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| Wednesday, October 7 Updated: October 8, 4:39 PM ET A tribute to teammates By Gene Wojciechowski From ESPN SportsCenter's Extra Points |
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It is being called the single most important play in University of Arizona football history. You've seen it: Quarterback Ortege Jenkins does a Kerri Strug and somersaults his way to a game-winning touchdown.
But guess who got the game ball? Not Jenkins. Instead, Wildcats coach Dick Tomey awarded game balls to two guys who weren't even in the stadium. One went to cornerback Leland Gayles, who suffered a cervical sprain during Saturday's game and spent the next three nights in a Seattle hospital. The other went to Chris McAlister, the All-American cornerback who was a late scratch because of a one-game NCAA suspension. By the way, Gayles is recovering nicely and McAlister will be eligible for Saturday's game. Tee-ing off on the Vols Four games into the season and Tennessee's starting wide receivers have about half the number of catches, yardage and touchdowns they had this time a year ago. Here's the problem: teams aren't convinced first-year starter Tee Martin can beat them with the pass. He's only averaging about nine completions per game, which means defenses are loading up on the run. One Auburn linebacker told me Martin seemed tentative and panicky. A Tiger cornerback chimed in, "I'd rather face Tee Martin than Peyton Manning any day." Sounding like a broken record The second busiest person at Texas last Saturday was whoever had to keep track of NCAA records. The Longhorns tied or broke 15 of them including seven by Ricky Williams. Williams also scored points off the field. In honor of the legendary Doak Walker, who died last week, Williams will switch jersey numbers Saturday from No. 34 to No. 37, Walker's old number. Later to one of the Gators The idea of tag-team Florida quarterbacks sounded good at the time. First Jesse Palmer. Then Doug Johnson. Palmer. Johnson. But the truth is that Steve Spurrier was never sold on the idea. Florida insiders say he kept waiting for Palmer or Johnson to win the job outright, but it never happened. So Spurrier put on the happy face and tried to make it work. Not any more. This week against LSU, Spurrier picked Palmer as his starter, and he says he's sticking with him.
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