Irvin to Leave Michigan State

Michigan State tailback Sedrick Irvin, the only Spartan to rush for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons, said he is giving up his last year of eligibility to try for the NFL.

Irvin, who rushed for 1,167 yards and 10 touchdowns this season, told the Lansing State Journal that playing professional football fulfills a dream.

“I don’t want people to think I’m leaving for the money,” Irvin said. “I’ve never had money, and me and my mom could’ve waited one more year for the money.”

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Oregon, in Hawaii to play Colorado in the Aloha Bowl on Christmas Day, unveiled its new football uniforms, but the Ducks won’t wear them until their 1999 season opener against Michigan State.

School officials say the traditional colors of emerald green and lemon yellow are not being replaced and neither is Donald Duck, who now appears in the Oregon logo.

The new design features the colors spruce green, mallard green, white and lightning yellow. The new helmet will be mallard green.

The uniforms took two years to develop after university officials approached Nike about a new design incorporating the latest technology and refining the traditional school colors.

The home uniform consists of spruce green pants with a yellow stripe and a smaller green stripe inside it. The jersey has mesh body panels, stretch cordura fabric over the shoulder pads and lycra side panels that cinch the uniform to a player’s body. The jersey incorporates all three of the new colors.

The away uniform is white pants and jerseys, with a wide green stripe down the pants and a smaller yellow stripe within the green stripe.

The shoes will feature a built-in heel lock that Coach Mike Bellotti said will eliminate the need to tape shoes.

The helmet is painted with a special process developed by DuPont called chrome illusion. The mallard green helmet changes colors in the light, the same way a mallard duck’s feathers seem to change color as the bird turns its head.

The helmet also features a new “O” whose inner circle resembles Hayward Field, where the school started playing football 104 years ago. The outer circle of the “O” is an outline of Autzen Stadium, where the team has played since 1967.

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The Volunteers’ No. 1 fan will be on hand to cheer for Tennessee in the game that will determine the national champion.

Vice President Al Gore will attend the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4 when top-ranked Tennessee plays No. 2-ranked Florida State.

Gore, who grew up in Tennessee, represented that state in the House and Senate. He went to college at Vanderbilt in Nashville, and to Harvard.