National Champions

In the 2007 NCAA FCS championship contest, Appalachian State topped Delaware for the Mountaineers’ third consecutive crown. Valdosta State scored with 22 seconds left to play to edge Northwest Missouri State in last Saturday’s NCAA Division II championship, and Wisconsin-Whitewater stopped Mount Union’s 37-game winning streak with a victory in the NCAA Division III championship. Carroll (Mont.) edged defending champ Sioux Falls (S.D.) for the NAIA Championship.

NFF News

2007 Gold Medal Co-Recipients Pete Dawkins (Army) and Roger Staubach (Navy) joined 2007 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Ahmad Rashad (Oregon) along with NFF Board members Archie Griffin and Jerry Jones on Bloomberg TV's Night Talk with Mike Schneider… Dallas will be the location for the annual Play It Smart Conference on July 23-27, 2008… The Play It Smart November Student-Athletes of the Month have been announced. More information may be found on www.playitsmart.org.

Two-Minute Drill

Bobby Petrino has been selected as head coach at Arkansas… Rich Rodriguez filled the head coaching vacancy at Michigan… Houston has tabbed Kevin Sumlin as its new head coach… David Cutcliffe accepted the head coaching post at Duke… Paul Wulff has been chosen as head coach at Washington State… Larry Fedora is the new football mentor at Southern Miss… Jerry Kill has taken the head coaching job at Northern Illinois… Alcorn State tabbed Ernest Jones as head coach… Steve Fairchild has taken the coaching reins at Colorado State… Daryl Dickey has been named head coach at West Georgia… Miles College (Ala.) named 2007 NFF College Hall of Fame inductee Billy Joe as its new head football coach… Florida State has designated assistant head coach Jimbo Fisher as the successor to 2006 Hall of Fame head coach Bobby Bowden following his retirement… Robert Morris (Pa.) head coach Joe Walton was given a two-year contract extension… Paul Petrino was hired as Arkansas’ offensive coordinator… Tony Franklin has become Auburn’s offensive coordinator… South Carolina defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix has left the Gamecocks for the same position at Ole Miss… Wyoming hired Bob Cole as offensive coordinator… Colorado director of athletics Mike Bohn had his contract extended through 2012… Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart was given a five-year contract extension… Washington vice president Scott Woodward will serve as acting AD.

Jackson State defeated Grambling in the SWAC championship bout at Birmingham’s historic Legion Field last weekend… The Big Ten Conference will extend the conference portion of its 2009 schedule into Thanksgiving weekend… Hawaii and Colorado have agreed to play four games between 2010 and 2015… Iowa State and North Dakota State will play a two-game series in 2009 and 2014… Oregon State will travel to Utah for an Oct. 2, 2008, game recently scheduled… Western Michigan will begin a two-game series with Idaho on Sept. 13, 2008… Missouri signed a home-and-home series agreement with Toledo for 2013 and ‘14… Texas State’s Athletics Strategic Planning Committee has recommended a move from the NCAA FCS to FBS within the next five years… Georgia Southern also is contemplating a move to FBS in the future as well… Campbell will join the Pioneer Football League and begin grid competition in 2008… The Atlantic Coast Conference is moving its football championship tilt from Jacksonville, Fla., to Tampa, Fla., in 2008, ‘09 and to Charlotte, N.C., in 2010, ‘11… The Big 12 Conference is enhancing its partnership with Special Olympics in the league’s seven-state region via facilities and volunteers… Alabama All-SEC QB Joe Namath finished requirements and received his degree in ceremonies in Tuscaloosa last week… Tennessee has joined Syracuse in the rapidly-growing “Touchdowns for Turkeys” assistance for underserved area families during the holiday season.

Hawaii asked for and received 1,000 additional FedEx Suger Bowl tickets and will have its largest postseason crowd ever on the continental U.S. with 15,000-plus fans in New Orleans… Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy and representatives of the Insight Bowl rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange last Wednesday… The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl has reached a sellout for the 22nd time in the last 23 years… Mississippi State doled out a school-bowl-record 30,000 tickets…East Carolina fans have purchased tickets for the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl to donate to military personnel and their families on the island. Texas fans are taking a similar tack by donating tickets to service personnel in the San Diego area for the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl… Bell Helicopter has renewed its corporate sponsorship with the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas… Bowling Green is asking Ohio State fans traveling to New Orleans for the national championship to think about heading to nearby Mobile, Ala. the night before for the GMAC Bowl. The Falcons are also requesting supporters who can’t make it to the game to buy tickets and donate them to underprivileged children in Mobile.

NFF National Scholar-Athlete and Draddy Award finalist Danny Woodhead of Chadron State (Neb.) captured the coveted NCAA Division II’s Harlon Hill Trophy as Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Fellow Draddy finalist Michael Eubanks of Delta State was only the second defensive player ever named as a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy. Woodhead and Eubanks headline the Associated Press Little All-America teams.

Kansas’ Mark Mangino was named Walter Camp Foundation Coach of the Year… Northern Iowa head coach Mark Farley captured the 21st annual NCAA FCS Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award… LSU’s Glenn Dorsey has added the Ronnie Lott Trophy to his growing list of national awards… Navy’s Zerbin Singleton captured the Disney World Spirit Award for courageous acts on and off the gridiron… Georgia Southern’s Jayson Foster captured the Walter Payton Award – NCAA FCS Player of the Year… Montana DE Kroy Biermann was named the 13th winner of the Buck Buchanan Award… UCF’s Kevin Smith has become the school’s first consensus All-America selection (five or more selected agencies)… The American Heart Association and Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Committee have designated the finalists for the 2007 Paul Bryant Coach of the Year Award, and they are Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech; Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State; June Jones, Hawaii; Mark Mangino, Kansas; Les Miles, LSU; Gary Pinkel, Missouri; and Ron Zook, Illinois… The FWAA completed online voting among its membership for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year last Friday. The winner will be announced Jan. 4, 2008, in New Orleans.

CSTV begins airing a new program “Going Bowling” about a group of young fans and their travels/travails involved with several 2007-08 bowl contests… The NFL Network has reached a deal with an Oklahoma City television station to broadcast Oklahoma State’s appearance in the Insight Bowl… Lulu.com, an international content provider and internet books/images posting entity, has partnered with Collegiate Images to allow fans to purchase licensed photos online… Stack magazine has rated the Top 15 FBS members nationally in a survey of football success and academic excellence - 1. North Carolina; 2. Texas; 3. Stanford; 4. UCLA; 5. Duke; 6. Florida; 7. Michigan; 8. Southern California; 9. Ohio State; 10. Wisconsin; 11. Virginia; 12. Georgia; 13. Notre Dame; 14. California; 15. Tennessee.

George Morris, 76, Georgia Tech legend and 17-year president of the NFF Atlanta chapter, died last Monday of a heart attack. He was a 1981 College Football Hall of Fame inductee and originator/coordinator of the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Award… Harold Davis, 73, College Football Hall of Fame quarterback from Westminster (Pa.), died last week in Bloomfield Heights, Mich… Mike Courey, Notre Dame QB from 1977-80, died of cancer last week in Sioux City, Iowa… Alan Chapman, 82, former president of the NCAA and Southwest Conference and 60-year faculty representative at Rice, died last week in Houston.

Key NFF Dates

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

Dec. 9, 2008: 51st Annual NFF Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria



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