College Football weekly news and notes

-Courtesy of the National Football Foundation

Hall of Famer Holovak Dies at 88

College Football Hall of Famer Mike Holovak, 88, died in Ruskin, Fla., last weekend after legendary college and pro football playing and coaching careers. He signed with Hall of Fame coach Frank Leahy and starred as a running back at Boston College. As senior co-captain in '42, he ranked second in the nation in rushing and received consensus All-America honors. He set records in the 1943 Orange Bowl for touchdowns (three) and average yards per carry (15.0) against Alabama. Holovak served in the Navy during World War II and later played professionally with the Los Angeles Rams and the Chicago Bears. Holovak returned to BC as head coach from 1951-59. He was coach of the New England Patriots from 1961- 68 and was later general manager of the Houston Oilers. He was a special assignment scout for several years before retiring in Florida.

Bowl Game Notes

With more than 1.7 million combined fans attending a bowl game and close to another combined 129 million households tuning in to watch the bowl games on television, bowl payouts ran an estimated $225 million in 2007-08 and have totaled $1.6 billion over the last nine seasons. Over the next ten years, bowls are projected to pay $2.4 billion to participating teams and conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Final attendance for all bowls in '07-08 was 1,733,499 for a game average of 54,172. Of the 64 teams competing, 28 sold out their allotment of tickets, 11 bowls sported record attendance figures, eight postseason games drew 65,000-plus fans, and eight bowls were proclaimed sellouts within 24 hours of their matchup announcements.

NFF News

Indiana head coach Bill Lynch will be the featured speaker at the NFF Central Indiana Chapter Scholar-Athlete Banquet on Feb. 23 at the Indianapolis Colts Complex. Jane Hoeppner, widow of late IU head coach Terry Hoeppner, also will participate in the festivities.

The 37th James Fitzpatrick Trophy Dinner was held on Jan. 20 in Portland, Maine, by the NFF Maine Chapter. It included the Fitzpatrick Trophy for Maine's top high school player - Jack Hersom of Lawrence High School.

Syracuse senior Dowayne Davis and former Orange football standout John C. Cherundolo were honored at the NFF Central New York Chapter banquet last Sunday at the Turning Stone in Verona, N.Y. Davis was the chapter's Scholar Athlete of the Year, and Cherundolo received the Distinguished American Award for civic presence in the community.

Members of the College Football Hall of Fame staff are taking on new titles under new executive director Lisa Malin. The new titles include: Katie Berrettini, Assistant Director, Marketing & Development; Kent Stephens, Museum Curator & Historian; Richard Allen, Multimedia & IT Manager; and Patti Glascoe, Financial Services Manager.

Two-Minute Drill

Miami (Fla.) has most players on combined rosters of Super Bowl XLII participants New England and New York with seven while Arizona, Marshall and Michigan sport five alumni each on the two squads... USF will play at Notre Dame in 2011 for their first-ever meeting. The Fighting Irish will begin playing three Big East Conference schools annually on the gridiron beginning in '11... Florida Atlantic has seen a significant rise in individual giving and anticipation for the 2008 season ticket drive after winning both the Sun Belt Conference crown and R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl last year... Boston College QB Matt Ryan has won the coveted 2008 Manning Trophy presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl... Recently retired Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak will be inducted into the 2008 Miami (Ohio) Athletics Hall of Fame.

Over 50,000 fans gathered for a commemorative final flag football event last Saturday at the historic Orange Bowl, which will be demolished later this year after 71 years of usage. The Hurricanes' alumni and former Miami Dolphins competed in the flag football contest, coached by Pro Football Hall of Famer Don Shula (John Carroll)... Tennessee recently dedicated its Pratt Pavilion athletics facility - made possible by 342 individual contributions... Wittenberg dedicated the Pam Evans Smith Arena and Healthy Physical Education and Recreation Complex in Springfield, Ohio, last week.

Blaine Bennett was selected as head coach at Central Washington... Mike London has taken over the top coaching post at Richmond... Frank Hood was named head coach at Eastern Kentucky... Mike Kelly is retiring after 27 seasons as Dayton's head coach and the fourth-highest winning percentage (.819, 246-54-1) among all- division college head football coaches with 25 seasons of experience. Defensive coordinator Rick Chamberlin has replaced Kelly... Sacramento State head coach Marshall Sperbeck has signed a contract extension through 2012... Temple tabbed Mark D'Onofrio as assistant head coach... Colorado State named Greg Peterson offensive coordinator... Jeff Mullen is headed to West Virginia as the Mountaineers' new offensive coordinator... South Carolina named Ellis Johnson as defensive coordinator... Ruffin McNeill officially has been tabbed as Texas Tech's defensive coordinator after serving as interim DC since midseason 2007... Gary DeLoach is returning to North Texas as defensive coordinator, a post he previously held with the Eagles from 1998- 02.

Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White is the new director of the Sports Management Institute, the executive management program for sports management professionals... Northern Iowa director of athletics Rick Hartzell has resigned effective July 31, 2008, and will end a nine-year tenure with the Panthers... Florida State selected Bill Shults as head of the athletics academic support program.

Bowling Green's official athletics Web site is promoting "Listen Up" - a new online audio service for BGSU fans... FSN Southwest and selected regional Comcast Sports outlets aired a 30- minute recap last Saturday and interview highlights from the 2008 Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award banquet... East Carolina has inked a three-year agreement with WNCT-FM Radio in Greenville, N.C., as football network flagship station... San Francisco has retained J.P. Holland Sports Properties as its official marketing firm.

The Davey O'Brien Foundation has named Jack Squiers of Cistercian Preparatory School in Irving, Texas, as the recipient of the 2007 Davey O'Brien High School Scholarship. The Foundation presents a $20,000 scholarship to an outstanding senior student-athlete in the North Texas area and $1,000 scholarships to each of three other finalists. The recipient is chosen on the basis of scholastic achievements, community service, character, leadership and varsity sports participation.

Former Huntington (Ind.) director of athletics Richard Klopfenstein, 85, died.