Posted by Tom Fornelli

Following a DUI arrest on campus on February 9, in which he was found to have a blood-alcohol level of .157, Illinois defensive lineman Justin Staples was suspended from winter workouts for two weeks.

If Staples thought that would be the extent of his punishment, he was wrong.

Staples will be allowed to participate in spring practice with the Illini, which starts Wednesday, but he'll be missing some time this fall when the games begin.

New head coach Tim Beckman said that Staples will "miss some game time" but did not go into specifics into how much game time that is exactly. It could be a half, a game, or a number of games.

Staples started only one game as a redshirt junior in 2011, but played in all 13 games, recording 16 tackles and a sack.

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Posted by Tom Fornelli

Oklahoma linebacker Londell Taylor is yet to make his way onto the football field for the Sooners this season, and odds are he won't be seeing any action in the near future either. That's what happens when you're arrested on charges of DUI and leaving the scene of an accident, as Taylor was on Saturday in Norman.

According to the Tulsa World, Taylor was arrested about an hour after Oklahoma's win against Missouri on Saturday night. Taylor was involved in a car accident just east of Oklahoma's campus and left the scene before being apprehended by the police.

The arrest report says that Taylor admitted to the arresting officers that he'd been drinking and struggled with the sobriety tests before blowing a 0.14 on a breathalyzer test. Taylor was then arrested and released after posting $1,000 bond and he has a court date set for October 11th.

Oklahoma is yet to release a statement on Taylor's arrest.

Taylor was originally a member of Oklahoma's 2007 recruiting class, but spent the last four years playing baseball in the Detroit Tigers organization after being selected in the 13th round of the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft. After being released by the Tigers, he decided to give football another shot and walked on to the Sooners.

Posted by Tom Fornelli

Yesterday we wrote about Utah linebacker Timote Nai Fotu who was arrested for a DUI over the weekend, and has since been suspended from the team by Kyle Whittingham "until further notice." We can't be sure how long that will be, exactly, but given the new details emerging about Nai Fotu's arrest, I have a feeling it is going to be a while.

You see, Fotu wasn't pulled over because he was swerving back and forth between lanes while driving or anything. In fact, he may have been driving in a perfectly straight line. The problem for Fotu was that he was driving in the wrong lane.  On the freeway. Yep.



Fotu's blood-alcohol level of .218 is nearly three-times the legal limit, and it means that over a fifth of the blood flowing through his body was alcohol. He probably could have lit his breath on fire. Though, as intoxicated as that is, at least he was able to remember he was in Utah.

Making matters worse, Fotu already had a warrant out for his arrest stemming from an incident in 2009. Fotu failed to appear in court to face charges of giving false personal information to police, unlawful possession of alcohol or a controlled substance by a minor and public urination for an incident on March 20, 2009.

So, yeah, it could be a while before Fotu puts on a Utah uniform again. If he ever does.

Posted by Tom Fornelli

UPDATE: Kyle Whittingham announced that Timote Nai Fotu has been "suspended from our football team until further notice."


You know, I was starting to get worried. It had been nearly a full week since a college football player found himself running afoul of the law, and as anybody who has written a college football blog can tell you, players getting arrested is the lifeblood of the offseason. Thankfully, Utah linebacker Timote Nai Fotu was kind enough to oblige us over the weekend.

Nai Fotu was arrested for a DUI on Sunday morning.

University of Utah football player Timote Nai Fotu was booked into the Salt Lake County jail for driving under the influence Sunday morning, according to the Utah Highway Patrol. 

Fotu was pulled over for speeding at about 10 a.m. by the highway patrol.

The 6-foot-2-inch athlete who started nine games for the Ute's and was scheduled to start last fall before a season-ending knee injury, still has two years of eligibility.

As it said in the excerpt, Nai Fotu started nine games for Utah as a freshman but missed all of 2010 after tearing his ACL in spring practice last March. He's in the running for a starting job this season, though this latest mess may hinder his chances a bit.

What I find incredible about this arrest is that when you hear "Player X busted for DUI Sunday morning" you figure he was out on Saturday night, and pulled over at 1 AM. Nai Fotu was pulled over at 10AM. So Nai Fotu either drank his way through the entire night without sleep, or passed out and was still intoxicated when he woke up. Whatever the case, that's an impressive feat.

Though one that leads to stupid decisions like getting behind the wheel.

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Posted by Tom Fornelli

This is not the best first impression for Terry Lantz to make at Ball State. Lantz was hired by head coach Pete Lembo on February 4 to be the team's secondary coach, and early Sunday morning, Lantz was pulled over and charged with drunk driving in Muncie.

Lantz was stopped at 1:09 a.m. Sunday at the corner of University Avenue and Dill Street by Muncie Police Sgt. Brad Wiemer after Lantz did not dim his headlights while driving on University. Officer Stash Hellis was dispatched to assist.

The veteran assistant coach, who came to Ball State after 10 years at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., failed three  field sobriety tests, according to Hellis in a probable cause affidavit.

"While talking with him about why he had been stopped, I could smell an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his person and noticed that his eyes were red and glassy," Hellis said in the affidavit.

"Terry Lantz is a family man who has a reserved and unassuming demeanor," said Lembo in a statement following the arrest. "He is extremely embarrassed about this situation. Good people sometimes make poor decisions."

However, what Lembo would not comment on was whether or not this arrest would affect Lantz's job status at Ball State.

Photo courtesy of the BSU Daily News

Posted by Tom Fornelli

It had been a few days since we had our last college football player break the law, an offseason tradition, but Kansas wide receiver Chris Omigie has restored order to the world. Omigie was picked up for a DUI early on Saturday morning. He was stopped by a Kansas public safety answer, and the 19-year old receiver posted $500 bond later in the day and given a February 16 court date.

The school knows of the arrest, but if there is going to be any punishment for Omigie's arrest, the school hasn't said what it will be yet.

“He is still a member of our team. Coach (Turner) Gill will handle the discipline internally,” associate AD Jim Marchiony told the Lawrence Journal-World.

Omigie played in 10 games as a redshirt freshman for the Jayhawks in 2010, catching 7 passes for 73 yards.

Posted by Tom Fornelli

When Arizona State was in Los Angeles losing to USC on Saturday night, it was without its punter.  Trevor Hankins, who is third in the nation with a 47.09 yards per punt average, didn't make the trip, but there had been no explanation for his absence from Dennis Erickson or the team.  We have one now, though.

The good news is that Hankins isn't hurt.  The bad news is that he's currently suspended following an arrest for DUI.

Hankins was pulled over at 1:23am on Friday morning in Scottsdale after making two u-turns and drifting into another lane.  When the police pulled him over, Hankins told them that he was on the way to pick up a couple of friends who were too drunk to drive themselves, and that he pulled the U-turns because he thought he left his wallet at a store.

Hankins also admitted that he'd had some drinks earlier in the night, and after subjecting Hankins to some tests, the police then arrested him for "driving while impaired to the slightest degree."  

As for when Hankins will be allowed to return to the team, Dennis Erickson said during his press conference on Monday that he wanted to talk to Hankins before making a decision about this week's game against Stanford.  So unless Hankins shows up to that conversation impaired to the slightest degree, I'd expect him to be back for the Stanford game.