NCAA Football

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen emerged from a fight outside a restaurant/bar with two black eyes in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to a report from a Chicago radio station. A bartender confirmed to FanHouse that the Clausen family was in the restaurant but said that no altercation took place on the premises.

"The Clausens were here," said the bartender, who was on duty at the time. "We were very busy and did not notice anything. It did not happen in our establishment or on our property, if it happened at all."

The bar and restaurant, C.J.'s Pub, is located about a mile south of the Notre Dame campus and is a popular postgame hangout for Notre Dame players.

David Kaplan of Chicago's WGN-AM first reported the alleged incident.

ESPN characterized the alleged fight as a "sucker punch" by an irate fan.

Colorado coach Dan Hawkins has been adamant the past few seasons that having his son, Cody Hawkins, play quarterback for the Buffaloes was no different than other recruit.

Hawkins did a complete turnaround during Monday's weekly press conference, saying if he had to do it all over again he would not have recruited his own son.

"Not for him, no. Nope. Not at all," Hawkins said. "It's not fair to him. Here is a guy who is trying to do his best to win games and to help his team and does everything right, he's a good student and he's getting killed on Facebook and getting killed on his cell phone.

You're damn right he did!

You need Les Miles on that wall, you want Les Miles on that wall. And as you can see from the latest damning YouTube video, the Zapruder film of clockgate, not only did Miles signal for the clocking/spike (which today he denied), but he also screamed it as he was running down the sideline and gesturing it with both arms.

Oh, and then for good measure, as the game ended, he turned to the cop charged with protecting him and asked if LSU had any timeouts left.

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy says he expects senior quarterback Zac Robinson to return to the starting lineup for the 11th-ranked Cowboys during Saturday's critical regular-season finale against rival Oklahoma.

Robinson missed Thursday night's win over Colorado after sustaining injuries to his head and shoulder in a victory over Texas Tech the previous week. But Gundy said during Monday's Big 12 football coaches teleconference that Robinson began throwing over the weekend and that he would return to practice Monday afternoon. Gundy normally does not discuss injuries which means Robinson could or could not play.

FanHouse Big East writer Brett McMurphy looks back at the week that was in the Big East Rewind.

Two weeks ago, UConn coach Randy Edsall and senior running back Andre Dixon both said how much the Huskies' really needed a bye week after a third consecutive last-minute loss at Cincinnati.

If no other team needed a bye like UConn, no other team in the country needed a victory like UConn. And that's exactly what the Huskies' got. UConn went into South Bend, Ind., and defeated Notre Dame 33-30 in double overtime Saturday.

It was the first victory since the murder of UConn cornerback Jasper Howard. After the game, Edsall pointed skyward in honor of Howard, while the Huskies' players held aloft Howard's No. 6 jersey.

Did anyone else notice UConn's final score just happen to be 33 (3+3=6)?

Hours after losing to Connecticut on Notre Dame's Senior Day, Fighting Irish coach Charlie Weis sat down at length with John Walters and talked to the FanHouse writer one-on-one about his experience coaching at his alma mater. The following is what transpired between coach and reporter very early Sunday morning.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The November darkness is unseasonably warm. Charlie Weis steps out of his black Yukon SUV toting two bagels and two coffees. Clad in gray Notre Dame football sweats and shower sandals, America's most renowned embattled football coach, if not employee, has brought breakfast for his first visitor of the day.

The time is 4:28 AM.

On Nov.12, three University of Tennessee freshman, Nu'Keese Richardson, Mike Edwards, and Janzen Jackson-- were arrested and charged with attempted armed robbery. Last week, Lane Kiffin dismissed Richardson and Edwards, the two men who approached the vehicle and demanded money, from the football team.

Now, charges against Jackson and the woman driving the 2010 Toyota Prius, Marie Montmarquet, have both had their attempted armed robbery charges dropped.

"The investigation and careful review of all relevant evidence failed to show ... Ms. Montmarquet or Mr. Jackson had prior knowledge that the attempted robbery was going to take place and were unaware something had occurred until after they pulled out of the Pilot store," according to the DA's statement.

"Therefore, there is an insufficient legal basis to continue a prosecution against them.

"Both Ms. Montmarquet and Mr. Jackson cooperated with the Knoxville Police Department from the time they were pulled over and voluntarily responded to police questioning. Their statements assisted the investigation and were consistent with the other evidence developed."

On Saturday, LSU's Jordan Jefferson made the inexplicable decision to spike the football with only one second remaining in the game. Spiking the football ended the game and negated two miraculous Milacles: first, Les Miles' Tigers recovered an onside kick and then they completed a 46-yard Hail Mary. In his postgame news conference Miles claimed that he didn't know who had instructed Jefferson to spike the football. "I do not know who told him to clock [spike] it," Miles said.

Except, you guessed it, Miles himself was displaying his uncanny acumen by calling for the ball to be spiked with one second remaining on the clock. That's something that you can clearly see on this video after the jump. And yet another reason why LSU fans are still staring morosely at the waters on the bayou, shaking their heads, drinking Jax beers, and cursing the day that Les Miles didn't leave for Michigan.

With not many upsets -- outside of the Wild, Wild West Conference, better known as the Pac-10 -- the top nine teams in my Associated Press Top 25 ballot remained the same as last week.

So unless Alabama loses to Auburn, Florida loses to Florida State or Texas loses to Texas A&M this weekend, the BCS title game seems pretty cut and dried between the SEC champion (Alabama/Florida) against Texas. That is, as long as the Longhorns don't lose to Nebraska in the Big 12 title game next week.

With the BCS title game participants pretty much locked in, college football's favorite pastime has already begun. No, not figuring out who will be Notre Dame's next coach, but lobbying for the best possible bowl berth.

Florida's last two wins over rival Florida State have been the most lopsided in the series in nearly four decades. Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden tipped his cap and admitted last year the Gators simply had better players at many positions.

Bowden cites his team's youth this year and believes FSU has closed the gap on UF.

"We're getting closer," Bowden said Sunday. "Next year, we should be neck-and-neck."