Maxwell is current starter, but Mich. St. QB battle now a ‘four-horse race’

By Ben KerchevalAug 19, 2013, 2:59 PM EDT
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Andrew Maxwell may have taken just about every snap for Michigan State last year, but the quarterback job for the Spartans in 2013 is apparently far more open than anyone outside (or, potentially, inside) East Lansing could have imagined.

Mark Dantonio said Monday that the QB competition is now a “four-horse” race after freshman Damion Terry emerged from the weekend’s scrimmage with easily the best performance of the group. Terry completed 10-of-14 passes for 240 yards — he ran for another 40 yards as well — and three touchdowns in live situations (meaning he can be hit).

“I don’t care whether he’s a senior, junior, sophomore, redshirt freshman or freshman. That’s the best thing to do,” Dantonio said. “Damion has to prove consistency in performance. The other guys have to move the ball with more consistency, and they’ve got to break away from their own three-man race. Everyone is going to get an opportunity today, and it’s going to be important how they perform.”

For the record, Maxwell was 9-of-19 for 77 yards; Connor Cook was 4-of-9 for 67 yards, a touchdown and a pick;  and Tyler O’Connor was 11-of-16 for 102 yards, two scores and an interceptions.

Dantonio said Maxwell is the starter as of right now, but it would seem his grip on the job isn’t completely secure. The Spartans open the season against Western Michigan in just 11 days. And if four quarterbacks are legitimately competing for playing time, we’re hoping Dantonio opts to experiment with the four-quarterback offense against the Broncos (Sparty yes!).

ESPN apologized to Washington over cupcake stunt during broadcast

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By Bryan FischerOct 18, 2017, 5:30 PM EDT
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It seems that budding feud between ESPN, Washington and Huskies head coach Chris Petersen is starting to die down just a bit.

ESPN has apologized to the school for a stunt on a broadcast two weeks ago during the Washington-Cal game, in which commentators took the team’s weak non-conference schedule to task and used literal cupcakes to represent the Huskies’ opponents during the first few weeks of the season.

“I felt more like that was such a disrespectful move for the people we play,” athletic director Jen Cohen told the Seattle Times. “For those that do this, we do this because we love the kids. These are somebody’s sons, somebody’s brothers. They’re 18- to 22-year-old kids, and so I was more offended, not for us, as I was for our opponents.

“It was a class act (to apologize), and he made the right call.”

According to the Times, Cohen received a call from Peter Derzis, ESPN’s senior vice president of college sports programming and events, offering the apology.

As nice as the mea culpa was from ESPN, Cohen and Petersen were probably even more elated to hear the news that their October 28 game against UCLA was slated to be televised at 12:30 p.m. PT after an oft-criticized string of night games that made the head coach quite ornery last week. It might not make up for the fact that the team lost to Arizona State on Saturday but there are definitely a few baby steps being taken to repair the relationship between the school and one of the Pac-12’s primary broadcast partners.

Athletic director Tom Jurich officially fired by Louisville board

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By Bryan FischerOct 18, 2017, 5:00 PM EDT
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It’s official: Tom Jurich is out as Louisville’s athletic director.

The Cardinals board of directors voted 10-3 to oust the embattled AD on Wednesday afternoon, completing a pair of sweeping changes in the department following the growing college basketball scandal that has enveloped the school. Once one of the most powerful people in college athletics, Jurich was fighting to remain in his job ever since he was placed on administrative leave after the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York announced details of a wide-ranging investigation.

Vincent Tyra will continue to serve as acting athletic director until a permanent hire is made.

Perhaps the biggest effect on the football program following Jurich’s ouster is on the contract of Cardinals head coach Bobby Petrino. Notably, his buyout is set to be halved if Jurich was ever fired… which means it could be more likely he leaves the school this offseason for another job. Given potential openings such as Tennessee, it’s not out of the question that the halving of the buyout will come into play for some schools if the dominoes fall in the right way to allow somebody to hire Petrino away.

Oh, and for those wondering, yes that is indeed the Papa John of the pizza chain fame who voted to fire Jurich on Wednesday.

Illini lose DB Tony Adams to season-ending shoulder surgery

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By John TaylorOct 18, 2017, 3:22 PM EDT
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Earlier this year, Tony Adams became the first true freshman to start at cornerback for Illinois since Vontae Davis in 2006.  A few weeks later, his season has ended on a much lower note.

Lovie Smith has confirmed that Adams will miss the remainder of 2017 after undergoing surgery on his shoulder.  The defensive back originally suffered the injury in an Oct. 7 loss to Iowa and didn’t play in last weekend’s loss to Rutgers because of it.

This marks the second straight year Adams’ season has ended prematurely as he suffered a torn ACL as a senior in high school.

“Unfortunately, you know he was doing some good things for us,” Smith said according to the Associated Press. “But, you know Tony had a serious knee injury in high school and came back from it so he’ll come back from this.”

Adams was a three-star 2017 signee who was rated as the No. 8 player at any position in the state of Illinois.  In the Sept. 15 loss to South Florida, he recorded his first career interception.

Judge denies Jerry Sandusky’s request for new trial

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By John TaylorOct 18, 2017, 2:02 PM EDT
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Not surprisingly, a sexual predator who preyed on young boys is staying where he belongs.

Wednesday morning, a judge in Pennsylvania denied Jerry Sandusky’s request for a new trial.  As part of his request, the convicted felon and former Penn State assistant coach had argued that grand jury leaks negatively affected his defense as well as claiming he had incompetent counsel in his first trial.

Sandusky’s new attorneys now have 30 days to file an appeal of Jefferson County President Judge John Foradora’s decision.

Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 child-sex-abuse charges in June of 2012 and is currently serving a sentence of at least 30 years.  Given the fact that he was 66-years-old at the time of his sentencing, it’s effectively a life sentence.

Some of the crimes for which Sandusky was convicted occurred in a Penn State football building and led to what most considered a cover-up of the predator’s actions by myriad university officials.  Sandusky’s arrest resulted in the dismissals of legendary head coach Joe Paterno, athletic director Tim Curley and president Graham Spanier.  Both Curley and Spanier served jail time in connection to the scandal, the former for child endangerment and the latter endangering the welfare of children.

The scandal also led to historic sanctions levied on the Nittany Lions football program by the NCAA, the bulk of which were ultimately rolled back.

In June of 2015, it was reported that Penn State had paid a total of $93.3 million to 32 victims of the Paterno right-hand man.  Additionally, financial statements from the university showed an additional $33.2 million in payments related to claims connected to Sandusky’s crimes.