Tidbits From the College Gridiron – 10/4

Memphis lineman Taylor Bradford was shot and killed on Sunday night on the Tigers’ campus. There is no suspect in the case right now. On Tuesday night, the Tigers’ honored him with a moment of silence before their game with Marshall. They later won the game 24-21. They will wear black patches bearing his number 93 for the remainder of the season.

A UMASS football player was stabbed in the ass as a fight broke out when he was leaving a dance at the Student Union on the Amherst campus. The police are still investigating this as well.

There has been a lot of news this year about college athletes getting arrested. It makes me wonder if they think they are invincible like NFL athletes.

Three Florida Gators football players and former Gator Reggie Nelson, a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars, were questioned by police about a shooting that happened outside a Gainesville night club on Saturday night. The Gators had lost earlier in the day to the Auburn Tigers. The names of the Gators players involved was not released to the media.

Tennessee linebacker Dorian Davis received a citation from police in Iowa for his role in an altercation. The Volunteers were off last weekend so Davis had gone home. Davis has to return in November for a court date. More than likely he will end up pleading guilty and paying a small fine.

Mitch Cozad, the former Northern Colorado punter who stabbed his competition, was finally sentenced for the stabbing. He received a 7-year prison term. He could have gotten 16 years for the assault. He will now be the punter for the prison football team.

The Rock has donated $1 million to the University of Miami’s football facilites renovation fund and will have the locker room named after him. The Rock played football at the U and was beaten out by Warren Sapp for a starting spot on the d-line during his playing career.

Chad Henne has said he is ready to return to his starting role as the full-time quarterback for the University of Michigan football team. He had missed two games with a knee injury. This past Saturday, he split time with Ryan Mallet in their win over Northwestern.

The Florida Gators have lost two of their players for the year to injuries. Phil Trautwein, an offensive lineman, and running back Chris Rainey will both be out for the year. Trautwein had missed the first five games of the season and will be eligible to apply for a medical redshirt.

Texas QB Colt McCoy says he’s ready for this weekend’s battle with Oklahoma. McCoy suffered a mild concussion during Saturday’s loss to Kansas State. This was the third Big 12 game in a row that he couldn’t finish due to an injury.

Stanford starting QB T.C. Ostrender suffered a seizure on Sunday afternoon while he was watching former Cardinal QB Trent Edwards led the Buffalo Bills to a win over the Jets. All tests came back normal and he should back in action after this week’s game.

The good ol’ ACL injury struck another victim. Mississippi State QB Josh Riddell will miss the rest of the Bulldogs season after he tore his in a loss to South Carolina on Saturday. He will probably have surgery next week to repair the injury.

You will notice a lot of changes to this week’s football polls as 5 of the top 10 teams lost last week. You will even notice that my UCONN Huskies football team garnered some national attention as they received votes in both polls.