Attorney: Players Won’t Be Charged

Charges will not be filed against Texas players Cedric Griffin and Ramonce Taylor in connection with an Austin police investigation into an alleged assault on Dec. 10, according to a statement by an attorney who is advising them.

Ken Oden said police had told him, “No arrests will be made, and no charges will be filed.”

A police spokesperson said the investigation was continuing but that no charges had been filed.

A police statement Friday had said that the department was investigating two incidents involving individuals connected to the Texas athletic department. The first incident occurred Sept. 4, but school officials said that incident did not involve football players.

Griffin, a defensive back, and Taylor, a running back, both starters, were allegedly involved in an altercation Dec. 10 over $5 that escalated into what Oden called “a trash-talking incident.”

The school issued a statement saying that it had found no reason to discipline the players and that there was no link between that incident and the Sept. 4 incident, which allegedly involved a handgun.

In an unrelated matter, redshirt receiver Myron Hardy was arrested Nov. 6 and charged with carrying a prohibited weapon. Hardy, who according to court documents allegedly pulled a knife during an altercation, reported the arrest to the team and appropriate disciplinary action has been taken, a school spokesman said.

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Streaks are a hot topic in Texas, specifically winning streaks. USC has won 34 in a row and Texas 19. USC has won two consecutive Associated Press national championships, and no team has ever won three in succession. That’s just fine with Texas. The Longhorns know a thing or two about stopping streaks. This year they ended a five-game losing streak to Oklahoma.

And in 1996, Nebraska had won two consecutive national titles and was ranked third before the Big 12 championship game against Texas. The Longhorns won, 37-27, and ended Nebraska’s bid for a three-peat.

Still, Coach Mack Brown has encouraged his team to respect USC’s streaks.

“They’ve played every game with people talking about an upset,” Brown said. “They’ve been in [close] fourth quarters and they’ve had a tremendous amount of confidence and they’ve come back and won every one of them.”

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Another topic at the fore of the Rose Bowl analysis is offense, and for good reason: This is the first time the national-championship game will be played by teams averaging 50 or more points.

But Texas quarterback Vince Young said it would be a mistake to underestimate USC’s defense, which has been criticized for giving up 21.3 points a game.

“Why do they call them the weakest link?” Young said. “I don’t understand why they call them that.... We’ve got our hands full as an offense.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.