PRESS BOX: SI reports player payments at Oklahoma State
Sports Illustrated published the first of a five-part investigative series Tuesday, outlining payments made to players as recently as 2011 under coach Mike Gundy and dating to LSU coach Les Miles' tenure in Stillwater.
Miles and current Cowboys coach Mike Gundy were not linked directly to any payments, according to the co-written investigative piece that quotes multiple players on the record detailing violations committed by former Cowboys assistants Joe DeForest and Larry Porter.
The NCAA statute of limitations for most violations is four years, but patterns of violations can be tracked beyond that four-year limit. The damning report includes four additional parts to be released in the coming week with more details on alleged rampant drug use and academic fraud.
---The Pac-12 suspended Oregon State senior Jovan Stevenson for the first half of Saturday's game as a result of his late hit during last week's game against Hawaii, conference commissioner Larry Scott announced Tuesday.
The Pac-12 office reviewed the play and determined that action was necessary because Stevenson's hit came against a defenseless opponent. The Beavers were penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness on a punt return that came with 26 seconds left in the first half.
Oregon State plays at Utah on Saturday.
AUTO
There is no lingering ill will between Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer after NASCAR's unprecedented decision to penalize Michael Waltrip Racing for manipulating the outcome of Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
A 50-point penalty to Martin Truex, identical to point penalties levied against MWR teammates Bowyer and Brian Vickers and assessed before the seeding for the Chase, demoted Truex to 17th in the Cup standings and out of the final Wild Card position for NASCAR's 10-race playoff.
The Chase berth now goes to Newman, who was tied with Truex in the standings after Richmond but ostensibly had lost the final wild-card spot to Truex on a tiebreaker. That changed with NASCAR's review of late-race action at RIR.
Newman said it "was a tough call" for NASCAR to make and that Bowyer called him to apologize for the situation.
"Penalties are a part of this sport. I'm happy that (Newman) is in the Chase," Bowyer told ESPN on Tuesday. "I think it was the right thing to do.
Asked whether the apology was his acknowledgement of guilt, Boyer said, "Let's not dig too much into this. We're going to get through this as a race team."
