COLLEGE FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT

GAMBLING RUMORS AT BOSTON COLLEGE

Boston College has launched an investigation into rumors of gambling surrounding its football team, although none have been substantiated, Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk said Saturday night.

He said the university had contacted the Middlesex district attorney’s office for guidance.

The school’s announcement came two days after the football team was upset, 20-13, by Pittsburgh, an 11-point underdog.

Coach Dan Henning said he learned of the rumors last weekend. The team continued to practice for Thursday night’s loss at Pittsburgh, which dropped the Eagles to 4-5.

“I felt that there was nothing to the rumors,” Henning said, “so we went on with the ballgame.”

Gladchuk and Henning spoke at a 20-minute, late-night news conference that capped a volatile day at the school.

A late afternoon practice that had been scheduled was not held, and players reportedly shouted at each other after coaches left a team meeting.

No players have been suspended or removed from the team. Boston College plans to contact the NCAA about its in-house investigation.

“There’s no evidence, nothing that substantiates a rumor of gambling,” Gladchuk said. “Therefore, at this particular time we are going to continue the investigation, both internally and to ask the district attorney’s office to guide us through the process.”

LONGHORN FANS HAVE HIS NUMBER

Leading into this week’s game against Baylor, Texas was 3-4 and looking for someone to blame for why a preseason top-10 team was in the dumps. It would be too easy to point to Coach John Mackovic or an underachieving offense, so Longhorn fans are claiming it is a curse, which they call, “The Curse of No. 24.”

The number 24 was involved in all four of the Longhorn losses this season. They lost to Notre Dame, 27-24. They lost to Colorado, 28-24. When they lost to archrival Oklahoma, the game was tied, 24-24, heading to overtime.

The worst loss of the season was at Virginia, 37-13--by 24 points.

Texas fans have thus theorized the curse is connected to Ron Weaver, who played on for the Longhorns last season as Ron McKelvey, using the assumed name to hide the fact he was 30 years old and had no eligibility.

McKelvey’s uniform number before he was caught? 24.

THEIR FIGHT SONG: SOUNDS OF SILENCE

Division III Troy State had the week off, although the sports information staff was still hard at work. This week’s media release profiles the matchup between Troy State vs. Open.

The opponent is described as “leaderless” although it is “undefeated and untied throughout their long and illustrious history.” The stadium is listed as “somewhere in the crowded back-street bars of America” and as for game time: “Time is an illusion of philosophers and fools.”

TREE FORMATION?

Clemson receiver Kenya Crooks on the Tigers’ off-the-field problems this season:

“If you didn’t know any better you’d think we were thugs. You wouldn’t think that we go to school, you wouldn’t think we study. [People think] we’re thugs and that we sit in trees all day waiting to jump somebody.”

24-HOUR SURVEILLANCE

Georgia quarterback Mike Bobo, whose rough season included 14 interceptions before the Bulldogs’ 47-7 loss to Florida Saturday, was quoted as saying recently: “I’m tired of life.”

This prompted a number of responses from concerned Bulldog fans, and it got so bad that Bobo had to issue a clarification.

“All I meant was it has been a real frustrating this season, “ he said. “I’m not going to commit suicide or anything.”

HE’S FRYING MAD

After a 31-21 victory over Illinois probably clinched a bowl berth for Iowa, Hawkeye Coach Hayden Fry said: “I’m just glad the dad-gum game is over with. I wasn’t happy about the game. Too many penalties, too many other things.”

Fry seemed to focus on the Hawkeyes three turnovers and 10 penalties for 85 yards. He grumbled that the officials penalized Iowa “every time we breathed hard.”

AND THEY PROBABLY DON’T DRINK GUINNESS

Notre Dame’s trip to Dublin to play Navy included a few notable remarks:

--Russell Harris, a high-school teacher in Wicklow south of Dublin, on Notre Dame’s mascot: “It’s a bit patronizing having that leprechaun running around in front of us all day.”

--Clare Connaughton from Dublin, gesturing to Notre Dame’s six “guards” in long Tartan kilts: “The band there seems to have got a bit mixed up between Scotland and Ireland. They don’t seem to know their kilts from their Celts.”

--Gareth Ringrose, of Leixlip outside Dublin, to 21-year-old Ryan Gee from Spokane, Wash., who dresses up as the Notre Dame leprechaun: “How do you keep running around like that? Are you on speed or what?”

--An Irish sports broadcaster after airing highlights of the game: “Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? ‘Now, here’s a roundup of things we understand [then turning to the day’s rugby and snooker results.]”

SOMEWHERE LEE CORSO IS SMILING

Wisconsin and Coach Barry Alvarez were in danger of blowing a late lead for the third time in four games until free safety Kevin Huntley intercepted Purdue quarterback Rick Trefzger’s desperation pass in the end zone with five seconds left.

When Wisconsin got the ball at the 20, the Camp Randall crowd of 78,330 burst into a chant of “Take A Knee!” as quarterback Mike Samuel knelt to run out the clock and preserve a 33-25 victory.

Said Alvarez, who was chastised two weeks ago for not running down the clock when Wisconsin fumbled with 49 seconds left and Northwestern scored two plays later for a stunning 33-30 victory, “I didn’t think it was very damn funny.”

No, Barry, but everyone else does.

SORRY ABOUT THAT

One week after we toot Columbia’s horn for a 6-0 start, the Lions lose, 14-11, to a Princeton team that was 1-5. Not only did the loss end the Lions unbeaten streak but coupled with Dartmouth’s 6-3 victory at Harvard, Columbia dropped into a tie for second in the Ivy League with Brown.

For you history buffs, it was Princeton that lost to Columbia in 1988, ending what was then the nation’s longest losing streak at 44 games. The record losing streak is still in the hands of Prairie View, who upped it to 66, by losing to Mississippi Valley State, 20-0. Mississippi Valley State was the last team Prairie View defeated, in 1989.

A SWEET 200TH FOR SWEENEY

Jim Sweeney won his 200th game when Fresno State defeated Boise State, 41-7, Saturday night at Fresno, making him only the 16th major college coach to achieve that milestone.

Sweeney says he cannot remember his first victory but certainly knows what was his single biggest highlight, and it was not the bowl victory over USC in 1992 nor Fresno State’s undefeated 1985 team. It was the 1977 Bulldog team, called the “stadium builders” because their 9-2 record got the community so excited people pledged $7 million to build a new stadium.

“They were overachievers,” Sweeney said. “All of them graduated. They were awesome guys.”

Sweeney, 67, has similar sentiments toward many athletes he’s coached over the years. The list includes: Dennis Erickson, who coaches the Seattle Seahawks; Jan Stenerud, who became a top NFL field goal kicker and is Sweeney’s godson; Joe Tiller, Sweeney’s protege who now coaches undefeated and 18th-ranked Wyoming, all played under Sweeney at Montana State in the 1960s.

He also coached NFL wide receivers Henry Ellard and Stephone Paige on the same team, and his son, Kevin Sweeney, at Fresno State.

“Most of all I remember the players,” Sweeney said.

--Compiled by GEORGE DOHRMANN