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KLMNO COLLEGE FOOTBALL Newton runs away with Heisman When he reached the podium, BY RALPH D. RUSSO
new york — Cam Newton won the Heisman Trophy—as if there was anydoubt.Whetherhe gets to keepit is still to bedetermined. Auburn’s hulking quarterback
CHRISTOPHE PALLOT/AGENCE ZOOM VIA GETTY IMAGES
American skiier Ted Ligety slashes to his second consecutive World Cup giant slalom victory inVal D’Isere, France.
PROFOOTBALL
Giants-Vikings game moved toMonday The NFL has announced that
the game between theNew York Giants and Minnesota Vikings has been rescheduled for Mon- day night because of a snow- stormintheTwinCities. Thegamehadbeenscheduled
for Sunday at
1p.m.ET. Instead, itwillbeplayedMon-
day. The game time was not im- mediately announced. NFL spokesman Michael Si-
gnora confirmed the reschedul- ing of the game,writing onTwit- ter that the decision was made because of the severe weather and the recommendation of Metrodome officials. The Giants were unable to
reach theMinneapolis area Sat- urday. Their flight landed in Kansas City, and the team is to remainthere overnight. —MarkMaske
The Washington Redskins
have filled the roster vacancy createdbyAlbertHaynesworth’s suspension, signing offensive lineman Erik Cook from the practice squad. Cook was a sev- enth-round pick (229th overall) out of New Mexico in last spring’sdraft.
—RickMaese Philadelphia Eagles Pro Bowl
cornerback Asante Samuel and right tackle Winston Justice won’t play against the Dallas Cowboys because of knee inju- ries. . . . Panthers startingweak- side linebacker Jason Williams has been ruled out of Carolina’s game against Atlanta with a knee injury. . . . Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel didn’t travel to SanDiego andis out for the Chiefs’ game against the Chargers after undergoing an appendectomy onWednesday.
COLLEGEFOOTBALL Texas defensive coordinator
Will Muschamp, 39, is leaving the Longhorns to be the head coach at Florida. Muschamp succeedsUrbanMeyer,whowon two national championships in six seasons with the Gators but resignedonWednesday. . . . Coach Bobby Petrino agreed
to a new seven-year contract through the 2017 season with Arkansas, where he is 23-14 in three seasons, including 10-2 this year. The No. 8 Razorbacks play Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl onJan. 4. . . . Kentucky quarterback Mike
Hartline was suspended for the Wildcats’ Jan. 8 BBVA Compass Bowl game against Pittsburgh following his arrest on charges of public intoxication and disor- derly conduct. . . . In Boone, N.C., Matt Szcur
rushed for two touchdowns, passed for one and caught an- other toleadVillanovatoa42-24 upset of top-seeded Appala- chian State in a division I-AA quarterfinal. TheWildcats (9-4) will visit Eastern Washington nextweekendinthe semifinals. In Cheney, Wash., Bo Levi
Mitchell threw a 25-yard touch- down pass to Tyler Hart on the
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1 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m.
NHL 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay atWashington » WTTG (Channel 5), WWXT (92.7 FM),WWXX (94.3 FM),WTEM (980 AM)
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh » WJZ (Channel 13) NewYork Giants at Minnesota » WBFF (Channel 45) NewEngland at Chicago » WUSA (Channel 9),WJZ (Channel 13)
8:15 p.m. Philadelphia at Dallas » WRC (Channel 4),WBAL (Channel 11), WWXT (92.7 FM),WWXX (94.3 FM),WTEM (980 AM)
Washington at NewYork Rangers » Comcast SportsNet, WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM)
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Noon
1 p.m. 2 p.m. 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
Appalachian State at Georgetown » ESPNU, WSPZ (570 AM) Penn State at Virginia Tech » Comcast SportsNet Villanova at La Salle » ESPNU
Wake Forest at North CarolinaWilmington » MASN
Boston College at Maryland » Comcast SportsNet, WSPZ (570 AM) Clemson at Florida State » Comcast SportsNet Plus
6:30 p.m. South Florida at Kent State » ESPNU 7 p.m.
MEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER 4 p.m.
West Virginia at Duquesne » CBS College Sports NCAA championship game, Louisville vs. Akron » ESPN2 only from Comcast.
first play of overtime and East- ern Washington recovered a goal-line fumble by quarterback Brock Jensen to beatNorth Da- kota State, 38-31. Taiwan Jones rushed for a ca-
reer-high 230 yards for the fifth- seededEagles (11-2). In Spartanburg, S.C., Jaybo
Shaw ran 15 times for 60 yards and threw for a touchdown as Georgia Southern beatWofford,
23-20.TheEagles (10-4) visitNo. 3 seed Delaware on Friday or Saturday in the second I-AA semifinal. . . . Micah Davis threw for 193
yards and three touchdowns as DeltaStatebeatShepherd(12-2), 29-17, in a rain-soaked Division II semifinal inCleveland,Miss. TheStatesmen(11-3)willplay
onSaturdayinFlorence,Ala., for the title against Minnesota-Du- luth, which beat defending na- tional champion Northwest Missouri State, 17-13. In Duluth, Minn., quarter-
backChaseVogler scrambled34 yards for the go-ahead touch- down with 4:12 to play to rally theBulldogs (14-0) infrigid con- ditions, ending the Bearcats’ streak of five straight title-game appearances. . . . In Alliance, Ohio, backup
quarterback Matt Piloto passed for 335 yards and four touch- downs toleadMountUnionpast Bethel (Minn.), 34-14, and into its 14th Division III champion- shipgame. ThePurpleRaiders (14-0)will
play Wisconsin-Whitewater in theAmosAlonzo Stagg Bowl for the sixthconsecutive year. In Dover, Del., Levell Cop-
page rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns and the War- hawks (14-0) intercepted five passes in posting a 27-7 victory overWesley.
MISC. Pat Onstad, a two-time MLS
goalkeeper of the year, is unlike- ly to return to the Houston Dy- namo and, according to sources, has been approached by D.C. United about joining its coach- ing staff to oversee keepers. Tim Mulqueen, the goalies
coach for U.S. youth national teams and the early front-run- ner for the United opening, ap- parentlywithdrew fromconsid- eration. Ben Olsen, United’s new
coach, is in the process of hiring two
assistants.ChadAshton, the former technical director who helpedOlsen during his interim stint this season, is set to return, but longtime keepers coach MarkSimpsonispursuing other opportunities. Kris Kelderman seems likely to be reassigned. —StevenGoff
American Ted Ligety won a
second consecutive World Cup giant slalom,beatingAkselLund Svindal ofNorway bymore than a secondinValD’Isere,France. Ligety had a flawless first leg
to take abig lead, thenuncorked a bold second run to win in a combined time of 2 minutes 26.26 seconds. Svindal was 1.05 seconds behind. Massimiliano Blardone of Italywas third. —Fromnews services and staff reports
brushed off an NCAA investiga- tionofhis recruitmentashedidso manytacklersthisseasonandcap- tured college football’s biggest in- dividualawardSaturdaynight ina landslide vote. “Honestly, it’s a dream come
true forme, somethingevery child has adreamthatplays the sport of football, and I’m living testimony that anything ispossible,”Newton said. Newton, the third player from
Auburn to win the Heisman, re- ceived 729 first-place votes and outpointed runner-up Andrew Luck of Stanfordby 1,184points. Oregon running back LaMi-
chaelJameswas third, followedby Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore, the other finalist. Even Newton didn’t look all
that surprisedwhenhisnamewas announced. A wide smile spread across his face and he dropped his head. After exchanging hugs and handshakes with the other final- ists, he and his mother, Jackie, shareda long embrace.
Mids still control rivalry
navy from D1
quarter.Quarterback Trent Steel- man ran around the right side, was stood up and tried to churn for extra yards. Navy linebackers Tyler Simmons and Jerry Hauburger then leaped in, with Simmons punching out the ball. Middleton collected the carom
at the 2 and raced to the end zone untouched with 1 minute 3 sec- onds left before halftime for Navy’s first defensive touchdown of the season. On his way across the goal line,Middleton held out the ball in a bit of showmanship, igniting the brigade of midship- men into a frenzy and giving Navy a 24-7 lead on a play that provided a seminal moment in the long and storied history of one of themost compelling rival- ries in sports. “That was a big swing right
there,” Navy Coach Ken Niumat- alolo said. “They had us reeling right there. We were doing okay, but the turnovers. We preached all week trying to make sure we didn’t give thema short field, and we gave them exactly that, but the defense stepped up. That’s the last thing we wanted to do was to give thema short field, but itwas a big play byWyatt, and he finished it.” After beating Army by a com- bined 89-6 over the last three
hehadto steadyhimself. “Ohmy God,” he whispered as
he reached into his inside jacket packet to pull out his speech. “Oh MyGod.” Onthefieldandoff,Newtonhas
been the story of the college foot- ball season. He’s carried the top- ranked Tigers to the BCS national championship game againstNo. 2 Oregon, running andpassing over opponents who looked helpless trying to stop him. But his story is stained: Recently, the NCAA de- terminedhis father,CecilNewton, tried to peddle himtoMississippi State for cash. Not even that ruling stopped
Cameron Newton. The NCAA cleared him to play before the Southeastern Conference title game because it found no evi- dence that he or Auburn knew about Cecil Newton’s pay-for-play scheme. It also suggested that it was still investigating. The FBI and the Mississippi secretary of state’s office also are looking into the case. CamNewton has denied anywrongdoing. Still, it invites speculation the
newest Heisman winner could perhaps be heading down the same path as Reggie Bush, who returned his Heisman three months ago after the NCAA ruled
Newton’s access toAuburn athlet- icswouldhave to be limited. What thatmeans isunclear,but
Cecil Newton did not attend the Heisman Trophy ceremony Satur- day night. In a statement released by his lawyer earlier in the week, he said his presence could “rob Cam and the event of a sacred moment.” Beforewinning the award,Cam
Newton said: “He gave me some words of encouragement before I camehereandIknowhe’swithme inspirit.” All the uncertainty didn’t keep
CRAIG RUTTLE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Auburn quarterback Cam Newton is all smiles after being awarded theHeisman Trophy.
that he and his family received cash and gifts while he was at SouthernCalifornia. Tobe eligible for theHeisman,a
player must be in good standing with the NCAA. And for most of November, after news broke of claims by a Mississippi State booster who said Newton’s father tried to get the Bulldogs to pay $180,000 for his son to play for them, it was unclear if Cam was clean. The NCAA didn’t punish Cam Newton but did say that Cecil
voters from making Newton an overwhelming choice — he re- ceived the sixth most first-place
votes.Though105voterschosenot tolisthimamongtheir threeselec- tions. It was impossible to argue
againsthisperformance. Blending a linebacker’s body
with a tailback’s speed and quick- ness, the 6-foot-6, 250-pounder from Georgia has guided Auburn to a perfect season. His numbers are off the charts: an SEC-best 1,409 yards rushingwith21 touch- downs, and 2,589 yards passing and 28 TD passes. He’s the first SECplayer to runfor at least 1,000 yards andpass for at least 2,000in the same season.
—AssociatedPress
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST GeeGee Greene, right, and Aaron Santiago celebratedNavy’s ninth straight victory over rival Army.
games, the Midshipmen built a 17-point lead in the second quar- ter thanks to the passing game. The change of pace in Navy’s run-heavy triple option caught Army off guard, especially on Dobbs’s first touchdown pass covering 77 yards to sophomore slotback John Howell. Itwas longest touchdown pass
in Army-Navy history and just the second catch of Howell’s career. Two possessions later, Dobbs completed a 32-yard touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Brandon Turner on a throw he fit into a small window between a pair of defensive backs. Then came the turnover that gave Army hope and forced Navy
to gird for anything but another lopsided result. “I tried to keep myself up,”
Dobbs said. “In basketball, good shooters have slumps. They have to have a short-term memory. I was telling myself the same thing. You just have to move forward.” Dobbs did just that after
Army’s field goal on the first drive after the break trimmed the margin to 24-10with 8:08 to go in the third quarter. Despite an interception onNavy’s first series of the second half, Dobbs then engineered a 13-play drive cover- ing 87 yards for Navy's final points. His pitch to sophomore slot- back Gee Gee Greene yielded a
TRACEE HAMILTON College football needs more players like Dobbs hamilton from D1
fumbled on two of those five possessions and suffered an ankle injury in a game that was televised nationally on Labor Day evening. And that was that. Dobbs ledNavy to a 9-3 record
and a bowl berth, but he couldn’t repeat the magic of ’09. Still, in addition to the NCAA single- season record he’s fifth all-time in division I-A in career rushing touchdowns (48).He is also among 15 finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the top senior quarterback in the country. So don’t pity Ricky Dobbs. Pity
college football and its tarnished symbol of excellence. Reggie Bush was stripped of his 2005 Heisman earlier this year and voters for this year’s award had to cast ballots while wondering whether a similar fate could await Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. Imagine that instead of all the
furor overNewton, the country could have seen that classic stiff- arming paperweight awarded to Dobbs, who overcame personal obstaclesNewton could only imagine to become vice president ofNavy’s senior class and captain of the football team. Like allNavy seniors, he received his service assignment earlier this month: surface warfare. That’s not a newrelease for PS3; that’s a five-year commitment to serve our country. After that, he’d like a shot at pro football before turning to politics.He
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs, center, receives congratulations from Army cornerback Donovan Travis after theMidshipmen’s win.
hopes to be president—of his country, not his co-op association—in 2040. He’s already demonstrated his leadership skills as part ofNavy’s senior class, which won three Commander-in-Chief ’s Trophies and beatNotre Dame three times during its four years. TheMids’ seniors will have participated in four bowl games. If they can beat San Diego State in their bowl game they will be the first senior class in school history to have consecutive 10-win seasons. They graduate with a 4-0 record against Army and had not allowed Army a touchdown in three seasons until the second quarter on Saturday. The snappiest sign in theNavy
student section read, “Beating Army is so easyNotre Dame can do it.” TheMids could be forgiven for thinking that;Navy has won nine straight meetings, the longest streak since the series began in 1890. This year’s matchup lived up to expectations that it would be a much closer contest because both teams entered the game with winning records and bowl berths for the first time since 1996. In fact, this is the first season that all three service academies will go to a bowl game. Dobbs wasn’t overwhelming;
in fact, his penultimate game as aMidshipman in some ways resembled the loss toMaryland. He fumbled three times and
gained just 24 yards in the first half. But he also threwhis 12th touchdown to tie the single season record forNavy, and was one half of the longest pass play in Army-Navy history when he connected with JohnHowell on a 77-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Dobbs finished with 54 yards on 20 carries and was 6 for 11 passing with 186 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. “He made some big-time
throws,”Navy Coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “I don’t know if we’ve had a quarterback here who could make some throws that he made.He can drive you crazy with his turnovers, too. . . . He’s done a lot of great things for us. I’mso very happy for him. He’s a great player but he’s even a greater person and his personality in the locker room, on the team, because of his leadership our guys really rally around him. I’mvery, very happy for him.” Dobbs did not have a
Heisman-worthy game, or season, and even if he had, it probably wouldn’t have mattered. In college football today, a service academy player has a slim chance, if that, to wind up as aHeisman finalist. That is a shame for players who are truly worthy of our attention, but it’s a real loss for theHeisman committee, and the
sport.Maybe when enough of those trophies have been returned to sender, they’ll realize it.
hamiltont@washpost.com
25-yard touchdown run with 5:44 to play and all but ensured victory on a day Navy ran for a just 139 yards and was at a disadvantage in time of posses- sion by almost nineminutes. “Every game is important, but
it’s something special with Army,” said Simmons, who fin- ishedwith a game-high 13 tackles and is part of a senior class that has 35 wins. “It’s been quite a ride. Really, we’re practicing for this game all year. We might not say it, butwe always have it in the back of our head. It’s a huge rivalry, and I think it’s one of the biggest rivalries in sports, so yeah, it’s a huge accomplish- ment, and I’m just proud of my boys.”
wangg@washpost.com
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