Officially, the remarkable field goal didn't count. But the 70 yards the football covered -- with a few yards to spare -- were, perhaps, the highlight of the 54th Arkansas High School Coaches Association East-West all-star game in Bentonville, Ark., last month.

Houston quarterback Case Keenum was selected offensive player of the year and East Carolina defensive end C.J. Wilson defensive player of the year in the first preseason Conference USA football team chosen by a panel of the league's broadcasters and writers.

Having wrapped up the morning session of their first two-a-day practice for the upcoming season, Memphis University School football coach Bobby Alston took a moment Monday to sum up the Owls' first practice effort in pads. "It went pretty good. Typical kind of first day," Alston said. "It's never very pretty, but you've got to start somewhere."

The 2009 prep football schedules for Memphis-area varsity teams.

Before he was a standout defensive end on the football field at Trezevant High, Cortez Bowen was first and foremost a basketball player.

Tigers offensive lineman Dominik Riley and return specialist D.A. Griffin were chosen.

Clay Helton stepped in for University of Memphis football coach Tommy West during Thursday's Conference USA video-conference media day. West was unavailable because of a family matter. It was only fitting that Helton, the U of M's offensive coordinator, filled the role.

From his balcony overlooking the practice fields at Baptist Sports Park, Titans owner Bud Adams watched his football team start training camp Friday. He wasn't alone. Hundreds of Titans fans showed up, hungry to start erasing one bad memory in particular.

Because the Razorbacks now have a starting quarterback in Ryan Mallett, a 6-7 University of Michigan transfer that was timed one day with a radar gun throwing a football 115 miles per hour, there's the thought that the Hogs now have the ability to go deep more often.

The new order of Tennessee football is that it's OK to be out of order.

As with a typical opening day of football practice, Tennessee's format at Haslem Field on Tuesday was no pads and no contact. Yeah, right. The Vols were, for the record, not wearing pads, but that didn't prevent anyone from getting physical.

Mississippi State athletic department officials announced Tuesday afternoon the total number of season tickets has exceeded the previous school record of 38,440, set prior to the 2001 season.

Ask Whitehaven High football coach Rodney Saulsberry how his middle linebacker, senior Ferlando Bohanna, stacks up against the rest of the area's top linebacker prospects and Saulsberry won't hesitate to offer his very biased opinion. "He fits right in with them," said Saulsberry.

To Rice head football coach David Bailiff, it's no secret what it takes to win in Conference USA. "This is such a quarterback-driven conference," Bailiff said. "You can't count anyone out with a great quarterback."

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin says he and his staff are having a hard time getting wide receiver Brandon Warren through an entire practice. Warren says he suffered a foot injury early in the summer and has been dealing with occasional pain in the first two fall practices.

Former Tennessee coach Johnny Majors says that if Tennessee can play as well as it practices under first-year coach Lane Kiffin, the Volunteers should be improved.

A look at teams' area teams' preseason practices.

Long runs. Big passes. Touchdowns. All those fun items so scarce in Neyland Stadium last season were abundant Saturday in Tennessee's first preseason football scrimmage.

Vince Young hasn't exactly been like a bear in hibernation, but on the football field it's almost as if he's been in a cave. No one's seen much of him in the past year.

Several things factor into the University of Memphis' football success this upcoming season. Here are five big ones.

Practice reports for area teams

About 100 football players -- including 83 on scholarship -- reported to the University of Memphis Monday in preparation for today's start of preseason camp. Of that group, nearly a dozen showed who have yet to make names for themselves, but according to Tiger coach Tommy West, should become somewhat familiar to U of M fans by midseason.

Practice reports from area teams

An early, EARLY morning University of Memphis football practice began 10 minutes before its scheduled start Tuesday at the Murphy Athletic Complex.

The Vols' depth chart is extremely fluid 31/2 weeks before the season-opener. For now at least, Gerald Williams has risen to the top.

Florida football coach Urban Meyer made it sound simple, but it's not. "Great things happen," he said, "when you have an unselfish team." Meyer ought to know. Two years ago when his 2007 team was defending its '06 BCS national championship, that one-for-all and all-for-one spirit wasn't in the Florida locker room. There was also a drastic talent drop, especially on defense when four juniors declared for the NFL draft.

Clay Helton, the University of Memphis' offensive coordinator, understands probably half the Tigers football team wasn't born when the film "Bull Durham" was released in 1988.

Douglass High football coach Darryl Montgomery doesn't know who's more nervous about today's MIAA football jamboree at the Mid-South Fairgrounds -- his players or himself.

The Tigers practice in full pads for the first time today at the Murphy Athletic Complex. The team worked out in shorts and helmets Tuesday and Wednesday and shells (shoulder pads and helmets) Thursday and Friday.

Paul Cox's 34th season as head football coach at Collierville, and 36th overall, opened with a scoreless quarter against Bolton in the Shelby County Schools Jamboree at Arlington Stadium.

An early look at Memphis-area senior football prospects drawing heavy interest from college recruiters.

The question was one the Memphis University School football Owls have been asked since last November, when they beat Brentwood Academy, 38-18, in the Division 2-AA state-title game to earn their third state championship in five seasons.

At New Mexico State, where the athletic department budget was trimmed by $1.5 million, the school's football staff sent out an e-mail asking fans to donate post-practice snacks for its football team during preseason camp.

Area college football report

The preseason college football magazines don't know what to make of the University of Memphis. Most choose the U of M to finish no higher than third in Conference USA's East Division.

Tiger athletic director R.C. Johnson attended Saturday's practice at the Murphy Athletic Complex and said he installation of an artificial turf practice field will begin the first week of September.

Most fans would be excited to learn their school's football team might use a spread offense.

Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable punched one of his assistants on Aug. 6 at the team's training camp headquarters in Napa, Calif., several media outlets reported on Monday. The Web site National Football Post first reported that defensive assistant Randy Hanson was punched in the jaw by another member of the Raiders staff. Unidentified sources later told Fanhouse.com that Cable hit the third-year assistant.

Junior college transfer receiver Billy Foster, considered one of the marquee signees from February's class, participated in his first workout during Monday's evening session. Foster missed the first week awaiting academic clearance.

Tulsa football coach Todd Graham has three guys auditioning to be the next to drive the Golden Hurricane's Ferrari of an offense.

Razorbacks lose starting cornerback

For years during University of Memphis football practices, special teams participants had their place -- working out near the end of a roughly two-hour session.

In an abundance of caution regarding the potential exposure of various flu strains, Ole Miss officials announced Tuesday that Saturday's planned "Meet the Rebels Day" has been canceled for this year.

Former Florida State linebacker Marcus Ball, younger brother of Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball, attended Wednesday's University of Memphis football practices on an official visit and expects to enroll at the U of M for the fall semester.

Ole Miss The first-string offense continued to make strides and impress the Ole Miss coaches as Houston Nutt's Rebels went through their fourth session in full pads on Wednesday afternoon. "We played the game (Wednesday) and had a little bit of individuals and a little bit of fundamentals," Nutt said. "We worked on the kicking game and did some punting, some PATs and some field goals. Then we went right into playing it." The Rebels spent much of the practice working on situational drills and Nutt praised how comfortable and confident quarterback Jevan Snead is at the line of scrimmage. ...

As a light rain gradually grew into a steadier downpour, University of Memphis coach Tommy West tried to begin his postscrimmage gathering with the media on a positive note. West praised the performance of kicker/punter Matt Reagan. He talked about senior running back Curtis Steele ''doing everything the right way.'' He mentioned backup quarterback Will Hudgens being the ''biggest positive of the day'' by settling what had been a shaky offensive outing. But for those taking notes, the encouraging words slowly disappeared from the pages of soaked notebooks. And, yes, it was a fitting metaphor. After a Thursday morning scrimmage at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, West had a difficult time clinging to the positives.

The chat is being changed because of developments in the NCAA investigation of the University of Memphis men's basketball program.

A look at tonight's top games

Marshall football head coach Mark Snyder has posted losing records in each of his first four seasons in Huntington, WVa. Entering the 2009 season, that could leave him with little margin for error in a conference he said has plenty of parity.

With 17 days until the season opener against Memphis, the Ole Miss football team got in some good work on the kicking game, and the defense shined again Thursday in unseasonably cooler temperatures at the practice fields adjacent to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

The Gators of Lake Cormorant, Miss., made the half-hour journey to Memphis on Friday to play a historic high school football game against the Southwind Jaguars.

After a disastrous first half, Trezevant trailed at 11th-ranked Houston, 27-6, and could not find any answers for Houston’s first-year starting quarterback Trey Taylor. But in the second half the Bears took advantage of a number of key Houston mishaps and played near-perfect football to shock the Mustangs, 34-33, on Terrell Williams 5-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds left in the game.

How the Dandy Dozen fared and roundup of Memphis-area games.

With rain in the Oxford area, the Rebels went indoors for practice on Friday.

Quarterback Ryan Mallett tossed three touchdown passes and one interception during the Razorbacks' 177-play scrimmage.

U of M football notebook: Jermaine McKenzie's transfer disallowed

Friday, Aug. 28th prep football schedules for Memphis-area teams

Prep football scores and summaries from August 22

The 2009 prep football schedules for Memphis-area varsity teams.

Top passers, rushers and receivers from the first weekend of prep football games.

A shooting outside Whitehaven High after a football game Saturday night left one man injured and sent others running for cover.

Prep football scores and summaries from August 21

When they complete their University of Memphis careers, they'll have accumulated seemingly a lifetime of instruction on the finer points of playing defense.

That a college football kicker/punter would display a keen interest in meteorology shouldn't come as a surprise. f there is any position on the field that requires paying attention to the weather conditions, it's a player whose responsibility it is to kick a football in those conditions. If a game day projects to be clear and cold, wet and mild or warm and breezy, it's of utmost importance. Matt Reagan the University of Memphis's kicker/punter, admits he's in that category. But Reagan, a senior from Knoxville, took his interest in meteorology to a higher level during the summer. Reagan worked as an intern in the National Weather Service office at the Agricenter. A geography/math major, he intends to go to graduate school next year and study meteorology.

University of Tennessee at Martin football coach Jason Simpson is comforted in the fact that he has several veteran players returning at key positions.

Area football practice report

Having already shattered its football season ticket record, Ole Miss has approximately 2,000 season tickets remaining and anticipates those to be gone before the team's home opener on Sept. 19 against Southeastern Louisiana.

The Commercial Appeal's Dandy Dozen for football

Anthony Hayes of White Station and Harrison Martin of MUS are the football athletes of the week for Week 0.

When they complete their University of Memphis careers, they'll have accumulated seemingly a lifetime of instruction on the finer points of playing defense. Those 11 Tiger defenders have, to put in bluntly, heard it all. Five different coordinators in four seasons.

Ridgeway coach Rod Brown will tell anyone who will listen that Justin Maclin is a sight to behold on the football field, a defensive whiz capable of demoralizing quarterbacks and inspiring teammates. But get Maclin and Brown alone -- say, in front of a television set for a one-on-one film session -- and things change.

A look at Shelby-Metro's top players

Top-ranked MUS hosts Kingsbury.

It wasn't as mistake-prone as the team's first scrimmage -- there were three fewer turnovers -- but one would have had a difficult time determining it was a better performance after listening to University of Memphis football coach Tommy West's post-scrimmage tongue-lashing.

Excerpts from Thursday's live online chat with University of Memphis football beat reporter Phil Stukenborg.

With the bulk of his defensive starters returning, Tennessee State football coach James Webster has reason to believe his Tigers have what it takes to be a championship team. After all, it was a defense that led the Ohio Valley Conference last year, allowing just 308 yards per game, led by hard-hitting safety Eugene Clifford.

Germantown High football coach Charlie White told his Red Devils afterward they had given the game away.

The game film in Center Hill football coach Pete Hurt's hands reminded him of watching the defending NCAA champions. The tape was Southaven's 34-point victory over Independence in Week 0. "After watching it," said Hurt, "I thought we were playing the Florida Gators."

How the Dandy Dozen fared and roundup of Memphis-area football games.

The area's heavyweight teams flexed their muscles during Friday's first full night of high school football action. White Station, ranked second in The Commercial Appeal's Dandy Dozen, survived a scare from Ridgeway's Jaylon Walton before winning, 26-21, at Halle. Olive Branch, ranked third, traveled to Millington and pounded the hosts, 41-13. At Germantown, Christian Brothers, ranked seventh in the Dandy Dozen, held off the fourth-ranked Red Devils, 17-7, in the first meeting between the two teams since 2004.

Prep football scores and summaries from Aug. 28

For most football teams, a 7-5 record can be viewed as a good season. Darius Bolela didn't come to Jackson State for good seasons. Growing up in Jackson, Miss., Bolela is well versed in the tradition of JSU football. He understands the importance to Tiger fans and boosters of winning Southwestern Athletic Conference championships.

Ex-Husker Quentin Castille turns down Memphis

Former University of Miami quarterback Cannon Smith, who left the Hurricanes last week and attended a University of Memphis football scrimmage last Thursday, will throw his next pass for his hometown team. Smith is transferring to Memphis, a move confirmed Sunday night by his father, Fred Smith, FedEx founder and CEO.

If anything has characterized recent Tommy West-coached University of Memphis football teams, it's this: the Tigers, in their ninth season under West, have shown an ability to recover.

Fans at Jackson State are excited not just because Saturday's game at Mississippi State is the opener for both teams, but also because of the history at work: It will be the first football game between a school from the Southeastern Conference and a school from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

If you don't believe timing is almost everything, then talk to Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive. In the last three years, the SEC has been the nation's hottest college athletic conference, mainly because of success in the four most visible sports -- football, men's and women's basketball and baseball.

A capsule look at the Ole Miss Rebels

In some ways, it's going to be a farewell party, one thrown before nearly 50,000 guests. Sunday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, the Ole Miss-Memphis football series, an annual high-profile Mid-South event for most of the past 60 years, will fade to black amid a sea of red-and-blue and blue-and-gray.

Will Hudgens second on quarterback depth chart

A year ago, then-new Ole Miss football coach Houston Nutt was wondering how he could keep performing CPR on his team's confidence. Now, as if magic dust had been spread over the Rebels after last year's 9-4 season, they have a preseason top 10 ranking as they prepare to open the 2009 season at Memphis on Sunday.

Few people are happier that it's finally game week than Gene Chizik, Dan Mullen and Lane Kiffin, the new head coaches respectively at Auburn, Mississippi State and Tennessee. Odds are on the side of the Southeastern Conference's new coaching trio that they'll win their openers.

Commercial Appeal's athletes of the week for football.

The Commercial Appeal's football Dandy Dozen rankings for Sept. 1

Tennessee isn't seeing red yet. But the Vols can hardly wait until they do. As physical as they've been in fall camp, for as much competition as has taken place and even with new coach Lane Kiffin's preseason games allowing more outlets for aggression, it barely compares with the live action coming Saturday against Western Kentucky.

Ridgeway football coach Rod Brown calls him electric, the Roadrunners' sophomore running back, Jaylen Walton. "He's a Reggie Bush-type of back," says Brown.

No Memphis-area teams are ranked No. 1 in the first AP high school football poll. MUS, the defending state champion, is ranked No. 2 in the Division 2 poll, while Mitchell at No. 5 in the Class 5A poll, is the top-ranked Division 1 ranked team.

So much will be familiar to the University of Memphis football team Sunday. What will be somewhat foreign to the Tigers is this: Playing an opponent ranked in the top 10. Ole Miss enters ranked No. 8, its highest preseason position since 1970.

Saturday, on the first weekend of the new college football season, it will fully hit Phillip Fulmer and Tommy Tuberville that they are no longer head coaches.

Has there ever been a reason for so many football fans to feel so good about what's about to transpire?

MUS travels to South Panola in one of week's top matchups.

Memphis University School football coach Bobby Alston doesn't remember who called whom first. He just knows he was having a miserable time finding nonconference opponents who would agree to be on the Owls' schedule this season. So he made a deal with seven-time Mississippi state champion South Panola.

Ridgeway football coach Rod Brown calls him electric, the Roadrunners' sophomore running back, Jaylen Walton. "He's a Reggie Bush-type of back," says Brown.

Shortly after 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, the second chapter in their college football careers kicks off. A group of transfers from Bowl Championship Series conferences -- some relocating here because of a past transgression, others directed here because of a better opportunity -- will sprint out of the South tunnel and into a new beginning.

That goose egg wasn't sitting too well for the Evangelical Christian School football team. Visiting Southern Baptist Educational Center Friday night, the Eagles spotted the Trojans two touchdowns and a field goal before answering with an eye-popping 52 points on their way to collecting a 52-24 victory.

When you start a football season 0-2, needing a victory is an understatement. Houston rallied as a team and played a complete game on offense, defense and special teams and beat Ridgeway 26-10 at Halle Stadium for its first victory. Houston took advantage of five Ridgeway turnovers.

Memphis University School, ranked first in The Commercial Appeal's Dandy Dozen, traveled to South Panola and handed the Mississippi powerhouse its first home loss since November of 2001, winning 21-19.

After Sunday's loss to eighth-ranked Ole Miss, Tiger coach Tommy West was giving his offensive line a passing grade.

He returned from the third quarter break with $14 of beer, one $7 beer in each hand, headed back toward the stands. He is a Memphis football fan. At times, this requires fortification.

Two positive things a football coach can hope for in a season opener is winning and avoiding serious injuries. When Georgia and South Carolina on Saturday for the annual Eastern Division early season meeting that gives the winner a leg up, the Bulldogs and the Gamecocks will be minus a starter lost for the year.

Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead knows his undeniable strength -- a thunderbolt right arm capable of throwing a football that's capable of knocking a can off a fence post 70 yards away -- can also be his biggest weakness.

The Commercial Appeal's Dandy Dozen for Sept. 8th.

The City of Memphis' take on selling beer at University of Memphis home football games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium? How about: "We'll drink to that?"

A day that saw the Ole Miss football team climb two spots to sixth in the Associated Press Top 25 poll was tempered by the fact that more than a dozen Rebels were stricken with flu-like symptoms on Tuesday.

Olive Branch loses a little ground this week in the Class 6A poll.

MURFREESBORO -- Michael Cannon's playing career may have ended with a second knee injury on the very first day of MTSU's fall practice, but in another way his football career may be just beginning.

Today's game: Clemson (1-0, 0-0 ACC) at Georgia Tech (1-0, 0-0 ACC)

Current Alabama coach Nick Saban created his own first in last weekend's season-opening 34-24 victory over Virginia Tech. By having tailback Mark Ingram take the Tide's first snap for a 3-yard gain from the shotgun formation, it appeared to be the first time in modern Alabama football history that a Tide quarterback didn't take the game's opening snap.

Fred Jones always envisioned the Southern Heritage Classic, the annual football clash between historically black schools Jackson State University and Tennessee State University that is in its 20th year, as much more than just a game.

We want you to enjoy the football, but we also want to be sure you don't leave town without trying some of our local favorites. So take it easy on the tailgating and leave a little room for some good food, Memphis-style.

Jonathan Crompton's family calls it the day that saved their son's football career at Tennessee.

No high school football coach is going to complain when his team scores on its first four possessions -- especially in a battle of unbeatens. Hosting Hernando on Friday night, Southaven continued to get sparkling play from quarterback Dominique Harris during its 41-7 victory.

An upset victory over a ranked team highlighted Friday’s high school football action.

How the Dandy Dozen fared and roundup of Memphis-area games from Sept. 11

So here's the debate: Is it better to play two stiffs in your first two games of the college football season, or play at least one challenging game knowing you might lose it?

Houston High receiver Jerry Anderson, 6-5 and 195 pounds, will sign with the University of Memphis football program next February, giving the Tigers another candidate to offset the pending departures of a tall receiving corps.

Andy Boucher admits he's not the fastest guy on the Rhodes football team, or the most athletic. But he does pack a punch.

Last year, Auburn beat Mississippi State 3-2 in an SEC football game so void of offense that you would have thought it was a game full of third-down punts taken from a 1950s game plan emphasizing field position.

After a season on the outs, Michigan is back in the AP Top 25.

The Commercial Appeal's football Dandy Dozen for Sept. 15.

When the University of Memphis hosts UT Martin Saturday night at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, former Millington High standout Miguel Barnes will be familiar with his surroundings.

The coach of a football team favored by 28 points actually said Wednesday, with unwavering conviction, about his upcoming game: "Everybody knows this will be a four-quarter dogfight."

Today's game: No. 14 Georgia Tech (2-0) at No. 20 Miami (1-0)

In a 10-game high school football season, every week is important. But if you\'ve got aspirations of advancing to postseason play, some are more important than others.

Riceville swept four games from visiting Central in Sequoyah Conference play while Athens entertained Copper Basin in its home opener; Meigs County was at Englewood and Rogers Creek traveled to Tellico Plains in SouthEast Tennessee Athletic Conference action.

Offensive fireworks were the order of the night at McMinn County High School\'s football stadium Monday. Unfortunately for McMinn, most of them were provided by Ooltewah.

MARYVILLE - An observation from the McMinn County-Maryville football game Friday night: Alcoa must be really good.

Lambuth freshmen receivers Fletcher Cleaves and Dayne Mullins are improving after a Thursday single-car accident hospitalized the two players.

CHATTANOOGA - The University of Tennessee's interim president has told a newspaper he talked to Lane Kiffin "early on" about the university having more than an athletic reputation, and he also said the Vols didn't just lose Saturday to a better UCLA football team.

FOOTBALL

The first of an eight-part team-by-team analysis looking at players' fantasy football value. Today is a look at the AFC East.

The second of an eight-part team-by-team analysis looking at players' fantasy football value. Today is a look at the AFC North.

Monday didn't feel like the first day of football practice at Liberty.

The coaches and sports information directors associated with the Ohio Valley Conference football teams announced their picks for preseason All-OVC and the order of finish on Monday.

The third of an eight-part team-by-team analysis looking at players' fantasy football value. Today is a look at the AFC South.

Football is not the only high school sport that started practicing Monday. Girls' soccer and volleyball were also allowed to start practice for the fall season.

Monday will be a historic day in Bethel football history as it will be the first time the Wildcats step onto the practice field as Bethel University.

The fourth of an eight-part, team-by-team analysis looking at players' fantasy football value. Today is a look at the AFC West.

More than one-third of Trinity Christian Academy's 100 high school boys play football for the Lions.

The fifth of an eight-part team-by-team analysis looking at players' fantasy football value. Today is a look at the NFC East.

While there have been a number of questions surrounding Lambuth University this summer, one major question specifically pertaining to the football program has dealt with the defensive backs.

The sixth of an eight-part team-by-team analysis looking at players' fantasy football value. Today is a look at the NFC North.

Eight months after Milan's Avery Williamson set the state record for tackles in a title game with 22, a lot of people know about it.

The seventh of an eight-part, team-by-team analysis looking at players' fantasy football value. Today is a look at the NFC South.

Former Tennessee football coach Johnny Majors has been to a lot of places since he retired from coaching in 1996.

The last of an eight-part, team-by-team analysis looking at players' fantasy football value. Today is a look at the NFC West.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks often gets asked about the doubters - the fans who point out that while the Wildcats have won a record three straight bowls, none were of the high-profile nature they had targeted.

Lane Kiffin has not coached his first football game at Tennessee, but he probably knows there are two games on the 2009 schedule, and beyond, he can't afford to lose - Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

This is the first in a series of 18 days where The Jackson Sun will look at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

This is the second in a series of 18 where The Jackson Sun will look at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

Ohio Valley Conference football coaches skipped a trip to Nashville and participated in a teleconference Monday and Tuesday that replaced the league's media days.

This is the third in a series of 18 where The Jackson Sun will look at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

This is the fourth in a series of 18 where The Jackson Sun will look at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

Former Tennessee football coach Johnny Majors is set to speak at a fund-raiser for the Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame tonight, but he was in Jackson a day early to see old friends Thursday.

This is the fifth in a series of 18 where The Jackson Sun will look at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

Former Tennessee football coach Johnny Majors didn't know about Rock-A-Billy music before coming to Jackson this week.

KNOXVILLE - First-year University of Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin on Friday evening defended his team's physical practices without full pads, saying just two of the 104 players who reported healthy to camp have left the lineup through four days.

This is the sixth in a series of 18 where The Jackson Sun will look at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

CANTON, Ohio - When Terrell Owens makes his debut in a Bills uniform Sunday, little does he realize how much influence a certain newly inducted member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame had in getting him to Buffalo.

This is the seventh in a series of 18 where The Jackson Sun will look at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

This is the seventh in a series of 18 where The Jackson Sun is looking at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

This is the eighth in a series of 18 where The Jackson Sun is looking at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

Jackson football coaches have less than two weeks until things get real serious, at least on the field.

This is the ninth in a series of 17 where The Jackson Sun is looking at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

The two Jackson coaches making their debuts - Jackson Central-Merry's Dwayne Harris and North Side's Tab Vowell - both liked what they saw from their teams Friday night in the SportsPlus jamboree at University School of Jackson, but neither left with a win.

HUNTINGDON - It's a good thing the 2009 football season doesn't officially begin until Friday night.

This is the 12th in a series of 17 where The Jackson Sun is looking at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

NASHVILLE - Titans safety Michael Griffin loves dogs and football. He's also big on second chances.

FOOTBALL

This is the 13th in a series of 17 where The Jackson Sun is looking at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

There has been a lot of talk about this strange new playoff plan in high school football this season.

The August heat welcomed local football players and coaches as teams went through preseason practices and are strapping on the pads for dreaded two-a-days.

Bo Hardegree called the four wins Duke University had in the 2008 football season exciting, considering that was the number of wins the Blue Devils had in its four previous seasons.

This is the 14th in a series of 17 where The Jackson Sun is looking at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

This is the 15th in a series of 17 where The Jackson Sun is looking at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

NEW YORK - Phillip Fulmer plans to spend this football season working for an investment firm, doing some television work and even taking a few weekends off.

This is the 16th in a series of 17 where The Jackson Sun is looking at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

The 2009 football season is now days away. The first game in West Tennessee comes tomorrow night when Huntingdon travels to Westview for a non-district game that happens to be between two teams ranked in The Jackson Sun's Dirty Dozen.

NASHVILLE - Vanderbilt football players often approach coach Bobby Johnson for a letter of recommendation after they graduate.

This is the final installment in a series of 17 where The Jackson Sun is looking at different football teams and leagues of interest in West Tennessee at the college and high school level and ask and answer five questions each day that fans have going into the season.

Patrick Nelson has more to celebrate on August 29 than his 18th birthday.

Dist. Over.

It didn't take long for the football season to get going in Jackson and around West Tennessee.

Area football fans don't always have to travel to Knoxville or Oxford to see great college games.

Old Fearless, The Sun's football prognosticator, waddles back into our lives Wednesday, and you can be sure he is more ornery than ever. He begins his 36th season of bird-brained picks.

Jack Findley went from a defensive tackle postion in football to winning the state of Tennessee's oldest marathon in three years, then defeating testicular cancer.

Already, some of the doubt in first-year North Side coach Tab Vowell's mind is gone.

Old Fearless, The Jackson Sun's reluctant football prognosticator, is back and more belligerent than ever.

KNOXVILLE - Tennessee's football team needed a lift. Then the NCAA stepped in.

The Lambuth and Bethel football teams are revved up to hit somebody in a different-colored jersey today in both team's season-opener, but both teams had to endure long bus rides to get that opportunity.

Local college football fans can have their thirsts quenched beginning Saturday, but it won't be by local teams.

Text hereSacred Heart of Jesus head football coach Jeremy Blankenship is looking forward to Friday's 6:30 p.m. pep rally when his 15-man squad is introduced.

The quarterbacks draw all the attention, and there is good reason.

Passing

When Sacred Heart made its decision to field a high school football program, the ladies decided they wanted to have a voice in the activities as well.

Milan 0 24 0 7- 31

The first week is in the books for three of four West Tennessee college football teams, but two of those teams didn't start the season as they hoped.

NASHVILLE - Vanderbilt football fans sat patiently through 26 long, lean years between bowl games.

MEMPHIS - The fall semester officially started for students at the University of Memphis on Monday, as did the first official week of the football season as the Tigers are set to host Ole Miss on Sunday.

Dresden doesn't get much time to celebrate, or even think about, its 2-0 start.

The Associated Press' Top 10 teams in each of Tennessee's six Division I non-financial aid classifications and in the combined Division II financial aid classification as selected by Tennessee AP-member sportswriters and broadcasters. With first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 1, total points based on 10 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 10th-place vote:

MARTIN - UT Martin senior quarterback Cade Thompson has a different look after being named the Ohio Valley Conference's first-team quarterback last season and receiving the conference's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors this season.

MARTIN - UT Martin fans will experience something today that they haven't seen in coach Jason Simpson's three previous seasons.

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Passing

HENDERSON - J.D. Burton made some moves on Friday that Chester County football coach Jeff Cupples had not seen before.

Earlier this week, new Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin penned an open letter to UT fans.

FOOTBALL

Two schools with a lot of football history and a lot of trips to the TSSAA playoffs - University School of Jackson and Jackson Central-Merry - play for the first time in the schools' histories tonight at 7 p.m. at Rothrock Stadium.

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Passing

For University School of Jackson assistant football coach Jim Hardegree, Friday's game at Rothrock Stadium was a homecoming.

Humboldt 0 0 0 0- 0

NASHVILLE - Vanderbilt knows a loss in its SEC opener tonight would not break its football season.

Surprise, surprise.

Lambuth freshmen receivers Fletcher Cleaves and Dayne Mullins are improving after a Thursday single-car accident hospitalized the two players.

CHATTANOOGA - The University of Tennessee's interim president has told a newspaper he talked to Lane Kiffin "early on" about the university having more than an athletic reputation, and he also said the Vols didn't just lose Saturday to a better UCLA football team.

FOOTBALL

Ex-con headed to grand jury in McNair case

If you want to play football for Austin-East High School this season, you better take it seriously.

From his balcony overlooking the practice fields at Baptist Sports Park, Titans owner Bud Adams watched his football team start training camp Friday.

Whenever football time in Tennessee arrives this fall on cable television, couch potatoes will be able to watch the Vols.

Southern California football Coach Pete Carroll confirmed that Pete Rodriguez, Alex Gibbs and other coaches with NFL experience have served as consultants during his eight seasons with the Trojans, but he denied NCAA rules were broken.

One of the premises for the high school football realignment that takes effect this season was that travel would be reduced.

The Arena Football League has shut down, this time indefinitely. The league, which previously called off play for the 2009 season but had said it planned to return in 2010, sent a terse, one-paragraph statement to its teams late Tuesday announcing it had suspended operations.

If you want a player's perspective of how last season unfurled for Kingston High School's football team, Etimilin Phillips is the guy to ask.

For Knoxville-area high school football teams, the road to the state championship got a lot shorter - in mileage - over the summer when Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville was approved as the host site over Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro.

It's a whole new ballgame for Bearden's football team.

During the previous two football seasons, Central found itself in an unfamiliar position - missing the playoffs.

Brad Conley spent nine years as an assistant football coach at Gibbs High School, went into administration for four years, and got the itch to get back into coaching in 2008 after Eagles coach Randy Carroll stepped down.

In mid July, senior tight end/defensive end Joel Chapman estimated that, on average, he's asked about this year's Clinton football team three times per week.

Jefferson County's return to football prominence may finally be at hand.

It was the 1969 football season, the first year the TSSAA had state football playoffs, and Morristown East High School won.

CHEROKEE, N.C. — Skooter McCoy feels like Robin Leach from the classic television show “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” when people ask the coach for a tour of Cherokee's new football stadium. Advertisement

MARYVILLE - There were three new high school coaches on the Blount County football block Friday night.

When 5-foot-10, 175-pound junior Steven Allen transferred to Fulton High School in June, a football team looking to make a statement picked up an exclamation point.

Vick practices with Eagles, throwing hard

Psychrometer is the latest catchword in high school football, and it will be hard to find a football coach or trainer in the often sultry South who doesn’t have one.

Fulton High School didn't win many football games last season, but Monday it fought to save the four it did record.

Fulton High School lost its Monday appeal to the TSSAA Board of Control in regards to the inadvertent use of an ineligible football player last season.

Christian Academy of Knoxville football coach Rusty Bradley inherited a top-flight athlete in the summer of 2008, and his first impression of Marcus Walker was one of astonishment.

When Rusty Phillips began skipping offseason workouts twice per week, Wartburg High School football coach Dan Shoemaker got a little curious.

Favre gets standing ovationMINNEAPOLIS - What was once unthinkable became reality on Friday night under the big white top of the Metrodome - Brett Favre received a standing ovation in Minnesota.

The collective sigh was palpable as Clinton High School finally cleared that season-opening football hurdle Friday at Halls.

It was a historic Friday night and a stunning victory for the Hardin Valley Academy football team.

CAK football coach Rusty Bradley put his team through a strenuous summer of workouts and game situations.

As the first two drives of the high school football season ended in blunders for Farragut, senior quarterback Reese Browning could only cringe from the sidelines.

Several storylines emerged from Powell High School's 31-0 opening-season football win at South-Doyle High School on Friday night.

MINNEAPOLIS - On Brett Favre's last of eight plays in his preseason debut with Minnesota, the blitz came hard.

MORRISTOWN - Fulton High School football coach Buck Coatney took a photocopy of a newspaper article from his pocket Saturday, unfolded it, and put it on display.

The memorial began as a message on Facebook.By Saturday night, one student's tribute to a fallen fellow athlete grew to a vigil of hundreds - from students to adults to toddlers, all gathered on the West High School football field in Jake Logue's memory.

MEMPHIS - In an effort to reduce the projected losses at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium this year, the City of Memphis has decided to sell beer at University of Memphis home football games, beginning with their Sept. 6 season opener against Ole Miss.

NEW YORK - Bob Costas will host NBC's "Sunday Night Football" pregame show from the site of the game starting this season.

KINGSPORT - Around 1,500 people attended a "Celebration of Life" service at the Sullivan South High School gymnasium Wednesday evening for football player Jake Logue, who collapsed during a game at West last Friday night and died a short time later.

JEFFERSON CITY - Carson-Newman College head football coach Ken Sparks has a framed magazine cover on a shelf in his office. It shows him coaching his team with the subheading, "Leaving a Legacy." There's little doubt as Sparks enters his 30th season of coaching the No. 9-ranked Eagles that he has done just that. What he isn't ready to do is leave.

A former University of Tennessee football player arrested Thursday on a charge of soliciting a sexual favor from a 15-year-old student is innocent of any wrongdoing, his lawyer said Thursday.

LOUDON - With freshman quarterback Jordan Hall and sophomore running back Tanner Wilson looking sharp in the first half, the future for Lenoir City High School's football team looks bright.

11. Anderson County (0-0): Tonight the Mavericks have the unenviable task of tackling Morristown East all-purpose back Tee Howell, who returned two kickoffs for scores against Austin-East last week. Next week: at Campbell County.

The past six days were supposed to have been the West High School football team's time to find a semblance of stability after a rash of season-ending injuries to a few starters.

Central High School football coach Joel Helton was taken to the hospital Monday for precautionary measures, Central athletic director Charlie Sheets said.

OAK RIDGE - Webb School saw a very long Saturday finally come to an end against Red Bank. The Lady Spartans fought tooth and nail all day to make it to the final of the Early Bird Volleyball Tournament at Oak Ridge High School, but finally met their match, falling to the Lady Lions 25-17, 25-12.

Four local high school football teams proved to be well-respected Tuesday by statewide media in the first Associated Press high school poll of the season.

Heritage High School football players are holding their chins a bit higher. While not many bright spots could be found during the program's victory dearth of the past eight seasons, the Mountaineers are giving fans reason for optimism this season.

Tonight's Picks

PIGEON FORGE - Gibbs High School football coach Brad Conley stood in front of his team Thursday night and gave a motivational speech before their game against Pigeon Forge.

THE NEXT 10

PREPXTRA TOP 10

Powell High School's football team gave coach Matt Lowe an Emory Road-sized birthday present Friday night.

MARYVILLE - First, there was winter in the weight room for Maryville College's football team. Then spring practices, summer conditioning, and the late-summer preseason.

In a year when the only minority football coach in the Southeastern Conference resigned, the three open head coaching positions in the league went to white men.

TONIGHT'S PICKSAustin-East (2-1) at Catholic (1-1): Austin-East isn't fazed by road-game environments. It nearly won at Ooltewah two weeks ago, and it's the last team to beat the Irish at home. While A-E's offense isn't on par with its defense yet, the skill players are very dangerous, fast and earning football IQ points each week.

Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association officials are planning to confer with administrators and football coaches at Clinton High School and Jefferson County next week to sift through allegations of Clinton using an ineligible player this season.

There are unforgettable games, unimaginable endings, and incredible plays that go down in Knoxville high school football lore.

There are no prime-rib dinners to celebrate when the semi-pro Knoxville Knights football team wins its home games in Jacksboro.

Russ Huesman doesn't much care that today's game against Furman is Chattanooga's Southern Conference football opener.

MINNEAPOLIS - A federal appeals court on Friday cleared the way for Minnesota Vikings Pat Williams and Kevin Williams to play all season, despite the NFL's attempts to suspend them for violating the league's anti-doping policy.

Scott Meadows didn't envision his first home game as Catholic football coach being so stressful.

JACKSBORO - The Knoxville Knights survived a late scare to defeat the Clarksville Vipers 27-19 on Saturday night and advance to the next round of the Alliance Football League playoffs.