Associated Press
The college football notebook …
OXFORD, Ohio ó For the first time in its history, Ball State is a perfect 10.
Nate Davis threw for a touchdown and ran for another in a quick-strike offense, and the 14th-ranked Cardinals stayed unbeaten by wearing down the Miami RedHawks for a 31-16 victory Tuesday night.
Ball State improved to 10-0 for the first time, with six of the wins in the Mid-American Conference. The Cardinals matched their school record for victories ó they went 10-1 in 1978. Their only perfect season came in 1949, when they won all eight games.
Miami (2-8, 1-5) hasn’t beaten a ranked team since Nov. 4, 2003, when Ben Roethlisberger led the RedHawks to an upset of Bowling Green.
CLEMSON
NORMAN, Okla.ó The same day a picture was published online showing Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips visiting the state, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said Tuesday night he had not been contacted by anyone about a head coaching position.
But Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables skipped an interview session.
“As God as my witness, I haven’t heard from a person and I don’t have an agent, so there ain’t nobody been contacting my people because my people is me,” Wilson said after the Sooners’ practice. “I’m doing my gig and doing it hard.”
The rumors began swirling even before the picture of Phillips, a former Oklahoma State athletic director, was posted on SoonerScoop.com, a site affiliated with Rivals.com. Clemson bought out Tommy Bowden’s contract earlier this year and replaced him on an interim basis with Dabo Swinney.
No. 5 Oklahoma is off this week before facing No. 2 Texas Tech on Nov. 22.
“I’d like to say there’s some truth. I’d love to say there’s some truth,” Wilson said. “But I also just say, ‘Hey we’re trying to beat Tech,’ and that is God’s honest truth.”
TENNESSEE
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.ó Tennessee linebacker Ellix Wilson says the slumping Vols are playing for pride.
“We don’t want to be remembered as the class that was the worst in Tennessee history,” he said Tuesday. “We want to win these last two games for us, our coach, our family and for the state of Tennessee.”
Tennessee (3-6 and out of bowl contention) has this Saturday off, then plays Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
Despite the disappointing season, lameduck coach Phillip Fulmer said the team has not lost its determination.
“This team … has been one of those special groups of guys that has that characteristic about them,” he said. “They never changed their attitude.”
MARYLAND
COLLEGE PARK, Md. ó The success of Maryland’s football season hinges entirely on the results of the next three games.
Three wins, and the Terrapins will be playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game for the first time. Three losses, and Maryland (6-3, 3-2) might not even qualify for a bowl game.
In the wacky ACC, anything is possible. So it’s not a stretch to believe Maryland could beat North Carolina, Florida State and Boston College.
Or, the Terps could lose ’em all.
SOUTHERN CAL
LOS ANGELES ó It’s 13 months later, and Southern California defensive end Kyle Moore still feels the pain.
Somehow, 41-point underdog Stanford rallied to beat then-No. 2 USC 24-23 last season, snapping the Trojans’ 35-game winning streak at the Los Angeles Coliseum and ultimately knocking them out of the BCS championship game.
The teams meet Saturday at Stanford, and the Cardinal (5-5, 4-3 Pac-10) has another chance to spoil USC’s hopes for a national title. The sixth-ranked Trojans (8-1, 6-1) are favored by 23 points this time despite Stanford’s 4-0 record at home.
“It’s been discussed,” Moore said regarding last year’s shocker.