AROUND THE COUNTRY College football news and notes

Michigan: Chad Henne, one of the most highly sought high school quarterbacks in the nation, announced Thursday he was verbally committed to attend Michigan next year. Henne, with 5,342 yards and 55 touchdown passes in three years as a starter for Wilson High School in West Lawn, said a factor in his decision was the number of Michigan quarterbacks who have made it to the NFL. "I like that I [decided] early, because now I can relax and have fun and hopefully take my team where we were last year and hopefully win it," said Henne. Wilson lost in the first round of the AAAA playoffs last season. Henne, 6-foot-31/2 and 216 pounds, made the announcement at a late-morning news conference.North Coast Conference: Coaches and the media disagree over how the North Coast Conference football race will turn out. Coaches say Wooster will be the winner, while the media picked defending champion Wabash. Both forecasts say Wooster, Wabash and Wittenberg are the NCAC's top teams. Only four points in the coaches poll and eight points in the media balloting separated the three. Both groups pick Allegheny fourth.Albany State: A 26-year-old died Thursday morning after participating in a team run before the first practice of the season. Jackie Blanding, a defensive lineman, was running in the sand dunes near the campus when he collapsed just after 8 a.m. The 6-foot-2, 270-pound Blanding was a walk-on transfer from Middle Georgia. This would have been his first season at Albany State after several years away from football, including time in the Army. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.Florida State: Defensive tackle Travis Johnson will stand trial next week on sexual battery, a second-degree felony. At a pretrial hearing Thursday at the Leon County Courthouse, Circuit Court Judge Thomas Bateman III determined that Johnson's trial will begin Wednesday and could run into Thursday. Jury selection started this morning. Johnson, a 21-year old junior from Sherman Oaks, Calif., faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if found guilty. Johnson was arrested April 10. The accuser, 23, told authorities that on Feb. 6, Johnson drove her to the apartment of one of his friends, kept her against her will and forced her to have intercourse with him.Marshall: The pool of backups to quarterback Stan Hill has gotten shallower. Adam Black will miss at least two weeks of practice because of an inner ear condition that has caused the freshman serious balance problems, he said.Washington: Fullback Zach Tuiasosopo is expected to miss the first three or four games after being charged with punching out windows of four cars following a sorority party. He will be allowed to practice with the Huskies, who began fall practices Wednesday, coach Keith Gilbertson said.Ohio Dominican: John Pont, who is in his sixth decade of coaching and has been in charge of three NCAA Division I teams, will be director of football operations at Ohio Dominican, which will field its first football team in 2004. The Panthers will be a member of the NAIA's Mid-States Football Association.Maryland: Athletic director Debbie Yow expects the school to avoid significant NCAA sanctions over a suspected recruiting violation in February. The school hired outside consultants to conduct an investigation after then-assistant football coach Rod Sharpless allegedly provided $335 to prospective recruit Victor Abiamiri. The school fired the coach, reported its findings to the NCAA, and ceased actively recruiting Abiamiri. A report in Thursday's editions of The Washington Post said the NCAA infractions committee is expected to announce as early as next week that the violation is a "major infraction."Georgia: The eight-year contract football coach Mark Richt signed contains a $1.5 million buyout for the first five years and an $800,000 buyout for the final three. That means if Richt leaves Georgia after this season, his new employer would have to pay Georgia $8.4 million. He makes $1.5 million a year.