Monday’s Chalktalk

NFF Contacts:

Phil Marwill, director of communications
1-800-486-1865, ext. 118
Mobile: 917-579-4256

Hillary Jeffries, special projects assistant
1-800-486-1865, ext. 123

Bo Carter, correspondent
Mobile: 214-418-6132

News and Notes From Around College Football for Oct. 2, 2006


Eller On-Campus Salute Slated for Oct. 7 Minnesota- Penn St. Game

Carl Eller, the legendary defensive tackle for the Golden Gophers from 1961-63, will receive a National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame On- Campus Salute this Saturday, Oct. 7 during the Minnesota-Penn State game. Kickoff is set for 12:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. CT in the H.H.H. Metrodome in Minneapolis. During the salute, the National Football Foundation will present a Hall of Fame plaque to the University of Minnesota commemorating Eller’s All- America career. Eller will receive his formal induction into the Hall of Fame Dec. 5 at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City. After a senior year when he earned consensus First Team All-America honors and invitations to play in multiple all-star games, Eller became the Minnesota Vikings first round draft pick in 1964. His NFL career would span 15 years as a member of the feared Purple People Eaters, and it would culminate with his 2004 induction in to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Eller will become the 99th man inducted into both the college and pro halls of fame.


Celebrating 100 Years Gator Style


As part of Florida's 100-year celebration of Gator Football, the university unveiled the Florida Football Ring of Honor prior to last Saturday’s game against Alabama. Incoming College Football Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, Hall of Fame quarterback and current South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, Draddy Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel, and Hall of Fame defensive end Jack Youngblood have their names displayed on the North End Zone façade, as part of the first class of inductees. The announcement was made the night before at the Gator Gala fundraiser, which raised $6.1 million toward the athletics department's endowment fund. Gator Boosters already have raised $35 million towards the goal of $65 million, which would endow all of the athletics scholarships. . . The 100-year celebration also had the Gators wearing throwback uniforms. The white helmets were from 1966 and blue jerseys from 1967. The white helmets will be presented as gifts to those who purchased the tables at the Gala. Over one hundred tables were purchased at $50,000 a table. . .A crowd of 90,671 registered the third largest in school history as Florida won their 12th home game in a row. . .


Two-Minute Drill


The nation’s longest winning streak now belongs to Ohio State with 12 victories in a row, after TCU fell to BYU. . . Missouri is 5-0 for the first time since 1981. . . San Jose State (3-1) is off their best start in 20 years. . . Iowa State’s victory over Northern Iowa drew the largest crowd in school history (55,518). . . USC has won 18 straight road games. . .Clemson had three 100 yard rushers in a game for the first time since 1982. . .Northern Illinois running back Garrett Wolfe ran for 353 yards in the Huskies’ win over Ball State. . .The Louisville- West Virginia encounter on Nov. 2 has been designated as “Black Out Thursday” with Cardinals’ supporters anticipating wearing UL-issued black spirit T- shirts. . . Houston’s Kevin Kolb is the fourth quarterback in Conference USA history to throw for 10,000 career yards. . . With Nebraska's win over Kansas the Cornhuskers are now are 20-0 against unranked teams in night games and 5-0 all-time in overtime outings. . . Georgia Tech was named the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl team of the week. . .Williams College (Mass.) ended Trinity College’s (Conn.) 31 game winning streak, terminating the nation’s longest run for all divisions.

Pomp and circumstance abound this week in Dallas with more than a dozen events slated to celebrate one of college football’s most storied rivalries as Texas and Oklahoma prepare for the 101st Red River Shootout this Saturday. Sooner and Longhorn fans alike will have their pick of breakfasts, lunches, golf tournaments, dances, happy hours, fan festivals, tailgate parties and more. . . A new massive video board, measuring 83 feet wide and 57 feet tall, will also be ready in the south end zone of the Cotton Bowl as part of a $20 million state-of-the-art sound system. . . Before Oklahoma and Texas started their 1929-06 annual AT&T Red River Classic 77 years ago, the Longhorns and Vanderbilt played seven games in Dallas from 1921-1923 and 1926-28 during the State Fair of Texas. . . The Texas-Oklahoma rivalry is the subject of a new book, “Runnin' With The Big Dogs,” written by Mike Shropshire.

Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Bowden has edged six games ahead of Hall of Fame inductee Joe Paterno (363 to 357 victories) in total college triumphs as the two active coaches continue their foray into the NCAA Division I-A record books as No. 1 and No. 2 for all-time wins by a head coach. . .Augsburg College head coach Frank Haege formerly guided four Arena Football League 2 teams to playoff berths in five seasons before becoming the Auggies’ leader in 2005. . .

Former San Jose State player and coach Claude Gilbert was inducted into the school's Spartan Stadium Ring of Honor. . .1960 Mustangs football team was inducted into the Cal Poly Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 29. Sixteen members of the 1960 team and several other supporters died tragically in an Oct. 29, 1960 plane crash in Toledo, Ohio. The school also dedicated 18 pillars at the Mustang Memorial Plaza as part of the new entrance to the Alex G. Spanos Stadium and as part of the tribute to the team. . . LSU alumnus and current New England Patriot defensive end Jarvis Green received the team's Ron Burton Community Service Award (Ron Burton, a 1990 inductee into College Football Hall of Fame from Northwestern, became famous for his passion for youth development). . .West Virginia and Hall of Fame coach Don Nehlen was a guest speaker at West Virginia Tech as part of the school's Department of Physical Education's Guest Lecture series. West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin was on hand to present the coach with a certificate commemorating the day. . . Former Virginia stars Ronde and Tiki Barber made a $1 million gift to the university. Tiki won a coveted NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award in 1996. . . Former Florida State running back Warrick Dunn will host the Wash-n-Wear Fashion Show; Where Football and Fashion Collide on October 9th in Atlanta, Ga.

The Daniels Fund of Denver, Colo., will provide financial support for three high schools in Denver and Cheyenne, Wyo., to participate in Play It Smart, the NFF’s highly successful mentoring program targeted at student-athletes in underserved communities. . .

The University of Phoenix has bought the naming rights to the new football stadium in Glendale, Ariz. - home to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and Tostitos BCS National Championship Game. . . The Indiana Board of Trustees unanimously approved a $55 million plan to improve several athletics facilities, including construction of a four-story building that will enclose the north end zone of Memorial Stadium. . .Ohio State will have a new bluegrass playing surface when the Buckeyes take the field at Ohio Stadium on October 7 against Bowling Green. . . Michigan State received a $5 million donation from alumni Robert and Julie Skandalaris to aid in the Duffy Daugherty Football Building expansion project. Coach Duffy Daugherty earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984. . . Drake dedicated its football field in honor of the late Johnny Bright, a 1984 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame. Johnny Bright Field at Drake Stadium was officially named prior to the Bulldogs’ game Saturday with Morehead State. . . Cerritos College (Calif.) has made $3.5 million in improvements to its football field and track. . . For the first time in 30 years, Notre Dame will make an additional 5,000 season tickets available beginning next season. . .

Maryland and CSTV have created Maryland All- Access, a new broadband channel, that offers exclusive Terrapin content. . .Football Writers Association of America is accepting nominations for the Volney Meece Scholarship, annually awarded to a daughter or son of an FWAA member. . . CSTV's Field of Dreams Foundation presented a check for $109,175 to the NFL YET Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Louisiana during Tulane's home game against SMU. . . Texas coach Mack Brown is featured on Tuesday’s “Friday Night Lights” on NBC in a cameo role as a high school football booster. . .NBC Universal Sports and Olympics chairman Dick Ebersol and NBC Universal Sports president Ken Schanzer each were presented with an honorary monogram from the Notre Dame Monogram Club. . .Cingular Wireless debuted its exclusive video content dedicated to the Southeastern Conference. . . Champs Sports extended their title sponsorship of the Champs Sports Bowl for another two years. . . Former Ouachita Baptist great Cliff Harris has written a book chronicling his career with the Dallas Cowboys called "Captain Crash and the Dallas Cowboys"

NAIA named Jim Carr President and CEO. . .Florida Citrus Sports selected Greg Creese Senior Director of Communications. . . Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi signed a three-year contract extension. . .Rice defensive back Dale Lloyd passed away Sept. 25 at age 19. . .


With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy presented by HealthSouth and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, the NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College (Mass.), the NFL-NFF Coaching Academy, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes.

For more information, please visit us on the web at www.footb allfoundation.com

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Hillary Jeffries
phone: 973-829-1933
web: http://www.footballfoundation.com/