COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP News and notes

Ohio State-Michigan State game time: The Ohio State at Michigan State game on Oct. 18 will kick off at 3:30 p.m., the Big Ten Conference announced Monday.

Wells continues quick recovery: Guess maybe that foot wasn’t hurt so bad after all. Chris “Beanie” Wells has responded with two 100-yard rushing games, topped by Saturday’s 168-yard performance in the win at Wisconsin, since coming back from that month-long respite with a mysterious foot injury. Wells sometimes calls it a foot injury, other times a toe injury. Coach Jim Tressel says he can’t read an MRI so therefore doesn’t know details about the injury, although he apparently wasn’t paying attention when his medical experts were spelling things out for him. Wells said he was only about 75 percent healthy last week. Imagine what he’ll do when he is all the way back. A year ago, of course, he rushed for 1,609 yards despite a nagging ankle injury and a broken bone in his hand. Asked recently if he learned anything from playing last year with those injuries, he said, “I learned that being a running back — this just doesn’t go for me, it goes for all the running backs — you’re never going to be 100 percent throughout the season so it’s just something you’re going to have to deal with and roll with the punches.”

Willingham’s job in jeopardy: Matters only continue to get worse for Washington and coach Tyrone Willingham. The losing atmosphere has only increased around a team that is starting 0-5 for the first time in 39 years, one of only two winless Bowl Subdivision teams in the country and owner of the longest current losing streak of any team in the FBS: seven straight dating back to last season, thanks to Army’s win over Tulane last weekend. In a rare positive, the Huskies did finally record a sack against Arizona, becoming the final team in the country to accomplish the feat. That was about the only bit of good news to come out of the Huskies’ loss in the desert on Saturday. While the long-term prognosis for Willingham’s future employment as Washington’s head coach continues to get darker with each loss, his short-term future appears secure. Athletic director Scott Woodward told reporters on the sidelines after Saturday’s game that despite the lopsided score and 0-5 start he had no intentions of making an in-season move to fire Willingham.

Arizona State QB questionable: Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson said he wants to see how quarterback Rudy Carpenter’s sprained left ankle responds before deciding whether he’ll play at No. 8 USC Saturday. Carpenter was hurt in the Sun Devils’ 24-14 loss at California last weekend. The senior has made 36 straight starts, but that streak could be in jeopardy.

Associated Press