East Carolina:
Three East Carolina receivers have been suspended for the Pirates'
opening game because they violated undisclosed team policy. Coach Ruffin
McNeill said that senior Dayon Arrington, sophomore Danny Webster and redshirt
freshman Antonio Cannon will miss the Appalachian State game.
McNeill said the team has rules in place and "we expect those to
be followed, unconditionally."
Houston:
FAST FACTS ON THE SERIES
« Series Record Overall Texas
State leads 3-1
« Series Record at Houston Series
tied 1-1
« Series Record at Texas State Texas
State leads 2-0
« First Meeting Texas State 21,
Houston 7 (Nov. 22, 1946; at San Marcos, Texas)
« Last Meeting Houston 68, Texas
State 28 (Sept. 4, 2010; at Houston)
THE GAME
« Houston opens the 2012 season at home against Texas State at 7 p.m.
Saturday in the beginning of a season in which the Cougars will bid farewell to
both Robertson Stadium and Conference USA.
« The game also marks the opening of the first season as Houston's head
coach for Tony Levine, who spent the previous four years in the program, two as
assistant head coach and two as the special teams coordinator and assistant
coach. The 13th coach in program history, Levine was named the head coach of
the Houston program on Dec. 22, 2011, and coached the Cougars to a 30-14 win
over #24/23 Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl on Jan. 1, 2012, Houston's ninth
bowl championship. The game is also the first for five assistant coaches on the
Houston staff.
« A win would make Levine just the third coach in Houston's history to
win his first two career games at the school. Bill Yeoman accomplished the task
in 1962 (7-4) while John Jenkins won his first eight games in 1990 to finish
10-1.
« Houston is coming off a 13-win season, topping the program's previous
single-season record for wins of 11 set in 1979. The 13 wins were the most
nationally in 2011. In the last four years that included Tony Levine on staff,
Houston owns a record of 36-17.
Marshall:
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall University quarterback Rakeem Cato was
feeling OK last year under center during the Thundering Herd's game at West
Virginia University. Well, he was feeling as OK as a true freshman making his
first start could.
Then came the Herd's first third down. And then came the bells. Along
with the AC/DC song. And tens of thousands of screaming Mountaineer fans.
"I never heard that before," Cato said of those tolling
bells. "When it happened, it was really shocking ... like, wow, this place
is really loud."
Memphis:
The University of Memphis football team begins its 17th and final
season as a Conference USA member Saturday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
hoping, as a long shot, to do what it hasn't in the previous 16: take the
initial step toward its first C-USA title.
After five losing seasons in the past six years — and a 5-31 mark since
2009 — it's unlikely the Tigers will challenge for the East Division title.
It's also a stretch they'll be able to snap a string of four straight losing
seasons.
Rice:
Rice tight end Luke Willson is one of 312 seniors and top NFL draft
prospects from 114 different schools who have been named The Senior Bowl's
first ever "Watch List" which was released on Thursday.
The top 100 seniors in the country will be invited to participate in
the 2013 Senior Bowl, set for Saturday, January 26th in Mobile's Ladd-Peebles
Stadium. Appearing on the Watch List is not a requirement for a player to earn
an invitation to the Senior Bowl. Willson is one of 10 Conference USA players
who were named to the initial list.
SMU:
Big name hires, renovations, construction and the coming move to the
Big East are obvious signs that the SMU athletic department is making
improvements — but the statistics are showing it too.
Football season ticket sales are at their highest level since 1985,
which is as far back as the records go.
“We don’t have records back to the Doak Walker era [late 1940s], but
this is by far the most [tickets] we’ve sold since the death penalty [1986],”
Tim Leonard, the senior associate athletic director for External Affairs, said.
Southern Miss:
HATTIESBURG — Justin Sims has always been one of the fastest players on
the Southern Miss football roster.
How fast?
In 2010, the redshirt junior won the Conference USA 100-meter dash with
a blazing time of 10.28 seconds.
Tulane:
Birmingham, Ala. -- Tulane’s stay in Birmingham has been extended
because of Hurricane Isaac. And Coach Curtis Johnson is not exactly sure when
the Green Wave will head back to New Orleans.
The Tulane football team would like to return to New Orleans after
Thursday's practice in Birmingham.
Tulane practiced for more than hours Wednesday at Samford University
and plans to practice there again Thursday morning.
The original plan was to return to New Orleans after practice Thursday,
but that’s up in the air with Isaac stalled in southeastern Louisiana.
Tulsa:
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Tulsa coach Bill Blankenship really couldn't blame
Willie Carter for being impatient.
Carter was ready for his chance to get on the field and show what he
could do. He was just stuck behind a talented player with the skills that wound
up landing him on an NFL roster.
UAB:
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team worked out in shells for
roughly two hours Wednesday on the campus practicefields as the Blazers
continued their preparations for Saturday’s 2012 season opener vs. Troy at
Legion Field.
The Blazers and Trojans will kick off at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be televised on Fox College
Sports with Mike Gleason (pxp), Ben Leber (analyst) and Lesley McCaslin
(sidelines).
UCF:
UCF receivers coach Sean Beckton's cell phone buzzes daily with
inquiries from old friends.
They are former players who toiled in obscurity, practicing in dirt
lots and helping UCF build a football program with few resources in 1979. Now
they look on with immense pride, hoping they can celebrate the Knights' success
in the national spotlight.
UTEP:
Mike Price Weekly Press Conference August 27th.
(On the Oklahoma game)
“It’s a chance to showcase our football team, our university, El Paso
and the football fans of El Paso. UTEP is so important to this community. Our
football team has been in five events [over the last month] where we have
intermixed with the community, and our players really feel that support. It
makes it mean a little bit more to them.”
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