Sports News, Nuggets and Notes from East Carolina and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

12.31.03: Former second-string QB's in Liberty Bowl spotlight... .. Sun Bowl teams shower tickets on military personnel... .. Coach with ECU ties joins O'Leary staff... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.30.03: John L. says stature of Spartans football still suffering... .. TCU's SuperFrog teams up with Snoop Dogg... .. Game time for Rebels vs. Pirates changed... .. Associated Press basketball poll... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.29.03: Caldwell reneges on joining Holtz staff... .. Hawaii Bowl extends 'Hawaii clause'... .. C-USA basketball standings, scores & schedule... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.28.03: FSU AD Hart blasts NCAA over Romero ruling... .. Cards, Tigers pace productive Saturday for C-USA... .. USF's Baxter honored with NCAA Valor Award... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.27.03: Petrino adds one-time ECU assistant Cassity to Cards staff... .. Scrutiny of Houston-Hawaii brawl underway... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.26.03: Leach earns award in losing cause in Blue-Gray game... .. Blue-Gray scoring summary and statistics... .. Fisticuffs mar spine-tingling finish in Honolulu... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.25.03: ECU trio set for action in today's Blue-Gray Classic... .. Houston seeks victory and esteem in paradise... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.24.03: Cincinnati looks to Buckeyes for new coach... .. Broncos' postseason streak survives sans blue turf... .. Coach of disbanded program gets Elon job... .. Swofford minimizes impact of refs' mistakes... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.23.03: Spectacular performance punctuates Rivers' career... .. Suspensions rock TCU on eve of bowl game... .. ACC refs botched FSU-Florida football game... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. Associated Press basketball poll... .. More...

12.22.03: Women Pirates hijack Wake Forest... .. ECU-bred coach's Mustangs upend Purdue... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. Scholars label BCS formula unreliable... .. More...

MEMPHIS — With a convoy of teammates leading the way, Morgan Scalley hopped into the end zone to seal a milestone victory for Utah and make a case for these Utes being the best ever. Scalley returned a fumble for a touchdown late in the game and set up the only other TD by causing a turnover, leading No. 25 Utah to a 17-0 victory over Southern Mississippi in the Liberty Bowl on Wednesday.

The Mountain West Conference champions finished the season with back-to-back shutouts and tied a school record set in 1994 with 10 victories.

"With all due respect to the '94 football team and Utah, and there have been some great teams at Utah, I think this will go down as the greatest senior class and one of the top football teams ever in the history of this program," first-year coach Urban Meyer said. "You won the championship. You won the championship bowl game. And forever they will be remembered for that."

In a lackluster game dominated by hard-hitting defense and sloppy offense, Scalley provided a little excitement. The junior safety scooped up a fumble after a completed pass and raced 74 yards for a score behind a wall of blockers with 1:36 left to play.

Southern Miss (9-4) managed to get deep into Utah territory just once in the second half when Anthony Harris broke free for a 41-yard run to the 18 with about eight minutes left and Utah up 7-0. But the Utes (10-2) stiffened, and on fourth-and-2 from the 10 Revill and Ray Holdcraft combined to sack Micky D'Angelo.

The fourth-down stop seemed to inspire Utah's offense momentarily. Alex Smith hit Paris Warren deep down the middle for 49 yards on the next play. That led to Bryan Borreson's 19-yard field goal to make it 10-0 with 3:24 left.

Brandon Warfield had 91 yards rushing on 27 carries for Utah and scored the only offensive touchdown in the second quarter. Warfield bulled into the end zone from 5 yards out, two plays after Scalley forced a fumble by Southern Miss quarterback Dustin Almond deep in Golden Eagles' territory.

The shutout was the first in the Liberty Bowl since 1994, when Illinois beat East Carolina 30-0.

Southern Miss, the Conference USA champs, had its six-game winning streak snapped, despite a stellar game by linebacker Rod Davis and the Golden Eagles' swarming defense.

MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator George O'Leary had an apparent mild heart attack Wednesday, three weeks after taking the head coaching job at Central Florida.

O'Leary, forced to resign as Notre Dame's football coach two years ago because of incorrect information on his resume, was undergoing tests to confirm the heart attack. He had accepted the job with the Irish after serving as head coach at Georgia Tech.

The 57-year-old coach was expected to recover fully and should be released in the next few days, according to various reports.

SAN FRANCISCO — Neil Parry, the San Jose State player who returned to football after part of his leg was amputated, will play in the East-West Shrine Game. Parry was added Wednesday to the West roster for the game. He is expected to see limited playing time on special teams.

The senior played on the punt-return team for the Spartans this season, three years after he broke his right leg during a game at UTEP on Oct. 14, 2000. Serious infections developed, and his leg was amputated below the knee nine days later.

After three years of physical therapy and training with prosthetic legs, Parry became the first non-kicker to play major college football with a prosthesis when he participated in punt coverage during San Jose State's game against Nevada on Sept. 18.