College Confidential

TCU baseball gets major commitment

Let's just say there is some major fist-pumping and high-fiving going on at TCU baseball right now. The Horned Frogs just landed a huge commitment with Klein senior left-handed pitcher Matt Purke. This kid is not only the best pitcher in Houston, he is regarded as one of the best prospects in the nation.

And listen to what schools he turned down....Arizona State, USC, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. Purke is ranked by Baseball America as the No. 3 best prospect. Getting him on campus is another issue because of the draft.

"I think it's the place for me," Purke said. "It's a very strong program and they dominate their conference every year."

Little scouting report on Purke: He went 12-1 last season, is 6-foot-3, 175 pounds, lives in Spring (hometown of Josh Beckett and TCU former star Sam Demel) and has a fastball in the 90-94 mph range. He also pitched in the exclusive Aflac and Under Armour All-American games.

So why did Purke go with TCU over ASU? Look at the No. 1 draft picks TCU has produced on the mound in recent years and he knows several of this year's freshman from Houston and his parents can drive to games.

Purke will officially sign Nov. 10.

- Rick Herrin

Dopeheads beware at UNT

Quite a day they had at North Texas today when Todd Dodge and other officials revealed the football team had 15 positive drug tests over a month of testing in late September and earlier this month.

Fifteen is pretty bad, but the real mind-blower was hearing Dodge himself decided to test 86 players, basically everyone on scholarship (UNT has 80 this season due to APR penalties) and a few more. The entire process took over three weeks.

Let's see, any volunteers out there in the Big 12, SEC, C-USA or (ahem) Mountain West care to drug-test their entire teams? Didn't think so.

After hearing Dodge today, I'm wondering how this initially played out. Apparently, there were performance issues in practice and probably in games (UNT is winless) that led either Dodge or staffers to believe the wacky weed was being passed a little too much on personal time. What does a doped-up football player exactly look like in pads and a helmet? He must be pretty darn easy to tackle.

In all seriousness, this is somewhat fascinating, given Dodge may have unwittingly created a headache for his slicker-funded colleagues out there. If voluntarily testing one's entire team grows legs as a national story and it's widely revealed you can do this for about $2,500, might reporters covering every program in the FBS ask coaches or ADs what the heck is taking so long? Without even knowing it, Dodge could be a trendsetter.

He isn't, however, a coach willing to sacrifice players to lower the heat for an 0-8 start. For starters, UNT was 0-3 when the testing procedure began. I actually read this moronic assertion on a message board -- one that from personal dealings has some of the most irrationally vitriolic and misinformed/misguided inhabitants found in cyberspace. This particular theory deserves a felony arrest by the stupid police.

Was Dodge naive to put himself and UNT under this kind of a public microscope? Maybe. Was it the right thing to do now that we know he had legitimate concerns about a struggling program he's run for less than two seasons -- and one that we now also understand could use an off-field scrubbing, too? Unquestionably.

Just say no, kids.

--Troy Phillips

O'Brien semifinalists named

Thirteen quarterbacks have been named semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien Award, given each year to the nation's best college quarterback.
The list includes six quarterbacks from the Big 12 and three from the Southeastern Conference. It will be narrowed down to three finalists on Nov.24, with the winner being announced Dec.11 at the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show in Orlando, Fla.
Voting is done by journalists, broadcasters, commentators and former winners, along with fans, who can still vote for the semifinalists once daily at www.VoteOBrien.org.

SEMIFINALISTS
Colt McCoy, Jr., Texas
Sam Bradford, Soph., Oklahoma
Graham Harrell, Sr., Texas Tech
Chase Daniel, Sr., Missouri
Zac Robinson, Jr., Oklahoma State
Todd Reesing, Jr., Kansas
Daryll Clark, Jr., Penn State
Max Hall, Jr., BYU
David Johnson, Sr., Tulsa
Mark Sanchez, Jr., USC
John Parker Wilson, Sr., Alabama
Tim Tebow, Jr., Florida
Matthew Stafford, Jr., Georgia

-Trae Thompson

ESPN College Gameday headed to Lubbock

ESPN's College Gameday crew is headed to Lubbock for Saturday's showdown between No. 8 Texas Tech (8-0, 4-0) and No. 1 Texas (8-0, 4-0), network officials announced this morning. It will mark the first time for the Gameday crew to visit Lubbock, where hosts Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Desmond Howard will do a live broadcast from a location on the Tech campus from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday. The game is at 7 p.m. in Jones AT&T Stadium.

In a statement,Tech athletic director Gerald Myers said his school is "fortunate" the network chose to originate its morning show from Lubbock, rather than another venue.

"This is not only great for the athletics department, but also a tremendous opportunity to showcase our university, the city of Lubbock and our outstanding students, fans and citizens,” Myers said in his statement.

The location for the on-campus broadcast will be determined later, Tech officials said. The Red Raiders set up the battle of unbeatens by defeating No. 19 Kansas, 63-21, Saturday in Lawrence, Kan. while No. 1 Texas edged No. 7 Oklahoma State, 28-24,Saturday in Austin.

_ Jimmy Burch

Aggies on verge of first Big 12 win

Jerrod Johnson is enjoying his finest moment as an Aggie quarterback, leading Texas A&M to what appears to be its first Big 12 win of the season. Johnson scored on a 5-yard quarterback draw with 11:27 left, pushing the Aggies' lead over Iowa State to 42-20. Johnson has completed 28 of 34 passes for 343 yards and three TDs to go along with his rushing TD.

-- Lori Dann

Wherever you are, good night from Denton

Troy's Jorrick Calvin just left skid marks on UNT's kickoff coverage team, scoring from 94 yards. Troy leads 39-10. UNT kicked a field goal earlier on fourth-and-four for no apparent reason, and its offense looks awful tonight if you take away Casey Fitzgerald.

--Troy Phillips

Aggies respond with critical TD drive

After Iowa State trimmed Texas A&M's lead to eight points, the Aggies responded with a critical 73-yard touchdown drive to push their advantage back to 35-20. The score came on a 1-yard run by Jorvorskie Lane, four plays after Jerrod Johnson's 43-yard pass to Jeff Fuller. That gives A&M a season-high for points. The Aggies have had long offensive lapses in the second half throughout this season, so this is a pretty good sign.

-- Lori Dann

It's like a spike to the brain

Troy just snapped the ball to third-string quarterback Tanner Jones, who tossed to Jonathan Chandler, who tossed back to Jones for a 50-yard gain down the near sideline through a sleeping UNT defense. Troy scored two plays later from the UNT 1 and leads 32-7.

--Troy Phillips

Fitzgerald sets record

UNT receiver Casey Fitzgerald just became the program's career leader in receptions with his 188th. Quite an accomplishment, considering Fitzgerald has played barely more than two seasons.

--Troy Phillips

Halftime: Troy 25, UNT 7

Good finish to the first half by UNT's defense, which forced a punt and a field goal on Troy's last two drives. Two area standouts for UNT, linebackers Colt Mahan of Keller and Steve Warren of Burleson -- both backups -- are making plays to keep UNT in this one (a little).

--Troy Phillips