Bison, Dukes have been on FCS collision course
FARGO, N.D. — The North Dakota State Bison and their fans owned Frisco, Texas, for five straight championship seasons, not only on the football field but in area hotels, restaurants and sports bars. Now returning after a one-year interruption, the Bison will find suburban Dallas a bit more crowded.
Top-seeded and defending champion James Madison (140) and the No. 2-seeded Bison (13-1) will square off Saturday for the Football Championship Subdivision title in a matchup of the dominant FCS programs with well-traveled contingents. Dukes coach Mike Houston has described the quest for tickets as a contest in itself.
Fans are in “a fight right now for every ticket that’s out there,” Houston said.
It’s the first time since 2011 and the first time since the FCS playoff field expanded to 24 teams that the top two seeds will face one another in the title game. Their resumes in the last half-dozen years include the two longest winning streaks in FCS. The Bison won a record 33 straight games between 2012 and 2014. The Dukes are currently riding a 26-game winning streak.
Houston, who last month signed a 10-year contract extension with James Madison, unabashedly said on the way to the top that he was building his team to beat the Bison, and that’s what the Dukes did last year in the FCS semifinals. Houston said the win gave his team respect from North Dakota State’s program and confidence it had reached its level. Asked what he could take from that game, Bison coach Chris Klieman said, “Nothing, really.”
“We just watched the film and decided what we liked and didn’t like … and moved on,” Klieman said.
This year the teams seem evenly matched in all phases, including the presence of two veteran quarterbacks who have combined to win 62 games. Junior Easton Stick is 33-3 as a starter for the Bison. Senior Bryan Schor is 29-3 in his career with the Dukes.
“Both players, I think their teams know how valuable they are,” Klieman said about Stick and Schor.
Ex-assistant to fired coach wants $7.5 millon
A claim filed by the former assistant to fired Arizona football coach Rich Rodriguez says he walked around the office in his underwear, fondled himself in front of her and forced her to cover up an extramarital affair he had with another woman.
The claim seeking damages against Rodriguez was filed by an attorney for the former assistant and her husband and is a required precursor to a lawsuit against a government official. It was released Wednesday by the Arizona attorney general’s office.
Lawyer Augustine Jimenez III is seeking a $7.5 million settlement for his clients, saying in the claim that jurors who might consider a lawsuit against a coach who misused his power could award tens of millions of dollars “in this current climate where #MeToo is in the headlines.” Jimenez didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
Arizona fired Rodriguez on Tuesday night. The university said it began an investigation in October after receiving a sexual harassment complaint against Rodriguez, but could not substantiate the woman’s claims because she declined to be interviewed by the school.
The university said it would honor the separation terms in Rodriguez’s contract, which calls for a buyout.
Rodriguez denied the former assistant’s allegations but acknowledged he had an affair.
“I am not a perfect man, but the claims by my former assistant are simply not true and her demands for a financial settlement are outrageous,” Rodriguez said. “I am saddened that these accusations and investigation have caused my family additional stress.”
The former assistant had worked for the university since 2001 and was an assistant to the head of football operations under former coach Mike Stoops until he was fired in 2011. The claim says Rodriguez hired her as his assistant on Stoops’ recommendation.
The claim says her enthusiasm began to wane in 2013 with the introduction of a Rodriguez-authored “Hideaway Book” that aimed to establish secrecy in football operations. The woman and other top staff began calling themselves the “Triangle of Secrecy” and were required to help cover up and facilitate Rodriguez’s indiscretions, especially his extramarital affair, and protect his reputation, the claim says. She quit in August.
The claim outlines a series of incidents beginning in 2015 where the assistant was put in difficult positions involving the woman Rodriguez was seeing and the coach’s wife. Numerous incidents were detailed where she was required to lie to Rodriguez’s wife.
It also detailed multiple incidents of untoward actions by Rodriguez toward the woman, including walking past her in his underwear, describing how he liked tight briefs, an attempt to kiss her in his office and touching her breast and fondling himself under his shorts after calling her into his office.
The woman’s name is included in the legal claim but The Associated Press generally does not identify alleged victims of sexual misconduct.
Riley proves capable in first year as head coach
NORMAN, Okla. —In his first year as Oklahoma’s head coach, Lincoln Riley came within one more touchdown of playing for a national title.
Not bad for a 34-year-old who found out just months before the start of the season that he would be called upon to fill Bob Stoops’ big shoes.
Riley picked up where Stoops left off as the high-scoring Sooners won their third straight Big 12 title, quarterback Baker Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy and Mark Andrews won the Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end.
Riley was Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator for two seasons before being promoted, and the Sooners had two of the most productive offensive seasons in school history. Still, being the boss was different.
“You can’t really understand it until you get in the chair, although I had some unique perspective into it,” he said. “I never felt unprepared. I never felt overwhelmed. I think a lot of that was because the staff and team around me.”
The youngest head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision found out quickly that he indeed was ready to make the jump. In the second game in his new role, he led the Sooners to a 31-16 win at then-No. 2 Ohio State. After Oklahoma lost to Iowa State in October, the Sooners reeled off eight straight wins to reach the College Football Playoff. In the national semifinal, the Sooners forced Georgia into its worst defensive performance of the season, but the Bulldogs escaped with a 54-48 double-overtime victory on Monday.
Even with the bitter ending — as of Wednesday morning, Riley had not watched film of the game — he deemed the season a good one. Riley said Georgia was exceptional defensively, and the Sooners will need to improve on that end to take the next step. He said the incoming recruiting class will help.