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Texas A&M-Texas

Houston Chronicle

Record-setting freshman quarterback Colt McCoy and Rotary Lombardi finalist Justin Blalock have been cleared to return to practice and will start for the No. 11 Longhorns against rival Texas A&M on Friday, coach Mack Brown said Monday. McCoy suffered a pinched nerve in his neck and shoulder area on a quarterback sneak on the first possession of the Longhorns’ 45-42 loss to Kansas State and did not return to the game. He did not practice last week preceding Texas’ open date.

Blalock, the Longhorns’ right guard, also has been cleared to play after injuring his left knee against K-State. He has started 49 straight games at guard or tackle, tying the longest streak in school history. Texas (9-2, 6-1) can clinch the Big 12 South and a rematch with Nebraska in the league’s championship game with a win against Texas A&M. The A&M game will mark the final contest for Texas’ senior class. The group has a 43-6 record and needs two more wins to tie the best four-year stretch of 45-6 set by last year’s UT seniors.

Star-Telegram

Texas defensive end Brian Robison took little solace Monday in being part of the nation’s top-rated run defense. That’s because the Longhorns’ rise to the top of the charts has been offset by a record-setting plummet in pass defense. Texas heads into Friday’s showdown against Texas A&M ranked 111^th nationally in pass defense and already in possession of one unwanted school record: most passing yards allowed in a season (2,739). Two others will fall if the Longhorns maintain their current pace of allowing 249 yards per game, combined with an opponents’ completion mark of 58.3 percent. The aerial onslaught has reached a point that Robison declined to rule out the possibility A&M could become the sixth Big 12 opponent to throw for more than 300 yards

Ohio-Miami Ohio

Oxford Press

The Bobcats have allowed only 15.5 points per game, and they rank third in the MAC in pass defense, rushing defense and total defense. Ohio’s top defenders are linebackers Matt Muncy (fourth in the league in tackles for loss) and Tyler Russ (the team leader in tackles). “They give you a lot of different looks,” Montgomery said. “Obviously, they’re going to try to stop the run and force us to pass.” That’s been a successful tactic all season. Miami is a distant last in the MAC in rushing offense. The RedHawks average only 82.9 yards per game and 2.5 yards. Prior to Friday’s game, Miami will honor its 11-player senior class which has a four-year record of 30-19 and owns at least a share of three MAC East championships.

Kent-Ball State

Press Notes

The Golden Flashes started the season with back-to-back losses to Minnesota (44-0) and at Army in overtime (17-14). KSU then posted five straight wins, including a 4-0 start in conference play, before suffering losses vs. Ohio (17-7), at Buffalo (41-14) and at Virginia Tech (23-0).

LSU-Arkansas

NWA News

Peyton Hillis’ deep thigh contusion will keep Arkansas’ starting fullback out of the lineup again when the nation’s fifth-ranked SEC West champion Razorbacks, 10-1, 7-0, close their regular season in Friday’s 1: 30 p. m. CBS-televised SEC West game against eighth-ranked LSU, 9-2, 5-2 in Little Rock. The Razorbacks obviously missed Hillis’ blocking during last Saturday’s 28-14 victory at underdog Mississippi State, and coach Houston Nutt knows Hillis is bound to be missed Friday against “ the No. 1 defense in the country. ”

Colorado-Nebraska

Associated Press

Nebraska says farewell Friday to a senior class that served as a bridge from the Cornhuskers’ program of old. The staff of Frank Solich recruited all 18 seniors, including 11 who are in their fifth seasons. The fifth-year players saw the purge of assistant coaches in 2002, and all were here for the firing of Solich in 2003. And they were part of Bill Callahan’s first team two years ago that, at 5-6, posted the first losing record at Nebraska (8-3, 5-2 Big 12) since 1961. After Friday’s game against Colorado (2-9, 2-5), the seniors and their teammates will play for Nebraska’s first conference championship since 1999 in the Big 12 title game.

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Thursday, November 23, 2006

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