JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Ryan Perrilloux gazed at his new home field, a stadium that holds just 15,000 and serves as a stark reminder of how far he has fallen.

He was supposed to be the quarterback at LSU, the defending national champions, and in front of ear-splitting crowds of more than 92,000 at Tiger Stadium. Instead he expects to be playing inside Paul Snow Stadium, for Championship Subdivision Jacksonville State, against the likes of Alabama A&M, Southeast Missouri and Murray State. The Southeastern Conference seems worlds away.

Yet somehow Perrilloux managed a smile. Actually, he beamed.

“This school is perfect for me,” he said during an exclusive interview with Yahoo! Sports. “It’s in a small town. I’m surrounded by good people, good supportive people. It’s just a great opportunity for my second chance at a college football career.”

It might be the last chance to restore his image and regain the stature that made him the top-rated quarterback prospect coming out of high school in 2005 and prompted talk of his not only starring in college football, but also in the NFL. During a wide-ranging interview shortly after he arrived in Alabama, Perrilloux, who is 21 and has two years of college eligibility left, discussed for the first time in detail the series of events that contributed to his getting kicked off the LSU football team two weeks ago.

He also revealed that before last season, he was diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and was prescribed medication to control symptoms such as anxiety.

Perrilloux said he was experiencing ear aches last summer and, when LSU’s medical staff could find nothing wrong, he met with a psychiatrist who diagnosed his problem. The psychological disorder is commonly known as OCD and characterized by obsessive thoughts and rituals.

Perrilloux said the disorder led to his ear aches and anxiety.

“That’s what was wrong with me because I always used to pop my jaw and used to pick at my skin, bite my nails,” he said.

Growing up in Reserve, La., Perrilloux said a non-stop schedule of football, basketball and baseball masked the disorder. He said idle time at LSU, where he played sparingly during his three years, led to a sense of restlessness.

“That was the first time I knew I had Obsessive-Compulsive (disorder),” Perrilloux said. “Because I was always so busy, I didn’t know I had it. They said that’s a way to hide it.”

Jack Crowe, head coach at Jacksonville State, said he learned about the diagnosis while doing a background check before he offered Perrilloux a scholarship. He also said he thought it helped explain Perrilloux’s troubled stay in Baton Rouge, La.

“I think what you have is a little bit of a compound effect of several different things there,” Crowe said. “Not the least of which is that he walked in there behind two pretty good quarterbacks and has been a guy that stood there and held the clipboard, and it’s about to kill him. That’ll change your character.

“Yeah, he ought to be able to handle that. He ought to be able to handle a lot of things. But you got all that compounded together.”

Perrilloux downplayed his struggles with OCD and did not cite it as a cause of his well-documented troubles. Nor did he clear up all of the speculation that followed his dismissal at LSU.

WHAT WENT WRONG?

Perrilloux would neither confirm nor deny published reports that he failed a recent drug test, but his mother, Bobbie Breaux, told Yahoo! Sports that Perrilloux tested positive for a banned drug as a freshman and that a recent drug test detected “trace” amounts of a banned substance in her son. She said she did not know what the banned substances were.

“Is it true or is it not true?” Perrilloux said when asked about the drug tests. “I don’t want to say no and I don’t want to say yeah. I just want to say no comment and just move forward.”

But he did discuss the series of problems he said contributed to his being dismissed by LSU.

On Jan. 13, six days after LSU beat Ohio State in the BCS championship game in New Orleans, Perrilloux was the only LSU player to miss a mandatory meeting. Perrilloux said he overslept and did not have enough time to drive from the apartment he shared with his girlfriend and get to the school’s athletic building.

He said that, coupled with his missing three or four classes after skipping the meeting, led to his suspension from the team in February.

Already under intense scrutiny, Perrilloux faced fresh allegations in early April when news broke about an incident that had taken place at a restaurant in Baton Rouge. LSU’s student newspaper, the Daily Reveille, reported that an employee from the Kona Grill said Perrilloux yelled obscenities and racial slurs, calling a waiter “Osama” before Perrilloux was asked to leave.

LSU coach Les Miles, according to an Associated Press report, said he had investigated the alleged incident, called the restaurant’s management for information and let the management know the kind of alleged action is “not what (LSU) stands for.”

Perrilloux said he was falsely accused of using racial slurs. He also said he would never utter racial slurs “because I’m a minority, too.”

Despite the alleged incident at the restaurant, Perrilloux was reinstated after LSU’s spring game in April and in time to accompany the team on its trip to the White House. He posed for a team photo with President Bush, who congratulated the Tigers on winning the national championship in an official ceremony.

Three weeks later, Miles announced in a press release he had kicked Perrilloux off the team.

“Ryan was given every opportunity to be a part of this football team,” Miles said in a prepared statement released by LSU. “In the end, he didn’t fulfill his obligation as an LSU student-athlete. We hope that a new beginning will benefit him.”

ESPN and the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Perrilloux had failed a drug test in the days leading up to his dismissal. Declining to discuss those reports, Perrilloux said the missed team meeting, missed classes and, finally, struggles in English class ultimately led to his getting booted from the team.

“I kind of was missing English a little bit,” he said. “Not really missing it, but the teacher reported that I was leaving class early. It was things like that and what happened is little things pile up and become big things …

“I had developed so much history from my freshman year, constantly not doing right things, constantly not being that right person. It took me to be dismissed from LSU to realize I have to be a person that does the right things all of the time.”

CONTROVERSY BUILDS

Four years ago, Perrilloux had awed college scouts with his strong arm and mobility while playing for East St. John High School, and he then thrilled LSU fans when he reneged on a verbal commitment to the University of Texas and signed with the Tigers in February 2005. He announced his decision during a nationally televised news conference and, full of swagger, made an off-hand remark about how he planned to win four Heisman Trophies.

Those bold proclamations have not been fulfilled.

He sat out his freshman season as a redshirt. He played sparingly the next season behind starter JaMarcus Russell, the eventual No. 1 pick of the 2007 NFL draft, and backup Matt Flynn. And before the 2007 season, he lost a battle for the starting job to Flynn.

By then, public controversy that dogged Perrilloux had intensified.

In January 2007, he was questioned by law enforcement officials investigating a scheme involving counterfeit money. His older brother, Rance Scott, pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government by possessing $1,000 in counterfeit bills and was sentenced to three years’ probation and fined $500.

Perrilloux was not arrested and he entered pretrial diversion that allowed him to avoid criminal charges.

The New York Times reported that in November 2006 Perrilloux had tried to buy gasoline at a convenience store near his home in LaPlace with a counterfeit $20 given to him by his brother. Larry Dauterive, who coached Perrilloux at East St. John High, said his former player unwittingly used a $20 bill to pay for gas and employees at the gas station later reported the bill counterfeit.

But in an interview Monday, Perrilloux said he, a cousin and a friend went to a Family Dollar store when the friend, who got the $20 bill from Perrilloux’s brother, tried to use it to pay for candy. The employees realized the bill was counterfeit and the three young men left the store, Perrilloux said.

“When he got caught, I was like, ‘You didn’t know that was fake?’ ” Perrilloux said he recalled from the subsequent exchange with his friend. “He was like, ‘Yeah, I knew, man. Your brother gave it to me.’ I’m like ‘Ooh.’ He was like, ‘That’s why I’m in here buying gum, so I can get change.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, man. ’ ”

Perrilloux said he had to enter pretrial diversion, a six-month probationary period, because he was at the scene when the counterfeit bill was passed.

“I was sunk into the scene, like I was a person that was a part of the scene,” he said. “I didn’t get charged. I just got pretrial diversion … I’ve been finished with that. So I’m done. I don’t have a (criminal) record. So they can’t ever come back and get me or nothing because I’m finished with that.”

But trouble flared anew in May 2007 when Baton Rouge police cited Perrilloux for trying to use his brother’s ID to board a casino boat. Dauterive said Miles called him after the incident and the LSU coach told him he’d heard rumors of counterfeit bills being exchanged for gambling chips and then cashed in for money.

But Dauterive said nothing amounted to the rumors, and Perrilloux described the incident in May 2007 as an innocent misstep.

“I had just turned 20 years old,” he said of the incident that took place more than five months after his Jan. 1 birthday. “I was like, ‘Ah, me and my brother kind of look alike.’ And I was like, ‘Well, I’m going to try my luck.’

“So like the funniest thing in the world happened. While I was walking up to the guy to give him the ID, he knew me right away. He knew I was Ryan Perrilloux. And he took the ID and said ‘This isn’t you.’ So me being the young kid, I was just like, ‘That is me,’ and he was like, ‘Nah, that isn’t you.’ And then he called in his boss.”

Perrilloux said he was taken to a back room and held until the police arrived. The police issued him a summons and he was escorted off the casino boat and allowed to leave in his own car, Perrilloux said.

He also said Miles had no choice but to suspend him for the summer because the incident followed his being questioned over the use of counterfeit money. Perrilloux was reinstated to the team at the start of preseason practice but found himself in more trouble during the season.

He was at The Varsity, a club on campus at about 2 a.m. on a night in late October, when a fracas broke out during a performance by a rap group featuring LSU defensive end Marlon Favorite. A witness alleged Perrilloux had a gun but later recanted and videotape from the club showed there was no weapon, Perrilloux’s attorney, Nathan Fisher, told media outlets.

Perrilloux said he had a minimal role in the incident that started when another football player confronted a man in the club. The bouncers rushed to quell the brewing situation and, according to Perrilloux, one of the bouncers pushed his girlfriend, Geralle Blanks, who at the time was one month pregnant.

“What happened is one of them, they kind of shoved my girlfriend,” Perrilloux said. “Not really hard, but enough for me to be like, ‘Come on. ’ Like, ‘Man, what you doing?’

“Before I could do anything, I gave my girlfriend my keys and I told her to go home. And like while I was doing that, Marlon Favorite, who was performing, came off stage and grabbed me and brought me to the back. He didn’t give me time to do anything.”

Perrilloux said he and Favorite were standing outside, behind the club, when about two dozen men charged out of the back door and rushed them.

“What happened was, from what I hear, when I left outside the club a fight actually happened in the club,” Perrilloux said. “And then they came out the club looking for anybody they could find. And then they saw me and Marlon.

“They ran at me but I was so fortunate because a police officer was driving up like right when they were trying to get on me and I got to the police officer. And the funny thing is people were claiming I had a pistol, which was false. I took a lie detector test and everything.”

Perrilloux was held out of LSU’s game against Alabama that next weekend. Four weeks later, he played a critical role on the team’s path to the national championship.

Suffering from a shoulder injury, Flynn was held out of the SEC championship game. That thrust Perrilloux into the starting role when LSU faced Tennessee with a berth in the BCS championship game at stake.

Perrilloux completed 20 of 30 passes for 243 yards with one touchdown and scored on a two-point conversion run in a 21-14 victory.

Flynn returned to the starting lineup during the national championship game, and after LSU’s 38-24 victory over Ohio State a photo captured him kissing the crystal championship trophy as purple and gold confetti fluttered down around him inside the Superdome in New Orleans. It was Flynn’s shining moment. But because he was a senior and graduating, many imagined Perrilloux smooching the trophy in 2008, as a core of returning players raised hopes that LSU could win back-to-back titles.

Two weeks ago, when Perrilloux was dismissed, those hopes were crushed.

He said he has no ill will and that Miles has helped him get situated at Jacksonville State after the two agreed Perrilloux should leave Louisiana.

“He really wanted it to work, and I really appreciate him for that,” Perrilloux said. “I just couldn’t get it right. I don’t know why. I just couldn’t. But I’ve learned from this.”

STARTING OVER

Since leaving LSU, Perrilloux said, about 50 schools have expressed interest in signing him to a scholarship. Because he didn’t transfer to a Division I school, he can play immediately. The scholarship papers he signed last week aren’t binding until he enrolls in school at Jacksonville State and as of Monday Perrilloux said he still was being bombarded by calls from other schools.

But after an hour-long interview, Crowe arrived and sent Perrilloux to meet a man who expressed interest in hiring Perrilloux for the summer at a dental facility. He’ll be expected to work and enroll in summer session that starts next month, and Perrilloux said that’s exactly what he intends to do despite any other scholarship offers that come his way.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’m a man of my word. I told coach Crowe I was coming. And the next day I signed and I’m here.”

How long Perrilloux will remain in Jacksonville, whether he can stay out of trouble and if he can make it to the NFL are not the only unanswered questions. There’s also the matter of his diagnosis of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and how he intends to handle it.

Perrilloux said he stopped taking medication with doctor’s approval and has the OCD symptoms under control. But his mother, a licensed practical nurse, said she and her son agreed he did not suffer from OCD and he never took the medication.

Crowe said he has yet to address the issue with Perrilloux.

“I understand OCD,” Crowe said, “and I can tell you he needs to stay on his goddang medication.”

Yet Perrilloux downplayed the issue as he sat in the Jacksonville State athletic building and looked out at his new home, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians, about an hour northeast from Birmingham.

His biological father died in February. His girlfriend gave premature birth to their 2-month-old daughter who is undergoing surgery for fluid in her brain. He went from a quarterback of near cult-hero status to one despised by many LSU fans who think he undermined not only himself but the Tigers’ chances of winning back-to-back championships.

But Perrilloux appeared to put aside all of the heartbreak and disappointment as he focused on his future. Before entering a schedule that includes Chattanooga, Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech, Perrilloux and Jacksonville State are scheduled to open the season in a nationally televised game on ESPN against Georgia Tech in Atlanta – the site of Perrilloux’s stirring performance in the 2007 SEC championship game.

“I’m excited to just kick the season off against Georgia Tech, to have an opportunity to just play my first game at my new school on ESPN,” he said. “… A lot of people want to see me do well, and I don’t want to let anybody down.

“That’s why I came here.”

———–
What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a type of mental illness that causes repeated unwanted thoughts. To get rid of the thoughts, a person does the same tasks over and over. For example, you may fear that everything you touch has germs on it. So to ease that fear, you wash your hands over and over again.

OCD is a chronic, or long-term, illness that can take over your life, hurt your relationships, and limit your ability to work or go to school.
What causes OCD?

Experts don’t know the exact cause of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Research suggests that there may be a problem with the way one part of the brain sends information to another part. Not having enough of a brain chemical called serotonin may help cause the problem.

Some experts believe that a problem related to infections, such as strep throat or scarlet fever, can suddenly bring on the disorder or make its symptoms worse in some children.

Source: Healthwise® Knowledgebase
on Yahoo Health

The ACC athletic directors are meeting Monday and an area of possible discussion will be the introduction of a nine-game conference schedule. Now that teams are playing 12 regular-season games, this is the only move for conferences to make.

The Pac-10 has already acted on the issue. The conference decided to require its teams to play a nine-team round-robin conference schedule. That means that every team plays every other team during the regular season. Thus, there is no reason to have a postseason conference championship because the champion has already been decided during the regular season.

Although a conference with 11 or 12 teams cannot set up a schedule where all teams meet during the regular season, there is no less reason to follow suit. We have to assume the Pac-10 could have just as easily allowed its teams to play another home game against a cupcake, non-conference opponent in order to line the coffers and feed the beast. But the powers that be decided the right thing to do for the integrity of the league AND the value of the fans’ ticket was to play another conference team.

The reason to add a 12th game was not to improve the integrity of the regular season or to increase the value of a loyal fan’s season ticket package. It was to make more money. And, if you are going to make more money, the best way to do this is to play as many home games as possible and preferably against an opponent that will not upset your chances of making a pretty penny in the offseason too.

This dilemma did not originate with the addition of the 12th game. We have faced it for the past 15-20 years as the conferences grew beyond the ability to play every conference team in the regular season. The SEC, Big 12, ACC, and Big Ten have all had to decide what to do with their non-conference schedules. Do we play worthy opponents on a home-and-home basis or do we bring in a ringer to jump through the hoops for a nice paycheck?

During the 11-game era, the BCS conferences with 11 or 12 teams decided upon an eight-game conference schedule. That left them with three non-conference games to fill. The problem was that many teams did not do what they should have. To balance all of the scheduling objectives, the right thing to do was play two guppies at home and then one worthy team on a home-and-home basis. But many of the bigger schools said, “To heck with public perception, our conference schedule is tough enough, we need to make the money, let’s just play three guppies.” It wasn’t the right thing to do then and it is not the right thing to do now.

The same issue must be dealt with under a 12-game system. What kind of games are we going to play? Well, if we assume that the right thing to do under the 11-game format was to schedule two guppies at home and a worthy home-and-home matchup, then that ought to be continued in the 12-game format. This would allow us to quite easily go to another conference game in our regular season. The 12-team leagues could easily play all five other teams in their division plus four matchups from the other division on a rotating basis. The Big Ten could at least get one game closer to a round-robin format. The reason we formed conferences in the first place was to make scheduling easier by requiring the teams to play each other.

Isn’t it funny how protecting the integrity of the regular season is so dadgum important when it comes to a playoff, but it doesn’t mean squat when it comes to the teams we actually play?

The university said the All-America fullback died in Beverly Hills, Mich. The school didn’t provide details on the cause of death.

In 1950, Grandelius became the 17th 1,000-yard rusher in college football history, running for 1,023 on 163 carries to help the Spartans to an 8-1 record.

Grandelius was the MVP of the 1951 Hula Bowl and also played in the 1951 East-West Shrine game. The New York Giants selected him in the third round of the 1951 NFL draft.

Following the 1953 season, his only season in the NFL, Grandelius spent five years as an assistant coach at Michigan State. He was head coach at Colorado from 1959-61, leading the 1961 team to a 7-0 record and the Big 8 title.

He also was the backfield coach with the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions and the general manager of the World Football League’s Detroit Wheels.

Grandelius, a Muskegon Heights native, was inducted into Michigan State’s Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

Survivors include wife Marty, two daughters and two sons.

Cowan, who had edged out the also-injured Ben Olson for the starting job this spring, was carted off the field on Thursday after injuring his left knee while scrambling, and will have surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament.

“All I know is I need the surgery and I’m not going to be able to play next season,” Cowan said.

Cowan missed eight games last season because of various injuries. He had already used a redshirt season, and was unsure whether he’d apply for a sixth year of eligibility.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting this. There are a lot of things that can happen at this point.”

Olson broke a bone in his right foot the same day Cowan was hurt, both in fluke injuries that did not involve contact.

Olson, a 25-year-old slowed by injuries throughout his long college career, was considering surgery to have a screw put in the broken foot and was expected to miss six-to-eight weeks.

He and junior college transfer Kevin Craft will compete for the starting job.

“We’re going to play that position well,” new UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. “I have full confidence in (offensive coordinator) Norm Chow. I have full confidence in the kids to give everything they’ve got.”

I had the privilege of being the guest speaker in Grand Island, Neb., a couple of weeks ago at the annual Chamber of Commerce banquet. It was a big deal and my coming to town was supposed to be the story of the day. But fate was not on my side and news came down that morning from Lincoln that the State Fair had just been moved from the capitol city to Grand Island. So, just like in 1993 when we went 11-0 in my very first year at Auburn but my old man won the national championship, I wasn’t even the biggest story on my own special day.

Well, the big story around Nebraska these days is whether Bo Pelini can get the Cornhusker football team back to their winning ways. However, the bigger story may actually be just which winning ways are they talking about getting back to? Is it the level of winning they were experiencing prior to the arrival of Bill Callahan, or are they talking about the winning days of Tom Osborne and Bob Devaney?

There is a huge difference, you know.

Five years ago, Frank Solich was 9-3 in his last year as the head coach at Nebraska. He was carrying a six year record of 58-19 and averaging nearly 10 wins a season. However, he was fired before the bowl game because the administration didn’t like the direction he was taking the program.

Maybe that was because of how much they loved the direction his legendary predecessor, Tom Osborne, had taken the program prior to his arrival. During the last five years of the Hall of Fame coach’s illustrious quarter-century career, he had a record of 60-3 and won three national championships. Unfortunately, there was no direction to go from there but down.

So, after four disappointing seasons under Bill Callahan, culminating in last year’s stinky 5-7 record, is it Frank Solich’s 10-wins a-year tenure that the Big Red Nation will settle for, or is it a return to the ’90s and Tom Osborne’s three national championships?

I think you already know the answer to that question.

But, first things first, and let’s get back to the original question of how Bo Pelini is going to do at Nebraska.
Terry’s 2007 Top 10 analysis (PDF)I believe he is going to do just fine. In fact, I have a sneaky feeling he is just the right guy for the job. Bo Pelini became a head football coach by being a great defensive coordinator and a great defensive coordinator is just what Nebraska needs right now.

Although the Cornhusker fans have debated ad nauseum over the last 15 years about what type of offense they ought to be running, the immediate concern is their defense. They have got to get it fixed before they can go anywhere. Bill Callahan came in and spent four years trying to focus everything on changing the style of offense from a Power I running attack to a wide open West Coast offense. They actually got pretty good at it.

However, in the process, he forgot that the No. 1 rule in football is that everything is predicated on playing great defense and winning the turnover battle. If you look at my top-10 analysis chart (PDF) – this version including a Nebraska comparison – you can see very clearly that two of the most important statistics in being a top-10 team are scoring defense and turnover margin. Well, from the last year of Frank Solich to the last year of Bill Callahan, Nebraska went from being No. 2 in the nation in scoring defense to No. 114, and from being No. 1 in turnover margin to No. 117.

So, do you know who the defensive coordinator was under Frank Solich?

Can you say Bo Pelini?

If anybody should know how to fix what ails the Nebraska Cornhuskers, it is Bo Pelini. That is his specialty and he has done it before at Nebraska. He will focus on defense because that is what he focuses on. Although he named his older brother Carl the defensive coordinator, I would think he will still be heavily involved on that side of the ball. When I went to Auburn in 1993, I named my older brother Tommy as my offensive coordinator, but I still called every play. There may have been a lot of things I didn’t know about being a head coach at that time but the one thing I did know was how to run my offense. Buddy Ryan, one of the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL history, may have put it best when he said the biggest mistake he made when he became the head coach of the Chicago Bears was that he immediately fired his best assistant – himself!

Nebraska will get much better very quickly because Bo Pelini is best at coaching what they are the worst at doing.

But ultimately it will get back to the bigger question at Nebraska. Can they get back to the national championship? The fans may say they just want to walk away from Memorial Stadium proud of their team again, but that won’t last forever. Championship football is too much a part of their DNA.

So, here is my two cents worth of advice to Nebraska.

Ultimately, they must find an offense they can hang their hat on, one they can feel comfortable with. Coach Osborne may be back as the athletic director, but don’t look for his offense to find its way back onto the football field. This still needs to be Bo Pelini’s offense and one for the 21st century. Somehow they must find a way to blend the old with the new. They must find a way to embrace the passing game in a way that recognizes its importance in today’s game and, at the same time, develop a system that recaptures the toughness and work-ethic style of play that always seemed to define Nebraska football.

Nebraska needs an offense that throws it like Bobby Bowden (of old) and runs it like Tom Osborne.

I believe Nebraska needs to put in the shotgun zone read.

If I were Bo Pelini – and believe me, there are many days I wish I were – this is what I would do.

This year I would use the players that I have on offense that were recruited by Callahan to run the West Coast offense and do just that – run the West Coast offense. As I said before, the offense actually got pretty good at that style of play over the last few years and the players – and coaches – are in place to run it. Senior quarterback Joe Ganz returns under center and he just needs to take up where he left off at the end of last season. After taking over for an injured Sam Keller, he threw for over 400 yards in each of the final three games, including a record-setting 528 yards and seven touchdowns against Kansas State.

Shawn Watson also returns to coordinate the offense and understands the offense enough to maintain its current effectiveness. As much criticism as Callahan received for having too big of a playbook and doing too much on offense, this isn’t the time to tinker with it just for the sake of change. It would be much better to run it just as it is while the defense is getting better than to spend a year or two going backward on offense at the same time they are trying to go forward on defense. Just ask Bill Callahan what happens when you fail to stay good on one side of the ball while you are trying to fix the other side. The Cornhuskers had their first losing season in 25 years in Callahan’s initial campaign at Nebraska.

Now, I would suggest trying to do something about the turnover situation as quickly as possible. Nebraska was 90th (out of 119) in turnovers lost last season with 11 fumbles and 17 interceptions. If they could just cut this in half next year they would probably win a couple of more games on turnovers alone.

However, from a recruiting standpoint, I would start looking immediately for a Pat White/Dennis Dixon-type of athlete to play quarterback at Nebraska – two or three of them, in fact. Can you imagine Tommie Frazier running Oregon’s or West Virginia’s offense 2-3 years from now at Nebraska? I realize Joe Ganz was a pretty good dual-threat quarterback in high school, recruited by Eastern Michigan and Northwestern, but I’m talking about a Heisman Trophy-type of guy that is a difference maker.

This would allow Nebraska to develop a system offense that can be built around homegrown, corn-fed, weight room-hardened linemen who can zone block and play-action pass protect like a bunch of trained pigs (please excuse the Arkansas Razorback reference). It will allow you to have an offense that runs the ball for over 200 yards a game and passes for about the same. It would also allow you to attract two or three of the top running backs in the country. I realize you would need a few more quality receivers than in the old days under Osborne, but if Texas Tech can find enough of them, so can Nebraska.

If Nebraska is going to work it’s way back into the race for the Northern Division championship of the Big 12, that can be accomplished by playing better defense and keeping the offense status quo. However, for the Cornhuskers to be a national champion again and regain their place among college football’s elite, there must be a fundamental change in their offensive philosophy.

That change should be the shotgun zone read.

Of course, that’s just my two cents worth.

[Source: Yahoo Sports]

Pittsburgh will host a special ceremony Tuesday with College Football Hall of Famer and ‘76 Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett and Panthers’ rising sophomore RB LeSean McCoy at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex. Dorsett will present an award to McCoy for breaking “TD’s” Pitt freshman record of 13 touchdowns and 78 points set in 1976. McCoy smashed those marks as a 2007 yearling with 90 points, 14 rushing touchdowns and 1,328 net rushing yards as a Freshman All-America last season.

NFF News

The Southern Arizona (Tucson) Chapter announced that it will name its popular coaching academy in memory of the late Larry Smith, former head coach at Tulane, Arizona, Southern California and Missouri. Smith was a chapter board member and instrumental in starting the chapter’s annual coaching academy. His wife Cheryl attended and provided $1,000 for each of the 10 scholarship winners via the NFF Larry Smith Endowment.

Standout Auburn LB “Wild Bill” (also known in some circles as “Buffalo Bill”) Cody addressed the Auburn Chapter’s scholar- athlete banquet last Thursday. The local chapter presented its 2008 Distinguished American Award to Richard Guthrie while former All-SEC standout Tommie Agee received the Contribution to Amateur Football Award.

The Orange County (Calif.) Chapter honored 77 scholar-athletes with an average 3.7 GPA at the 38th annual awards. Sixteen honorees have signed football letters of intent at such colleges as UCLA, Michigan, UNLV, Washington State and Navy.

The Sacramento (Calif.) Chapter honored 24 scholar-athletes at its March 5 banquet and received an outstanding message from Giovanni Carmazzi, a 1999 NFF National Scholar-Athlete from Hofstra as well as a 1996 Sacramento Jesuit HS scholar-athlete honoree by the chapter. Carmazzi, who also was ‘96 West Region High School Scholar-Athlete of the Year, is one of only four all-time NFF awardees in all three of these categories. The others are Bobby Hoying (Ohio State), Eion Hu (Harvard) and Jon Stinchcomb (Georgia).

The Wyoming Chapter received an inspiring message from Dr. Justin Hopkin, chief resident at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center in Denver, Colo., and Wyoming’s top football scholar- athlete in 1995 as well as the NFF West Region Scholar-Athlete in ‘95.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl Chapter honored 19 scholar-athletes at a recent luncheon, which included New Orleans resident and NFF chairman Archie Manning. Two $2,500 college scholarships were awarded, and one went to O. Perry Walker High School’s Eugene Chest, a member of the NFF’s Play It Smart Program.

Other upcoming NFF Chapter scholar-athlete gatherings are Southeastern Connecticut, Bill Denney Chapter (N.J.), and National Capital – all on Sunday, Apr. 6; Western Massachusetts Chapter on Apr. 8; and Ralph DeSantis Chapter (Conn.) on Apr. 10.

Brian Baez of Roberto Clemente Middle School in New Haven, Conn., has been named as the Play it Smart National Co-Captain for February. As a seventh grader, he is the youngest person in the history of the program to win the coveted monthly award.

National Service Week for Play It Smart Schools is Apr. 19-26, giving schools a chance to maximize their community service efforts. Play It Smart members are encouraged to submit accounts and photos. Programs that complete the most hours of community service will be recognized at the 2008 Play It Smart Annual Conference held July 23-27, 2008 in Arlington, Texas.

Two-Minute Drill

Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel will throw out the ceremonial first pitch for today’s St. Louis Cardinals-Colorado Rockies opening game at Busch Stadium and also will appear on the FSN Midwest game broadcast. Pinkel will be the St. Louis/Tom Lombardo Chapter guest speaker at an Apr. 23 luncheon. The chapter’s scholar- athlete banquet is slated for May 4 in St. Louis.

Ohio State and Tennessee will play a two-game series in 2018-19 on Sept. 1, 2018, in Knoxville, Tenn., and Sept. 7, 2019, in Columbus, Ohio. Tennessee also took its national alumni tailgate tour to the Oklahoma City area last weekend… Bowling Green is hosting its eighth annual Legends of Coaching Football Clinic on April 18-19. The clinic will feature talks with Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez, Mount Union’s Larry Kehres, Mentor (Ohio) HS head coach Steve Trivisonno and tours of BGSU’s new Sebo Athletic Center… Vanderbilt and Middle Tennessee have renewed their series with four games from 2015-18… Head coaches Yale’s Jack Siedlecki, Georgia’s Mark Richt, Miami’s (Fla.) Randy Shannon, Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville and Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis will tour military bases throughout the Middle East from May 20-26… FAU will hold its fourth annual athletics golf tourney/fundraiser at the Trump International Course in West Palm Beach on May 8… Former Utah WR Steve Smith has made a $250,000 contribution for scholarships at wide receiver for the Utes… Former Alabama QB Jay Barker, who led the Crimson Tide to the 1992 National Championship, recently became engaged to country music star Sara Evans.

Pam and Les Mumas have made a $3 million donation to USF athletics… SmileXpress has made a $1.25 million sponsorship commitment to Florida Atlantic over a 10-year span… Montana Tech is adding a $5 million football scoreboard for ‘08.

Illinois director of athletics Ron Guenther had his contract extended through 2010… The Big East Conference has tabbed Terry McAulay, a game official in the National Football League for the past 11 years, as coordinator of football officiating. He had been collegiate football and basketball official for several years, including working the 1998 BCS title game.

The proposed Congressional Bowl in Washington, D.C., has signed an agreement with the Atlantic Coast Conference for 2008 and has plans for the second contracted team in 2008 (pending NCAA certification) to come from Air Force, Army or Navy. Another proposed bowl at St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field was submitted to the NCAA’s certifying board last week. Tentatively named the St. Petersburg Bowl and televised by one of the ESPN family of networks, the proposed game matches teams from the Big East Conference and Conference USA on Dec. 21, 2008. It could be the sixth bowl game run by ESPN along with the Pioneer Las Vegas, Sheraton Hawai’i, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces, Papajohns.com and New Mexico Bowls.

SMU Athletics and the SMU Lettermen’s Association will honor the inaugural class of the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, May 2 at 7 p.m. (CDT) at Dallas’ Hotel Palomar. The 2008 inductees include Pro Football Hall of Famer and former SMU head coach Forrest Gregg and late NFF board member Lamar Hunt… The Greater Waco (Texas) Chamber of Commerce will host a Southwest Conference luncheon on Apr. 9 to salute the groundbreaking for the SWC Wing of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. John Rhadigan of FSN will be the master of ceremonies, and the nine Southwest Conference institutions will be represented by guest speakers, including College Football Hall of Famers Chuck Dicus (Arkansas); Grant Teaff (Baylor); Bill Yeoman (Houston) and Jerry LeVias (SMU). Others attending are Gene Stallings (Texas A&M), Bill Little (Texas), Frank Windegger (TCU), Spike Dykes (Texas Tech), and Bobby May (Rice).

ESPN’s extensive slate of midweek college games (all airtimes listed are Eastern) for 2008 includes: Kansas State at Louisville on Wed., Sept. 17, ESPN2, 8 p.m.; Louisiana Tech at Boise State on Wed., Oct. 1, ESPN, 8 p.m.; Ohio at Temple on Tuesday, Oct. 21, ESPN2, 8 p.m.; Buffalo at Ohio on Tues., Oct. 28, ESPNU, 7 p.m.; Houston at Marshall on Oct. 28, ESPN2, 8 p.m.; Miami (Ohio) at Buffalo on Tues., Nov. 4, ESPN2, 7:30 p.m.; Northern Illinois at Ball State on Wed., Nov. 5, ESPN2 or ESPNU, 8 p.m.; Toledo at Akron on Nov. 5, ESPN2 or ESPNU, 8 p.m.; Ball State at Miami (Ohio) on Tues., Nov. 11, ESPN2; Central Michigan at Northern Illinois on Wed., Nov. 12, ESPN2 or ESPN360.com, 8 p.m.; Temple at Kent State on Nov. 12, ESPN2 or ESPN360.com, 8 p.m.; Ball State at Central Michigan on Wed., Nov. 19, 7 p.m., ESPN2; Navy at Northern Illinois on Tues., Nov. 25, 7 p.m., ESPN2.

ESPN’s Yankee Stadium Moments vignettes last week included Notre Dame’s 12-6 win over Army in the Bronx on Nov. 10, 1928, when College Football Hall of Fame head coach Knute Rockne invoked the “Win one for the Gipper” speech at halftime in memory of Fighting Irish College Hall of Famer George Gipp.

Charlie Palmer, an All-Ivy League offensive tackle at Yale (1974-75), died March 17… Ben Carnevale, 92, former commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Conference, died last week in Williamsburg, Va… Herb Rich, 79, a three-sport star at Vanderbilt and a two-way standout for the 12th-ranked Commodores in 1948, died last Friday in Nashville… Heath Benedict, 24, one of Newberry’s top all-time linemen and a two-time winner of the South Atlantic Conference Jacobs Blocking Trophy, died last Wednesday in Jacksonville, N.C… Marie L. Weisberg Jaffe, 86, whose father Alex F. Weisberg is credited with giving Texas the Longhorns’ nickname, died last week… James Pipkin, 96, who played football at Oklahoma, died in Dallas on Mar. 24.

Key NFF Dates

May 1: Announcement of 2008 College Football Hall of Fame Class – New York, N.Y.

July 18-19: College Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival – South Bend, Ind.

July 23-27: NFF Play It Smart National Conference – Arlington, Texas

Dec. 9: NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria – New York, N.Y.

Jan. 5, 2009: National Hall of Fame Salute at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl – Glendale, Ariz.

Jan. 9, 2009: Presentation of MacArthur Trophy to BCS national champion – Miami, Fla.

2009 BCS Schedule

Jan. 1: Rose Bowl presented by Citi – Pasadena, Calif., ABC

Jan. 1: FedEx Orange Bowl – Miami, Fla., Fox

Jan. 2: Allstate Sugar Bowl – New Orleans, Fox

Jan. 5: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl – Glendale, Ariz., Fox

Jan. 8: FedEx BCS National Championship Game – Miami, Fox

Missouri was in the national-title picture last season until losing in the Big 12 Championship Game. The Tigers return 14 starters, including star QB Chase Daniel. Most of the attention this spring should focus on finding a starting tailback and rebuilding the offensive line. Here’s a look at Mizzou as the Tigers prepare to open spring drills.

POSITIONS OF STRENGTH

Daniel is one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. He was a Heisman finalist in 2007 who has thrown for more than 7,800 yards and 61 touchdown passes in the past two seasons. Maclin is one of the nation’s premier big-play threats. But the Tigers also return two other top-notch wide receivers in Saunders and Danario Alexander, who combined for 78 receptions a year ago. The Tigers ranked 25th in the nation against the run last season and return all three starting linebackers, including Weatherspoon – an All-Big 12 pick.
HELP IS NEEDED

Two-time 1,000-yard rusher Tony Temple has gone to the NFL, leaving the tailback spot to either Jimmy Jackson or Derrick Washington. Last season, the two combined for 515 yards. Even though Missouri will boast one of the country’s most explosive offenses, the Tigers will punt at times. Jake Harry is the only scholarship punter on campus, so he figures to get the job.
KEEP AN EYE ON

TB Derrick Washington: A former four-star prospect, Washington played sparingly in a reserve role last season. But he could make a big move for the starting job this spring.

LB Luke Lambert: He was so productive in a reserve role as a true freshman (registering 32 tackles) that he will push to get into the starting lineup this season.

CB Trey Hobson: Hobson, a redshirt freshman with good speed, reportedly owns a 43-inch vertical jump. He will challenge Castine Bridges, who made couple of starts in 2007, for a starting job.
HIS TIME IS NOW

Junior WR Jared Perry had a solid freshman year with 37 catches in 2006, but he had just 13 receptions last season. Receiver is a solid position and the signing class included some good prospects, so Perry needs to excel this spring or risk getting lost in the shuffle.
THE BUZZ

By bolstering positions of need – running back, punter and the offensive line, where replacements for Adam Spieker and Tyler Luellen must be found – Missouri can be optimistic about challenging for a national championship this fall.
Olin Buchanan is the senior college football writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at olin@rivals.com.