the locker room this week explaining to the rest of the Hurricanes what it's like to face a vaunted rival such as Florida.
"It's the Gators," Cook said. "It's important we win this game, for a lot of reasons."
For the better part of a decade, Miami was the measuring stick for teams in the Sunshine State.
The Hurricanes won the 2001 national title, felt they were robbed of the title in 2002, and were sending players into the first round of the NFL draft at a dizzying rate. But now, with a reigning Heisman winner in Tim Tebow, a 2006 national championship and a team that looks as if it can contend for another this season, it's the Gators who are atop the state football heap.
Shannon is embracing the challenge of knocking them off.
"We need to know where we're at," Shannon said. "Playing Florida is a great opportunity to put our standards and our measures to where they're at right now."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Former Oklahoma State football player Chris Collins gets 10 years' probation
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Former Oklahoma State football player Chris Collins was sentenced to 10 years of probation by a Texas judge Monday for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.
The jury in New Boston, Texas, had recommended five years' probation. The 20-year-old player pleaded guilty Nov. 7 to an aggravated sexual assault charge. He was one of four men charged following an after-prom party in 2004, when he was 17.
District Judge Leon F. Pesek Jr. also ordered him to register as a sex offender, perform 750 hours of community service, pay for one year of counseling for the victim and pay the court $325 for the psychologist who interviewed him, said Lisa McDermott, a spokeswoman for Bowie County District Attorney Bobby Lockhart.
"I don't think you can find many people in this part of Texas who would say this sentence was harsh," Lockhart said in a statement. "It was for my part too lenient, but it is a sentence the jury thought was justice. At least the sentence will follow him for the rest of his natural life."
Collins' attorney, Paul Hoover, did not immediately return a call for comment.
Collins started at linebacker for Oklahoma State and was dismissed from the team five days after his guilty plea.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Relatives of coach Rich Rodriguez face harassment, threats, his mother says
GRANT TOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Relatives of Rich Rodriguez have been harassed and threatened in the three weeks since his resignation as West Virginia football coach.
His mother, Arleen Rodriguez, told the Charleston Daily Mail her teenage grandson received a death threat and found other harassing notes taped to his locker at East Fairmont High School. Arleen said her 12-year-old granddaughter had to be escorted to classes.
Mountaineer fans furious over Rodriguez's Dec. 16 decision to accept the coaching job at Michigan also vandalized his home near Morgantown, hanging signs on a fence and tossing a mailbox in the yard.
"He put seven years into WVU and now everybody thinks he's garbage," his mother said. "Think like a parent. That's all I can say. Think about it. Think about what you're doing."
The backlash has been even more venomous on the Facebook social networking site, where dozens of groups with profanity-laced names have formed, devoted to wishing ill for Rodriguez and his family.
A similar but short-lived fury boiled up last month against Mountaineer kicker Pat McAfee, who received angry text messages and had his car vandalized after missing two field goals in West Virginia's 13-9 loss to Pitt. The loss knocked WVU out of national championship contention, but the team went on without Rodriguez to beat Oklahoma at the Fiesta Bowl.
Several wealthy football boosters claim there was behind-the-scenes tension between Rodriguez and the WVU administration, but the coach has yet to publicly discuss the matter.
"I don't think he felt wanted at WVU anymore," his mother said.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Zachary, Minn.'s first black All-Big Ten football player, dies
MINNEAPOLIS -- Percy Zachary, the first black player at the University of Minnesota to be named All-Big Ten, died at his home on Sunday, the school said. He was 80.
Zachary grew up in St. Paul and attended Marshall High School, where he was a two-time All City fullback and end.
He started college at Louisville Municipal College -- a segregated undergraduate branch of the University of Louisville -- and was a kicker and flanker for two seasons.
After transferring to Minnesota following the 1949 season, Zachary sat out the 1950 season and missed 1951 due to injury, but made the most of his only season with the Gophers.
He emerged as a force on the Gophers defensive line in 1952, joining standout running backs Paul Giel and Bob McNamara on the All-Big Ten team.
Zachary is survived by his wife of 54 years, Martha Zachary, and his four children -- Thomas, Sharon (Freeman), Dennis and Steven. He had 19 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
A wake will be held on Thursday at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in St. Paul from 5-8 p.m. The funeral will be held at St. Peter on Friday at 10 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that that a plant be sent to a special friend or relative or a memorial donation to St. Peter Claver Catholic Church be made in his memory.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Taylor headed to Oklahoma State
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE (TICKER) -- Tennessee assistant football coach Trooper Taylor on Wednesday accepted a position as co-offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State.
Taylor, who joined the Volunteers in 2004 as running backs coach, is still expected to coach at Tennessee through the Outback Bowl on January 1.
"Tennessee has been great to me, and I'll always appreciate how I have grown as a coach and as a man," Taylor said. "I will have many lasting relationships and memories. I thank coach (Phillip) Fulmer for the opportunity to have coached here and also thank the players, staff and fans for the support and great memories."
Trooper has done a tremendous job for Tennessee in his four years here," Fulmer said. "He's an outstanding football coach and great friend. He and his family mean a great deal to me and the Tennessee staff. We wish him nothing but continued success."
Before coming to Tennessee, Taylor spent five years as receivers coach at Tulane and four years as receivers coach at his alma mater Baylor.
Copyright 2007 PA SportsTicker. All Rights Reserved
Bruin pledges have something to think about
The Bruins are trying to hold onto one of their best recruiting hauls in years. UCLA fans couldn't wait to see four-star bookend defensive ends Datone Jones (6-4, 240, 4.8) from Compton, Calif., and Damien Holmes (6-3, 250, 4.8) from Colton, Calif., wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks and have four-star safety prospect E.J. Woods (6-0, 192, 4.45) from Encino (Calif.) Crespi pick off their errant passes.
The trio of four-star prospects talked to Rivals.com about the departure of UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell and what that means to the recruiting process.
Holmes was empathic to the injury bug that besieged UCLA this season and he couldn't find fault in Dorrell.
"It was unfortunate for Coach Dorrell when you lose your top two quarterbacks and your top two running backs," Holmes said. "You can't expect to win big games with your best players on the bench.
"I'm still solid with UCLA," Holmes said. "I'm only talking to one other school, Oregon, and as long as DeWayne Walker and defensive line coach Todd Howard are there, I'm going to be a Bruin.
Jones has been very busy handling phone calls and home visits from schools that would love to take him off UCLA's hands.
"It (Dorrell's departure) doesn't really affect me, but it hurt my heart," Jones said. "I expected him (Dorrell) to be my coach next year, so now I'm just taking it one day at a time.
"Colorado came by my house today (Tuesday December 4th) and I will be taking a recruiting visit to Colorado this weekend.
"I really don't know what I'm doing right now," Jones said. "I'm trying not to confuse myself. If Coach Walker ends up head coach then I'll be at UCLA.
Woods is busy preparing for the CIF Pac 5 championship while juggling home visits and phone calls. He was busy waiting on couple of coaches when we called.
"I'm waiting on Coach Dan Hawkins and Coach Darian Hagan from Colorado," Woods said. "They are coming over for a home visit.
"I really don't know what to think about Coach Dorrell," Woods said. "I hope UCLA brings in a winning coach that can bring UCLA a Pac 10 championship.
"The doorbell is ringing it must be them (Hawkins and Hagan)," Woods said. "If Coach Walker is at UCLA, I'm staying.
Copyright 2007 Rivals.com. All Rights Reserved.
Donors announce $5 million endowment of PSU coaching position
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Two of Joe Paterno's friends have given the Penn State coach a surprise gift -- a $5 million donation to endow the position Paterno has occupied for 42 seasons.
The donation from Patrick and Candace Malloy, of Key Largo, Fla., was announced at a private reception Monday in New York on the eve of Paterno's induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.
A team spokesman said Paterno was surprised when he learned a few days ago of the creation of the Malloy Paterno Head Football Coach Endowment at Penn State.
"Honestly, this means just as much to me as making it into the Hall of Fame," Paterno said in statement a released Tuesday before his induction ceremony. "I can't imagine a better surprise. I guess Christmas came early this year."
The money can be used to pay for things like academic support, special medical care for team members and expenses associated with recruiting and coaching -- excluding salary. Following a lengthy court battle between the university and a newspaper, Paterno's annual salary was recently revealed to be more than $512,000.
Paterno or his successor as head coach could funnel endowment money at his discretion, so long as the athletic director approved.
Paterno turns 81 on Dec. 21. While his contract expires after the 2008 season, Paterno has said he feels he can coach at least three more seasons.
The athletic department does not receive state money to support Penn State's 29 varsity sports and relies on ticket revenue and private giving for funds, the university said. The Malloys' gift is the largest ever to Penn State athletics.
"All of Penn State has benefited from Joe's commitment to success with honor," said Patrick Malloy, a 1965 graduate of the university.
Paterno is the record-holder for head-coaching longevity at one school and bowl wins (22), and is two victories behind Florida State's Bobby Bowden for most wins overall at a major school (371). Paterno will coach in his record 34th bowl game when the Nittany Lions play Dec. 29 in the Alamo Bowl against Texas A&M.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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