Colorado State ended spring practice on Saturday the way it began -- without settling the starting quarterback battle between sophomores D.J. Busch and Bradlee Van Pelt.

"Right now I am looking for suggestions and won't make a call," said coach Sonny Lubick after the Green-Gold scrimmage. "I got excited about one guy and then the other guy came in and I got excited about him. I am looking for suggestions and I might let the media vote."

Both appeared to be dead even in splitting most of the plays in the two-hour controlled scrimmage that included punting, but no kickoffs or field goal attempts.

Busch was 12-for-20 for 140 yards and two touchdowns passing and had a minus-10 yards rushing. The more mobile Van Pelt had a 23-yard run, but two sacks limited him to 12 yards rushing and was 8-for-15 passing for 176 yards.

"We are friends and know we have completely different styles," said Van Felt, a transfer from Michigan State. "Our objective is to lead our offense and lead our team to victory."

Van Pelt directed a 13-play 78-yard scoring drive for the game's first score. Henri Childs finished the drive with a 3-yard run.

Busch came right back with a 9-play, 70-yard drive culminated by a 4-yard TD strike to a diving Joel Dreessen. Busch also had a 22-yard TD pass to Eric Hill, who had 10 catches for 156 yards.

Lubick said that while the quarterback battle will resume in fall drills, he is not against beginning the year with a two quarterback rotation.

"I think that is very possible because both bring something different to the team," Lubick said. "We might change things where we would have a few more plays where Van Pelt can get out and run the football."

April 14: Arthur looks good at Air Force
The Air Force defense got the better of the offense in its first scrimmage of the spring on Saturday. One reason: Jamie Arthur, a 5-foot-10-inch, 220-pound inside linebacker who ended two drives with interceptions, and had a tackle for minus-six yards.

"He's always around the ball," said Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry.

DeBerry compared Arthur to Matt Pommer, the Falcons' inside linebacker who finished second on the team in tackles last year. Arthur is one of several players vying for starting jobs at linebacker. The Falcons lost all four starters at linebacker from last year's 9-3 team.

April 10: At Colorado, less is more
For Colorado this season, less will be more.

The coaching staff has decided the team was overloaded with plays last season, which ended 3-8.

"We've reduced our defensive package by at least half," said defensive coordinator Vince Okruch. "In football vernacular, there was too much thinking going on and not enough reacting."

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said the focus of plays has been narrowed.

"We're a drastically different offense. We're executing at a fairly consistent rate now because we're all more comfortable in it," Watson said.

The change from the so-called West Coast offense should not diminish the team's versatility, he said.

"We took a lot out that we knew was just window dressing and kept the meat-and-potatoes stuff," Watson said.

On defense, Okruch said it was apparent during end-of-season meetings that communication was a problem.

"They needed to know we were just as frustrated as they were," he said.

April 10: Pittburgh's Bryant suspended again
All-American wide receiver Antonio Bryant was suspended from practice Tuesday for the second time this spring for violating team rules. Coach Walt Harris would not specify Bryant's infraction, but said Bryant would not play Saturday in the Blue-Gold game that annually ends spring practice. "It's not about the individual, it's about the team," Harris said.

April 10: Injuries mount at Iowa State
Defensive end Kevin DeRonde broke the fibula in his left leg on Wednesday, becoming the second defensive player to break their leg during spring practices, the Ames Tribune reported Thursday. Sophomore middle linebacker Chris Whitaker broke his right leg during Saturday's scrimmage. Both will miss the rest of spring drills. "It's just one of those things," coach Dan McCarney said. "It's part of the game. We're not out there playing tennis. This is a contact sport."

April 10: Kansas loses four more to injuries
Injuries are adding up for the Kansas football team and last Saturday's scrimmage claimed a few more victims. Senior cornerback Andrew Davison (separated shoulder), senior center Jason Stevenson (high ankle sprain), junior flanker Byron Gasaway (turf toe) and redshirt freshman cornerback Johnny McCoy (broken hand), all will miss the rest of spring, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. "We always get banged up in springtime," coach Terry Allen said. "It was probably an excessive amount for one scrimmage, but that's the luxury of spring ball, the fact that you don't have to play a week later with sprained ankles."

April 10: K-State's Scobey wants the ball
Tailback Josh Scobey, who led all K-State rushers with 865 yards on 197 attempts last season, wants to shoulder even more of the load next fall. Four backs received 50 or more carries and quarterback Jonathan Beasley was the second-leading rusher last year. "I feel like I'm an every-down back and I can take the pounding for four quarters," Scobey said in the Topeka Capital-Journal. "It's something I've always done. I can't justify turning this into a dominant-back system, but that's where I come from. That's my roots." Rod Cartwright is the only returning challenger to Scobey, who logged significant attempts last season.

April 10: Nebraska D-line impresses
Nebraska may have found a future Lombardi Award winner. Freshman defensive lineman Manaia Brown, who entered school in January because of eligibility problems, is showing Nebraksa coaches he was well worth the wait. "Manaia's going to be a man," defensive line coach Jeff Jamrog said of the 6-foot-4, 300-pounder in the Lincoln Journal Star. "He's probably right now the most powerful defensive lineman we have. And he's near the top in terms of quickness."

April 10: Texas A&M offense is developing
A&M:With Babers, a new offense is developing For quarterback Mark Farris, who is coming off a school-record 2,551-yard passing season, this spring has come with more adjustments than he would have liked. He lost two of his main offensive threats in running back Ja'Mar Toombs and recevier Robert Ferguson, and had that topped off with three new offensive assistant coaches. One of them, offensive coordinator Dino Babers, is installing a new offensive system, one learned at the University of Arizona. "It's kind of like starting over," Farris said in the San Antonio Express-News. "It's kind of frustrating at times, but we're coming along." Babers believes the team is grasping the new offense. "I want our offense to be multi-formational and completely unpredictable," he said. "We're off to a great start. It's a learning process, and I don't think the team will get a real feel for it until four or five games into the season. It will take some time, but we're very hopeful."

April 10: Red Raiders enter final week of practices
Red Raiders enter final week of practices Texas Tech completed its third week of spring workouts with a 2½-hour scrimmage Saturday afternoon at the grass practice fields southeast of Jones SBC Stadium. The Red Raiders close spring drills with the annual Red-Black Game on Saturday. "The defense played well. They gave a tremendous effort," coach Mike Leach said. "The offense played in spurts. We need to be more consistent as a team. "We traded blows the last two scrimmages. The offense last week, the defense this week." The Red Raider defense posted eight sacks on the day and picked off three passes. Quarterback Kliff Kingsbury completed 21-of-35 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown.

April 10: Miami pleased with workouts
The Hurricanes worked through a rugged two-hour football practice Tuesday afternoon with the focal point of the practice centering on extensive fundamentals with some scrimmaging at the end. "Ideally, you end the spring with the scrimmage we had last Saturday because it is usually tough to keep everyone's concentration when you just have two practices in a final week, but I'm happy with the way we came out and worked today," coach Larry Coker said.

April 5: So. Miss' Kelly breaks thumb
Southern Mississippi quarterback Jeff Kelly broke the thumb on his throwing hand during the Golden Eagles' spring game Saturday.

Kelly, a two-year starter, will wear a cast on his right hand for 4-6 weeks and should be completely healed by mid-May, coach Jeff Bower said.

The injury occurred when Kelly was attempting to make a tackle after throwing an interception.

Kelly, a senior who is slated to start this season, threw for 2,381 yards and 15 TDs last season and was the MVP of the Golden Eagles' Mobile Bowl victory.

April 5: Thomas ready to roll at UNLV
UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas, who had a stress fracture in his right foot since January, is healthy and working out with the team during spring practices, the Las Vegas Sun reported on Thursday. Thomas is expected to play in Saturday's scrimmage.

"He's doing great," coach John Robinson said. "He has twice as much focus on detail now. And his foot is improved. We don't even think about it anymore."

The scrimmage will be an interactive affair, with Robinson doing interviews during the game, ala the XFL's Las Vegas Outlaws. "We'll go at least 50 plays I'd say," Robinson said. "It'll give the fans a chance to meet the players and watch the action close up. It should be a fun day."

April 5: McCoy leaving Texas Tech
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Defensive end Zeno McCoy has left the Texas Tech football team for personal reasons.

Coaches said McCoy, a junior, won't return to the team in the fall, the Lubbock Avalance-Journal reported Thursday.

McCoy was replaced Monday as first-team defensive end by Josh Ratliff, a junior college transfer from Butte College in California. McCoy suffered a mild knee sprain Saturday. He said he was upset at being replaced but didn't list that as his main reason for leaving.

"Football just wasn't fun for me here any more," McCoy said. "I just didn't like the system they've set up here."

He disagreed with a team policy that forces players to run after practice for not taking their daily vitamin supplements. The system was instituted last year in Mike Leach's first year as coach.

"He never did anything except hustle for me personally," said Greg McMackin, Tech's defensive coordinator. "I wish him luck. There were personal things he wants to take care of, and he's going to go a different direction."

April 5: Tigers learning the 'Pinkel way'
Missouri's football players are learning quickly that new coach Gary Pinkel means business. Pinkel's unpredictability and demand for the utmost of effort from every single player has gotten the attention of the Tigers' returnees for 2001.

"You really don't want to test coach Pinkel," running back Zain Gilmore said in the Kansas City Star. "He's demanding that we work hard every day instead of just sometimes." Darius Outlaw, who is competing with Kirk Farmer for the starting quarterback position, said Pinkel is a firm believer in the "team" game.

"Coaches don't talk to you about who is going to be the starting quarterback, who is starting now, or about how many reps you're getting," Outlaw said. "You're not just an individual." Farmer agreed. "He always states that the team is above him and all of us," Farmer said.

April 5: Pesavento staking claim to Buffs starting job
Quarterback Bobby Pesavento, who started three of the first four games for Colorado last season, is taking full opportunity now that sophomore quarterback Craig Ochs has been declared out the rest of spring practices with a sprained ankle. Pesavento completed 18-of-25 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns during Wednesday's scrimmage.

"I felt comfortable running the first unit. I haven't done that in a while," Pesavento told the Denver Post. "As an individual player I'm much better than last spring. I've never seen the team so crisp on offense. My role is being behind Craig and with him down, I have to do what I have to do to step up. I think I can be a starting quarterback."

April 5: Nebraska line gets overhaul
Nebraska will feature three new linemen, all from center on over to the right, next season. Most notably, the Cornhuskers have to replace All-American center Dominic Raiola, who left early for the NFL draft. Coach Frank Solich likes what he's seen so far from the players hoping to fill the line positions. "They're aggressive guys," Solich said in the Grand Island Independent. "I think that they have made good progress early on. We're happy with the way they've developed so far. They've got to keep coming, of course." Jon Dawson and Jon Rutherford, both expected to start next fall, suffered injuries this spring allowing others to show what they have.

April 5: Arkansas defensive line shines in scrimmage
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Arkansas' defensive front dominated a short-yardage scrimmage on Thursday.

"The defense in that last drill really made a great stand," coach Houston Nutt said. "Curt Davis, Jermaine Brooks, Carlos Hall and that front really made a good surge. Caleb Miller, Shane Collins and Jermaine Petty just keep making improvement each day, as well as Gavin Walls. Walls has turned our heads a little each day. Some of them still have a lot to learn but they are getting better."

Davis, a senior nose guard, and Hall, a senior end, both started last season, but the others are trying to crack the lineup for the first time. Miller, Collins, Petty and Walls are linebackers while Brooks is a tackle. Collins redshirted last year and Walls is a mid-year transfer from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.

The Razorbacks practice Friday and conclude spring drills with a Saturday scrimmage at Razorback stadium.