College Football | Jacquizz Rodgers, Rey Maualuga win Pac-10 awards

Tailback Jacquizz Rodgers of Oregon State was selected Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year by conference coaches.

USC middle linebacker Rey Maualuga, a senior, was honored as Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year and made the All-Pac-10 first team for the third consecutive year.

Oregon State's Mike Riley was selected coach of the year by his peers. He guided the Beavers, who were picked to finish seventh in the Pac-10, to an 8-4 record and a Sun Bowl berth. Oregon State will play Pittsburgh (9-3) on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas.

No Washington or Washington State players made the first team. Washington defensive lineman Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, a junior, was voted to the second team.

Washington linebacker Mason Foster, center Juan Garcia, receiver D'Andre Goodwin and safety Nate Williams received honorable mention. WSU center Kenny Alfred, receiver Brandon Gibson and linebacker Greg Trent got honorable mention.

Rodgers, who is from Richmond, Texas, is the first freshman to be named Pac-10 offensive player of the year. He has 1,253 rushing yards and 1,500 all-purpose yards.

"I'm excited for Jacquizz and the program," Riley said.

Maualuga, who is from Eureka, Calif., is a major reason USC leads the nation in scoring defense (allowing 7.8 points per game) and total defense (206.1 yards per game) and is headed to the Rose Bowl to play Penn State on Jan. 1.

Five USC defensive players made the All-Pac-10 first team, including defensive back Taylor Mays — a junior from O'Dea High School in Seattle.

McCoy plans to return

as Texas' quarterback

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas quarterback Colt McCoy confirmed he will return to the Longhorns for his senior season in 2009.

McCoy has led No. 3 Texas (11-1) to a Jan. 5 Fiesta Bowl matchup against Ohio State with 3,445 yards passing and 32 touchdowns, both school records. He is also the team's leading rusher, with 576 yards.

"I'm not going anywhere," McCoy said.

Notes

• Of the 68 schools going to bowl games, 19 graduated less than 50 percent of black players, according to a report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida.

At the 119 Bowl Subdivision schools, 76 percent of white players and 59 percent of black players graduated. The TIDES study examined NCAA-generated graduation rates of freshmen who enrolled in 2001.

The number of bowl-bound schools that graduate at least half their players rose from 88 percent last year to 91 percent this year. "These are the best overall numbers we've had," TIDES director Richard Lapchick said.

• Illinois offensive coordinator Mike Locksley was hired as New Mexico's coach, replacing Rocky Long.

Locksley, 38, is among four black head coaches in the Bowl Subdivision.

• Tommy Tuberville's mother, Olive, told the Opelika-Auburn News her son was fired as Auburn's coach last week, a claim that runs counter to public statements by the university that Tuberville left on his own.