• That was not what we refer to as a "form tackle." For all his team's travails, Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder was having too brilliant a season to have it end on this:

But end it has: As suspected over the weekend, the separated shoulder Ponder suffered while taking on DeAndre McDaniel on Ponder's fourth and final interception Saturday at Clemson will cut short his season with three games to go. Ponder -- already suffering from bruised ribs before the game and willing to admit he "should have played smarter" than to fling his body at McDaniel out of frustration instead of just pushing him out of bounds -- will undergo surgery to repair his throwing shoulder in two weeks, ceding the starting job to very green redshirt freshman E.J. Manuel down the stretch. Manuel steps into a must-win situation against Maryland and Wake Forest over the next two weeks: At 4-5 with Florida looming as loss No. 6, FSU has to take care of the Terps and Deacons just to avoid being shut out of a bowl game for the first time in almost 30 years -- that is, if the season isn't already over ($).

• Maybe if he hadn't called her "Honey" ... Michigan athletic director Bill Martin's pending retirement has been met with the usual congratulation for a productive career, but its timing may have been thrown into some question Monday with word that Martin allegedly got a little pushy with student staffers at Michigan Stadium on more than one occasion this year, beginning with the Wolverines' Sept. 12 win over Notre Dame:

Just before halftime, [Jackie] Turner was in charge of opening doors to let patrons out of the area when three males wearing University of Michigan polo shirts attempted to come through the doors, according to the report.

Turner told DPS she stepped in front of the doorway and told the man in the front of the group that she needed to see his pass to let him in. In response, the man, Martin, put his hand on her shoulder and said "Honey, I’m the athletic director," pushing her just enough so she would get out of his way.

According to the report, Turner decided to report the incident after she heard fellow employees talking about a similar incident at the Oct. 17 game against Delaware State.

The student Michigan Daily has a PDF copy of the incident report against Martin; three days later, Martin announced his retirement on the same day police alerted him of the "investigation." Martin formally apologized Monday, citing "unnecessary confusion" about a new security policy at the stadium.

The Daily's headline -- "AD Bill Martin allegedly assaulted two DPS staffers ..." -- is probably a bit of an overstatement, since "assault" typically indicates more than minor shoving and grabbing that ultimately results in no tangible consequences. If nothing else, though, you can strike the public black eye for Martin as a welcome blow against common condescension.

• Fashion break! Ohio State's announcement last week that it planned to rollout a throwback motif at Michigan to honor the 1954 national champions threatened to overshadow the build-up to the Buckeyes' game at Penn State, not least because the fuzzy Twitpic previews of the jerseys didn't offer much insight and certainly didn't look very "throwback." Ex-Buckeye Rob Harley has a better look at the entire ensemble:

The top remains anachronistically be-Swooshed, and I'm not sure what's going on with the Tron graphics on the shoulders. But the helmet and pants look old, at least, even if they're not entirely faithful to the gridiron fashions of '54.

Nike's also got a new look for TCU, which the Horned Frogs will roll out Saturday against Utah as one of 10 teams unveiling garish "Pro Combat" unis over the next three weeks -- you know, to "address the evolution of the game," apparently into a hellish crossfire of crippling helmet-to-helmet collisions akin to actual warfare. You might recall that Florida State unveiled its "Pro Combat" look last week.

Quickly ... Let the speculation begin re: who's in line to replace Tommy West at Memphis. ... Florida safety Dorian Munroe is out for the season with an ACL injury to the same knee that kept him out all of 2008. ... Wisconsin receiver Maurice Moore has been suspended indefinitely after he was arrested for drunk driving in a car accident early Sunday morning. ... Three Syracuse players suspended after a car accident last weekend (the same incident that apparently led to receiver Mike Williams quitting the team) were reinstated on Monday. ... Dennis Erickson is at a crossroads between senior quarterback Danny Sullivan and freshman Brock Osweiler at Arizona State. ... Ditto Bo Pelini, who continues to waffle between Zac Lee and freshman Cody Green under center at Nebraska. ... Oft-injured UCLA Kevin Prince has been cleared to return to practice in no-contact situations. ... USC's leading receiver, Damian Williams, may be out against Stanford with an ankle injury, making the return of the Trojans' second-leading receiver, tight end Anthony McCoy, that much more urgent after two weeks on ice. ... Like the Doc and many others, Pete Carroll doesn't understand why USC is ranked higher than Oregon, either. ... Alabama and Notre Dame are in "casual discussion" about renewing a series between the two powerhouses. ... In retrospect, Mike Gundy questions his own hiring at Oklahoma State. (Why, coach? You were a man then, too.) ... And the diehards bid a not-so-fond adieu to the casual Penn State fan.