• Tennessee is going Butch. Butch Davis, that is, who the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports is the leading candidate to replace Phil Fulmer. Davis has already denied interest in Tennessee, of course, and of course verbal denials mean nothing. Ah, the pas de deux of the coaching search.

Vol fans still prefer Mike Leach, and if Davis doesn't bite, the good Cap'n will be on the short list, according to the same sources that talked to the Sentinel about Davis, along with Cincinnati's Brian Kelly and maybe Tim Brewster.

And about that loss to Wyoming: Tell Anthony Parker (above) the Vols were just going through the motions. He's not crying because Knoxville police had to break out the tear gas.

• The vultures are circling. Syracuse is officially eliminated from bowl contention, and a few strangers showed up to cover Greg Robinson's Sunday press conference after Rutgers' "painfully easy" win over the Orange. But G-Rob's still got a job, as of this morning, and talked mainly about the possibility of platooning quarterbacks Andrew Robinson and Cameron Dantley over the last three games.

Although Syracuse has been embarrassing and would conceivably lose to a program like Wyoming throughout Robinson's tenure -- 'Cuse took double overtime to beat the Cowboys in 2006, in fact -- the Syracuse Post-Standard's Donnie Webb points to Tennessee's humiliation as a warning sign of what can happen if players openly quit on a lame duck coach. Apparently this hasn't happened yet with the Orange, in his opinion, and with vetting already quietly underway and Senior Day coming up Saturday against UConn, if the axe doesn't fall on Robinson today, he might just make it through another week or three.

• Li'l Hawk to the rescue. Cody Hawkins has faced the ignominy of getting benched by his dad repeatedly during Colorado's 1-5 slide since beating West Virginia, but it was the diminutive slinger that came off the bench to throw four touchdown passes in the second half -- including the game winner with just under a minute-and-a-half to play -- to get the Buffaloes past Iowa State after a 10-0 halftime hole. It was probably the best effort of Cody's career, keeps CU alive for a bowl game and should end the Buffs' quarterback controversy -- for now. Just for fun, enjoy following the evolution of Colorado fans' sentiments about Cody's dad, Dan, on the Daily Camera's comment thread, before and after the QB change around 1:30 p.m. Mountain time.

Quickly ... Auburn assistant athletic director Virgil Stark died Saturday night of cardiac arrest. ... More attrition from USC's star-studded backfield: Running back Broderick Green will transfer to be closer to family in Arkansas, where there may be a few more carries waiting for him. And, upon further review, Pete Carroll thinks the officials were alright, after all, in SC's win over Cal. ... North Carolina tight end Zack Pianalto suffered a broken leg in the Heels' win over Georgia Tech, and will be out "indefinitely," which should mean "at least until the bowl game." ... Tim Brewster is focusing on Wisconsin, for obvious reasons after Minnesota's loss to Michigan. ... Mohammed Massaquoi's afternoon against Kentucky, like Matt Stafford's, was the best day of his career. ... Saturday's loss to North Carolina was Georgia Tech's worst under Paul Johnson, who was not too happy with starting quarterback Josh Nebitt's decisions on the option before he was pulled in the third quarter. ... And Rick Neuheisel is returning to Seattle Saturday when UCLA visits Washington. Any chance they'll try to get him back?