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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

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.

 
   
Wednesday, Oct. 7

Steve Spurrier finally got religion and fessed up that a two-quarterback system isn't going to work. We all know that it really doesn't work in the long run and over the course of the season we're starting to see more and more coaches acknowledge that.

Arizona has two good quarterbacks, and both are getting playing time, but even Dick Tomey has said he will stay with the quarterback with the hot hand. No more shuttling quarterbacks in and out.

And in the final analysis, everyone comes to that conclusion: You have to have a leader at that spot to win. It's a nice experiment, but the teams that will finish in the top 10 aren't going to use that system.

 

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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