Palmer, Stoops lead Hall of Fame class
Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer and former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops are among the 13 former players and coaches who make up the latest College Football Hall of Fame class.
The National Football Foundation announced the newly elected hall of famers Monday. This class will be inducted in December.
Joining Southern Cal’s Palmer and Stoops will be versatile running backs Darren Sproles of Kansas State and C.J. Spiller of Clemson; offensive tackles Harris Barton of North Carolina and Aaron Taylor of Notre Dame; defensive stars David Fulcher of Arizona State, Dan Morgan of Miami; Kenneth Sims of Texas; Andre Tippett of Iowa and Al Wilson of Tennessee. Former Eastern Illinois quarterback and current CBS NFL analyst Tony Romo was also selected for induction along with former Florida A&M coach Rudy Hubbard.
Palmer won the Heisman in 2002 for the Trojans and went on to be the first overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Stoops coached Oklahoma from 1999-2016, leading the Sooners to their last national championship in 2000. Oklahoma went to two more BCS title games with Stoops and won 10 Big 12 championships.
He is the sixth Oklahoma coach to be inducted into the Atlanta-based Hall of Fame, including Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer.
Stoops and Tippett were teammates on the Iowa’s Big Ten championship team in
1981.
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Ohio State’s Sermon leaves championship game with injury
MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. » Ohio State running back Trey Sermon left the national championship game against No. 1 Alabama with an injury Monday night and did not return.
The game did not end in time for this edition of the Daily Times.
Sermon was taken to the locker room after the Buckeyes’ first offensive series, during which he carried the ball once for two yards. Master Teague III, who began the season as the starter, was in for the second series and had three carries, including an eight-yard run for a
touchdown. Teague scored again from four yards out in the second quarter after the Buckeyes recovered an Alabama fumble.
Sermon, a graduate transfer from Oklahoma, had 331 rushing yards in the Big Ten championship and another 193 yards in the semifinal win over Clemson.
Ohio State was already without kicker Blake Haubeil and defensive lineman Tommy Togiai and defensive end Tyreke Smith. They were included in Ohio State’s status report released during the game.
The school does not specify why any of the 13 players on the list cannot play, but Buckeyes coach Ryan Day did acknowledge last week
that Ohio State was dealing with some new COVID-19 cases.
Haubeil posted on his Instagram page that he did not make the trip to Florida after testing positive. The senior was 5 for 7 on field-goal attempts this season and handled kickoffs. Junior Dominic DiMaccio was 1 for 2 on field goals and 3 for 3 on extra points this season. Freshman Jake Seibert missed his only field goal attempt and made all 13 PATs.
“I’m extremely upset but at the same time I’m overwhelming thankful to be an individual who is asymptomatic,” Haueil said in his post. “I have spent the past 4 months making sacrifices, and have not seen family and
friends one single time. So, to say I’m (angry) is a complete understatement. I didn’t go out and do something I knew I wasn’t supposed to be doing and then wake up with a positive test.”
Togiai and Smith both played well in the Sugar Bowl semifinal victory against Clemson, when the Buckeyes got good pressure on quarterback Trevor Lawrence and shut down the Tigers’ running game.
Smith had a sack and Togiai made four tackles. Without Togiai at nose tackle, Jerron Cage and Ty Hamilton could see more playing time.
Running back Miyan Williams, who had significant runs against Clemson, also was listed as unavailable.