Sports News, Nuggets and Notes from East Carolina and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

11.09.03: Game briefs from around C-USA... .. Charlotte hoops teams invite fans 'Uptown'... .. Lengthy absence expected for Tar Heel forward... .. More...

11.08.03: Homecoming Saturday: Hoops and football from 11 a.m. 'til... .. SEC makes 11th hour change in tiebreaker... .. Army can salvage season starting now... .. Clemson vs. Florida State TV capsule... .. More...

11.07.03: Bulls' road to postseason eligibility goes through Greenville... .. Rouse leads ECU rout of international team... .. Suspensions keep on coming at UCF... .. Arkansas hogties 'Cocks, then rests... .. Reunion of Bowdens no merry affair... .. More...

11.06.03: ECU women's soccer star nets big C-USA honor... .. Pirate golfer snares tourney title... .. Gear from celebrity Frogs up for auction... .. WAC zebras sanctioned for bad calls... .. Suspensions cloud UCF's day in sun... .. More...

11.05.03: Frogs' BCS worthiness gets gut-check tonight... .. Fans of Frogs challenged in writing... .. Prolific Tulane running back sidelined... .. Bowers extends Blackwell suspension... .. More...

11.04.03: Dozen-member committee gets marching orders for AD search... .. Big news expected from Big East... .. BCS standings: Frogs hop up three notches... .. Cards spank EA Sports in preseason opener... .. More...

11.03.03: Pirate harrier breaks new ground... .. College football weekend: The good, the bad, the ugly... .. C-USA standings, scores, schedule... .. AP writers and USA Today/ESPN coaches polls... .. More...

11.02.03: Game briefs from around Conference USA... .. Preseason hoops injuries taking toll on Bearcats... .. Crain selected for Team USA baseball... .. More...

11.01.03: Bulls' board endorses cozying up to Big East... .. AD Selmon's son seals USF overtime win over Bearcats... .. Today's Virginia at N.C. State TV capsule... .. More...

10.31.03: 'Bama booster indicted in Means recruiting fiasco... .. Tonight's Cincinnati at USF TV capsule... .. 'Pack's Cotchery named Biletnikoff semifinalist... .. More...

COACHING RECORD: John Gagliardi became college football's career victory leader when St. John's rallied to beat Bethel 29-26. Gagliardi, in his 55th season and his 51st at the Minnesota school, got his 409th victory, passing Eddie Robinson, who retired in 1997 after winning 408 games at Grambling State.

BLOWOUTS: Top-ranked Oklahoma handed Texas A&M its worst loss ever, 77-0. The Sooners, who scored more than 50 points for a school-record sixth time, had touchdowns on 10 of their first 11 possessions, scoring all 77 points in the first three quarters. The Aggies had more penalty yards (63) than offensive yards (54). ... Chris Morris ran for 240 yards and four touchdowns in Wabash's 81-0 victory over Hiram, its most points and most lopsided victory since 1912.

SEASONS TO REMEMBER: No. 20 Mississippi beat Auburn 24-20, moving to 6-0 in the Southeastern Conference for the first time since 1962. Ole Miss has its first six-game winning streak since getting seven straight victories in 1990. ... No. 23 Northern Illinois beat Buffalo 40-9 to win ninth games for just the sixth time in its 102-year history.

SNAPPED: Duke snapped a record losing streak of 30 ACC games, beating Georgia Tech 41-17. ... North Carolina snapped a school-record 10-game home losing streak with a 42-34 win over Wake Forest. ... No. 18 Tennessee upset No. 6 Miami 10-6, ending the nation's longest home winning streak at 26 games. Miami failed to score a touchdown for the first time since 1997 and failed to score one at home for the first time since 1984.

RECORD: Texas Tech's Wes Welker set the NCAA career record for punt return yardage with a 22-yard return in a 62-14 win over Baylor. Welker has 1,746 career return yards, breaking the 54-year-old record of Lee Nalley, who had 1,695 at Vanderbilt from 1947-49. A week ago, Welker set another NCAA record with his eighth career punt return for a touchdown.

STREAKING: D.J. Fitzpatrick kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give Notre Dame a 27-24 victory over Navy, extending the NCAA record for consecutive wins against one team to 40. The Irish haven't lost to the Midshipmen since 1963.

SLUMPING: With a 17-7 loss to Northwestern, Penn State lost its sixth straight for the first time under coach Joe Paterno. The last time the Nittany Lions lost six straight was in 1931. ... Vanderbilt lost its 23rd straight SEC game, 35-17 to No. 17 Florida. ... Army lost its 12th straight, 31-3 to Air Force. The Black Knights haven't won at Air Force since 1977.

SPEAKING: "I hate refs. They were looking at me the whole time. I can't even get hyped up after a play. I can't even get my crowd hyped up." — Miami's Kellen Winslow, who had a costly 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct in the fourth quarter of a 10-6 loss to Tennessee. Miami finished with 12 penalties for 121 yards.

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 8, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

[Conference USA & Carolinas teams in BOLD]

(First-place votes) Record Points Previous
1. OKLAHOMA (65) 10-0 1,625 1
2. SOUTHERN CAL 8-1 1,559 2
3. LOUISIANA ST 8-1 1,469 4
4. OHIO ST 9-1 1,437 7
5. MICHIGAN 8-2 1,342 8
6. TEXAS 8-2 1,192 11
7. GEORGIA 7-2 1,166 9
8. WASHINGTON ST 8-2 1,059 12
9. TENNESSEE 7-2 967 18
10. TEXAS CHRISTIAN 9-0 932 13
11. PURDUE 8-2 913 16
12. VIRGINIA TECH 7-2 910 5
13. FLORIDA ST 8-2 851 3
14. MIAMI (FL) 7-2 814 6
15. FLORIDA 7-3 770 17
16. PITTSBURGH 7-2 761 25
17. MISSISSIPPI 8-2 686 20
18. NEBRASKA 8-2 586 19
19. MINNESOTA 9-2 391 24
20. IOWA 7-3 378 10
21. (tie) MICHIGAN ST 7-3 309 14
21. (tie) NORTHERN ILLINOIS 9-1 309 23
23. MIAMI (OH) 8-1 304 --
24. BOISE ST 8-1 127 --
25. BOWLING GREEN 7-2 90 15

Others Receiving Votes:

KANSAS ST 85, OKLAHOMA ST 37, MISSOURI 14, NORTH CAROLINA ST 13, LOUISVILLE 7, UTAH 6, ARKANSAS 5, TEXAS TECH 5, AUBURN 2, WEST VIRGINIA 2, OREGON ST 1, SOUTHERN MISS 1.

USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES POLL

The top 25 teams in the USA Today-ESPN college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, team's records through Nov. 8, points based on 25 points for a first-place vote, through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:

[Conference USA & Carolinas teams in BOLD]

(First-place votes) Record Points Previous
1. OKLAHOMA (63) 10-0 1,575 1
2. SOUTHERN CAL 8-1 1,508 2
3. LOUISIANA ST 8-1 1,426 4
4. OHIO ST 9-1 1,397 6
5. MICHIGAN 8-2 1,286 8
6. GEORGIA 7-2 1,154 9
7. TEXAS 8-2 1,139 11
8. WASHINGTON ST 8-2 1,008 13
9. TEXAS CHRISTIAN 9-0 965 12
10. PURDUE 8-2 899 14
11. FLORIDA ST 8-2 870 3
12. VIRGINIA TECH 7-2 868 5
13. TENNESSEE 7-2 846 17
14. MIAMI (FL) 7-2 806 7
15. NEBRASKA 8-2 680 16
16. PITTSBURGH 7-2 653 21
17. MINNESOTA 9-2 612 18
18. FLORIDA 7-3 548 19
19. MISSISSIPPI 8-2 488 24
20. IOWA 7-3 435 10
21. NORTHERN ILLINOIS 9-1 298 23
22. MICHIGAN ST 7-3 269 15
23. BOISE ST 8-1 194 --
24. MIAMI (OH) 8-1 193 --
25. KANSAS ST 8-3 105 --

Others Receiving Votes:

BOWLING GREEN 63, NORTH CAROLINA ST 37, OKLAHOMA ST 37, LOUISVILLE 27, UTAH 23, AUBURN 8, MISSOURI 8, MARYLAND 7, WEST VIRGINIA 7, AIR FORCE 7, MARSHALL 6, ARKANSAS 5, CLEMSON 5, OREGON ST 5, TEXAS TECH 5, WISCONSIN 2, SOUTHERN MISS 1.