• Fumblegate, Part One. Competing explanations have emerged for the botched shotgun snap that cost USC a second quarter lead in Saturday's loss to Oregon, which the Ducks quickly converted into a go-ahead touchdown on the next play. On one hand, quarterback Matt Barkley – despite psyching himself into peak mental condition in a bizarre pregame ritual in front of the L.A. Coliseum – did turn to the sideline after signaling center Kris O'Dowd that he was ready for the snap by lifting his leg twice. On the other hand, Barkley was only looking at the sideline because he was distracted by coach Lane Kiffin's sudden whistling just before the ball came at him. Apparently the focus instilled by Ace of Base can't withstand the intrusions of a jittery head coach. [L.A. Daily News, Sports by Brooks]
• Dirtier than thou. Vanderbilt and Arkansas traded accusations Monday in the wake of the Razorbacks' 49-14 win in Fayetteville, with Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino calling out Vandy guard Kyle Fischer for "a dirty, bad play" in the process of blocking for receiver Jonathan Krause on a 21-yard reverse that went for a touchdown on the Commodores' opening series. Vanderbilt countered that two of its student managers serving as ball boys required protection after being "verbally abused and physically pushed" by an Arkansas staffer at some point in the first half. [The Tennessean, Arkansas News]
• Fumblegate, Part Deux. A review by the Mountain West Conference determined that a clearly botched fumble call in BYU's Oct. 9 win over San Diego State was a result of "combined human error" by three replay booth officials – including a BYU alumnus and a current BYU employee – who "weren't sufficiently aggressive" in employing all the replay angles at their disposal, according to documents detailing the process of the review. (And I do mean "detailing.") The MWC suspended all three following the Aztec loss and instituted an official ban on alumni in any officiating capacity whatsoever, but three prominent SDSU boosters called the results of the conference's investigation "shocking" and wrote a letter to BYU president Cecil Samuelson demanding further action. [San Diego Union Tribune]
• RIP. Mississippi State defensive end Nick Bell died of cancer Tuesday, less two months removed from action in the Bulldogs' first two games of the season. Doctors only discovered a brain tumor a little over a month ago, after Bell complained of headaches and fatigue. Bell was scheduled to begin chemotherapy this week, but his condition took a turn for the worse on Sunday, and he fell into a coma following emergency surgery. He was 20 years old. [Clarion-Ledger]
Quickly… True freshman Sean Robinson is in line to become Purdue's third different starting quarterback of the season Saturday against Wisconsin. … Florida State linebacker Kendall Smith can "honestly say we [were] outcoached" at N.C. State. … Cam Newton dodges the NFL question. … Randy Moss' college coach calls him "a team guy" and "a role model." … Penn State boots its mascot. … Tauren Poole gets coaching points from Allison Dooley. … And Dan Hawkins never watches Colorado's field goal attempts, so back off, haters.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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