COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NATION : Dallas Assistant Shows Sooner Interest

University of Oklahoma regents will meet today to appoint a search committee to find a replacement for Howard Schnellenberger, who unexpectedly resigned Monday after only one season as football coach at the school.

“We’ll try to do better,” G.T. Blankenship, chairman of the regents, said Tuesday. “Our desire is to make a decision--hopefully, the right decision--as quickly as possible.”

One candidate could be John Blake, a former Oklahoma player and assistant who now coaches the defensive line for the Dallas Cowboys. Former Oklahoma and current Cowboy Coach Barry Switzer recommended Blake last year, and Blake says he still wants the job.

“The program needs to get back to national prominence,” Blake told the Tulsa World. “I want people to truly realize what the University of Oklahoma stands for--a place where players like to go play, where they enjoy winning, where people have excitement and you see sellouts.

The Sooners, who have won six national championships, haven’t won or shared a Big Eight Conference title since 1988, the year before they went on NCAA probation.

Schnellenberger promised a rapid return to prominence. He belittled the previous regime under Gary Gibbs and said this Sooner team would inspire books and movies.

Instead, the Sooners failed to beat a ranked team, lost 12-0 to lowly Oklahoma State and had their worst Big Eight record (2-5) in 30 years.

“He raised expectations far beyond reality,” Blankenship said. “He did that for good reason, the reason being he wanted to give the team some self-confidence and he wanted to fill the stadium. He just went a little bit too far.

“We’re a long way from competing for the national championship,” he said. “All we want to do now is be competitive.”

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Southern Methodist quarterback Derek Canine has dropped out of school after admitting he submitted a term paper written by his brother, the Dallas Morning News reported.

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Offensive lineman Jeremy Hogue of USC and defensive linemen Matt Keneley of USC and George Kase of UCLA were named to the GTE Academic All-American team. To be eligible for the team, a player must maintain a grade-point average of at least 3.20.