Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL ó The football career of North Carolina’s leading tackler is likely over.
School officials said Tuesday that linebacker and team captain Mark Paschal suffered a cervical spine injury last week against N.C. State.
Paschal had an MRI on Sunday. After reviewing the results, the school’s doctors recommended that he quit playing football because of the risk of further injury. He is expected to make a full recovery.
“Mark has had a terrific senior season, has been a great leader for us and is on track to graduate in May,” UNC coach Butch Davis said. “I appreciate how hard he has worked over the last two years to re-energize our program. Mark will continue to be an important part of our team for the remainder of the season.”Paschal ó a second-generation Tar Heel whose father played fullback in the 1970s ó will miss the first game of his career Saturday when North Carolina visits rival Duke. He has 103 tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery this season.
DUKE
DURHAM ó Duke has dismissed backup defensive back Eddie Morgan from the team.
Coach David Cutcliffe said the sophomore from Texas had been kicked off the team for violating unspecified team standards. Morgan made one start in 22 career games.
CLEMSON
CLEMSON, S.C. ó Clemson interim coach Dabo Swinney and his players got some support from former Alabama coach Gene Stallings.
Stallings, who led Alabama to the national title in 1992, attended Tuesday’s practice. He coached Swinney when he was a walk-on receiver at Alabama. Swinney eventually earned a scholarship and was hired as an assistant to Stallings.
SOUTH CAROLINA
COLUMBIA, S.C. ó More than 90 percent of people with season tickets paid up to $395 in new annual fees to keep their seats for the 2009 season, athletic director Eric Hyman said.
BIG SOUTH
CHARLOTTE ó Liberty running back Rashad Jennings (offensive player of the year) and coach Danny Rocco have picked up Big South Conference awards after the Flames’ 10-2 season.
Gardner-Webb linebacker Jeffrey Williams won the Big South’s defensive player of the year award. He led the league with 119 tackles and added three interceptions.
OKLAHOMA
NORMAN, Okla. ó Bob Stoops is done with the politicking that has turned the national championship race into a campaign. He thinks other coaches are getting tired of it, too.
“It’s unfortunate. No one likes to do it,” the Oklahoma coach said Tuesday. “I think that’s why more and more of us say, ‘Hey, let’s find a way to get a playoff in place so that we don’t have to do that.’ ”
His Sooners sit third in the latest BCS standings, a minuscule eight thousandths of a point behind rival Texas for the second-place spot that would put them in position to play for the national championship.
FLORIDA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. ó Florida offensive linemen Mike and Maurkice Pouncey missed practice one day after their stepfather lost a leg in a railcar accident.
Rob Webster was caught between two railcars at a feed store in Lakeland, according to family friends, and was in critical but stable condition at a hospital there.
Penn State
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ó Joe Paterno was released from the hospital two days after undergoing hip replacement surgery.
The school has said Paterno is expected back at work Monday, when players return from Thanksgiving break.
MISSOURI
COLUMBIA, Mo. ó Offensive coordinator Dave Christensen and defense coordinator Matt Eberflus, both longtime Gary Pinkel aides, have been mentioned as candidates for vacancies around the country.
Christensen’s name has been linked to Washington, New Mexico and Wyoming, while Eberflus is believed to be among the top choices at Toledo, where he started at linebacker under Pinkel and later served as an assistant.
Pinkel agreed to terms on a new deal Tuesday that pays him $2.3 million per year and runs through 2015.
PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH ó Despite speculation he might enter the NFL draft next spring, running back LeSean McCoy said he plans to return for his junior season.
OREGON STATE
CORVALLIS, Ore. ó Freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers is doubtful for Saturday’s Civil War game against Oregon because of a shoulder injury.
A Rose Bowl bid is on the line for the No. 17 Beavers (8-3, 7-1 Pac-10) in the annual rivalry game against the Ducks (8-3, 6-2). Rodgers is the Pac-10’s leading rusher.
Cincinnati
CINCINNATI ó Cincinnati will play it last two regular-season games without top cornerback Mike Mickens, a senior who had surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.
WEST VIRGINIA
BENWOOD, W.Va. ó Mark Robert Sampson Jr., a freshman running back, has been dismissed from the team after he and another man were charged with sexually assaulting a woman following a weekend party.
Sampson Jr., an 18-year-old walk-on, and Carson Dale Koontz, 19, are both charged with four counts of second-degree sexual assault, Police Lt. Dave McLaughlin said.
NAIA
ALVA, Okla. ó Northwestern Oklahoma State will not play its scheduled NAIA quarterfinal game at defending national champion Carroll College after discovering that three players were academically ineligible.
Top-ranked Carroll gets credit for the win, sees its record improve to 13-0 and advances to the Dec. 6 semifinals.