Auburn Tries Sixth Center

Auburn will start Colin Sears at center tonight against fifth-ranked Florida in Gainesville, Fla. Sears will be Auburn’s sixth center this season.

The sophomore guard was forced into action when freshman Ben Nowland suffered a broken bone in his foot during practice this week.

“We’ve been working with Colin Sears for two weeks as the backup there. He’ll be ready to play,” Bowden said. “These are the things we can’t control. What we can control is seeing how good we can do with what we got.”

Freshman walk-on William Clifton will back Sears up at center.

The Tigers’ troubles began when T.J. Dunigan, last year’s starter, quit during the preseason. Cole Cubelic then suffered a broken foot a few weeks later and Mike Pucillo--a guard who had moved to center when Dunigan quit--suffered a broken foot.

That forced Bowden to start senior Karl Lavine when the season began.

Lavine was coming off shoulder surgery and Bowden said he played through Auburn’s first four games “with one arm.”

Then Lavine suffered a sprained ankle in the Tigers’ loss to Tennessee and Nowland got the job. Nowland started last week against Mississippi State, but will sit out against Florida.

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As rivalries go, it’s only in its 25th year.

But for Hawaii fans, the matchup against Brigham Young was the one they looked forward to every year. Beat the Cougars and it’s a successful season.

With the demise of the Western Athletic Conference, the tradition comes to an end tonight at Honolulu as BYU makes its final scheduled appearance in a series that dates to 1930.

“I just hope, at some point, we can play again,” BYU Coach LaVell Edwards said. “It was a great rivalry. They always had a full house and the fans really got into it. That’s what made the Hawaii games special.”

BYU leads the series, 17-7.

But Hawaii had two dominating seasons when it overwhelmed the Cougars--56-14 in 1989 and 59-28 in ’90.

The latter came hours after BYU quarterback Ty Detmer was named winner of the Heisman Trophy.

This season, BYU is 3-3 while the Rainbows are winless in five games, extending their school-record losing streak to 11 games.

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Miami cornerback Leonard Myers may sit out next Saturday’s game against West Virginia because of a knee injury, the school said.

Myers, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday, tore cartilage in his right knee during last week’s 26-14 loss to Florida State and could be sidelined up to two weeks.

The Hurricanes (3-2) have a bye this week before traveling to West Virginia to face the No. 15-ranked Mountaineers.

In four games this season, Myers has broken up a Big East-high 12 passes. The 6-foot sophomore also has 14 tackles and one interception.

If unable to play, Myers would be replaced by freshman Michael Rumph, who has seven tackles and one interception in five games.

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A funeral is scheduled Tuesday for Frank Hershey, who played for Penn State in the 1962 Gator Bowl and later was an assistant coach at Norwich, Franklin & Marshall, Millersville State, Harvard and Dartmouth.

Hershey, 56, died Thursday at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., after a yearlong struggle against cancer.

He began coaching at Norwich in 1965, and also was assistant athletic director and business manager of the athletic department.

He was at Franklin & Marshall in 1978-79, at Millersville State from 1980-81 and then went to Dartmouth from 1982-86.

He was at Harvard from 1987 through 1993 before returning to Dartmouth. He took a leave of absence in August.