Washington State Remains Undefeated

John Tippins rushed for two touchdowns and scored twice on passes from Jason Gesser as No. 19 Washington State shook off a slow start and defeated Montana State, 53-28, in a nonconference game Thursday night at Pullman, Wash.

Tippins, starting in place of injured backs Dave Minnich and Allen Thompson, rushed 24 times for 100 yards and caught five passes for 94 yards.

Gesser threw three touchdowns and rushed for another, completing 22 of 35 passes for 374 yards.

Washington State (7-0) had trailed, 7-0, against the Division I-AA Bobcats (4-3).

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The Navy SEALS were told to cancel plans to have eight paratroopers drop into Florida A&M;’s stadium to deliver the game ball and an American flag during Saturday’s homecoming festivities. The SEALS tried to convince school officials not to stop the flyover, but agreed to cancel the event.

Authorities were concerned that fear of terrorism could cause some of the fans at the 25,500-seat stadium to panic if they didn’t realize why the SEALS were landing on the field during the national anthem.

The university police department made the decision to ask the SEALS not to make the flyover during the game against Norfolk State after consulting with Tallahassee, Fla., police. On Saturday, a crop duster trailing an advertising banner caused a stir when it circled Florida State’s stadium during the Seminoles’ game against Miami.

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USA Today reported that an estimated 20 football programs could be in jeopardy of losing Division I status when the NCAA reviews its membership guidelines early next week.

The NCAA Management Council will meet in Indianapolis to consider proposals at tightening minimum standards for participation in Division I football. The measures, if approved, could go into effect in 2004. Under the recommendations, football programs must play at least five regular season home games against I-A opponents each season and average 15,000 in attendance.

The conference that would suffer most under the new rules would be the Mid-American, where nine schools don’t meet the first requirement and six fall short in attendance.

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Michigan cornerback Markus Curry has a trial date of Dec. 20 on charges he shoved his girlfriend in her dorm room and prevented her from using the telephone to call for help. Curry pleaded innocent last week to domestic assault and tampering with the telephone. Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr has suspended Curry indefinitely. ... Lee Roy Selmon Jr., a defensive tackle at South Florida and the son of the pro football Hall of Famer, was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after an incident at a Tampa-area party.