Dawkins and Staubach to be Honored During Army-Navy Game

2007 NFF Gold Medal co-recipients Pete Dawkins (Army) and Roger Staubach (Navy) will be honored during an On-Campus Salute at the 108th Army-Navy tussle this Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The 12:00 p.m. ET game will be televised on CBS.

Dawkins, the 1958 Heisman Trophy winner and a 1975 College Football Hall of Famer, is the only cadet in West Point history to serve as Brigade Commander, class president, captain of the football team and a “star man” in the top five percent of his class academically. He then attended Infantry School and Ranger School before being posted to duty in Vietnam. He received two Bronze Stars for Valor. He now serves as vice chairman of Citigroup Private Bank.

A 1963 Heisman Trophy winner and 1981 College Football Hall of Famer, Staubach was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1964 but did not start playing until 1969 due to military commitments. As a 27-year-old Vietnam Vet, Staubach would go on to lead Dallas to two Super Bowl victories, claiming MVP honors in the 1972 victory. For over 30 years, he has been the chairman and CEO of The Staubach Company, a Dallas-based real estate strategy and service firm with 60 offices throughout North America.

There are nine commissioned ships with Army or Navy affiliations docked in the Baltimore area for Saturday’s entanglement between the academies.

Dawkins will appear tonight on Bloomberg TV's "Night Talk" with Mike Schneider, which airs in the U.S. and internationally at 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on weeknights. The interview will also be simulcast on Bloomberg Radio at 10 p.m. Mike Schneider is a former anchor on Weekend Today and Good Morning America.

During the taped interview, Dawkins talks about his experiences at West Point and playing for legendary West Point Coach and NFF Founder Earl Red Blaik. Early next month, Dawkins and Staubach are schedule to appear together on The Charlie Rose Show.

BCS News

The seventh BCS Standings of 2007, released nationally by The National Football Foundation, was announced on Sunday. Missouri became the third team in four weeks to gain top slot in the BCS standings after Ohio State (first four weeks) and LSU (weeks five and six) held the No. 1 place for the first six standings. The Tigers make their initial appearance atop the BCS standings and are No. 1 nationally for the first time in BCS history. West Virginia moved into the No. 2 position, while Ohio State, Georgia and Kansas made up the rest of the top five. Auburn (No. 24) re-entered the standings this week, and Connecticut (then-No. 20) dropped out of the rankings.

Bowls and Title Games

Through games of Nov. 24, there are 71 bowl-eligible teams for the 64 positions in 32 FBS postseason contests. Sixteen other squads were one victory away from achieving the necessary six wins in a 12-game regular season to advance to bowl berths though games of Nov. 28. The final BCS standings will be released on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007.

The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl has begun an “1882 Brand for Fans” promotion to commemorate College Football Hall of Famer Walter Camp’s standardization of college football rules in 1882… Memphis accepted a bid to the 2007 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl… Southern Miss is headed to the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham… Houston will play in the Texas Bowl at Reliant Stadium… Illinois head coach Ron Zook will coach in the 63rd annual Hula Bowl in Honolulu on Jan. 12, 2008.

The Marathon MAC Championship pairings were the first to be decided last week in NCAA FBS as defending champion Central Michigan (West) takes on Miami, Ohio (East) Saturday. Other title games include ACC (Jacksonville) – Boston College vs. Virginia Tech; Big 12 (San Antonio) – Missouri vs. Oklahoma; Conference USA – Tulsa at UCF; SEC (Atlanta) – Tennessee vs. LSU. In addition, Pioneer League champ Dayton hosts Albany (NEC winner) in the second annual Gridiron Classic between the conference titlists. The Southwestern Athletic Conference title game will be on Dec. 15 at Birmingham’s Legion Field between Grambling and Jackson State.

Two-Minute Drill

LSU is just the fourth team to lose twice in one season as a No. 1 team in the AP poll – both in triple overtime to SEC foes Kentucky and Arkansas, respectively… Cincinnati posted its first nine-win season since 1953 after downing Syracuse last week… Delaware crushed its previous home attendance record (16,930) with 19,765 on hand for last week’s NCAA FBS playoff clash with Delaware State. The game marked the first football meeting ever between the intrastate rivals and third-largest turnout for a FCS pre-championship encounter… Jacksonville State has contracted former Troy director of athletics Johnny Williams to look into the feasibility of moving to the NCAA FBS from the FCS… Virginia Tech’s marching band displayed a “missing man” formation in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in New York to honor a band member who died in last April’s campus killings… Oklahoma’s band also played at the parade. The appearance highlighted the state of Oklahoma’s centennial year… The Mobile Press-Register has picked Notre Dame’s 24-23 win over Alabama in the Dec. 31, 1973, Sugar Bowl as the top game nationally in the last 75 years involving a SEC team in conjunction with the conference’s 75th anniversary grid season… Cornell’s Student Assembly has agreed to subsidize Big Red Passes for football and other sports with student activity fees for the 2008-10 academic years… Arkansas will merge its men’s and women’s athletics departments after 30-plus years as separate university entities… Former Washington State WR William Pellum has released a book “Catching Dreams” about his ability to overcome small size and personal obstacles to play for the Cougars in 1987 and ’88 and to graduate…1991-94 UCLA wideout J.J. Stokes was honorary team captain last week vs. Oregon… The Alabama football family has rallied around 1989-91 RB Siran Stacy, who lost his wife and four children in an automobile accident… Forbes magazine and Forbes.com recently evaluated the five most valuable football programs nationally, and they are Notre Dame, $101 million; Texas, $92 million; Georgia, $90 million; Michigan, $85 million; and Florida, $84 million.

Delaware, Massachusetts, Appalachian State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Eastern Washington, Wofford and Richmond made it through to the FCS quarterfinals on Dec. 1. California (Pa.), Grand Valley State (Mich.), Northwest Missouri State, North Alabama, Shepherd (W.V.), Chadron State (Neb.), Valdosta State (Ga.), and Central Washington zoomed into the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. Mount Union (Ohio), Wesley (Del.), Central (Iowa), Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas), St. John Fisher (N.Y.), Wabash (Ohio), Bethel (Minn.), and Wisconsin-Whitewater made it into the NCAA Division III quarters.

Notre Dame will construct three new practice fields with a donation of $2.5 million from 1953 alumnus Rees LaBar adjacent to the Guglielmino Athletics Complex… The University of Michigan sent a letter to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, outlining a plan that would increase the number of wheelchair-accessible seats in Michigan Stadium to nearly 600.

Monte Coleman was tabbed as new head coach at Arkansas-Pine Bluff… North Carolina head coach Butch Davis received a one-year contract extension… Interim Indiana head football coach Bill Lynch signed an agreement to remain head coach through July 1, 2012… Texas A&M named Mike Sherman as the new Aggies coach.

Pat Summerall will call the action at the 72nd AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic on FOX. He will be joined by NFL color analyst Brian Baldinger… FSN’s “Operation Field Rescue” series debuted last week with heartening stories of aging or dilapidated youth football fields rescued by installation of new AstroTurf surfaces.

Wake Forest center Steve Justice has been awarded the ACC’s Jacobs Trophy… Kansas’ Anthony Collins, LSU’s Glenn Dorsey and Michigan’s Jake Long were chosen as finalists for the 62nd Outland Trophy… LB James Laurinaitis of Ohio State was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year by both coaches and news media while Illinois RB Rashard Mendenhall was Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. WR Arrelious Benn of UI was Freshman of the Year while Illinois’ Ron Zook was the media pick as the Dave McClain Coach of the Year… Yale TB Mike McLeod was awarded the Asa Bushnell Trophy as Ivy League MVP… After McNeese State’s 11-0 regular-season finish, head coach Matt Viator was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year…

Former Penn State standout quarterback Todd Blackledge will receive the 2007 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. The award recognizes former student-athletes who completed successful collegiate careers in various sports and have excelled in their chosen professions. Blackledge, a college football analyst with ESPN and ABC who led the Nittany Lions to the 1982 national championship, is one of seven former student-athletes selected to receive the award, which will be presented at the 43rd annual NCAA Honors Celebration on Jan.13, 2008, during the annual NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tenn.

The Walter Camp Football Foundation has named three College Football Hall of Famers as recipients of its major awards for 2007: Alumnus of the Year: Ray Guy, Southern Miss; Man of the Year: Dick Butkus, Illinois; and Distinguished American: Coach Frank Broyles, Arkansas and Missouri… The NCAA Honors Committee has selected the late 1st Lt. Emily Perez of Army and the late Marine
Major Doug Zembiec of Navy as recipients of the 2008 NCAA Award of Valor and Yale’s James MacLaren as the 2008 Inspiration Award recipient.

Finalists for awards presented on December 6 at the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show live on ESPN: Maxwell – Oregon’s Dennis Dixon, Arkansas’ Darren McFadden, Florida’s Tim Tebow; Bednarik Trophy – Penn State’s Dan Connor, Ohio State’s James Laurinaitis, LSU’s Glenn Dorsey; Biletnikoff – Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree, Michigan’s Mario Manningham, Kansas State’s Jordy Nelson; Thorpe – Arizona’s Antoine Carson, Boston College’s Jaime Silva, LSU’s Craig Steltz; O’Brien Quarterback Award – Missouri’s Chase Daniel, Dixon, Tebow; Mackey – Missouri’s Martin Rucker, USC’s Fred Davis, Wisconsin’s Travis Beckum; Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker – UTEP’s Jose Martinez, Indiana’s Austin Starr, Arizona State’s Thomas Weber; Ray Guy Punter – Georgia Tech’s Durant Brooks, Cincinnati’s Kevin Huber, Toledo’s Brett Kern; Doak Walker – Michigan’s Mike Hart, McFadden (2006 winner), Rutgers’ Ray Rice.

Each Thursday, The National Football Foundation will post a viewers’ guide for all televised match-ups featuring all Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) schools. Please visit www.footballfoundation.org.
Jim Ringo, Pro Football Hall of Fame and Syracuse standout, died at 75 last Monday…

Former Northern Illinois and Chicago Bears standout DL Jerry Meyers, 53, died in Chicago on Nov. 16. He was in the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame… Former Florida State director of athletics Hansel Tookes, 86, passed away… Pete Burks, 26, an AT&T Cotton Bowl volunteer and media driver for several years, was killed by a road-side bomb in Iraq last week while serving with the Marines. He was a graduate of Texas A&M… Maryville (Tenn.) College assistant coach Cody Bowers, 25, died in a car accident on Nov. 19.

Key NFF Dates

Dec. 4: The NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria

Jan. 2, 2008: National College Football Hall of Fame Salute at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl

Jan. 8, 2008: Presentation of the MacArthur Trophy to BCS National Champion



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