Auburn’s Bowden Resigns

Terry Bowden, for five years the most successful coach in Auburn history, resigned Friday in his sixth season as the team struggled with its worst start in 52 years.

Bowden said his resignation was effective immediately. Defensive coordinator Bill Oliver was named interim coach for the rest of the season, beginning with today’s game at home against Louisiana Tech.

“It became so very apparent to me that this was not a dying issue, and that my continued stay at Auburn was going to be a central issue for the remainder of the year,” Bowden told a Montgomery, Ala., television station Friday night. “Every week, that would be the only thing discussed. And our players don’t deserve it.”

He said he told his players his leaving had nothing to do with them.

“They should not walk down Tiger Walk and look in any Auburn fan’s eyes and think they had anything to do with this,” he said.

The sudden departure at midseason is a sharp reversal of fortune for the 42-year-old Bowden, son of Florida State’s highly successful Bobby Bowden and brother of Tulane Coach Tommy Bowden.

Bowden’s Tigers are 1-5 this season, but his first five years were unmatched in Auburn football history. He was 20-0 in his first 20 games--the only coach to start a Division I-A career with 20 consecutive victories.

He led Auburn to the Southeastern Conference championship game last season, and signed a seven-year contract in December.

Bobby Bowden said his son’s move was not a surprise.

“I talked to him [earlier this week] and told him to let us know before anything happened, but I wasn’t able to talk to him [Friday],” he said. “Talking to him, he loved the 5 1/2 years at Auburn. That’s where he wanted to end his career.”

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Washington quarterback Brock Huard, who was sidelined for 2 1/2 games because of a separated left shoulder, will replace Marques Tuiasosopo in the starting lineup today against Oregon State at Husky Stadium.

Although Tuiasosopo helped the Huskies go 2-0 in his first starts of the season, Coach Jim Lambright is hoping Huard’s return will mean Washington can finally get its running game going because he is the superior passer.

Tailbacks Jason Harris and Willie Hurst had 66 yards in 29 carries against California last week. Tuiasosopo is the leading rusher and the Huskies’ running backs don’t have a 100-yard rushing game this season nor a run longer than 16 yards.

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Arizona State quarterback Ryan Kealy, benched after a series of lackluster starts, didn’t get into Thursday night’s Pacific 10 game against Stanford until the last play of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, he led the Sun Devils to two touchdowns, then threw a 25-yard pass to Tariq McDonald in overtime as Arizona State beat the Cardinal, 44-38, at Tempe, Ariz.

Running back J.R. Redmond scored three touchdowns for Arizona State (3-4 overall, 2-2 in Pac-10 play), but he turned his ankle and did not play in the second half. With Chad Elliott ineffective, Kealy went into the game with the Sun Devils trailing the Cardinal (1-6, 0-4), 31-24.