Associated Press
The college football notebook …
LINCOLN, Neb. ó Rod Hansen was at Memorial Stadium when Bob Devaney coached his first football game at Nebraska in 1962.
He was there to watch Heisman Trophy winners Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier and Eric Crouch, and he saw Tom Osborne finish his coaching career with three national titles in four years in the 1990s.
The 71-year-old Hansen watched Nebraska’s winning tradition crumble under Bill Callahan, and he’s been there to see Bo Pelini try to rebuild it.
In all kinds of weather, Hansen has been at the venerable stadium for every game of an NCAA-record sellout streak that will hit 300 when the Cornhuskers play Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday.
“When I had the opportunity to buy season tickets, I jumped on it,” said Hansen, who secured his treasured ducats in 1965 and makes the drive to Lincoln from his home in Omaha.
SHARING THE CHIN
RALEIGH ó Whenever teams from Raleigh and Pittsburgh get together, the question always pops up: Who will Bill Cowher root for?
The former Super Bowl-winning Steelers coach and native of the Pittsburgh area played linebacker at North Carolina State and has a house in Raleigh. He made waves four months ago when he showed up at Carolina Hurricanes practices and sounded a pre-game siren when they were facing the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL’s Eastern Conference final.
No word yet on whether Cowher will show up at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday when his alma mater plays host to the Pitt Panthers.
DEACON SUSPENDED
WINSTON-SALEM ó Wake Forest has suspended safety Junior Petit-Jean for the rest of the season.
School officials said Wednesday they suspended the sophomore for violating undisclosed team rules.
Petit-Jean had four tackles through three games for the Demon Deacons (2-1), who open ACC play this weekend at Boston College.
COCKTAIL PARTY
ATHENS, Ga.ó Forget Atlanta or going back to campus. The annual Georgia-Florida football game is staying in Jacksonville.
The Georgia athletic board endorsed a new six-year contract Wednesday that would keep the game formerly known as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” in the northeast Florida city through 2016.
The current deal ends after the 2010 game, and there was speculation Georgia might want to play at Sanford Stadium in alternating years instead of 84,000-seat Jacksonville Municipal Stadium on an annual basis.
NOTRE DAME
SOUTH BEND, Ind. ó Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen will have two nagging problems to deal with against Purdue on Saturday: a painful right big toe and a missing receiver who was averaging 27.5 yards a catch and more than a touchdown a game.
Clausen hopes a shoe insert will help him deal with his turf toe, and that his backup receivers will help offset the loss of Michael Floyd to a broken left collarbone.
HALL OF FAME
SOUTH BEND, Ind. ó The College Football Hall of Fame, which never managed to attract the number of visitors its organizers hoped for after moving it to South Bend in 1995, is being moved to Atlanta to bring it more exposure.