college roundup \ News and notes

Notre Dame: No. 19 Notre Dame’s Nov. 14 game at 14th-ranked Pittsburgh will kick off at 8 p.m. EST and will be one of two games televised by ABC. The network will also show the Texas Tech-Oklahoma State game to part of the country. The Notre Dame-Pitt time no doubt is of interest to the Cincinnati Bengals and the Steelers. The teams will play an important AFC North game on Heinz Field’s grass field less than 14 hours after the college game ends. Notre Dame hasn’t played at Pitt since winning there 42-21 on Sept. 3, 2005 — Charlie Weis’ first game as the Fighting Irish’s coach and Dave Wannstedt’s first at Pittsburgh.

Florida: Top-ranked Florida will be without star linebacker Brandon Spikes for the first half of Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt. Coach Urban Meyer suspended Spikes on Monday, two days after the defensive captain apparently attempted to gouge the eyes of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey in a 41-17 victory. “I don’t condone that,” Meyer said. “I understand what goes on on the football [field], but there’s no place for that. We’re going to suspend Brandon for the first half of the Vanderbilt game. I spoke with him. That’s not who he is. That’s not who we are. He got caught up in emotion.”

Arizona: The Wildcats likely will be without two of its top tailbacks when it plays host to Washington State on Saturday. Arizona (5-2, 3-1 Pac-10) is coming off a bye, but the extra time doesn’t figure to be enough to heal the shoulder sprains of starting tailback Nic Grigsby and third-stringer Greg Nwoko. “Both would be very questionable for this week,” coach Mike Stoops said. “Greg is probably more available than Nic.” Grigsby, who is averaging 7.5 yards on his 71 carries, injured his right shoulder against Oregon State on Sept. 26. Nwoko, who has rushed 43 times for 190 yards and three touchdowns, injured his left shoulder against UCLA.

Cincinnati: Tony Pike will practice with fourth-ranked Cincinnati this week, his status still uncertain because of an injury to his non-passing arm. Coach Brian Kelly said Monday that the senior quarterback will participate in more practice drills. Then Kelly will decide whether he has a chance to play on Saturday night against Connecticut (4-4). Sophomore Zach Collaros has led the Bearcats (7-0) to wins over Louisville and Syracuse, throwing seven touchdown passes in those two games. He also ran for a pair of touchdowns after replacing Pike in the win at South Florida.

Associated Press