Prior to this season Cameron Newton had only thrown for 54 yards on 12 pass attempts in his first two years playing division I college football. The 6 ft 6 inch quarterback was named the Tigers’ starter this season and currently has the best passer rating in the country (191.44). Auburn is ranked #8 in the country and undefeated largely due to Newton’s brilliance under center. Newton has 65.5% of his passes, thrown 12 TDs and 4 INTs, racked up 928 yards, and 474 rushing yards. The 21-year-old played backup to Tim Tebow for two seasons at Florida before leading Blinn College to a 2009 JUCO National Championship. Auburn head coach Gene Chizik welcomed Newtown with open arms this season and the 21-year-old has become a instant hit in Eastern Alabama. Newtown’s poise in the pocket grabbed headlines when Auburn defeated Mississippi State, Clemson, and South Carolina. The Tigers’ young quarterback has a number of giant tests remaining on the schedule as Auburn faces Kentucky, Arkansas, and LSU in the next three weeks.

After missing the 2009 season because of a battle with rare form of cancer, Ewing’s Sarcoma, Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich suited up for practice Thursday. Herzlich underwent treatments of radiations and cemotherapy in 2009 and announced this past September that he was cancer free. ESPN ran stories on the inspirational 22-year-old who throughout his year battling the disease supported team mates on the Boston College sideline, met with cancer patients, and raised over $200,000 for cancer research.

Herzlich in 2008 was an All-American, ACC Defensive Player of the Year winner, and NFL draft prospect leading the Golden Eagles in tackles and the nation in incterception by a linebacker. Though back to full health it is unclear if Herzlich will be able to return to Boston College’s starting lineup. Nonetheless, when Herzlich runs out on to field Alumni Stadium in all his pads for the first time since his bout with cancer he will be subject to a standing ovation.

This is what we see in the NCAA Football world during the offseason. If you look at any of the major sports sites that talk about the sport, they all have a variety of different scandalous stories. Everything from assault to the cheating scandal to drug possession to punching. It’s kind of annoying, because we’d like to see some real information about the sport during this time of year. If you’re really into it, you don’t need to hear about the collegiate antics that the team members are undergoing. They take things that happen to many kids in college and make it sound like news. It’s just kids being silly and we should perhaps lay off on them. Not my business anyway.

The Florida State controversy continued the rest of the week, so we’re going to devote a second entry to it. The Florida State coach, Bobby Bowden, came out with a statement to the effect that it’s not fair for these athletes to affect victories in 10 different sports. In particular, according to the university’s president, the coaches shouldn’t be held accountable for the mistakes of the students. Why the coaches in particular? Why not “we shouldn’t hold all athletes responsible for the misdeeds of the few”? Because Mr. Bowden is one victory shy of the NCAA’s winningest coach in Penn State. If the NCAA takes away 14 wins from the football team, as originally planned Bowden may not be able to retire soon as the NCAA’s best coach.

The NCAA Football world is very quiet right now. There are some more scandals, and I suppose that’s just normal at this time of year. Like we mentioned before, there aren’t that many things going on besides some behind-the-scenes dealing of teams trying to bring in the best high schools students around. It’s interesting, though, to see which names keep coming up in all these scandals and discussions. Not that all these teams are doing something wrong, but it’ll give you an idea of who is out there doing major scouting and recruiting this off season. We’ll be keeping an eye on it and let you know what the newest information is. Watch the CBS site to find information about your favorite teams.

There’s always a little one here and a little one there but upsets are generally sprinkled throughout the season and none too shocking. Usually. Rewind to the past weekend of NCAA college football and that above axiom is twisted, broken, and shot in to space. Let’s start with the first and perhaps most shocking upset.

Thursday in Corvallis.  The Oregon State Beavers shock the world and defeat the supposedly unbeatable USC Trojans 27-21. The Beavers stymied the Trojans offense for the majority of the game and sent the number 1 team down several spots in the AP rankings.

The upsets only continued on Saturday. After USC was bumped from number 1 status several teams were ready to usurp the spot. It wouldn’t be number 3 Georgia, however, as they fell to Alabama in a deceiving score of 41-30 (deceiving because Alabama far outplayed the Bulldogs). It also wouldn’t be number 4 Florida Gators whose late point after attempt was blocked, resulting in a 31-30 loss to Ole Miss. In addition to these two games, another top ten team Wisconsin Badgers fell to Michigan 27-25.

All in all, six ranked teams lost to unranked teams over the weekend. In addition to USC, Florida, and Wisconsin, upsets occurred for Wake Forest, East Carolina, and Clemson as well. This weekend it was Oklahoma who really made out like a bandit, winning easily over TCU 35-10 and now sitting atop the NCAA rankings totem pole.

In less than a year, JD Quinn who was Montana’s offensive lineman was apprehended last week after being found drunk behind the wheel. It is his second consecutive DUI charge. The 22 year old player was brought in by the law at a traffic stop when he refused to cooperate by breathing into a breathalyzer. Instead, his lawyer revealed that he wanted a blood test conducted. Quinn did not manage to complete either and he quickly paid the $500 bail money and promptly pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge before 24 hours was over. As a result, the senior who was also an All Big Sky selection previously was suspended and not allowed to participate in team activities until further told to.

It looks like Preston Parker, who is the Florida State team receiver is not completely in the clear yet. He cannot afford to be relieved even after having a petty theft charge against him dropped, and still have remaining weapons charges to keep him occupied and out of the regular Florida State game play. Earlier in the year 2006, he was found guilty of shoplifting. It was said that he stole a $9.99 DVD movie from a rental store located in Tallahassee. To be free from the misdemeanor charges, he recently paid $200 in fine to the court earlier this week.

But that was not the end. In early April, Parker was again arrested in possession of marijuana amounting to less than 20 grams. He was also unlucky enough to be found with a loaded .45 caliber pistol hidden within his car’s dash board. Florida State has made it clear that the weapons charge must be eliminated before he is able to return to the team.

Sean Lee, senior linebacker with Penn State, tore his ACL in the right knee during a recent practice, and this might render him unable to give top notch performance for the entire 2008 season.

Over the next several weeks, Lee is expected to undergo treatment and consecutive surgery on the knee, sources say. Director of Athletic Medicine for Penn State, Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, confirmed this and added that he will also use up a total of nine precious months forgoing practice in order to undergo an intense rehabilitation program. This is to ensure complete recovery for his knee.

Lee was quoted as saying “I have a responsibility to the team to help do everything I can this year in what might be a non-conventional way,” He added that he was sorry that this unforeseen circumstance happened but he will do everything he can to recuperate and ensure that he performs better upon recovery.

So pleased is Penn State with 81 year old Joe Paterno’s performance that they both agree that the football coach does not require a new contract to continue what he does best at Penn State.

Currently, Paterno’s contract ends at the end of the 2008 season but that does not mark the end to his career with the Nittany Lions. Graham Spanier, the University president was quoted as saying that Paterno’s  seniority is more than enough to convince them that he needs no mere contract to stay on with Penn State. He entered his 43rd season as Penn State’s coach and has brought many victories to the Nittany Lions.

Joe Paterno was quoted as saying that he will be comfortable with whatever decision the University came up with and will continue to be the guiding light for the Nittany Lions.