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JUCO QB commits to Penn State

PENN STATE coach Bill O'Brien has turned to a junior college prospect to help replenish depth at quarterback. Tyler Ferguson signed a letter of intent Thursday to play for the Nittany Lions. Ferguson, who played this year at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif., will be eligible next season and plans to enroll in January.

PENN STATE coach Bill O'Brien has turned to a junior college prospect to help replenish depth at quarterback.

Tyler Ferguson signed a letter of intent Thursday to play for the Nittany Lions. Ferguson, who played this year at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif., will be eligible next season and plans to enroll in January.

The sooner he arrives, the better for Penn State's depth chart, which is woefully thin at quarterback with record-setting starter Matt McGloin and third-stringer Shane McGregor both seniors and out of eligibility.

Ferguson will join Steven Bench, the backup to McGloin as a freshman this year, as the only two scholarship quarterbacks come January. They'll likely compete for the starting job during spring practice.

The 6-4, 210-pound Ferguson threw for 2,614 yards and 22 touchdowns in 10 games for College of the Sequoias this year, completing 55 percent of his passes.

Ferguson will have 4 years to finish 3 remaining years of eligibility. He was initially committed to Houston until O'Brien called last week.

"I mulled it over, called Houston the next day and decommitted and then the next morning [Saturday], I called and committed to Penn State," Ferguson told the Bakersfield Californian.

Noteworthy * 

Gary Andersen is officially Wisconsin's new coach.

The 48-year-old Andersen just completed his fourth and best season at Utah State. The 18th-ranked Aggies finished 11-2 with a bowl victory over Toledo and won the Western Athletic Conference.

Andersen replaces Bret Bielema, who left Wisconsin for Arkansas on Dec. 4, 3 days after the Badgers won the Big Ten title and a school-record third straight trip to the Rose Bowl.

* Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley, who leads the nation's top-rated defense with 99 tackles, is returning for his senior season instead of entering the NFL draft.

* LSU coach Les Miles says punter Brad Wing has been suspended for ninth-ranked LSU's game against No. 14 Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl for an unspecified violation of team rules.

* DePauw has hired Bill Lynch as its coach - for the second time. The former Indiana and Ball State coach also went 8-2 with the Tigers in 2004 before becoming Indiana's offensive coordinator under the late Terry Hoeppner.

In the Poinsettia Bowl * 

At San Diego, linebacker Kyle Van Noy forced a fumble in the end zone and recovered it for a touchdown, and scored on a 17-yard interception return, both in the fourth quarter, to lead BYU to a 23-6 victory over San Diego State.

The big plays swung the momentum for the Cougars (8-5) in what had been a tedious defensive struggle. San Diego State (9-4), playing in the hometown bowl for the second time in 3 years, missed the chance for its first 10-win season since 1977.