Players worth watching
Oklahoma junior Caleb Kelly and Oklahoma State senior Justin Phillips on Monday were named to the preseason watch list for the Butkus Award honoring the top linebacker in college football.
Oklahoma junior Caleb Kelly and Oklahoma State senior Justin Phillips were named to the preseason watch list for the Butkus Award honoring the top linebacker in college football.
Phillips earned the Leslie O'Neal Award as Oklahoma State's top defensive player a year ago when he finished with 64 tackles — 42 solo. He returned interceptions for a touchdown in back-toback games against South Alabama and Pitt and forced three fumbles during the season.
Kelly was an honorable mention All-Big 12 linebacker a year ago when he had 56 tackles, a sack, an interception and two fumble recoveries.
Two other Big 12 players are among the 51 on the watch list — Texas' Gary Johnson and TCU's Ty Summers.
Buckeyes fire wide receivers coach
Ohio State has fired receivers coach Zach Smith, who was charged last week with misdemeanor criminal trespass after a dispute with his ex-wife.
Coach Urban Meyer announced Smith's dismissal in a two-sentence statement on Monday.
The move came after multiple media outlets reported that Smith's ex-wife has filed for a protective order against him. The Columbus Dispatch reported that Courtney Smith wrote in a sworn document that her ex-husband has stalked and intimidated her.
Trial begins for ex-Tennessee players facing rape charges
A prosecutor in the trial of former University of Tennessee football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams says they used their status as athletes to rape a woman in a "case about power, privilege and protection."
Defense lawyers countered that the woman voluntarily had sex with both men before lying out of embarrassment.
The aggravated rape trial for Johnson and Williams finally got underway Monday, nearly four years after the incident in question. Johnson was a linebacker and Williams a defensive back for Tennessee when a woman says both men raped her in the early morning hours of Nov. 16, 2014. Both men were suspended less than 48 hours later and never played for Tennessee again.