Utah fires its football coach
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A season-ending victory over archrival Brigham Young was not enough for Utah football coach Ron McBride to keep his job as the university fired him Monday, two days after the Utes defeated BYU, 13-6, to finish the year at 5-6.
The 63-year-old McBride posted an 88-63 record in his 13 seasons at Utah, leading the Utes to six bowl games and a pair of shared conference titles. However, they are just 17-17 over the last three seasons, including a 10-11 mark in Mountain West Conference play.
"We are disappointed in how we have fared in league play over the last three seasons," Utah athletic director Chris Hill said. "Our expectations, given our facilities and support system here at Utah, are for us to win our share of conference championships and be ranked with some regularity in the top 25 at the end of the season."
Utah never won an outright conference title under McBride. It finished in a four-way tie for the Western Athletic Conference championship in 1995 and a three-way tie for the MWC crown in 1999.
Hill indicated a national search for McBride's successor will begin immediately.
Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma 1-2-3
MORRISTOWN, N.J., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The Ohio State Buckeyes completed a 13-0 regular season with a 14-9 win over Michigan on Saturday and already have accepted a bid to play for at least a share of the national title in the Fiesta Bowl on January 3 in Tempe, Ariz.
Ohio State, however, remains behind Miami (10-0) in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings Monday and the Hurricanes even widened their lead in the complicated formula in which the lower score ranks first. Miami has 2.89 points, compared to 4.21 for Ohio State.
The Hurricanes (10-0), however, still need to win their final regular season games against Syracuse and Virginia Tech in order to be assured of playing the Buckeyes. The latest BCS standings have installed Oklahoma (10-1) as the leading candidate to grab a Fiesta Bowl berth should the Hurricanes stumble over the next two weeks.
Washington State (9-2) had that advantage last week, but saw its national title hopes evaporate with an overtime loss to Washington that dropped it to eighth in the BCS.
Oklahoma is third with 9.09 points and finishes its regular season with games against Oklahoma State and Colorado in the Big 12 Conference championship game.
Georgia (10-1), another team hoping to see Miami falter, is fourth this week with 10.07 points.
Iowa (11-1) is third in the coaches poll and fourth in the Associated Press poll, but the BCS standings have the Hawkeyes a relatively distant fifth this week. Iowa finished its regular season on Nov. 16 with a 45-21 win over Minnesota and is headed to the Rose Bowl.
Southern California (9-2) and Notre Dame (10-1), who meet Saturday in Los Angeles, are sixth and seventh, respectively. The Fighting Irish are guaranteed an at-large BCS berth if they finish in the final six.
The final BCS standings and bowl matchups will be released Dec. 8.
Texas A&M football player dies
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- An 18-year-old Texas A&M football player, Brandon Fails collapsed at his dorm room on Monday morning and later died.
The school announced that Fails, a true freshman defensive end from Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas, had trouble breathing before collapsing at Cain Hall. Team physician Dr. Jesse Parr said Fails was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Bryan, Texas, where he passed away.
An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
Fails played in four games this season and was credited with two tackles. He was a first-team All-State selection in high school.
Red Sox name Epstein general manager
BOSTON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The Boston Red Sox Monday named 28-year-old Theo Epstein the youngest general manager in major league history.
Esptein was named assistant general manager in March, after a group headed by John Henry purchased the team and fired general manager Dan Duquette.
Mike Port was serving as interim general manager, and is expected to take another job within the organization.
Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane withdrew his name from consideration earlier in the month, and Red Sox President Larry Lucchino elected to go with Epstein.
"After a thorough and extensive search of candidates throughout baseball, we concluded that the right person was right before our eyes," Lucchino said.
Epstein, a 1995 graduate of Yale, grew up in Brookline, Mass., literally a stone's throw from Fenway Park. He built up his professional resume with the San Diego Padres, working his way up from media relations to assistant GM.
Esptein had been assistant general manager with the Padres under Lucchino, who was that team's president from 1995-01.
At 28, Randy Smith had been the youngest general manager ever with the Padres in 1993.
Port may become the team's Vice President of Baseball Operations. That was his former role.
Pirates get Simon from Tigers
The Pittsburgh Pirates Monday began the process of rebuilding their offense by acquiring first baseman Randall Simon from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for minor league pitcher Adrian Burnside and two minor league players to be named later.
Simon, 26, was the Tigers' team MVP in 2002 after hitting .301 and setting career highs with 19 home runs and 82 RBI in 130 games.
In parts of five seasons with the Tigers and Atlanta Braves, Simon has a .305 lifetime average with 30 home runs and 149 RBI in 321 games.
"With our starting eight in the field, we just haven't been productive offensively and we needed more production," said Pirates General Manager Dave Littlefield. "As we have stated since the All-Star break, we need to improve our production at first base, right field and center field. As we identified some different guys, (Simon) was one of the guys in the mix that provided some production, was at a position we felt we needed to get some production out of, and was at a price that fit for us."
Simon, a 6-foot, 180-pounder, made $290,000 last year, but because he is arbitration eligible, that figure is expected to increase to slightly more than $1 million in 2003.
The left-handed hitting Simon will be considered the favorite for the Bucs' starting first base job next season, although he appeared in only 59 games in the field with the Tigers in 2002. Because he has hit just .233 in his career against southpaws, Simon could platoon at first base with incumbent Kevin Young.
Burnside, 25, was originally acquired along with Mike Fetters from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Terry Mulholland at the trading deadline in 2001. The southpaw was 6-9 with a 4.55 ERA in 32 games, 23 starts, with Double-A Altoona of the Eastern League last season, and 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA in 13 Arizona Fall League appearances.
Eagles begin life without McNabb
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The Philadelphia Eagles, playing their first contest without star quarterback Donovan McNabb, play at San Francisco Monday night.
It is a matchup of two of the NFC's top teams.
McNabb suffered a fractured right ankle in the first quarter of last Sunday's win over the Arizona Cardinals. He is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, but has already delayed surgery hoping the injury will improve without the knife.
The Eagles now will have to repeat as NFC East champions without him. They lead the division by 1 1/2 games over the New York Giants, and are among the favorites to reach the Super Bowl.
McNabb, who can run as well as pass, accounted for 65 percent of the club's offense this season, throwing for 2,289 yards with 17 touchdowns and six interceptions, and adding 460 yards rushing and six scores.
Koy Detmer assumes the starting job at quarterback. He has started just six of 51 games in his NFL career that began in 1997, when he was drafted by Philadelphia in the seventh round.
Koy Detmer went 1-4 as a starter in 1998 for a team that went just 3-13. His last start came on Dec. 19, 1999, when he filled in for an injured McNabb and completed 10-of-29 passes for 181 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in a 24-9 victory over New England.
For his career, Detmer has completed 113-of-227 passes (49.7 percent) for 1,240 yards, eight touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He has attempted 17 passes since his last start nearly three years ago, but says he is ready.
The Eagles also might feature their running game more often led by Duce Staley, who has rushed for 697 yards in 10 games. Backing him up is former All-Pro Dorsey Levens.
The Philadelphia defense ranks second in the NFC.
After this contest, the Eagles host the St. Louis Rams next week in a rematch of last season's NFC championship game.
San Francisco has a 2 1/2-game lead in the NFC West, but is coming off a 20-17 overtime loss at San Diego.
After a slow start, 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens has been coming on of late. He has two 100-yard games in the past three contests, including seven catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers.
He likely will be matched against Eagles Pro Bowl cornerback Troy Vincent.
Bowden dismisses McPherson
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden Monday announced that sophomore quarterback Adrian McPherson, who had been the starter the last four games, has been kicked off the team for an unspecified rules violation.
McPherson struggled in the Seminoles' 17-7 loss at North Carolina State Saturday, and Sunday, Bowden indicated he had not decided who would be the starter when FSU plays arch-rival Florida this weekend.
No other details regarding the dismissal were released, but Bowden confirmed that Chris Rix, who has been supplanted by McPherson, would be the starter against the Gators.
McPherson had completed 80-of-155 passes for 1,017 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was intercepted just once, and rushed for 180 yards in nine games.
He replaced Rix after a loss to Notre Dame on Oct. 26, and led the Seminoles to wins over Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina, throwing eight touchdown passes with one interception.
The loss to the Wolfpack dropped the Seminoles (8-4) to No. 22 in the latest USA Today/ESPN college football coaches' poll.
Colorado State headed to Liberty Bowl
MEMPHIS, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Colorado State University late Sunday accepted an invitation to play in the 44th Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31 in Memphis, Tenn.
The Rams, 10-2 and ranked 13th in the latest USA Today/ESPN college football coaches poll, clinched the Mountain West Conference Saturday with a 22-14 win over New Mexico.
"This feels great because this is the first title I really feel like I contributed to," said junior middle linebacker Drew Wood "But there's still a lot more we want to do. This win won't be nearly as sweet if we lose to UNLV (on Nov. 30). We want to finish the season strong and get to 12 wins."
This will be the Ram's third trip to the AXA Liberty Bowl. The Rams played in the 1999 and 2000 games, beating Louisville in 2000.
Also, the Rams have a chance to get to 12 wins, a program first, if they beat UNLV and win the Liberty Bowl.
"We're excited to have one of the best teams in the country coming to Memphis," said Liberty Bowl Executive Director Steve Ehrhart. "The Rams have a great coach in Sonny Lubick, a thrilling quarterback in Bradlee Van Pelt, and one of college football's top running backs in thousand yard rusher Cecil 'The Diesel' Sapp."
"Not many teams have the combination of an outstanding quarterback and great running back that we have," admitted Lubick. "We're looking forward to playing in the AXA Liberty Bowl, and showing Memphis and the nation that we are one of the country's top teams.:
CSU will play the champion from Conference USA, which has four teams tied for first place with two conference losses -- TCU (8-2, 5-2), Louisville (7-4, 5-2), Cincinnati (5-6, 4-2), and East Carolina (4-6, 4-2).
Rogers to enter NFL draft
EAST LANSING, Mich., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Wide receiver Charles Rogers, a bright spot in a disastrous season at Michigan State, apparently will bypass his final college season and enter the NFL draft.
The Detroit Free Press reported Monday that Rogers already has made up his mind and will announce his decision at the school's football awards ceremony Monday night.
Rogers is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award as the top receiver in college football, and most draft analysts believe he will be taken high in the first round.
Michigan State was considered a preseason contender for the Big Ten Conference title, but the Spartans were just 4-8 and concluded the year with a 61-7 drubbing at Penn State Saturday.
The Spartans' season included the firing of Coach Bobby Williams and the revelation of a substance abuse problem by quarterback Jeff Smoker, which led to his suspension.
Rogers continued to put up big numbers, breaking his own school record for receptions in a season with 668. He caught 13 touchdown passes, and had 1,351 receiving yards.
He also established an NCAA record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass with 13.
Hokies lose Lewis for season
BLACKSBURG, Va., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Virginia Tech defensive tackle Kevin Lewis will miss the remainder of the season with a torn chest muscle that will require surgery.
Hokies trainer Mike Goforth Monday said Lewis suffered a torn left pectoralis major muscle. He will undergo surgery the week of Dec. 2.
Lewis attempted to play against in last Wednesday's 21-18 loss to West Virginia, but was hampered by the injury.
Following the procedure, Lewis, a redshirt sophomore from Richmond, Va., will be immobilized for six weeks followed by another six weeks of physical therapy. He will be questionable for spring practice.
Lewis, who has started 11 games this season, has 42 tackles and two sacks this season.
The Hokies lost another defensive tackle to injury last week when Jason Lallis dislocated his shoulder.
