PAC-12 TRYING MORE TO MAKE GAMES SHORTER
The Pac-12 Conference will have shorter breaks and move up kickoff times for nonconference games on its network as part of a pilot program designed to shorten its college football games.
The conference, which announced this summer that it will shorten halftimes, on Wednesday added details about the program.
Halftimes will be cut from 20 to 15 minutes and breaks between quarters will be shorter for up to 15 nonconference games. Some game times also will begin closer to the TV-listed start time instead of a few minutes later.
The aim is to shorten games by 10 minutes.
The conference will collect feedback from fans and consult with its coaches, administrators and broadcast partners to evaluate the pilot program after the 2017 season.
Game lengths have become a concern in recent years, with the average time in the Football Bowl Subdivision reaching a record 3 hours, 24 minutes in 2016.
Harbaugh releases Michigan roster via Twitter.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has announced his team’s football roster via his Twitter account.
The roster drew interest mostly because the school waited so long before releasing it.
NJ Advance Media submitted a Freedom of Information request in an effort to obtain it, and Harbaugh eventually said that with final tryouts for the team starting no earlier than this past Monday, the roster would be publicized Wednesday.
Florida suspends two more.
No. 17 Florida has suspended two more players, including starting running back Jordan Scarlett, for its season opener against 11thranked Michigan.
Scarlett and receiver Rick Wells were suspended indefinitely from all team activities for misusing school funds.
That brings to 10 the total number of Florida players suspended for Saturday’s game in Arlington, Texas.
Seven others, including leading receiver Antonio Callaway, were suspended Aug. 13 for reportedly purchasing items at the campus bookstore with their student identification cards, which didn’t have sufficient funds for the transactions, and later selling the items for cash.
None of those nine will travel to Texas for the game. They won’t be allowed to rejoin the team until making financial restitution.
Florida coach Jim McElwain also suspended freshman receiver James Robinson for the opener following a marijuana possession charge last week.
• Florida has named Feleipe Franks its starting quarterback for the season opener.
Tenn. down two starters.
Tennessee will be missing its projected starting left tackle and its top linebacker Monday when the 25thranked Volunteers open the season against Georgia Tech.
Volunteers coach Butch Jones announced that offensive tackle Drew Richmond will be suspended for the Georgia Tech game due to a violation of team rules and that linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. will miss the start of the season with a knee injury.
Jones said Richmond would be available for Tennessee’s Sept. 9 game with Indiana State “if he does everything that he needs to do.”
ETSU dismisses player.
East
. Tennessee State has dismissed defensive back Jackson Trawick from its team after his arrest on a statutory rape charge.
ETSU police say a 17year-old told them she met Trawick at a Starbucks on Monday and went back to his apartment to watch movies when she says he raped her. Trawick told police that he and the young woman first made contact via the dating app Tinder and talked for a few days before meeting at Starbucks and later had consensual sex.