College Football Weekly Notes

-Courtesy of the National Football Foundation


On-Campus Salutes of the Season Slated for This Weekend

2007 College Football Hall of Famers Chris Zorich of Notre Dame and Jeff Davis of Clemson will be honored at On- Campus Salutes this weekend.

Zorich, a consensus All-America in 1989 and a unanimous All-America pick the following season, will be honored on Saturday, Sept. 1, as the Fighting Irish open up their season against Georgia Tech. The game, which starts at 3:30 p.m. ET, will be aired on NBC.

Instrumental in helping the Irish to the 1988 National Championship, the Chicago native amassed 219 career tackles and led ND to four bowl game appearances. He also received Orange Bowl MVP recognition in 1990.

Captain of Clemson's only National Championship team, Davis becomes the third Tiger inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He will be honored during the Clemson-Florida State match-up on Monday, Sept. 3, at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Davis led a Tiger defense that forced a school-record 41 turnovers. He accumulated 175 tackles in 1981 en route to being named the ACC Player of the Year. He finished his collegiate career with 469 tackles and was also named MVP of the 1982 Orange Bowl.

The entire 2007 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be honored on Tues., Dec. 4, during the NFF's Annual Awards Dinner at the prestigious Waldorf=Astoria in New York City.


College Football Kicks Off

College football kicked off in earnest last week with nine NCAA Division II-III and NAIA contests from Thursday-Saturday. Most national teams join these early starters Thursday-Monday, Aug. 30-Sept. 3.

There are 620 colleges and universities competing in NCAA football for 2007, an increase of four from 2006. The new NCAA '07 participants are Birmingham Southern (Ala.), Gallaudet (D.C.), St. Vincent's (Pa.) and UNC-Pembroke. In 2006, NCAA Football attendance was 47.9 million for 616 schools, which topped the previous record in 2003 (46.2 million) by 1.7 million fans. FBS squads also snapped the home attendance average mark of 46,039 in 2005 with an average of 46,249 last season. Bowl attendance for 32 postseason FBS contests was 1.7 million with a 53,000 standard. The NCAA Division I Football Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn., was above stadium capacity with 21,000 on hand.


NFF News

The first of seven "Football Fridays" and "Game Day Saturdays" at the NFF College Hall of Fame occurs this weekend when Georgia Tech comes to South Bend. Special events include extended hours at the Hall on Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.; and Sunday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

The Georgia Tech-Notre Dame events' schedule at the Hall includes Football Friday from 6-11 a.m. with live interviews and commentary from AM 790-The Zone Atlanta sports talk radio; a 2:30-3:30 p.m. autograph session with 2008 inductee Chris Zorich of Notre Dame; and a 7-10 p.m. Football Fridays tent party in downtown South Bend with live music, food, beverages and giveaways. Game Day Saturday features a 1-2 p.m. live concert by the Georgia Tech marching band on the Hall of Fame gridiron and Hall of Fame tours and special new exhibits throughout Saturday and Sunday. For more information on events at the Hall of Fame during 2007 football weekends, call 574-235-9999 or visit www.collegefootball.org.

The NFF San Bernardino County Chapter held its annual College and High School Football Media Day last Thursday at Colton (Calif.) HS. Coaches from around the area addressed the news media along with one student-athlete from each college and high school. Former UTEP PK Hugo Castellanos of Snap, Hold & Kick mentioned the top kicking prospects in the area, and the chapter held a briefing about the Jan. 2008 California Interscholastic Federation Empire Vs. Orange County/San Diego County All-Star game, which has been an annual project of the San Bernardino County Chapter for several years.

The NFF Auburn (Ala.) Chapter held its annual membership barbecue earlier this month and had a special address by Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville before 80 members... College Football Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer also made a surprise visit to the NFF offices in Irving, Texas, last week.


Two-Minute Drill

Florida State will participate in honoring severely wounded war veterans while working with the national Wounded Warriors program when the Seminoles host Duke on Oct. 27. All past and present members of the military also can purchase reduced rate tickets for the game... Florida has introduced programs where $1 million contributors can spend a day with head coach Urban Meyer and his staff, eat a meal at Meyer's home or even run onto the field with the team at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium... Richmond football student-athletes and competitors from other Spiders' teams helped incoming freshmen and their parents move into dorm rooms last Wednesday in what has become a traditional assistance day. Rice and LaSalle gridders also helped freshmen and families move into dorms in recent days... UC Davis head coach Fred Arp has announced his retirement at the end of the '07 outing... Nearly 500 Oklahoma student- athletes recited the Sooner Oath on Aug. 22 to pledge to be of good standing in the community and responsible to others on and off campus. NFF College Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer and OU president David Boren were special guests at the ceremony... 59-year-old Mike Flynt, a longtime personal trainer, fitness expert and grandfather has made the 2007 Sul Ross State (Texas) squad... Baylor tri-captain Joe Pawelek spent portions of his summer organizing football team participation in Habitat for Humanity home building and Neighbor-Works Waco (Texas) improvement projects... Western Kentucky has contracted with Russell Athletic for team uniforms and other apparel through 2012... Maine will open the 2008 season at Iowa... Katherine Foust of Texas A&M has been elected queen of the 2007 Brut Sun Bowl in El Paso... NCAA Football has set up new marketing resource links for members at www.NCAAFootball.com.

Ten FBS members will display new helmet designs for 2007. They are Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Texas, Rice, Syracuse, Temple, and UCF... Kansas State will delete its two stripes on each sleeve and go with a triangular pattern near shoulder pads on its newly-designed jerseys... Iowa State has a link on its official Web site (www.iastate.edu) for fans to vote on three possibilities for its 2008 football helmet logo.

Miami (Fla.) will play its home games at Dolphin Stadium in 2008 after competing at Orange Bowl Stadium from 1937-2007. The Hurricanes inked a 25-year lease at Dolphin Stadium from 2008-32 after winning five national titles and an NCAA-longest 58-game home winning streak at the Orange Bowl... Washington State's first phase of a $47 million renovation at Martin Stadium is on schedule for the '07 opener... Missouri is installing FieldTurf at its Daniel J. Devine Indoor Practice Facility... Rutgers 2007 season ticket demands have helped the university start making preliminary plans to expand its 42,000-seat stadium to 54,000 with luxury boxes in time for the 2009 season... The City of Carbondale passed a half-cent sales tax increase to help provide $20 million for football and other athletics facilities at Southern Illinois... Nevada will begin its Pack Town and Wolfpack Alley attractions north of Mackay Stadium to foster new pre-game fan enthusiasm... North Carolina is shifting part of its student seating into "The Tar Pit" for additional atmosphere and noise... East Carolina has sold out its 22,000 season tickets' allotment... Iowa State has topped its 2006 season ticket sales by 56 percent through Aug. 24 - from 22,400 to 35,076.

SMU brothers and student-athletes Don, Lance and Lott McIlhenny joined AT&T Cotton Bowl Fox TV voice Pat Summerall as featured speakers at the SMU Football Kickoff Luncheon in Dallas... Rutgers RB and 2007 Heisman Trophy candidate Ray Rice is being featured in Times Square in New York on the Astrovision Panasonic message board in a "See Ray Run" video clip... ESPN is producing a "25 Hours of College Football Presented by TiVo" on Wednesday- Thursday prior to its Thursday night opener when LSU travels to Mississippi State. Host Rece Davis, a former quarterback at Muscle Shoals (Ala.) HS, will be bedecked in a tuxedo, and Hawaii will be featured in a live practice at 3 a.m. (EDT)/9 p.m. (HDT) Thursday along with live blogs and other activities... ESPNU, Disney and Time Warner have agreed to terms on distribution areas, which will increase ESPNU's viewing capacity to 20 million homes... HBO Sports will broadcast a documentary on the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry on Nov. 13... The Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-10, and Southeastern Conferences have partnered with XM Radio for all satellite broadcasts of all their members' contests this year on XM Channels 144, 193-203... The NFL Network's "College Football Now" program will include bloggers assigned to specific teams. It's the network's first show totally devoted to college football coverage... Southlake (Texas) Carroll HS meets Northwestern (Miami, Fla.) on Sept. 15 at SMU's Ownby Stadium on ESPNU in a bout of USA TODAY's no. 1 and no. 2 nationally ranked high school squads. It's part of a 22-game slate of nationally- televised cable games on ESPN networks and FSN in '07... Retired coaching veteran Sam Wyche will be analyst on six Southern Conference telecasts in '07... Lowell Galindo has replaced Mike Hall (who moved to The Big Ten Network) as signature anchor on ESPNU... Mike Stowell has been named sideline commentator for Tennessee radio broadcasts... Midwestern State (Texas) has launched a new athletics' Web site, which highlights Midwestern's new mascot, the Mustang, and new logo... Ouachita (Ark.) has expanded its radio network with new outlets in Arkansas cities El Dorado, Magnolia, and Hot Springs... SoonerSports.com released the first of its weekly Webcast journals by selected Oklahoma players last week.

NFF Hall of Fame coach Darrell Royal and former Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe will receive the History Making Texan Award from the Texas State History Museum Foundation at a banquet in Austin on Mar. 3, 2008... A statue of NFF Hall of Fame member Ernie Davis of Syracuse will be unveiled at halftime of the SU-Washington game Friday at the Carrier Dome. The statue later will be moved to a special campus location... 1979 NFF Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Lattner of Notre Dame had his Chicago (Ill.) Fenwick High School number (34) retired in a ceremony last Sunday at Soldier Field. He is the first FHS player ever to have a uniform number retired... Phil and Penny Knight have pledged $100 million to Oregon athletics - the largest private donor gift in school history... Former Texas Tech LB and State Rep. Rob Junell (1966-68) will receive the school's Heritage Award for football at Tech's Athletic Hall of Honor ceremonies in October... Ohio State and NFL standout Alonzo Spellman had the second of a series of Alonzo Spellman Defensive Lineman/Linebackers Academies in Tulsa, Okla., last Sunday.

Ronnie Andrews, 41, son of longtime Florida State assistant head coach Mickey Andrews, died on Aug. 19 in Killearn Estates, Fla... Longtime New Hampshire administrator and coach Gerry Friel, 64, died last Tuesday... Herman Mitchell, 17, who had committed orally to Oklahoma for 2008 and who starred at Spring (Texas) Westfield HS, died last Friday in Houston.