Central Florida Promotes Kruczek to Head Coach

Central Florida interim coach Mike Kruczek, who has led the Golden Knights to a best-ever 7-1 start, was promoted to head coach Thursday.

Under Kruczek this season, Central Florida is third in the nation in total offense at 527.5 yards a game.

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Iowa State extended Coach Dan McCarney’s contract through the 2001 season. He is in the fourth year of a five-year contract he signed in November 1994.

McCarney is 8-33 with the Cyclones (2-6 overall, 0-5 in the Big 12 Conference).

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Idaho State Athletic Director Irv Cross and Coach Tom Walsh, unable to turn around the school’s football fortunes, were fired.

Cross, who spent nine seasons in the NFL before a 23-year career as a pro football commentator, took the job in March 1996. His firing is effective in June. Walsh was 7-20 in his two-plus seasons.

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Micron Electronics Inc., an Idaho-based computer manufacturer, announced it has reached a one-year agreement to sponsor the former Carquest Bowl. The Micron PC Bowl will be played Dec. 29 in Miami between teams from the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast conferences. . . . Jamie Wilson ran for a first-half touchdown and caught two scoring passes in the fourth quarter as visiting East Carolina rallied to beat winless Cincinnati, 24-21. East Carolina (5-4, 2-2 in Conference USA) took advantage of a multitude of Cincinnati mistakes--including a conventional snap from center while the team was in a shotgun formation--to prolong the Bearcats’ worst start since 1937. Cincinnati freshman DeMarco McCleskey rushed for 234 yards.