Friday news

Here's what's online from the papers this morning:

The Birmingham (Ala.) News says Samford had to find a running game last night to eek out that 17-10 win over Austin Peay State. The Bulldogs had 136 yards on the ground compared to 114 through the air. Both Samford touchdowns were gained on foot. The Govs got 105 yards on the ground from running back Chris Fletcher.

The Nashville City Paper says Middle Tennessee State looked like "an OVC also-ran" at times in the Blue Raiders' eventual 44-0 rout of old rival Tennessee Tech last night. I-A MTSU managed only a field goal in the first half, but finally picked up steam in the third quarter.

There's no game coverage up yet from the (Cookeville, Tenn.) Herald-Citizen, an afternoon paper. But they ran a couple of items Thursday on the MTSU-TTU rivalry. In one, writer Buddy Pearson makes the classic "Division I" mistake; he writes, "But the Blue Raiders made the jump from I-AA to Division I." I-AA is Division I, Buddy. That's what the "I" in "I-AA" is for. MTSU made the jump to I-A. What's really disappointing is TTU coach Doug Malone makes the same mistake in the other story. He should know better. It's hard to expect anyone else to understand and respect your brand of football if the people running your program can't even get it right. Here's a link to the HC sports section.

The Southeast Missourian gives some ink to SEMO defensive back Romae Rucker, who already has plenty of it. Rucker's body is covered in tatoos, including the Serenity Prayer in large, cursive script accross his chest. He's been getting marked up since he was 13.

The (Nashville) Tennessean examines another I-A transfer making an impact at Tennessee State, former Vanderbilt defensive tackle Lamar Divens. Writer Mike Organ is perhaps a bit off sides is saying skills like Divens' are "seldom seen in Division I-AA football," and that he "belongs on a higher level." I've not seen Divens play, though I'm sure he's good. But there are plenty of quality footballers in I-AA, and I'm left wondering if Organ wants us to feel sorry for Divens for having to play for the likes of TSU, or for TSU for not being worthy of such a skilled player.