Mountaineers stop Minutemen in title game
Kevin Richardson led Appalachian State to its second straight Division I-AA national championship Friday night, running for 179 yards and four touchdowns in the Mountaineers’ 28-17 victory over Massachusetts in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Richardson’s third touchdown put the Mountaineers (14-1) ahead 21-14 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. He added another for 2 yards with 1:51 left that gave him the I-AA record for rushing touchdowns in a season with 30.
Appalachian State is the first team to win consecutive crowns in six years, and the Mountaineers relied heavily on Richardson.
The Minutemen (13-2), hoping to win their first title since 1998, cut it to 21-17 on Chris Koepplin’s 42-yard field goal with 8:46 left. UMass got the ball back, but Appalachian State’s Corey Lynch had an interception to seal it.
Appalachian State is the first team to take home the newly named NCAA Division I Football Championship. The NCAA is phasing out the terms Divisions I-A and I-AA that applied to football. I-A is now the Football Bowl Subdivision, while I-AA is the Football Championship Subdivision.
Four from OSU may leave early
Four of Ohio State’s top underclassmen on offense are considering leaving school early to enter the NFL draft.
Junior wide receivers Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez, tailback Antonio Pittman and lineman Kirk Barton filed paperwork with the NFL.
“We’re just awaiting some information so that we can make good decisions,” said coach Jim Tressel, whose No. 1 Buckeyes play No. 2 Florida for the BCS championship Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz.
Erickson names first assistant
New coach Dennis Erickson is retaining Arizona State assistant coach Al Simmons, the school said in Tempe, Ariz.
Simmons will serve as cornerbacks coach, the same position he held this season under coach Dirk Koetter. Erickson said Monday that he expected to keep Simmons but did not say in what capacity.
Simmons was an assistant to Erickson for two years at Oregon State and two years with the San Francisco 49ers.
Off the field
Wisconsin reinstated defensive back Jack Ikegwuonu pending further developments in his burglary case. … Auburn linebackers Tray Blackmon and Kevin Sears and tailback Brad Lester were suspended indefinitely for violation of team rules. … Unsatisfied with two Time Warner Cable proposals to carry the Rutgers-Kansas State bowl game, the NFL Network said the two sides still are working toward an agreement. … South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said that his wife Jerri unknowingly violated NCAA rules by sending handwritten notes to families of players who had signed with the Gamecocks. … Chadron State running back Danny Woodhead received the Harlon Hill Trophy as the nation’s top Division II player.