Air Force Rallies for 30-27 Win

Quarterback Blane Morgan scored two second-half touchdowns and Jackson Whiting kicked a 40-yard field goal with 11 seconds left as Air Force rallied to beat visiting in-state rival, Colorado State, 30-27.

The Falcons (3-0 overall, 2-0 Western Athletic Conference) trailed 17-0 in the first quarter and 24-10 at halftime, but their wishbone offense came alive in the second half.

Morgan capped two long second-half drives with scoring runs, and Whiting kicked a 25-yard field goal with 6:20 left to produce a 27-27 tie.

After Air Force defensive tackle Bryce Fisher sacked Colorado State quarterback Ryan Eslinger for a 10-yard loss to help force a punt, the Falcons took possession at their 39-yard line with 2:55 remaining.

Colorado State (1-2, 0-1) built its early lead on Darran Hall’s 77-yard punt return for a touchdown, Eslinger’s 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Derrek Uhl and Eslinger’s one-yard scoring sneak.

The loss ended Colorado State’s five-game winning streak at Falcon Stadium.

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Marcus Ray, the best defensive player on co-national champion Michigan, is under investigation for contact with an agent and has been suspended indefinitely from the team.

“Marcus knows the rules,” Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr said Thursday in explaining the decision.

Carr said the university will investigate and forward its report to the NCAA.

Ray, a second team All-American last year and one of the team’s three captains, is said to have made contact with an agent in July.

The accusations surfaced when somebody apparently contacted the NCAA. Neither Carr nor Athletic Director Tom Goss knows who or how it happened.

“I had no inkling of anything like this until I got a call yesterday morning,” Carr said.

Carr and Goss expressed hope the investigation will move swiftly.

“If we find . . . there’s nothing there, then Marcus will be reinstated,” Goss said.

In most cases, when an ineligible player is used, teams forfeit games in which the player appeared. But the Wolverines, who face Eastern Michigan on Saturday, are off to an 0-2 start after being ranked No. 5 in preseason.

Ray, a fifth-year senior, started every game in Michigan’s undefeated road to a national title last year and in 1996.

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Tailback Cecil “The Diesel” Collins was back in jail and off the McNeese State team because he failed a court-ordered drug test.

The test was part of Collins’ release on bond after he was arrested for assaults on young women at an Louisiana State student apartment complex.

“We refuse to compromise the integrity of our football team at McNeese,” Coach Bobby Keasler said.

He said that when the school accepted Collins in spite of “some off-field difficulties” at LSU, he made it clear the school would not tolerate any misconduct.

“We tried to help Cecil. But perhaps he needs more help than we can give him,” Keasler said.

In McNeese’s first two games, Collins rushed for 117 yards and one touchdown as the Cowboys’ backup tailback.

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Defensive lineman Ing Aleaga will not play for Washington State this season because he is not academically eligible, Coach Mike Price said. Price had hoped that Aleaga, a freshman from Hawaii, could play because the Cougars’ defensive line has been hampered because of injuries.