Making the morning rounds.• Another day, another blast from the past. Fox Sports' Thayer Evans, citing an anonymous source at Florida, reports this morning that current Auburn quarterback Cameron Newton's much-dissected exit from Gainesville in late 2008 was motivated by multiple academic cheating charges, including cheating in class, putting his name on another student's paper and turning in a paper from the Internet.
Faced with a possible suspension or expulsion for violating the university's academic honor code – along with a recent arrest for tossing a stolen laptop out of a window, another season behind Tim Tebow and an apparent demotion behind John Brantley on the Gator depth chart – Newton decided to transfer to a junior college before facing Florida's Student Conduct Committee. Newton's father, who told Sports Illustrated last month that Cam decided to transfer when he heard Tebow's announcement to return for his senior season, told Evans, "I wasn't there. I cannot confirm or deny."
All of which appears to be ancient history, with no consequences on Newton's future at Auburn. But given that Evans has already enraged Auburn fans by calling on Heisman voters to reject Newton in the wake of an NCAA investigation into his recruitment out of junior college, he might want to hire some security the next time he's around the Plains. [Fox Sports]
• Elsewhere in media saturation... Newton is actually on the cover of the upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated for the first time (along with TCU's Andy Dalton and Oregon's LaMichael James), to illustrate another anti-BCS broadside by Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel, whose 16-team playoff plan and latest book, Death to the BCS, have made him the nation's go-to BCS hater. [al.com]
• It's gotta be the signs. Following Oregon's lead, Nebraska is the latest team to signal plays via inscrutable picture boards, breaking out signs at Iowa State Saturday that included images of a zebra, Larry the Cable Guy, the "Ghostbusters" logo, a slice of pizza and Shrek, among other things. Considering the Cornhuskers were held to 24 points in regulation and had to go to overtime to put the Cyclones away, this trend may have hit a speed bump. [Lincoln Journal Star]
• Bloody Boo. Ohio U. quarterback Boo Jackson (actual first name: Franshaw) is listed as "questionable" for the Bobcats' next game – a Nov. 16 visit to Temple that could decide the MAC's East Division – after reportedly being knocked unconscious in a bar fight on Friday night. According to police, the fight apparently began when "several members of the football team attempted to rush the south door of the bar in an effort to gain entrance for one or more people who were either underage or had no identification." Jackson was bleeding but alert and talking by the time an ambulance arrived. No charges have been filed. [Athens News]
• One for all, and all for one. TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte said the Horned Frogs, primary targets of the expansion-minded Big East, won't make the move unless it applies to all sports, not just football: "We're an athletic department," Del Conte told the Sporting News. "Whatever endeavor we do, you're united as one. That's who we are. That's how we always compete." [The Sporting News]
Quickly... Rivals releases its revised list of the nation's top 100 recruits for 2011, with a few new faces. ... Another argument against the letter of intent. ... UConn defensive end Marcus Campbell, already out for the season with a torn ACL, was arrested and suspended last week for allegedly stealing a backpack containing a laptop. ... Arizona State punter Trevor Hankins didn't play at USC because of a DUI arrest. ... The play that won the game for Cal at Washington State. ... The Les Miles hand clap song. ... An Idaho running back calls Boise State's president "a blue and orange snot." ... And a few suggestions for replacing Dan Hawkins at Colorado.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Mickael Maschio Connor McGechan Jeremy McGrath Andrew McFarlane Brett Metcalfe
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