• This goes slightly beyond "freshman hijinks." Before he wooed Bryce Brown to Knoxville in March, Lane Kiffin made two major, surprising recruiting coups on signing day in February by luring five-star safety Janzen Jackson from LSU and coaxing receiver Nu'Keese Richardson from his commitment to Florida at the last second. (It was Richardson's defection, you may recall, that prompted Kiffin's infamous "Urban cheats" gaffe and the well-publicized digs at Richardson's high school.) Both have been significant contributors right away, with Jackson starting every game before his apparent suspension last Saturday against Memphis for an "administrative issue."

As of roughly 2 a.m. today, though -- just hours after boasting about the Vols' perfectly clean arrest record since his arrival -- Lane may be wishing he'd let Jackson and Richardson go their separate ways:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Three freshman Tennessee football players are charged with an attempted armed robbery.

Knoxville police say wide receiver Nu’Keese Richardson and defensive backs Janzen Jackson and Mike Edwards were arrested after the incident early Thursday.

The victims told police they were in a parked vehicle near Tennessee’s campus when two men, one brandishing a handgun, approached. The suspects demanded whatever the victims had but left empty-handed when victims showed they had no money.

The "handgun" in that report may actually be a pellet gun, not that the state of Tennessee or its largest university will care -- armed robbery by any means does not exactly fall under the heading of "boys will be boys" or "administrative issue." Jackson, Richardson and Edwards will probably never play football again for Tennessee and may be lucky to remain free men if the charges stick. They've potentially thrown away free educations and enormously promising futures for pocket change -- which they didn't even get -- and didn't even make it tough on the cops to bring them in. The stupidity on display here goes so far beyond youthful caprice, it's staggering; thank heavens they're not accused of actually hurting anyone.

Lil Wayne was not available for comment.

• I want you, Campfield! Next Sunday! On the floor of the legislature! At State Senate Slam! That bit of legal controversy may take some of the attention away from Tennessee's own stands, where news broke earlier this week that the belligerent guy being led out of the stadium while wearing a Mexican wrestler's mask during the South Carolina game was none other than State Rep. Stacey Campfield:

The Knoxville News Sentinel cited a police report that stated the Knoxville Republican was wearing a "Luchador's (Mexican wrestler's) full head mask" during the Oct. 31 game against South Carolina despite publicity that Halloween masks were not allowed inside Neyland Stadium.

A mother and her two daughters became "upset because a man was sitting in their section (Section B) with a mask on," according to the report by UT Police Lt. Dana McReynolds.

Campfield removed the mask when confronted by police. But instead of going back to his seat, he went a different direction. When an officer asked him why, Campfield reportedly became defensive and began acting strangely.

Campfield was eventually ejected from Neyland because, according to the officer, "He had violated the mask policy, was in the wrong section and was being argumentative and uncooperative." But of course strangeness is all in the eye of the beholder: Campfield has previously been accused of making up drug charges against an opponent in a hotly contested race and has introduced legislation requiring death certificates to be issued for abortions. In his world, "ejected from game for wearing a Luchador's head mask" is just "Saturday."(Hat tip: Sports by Brooks)

• Flopping is for the 'other' football. Houston leads the nation in total offense, largely because the Cougars' up-tempo attack gets off more snaps per game than any other offense. So naturally UH coaches took issue last Saturday with Tulsa's method of slowing the Cougars down -- by having defensive ends Cory Dorris and George Clinkscale repeatedly flop to the turf with bogus injuries that forced play to stop, according to the Houston Chronicle:

Again and again, Dorris and Clinkscale went down with disabling injuries that required the referees to stop play. Again and again, Dorris and Clinkscale mustered the strength and courage to come back from their afflictions — sometimes returning to the game on the next play. Again and again, Tulsa defenders were so distraught by the sight of their fallen comrades that they gathered with the coaches on the sideline for guidance and spiritual support.

With no regard to their personal safety or well-being, Dorris and Clinkscale re-injured themselves and returned to the field until what turned out to be a bitter end for the home team. Tulsa coach Todd Graham apparently had no regard for the safety or well-being of Dorris and Clinkscale, either, because he allowed them to keep playing despite repeated injuries.

Either that, or Graham was coaching his players to fake injuries so Tulsa could gain what amounted to illegal timeouts. It has to be one or the other. So what is it, Tulsa fans? Either your coach has no regard for the ethics of the game, or he callously sends players into the game at great risk to their well-being.

Houston offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen was slightly more succinct: "We view it as cheating." Technically, the NCAA rule book agrees, with explicit prohibitions against "deliberately teaching players to violate the rules" -- but without any explicit consequences for teams that do so in an oblique way. So Todd Graham, you have officially be chastised by the Houston coaching staff and Houston newspaper. (You also lost by giving up a touchdown, an onside kick and a last-second field goal in the final minute of a game your team had well in hand. Let that be a lesson to you.) (Hat tip: The Wiz)

• Soon you will have no choice but to give us the Vandal plane we require. Idaho coach Robb Akey, enjoying some newfound job security with the Vandals' first winning season in ages already secured, did his part earlier this week to stoke the Potato State rivalry ahead of Saturday's game at undefeated Boise State. Following Akey's lead, Idaho athletic director Rob Spear also stepped up to the hate plate by refusing to board a new, Bronco-themed plane last weekend:

Spear was traveling to Boise on Saturday for fundraising events. He requested another flight and then drove about 90 miles north to fly from the Spokane, Wash., airport to Boise.

Boise State and Horizon Air unveiled the plane, which sports the team logo on its tail, as an ode to the Broncos earlier this month.

Spear says he’ll board the plane after Horizon Air paints an airplane for the Vandals, whose football team will try to beat the No. 6 Broncos this Saturday for the first time since 1998.

If for some reason I was ever flying to Idaho, I would take "Air Vandal" in a heartbeat.

Quickly ... A key loss for Ole Miss as All-SEC defensive end Greg Hardy is out for the season with a broken wrist. ... Arizona State cornerback Terell Carr was suspended following his arrest Tuesday on misdemeanor charges for fighting, assault and driving with a suspended license. ... Notre Dame receiver Golden Tate doesn't want to give the indication he might be jumping into the draft, even to his mom. ... Add Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson to the growing list of coaches who publicly support a playoff. ... And the runaway leader of the Orlando Sentinel's reader poll for SEC Coach of the Year? Mr. Lane Kiffin.