• Let the flight tracking begin. Clemson AD Terry Don Phillips! Spotted in Oklahoma! With a Clemson plane! Who's he going to hire?

Sooner offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson swears to God, the press and Bob Stoops he hasn't talked to anyone about taking over the head job at Clemson or anywhere else, but defensive coordinator Brent Venables -- also a hot name at Kansas State, his alma mater -- wasn't around after practice to issue any denials because (officially, anyway) he hurried home to be with his newborn (Wink!). Back in South Carolina, The State doesn't even bother with the intrigue, reporting outright from a couple Rivals sites that Phillips met with Venables about the Tigers' vacancy, making him the first interview the paper is aware of.

Meanwhile, interim Clemson boss Dabo Swinney still wants the job, and channeled Lloyd Christmas Tuesday to describe the Tigers' bowl hopes at 4-5. So you're saying there's a chance?

• Rick Costa leaves when he wants to leave. Maryland linebacker Rick Costa was having a leisurely Saturday evening/Sunday morning at College Park's Cornerstone Grill & Loft when he and "two other unidentified males" were told they had to leave the establishment. Rick wasn't ready to cut his night short, apparently, so (allegedly) he made the only logical decision: Start a fight with bouncers and eventually punch a police officer in the face:

"At this point the defendant [Costa] became combative, striking one of the bouncers in the face. Another bouncer came to intervene and tried to stop Costa from fighting with the other bouncer, at which point Costa pushed him away," [Police spokesman Henry] Tippett said.

Tippett continued: "The officer approached Costa. He announced himself as a police officer. The officer said Costa was intoxicated and disorderly at which point he punched the officer in the right side of his eye, causing a face injury."

Costa's super ironic major: Criminology. Maybe he was just ... studying the inner workings of the justice system from the perspective of the suspect? Picking up an assault charge and an indefinite suspension from the team -- as a senior who's already transferred from Temple, likely the end of Costa's career -- wasn't part of the assignment, but he does get extra credit for making bail.

• It's not you, Daryll. It's your lousy teammates. Daryll Clark stood up and took his share of the blame for Penn State's loss at Iowa, the worst statistical game of his season, in which he threw a crucial interception to set up the Hawkeyes' winning field goal drive. Did coaches rush him back too quickly following the concussion that knocked Clark out of the win at Ohio State? No, no, no, says Joe Paterno. The old coach knows you can't put the whole loss on the quarterback. Put it on his receivers:

"I think he's being too tough on himself," coach Joe Paterno said. "In fact, I told him that [Sunday] on the practice field. I think he's done fine. They dropped passes on him.

"... When we talk about why we're not being a little more productive offensively, we haven't made a lot of great catches, and we dropped some passes that would have an impact on whether we go for a field goal or we get a touchdown."

You know what? Maybe Black Shoe Diaries has the right idea: They all sucked. There's no need to single anybody out here.

Quickly ... Virginia Tech's Tyrod Taylor is iffy for Thursday night against Miami, likely meaning another start for Sean Glennon (who only plans to hand off to Darren Evans, anyway). . . . Minnesota's leading receiver, Eric Decker, will miss a second straight game when the Badgers go to Wisconsin. . . . Kevin Riley will start at quarterback for Cal's make-or-break game at Oregon State. . . . North Carolina has dismissed defensive end Darius Powell for the ever popular unspecified violation of team rules. . . . Nebraska's defensive starters have finally earned their Blackshirts. . . . Ex-USC tailback Broderick Green's likely destination: Arkansas. . . . The Greg Robinson era has left them grasping at satirical straws in Syracuse. . . . And Clay Travis' vote for Tennessee's next coach: Yarrrr, matey.