Wednesday news

Here's what's up this morning.

First the bad news. It's real bad, and it's all coming from Tennessee State. The (Nashville) Tennessean says Tennessee State offensive lineman James Bell was arrested in class Tuesday morning by Nashville police. He is charged by aouthrities in his native Osceola County, Fla., of armed robbery with a firearm, two counts of attempted murder, armed carjacking, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, two counts of grand theft with a firearm, and grand theft. The crimes allegedly occured June 25. Bell, an 18-year-old freshman, has played in all three of the Tigers' games this season.

As if that wasn't bad enough, The Tennessean says it appears TSU receiver Mike Mason is out for the season following a posterior cruciate ligament injury in his knee in last week's game against Jackson State. The North Carolina transfer was expected to help spark the Tigers' offense this season.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier says both Samford and Eastern Illinois will be a bit unsettled going into Saturday's contest between the teams. Samford starter Jefferson Adcock was pulled from Saturday's game against Austin Peay after an 0-5 start, in favor of Dante Williams, who's listed as the starter for this week. EIU's Mike Donato hasn't lost his job yet, but coach Murk Hutson says he'll have to do better than the three interceptions he threw in Saturday's loss to Illinois State. The paper also says the OVC is touting the fact that three league teams are ranked in The Sports Network's top 25 this week; EIU is #20, Eastern Kentucky is #24 and Jacksonville State is #25.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) says JSU coach Jack Crowe has loads of respect for the defense of his opponent this week, UT-Martin. The Gamecocks and Skyhawks have posted the best defensive statistics in the league so far this year. In the paper's weekly list for the Gamecocks, The Star said JSU must move the ball well, score when they're in the red zone and bottle up both UT-Martin quarterbacks to win the game.

The Sutheast Missouiran takes note of the fact that JSU's 38-7 rout of SEMO on Saturday got the Gamecocks into the top 25 this week, as part of the paper's weekly OVC roundup.