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Show a DAILY HERALD Friday, August 29, 2008 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Unga named to Doak Walker nominee list BYU sophomore running back Haney Unga joined 42 - . (out), Tressei said You have to think about the long hauL of the nation's top college , running back as a candidate for the 2008 Doak Walker Award. "I really am speechless, Unga said. To even be compared and be a candidate for the same award that Luke Staley won is amazing. This is an honor I've dreamed about and worked towards, but never thought could happen. It's an honor and I'm very happy. .. . Unga returns for his sophomore season after receiving freshman ADAmerica honors in 2007. The 2007 Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year set the league freshman rushing record with 1,227 yards, averaging 94.4 yards rushing per game. He fed the Cougars with 13 touchdowns and became the first ever freshman running back in BYU history to run for over 1,000 yards in a season. Harvey certainly deserves this honor, based on his performance last season and what we expect from him this year," BYU coach Irence Mendanhal : His replacement Saturday 41-1- would be Jemurie Hines. Coleman's absence adds to . a shortage of players in the -secondary. Starting corner- back Donald Washington and backup safety Jamario O'Neal are serving twogame suspensions for breaking unspecified team rules. Eugene Clifford, a backup safety, left the team . over the summer after being disciplined last year. Another defensive back, sophomore Janies Scott, was not one of the 105 players invited to preseason camp, again for an unspecified reason. . . tim of dubious Bears history, becoming the sixth erf the last seven Baylor coaches to lose his first game. Briles had built a strug' gling Houston program into USA a Conference champion. His Baylor debut seemed to generate more of a wait and-see attitude than much erf a buzz. Only about 30,000 came to 50,000ieat Floyd Casey Stadium to watph it and many started leaving when Wake Forest took a 34-- 6 lead late in the third quarter. , The solid win should solidify. the earl season expectations for Wake Forest, which has. clawed into the top ranks of the Atlantic Coast Conference under coach Jim Grobe. The Demon Deacons forced five turnovers, turning three into touchdowns, Cornerback Alphonso Smith got ids 15th career interception. Skinner completed 12 of his first 13 passes to stake Wake' Forest to a 17-- lead early in the second quarter. The Demon Deacons seemed to chew up just enough yards on every play to keep drives going. If they needed seven yards on third down, they got eight. If they needed one yard on fourth, they got four. Briles, try ing to find any kind of edge he could, had kept his starting quarterback a sebattle in cret after a three-watraining camp. Miami transfer Kirby Freeman won the start ; but was ineffective. Smith's interception set up Wake Forest's serand touchdown and Freeman was pulled for freshman Robert Griffin. Griffin, a better runner than passer at this point, put some life intp the Bears by dancing and ducking along thesideline to set up a touchdown run by Jacoby Jones. The lift wouldn't last. ' ' Ben Barks missed the extra point mid Wake Forest, aided by a big penalty on a late hit on Skinner, drove to a field goal by Sam.Swank that .. . . . 0 . junior-colleg- - . . . y . : third-leadin- : 42-ya- rd over Josh Dubow THE ASSOCIATED PRES? STANFORD, Calif. -T- . oby Gerhart ran for a career-hig- h 147 yards and two touchdowns on 19 catties in his first game back from a knee injury and Stanford took advantage of two bizarre fumbles in the south end zone to beat Oregon State 3628 in the season opener Thursday night. The first fumble gave the Cardinal the lead for good on safety late in the third quarter, The second came with just 47 seconds remaining, when Darren Catchings tried to stretch the bail over the goal line before Taylor Skaufel knocked it loose and the ball rolled out of the end zone for atouchback. Gerhart made a strong return from the injury that . farced him to miss all but one game a year ago. With Gerhart on the sidelines, the Cardinal often struggled to run the ball, especially in a 23--6 loss at Oregon State when, they were held to negative 8 yards on the ground. But a healthy backfield made aU the difference, Gerhart showed the same form he had in his me game last year when he ran for 140 yards against San Jose State. With the power to run through tackles and the speed to get to the outside, Gerhart ran for two touchdowns in the first half and converted a couple of thinfand-long- s to sustain : . drives in the second half. That helped the Cardinal win tins rare conference game on college football's open-- ; ing weekend. The only other one on the schedule among teams in the BCS conferences is also in the Pac-1when Washington visits Oregon on Saturday, ... Quarterback Lyle Moevao and the Beavers effectively attacked Stanfords defense on the perimeter for much of the game with short passes and ' , end arounds. But it was on one of those plays that the momentum in the game changed late in the third quarter. On a second-Ond-1- 6 from the Oregon State 9, Moevao . attempted to throw a swing pass to Ryan McCants against a blitz. Moevao was on the 2 when he threw the ball and it landed on the 1 before rolling out of the side of the end zone. The official immediately signaled the play was a lateral and ruled it a safety, giving Stanford a 22-- , ' h' rx I Iowa x v1 tj, SL 44, South Dakota SL At Ames, Iowa, Austen threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score in his first career start, and Iowa State returned five interceptions for 202 yards in a a school-recor- d rout of South Dakota State. . Freshmen Sedrick Johnson and Darius Darks each caught touchdown passes for Iowa State ), which forced the undersized Jackrabbits into six turnovers. The Cyclones picked up their most lopsided coach win under second-yea- r GeneChizik.' 17: V I . Ar-na- (1-0- W I : 9 M Iowa State, which led 2(H) at halftone, put the gome away late in the third quarter. Amaud threw his first career touchdown pass, a lkyarder to Darks, to make it 27-- Three plays later, Derec SchmidguD took an inter- ception 37 yards to push Iowa State's lead to 3M with 2:14 left in the third quarter. South Dakota State tacked . s .. . . . . : . . ' : . . 22-for- . ' ! 0 said Richt this week of Moreno's much- discussed trip. Everywhere you go,, somebody wants . It's not enbugh to sim--pl-y a picture, somebody wants an autograph, ATHENS, Ga. note that Knowshon Moreno had the somebody wants something from you," second-moRicht said Even when it comes from rushing yards for a Georgia freshman last season, trailing only Her-schfriends, it's hard to know who your Walker's 1980 debut. friends are sometimes because everybody That's a strong bragging point for wants that association. Not everybody, but a lot of people do. That's something '. Moreno, but his big 2007 season merits comparisons not just to. Walker's fresh- they've got to deal with that's probably a little different than what they thought. man year. The quarterback is always a focal point, Only two Georgia tailbacks have rushed for more yards than Morenos 1,334 last but at Georgia, the tailback is often the season. biggerstar, Morenos freshman debut was bet-- . , Walker, who left with the three best season rushing totals in Georgia history,. ter than any rushing total from Rodney is still an icon. Walkers college career Hampton, Musa Smith, Willie MbClen- - . ended five years before Moreno was don, Tim Worley or Terrell Davis, better than Thomas Brown, Lars Tate, Verron born, but he remains the measuring stick far Georgia tailbacks. Haynes, Frank Sinkwich, Charley Trippi or Kevin McLee. Walker was No. 34. Moreno is No. 24. No Georgia back has matched Walkers And Moreno rushed for all those yards , and 14 touchdowns while sharing time remarkable mix of size and speed but with Brown, who started most of the seaMoreno has good speed good size and son before being drafted by the Atlanta a slick, spinning style that produced a Falcons. . strong average of 5.3 yards per carry. JOHN ANDSAMpciated Pres Now it's Moreno's year. Georgia's tail-Morenos streak of five straight 100- back timeshare is no more. yard games last season included 188 yards Georgia sophmore Knowshon Moreno runs and three touchdowns in a win over FloriMoreno is the No. 1 threat and undisput- drills during practice. Monday Aug. 4, ed No. 1 running back for No-- Georgia. da and 101 yards with two touchdowns in 2008, in Athens, Ga. ' If he continues momentum from his big a win over Auburn He set a personal high freshman season, he could soot be listed with 196 yards and three touchdowns, inEven when Moreno was redshirted in near the top of Heisman Trophy watch run. against Troy. cluding an d lists. Walker and Moreno talked during the 2006, Georgia players soon began spreadMoreno begins his quest to build on his ing stories of the running backs spinning offseason. Moreno said Walker didn't skills in practice. .. runs and big 2007 season when Georgia opens its pass on any advice about football. Moreno began the 2007 season as a season against Georgia Southern on SatWe just talked about things other than football and got to know each other, backup, but he soon had Georgia fans at urday. Sanford Stadium swaying to his favorite Moreno said. It was pretty sweet. , One year ago, Moreno was just another unproven new kid competing for playing Soulja Boy beat. Anytime you're with Herschel, it's retime behind Brown and Kregg Lumpkin. Moreno says he may have a new signa- ally cool to be around him. He's a good Now he's a rising star who has appeared ture song this season. Coach Mark Richt guy and a good person to be around. I on the covers of several national magajust wants to see the sophomore show the was pretty excited. zines this summer. . Morenos backups are freshmen Caleb same signature moves on the field. It must be strange for a kid from But this season, defenses will be looking King and Richard SamueL Each were big for Moreno. ford, NJ., to see himself at newsstands. recruits, but Moreno is expected to reI just smile," he said. I'm just excited." ceive most of the carries. Everybody knows about Knowshon Does he have a favorite cover? I'm not going to approach it any difnow, Richt said. Moreno spent most of the summer in ferent," Moreno said. I'm going to do the They're all pretty sweet, he said. same things I did last year, just try and Athens, but he returned to his New JerThey're all cod. The Moot-1Moreno left sey home for about a week. Moreno is so get better each and every week and work New Jersey as the state's scoring closely watched that his trip home caused on the small things to get us better as a a stir among Georgia fans. team. leader, and he led Middletown South to three straight state championships. "It was just for peace of mind, really, Added Moreno: 1 think it will be fun. - . el . . . . . .... . 80-yar- . big-pla- y . . Getting ready for a missiQp? y-- .' MissionaryMall.org I 220 E. University Pkwy., Orem Monday: 10 am-- 7 pm Tucsday-Saturd- ay: 10 am-- 9 pm t . ! 4 V 1, 207-poun- d e I ) .. . . rTTTTTg . McWILUAM Associated Press on a pair of meaningkss fourth-quarte- r Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner (11) throws a touchdown touchdowns; a TD run by Kyle Minett i pass as hegets protection from right tackle Jeff Griffin (64) touchdown run during the first half of a game against Baylor on Thursday in ' and a d Waco, Texas. by JaRon Harris,: Ryan Berry was passing for 170 yards and five made it 20--6 at halftime. things up under center for next interceptions for South Dalast kota State, in its first year as a to chance keep weeks Southeastern Confer-- , Baylors it close came at the start of FCS program and ence opener at Vanderbilt. Chris Smelley did come in the third when Wake Forest facing its first major college fumbled on the First play. But and play very welL Well have opponent since 1984.' it didn't go nearly as well as a muffed handoff between towsatch the tape, analyze it to see what in the world happened the Jackrabbits hoped. Griffin and Jay Finley killed the Baylor drive after only one to Tomnqr, Spurrier said. .. first down. I Georgia Tech 41, Jacksonville Spurrier really had no Another bad exchange beState 14: At Atlanta, Paul Johnchoice, pot after the pertween thosetwogave Wake formances of Beecher and son's option offense was a hit Forest the ball on the Baylor for Georgia Tech, and Ryan Smelley. 11 and Skinner connected with ju- Beecher, a fourth-yea- r ; perrilloux couldn't keep, pace Brinkman on an pass ..nior, completed passes for Jacksonville State. Jonathan Dwyer and quarfor 106 yards and those four to make it 27-- Skinner had aD the time he needed in the awful picks. He came out late terback Josh Nesbitt each ran. in the third quarter, the Gamefor two touchdowns, Morgan pocket and checked through cocks citing a head injury. Burnett intercepted two first-hal- f several options before finding Brinkman dragging across the ; Smelley, a sophomore who passes by Perrilloux and Georgia middle of the end zone. started six games last season, Tech beat Jacksonville State. looked smooth and confident for J25 Griffin was Perrilloux was in line to start as he connected on fourth-quarte- r for LSU this season before beyards and ran fora touchdown. touchdowns of 20 ing dismissed by the Tigers for ' yards to Dion LeCorn and J3 disciplinary reasons. Looking for a place to play immediate-ly- , I South Carolina 34, North Caro- yards to Jared Cook, lina St 0: At Columbia, S.G., J went out there and gave it he landed at the FCS school Steve Spurrier just can't avoid everything I hod, Smelley said. and immediately became the Id like to play ndxLwrek. It's (darter. quarterback controversies. the thing I've been worklhg for. South Carolina's coach had He was passing intended since April for junior WeD see how it goes. for 136 yards; including two Mike Davis and Taylor Rank touchdown passes to Maurice Tommy Beecher to lead the' Gamecocks. But after Beecher added rushing touchdown to Dupree; Perrilloux led the threw four interceptions in his grow Spurrier's opening-wee- k Gamecocks with 18 carries for ' first start and backup Chris 67 yards. victory streak to 16 in a row. r led The three The second shutout fourthquar-teSmelley Wolfpack, scoring pass touchdown drives in South ' 37-- by Maryland to end last : from Perrilloux to Dupree, covCarolina's win over North Car- season, were held scoreless in ering 16 yards, came with 37. olina State, Spurrier's opened consecutive games for thefirst seconds left. DONNA . d y ' st . again on the first play of the fourth quarter when Anthony Kimble took a dumpoff from Tavita Pritchard and ran it in TD that put the for a Cardinal up by nine. Pritchard, who won a three-ma- n race for the start ing quarterback job, completed passes far 91 yards and the touchdown in the turnover-fre- e performance. , - . ; : ing free kick and scored Let us help you out! ; . 20 lead. ensu- - A - five-straig- defeats, the longest stretch of Spurrier's stellar career, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS : Stanford took the s-- .X J Charles Odum 0, - sf , . . . '' 1 : . . Carolina pushed the Gamecocks to 6-- and had him cocky about bigger things ahead Instead, South Carolina collapsed with v. . . . f . 21-1- -- . . 3V Skinner, whose 72 perceiX completion percentage led the nation last season, was coolly efficient against the Bears, gofor 220 yards, add- ing ing a 43yard TD strike to Ben Wooster in third quarter. He also earned his 19th career victory, a school record for a quarterback. , Baylor, trying to shake off 12 years of losing, hired coach Art Briles away from Houston to replace Guy Morriss. But Briles became just another vic- I Oregon QB Costa out for season with knee injury: At Eugene, Ore., Oregon quar- terback Nate Costa will be out for the season after surgeons repairing a ton meniscus in his left knee also found a torn anterior cruciate ligament. The sophomore injured the knee in a noncontact drill in the week before the Wednesday surgery.which the team had hoped would allow him to sail Four other MWC players play part of the season. Costa also missed last sea-- . join Unga on the list, includ-- . TCLTs son with a knee injury. New Joseph Turner, ing ' Justin Ropor will start Sat- -' Mexicos Rodney Ferguson, UNLVs Frank Summers and urday night for Oregon in its DamR Mack of Utah. opener against Washington at Semifinalists for the award Autzen Stadium. will be selected on Nov. 10, i and the Doak Walker Award I Pressley carted off field with National Selection Committee knee injury: At Tallahassee. : will cast votes to determine Fla.; Florida State running back Tavares Pressley was the recipient on Dec 1. The National Selection Committee carted off the f ield Thursday after injuring his left knee durconsists of former NFL All-Pr-o and college ing practice, A team official said Press- - i' running backs, media mem-ber- s e transfer and selected special repley, a resentatives. brought in to challenge starter Antone Smith for playing time, I Buckeye saftay wM Htely miss wiU be reexamined today to determine the severity of the season opener At Columbus, Ohio, Ohio State's starting injury,' Florida State coach Bobby strong safety, Kurt Coleman, will likely miss the season lowdsn said he did not know whether Pressley will miss opener against Youngstown .Skate because of an ankle in-- ' " any significant time. The knee ipjury is the latest' jury suffered In practice this week. setback for Pressley. After Coach Jfm Tressei disclosed transferring from El Camino the injury Thursday. Coleman, (Calif.) Community College, a junior from Dayton, was the academic issues kept him sideg tack- - lined for more than a week Buckeyes' ler a year ago. at the start of Florida State's ' WeD probably hold him preseason camp-. - WACO; Texas Riley Skinner tossed three touchdown passes, two to Chip Brinkman, and No. 23 Wake Forest played up to its first preseason ranking in school history with a 3 wm over Baylor m Thursday night. NOTEBOOK THE ASSOCIATED RRESS time since 1956. ' . For Spurrier, it was also the first taste of victory since last October when a 5 win at North THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |