COLLEGE FOOTBALL REPORT : WEEKDAY UPDATE : AROUND THE NATION : Big Eight Reinstates Fifth-Down Officials

Seven football officials who were suspended for mistakenly giving Colorado a critical fifth down against Missouri have been reinstated.

The seven officials will not work together as a crew for the remainder of the season, John McClintock, supervisor of Big Eight officials, said. He also said it is standard policy not to announce in advance which games officials are working.

The crew was suspended after the Oct. 6 Missouri-Colorado game in Columbia, Mo. Colorado was mistakenly given a fifth down on the final play and scored the go-ahead touchdown in a 33-31 victory.

A Purdue spokesman says the published report that football Coach Fred Akers will be fired at the end of this season unless there’s a major turnaround is “only speculation.”

And the coach said it was news to him.

The Indianapolis Star, quoting unidentified sources inside and outside of the Purdue athletic department, also reported today that if Akers goes, Athletic Director George King, who is 62, may be asked to take early retirement.

Purdue is 1-5 this season, 0-3 in the Big Ten, and has scored only nine points in its last three games. Akers’ record is 11-27-1 in four years at Purdue after 10 years as head coach at Texas (86-31-2) and two at Wyoming (10-13-0).