NCAA Holds Firm on Aztec Penalty

The NCAA on Wednesday upheld a two-year probation term on San Diego State’s football team for holding banned off-season practices.

The university had appealed, calling the length of probation excessive and inappropriate. The school did not contest the NCAA’s findings.

The NCAA found that an assistant coach held summer workouts for offensive linemen from 1998 to 2001. In addition, the coaching staff held drill sessions before the official start of spring practice, and offensive linemen were given hats and T-shirts over a four-year period in violation of NCAA rules.

The penalties do not include postseason or television bans.

*

Illinois receiver Ade Adeyemo, who crashed into a barrier Saturday night at the Rose Bowl while trying to make a catch in a 6-3 loss to UCLA, is expected to sit out three games because of a rib injury. “It looks like he has a cracked rib,” Coach Ron Turner told the Chicago Tribune.... Florida defensive end Steven Harris pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery for an April incident outside a Gainesville, Fla., nightclub and will be eligible to play Saturday against Tennessee, Coach Ron Zook said.

Penn State fans used to watching their team on television will have to log onto the Internet to see Saturday’s game against Kent State. After 73 consecutive televised games, the Nittany Lions’ game against the Golden Flashes will not be televised. It will be shown on ESPN.com. It has been more than six years since a Penn State game was passed over for television. The last Penn State game not on TV was Sept. 13, 1997, when the Nittany Lions defeated Temple, 52-10.

Texas A&M; (2-0), which hasn’t won a road game against a top-10 team since defeating No. 6 Penn State in 1979, is scheduled to take on No. 8 Virginia Tech (2-0) tonight in Blacksburg, Va. The Hokies defeated the Aggies, 13-3, last season at College Station, Texas, to become the first nonconference opponent to leave Kyle Field with a victory since 1988.