Jonathan Dwyer had 10 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns in the first half as Georgia Tech trampled Miami, 41-23, on Thursday in an ACC Coastal Division battle.

Quarterback Josh Nesbitt added 93 yards and a touchdown, Roddy Jones had 89 yards and Lucas Cox chipped in with 72 and a score as Georgia Tech (8-3, 5-3) rushed for 472 yards on 56 carries.

The rushing yardage was the most allowed by Miami since 1944.

Michael Johnson intercepted a pass by Robert Marve and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to make it 10-0.

After a field goal by Miami (7-4, 4-3), Dwyer added two touchdowns on runs of 58 and six yards to give Georgia Tech a 24-3 lead at halftime.

The Yellow Jackets kept rolling in the second half, taking the opening kickoff and driving for 4:50 before settling for a 30-yard field goal by Scott Blair.

The Hurricanes, who had a five-game winning streak snapped, cut the gap to 27-10 as Marve hit Dedrick Epps for 18 yards to complete a seven-play, 67-yard march on the ensuing drive.

The Yellow Jackets ended any hopes of a Miami rally on the next drive as 20- and 40-yard runs by Jones on consecutive plays set up a 1-yard run by Nesbitt to make it 34-10.

Cox added to the carnage two minutes later with a 32-yard run that made it 41-10.

Derrick Williams and his fellow seniors committed about four or more years ago to a school that had been reeling from four losing seasons in five years.

They will depart after this season having won at least 39 games since 2005, helping to restore the luster to coach Joe Paterno’s proud program.

Now they want to finish their careers in style - a win Saturday over No. 17 Michigan State (9-2, 6-1 Big Ten) in the regular season finale will send the Nittany Lions (10-1, 6-1) to the Rose Bowl.

“When I came here, I wanted to make a difference with the program,” Williams said. “I definitely think I made a difference with my teammates, I guess putting Penn State back to where we were.”

After sharing a Big Ten championship with Ohio State as freshmen in 2005, Williams’ class has a chance to become the first at Penn State to claim two league titles since the school joined the Big Ten in 1993.

“Time just flew by so fast,” Williams said. “Everyone wants to win out in their last game.”

Williams gets the most attention in the class, having arrived in Happy Valley with the reputation of an all-purpose athlete who could immediately spice up a then-vanilla offense.

He hasn’t quite lived up to his recruiting hype as one of the best high school players in the country, though Williams has still had an enormous impact on offense and as a dangerous return man.

Williams’ commitment led other top recruits to consider Penn State as a possibility once more. His work ethic and determination sets the tone for current teammates.

“When he practices, he carries people with him on the practice field,” Paterno said. “He can just about do anything you want him to do on the football field.”

He and the rest of the seniors have had to endure some ups and downs through their careers.

Williams, fellow receivers Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood, and kicker Kevin Kelly were first-year starters on the 2005 team that won the Orange Bowl. Williams, though missed the last four games of the regular season and the bowl game with a broken arm.

Center A.Q. Shipley has been a fixture on the offensive line since he was a sophomore, anchoring a unit that has steadily improved since his arrival.

Safety Anthony Scirrotto also emerged in 2006 with six interceptions, though his involvement in an off-field fight in 2007 drew unwanted headlines.

The title run this season has erased the stinging memories of the Nittany Lions’ off-field woes. Paterno has given much of the credit on keeping the team focused to his senior leaders, which include captains Williams, Shipley, Scirrotto and defensive end Josh Gaines.

“It’s hard to find words to describe how it feels, running through that tunnel, seeing the stands,” Scirrotto said when asked about his thoughts of playing at Beaver Stadium for the last time. “You realize how much support, how much people take pride in our football team.”

Lately, the scuttlebutt around the Nittany Lions has been about the offense, which has struggled early in games over the last month.

In that span, first-year QB Daryll Clark hasn’t played as well as he did in the first half of the season when Penn State’s spread HD offense marched down the field on opponents with ease.

Clark has admitted his confidence has been shaken at times. His 240 yards passing and two touchdowns last week against Indiana were balanced out by two fumbles and an interception.

Some players have been questioning play-calling among themselves, leading Butler and Shipley to speak recently about the need to eliminate the chatter as a distraction. The concerns had not been directly addressed to the coaching staff.

“I just think guys need to relax and calm down, get back to your old ways, a lot more confidence, a lot more swagger,” Butler said. “During practice, I think we’ll get it.”

As they have for much of their careers, the seniors smoothed things out on their own.

The same thing that happened in last year’s Panthers-Bearcats game. The Pitt-Notre Dame game earlier this month. The Pitt vs. then-No. 2 West Virginia game last season.

LeSean McCoy, college football’s road runner, is going to get the ball. A lot.

McCoy is only a sophomore, but he might be the Panthers’ best big-game rusher since Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett in the 1970s. McCoy doesn’t pile up his yards against the lightweights on the Panthers’ schedule or in games in which they’re leading big.

McCoy is often at his best when the games are the biggest, a quality not all 1,000-yard rushers possess. Especially in road games, where McCoy has gained more than half of his career yardage.

“We don’t want to take the ball out of Shady’s hands,” offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh said.

For good reason, too.

During Pitt’s 39-36, four-overtime win at Notre Dame on Nov. 1, McCoy rushed for 101 yards - from the fourth quarter on, finishing with 169 yards and a touchdown. That performance came during a four-week stretch in which he ran for 613 yards and 10 touchdowns against South Florida, Navy, Rutgers and Notre Dame.

McCoy gained 137 yards as Pitt beat then-No. 23 Cincinnati 24-17 last season. Later in the season, he ran for 148 yards on 38 carries - on the road - as Pitt defeated West Virginia 13-9 in the biggest upset in school history.

McCoy’s ability to get tough yardage in difficult circumstances has allowed Pitt to win its last five road games, beating two Top 10 teams (West Virginia and then-No. 10 South Florida), plus Notre Dame.

Now, No. 20 Pitt (7-2, 3-1 in Big East) will try to beat another ranked team on the road in No. 19 Cincinnati (8-2, 4-1), which is 0-7 against the Panthers.

“Playing good on the road, that’s worked out real well for us,” said McCoy, who has 1,043 yards and 16 touchdowns this season after running for 1,328 yards and 14 TDs as freshman. “This is in the point in the year where we really need it. We have a big game with Cincinnati on the road, so we have to keep our streak going.”

His streak, too. McCoy has rushed for 142 yards or more in each of his last five road games, and has gained 120 yards or more in seven of his nine career games away from Heinz Field.

McCoy has been held below 100 yards only twice on the road and below 86 only once, a 60-yard game at Rutgers last season. He has gained 1,202 of his 2,371 career yards and has nine touchdowns in his nine road games, an average of 133.6 yards.

According to Stats, Inc., the only running backs on Top 25 teams who have gained more road yardage than McCoy the last two seasons are MiQuale Lewis of Ball State (1,287 yards in nine games) and Chris Wells of Ohio State (1,282 yards in nine games).

A big game from McCoy is almost a necessity if Pitt is to win at Cincinnati, which can all but wrap up the Big East title and a BCS bowl bid with a victory. The Bearcats’ only remaining conference game after Saturday is against Syracuse (2-8, 1-5).

“Cincinnati, I’m sure they’re going to do their best to stop the run,” quarterback Bill Stull said. “Louisville put a lot of extra time into doing that and was successful, but that allowed us to mix in a couple of other things with some reverses and trick plays.”

Louisville was so geared up to stop McCoy, limiting him to 39 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries on Nov. 8, that the rest of the offense pretty much did what it wanted. Stull passed for 216 yards and a touchdown and the Pitt defense scored two touchdowns during a 41-7 victory.

Cincinnati’s rushing defense is the third best in the Big East, allowing an average of 112 yards.

“They probably have the toughest defense we’ll face all season,” Stull said. “They have a good secondary, but we believe they’ll try to stop the run first. That’s fine with us.”

A victory opens the door for the Panthers to win the conference if they can beat West Virginia and Connecticut in their final two games.

“Maybe we can be the team to do what we did to West Virginia last year, we can knock everybody else out,” McCoy said. “That’s our mindset. We have three tough games left against three tough teams, so the way we look at it is, `How bad do we want it?’ ”

“The leaders on this team, they want it bad. … So does coach (Dave Wannstedt). Coach, he wants this real bad.”

“I was a freshman and Ernest Shazor knocked me into, probably, the third week of my junior year,” he said, wincing at the thought.

Nicol’s story may provide some insight as Ohio State’s touted freshman quarterback, Terrelle Pryor, prepares for his first game against Michigan. A native of Jeannette, Pa., Pryor isn’t steeped in the traditions and the enmity of the series. Yet.

After the Buckeyes’ 30-20 win last week at Illinois, Pryor said of the Wolverines: “I just think of them as every other team. They’re just another team to me until I get into this rivalry.”

For most players, the ferocity of the hitting and the stifling pressure set this game apart from all others. Almost everyone on both sides talks about the weight of the hopes of former players, the pad-cracking hits and the vitriol of the opposing fans.

“The first time I experienced it, it blew my mind,” said Ohio State kicker Ryan Pretorius, a native of South Africa who grew up 8,700 miles away from the rivalry and didn’t even play in that first game.

Adding kindling to the blaze, Pryor the nation’s No. 1 quarterback recruit last spring, chose Ohio State over Michigan.

“It’s in the past,” said Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez, also participating in the rivalry for the first time. “Once he got signed and he goes to another school, my focus is on the guy that’s playing for us. And you have to do that. I don’t think you can (do) hypotheticals and what-ifs. You have to say this is what reality is, and this is what we do.”

The callow 18-year-old Pryor has had a profound impact on the 10th-ranked Buckeyes (9-2, 6-1 Big Ten). They have won seven of eight games since he took over as the starter. They need to beat Michigan (3-8. 2-5) to clinch a tie for the Big Ten title.

Pryor was not permitted to speak with reporters this week, but head coach Jim Tressel said he has the utmost confidence that his big (6-foot-6, 235 pounds), speedy freshman is ready to be thrown, literally, to the Wolves.

“I’m confident Terrelle can handle it,” he said.

His teammates feel the same way.

“He’s had people talk every week about how he was going to face some new challenge,” wide receiver Brian Robiskie said. “I can remember his first start, his first Big Ten start, his first road game. Every time it was something new and people kept trying to throw stuff at him. He just does such a good job of preparing through the week and tuning everything out, that none of that really matters. He understands, like everyone else, that this is the biggest game on our schedule.”

But few believe you really get a feel for the rivalry until you’ve experienced it.

“Any athlete worth his salt is always confident, but when you’re a freshman, everything is new,” Michigan quarterback Rick Leach said. “You can hear about the rivalry and read about it, but there’s nothing like being in the game.”

Pryor’s signing marked him as a celebrity in this football-mad state even before he had attended a college class.

Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee bemoans the pressure that that puts on a kid - at the same time he readily admitted that he was calling the coaching staff last spring to check on its progress in signing Pryor.

“What we have here is the development of a hero complex in America,” Gee said. “That is the fact that these are 18- or 19-year-olds and all of a sudden they’re put on the front pages of every major American newspaper. Think about the pressure it puts on him. I’ve been very impressed with him, but it also says something about the process.”

Pryor, who leads the Big Ten in pass efficiency, has had good games and bad. He has shown an amazing knack for avoiding a closing pocket and turning negative yards into big gains. But he has also had difficulty throwing the ball with authority more than 10 or 15 yards. At other times, he’s taken sacks instead of throwing the ball away.

He has said that playing college football is “easy.”

“I just think as you’re growing up and playing football, it’s just a game,” he said a week ago. “Football is more simple than everyone thinks. You have four downs to get a first down and every down until fourth down you have to get at least three yards or more. If you do that and you move the chains and don’t turn over the ball you get a victory.”

Michigan’s players are aware that Pryor could have been a teammate instead of an adversary. They have mostly said all the right things about going up against him.

“He’s got awesome athleticism when he gets out of the pocket, so you have to contain him,” linebacker Obi Ezeh said. Then he added, “When he’s back there in the pocket, he’s just another quarterback.”

Ohio State’s players don’t find anything ordinary about Pryor.

“He’s made a ton of plays for us and that’s really the important thing,” Nicol said. “You don’t want to think about him in maize and blue, either.”

Regardless of what colors he’s wearing, he’s in for a wild ride. Some rookies to the game handle it extremely well, others are traumatized by it.

“Going into your first (Michigan-Ohio State) game, you have no idea what to expect,” Leach said. “People can talk to you about it until they’re blue in the face, but you won’t know in your heart and mind what it’s like to be in this game until you get one under your belt.”

They had to rally for a victory against a struggling Alabama team, fell to No. 3 in the polls and were denied a national title shot.

This year it’s the top-ranked Crimson Tide’s ambitions ratcheting up the intensity for the game between the Alabama schools that doesn’t need much help in that regard.

The bitter rivalry hasn’t often been played for high stakes in the past 15 years. It’s only the second time since 1992 that the Iron Bowl could affect the national championship.

Welcome back, Iron Bowl. The national title picture hasn’t been quite the same without you.

Alabama (11-0) doesn’t have to impress the judges - or the poll voters - to stay in the hunt, like that ‘04 Auburn team. The Tigers were tied with Oklahoma for No. 2 behind Southern California and then trailed 6-0 at halftime against a Tide team that wound up 6-6.

Auburn (5-6) will be trying to turn the tables and upset Alabama’s national title hopes. It was motivation enough for the Tide four years ago.

“This year, Auburn’s trying to play the motto of, ‘OK, let’s knock them from the national championship,”‘ said Washington Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell, a star of that Auburn team. “That whole week of practice, you know Alabama was amped up. They forgot about everything else that went on that season and came out and played us like it was the only game, like it was a championship game. That’s how Auburn is treating it.”

The Tide already stands atop the polls and can keep itself in strong position going into the Southeastern Conference championship game against No. 3 Florida on Dec. 6.

The current Alabama players are more accustomed to going into this regular-season finale battling to reach .500 after going 13-13 the past two seasons. Auburn has won the past six meetings, the second-longest streak in rivalry history.

Title talk aside, Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson would like to avoid hearing about another Iron Bowl loss for the next year.

“Every time we play them, it’s big stakes because it’s in-state, our rival,” Wilson said. “Whether we’re 1 in the country or we both haven’t won a game, it’s going to be just as good. You’ve got to live with it all year.

Then again, bragging rights only last 365 days. National titles are forever. The Tide has won six Associated Press championships but the last one came when Wilson & Co. were in elementary school - or, in some cases, diapers.

“It makes the game a little bigger for Alabama,” said Gene Stallings, who coached the Tide to the 1992 national championship.

That only sounds like a gross understatement. This is a state with no major pro sports teams to spread rooting interests, and folks expect you to choose sides when you’re old enough to “really know about football,” Auburn safety Zac Etheridge said.

Stallings is a former Texas A&M coach who lives in Texas, with storied rivalries like Texas-Texas A&M and Texas-Oklahoma

“The Iron Bowl, even though it has not been a great year at Auburn, that’s as big a rivalry as I know of,” he said.

The rivalry is likely drawing more interest in his neck of the woods with Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma all nursing national title hopes.

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville still sniffs at the pollsters snubbing the Tigers after the ‘04 game as a “beauty contest.” Southern California captured the title with a win over Oklahoma.

Campbell is still a little bothered too. He pointed out USC’s 29-24 win over rival UCLA en route to that 2004 national title.

“Playing against a rivalry team, it’s always tough, it’s always different,” Campbell said. “USC barely beat UCLA one year, and they still went to the national championship. We came all the way back from 6-0 and went ahead 21-6 and they get a late touchdown and make it 21-13, and they still don’t put us in the national championship game, it’s crazy.”

Campbell was one of four seniors from that ‘04 Auburn team who wound up being first-round NFL draft picks.

Tide players insist they aren’t spending much time pondering the game’s stakes during the open date.

“It really hasn’t been talked about,” safety Rashad Johnson said. “Everybody knows it without anyone saying anything about it. I think that’s why everybody works so hard when we’re out there at practice. It definitely feels good to be in the position that we’re in to control our own destiny, but we’ve still got to understand that everything we do from here on out matters.”

Though the stakes for Auburn aren’t nearly so high, a win would get the Tigers another year-long all-you-can-brag pass and make the Tigers bowl eligible for the ninth straight season. And torpedoeing the Tides’ title hopes would make it all the sweeter.

“This game is 365 days a year,” former Auburn coach Pat Dye said. “Alabama has had a great season and has obviously got a lot riding on the game. But a win could make Auburn’s season a lot brighter.”

Dye helped the Tigers end their nine-year Iron Bowl losing skid two years after taking over the program in 1981. He endeared himself to Auburn fans the day he took the job.

Asked how long it would take him to beat the Tide, he responded: “Sixty minutes.”

Now, it’s Nick Saban getting his second crack at ending a string of Iron Bowl losses. And Auburn trying to keep it going.

“This is for bragging rights,” Tuberville said. “In their situation, obviously, they’ve got a chance to continue on in the BCS. That’s what they have in front of them.

“If we win, we have an outside chance of getting into a bowl game. When it all comes down to it, this is a rivalry. You hear everybody talk about rivalries across the country, but in terms of intensity none of them touch this one.”

One outlined problems to fix, another was changes to make and one included items to address with the athletic director.

The 45-year-old Rodriguez started organizing his thoughts this way two decades ago at tiny Salem College and continued to do so at Glenville State, Tulane, Clemson and West Virginia.

“This year, there are more notes and cards than I’d like,” Rodriguez said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “I’ve gone through years with one card. Now, I’ve got 10 cards here. That tells you what kind of year we’ve had.

“It’s been as tough as any season I’ve had in coaching.”

Michigan’s year will mercifully end soon, but not until playing Saturday on the road against rival Ohio State.

The Wolverines (3-8, 2-5) have already broken a school record for losses, had their first losing season since the pre-Bo Schembechler era and will be relegated to watching bowl games for the first time since 1974.

It has been an miserable season for the once-proud program, which hit rock bottom last month when it lost to Toledo. Against the 10th-ranked Buckeyes, who are favored to win by a rivalry-high 20 1/2 points, Rodriguez and the Wolverines can either salvage some pride or add a gloomy final chapter.

“I’m disappointed in the season we’ve had, but I’m not deterred or discouraged about the direction we’re headed,” Rodriguez said. “We had more things to get shored up than I originally expected, but none of them are daunting.

“I’m still as excited about the future as I was three months ago.”

Rick Leach, Michigan’s quarterback from three decades ago, is also fired up about how he believes the new-look program will evolve under Rodriguez.

Leach started watching Rodriguez’s high-tempo workouts last spring and has been a regular visitor this fall, standing on the sideline during practices and sitting with Rodriguez during a recent lunch as they swapped hunting stories.

“I loved it when we hired him and I love it more now after spending time with him and getting to know him pretty well,” Leach said. “There have been a ton of players who have been through this program and they all have the right to an opinion about him, but personally, I’m proud he’s our coach.

“It’s painful for a lot of people to see Michigan lose like this, but the wins and losses go on his record and so you can multiple the pain he feels. Nobody has taken more of a brunt for this year than coach, but this wasn’t going to be an easy job for anybody.”

Lloyd Carr, who announced his retirement a year ago, left behind an experienced defense and an NFL-depleted offense.

Rodriguez has tried to install his renown spread, but he didn’t have much to work with at quarterback, receiver or on the offensive line and the unit has outscored only Purdue in the Big Ten.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, whose staff visited Rodriguez in West Virginia a few years ago to learn about his scheme, has no doubt the Wolverines will eventually find a groove on offense.

“Everyone in the country that’s been around coaching would agree that Rich Rodriguez has been one of the most creative and really one of the founders of the spread-style attack,” Tressel said. “You know that he’s building one building block on top of the next.”

Michigan’s defense has been disappointing, giving up 28 points a game to rank 10th in the conference, and woes on special teams have led to some of the setbacks that have stunned a school, program and fan base.

Rodriguez has kept his composure for the most part in public, where his every word is dissected, but he has lost it at times privately.

He ranted and raved at his players, without lashing out at individuals, in particular after losses at Notre Dame and Penn State.

“What made him so mad after those games was that some people weren’t running hard enough to make plays even when the game was on the line,” defensive tackle Terrance Taylor recalled. “The fight wasn’t there within some guys and that obviously bothered him a lot. I was frustrated about it, too.”

Rodriguez, though, is not about to hide from a challenge or critics.

Instead, he’ll just keep picking away at the to-do lists on his index cards to restore Michigan to a national power.

“Some of these problems can be solved quickly,” said Rodriguez, thumbing through the 5-by-8 inch cards. “Some will take years, like having quality depth at every position so that the first, second and third guys are so good you could play them all.

“We’re not there yet, but we’ve got a plan to get there.”

Coach Rich Rodriguez said Wednesday that running back Sam McGuffie is expected to play after attending a funeral, and quarterback Steven Threet has practiced with shoulder injury and is being evaluated as a backup possibility behind Nick Sheridan.

Receiver Zion Babb has been kicked off the team for violating team rules and defensive tackle Jason Kates has chose to leave the team, Rodriguez said. Both played minor roles.

The 10th-ranked Buckeyes are 20 1/2-point favorites, the largest spread in the rivalry, against the Wolverines, who have lost a school-record eight games.

The Razorbacks enter Saturday’s game at Mississippi State with plenty of uncertainty at quarterback. Coach Bobby Petrino has said either Casey Dick or his younger brother Nathan could start.

“We certainly feel confident with either one of them,” Petrino said earlier this week.

Casey Dick, a senior, has been the starter all season, and he’s played well at times in Petrino’s offense. He’s thrown for 2,389 yards, only 240 shy of tying the single-season school record.

Two weekends ago, however, he was sacked six times and threw three interceptions in a 34-21 loss at South Carolina. He also left the game with a concussion. Arkansas had last weekend off, giving him more time to recover, but Petrino hasn’t committed to a starter yet.

Nathan Dick, a redshirt freshman, made his college debut in relief of his brother against South Carolina.

“We want to make sure that Casey’s back healthy, but we did like the way Nathan played when he came in,” Petrino said. “It wasn’t Casey’s best game of the year against South Carolina. He made some mistakes before getting hit in the head. Also, you want to make sure Mississippi State has to prepare for both of them.”

If Nathan Dick starts, his ascent will be similar to his brother’s back in 2005. That year, Casey Dick had his redshirt pulled and was named the starter with four games remaining in the season. Arkansas needed to win them all to become bowl eligible. Instead the Razorbacks went 2-2 and finished 4-7.

This year Arkansas needs to win its last two games to qualify for the postseason.

—

PROMOTING COACHES: With the success No. 3 Florida has had this season, coach Urban Meyer believes both his coordinators could have opportunities to become head coaches next season.

Dan Mullen’s offense leads the conference in scoring (44.1 ppg) and rushing (213.4 ypg) and ranks second in yards (418.6). Charlie Strong’s defense leads the league in scoring (11.3 ppg) and ranks second against the run (102.8 ypg) and in yards (274.9).

“The great thing is you don’t leave Florida to go to another spot,” Meyer said. “You go as a head coach or to the NFL for some ridiculous amount of money. If it’s a chance to better your family, I’m in favor of bettering your family. I also think this is the best job in America. That’s the good thing. The negative is we have a very talented staff and there’s a chance (some could leave). We’ve already had some people sniffing around.”

Meyer declined to reveal if another program has requested interviews with any of his assistants, but there are several openings already and surely more to come.

New Mexico, Syracuse, Tennessee, Utah State and Washington have head coaching vacancies.

“If things happen, then we’ll have the appropriate discussions at that time,” Meyer said.

Meyer also said he always has some potential replacements in mind in case one of assistants takes a position somewhere else.

“I don’t really have a ‘hot list,”‘ he said. “I kind of keep my eyes open.”

–

COMMITTED: It wasn’t really a recruiting victory, but Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom received a commitment last week from a player likely to strengthen next year’s team.

Senior middle linebacker Jamar Chaney has decided to return for one more season after breaking his leg in the season opener against Louisiana Tech and missing the rest of 2008. The coaching staff will now apply for a medical hardship redshirt for him.

“That really strengthens our linebacking corps immediately just having him back,” Croom said. “On paper right now with the guys we’ve got and him coming back, that will definitely be one of our stronger positions.”

The 6-foot-1, 236-pound senior from Fort Pierce, Fla., led the Bulldogs with 89 tackles last season. He’s made 27 starts at Mississippi State. Croom said he’ll likely move Chaney from the middle to outside linebacker, where Croom thinks he’s got the best shot to play in the NFL.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, another senior was lost to injury for the rest of this season, but there will be no redshirt for defensive tackle Jessie Bowman.

Bowman had surgery for a torn quadriceps tendon Sunday after hurting himself late in last weekend’s 32-7 loss to No. 1 Alabama.

—

STAYING?: If it’s late November, it must be time for the rumors about Steve Spurrier leaving South Carolina to start flying.

Almost from the time Spurrier accepted the job in late 2004, speculation began to surface that South Carolina’s head ball coach wouldn’t stick around long.

The latest rumor was floated early this week on the Internet, citing “NFL sources” saying the 63-year-old Spurrier was ready to bolt - partly because of his worst loss ever, 56-6 to Florida last week, and partly because the university wouldn’t agree to let son, Steve Jr., succeed him as coach.

Spurrier debunked both parts on Tuesday night. He said he’s likely to stay with the Gamecocks another four to five seasons. He also said his son, who took on some playing calling duties from his dad this fall, has to make his own way in the profession.

But shooting down scuttlebutt is commonplace for Spurrier.

Two weeks ago, he dismissed talk he’d be a top target for Tennessee’s opening now that Phillip Fulmer is leaving.

This summer and at the end of last season, it was the notion, he was frustrated with South Carolina’s slow progress, which led Spurrier to reaffirm his commitment to the Gamecocks.

In 2006, Spurrier was linked by some to openings at Miami and Alabama. Both times, Spurrier said he was going nowhere but his South Carolina office.

“We are having a pretty good recruiting class if it all comes together the way it appears to be. So let’s give this thing four or five years and see what happens around here,” he said Tuesday night.

Spurrier has four seasons remaining on contract that pays him more than $1.75 million a year. He would also receive a $1 million annuity if remains South Carolina’s coach through Dec. 31, 2011.

Even on game day.

The Florida State safety will be a late arrival to the Seminoles’ crucial game at No. 22 Maryland on Saturday night because earlier in the day he’ll be interviewing in Alabama to become a Rhodes Scholar.

After a month of bad publicity for Florida State football because of player suspensions, and with the school also waiting to hear from the NCAA about penalties for an academic cheating scandal, the positive attention Rolle has brought the Seminoles couldn’t come at a better time.

“In the midst of the troubles that have gone on here at Florida State academically, there are still student-athletes doing the right thing,” Rolle said. “Possibly we can move that perception from being a school that’s just focused on partying and athletics.”

The 22-year-old aspiring neurosurgeon could become the school’s second athlete, and third student, in three years to win a Rhodes Scholarship and the opportunity to study for two years at the University of Oxford in England. NCAA shot put champion Garrett Johnson of Tampa was one of 32 Americans to earn the scholarship three years ago.

It’ll be quite a busy Saturday for Rolle. He’s scheduled to finish his day in Birmingham, Ala., at roughly 6 p.m. (EST) before boarding a private plane to catch up with his teammates in College Park, Md., that starts at 7:45 p.m.

In a muddled Atlantic Coast Conference race, it’s a huge game. Maryland (7-3, 4-2) can win the Atlantic Division by winning its remaining games. The Seminoles (7-3, 4-3) need two victories and some help to take the division title and earn a spot in the conference championship game on Dec. 6 in Tampa.

So being without Rolle, one of Florida State’s best defensive players, is no small thing for coach Bobby Bowden. Still, the 79-year-old coach didn’t hesitate to give Rolle his blessing.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Bowden said. “I know academics comes first.”

Bowden has never coached a Rhodes Scholar during a career spanning six decades.

“I really don’t know of anything higher than to have a player who is a recipient of a Rhodes scholarship,” Bowden said Wednesday.

Whether he wins the scholarship, Rolle, a junior, has also talked about possibly entering the NFL draft early.

He could face a unique choice - the NFL or Oxford.

Bowden said Rolle’s game could use more schooling.

“He definitely needs to make more big plays,” the coach said.

Rolle has started 36 straight games at safety since arriving at Florida State from New Jersey as one of the nation’s most celebrated recruits.

He’s been a dependable tackler, but he has only one interception in his career, and none the past two seasons.

In the class room, however, Rolle is has few weaknesses.

He’s working on a master’s degree in public administration after graduating earlier this year with a degree in exercise science and a 3.75 grade point average.

Rolle arrived at Florida State with quarterback Christian Ponder on the same day in January 2006 to begin class work a semester early. Both graduated in August, with Ponder earning a 3.71 in the university’s business college.

“We were always comparing GPA’s,” Ponder said. “We’ve always been pretty competitive about it.”

Although he’d like a crack at pro football, Rolle’s long-term goal is to earn a medical degree and he’s spent time on stem cell research at Florida State.

He’s dreamed about the Rhodes possibility since Johnson, a friend and mentor to Rolle, was selected just a few months before Rolle arrived on campus.

He wrote a 1,000-word personal statement that he revised “about 17 or 18 times” and provided letters of recommendation from professors at Florida State and people in the community who have known him.

Perhaps no individual has worked much closer than defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews.

When Andrews got a call last week that Rolle had a C-plus on a graduate course, he couldn’t believe what he’d heard.

“I couldn’t wait to approach him on it,” Andrews said. “I don’t think he’s ever had a C.”

But Rolle told the coach not to worry.

“I’ll never make a C in that course,” Rolle told him.

“How many times do you get a guy like?” Andrews asked. “A guy you don’t ever have to discipline.”

Whatever happens, Saturday is a day that Rolle won’t forget.

“Win or lose, it’ll be a great day for him,” said Johnson, who is now back at Florida State where he’s resumed training throwing the shot put. “It’s an exhilarating experience. The culmination of a lot of hard work.”

It made sense. Patterson is a Kansas native, played at Kansas State as a walk-on, got his first coaching job in Manhattan under Jim Dickey in 1982.

It seemed so logical that the only surprise from an Internet report that Patterson had been hired at Kansas State was that it happened so quickly, just two days after Prince was fired on Nov. 5.

The problem was that the report was false - and Patterson didn’t like it.

The Horned Frogs coach immediately denied that he had taken the job and ranted about the false report during his radio show later that day.

Even now, nearly two weeks after the report came out, Patterson is still bothered that he was linked to another job just hours after his team had been knocked out of BCS contention by a loss to Utah.

“I just had 65 guys fight their hearts out for a dream to get to a BCS game and they lost it,” Patterson said this week during the Mountain West coaches teleconference.

“The first thing they did when they woke up after getting home at about 4 in the morning was to find out the guy they fought for had taken another job. It was very disappointing to me that that happened because there were a lot of people that had put a lot of time and effort into this season.”

So does that mean Patterson is out of the running for the K-State job? Not necessarily. It just means he’s not going to talk about it right now.

Neither is Krause.

At the time of Prince’s firing, Kansas State’s athletic director said he hoped to have a coach in place before the end of the season. The Wildcats finish up Saturday against Iowa State, so it doesn’t look like that will happen.

Kansas State sports information director Kenny Lannou says Krause isn’t going to comment until after a coach has been hired.

So if Patterson doesn’t end up being the man, who might?

Oklahoma associate head coach Brent Venables would have to be considered a strong candidate after playing at Kansas State and spending six years there on Bill Snyder’s staff.

Dennis Franchione is also a possibility. The former Texas A&M coach is from Girard, Kan., attended Pittsburg State in the southeast part of the state and has reportedly expressed interest in the job.

The most intriguing candidate might already be on campus.

Snyder has his name on the stadium and hasn’t coached since 2005, but could make the transition to a new coach easier if he were persuaded to come back to the sideline for a year or two.

Whoever ends up in the Little Apple will face some difficult challenges.

The Wildcats have struggled in the difficult Big 12 over the past few seasons, closing last year with a four-game losing streak and entering Saturday’s finale on a five-game skid. The offense has been decent, thanks in part to quarterback Josh Freeman, but the defense has been among the worst in the nation each of the past two seasons.

Manhattan also is a unique setting, a small college town in an isolated area roughly an hour from Topeka, two hours from Kansas City.

“It is not a big-city campus. You have to have a feel of the people,” Kansas State tight end Brett Alstatt said. “I think we have to have somebody that just connects the Kansas life and the blue-collar people around here.”

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INTERESTED BYSTANDER: Texas’ only path to the Big 12 championship game requires Texas Tech to lose to Oklahoma this week, but Longhorns coach Mack Brown says he knows better than to pull for his archrival.

“I remember I pulled really, really hard the time they were playing Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game (in 2003). I sat there and I was all pumped up because we were going to the Fiesta Bowl as soon as they won, and Kansas State beat them 35-7,” Brown said. “I realized that night that me being a fan of either team doesn’t really matter.”

Texas is immediately behind Texas Tech at third in the BCS standings, and Brown noted that the Red Raiders still have another game after facing Oklahoma.

“There’s so many different things that can happen over the next three weeks that I will simply sit back and watch and be a fan of the game,” Brown said.

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PAWELEK’S PICKS: Baylor linebacker Joe Pawelek intercepted a pass in the end zone for the third time this season on Saturday in the Bears’ 41-21 win against Texas A&M.

With his two picks against the Aggies, Pawelek now has six interceptions this season, the most of any linebacker in major college football and the most by a Bears players since Michael McFarland had six in 1991.

All that added up to help Pawelek be named the Big 12 defensive player of the week.

“He’s just smart. He understands, he anticipates and he pays attention. Those are all pretty good qualities to have as a middle linebacker,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “He studies the game.”

Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz was the offensive player of the week after racking up 365 yards of total offense, including two touchdowns rushing and passing, in a 56-28 win against Kansas State. K-State’s Brandon Banks, who had a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown in the same game, was the special teams selection.