Associated Press
The college football notebook …
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Rich Rodriguez has his job for at least another day.
Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon and Rodriguez met Tuesday afternoon and will get together again today to discuss the embattled football coach’s future, The Associated Press has learned.
A person familiar with the situation told the AP that Brandon has not decided whether to fire Rodriguez, who is 15-22 after three seasons running college football’s winningest program.
PENN STATE
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State quarterback Rob Bolden’s father says coach Joe Paterno has denied his son’s request to transfer.
Robert Bolden Sr. said he wasn’t expecting Paterno to turn down the quarterback in a meeting Tuesday. It’s unclear what Bolden will do next, with spring semester classes starting Monday.
Bolden was the first true freshman to open the season at quarterback in Paterno’s 45-year head-coaching tenure with the Nittany Lions (7-6). He started eight games, but suffered a concussion vs. Minnesota. He then lost the job two weeks later to sophomore Matt McGloin after getting pulled vs. Northwestern.
Bolden Sr. said his son was only interested in playing at the FBS level.
BCS PRACTICE
PHOENIX — The lineman-sized guy with the long shorts and “O” on his hat gave the first indication of the frenetic pace behind the gate.
“You better hurry — you’ve got 10 minutes,” he said. “The clock is ticking.”
He wasn’t kidding.
With Wolfmother’s “Joker And The Thief” blaring from massive speakers near midfield, Oregon’s players opened Tuesday’s practice by forming lines and clapping to the beat. About the time the song hit the first chorus, the second-ranked Ducks sprinted to every corner of the field, breaking into positional groups for a series of quick-hitting drills, bodies and balls flying all over the north Phoenix high school field.
Even in practice, a month after their last game, no less, these Ducks can fly.
“It’s been unbelievable,” Oregon defensive tackle Brandon Bair said. “We haven’t missed a beat.”
At a Scottsdale community college nearly 20 miles away, Auburn (13-0) was going through its first practice in the desert before Monday’s BCS national title game at University of Phoenix Stadium.
The soundtrack was different, the intensity the same