The Colonels’ 45-30 win over rival Southeastern Louisiana was his swan song, as he will not be retained as head coach. An official announcement of his ouster is expected Friday morning.

Webster gathered his players on the field after they beat the first-place team in the Ohio Valley Conference and informed them of his decision, which brought many to tears.

But for all those assets, the most striking element of the 2009 Spiders is their depth chart. Just peruse the 22 projected starters for Saturday’s regular-season finale against William and Mary.

Freshmen? Please. They’re practice fodder. Sophomores? Need not apply. Each of Richmond’s first-teamers is an upperclassman, 15 seniors and seven juniors. Moreover, all were redshirted, meaning every starter has been in the program at least four years. Good luck finding a lineup this experienced.

Ruffin, a candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award, will travel to Orlando, Fla., to take part in the East-West Shrine Game which is set for Jan. 23, 2010, at the Florida Citrus Bowl. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

For the second straight year, redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Chad King (Springfield, Va.) has been selected to attend the All American Bowl as an escort for this year’s high school athletes.

Since he won the election to be New Jersey’s next governor, Chris Christie has gotten a lot of attention for being an avid fan of fellow Garden State native Bruce Springsteen.

Christie, who’s been to more than 120 Springsteen shows, also has a passion in the First State. The 1984 University of Delaware grad and former UD student council president loves Blue Hens football games as much as the Boss, his close friends say.

The 47-year-old Republican has had season tickets to Delaware Stadium for about 20 years, although the grind of this year’s campaign caused him to miss all of this season’s home games, something that had never happened before. Christie normally makes most of the home games.

Jerry Glanville is out as Portland State football coach, and the Vikings hope to have his successor in place by the first week of December.

In making the announcement Tuesday, athletic director Torre Chisholm didn’t discuss to what extent, if any, Glanville’s resignation was forced. He also didn’t identify prospective candidates by name, but said he wants someone with extensive college coaching experience who can “bring us success and a sense of excitement to the community.”

The move ended the university’s three-year effort to remake its once-proud program with a flashy former NFL coach who ended up having more cachet off the field than his teams had impact on it. It also came three days after the conclusion of the Vikings’ worst season (2-9, 1-7 Big Sky Conference) since 1982, and closed a 9-24 Glanville era.

Estrada, a junior safety from LaHabra, Calif., will serve a one-game suspension this Saturday when Northern Arizona plays host to Eastern Washington.

The Viking football program completed its season last Saturday with a 2-9 record overall, 1-7 in the Big Sky Conference.

Georgia Southern Athletics has plans to honor the Military and celebrate the 1989 and 1999 National Championship teams during this Saturday’s (Nov. 21) season finale against The Citadel.

Prior to the game Georgia Southern will also recognize the 2009 senior class playing for the final time in Paulson Stadium.

Appalachian State’s reign reached five consecutive league titles by virtue of a precisely administered 27-10 beating of Elon in Saturday’s showdown of unbeaten conference powers at jam-packed Rhodes Stadium.

Amid an electric atmosphere that bubbled with a championship feel, the visiting Mountaineers (8-2 overall, 7-0 Southern Conference) bolted to a 21-0 lead during the game’s opening 15-plus minutes and cruised to the league’s automatic berth in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Leland Melvin, a University of Richmond Hall of Famer and member of the All-UR Stadium Team, has begun final preparations for his second mission as a NASA astronaut. Melvin and his crew are set to launch from the Kennedy Space Center Monday at 2:28 p.m. ET.

“They came in on a mission,” he said of Elon that day. “There’s no doubt about that.”

Just like that, and completely unaware, Ayers invoked a certain growing catchphrase that has gained substantial circulation among the Phoenix, which meets Appalachian State on Saturday with the Southern Conference championship hanging in the balance.

Elon indeed is on a mission.

Karim, the nation’s second-leading rusher behind North Dakota State’s Pat Paschall, stands a good chance to become only the second Saluki tailback to win the league’s offensive player of the year. Karim, a fifth-year senior who only became a full-time starter this season, is second in the country in rushing (137.8 yards per game) and all-purpose yards (187.7 yards per game).

In nine games, he has hit the 100-yard mark six times. Against Illinois State and Division II Southwest Baptist, he had more than 200 yards rushing.

The Lions (6-3, 4-1) and No. 15 Lumberjacks (7-2, 4-1) are two of the teams in a four-way tie for first place in the SLC standings. The other two first-place teams — No. 10 McNeese State (7-2, 4-1) and No. 25 Texas State (6-3, 4-1) — meet at 6 p.m. Saturday in San Marcos, Texas.

SLU recorded its first shutout since 1984 and its first winning season since 2004 in the victory over Northwestern State.

For a year, Nov. 14 has been a red-letter date on the Saluki calendar. It is the last regular season game scheduled at McAndrew Stadium. Beginning next year, the Salukis will play several hundred yards to the south at a new, but as of yet, unnamed stadium.

Even if the Salukis were mediocre, or even bad, Nov. 14 would have been a joyous occasion. Although it holds a lot of history, the outmoded McAndrew Stadium needs to be replaced.

This year’s winner of the South’s oldest college football rivalry will take home a new trophy - The Capital Cup - symbolic of the long-standing series between The University of Richmond and The College of William & Mary, the schools jointly announced Wednesday. It will be awarded for the first time following the Nov. 21 game at UR Stadium.

Thirty-seven top NCAA athletes from across the country have accepted invitations to play in the 85th East-West Shrine Game. Rosters for the East and West Teams will continue to grow leading up to the Game, which will be held at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando on Jan. 23.

Two games Saturday will go a long way in determining the 2009 Southland Conference champion. No. 17/15 Stephen F. Austin will play at Southeastern Louisiana at 2 p.m. and No. 10/10 McNeese State will play at No. 25/25 Texas State will play at 6 p.m. in the Toyota Game of the Week on the Southland Conference Television Network. All four teams are in a first-place tie entering the final two weeks of play making Saturday a must-win to stay in the hunt.

“The Conference is thrilled to land Noreen Morris,” said Gaffney. “She was selected from a very talented field and brings to us a wealth of conference, campus and NCAA governance experience. The Northeast Conference intends to make its mark, and Noreen will lead the way.”

BROOKINGS, S.D. - Southern Illinois University’s defense took the drama out of Saturday’s Missouri Valley Football Conference de facto championship game.

Going up against the top scoring defense in the country, the No. 3 Salukis flirted with their second straight shutout on the way to a 34-15 victory over No. 9 South Dakota State. With its fourth league road victory in four tries, SIU earned its seventh straight trip to the postseason and at least a tie for the MVFC title.

A win against Missouri State next weekend - in McAndrew Stadiums’ final regular-season game - will give the Salukis (8-1, 7-0 MVFC) the first-ever 8-0 league mark and an outright championship.