Oklahoma Replacing A.D. With A.P.

The guy who will substitute for Adrian Peterson as Oklahoma’s running back might not have skills comparable to his predecessor, but at least he has a nickname that is.

“They used to call me the All-Out Crusher,” Allen Patrick said as he geared up to take over the starting role in Oklahoma’s backfield for a guy nicknamed A.D. by his father, who said his son could run “all day.”

Patrick, a 6-foot, 191-pound junior who earned his nickname for his bruising running style in high school, will make his first start today when No. 20 Oklahoma plays Colorado. He is replacing Peterson, the 2004 Heisman Trophy runner-up, who broke his collarbone last week in a victory over Iowa State.

“I’m not nervous at all,” Patrick said. “To go out there and play running back with the team on your back, that’s a big thing to do, but I’m ready to step up and take that job.”

Patrick said he considered Peterson “like a brother” and was saddened about Peterson’s injury. He also said he got words of encouragement from the nation’s second-leading rusher.

“After he got hurt ... he asked me ‘Are you ready to go out there and get it?’ ” Patrick said. “Those are the words that came out of his mouth. He told me to go get it.”

Deadline for Punter

Former Northern Colorado backup punter Mitch Cozad, charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of his rival, has until Monday to surrender to authorities, prosecutors said Friday.

Cozad, 21, of Wheatland, Wyo., is accused of stabbing starter Rafael Mendoza in his kicking leg last month.

He faces charges of attempted first-degree murder and second-degree assault and could be sentenced to 48 years in prison if convicted. He has been suspended from the team and the university.

Weld County district attorney’s spokeswoman Jennifer Finch said prosecutors had not heard from Cozad on Friday and did not know where he was. She said he has until noon Monday to turn himself in.

She said his bail would be set at $500,000.

Dealing With Violence

In the wake of two on-field college football brawls a week ago, the president of the NCAA said the responsibility of preventing future outbreaks and instilling a real sense of sportsmanship rests with individual institutions.

“The NCAA from the national office can’t police all those sites,” Myles Brand said. “The handling of individual incidents is properly the job of the local college or university.”

Games involving Miami and Florida International, and Dartmouth and Holy Cross last week were marred by on-field brawls.

“We’re seeing amongst players, and even in some fans’ behavior, some unacceptable levels of violence and disruption,” Brand said. “We all hope we can get on the front end and work with the student-athletes and others very early on so we don’t wind up in these situations.”

Legend Hospitalized

Former Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler was admitted to an Ann Arbor hospital’s cardiac-care unit for observation Friday after he felt ill at the taping of a weekly television show.

Schembechler, 77, was at WXYZ-TV studios in Southfield, Mich., and wasn’t feeling well at about 10 a.m., before the taping of a college football preview show.

The former coach decided to go on with the taping before leaving to see a doctor. A family spokesman said he was in good condition.

Schembechler had a heart attack on the eve of his first Rose Bowl in 1970, and another one in 1987. He has had two quadruple heart bypass operations.

Staying Home

One of the great things about playing in a state as big as Texas: You don’t have to go far to find competition.

Texas, for instance, has not played a game outside the state this season. That will change today when the Longhorns visit Nebraska.

Texas has had five home games to go with an away game at Rice, in Houston, and a game against Oklahoma that is annually played in Dallas.

The Longhorns will leave the Lone Star State only once more during the regular season for a Nov. 4 game at Oklahoma State.

No Place Like Away

Oregon has played at Washington State so many times lately that Cougars Coach Bill Doba joked about draping the visitors’ locker room with a banner proclaiming: “Welcome Home, Mike.”

That would be Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti, whose No. 16 team will play at Washington State today, the third consecutive year Oregon has played in Pullman.

A scheduling fluke has sent Oregon to Washington State for six of the last seven meetings. The Ducks have come away winners in five of those trips, making Martin Stadium feel a bit more homey for Oregon than for the home team.

Name Game

Alabama and Auburn have “The Iron Bowl,” Florida and Georgia have “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” and Pittsburgh and West Virginia have “The Backyard Brawl.”

So apparently all the good nicknames were taken when Tennessee and Alabama wanted to name their rivalry, which dates to 1901 and will be renewed today.

They’re calling it: “The Third Saturday in October.”

“I feel like three-fourths of the Alabama Nation would rather beat Tennessee than Auburn,” Crimson Tide center Antoine Caldwell said. “I didn’t really understand until after we won that game last year. It seemed like the whole city was elevated.”

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-- Compiled by Peter Yoon

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.