College football notes: Ohio State aims to salvage Big Ten's pride

Olympian News Services • Published January 03, 2009

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The Ohio State Buckeyes are carrying the Big Ten's banner — what's left of it.

The Big Ten has lost five of its six bowl games this postseason, and most haven't been close. If the underdog 10th-ranked Buckeyes lose to No. 3 Texas in the Fiesta Bowl on Monday, the conference will have six bowl losses in the same postseason for the first time.

The Big Ten's bowl struggles haven't happened overnight. The league last posted a winning bowl record in 2002, when the Buckeyes stunned No. 1 Miami in the Fiesta Bowl to win the national title and cap a 5-2 postseason for the conference.

Since then, the Big Ten is 15-27 in bowls, including 3-7 in Bowl Championship Series contests.

• McCANN HONORED: Pat McCann, an Olympia High School graduate and a wide receiver for Western Washington, was named third-team NCAA Division II All-American.

McCann was one of four Vikings honored. Running back Randall Eldridge of Lynnwood was a second-team pick, and linebacker Caleb Jessup of Kenmore and center Dan Trask of Aberdeen were third-team picks.

McCann caught 58 passes for 1,057 yards, the seventh-most in school history. Eldridge rushed for 805 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per carry.

Western finished 6-5.

• ORGERON WILL JOIN KIFFIN AT TENNESSEE: New Orleans Saints assistant and former Mississippi coach Ed Orgeron is returning to the Southeastern Conference as part of Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin's staff.

Tennessee announced Friday that Orgeron will work as an assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach.

Orgeron and Kiffin worked together as assistants under USC coach Pete Carroll from 2001 to 2004.

• TWO SANTA ANA PLAYERS CHARGED: Two players at Santa Ana College in California and a friend have been charged with raping and assaulting an 18-year-old woman while she lay unconscious in an Orange County hotel room.

Freshman running back Michael Clemmons, 19, and sophomore wide receiver Luster Lewis, 20, were arrested this week after someone found a 19-minute video the players made of the assault, the Orange County district attorney's office said Friday.

John Paul Foster II, 22, is also accused of helping the players repeatedly rape the victim in July after she passed out at a party at a hotel in Tustin.

The three men each pleaded not guilty to six counts of rape and sexual assault and were being held Friday on $100,000 bail.

• SHORT YARDAGE: Former Miami quarterback Robert Marve is prohibited from transferring to another school within the state of Florida or in the Atlantic Coast Conference, as well as the University of Tennessee and LSU. Marve announced in December that he was leaving Miami. ... Second-year Rice coach David Bailiff, who led the Owls to their first bowl victory in 54 years, said he has agreed in principle to a new five-year contract. The Owls (10-3) beat Western Michigan 38-14 in the Texas Bowl.