• The toughest S.O.B. on the field. Passing pioneer Sammy Baugh is dead at the age of 94, more than 60 years removed but hardly forgotten for ushering in the age of the forward pass as the star of TCU's single wing in the 1930s and then the Washington Redskins throughout the forties. Baugh's numbers for his era are fairly absurd, with none of the advantages of the modern, passing-friendly rulebook: Like every player of his era, Baugh played 60 minutes, went into collisions with a flimsy leather helmet, considered his first priority to be spitting tobacco on his ranch in Texas and laughed at the concept of "roughing the passer." Give 'em hell, Sammy.

• There can never be too much football. The final verdict is on from The Wizard of Odds and CFBStats.com's season-long obsession with the new 40/25-second clock rule, and the results aren't encouraging, even if they stop short of filling anyone with the rage facilitated by the '06 abomination:

The average length of a game has been shortened by 12 minutes and the number of plays is down 8.69 from 2007. Scoring has also decreased by 2.59 points a game.

Some of us predicted this decline almost exactly in February. But unlike the dreaded 3-2-5-e, it's not likely enough people are going to rend enough garments over losing one sustained drive (or a short drive per team) and a field goal per game to overcome the push to shave games closer to three hours without trimming oh-so-valuable commercials -- the average game time this year is three hours, 11 minutes, down from last year's "excessive" three hours, 23 minutes. I have no idea what difference that 12 minutes makes to anybody actually watching a game, but to the NCAA Rules Committee (and, I'm guessing, to their television partners looking to fit games into that three-hour programming window), it's Mission Accomplished.

• Hit the books, Noel. West Virginia's gold-toothed quarkback extraordinaire, Noel Devine, is on thin ice academically and might miss the Mountaineers' date with North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, this year's winner (along with TCU and Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl) of "Most Surprisingly Quality Matchup." The game is already sold out, but ESPN might be whispering answers into Devine's ear during his English final, anyway (Milton, Noel! When in doubt, it's always Milton!)

Quickly ... Auburn hopes its front-door coaching search fuels more transparency from other schools. Hope away, Tigers, hope away. ... Oklahoma defensive tackle DeMarcus Granger will miss the BCS Championship game with back problems, though the former blue chip hasn't started a game this year because of injuries. ... Sounds like Ed Orgeron is joining the staff at Tennessee as defensive line coach and "associate head coach," aka "Da Recroota!" ... Despite the legion of skeptics about his pro potential, Tim Tebow is submitting paperwork to the NFL to gauge his prospects. ... Bill Snyder has lured Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig to take over the offense at Kansas State. ... Steve Sarkisian is already talking about monkeying with Washington's uniforms. Usually you'd wait to win a game. ... USC refugee Vidal Hazelton has narrowed his transfer choices to Missouri and Rutgers. ... Matt Stafford is still mulling his options about going pro. ... Syracuse is gunning for New York City recruits. ... Former Colorado receiver Jeremy Bloom has earned a spot on the 2009 Olympic ski team. ... And at least the All-America teams are showing Eric Berry some love.