Coach Rebels Against Flags

Mississippi coach Tommy Tuberville has a message for the school’s football fans: Rebel flags are not welcome.

“We are trying to educate our students on what helps us and what hurts us in the stands,” he said Thursday.

The racial connotations of the Confederate flag have been debated for years at the school. And Tuberville says he is seeing more flags on campus and in the stadium during football games.

Since coming to Ole Miss in December 1994, Tuberville has tried to separate the university from the flag. While the school never endorsed its use, the Confederate flag was passed out at games for decades.

Several years ago, the university introduced to fans what has become known as the “Battle M” flag.

Tuberville said he has seen a good response from alumni, and it appears young students are the ones now bringing Rebel flags to games.

“I think a lot of people are not intentionally trying to make Ole Miss look like the bad guys,” he said. “They’re just basically being followers.”

Tuberville’s comments came two days before the school’s homecoming game against Vanderbilt on Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

The Rebel flag on campus and at games has been blamed by coaches at some schools in the Deep South for hampering recruitment of black athletes. The flag was a rallying point for segregationists during the civil rights struggle.

Florida-Tennessee most-watched

Saturday’s CBS Sports broadcast of top-ranked Florida’s 33-20 win over No. 4 Tennessee was the highest-rated college football telecast of the day.

The game drew a 6.1 national rating and a 16 share.

The ratings for the Florida-Tennessee game beat ABC regional football coverage of Nebraska’s 27-14 victory over Washington, which drew a 3.7 rating and 10 share.

Wake Forest 19, N. Carolina St. 18

Matt Burdick kicked a 37-yard field goal with 43 seconds left Thursday night as Wake Forest reversed its recent trend of losing close games by edging North Carolina State 19-18 at Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Demon Deacons (2-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) had lost by one point to East Carolina and by two against Georgia Tech in each of the last two weeks after blowing first-half leads.

Burdick’s game-winning kick helped Wake Forest break a nine-game losing streak against the Wolfpack (3-2, 1-2).

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