News and Notes from East Carolina, Conference USA and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

11.23.06: Yow taking leave of absence for treatment ... Marshall's Bradshaw nabs
C-USA weekly honor

11.22.06: Pirates face Houston if Marshall wins ... Former teammates push Raye for MSU coach ... SMU's Wideman named academic player of year

11.21.06: Duke, Wake athletes named Rhodes scholars ... UAB captures Conference USA volleyball ... Old Dominion stuns Georgetown on the road

11.20.06: Ohio State-Michigan rematch possible ... Video helps inspire Tar Heels to beat State ... Cords stepping down as AD at Marquette

11.19.06: Cougars to host USM or ECU in C-USA title game ... ECU falls in women's hoops to Vermont ... Pirate swimming teams in seventh place

11.18.06: ECU baseball bringing in 10-man class ... UTEP edges Pirates in C-USA volleyball ... West Virginia steamrolls Pitt

11.17.06: Pirates reschedule hoops contest with NCCU ... ECU volleyball places 3 on all- league team ... Top-ranked SMU goes down in NCAA soccer

11.16.06: Paterno's hall of fame induction postponed ... Tressel downplays his dominance vs. Michigan ... ECU softball announces pair of signees

11.15.06: Pirates control their fate in East Division ... Pinkney in star game, playing for Buddy Ryan ... ECU's Lee named special teams player of week

11.14.06: ECU-NCSU kickoff moved to 7 p.m. for TV ... Butch will succeed Bunting at UNC- Chapel Hill ... Conference USA coaches make debuts ... Pirates seeded sixth in C-USA volleyball ... Lady Pirates drop hoops opener to JMU

11.13.06: Houston clinches
C-USA championship berth ... ECU volleyball slips in regular season finale ... Grad rates: Athletes outperform student body

11.12.06: ECU announces women's hoops signees ... Miners extinguish Blazers' bowl hopes ... Mustang duo in contention for Hermann Trophy

11.11.06: Rutgers kicks Cards out of title picture ... Roach selected for district academic honor ... Krug getting it done on court, in classroom

11.10.06: Pirates prepare for Saturday hoops opener ... Houston's Kolb makes cut on O'Brien award list ... UNC-CH officials mum on Davis' status

11.09.06: Former star QB to represent N.C. in Congress ... Homicide unit probing death of Miami player ... Krog's 73 puts her in top five at Augusta

11.08.06: UK's win over Payne's charges not flawless ... SMU, UAB gain NCAA men's soccer berths ... Three C-USA women's teams get NCAA slots

11.07.06: Two Marshall players get C-USA honors ... UAB women capture C-USA soccer title ... Punter faces attempted murder charge

11.06.06: Pirate volleyball takes down Memphis ... Denny O'Brien's Harris Poll ballot ... ECU swimmers, divers perform well ... Paterno recovering from fractured leg

11.05.06: Promotions aplenty for ECU-Marshall game ...
Ex-Tulsa great Largent gets humanitarian honor

11.04.06: Dougherty a semifinalist for Ray Guy Award ... Butch Davis deal with Tar Heels imminent? ... Cardinals talking national title, again ... Honors abound for ECU women's soccer team

11.03.06: Boise State rolls past Bulldogs ... Reale, Pirates earn seconds at Kitty Hawk ... ECU softball's Kozlowski promoted

11.02.06: Mustangs a win away from bowl eligibility ... Hunt, Icenhower lead East Carolina divers ... ECU's Moore earns academic honor with 4.0

11.01.06: Kragthorpe curtails Tar Heel speculation ... Pirates in C-USA women's soccer tourney ... Backup QB Lee to start for FSU against Cavs

10.31.06: Kickoff return nets
C-USA honor for Johnson ... Pirate volleyball streaks to school record ... Mountaineers on fringe of national title picture

10.30.06: ECU's Williams: 'I just wanted it more' ... Stokes plans to give Wynn time to develop ... Central Florida's 530 yards of offense not enough

10.29.06: ECU women's volleyball extends streak ... Pirate swimmers leave Towson behind ... UTEP takes muddy victory in Grimesland

10.28.06: Cougars quarterback piling up the numbers ... ECU vs. USM part of pay-per-view twinbill ... Hokies tame Tigers in key ACC battle

10.27.06: Rice's Almond named Wooden candidate ... Pirates hosting C-USA cross country ... ECU freshman Bools shares C-USA honor

10.26.06: Tickets for Troops promotion expands ... Another C-USA honor for ECU's Icenhower ... Report: Davis would have interest in Heels

10.25.06: Ex-Pirate Adams attempts PGA qualifying ...
C-USA names football players of week ... Tar Heels will retain many football recruits

10.24.06: New thumbnails: Baker, Byrd and Thompson ... Ore golden in Hokies' win over Southern Miss ... Unbeaten start for ECU swim teams ... Tar Heels picked first in ACC hoops

10.23.06: Jenkins' three lifts Gold in scrimmage ... ECU volleyball takes sixth straight C-USA win ... Bools finishes sixth in Lady Pirate golf

10.22.06: Pirates volleyball on record streak ... Mountaineers handle Huskies, stay unbeaten ... Georgia golfer gets call to play in South Africa

10.21.06: Report: UNC-Chapel Hill's Bunting to resign ... Coaches' challenges yield few reversals ... Southern Miss prepared for Hokies

10.20.06: ECU's Roach nominated for Draddy Award ... Memphis picked first in C-USA basketball ... 4th-ranked UTEP runners coming to Greenville

10.19.06: Koren Robinson suspended by NFL ... Miami broadcaster axed over brawl comments ... Dartmouth, Holy Cross row gets investigation

10.18.06: League teams busy; ECU ends homestand ... C-USA names football players of week ... ECU's Krug captures C-USA weekly honor

10.17.06: ACC, Miami announce additional suspensions ... More suspensions also on Sun Belt's agenda ... Duke lacrosse under "60 Minutes" scrutiny

10.16.06: Coker suspends eight Miami players after brawl ... Pirate volleyball continues roll at UCF ... Szilard leads ECU women's soccer win ... Harris Poll's top 5 varies from BCS Standings

Marshall will be looking to end the 2006 regular season on a high-note and become bowl eligible when it travels to Southern Miss on Saturday in an important Conference USA season finale. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally by CSTV, according to a Marshall press release.

Marshall has won four of its last five games and is coming off of a 49-21 win at home over Texas-El Paso. After starting the season 1-5, the Thundering Herd has won four of its last five games and now has a chance to notch win number six and gain bowl eligibility.

Standing in the way, however, is a Golden Eagles team that holds one of the best home field advantages in C-USA and is battling for the right to represent the East Division in the C-USA Championship game. If Marshall wins, East Carolina would win the division's berth in the C-USA championship game at West Division winner Houston on Dec. 1.

"If we want any shot at the conference title we have to be Marshall fans," said ECU coach Skip Holtz earlier this week. "We would love for Marshall to go down and beat Southern Miss. Then we would get into the conference championship through the back door instead of the front. That is not the way we wanted to get into it but at this point we just want to get there. There is nothing we can do about that right now but wear our green undershirts when we go play N.C. State. Hopefully we can find a way to win in Raleigh and Marshall can go down to Southern Miss and win."

ECU and N.C. State will kick off at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh in a game set for telecast by ESPNU.

Marshall's Ahmad Bradshaw rushed for a career-high 261 yards and five touchdowns on a career-high 40 carries in Marshall's win over Texas-El Paso. With his performance, Bradshaw has now rushed for 1,414 yards this season, which is the fifth-best single-season rushing total in school history. He leads C-USA in rushing and ranks fifth in the nation with 128.5 rushing yards per game.

Sophomore defensive end Albert McClellan also continues to shine for the Herd. He recorded three sacks against UTEP to raise his season sack total to 11.5 for a loss of 80 yards. On the season, McClellan amassed 18.5 tackles for loss to anchor the Marshall defensive unit.

Southern Miss counters with an impressive running game of its own that is led by freshman running back Damion Fletcher. He has rushed for 1,089 yards and eight touchdowns this season for the Golden Eagles and is contributing 119.6 all-purpose yards per outing.

Defensively the Golden Eagles lead C-USA in scoring defense, allowing only 19.7 points per game. USM's top tackler is Gerald McRath who has 71 stops this season.

Apparently, some of the younger players on Gonzaga’s remarkable basketball team didn’t get the memo on how they were expected to act when playing against one of the nation’s legendary programs on the biggest stage imaginable, according to a report from the Spokesman Review in Spokane, WA.

At least, it certainly seemed that was the case on Wednesday night, when sophomores Josh Heytvelt and Jeremy Pargo and freshman Matt Bouldin came up big in the Bulldogs’ stunning 82-74 win over No. 2-ranked North Carolina in the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden.

Senior guard Derek Raivio finished as the Zags’ scoring leader with 21 points, but Heytvelt, Pargo and Bouldin played well beyond their experience levels in combining for 49 points and making several keys plays down the stretch when the Tar Heels were staging a stirring comeback.

Heytvelt finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, Pargo added 16 points, and Bouldin chipped in with 14 points and a game-high six assists as GU (5-0) earned a spot in Friday’s championship game against Butler (5-0), a surprise 56-44 winner over No. 21 Tennessee in Wednesday’s other semifinal showdown.

The Tar Heels (3-1) will play Tennessee (4-1) in Friday’s 1:30 p.m. consolation game.

Two coaches known to have interviewed for the football coaching job at Iowa State have been eliminated from consideration, according to multiple sources close to both men.

Cyclone athletic director Jamie Pollard notified Nebraska offensive coordinator Jay Norvell and San Diego head coach Jim Harbaugh on Tuesday night that they no longer are on his list of potential replacements for coach Dan McCarney.

Two sources close to Norvell told The Des Moines Register he no longer is a candidate. Harbaugh's agent, Jack Bechta, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that Harbaugh no longer is a candidate, also confirmed by Register sources.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from electronic services and other sources. Copyright 2006 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.