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D1 College Football News
December 4 , 2006
Source: The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, Inc.
NFL Network to Broadcast NFF College Hall of Fame Awards Dinner
National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) has announced today that the NFL Network will televise the 49th Annual College Football Hall of Fame Ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m. (EST) to mark the first time the ceremony will be broadcast on television.
Adam Schefter hosts NFL Network’s coverage from the Annual Awards Dinner, which will take place Dec. 5 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.
At the event, the NFF will honor several outstanding individuals for their contributions to college football and our nation; bestow 17 National Scholar Athletes with $320,000 in scholarships, including the Draddy Trophy, presented by HealthSouth, to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete; and induct the 2006 College Football Hall of Fame Division I-A Class, including gridiron legends Bobby Bowden, Emmitt Smith, Bruce Smith and Chad Hennings.
CBS Sports’ Verne Lundquist will emcee the event attended by a virtual who’s who of college football. Representatives from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Football Bowl Association, the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) as well as NCAA President Myles Brand will be in attendance. Approximately 50 Football Bowl Subdivision coaches will also be present alongside more than 60 returning College Football Hall of Famers. Every conference commissioner from Football Bowl Subdivision and numerous commissioners from the Football Championship Subdivision, college presidents and athletics directors and several other friends of the college football family will complete the evening’s contingent.
2006 Conference Champions
2006 conference champions from Football Bowl Subdivision: Brigham Young (Mountain West), Boise State (WAC), California and Southern California (Pac-10), Central Michigan (MAC), Florida (SEC), Houston (Conference USA), Louisville (Big East), Middle Tennessee State and Troy (Sun Belt), Ohio State (Big Ten), Oklahoma (Big 12) and Wake Forest (ACC).
2006 conference champions from Football Championship SubDivision: Appalachian State (Southern), Coastal Carolina (Big South), Eastern Illinois and Tennessee-Martin (Ohio Valley), Hampton (Mid Eastern), Lafayette and Lehigh (Patriot), Massachusetts (Atlantic 10), McNeese State (Southland), Monmouth (Northeast), Montana (Big Sky), North Dakota State (Great West), Princeton and Yale (Ivy), San Diego (Pioneer) and Youngstown State (Gateway). The Southwestern Conference title will be decided on Dec. 16 in an Alabama A&M and Arkansas- Pine Bluff bout.
Two-Minute Drill
Boise State started a Heisman campaign for RB Ian Johnson, and more information can be found at www.ianforheisman.com. He leads the nation in scoring with an NCAA-best 24 TDs this season, averaging more than 13 points per game... Baylor punter Daniel Sepulveda finishes his college career with the nation’s longest average (46.48) and with 94 career punts of more than 50 yards. His freshmen year, Baylor coaches asked him to give the position a try despite the fact that Sepulveda had not punted since junior high... Virginia Tech’s defense posted four shutouts and gave up only 29 points in its last six games... Central Michigan’s Damien Linson racked up 186 receiving yards, a MAC title-game record, as the Chippewas downed Ohio last Wednesday. Both teams made their first-ever appearances in the title bout, which started in 1997... Navy defeated Army in the 107th meeting of the service academies, capturing the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy outright for the fourth consecutive year. The senior class is the first in history to go 8-0 against Army and Air Force... Cal accepted a Pacific Life Holiday Bowl bid for the second time in three seasons and will face Texas A&M. This is the first time the Golden Bears have made four consecutive bowl appearances and A&M’s first Holiday Bowl since 1990... Western Michigan has agreed to play in the inaugural International Bowl, the first bowl game outside the United States since the 1937 Baccardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba... Northern Illinois’ Garrett Wolfe finishes the season as MAC Offensive Player of the Year and the nation’s leading rusher... Gary Patterson has led TCU to its fourth 10-win season in five years.
Navy (Meineke Car Care), Rice (New Orleans), Tulsa (Bell Helicopter Armed Forces) and Wake Forest (FedEx Orange), the nation’s four smallest schools in undergraduate enrollment in Football Bowl Subdivision, are all bowl eligible this season.
Hawaii’s Colt Brennan, Arkansas’ Darren McFadden, Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn, West Virginia’ Steve Slaton and Ohio State’s Troy Smith are all finalists for the Walter Camp Foundation Player of the Year Award. McFadden, Slaton and Smith were also named to the 2006 AFCA All-America Team... Nine finalists have been announced as finalists for the 2006 Eddie Robinson Award: Houston’s Art Briles, Michigan’s Lloyd Carr, Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe, Hawaii’s June Jones, BYU’s Bronco Mendenhall, Arkansas’ Houston Nutt, Boise State’s Chris Petersen, Rutgers’ Greg Schiano, and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops... The Broyles Award for the nation’s best assistant coach announced its five finalists, which include: Ohio State’s Joe Daniels, Virginia Tech’s Bud Foster, Arkansas’ Reggie Herring, Louisville’s Paul Petrino, and Oklahoma’s Brent Venables... Tight ends John Carlson of Notre Dame, Zach Miller of Arizona State and Matt Spaeth of Minnesota are finalists for the John Mackey Award... Former Tulsa Golden Hurricane Steve Largent was enshrined in the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame. The Hall also gave College Football Hall of Fame coach Vince Dooley its Nell and John Wooden Lifetime Coaching Achievement Award, and former Draddy Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel from Florida was recognized for his work with the New Orleans Desire Street Academy following Hurricane Katrina.
Michigan’s Mark Bihl, Ohio State’s Doug Datish, Southern California’s Ryan Kalil, Arkansas’ Jonathan Luigs, West Virginia’s Dan Mozes and Rutgers’ Darnell Stapleton are this year’s finalists for the Dave Rimington Trophy... 2006 NFF National Scholar-Athlete and Draddy Trophy Finalist Paul Posluszny of Penn State was named ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-America Football Player of the Year... Finalists for the Bill Dudley Award (named after the Virginia great and NFF Hall of Famer) are Washington and Lee CB Mark Snoddy , Virginia- Wise RB Ra'Shad Morgan, LB Vince Hall of Virginia Tech, DE Chris Long of Virginia, and LB Akeem Jordan of James Madison... Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson was named ACC Player of the Year... UCLA’s Justin Hickman, Clemson’s Gaines Adams, Washington State’s Mkristo Bruce, Texas’ Tim Crowder, Purdue’s Anthony Spencer and Michigan’s LaMarr Woodley are finalists for the Ted Hendricks Award for the nation’s top defensive end. Adams is also a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award and was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year... Cal cornerback Daymeion Hughes was selected as Pac- 10 Defensive Player of the Year as well as a finalist for the Lott Trophy. Other Lott finalists include Ohio State’s Quinn Pitcock and Penn State’s Paul Posluszny. The winner will be announced Dec. 10, and the keynote speaker will be USC great and 1975 College Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford... 2006 Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year Ricky Santos has been named a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, alongside Northern Arizona QB Jason Murrietta and Southern Illinois RB Arkee Whitlock... 2006 NFF National Scholar-Athlete John Wendling of Wyoming was named to ESPN the Magazine’s Academic All-American Second Team... 2006 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Chip Kel of Tennessee was honored at the SEC Legends dinner... Ohio head coach Frank Solich was named 2006 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year... Tennessee assistant coach John Chavis has been named AFCA Assistant of the Year... Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe was chosen as ACC Coach of the Year... Rice’s first-year head coach Todd Graham has been named Conference USA Coach of the Year.
Former Duke and Rice coach Fred Goldsmith was recently hired as the football coach at Lenoir-Rhyne... Harvard coach Tim Murphy has been reappointed through the 2011 season. He has led the Crimson to its most successful era since the early 20th century... Pat Sullivan, assistant at Alabama-Birmingham, was named head coach at Samford... Bob Derda was hired as Duquesne’s new associate athletic director for external relations... Scott Sabatino was named associate commissioner of business and finance for the Pac-10... Robert McFarland resigned as Stephen F. Austin head coach and will join the staff of new Iowa State coach Gene Chizik.
Former Miami (Fla.) Hurricane Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is filming The Game Plan in Boston, where he plays a New England QB. Joe Kingman, The Rock’s character in the movie, is a “serial bachelor” until the 8-year-old daughter he never knew enters the picture. The movie will be release next year... His Excellency Abbot Shi Yongxin, leader of the Shaolin Temple in China, is planning to start a football program in his country. The Abbot’s goal is to develop football teams in China that would tour the United States and play exhibition games.
Country music sensation Leann Rimes will highlight the halftime show of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. She will also receive the Bowl’s Outstanding Achievement Award at the President’s Gala the night before the game... The PetroSun Independence Bowl announced that General Harold Moore, a retired 3-star Army General from Bardstown, Ky., is the recipient of the 2006 Omar N. Bradley “Spirit of Independence” Award... 2001 College Football Hall of Fame coach Grant Teaff and former Texas A&M kicker Tony Franklin were named the 2006 Legends of the Sun Bowl... Oregon State’s head student manager Carlos Garcia is the latest nominee for the FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award... Ticketmaster will continue as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s authorized ticketing company... The Rice Athletics Department will charter buses for Owl fans’ trip to the New Orleans Bowl... Florida Citrus Sports announced it inaugural Bowl-a-Palooza, which will take place the last week in December and is designed for all football fans in the central Florida area. The new week-long event will incorporate sports, art and entertainment... Football Bowl Association Chairman Scott Ramsey debated the merits of the current I-A bowl system versus a potential playoff system. BC athletics director and NFF board member Gene DeFilippo also participated in the debate, which aired on CSTV Nov. 30... Third Eye Blind and Vanessa Carlton will headline this year’s Fiesta Bowl Block Party.
The NFF Website garnered a record number of votes for its weekly fan poll from Nov. 13-19... Learfield Sports will be Montana State’s exclusive athletics marketing partner through 2011. The marketing group will also collaborate with Toledo through 2017.
Two members of the Wounded Warriors group of military veterans injured during fighting in the Middle East were part of the pre-game coin toss in the ACC Dr. Pepper Football Championship Game in Jacksonville, Fla., last Saturday. They were military police veteran Justin L. Shellhammer and recent Navy retiree Robert Roeder... Sam deBerry, a University of Texas at Arlington student, and about 70 other students rallied outside the university president’s office last Wednesday in hopes of bringing football back to branch campus. deBerry garnered nearly 3,000 signatures in support of his mission. The institution’s football program was disbanded after the 1985 season... South Dakota will move its athletic programs to Division I pending approval from its board of regents. North Dakota State and South Dakota State have already started the transition to Division I, and North Dakota will also join in the near future... Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco lobbied the presidents of both the Rose Bowl and FedEx Orange Bowl in anticipation of a BCS bid... Florida coach Urban Meyer passed on a chance to speak with Congress about the Bowl Championship Series.
University of Texas-San Antonio recently received a final report from a national consulting firm, determining the feasibility of adding a Division I football program at the school. The report does not make a final recommendation about adding the sport. Carr Sports Associates prepared the study... In a SportsBusiness Journal reader survey, 2006 NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football winner ESPN College GameDay was voted the favorite game-related studio show, and Kirk Herbstreit was considered the favorite studio show analyst... OutKast rapper Big Boi designed special red, yellow and black jerseys worn by Grambling during their recent Bayou Classic against Southern... An Emmy-winning documentary on the 1970 plane crash that killed members of the Marshall football team is now out on DVD... Former Southern Miss QB and current coordinator for development and community relations Reggie Collier represented the Golden Eagle program at the Cellular South Conerly Trophy Presentation... Houston City Council member Ada Edwards proclaimed last Friday as “University of Houston Day” in support of the Cougars’ Conference USA Championship game... The UCLA Westwood Bruin Touchdown Club held its annual Beat USC Breakfast on Dec. 1, featuring Bruins’ assistant coach Jim Colletto and linebacker coach Chuck Bullough... Villanova sophomore Joe Marcoux will undergo a procedure to donate blood-forming cells to a patient in need, as he is a perfect match out of the more than 20 million registered donors worldwide. Last spring he participated in the football team’s annual drive to register potential bone marrow donors.
Oprah Winfrey will be asked to assist in the fundraising for a museum honoring legendary College Football Hall of Fame coach Eddie Robinson. The $5 million project will be built on the Grambling State campus... UC Davis won its last game ever at Toomey Field, giving the Aggies a 193-86-8 record at “The Toom.” Next year, the team will play at their new stadium, where naming rights have yet to be finalized... Mark and Will Adkins recently donated $1.5 million to Coastal Carolina, earmarking the gift exclusively for the Chanticleers’ field house. This is the second CCU donation from the twin brothers, bringing their total gift to $1.8 million... Washington athletics director Todd Turner gave a 30-minute presentation regarding the school’s ideas to improve athletics facilities, starting with an improved Husky Stadium. No plans have been made yet, but two transportation projects in the area may complicate matters... A 63,600-seat Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium should be ready for the 2009 Louisville season, as plans for the $65 million expansion project were approved last week... After 17 years of natural grass at Ohio Stadium, Ohio State officials will install artificial turf following the 2007 spring game... Michigan’s designs for a proposed $226 million renovation of Michigan Stadium were approved. Plans include 400,000-square-foot multi-story additions with luxury boxes and a total of 83 suites and 3,200 club seats.
Former Columbia guard Ralph Borgess passed away at 85. He played on the Columbia team that beat Army 21-20 in 1947, ending Army’s 32-game winning streak... Zeke Martin, longtime Southwest Conference football official, was killed last Monday in an auto accident... Larry Stevens, USC’s oldest living football All-American first teamer and a member of the 1931 and 1932 national championship teams, died last Wednesday at 95.
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