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Show SPORTS SUN WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2003 attack finally gains national attention Big MAC by Ray Parrillo Knight Ridder will meet for the have-not- s second time in November , ly gross. Bowls. schools will get share about $6 million, unless they can get into the major bowl games - which is to unlikely. Do the math. The difference in revenue is astounding. Enough so that the non-BCschools have accused the BCS of having an unlawful monopoly. But on the playing field, there is growing evidence that the gap between the two sides is not so great. And to prove the point at the next meeting, all the repre- sentatives of the non-BC- universities have to do is use the past weekend as illustration On perhaps the most glorious Saturday ever for the have-nots- , three teams from the Midoverlooked American Conference knocked off nationally ranked teams. Marshall defeated No. 6 Kansas State, Toledo 27-2- knocked off No. stunned 9 Pittsburgh, Illinois Alabama, Northern 35-3- No. 21 19-1- Meanwhile, Bowling Green, which opened the season by beating Big Ten Conference contender Purdue, scared the daylights out of defending national champion Ohio State before losing, 24-1- I The Conference had success over the weekend pulling upsets on a few top 25 teams. Indeed, the most fascinating story line of the season's first month has been the palace revolt of college football's peasants. Earlier this month, Nevada-LaVegas and Utah of the Mountain West knocked off the Big Ten's Wisconsin and s the Pacific Ten's California. Louisville and Cincinnati of Conference USA defeated Syracuse and West Virginia of the Big East. Louisiana Tech of the Western Athletic Conference beat Michigan State. The n Conference's Miami of Ohio routed the Ten's Big Northwestern. Tulane, w'hose president, Scott S. Cowen, is leading the charge against the BCS, beat Mississippi State. There is greater parity in the college game because reductions in scholarships have created a larger talent pool for the have-notToday's athletes would prefer to play at Toledo rather than sit on the bench at Ohio State. there's a plethora of bright coaches running the Also, have-nots- . a weekend that was supposed to belong to the Southeastern Conference, let's give the MAC its props. Marshall: Shocked Kansas State fans in Manhattan watched the Wildcats' home nonconference winning streak end as Marshall ran through vaunted defense for 210 yards. The Thundering Herd made two stands and forced four turnovers So, on Udy noted. (2-2- ) goal-lin- e to play. was watching one of the games from the sidelines (in 2002) when I decided I wantI - was disappointed and mad. Playing football again seemed doubtful. I Mike Udy DSC running back ed to play again. I just missed (football) so much,' said Udy. Udy. Udy's knee was in bad shape over. The guys on the team were nice and encouraging about the whole thing It wasnt until a few games into the 2002 football season that Udy rekindled his desire Everyone was just Three weeks after the incident, Udy had knee surgery. Following his knee operations, the doctor told him he could play again only if he trained hard and went to rehab. The doctors words of encouragement didnt help at the time; Udy's season was The had were a bruised knee and a broken toe in high school, quiet as Udy looked like he was in major pain. It hurt really bad, it definitely was not fun. (The trainers) took me off on the golf cart. Theres no way I could have walked on it, remembers after the play - a torn ACL and meniscus. He was on crutches for several weeks. just wanted to walk and run as soon as possible. only other injuries Id ground, knees bent back, and a big lineman landed on "As he him," said Madsen. fell on Udy, there was a loud pop. I remember it was real- The 63 BCS universities will share about $90 million that they will get from the four BCS games - the Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and Rose non-BC- 2003. hit the hole and then got The play before that, coach yelled to not tackle the offensive players. The very next play Udy ran up the middle and was tackled on the power conferences that comprise the Bowl Championship Series. The two-a-day- s. The fateful play is still vivid for Rebel quarterback Adam Madsen. The or 54 universities from non-BCconferences, again will come with hats in hands, hoping to get a larger share of the revenue that is controlled by the have-nots- Udy recalls, We were team practicing with about a day I or two left of was called to run a 30 trap. I My leg got twisted behind me. I then fell backward awkwardly on my (knee), then someone landed on me. College football's haves and continued from PAGE 9 tackled. Newspapers PHILADELPHIA ing a knee, then you dont have one and you start to wonder. I didnt know if Id play again." Udy began rehab, unsure if he would play football in UDY Udy spent countless hours in rehab in 2002 to gear up for his 2003 return to the field. Udy did a great job rehab-bing,- Udy proved his rehab was in successful Saturday Scottsdale when he ripped off a touchdown run with about ten minutes left in the game in the Rebels d "Nobody can ever take this away from me - the No. 6 team in the nation," said Marshall quarterback Graham Gochneaur, who tossed two touchdown pass- was pretty disappointed and mad. At the time, ever football playing again seemed pretty doubtful," said Udy. "Youre used to ... hav I 43-2- win. es. Toledo: Lance Moore made a catch for the wanning TD in the final minute of the Rockets' win over Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh native Bruce Gradkowski, the quarterback for Toledo shredded the Panthers' defense for 461 yards and three TDs. spectacular MEN'S BASKETBALL TRYOUTS Tryouts for the DLxie State College Men's Basketball Team Friday Sept. 26 6 p.m in the Burns Arena (3-1- ), "I'm so pumped about this team that words can't describe how I feel right now," Gradkowski said. Must be a full time student Must have proof of Insurance Must sign up prior to trying out Contact Head Coach Jeff Kidder " said Croshaw. "A lot of people tear their ACLs, but it depends on the person if they can come back. Udy did a great job. 652-778- 1 |