Auburn defends Newton amidst cheating allegations

The second-ranked Auburn Tigers found themselves defending quarterback Cam Newton for the second time in 5 days, this time adamantly sticking up for the Heisman hopeful in the wake of allegations of academic cheating when he was at Florida.

Auburn coach Gene Chizik dismissed the latest report as "pure garbage" yesterday in an emotional 4-minute, 25-second rant.

"I'm standing up here on a very important week trying to defend something that's garbage," Chizik said. The Tigers face rival Georgia on Saturday, and that's where Newton insists his focus lies.

Foxsports.com reported Monday that Newton was caught cheating three times and was to appear for a hearing in front of Florida's Student Committee facing possible expulsion during the spring semester of 2009.

Newton transferred to Blinn Junior College in Brenham, Texas, where he played last season. He declined to discuss the latest report, which came on the heels of former Mississippi State quarterback John Bond saying someone claiming to represent the Newton family sought money during his recruitment by the school.

"I'm not going to entertain something that took place not 3 months, not 6 months, not a year but 2 years ago," Newton said. "I'm not going to sit up here and say anything about it, whether I did or did not do it, because I don't want to beat a dead horse talking about it. It's not going to affect me any way, shape or fashion."

Newton has denied doing anything wrong in his recruitment.

Minutes before Newton addressed the media, Chizik used his opening statement for a lengthy defense of his biggest star. He declined to answer questions about the latest situation.

"I'm wasting my time addressing allegations that blow my mind that they're even out there, because there's federal privacy laws that dictate that these things don't get out in public," he said.

* Dan Hawkins was fired as coach at Colorado 3 days after the biggest meltdown in school history put a cap on his five failed seasons with the Buffaloes.

Athletic director Mike Bohn promoted longtime assistant Brian Cabral to interim coach for the final three games of the season, beginning Saturday against Iowa State.

At 70 years old, former CU coach Bill McCartney has publicly expressed an interest in coaching again and remains a "viable candidate," Bohn said.

Hawkins was hailed as a "home run" hire by Bohn in 2006 after going 53-11 at Boise State. But he never had a winning season in Boulder in nearly five seasons, going 19-39 and losing his last 17 games outside of Colorado.

The final loss came Saturday. Colorado blew a 28-point lead at Kansas when the Jayhawks scored 35 points over the final 11 minutes for a stunning, 52-45 win. It was the biggest collapse in the 121-year-old program's history.

* Paralyzed Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand was transferred to a rehabilitation center after being hospitalized with a high fever.

* Kansas coach Turner Gill said Quinn Mecham will start at quarterback against No. 9 Nebraska. Mecham started the past two games due to injuries to Jordan Webb and Kale Pick.