College Notes: 9/6

UNIVERSITY PARK – SMU junior setter Tara Hatfield was named Most Valuable Player in the Weber State Tournament last week. The Mustangs swept the competition, defeating Weber State, Syracuse and Portland.

Hatfield, from Coppell, racked up 164 assists and 12 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Kristen Peterson and junior middle blocker Janna Newsom also made all-tournament.

– Rana L. Cash

UNT to start Bridges

DENTON – North Texas coach Darrell Dickey said junior quarterback Richard Bridges will start Saturday's game against Texas Tech.

Freshman Scott Hall played the final 19 minutes of UNT's 20-7 loss to Baylor last week and led the offense to a touchdown.

Dickey said Hall and sophomore Spencer Stack would be available should Bridges have trouble moving the offense.

– Richard Durrett

Injury update

Baylor: DT Kevin Stevenson (shoulder) is being evaluated daily.

North Texas: Freshman right guard Nick Zuniga and freshman right tackle Brandon Kennedy have had limited practice time because of sprained ankles suffered Thursday. Both are expected to play Saturday.

SMU: TE Steve O'Neill has an injured ankle.

Texas A&M: FS Michael Jameson (ankle) is doubtful; WR Chris Taylor (ribs) will play.

Texas Tech: Senior backup linebacker John Norman will miss up to six weeks after breaking his left fibula in last Saturday's 38-16 victory over Utah State.

A&M kicker suspended

COLLEGE STATION, Texas –Russell Bynum, Texas A&M's No. 1 kicker in 1998, was indefinitely suspended by Aggie coach R.C. Slocum following his arrest Monday on a two-count assault warrant stemming from a summer incident at a College Station night club.

Two persons suffered cuts and bruises in the July 22 incident. Bynum, now A&M's backup kicker, was released after posting a $20,000 bond. The arrest was the third for Bynum in the past four years.

Bynum was suspended for the 1999 season for testing positive for a banned substance.

– Al Carter

Aggies' safety hobbled

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Although he's listed as doubtful on Texas A&M's injury report, Aggie free safety Michael Jameson said on Tuesday he'll sit out A&M's opener against Wyoming on Saturday because of a sprained ankle.

Jameson was limited last Saturday against Notre Dame because of a sprained Achilles' tendon in his right leg. He was forced out of the game with a sprained left ankle.

If Jameson doesn't play, a walk-on, Wes Bautovich, will draw his first career start.

– Al Carter

OU weighs redshirts

NORMAN, Okla. – Oklahoma coordinator Mark Mangino said Tuesday true freshmen offensive linemen Wes Sims and Cliff Takawana would be redshirted, barring "a critical injury situation." Sims, a 315-pounder from Weatherford, Okla., is considered the plum of OU's 2000 recruiting class. – Charlie Smith

UT starting wideouts

AUSTIN – Texas coach Mack Brown said junior Montrell Flowers of Skyline will start at split end and fifth-year senior Brandon Healy of Carlsbad, Calif., will start at flanker against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday.

While Flowers and Healy will be first on the field, offensive coordinator Greg Davis said redshirt freshman Artie Ellis and true freshman B.J. Johnson of South Grand Prairie will also see action at flanker. Freshman Roy Williams of Odessa Permian is also expected to see action at split end.

– Chip Brown

Commitment for UT

AUSTIN – Heather Schreiber, a 6-2 forward out of Class A Windthorst who is considered one of the state's top women's basketball recruits, has made an oral commitment to attend Texas next year.

– Chip Brown

OSU's big target

STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State's first depth chart of the fall lists Marcellus Rivers as a backup wide receiver behind Gabe Lindsay. The 6-4, 250-pound Rivers, six inches taller and 70 pounds heavier than Lindsay, is expected to play mostly as a tight end or in the slot.

– Charlie Smith

Tech sweeps

LUBBOCK – Texas Tech volleyball coach Jeff Nelson was jubilant after the Red Raiders opened the season last weekend with a four-game sweep of the Carolina Classic in Columbia, S.C.

Tech beat host South Carolina as well as Liberty, Xavier and Duke en route to the tournament title. Outside hitter Melissa McGehee was the standout for Tech, earning tournament MVP honors after recording 56 kills and 55 digs.

"It was a fantastic start for us," said Nelson, who claimed the 11th tournament championship of his Tech coaching career.

– Bart Hubbuch

Cool in the heat

LUBBOCK – Three days after playing in one of the hottest games in school history Saturday, Texas Tech practiced in 100-degree temperatures for almost two hours Tuesday afternoon while proclaiming indifference to the oppressive conditions.

"The heat didn't bother us at all," said strong safety Kevin Curtis, whose team played in 99-degree temperatures during a 38-16 win over Utah State on Saturday and probably will experience similar heat this weekend against North Texas in Lubbock.

"I coached at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, Calif., where it was 120 in the shade, then Valdosta, Ga., where it was 100 degrees with 90 percent humidity," coach Mike Leach said. "It was never a problem."

– Bart Hubbuch

SMU keeps it real

UNIVERSITY PARK – SMU coach Mike Cavan has a number of worries, but wondering whether there will be a letdown following Saturday's 31-17 victory over Kansas is not one of them.

"Down from what?" Cavan asked. "We haven't done anything yet. If these guys think we've accomplished something, then I don't know what to say. We can't be sure of anything right now."

SMU will be on the road against UT-El Paso to open the WAC schedule.

Last year, SMU was 1-4 on the road, but the Mustangs have won five of their last six games.

– Rana L. Cash

Another 'opener'

Baylor faces, in essence, two season openers because of playing last Thursday and having a bye this weekend.

Coach Kevin Steele feared his team might regress, so he and his staff decided to work the team early this week as hard as they have this summer.

"They've had a win, it's the end of two-a-days, it's early in the season, a holiday weekend ... the first practice has got 'bad practice' written all over it,'' Steele said. "But they had their mind on business, and they worked their tails off.''

– Dan Noxon

Settled at safety

With only three days left before TCU's season opener at Nevada on Saturday, coach Dennis Franchione settled one of the few open starting jobs on his team by naming junior Charlie Owens as his top weak safety.

Owens beat out senior LaVar Veale and sophomore Kenneth Hilliard. Owens backed up Reggie Hunt last year at that position, and Franchione said that seemed to give him the edge.

"The big factor was familiarity at the position,'' Franchione said. "And sometimes when you play behind a guy like Reggie Hunt, you know you're not going to start unless something happens to Reggie. Immediately when Reggie was no longer there, Charlie set his mission and went after it."

– Dan Noxon