PETER STEVENSON | IDS

Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson is tackled by IU’s Mitchell Evans and Darius Johnson during the Hoosiers’ 42-35 loss to the Wolverines on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

The Auburn Tigers (5-0) can take the rest of the afternoon off after cruising to a 52-3 win over the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (1-3) Saturday afternoon in Jordan-Hare stadium.

Auburn racked up a total of 505 yards on offense and scored on its first five possessions to continue its winning streak against ULM.

“It’s great to be 5-0,” said head coach Gene Chizik. “It’s great to have another win with us, trying to stay on track and take it one game at a time. This week was about Auburn and about getting better.”

Auburn got off to a quick start when sophomore running back Onterio McCalebb ran 50-yards for the touchdown.

The Tigers took a 7-0 lead, wasting only 32 seconds to score, making it the quickest Auburn has scored on a play from scrimmage since Carnell Williams scored on an 80-yard touchdown run on the opening play against the University of Alabama in 2003.

Junior quarterback Cameron Newton later connected with sophomore wide receiver Emory Blake for a school-record 94-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers a 14-0 with 10:22 to play in the first quarter.

Senior running back Mario Fannin ran for 89 yard on 10 carriers after experiencing health and fumble problems in the first few games.

“I was very proud of Mario,” Chizik said. “We just felt like we could get him more involved in some of the perimeter game.”

The Warhawks put together a 14 play, 61-yard drive to set up a Radi Jabour 35-yard field goal to cut the lead to 14-3, but ULM would not score again.

“I was proud of our defense,” Chizik said. “They threw the ball 41 times, and there were times where we obviously could have played better. There were times where we didn’t tackle well, but they stood up, particularly in the second half and got off the field a good bit, which was good to see with a lot of young guys.”

The Tigers will go on the road to take on the Kentucky Wildcats, Saturday Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m.

Read more:The Auburn Plainsman – A spirit that is not afraid

Clinging to a slight, third-quarter lead, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor fell to the ground, clutched his left thigh and grimaced in pain.

A nervous panic immediately swept across Ohio as the Heisman trophy candidate then disappeared into the locker room.

All week, OSU coach Jim Tressel emphasized that Big Ten play is a different beast.

The Buckeyes found that out the hard way in their conference opener, as they narrowly edged Illinois, 24-13 in their first road test of the season at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

For the third straight year, OSU keeps Illibuck, a wooden turtle trophy awarded to the winning team.

But it didn’t come easy.

OSU struggled to find an offensive rhythm all afternoon, and when Pryor suffered a mild left thigh strain on a third-quarter run, it only made matters worse for the Buckeyes.

After the Buckeyes went three-and-out on their first possession, the Illini marched down the field on a 9-play drive that culminated in a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase.

OSU struck back with an 8-yard touchdown, thrown by Terrelle Pryor to running back Brandon Saine. A 66-yard sprint by Pryor set up the game-tying score.

Both defenses dug in after the early burst of offense.

After Illinois tacked on a 27-yard field goal with 1:50 to play in the second quarter, the Buckeyes answered with a 57-yard touchdown drive.

Pryor found receiver Dane Sanzenbacher in the left corner of the end zone for an 11-yard score and a 14-10 halftime lead. Sanzenbacher hauled in four touchdowns in last week’s 73-20 mauling of Eastern Michigan.

Pryor missed seven offensive snaps while in the locker room. Upon his arrival to the sideline, he was handed his helmet and immediately inserted into the lineup.

In his absence, backup quarterback Joe Bauserman tossed an interception inside Illini territory.

The Buckeyes relied heavily on the running game after the turnover, even when Pryor returned. At one point, OSU ran the ball on 13 consecutive plays.

After the teams traded fourth-quarter field goals, OSU running back Dan Herron tacked on a 6-yard touchdown rush with 1:49 remaining.

MINNEAPOLIS — Ironically, Saturday’s contest between Northwestern and Minnesota came down to the man whose missed point-after attempt nearly doomed the Wildcats.

And this time, senior kicker Stefan Demos came through in the clutch, booting a 27-yard field goal to give NU a thrilling 29-28 comeback win.

The game was sealed for the Cats (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) when junior linebacker Ben Johnson intercepted a tipped pass on a fourth-and-11 at the NU 40-yard-line with 17 seconds remaining.

Demos’ clutch play followed a circus touchdown catch by junior wide receiver Jeremy Ebert. He snatched the ball away from Minnesota cornerback Ryan Collado in the end zone to put the Cats within two.

Junior quarterback Dan Persa was mostly effective, completing 23-of-30 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns, but his two turnovers in the red zone – a fumble and an interception – were costly.

The Gophers scored 21 points off NU turnovers.

Persa also had 99 yards rushing.

Minnesota (1-4) was led by the powerful duo of quarterback Adam Weber and running back DeLeon Eskridge. Weber completed 14-of-23 for 194 yards and two touchdowns, while Eskridge ran for 119 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.

The news of the death of an innocent young man this week swept the Rutgers U. campus. Many are furious, many are heartbroken, most of us are ashamed. University first-year student Tyler Clementi’s suicide is a stark reminder of how far we as a University still have to go until we can call ourselves a school of diversity and acceptance. The rest of the nation now sees that as well. But to me, the most disturbing aspect of this story is not the fact that someone would be despicable enough to invade a roommate’s privacy. No, the most horrifying part is the fact that Tyler felt ashamed enough of his sexuality to kill himself because others had discovered it and made it public. As much blame as we may want to put on School of Arts and Sciences first-year student Dharun Ravi for breaching another man’s privacy or the University for failing to set up “safe spaces,” the blame lies completely with us – each and every student and faculty member here at Rutgers – for failing to create an environment where Clementi would have felt safe, secure and comfortable with himself.

Had this been an incident where a heterosexual couple was spied on, there would have been no suicide. High-fives would be passed around between pigs, and the girl would be just another one of those poor victims of sick voyeurism that float all over the Internet. But because Tyler was a homosexual, the incident was deadly. I have no doubts whatsoever that Tyler was surrounded with anti-gay sentiments every day, as we all are. We still hear the words “queer” and “faggot” pass between people on a daily basis, whether it is jokingly or truly malicious, and it is the usage of words like these that continue the delusion that there is something wrong with homosexuality. So much so that many homosexuals themselves feel there is something wrong with it, as Tyler probably did when he took his own life.

The truth is plain and simple: There is nothing wrong with homosexuality. It is not a defect, it is not a sin, it is not a disease. To preach otherwise is the true sin, and homophobia is the real disease. If we are to prevent tragedies such as this from ever occurring again, we must find the cure quickly. The sooner we destroy the bigotry and taboos that surround homosexuality, the sooner we can start saving lives and start calling ourselves a diverse and accepting school. I urge every student at the University to make a stand against homophobia. Speak up against bigotry and hatred, stop the usage of hurtful words and embrace those who are different. You just might learn something.

I applaud the efforts of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community and Robert O’Brien, Department of Anthropology assistant instructor, for seeking a change at the University. But we must remember, we cannot look solely to the administration or any other leading political body to rid our communities of hatred and disrespect. Doing so only takes responsibility away from the individuals who sit idly and allow such tragedies to occur. No matter what kind of programs, policies or “safe spaces” our University establishes, the gay community, as well as other minorities, will continue to be harassed and discriminated against if we do not urge the individual students to change. We must convince them to make the right choice and that is to accept gays for who they are.

And to the people who still stand by Dharun Ravi, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student, and claim he’s a “good guy” – shame on you. Not only did he Tweet about how he spied on his roommate making out with another man – only highlighting his obvious immaturity and lack of acceptance – but days later he invited anyone with an iChat to video chat him at specific hours so they could spy on the private life of his roommate once again. This public invitation happened a day before Clementi’s suicide. A “good guy” would have realized the indecency of his actions and the breach of privacy he was committing. Whether a homophobe or not, his crimes must not go unpunished. Ravi’s actions destroyed a life and robbed a family of a loved one. Those who support him are an embarrassment to our University.

Finally, I ask that all gay individuals who may read this to remember that you are not alone. You are beautiful, you are loved. Be proud of who you are, and never hide it. To everyone else, my request is simple. I ask for a country where our gay relatives and friends can be safe, where people like Clementi won’t feel ashamed of who they are, and where we can finally become a society that has outgrown hatred and bigotry. May the building of such a nation begin here with us at the University, and may we always keep Clementi and his family in our thoughts and prayers.

Rutgers U. student and musician Tyler Clementi began his career at the University as part of the Class of 2014 just one month ago, but after a series of events last week at Davidson Hall, the 18-year-old’s life came to an end.

Attorney Paul Mainardi, who represents the Clementi family, issued a statement on its behalf.

“The family is heartbroken beyond words,” Mainardi said. “They respectfully request that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all.”

University President Richard L. McCormick, who spoke with Clementi’s parents to extend his own sympathies as well as the University’s, expressed a similar sentiment. “We grieve for him and for his family, friends and classmates as they deal with the tragic loss of a gifted young man who was a strong student and a highly accomplished musician,” he said. “We will continue to respect the family’s request for privacy.” McCormick urged the University community to honor Clementi’s life with civility, dignity, compassion and respect for one another.

The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office is considering the motives behind an alleged Internet transmission of a personal encounter that involved Clementi, who committed suicide last week.

Clementi jumped from the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River Sept. 22, according to a statement from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. An autopsy of the body, which was found yesterday, showed that he died of drowning and blunt impact injury to the torso, said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

School of Arts and Sciences first-year student Dharun Ravi and Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy first-year student Molly Wei are charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy after allegedly recording Clementi’s involvement in sexual acts with another male in his room in Davidson Hall C on Busch campus, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said.

Ravi faces two additional charges for attempting to watch and transmit similar footage involving Clementi on a different date.

“Now that two individuals have been charged with invasion of privacy, we will be making every effort to assess whether bias played a role in the incident, and, if so, we will bring appropriate charges,” Kaplan said.

Under the state’s statutes, it is a fourth-degree crime to view images depicting nudity or sexual contact involving another individual without that person’s consent and a third-degree crime to transmit or distribute them.

The penalty for conviction of a third-degree offense can include a prison term of up to five years.

Ravi and Wei have both been released, he said. The date for a court hearing has not yet been set.

The investigation is ongoing, the prosecutor’s office said.

Although no official source has purported that a relationship between the two exists, a message board thread on justusboys.com, an online community for homosexual males, features posts about scenarios similar to those that took place last week in Davidson Hall, according to screenshots of the site on gawker.com.

Under the alias “cit2mo,” a member of the community posted a message in reaction to his roommate spying on him on Sept. 21, according to the website. That and other posts described events that paralleled those involving Clementi and Ravi.

According to the posts, “cit2mo” was upset that his roommate had used a webcam to spy on him and a guest on two separate nights last week. He then filled out a request for a room change so that he could move to a new location.

“I ran to the nearest [resident assistant] and set this thing in motion,” he wrote on Sept. 22, after observing posts about the occurrences his roommate put on Twitter.

A later post from “cit2mo” indicated that the RA seemed to take it seriously when he received an e-mail from “cit2mo” regarding the incident, according to the posts.

University spokesman Greg Trevor did not comment on the incidents involving Clementi specifically, but he did say that for the University, meeting students’ housing needs is a priority.

“The University does have well-established procedures in place to deal with requests for residents to switch roommates,” he said. “If a resident requests a new roommate, the staff makes every effort to accommodate that request as soon as possible.”

Research shows that people who play video games are more likely to carry out their aggression.

A new study led by Dr. Daniel Shafer, an assistant professor of communication studies at Baylor U., aims to examine the effects video games have on people’s aggression levels.

Shafer hopes to find which video games are most apt to lead to aggression and which people are most vulnerable to becoming aggressive and hostile as a result of playing video games.

“There’s a definite link between media violence and aggression,” Shafer said.

By randomly selecting a video game, Baylor students volunteering as subjects are asked to play under different circumstances and scenarios.

“We bring them in and have them fill out a questionnaire to find out about their video game exposure and general media exposure,” Shafer said.

Ultimately, Shafer would like to understand how multiplayer game play affects people’s personalities.

“We wanted to see if competition increased hostility more,” Shafer said.

Shafer also questions if non-violent games contribute to hostility.

Currently, the government regulates games by labeling them with a rating, dependent on how violent the game is. Games labeled “mature” are considered the most violent and require a person to be 17 or older to purchase them.

Houston senior Emily Baerd, a research assistant for the project, said parents have the biggest responsibility in monitoring what games their children play.

“If you have a responsible or strict parent, you may not play games that would affect you,” Baerd said. “I think it’s good when they have ratings because then it comes up to the parent.”

Shafer also hopes to begin a study that monitors how people react to one another in online game-play as opposed to in person.

Dallas junior Forrest Harington is the founder of the Baylor Gamer’s Society, a club designed to bring students who like to play a variety of games together every week. He said he’s observed these differences when playing with friends.

“I’d say there’s less aggression in a room setting because people are less likely to use profanity and throw stuff around,” Harrington said. “I’d say they’re more apt to do that when they’re online than with other people.”

There comes a point in every athlete’s career when they know they are at the end.

Tyrone Prothro is not there yet.

For every year he’s had to create himself in the Madden video game series, and for every weekend in the fall he’s spent off the clock, he’s had even more time to dream about a once-promising future that now hardly seems possible.

“I would give anything to be able to step back on the field and score just one more touchdown,” he said. “That would make my life.”

It has been five years to the day since a broken leg prevented the former Alabama wide receiver from holding onto his third touchdown catch against fifth-ranked Florida. As the Gators return to Tuscaloosa for the first time since the injury this weekend, Prothro still holds hope that the famous play was not his last.

“It was never told to me that I would never be able to play again,” he said. “I’m not going to ever say I’m not going to play. I still believe that one day I will be able to step foot back on the football field and woo the crowd like I used to.”

The injury

Prothro was having the game of his life, and Alabama was putting together perhaps its most dominant performance since the Bear Bryant era.

With a 28-point lead and nine minutes remaining in that 2005 game, the Crimson Tide wanted to take one more shot on a fourth-and-5 from the Florida 27-yard line. Alabama wanted one more statement against the No. 5 team in the country in a game some thought could be the first step towards bringing the program back to prominence.

“It was all the starters’ last play,” said Prothro, who had 134 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the game. “The DBs were playing aggressive, so we called a hitch-and-go. I had him beat by at least five yards.”

But an underthrown ball allowed Florida cornerback Dee Webb to catch up and bump Prothro while he was in the air. After an awkward landing, a Bryant-Denny crowd that had been erupting all game was suddenly in a silent shock.

“I felt like people just started praying for him,” said Vivian Prothro, Tyrone’s mother, who was in the stands along with three other family members. “I was amazed at how much these people loved my son.”

Although it certainly didn’t look good, nobody knew at the time that Prothro had broken the tibia and fibula in his left leg, an injury that would end his Alabama career.

“When it first happened, we were just praying that he hurt his ankle or something,” former Alabama fullback LeRon McClain said. “We didn’t know it was to the extreme like that.”

Even Prothro had no idea how serious it was. As a cart carried him off the playing field for the final time, the Tide’s most electric player lifted his hands. He motioned the crowd to break its silence, allowing everybody, including himself, to believe that everything was going to be OK.

The rehab

Prothro’s next 26 days were spent undergoing surgeries, lying in hospital beds and watching a once-potent Alabama offense go flat.

In Alabama’s five games with Prothro in 2005, the Tide scored at least three touchdowns. In the next two games combined without the star, Alabama scored just one. By the end of the season, the Tide averaged 13.2 points per game more with Prothro than without him.

“He was frustrated a lot watching,” said Quintin Prothro, Tyrone’s older brother. “As a player, he looked at it like, ‘You know, I wasn’t that big of a difference.’ But in the hospital bed watching [the Ole Miss game], he was like, ‘Man, they’ve got to be able to move the ball.’”

The frustration was not confined to watching football on Saturdays, however. Every surgery performed on his leg was just another sign of the magnitude of the injury.

“The first time he cried, I jumped up and I just grabbed him,” Vivian Prothro said. “I just told him to let it all out. I was hurting, too, but I couldn’t let him see. I had to be strong for him. Whenever they took him down to his surgeries and stuff, that’s when I got my tears out.”

Vivian, who had traveled to Tuscaloosa for the game, stayed with her son the entire 26 days in the hospital and became what Tyrone called his main supporter.

He said he also received about three large boxes of fan mail per day while he was in the hospital, and teammates and coaches would visit him every day after practice.

“It gave us extra motivation, going and seeing him in the hospital,” said former teammate Matt Caddell. “Here’s a guy who gave it all on every play, every practice, every down. That made you be grateful for the opportunity that you have to go out there and play.”

To say Prothro’s recovery was slow would be quite the understatement. He went through rehab for more than two years at the Tide’s facilities and even continued to sit in meetings and film sessions with the team through the 2008 season.

“You hear guys complain about how hot practice is and how hard practice is,” Prothro said, “but you never realize how much you missed it until you’re in my situation. Just seeing them go out there and practice and be able to put on pads, it got to me.”

It got to the point where even the slightest progression was encouraging.

“Just to see him jog,” Caddell said, “it was probably almost a year down the road, but just to see him make those strides, it was so gratifying for us.”

But Prothro could never get his leg back into playing shape. He took his initial redshirt season in 2006 and a medical redshirt year in 2007. His last chance at playing for Alabama came in 2008. When the realization set in that he still had no chance of playing his senior season, he gave up his athletic scholarship.

“[It’s tough] for an athlete to have to go through that stage of not wanting to give it up and knowing you’ve still got a lot left in you,” Prothro said. “And for me, I had a full career ahead of me.”

McClain said, “He’s still one of my favorite players I’ve ever seen play college football. He put on a show for many fans on many Saturdays at Bryant-Denny. I just wish I would have had a chance to see him play [in the NFL]. I wish I could see that right now.”

The future

Prothro now works at Regions Bank on Paul Bryant Drive in Tuscaloosa, in the shadow of Alabama’s practice facility and an easy walk from the stadium where he played his last game five years ago.

He was a coach for the Birmingham Wildfire of the LaBelle Community Football League during the summer of 2009, but said he wants to see where banking can take him while he waits for another coaching opportunity to open up.

Although he has shown interest in coaching, Prothro’s true desire is to play football again.

“There’s not a day I can watch Alabama football and not wish I was still out there,” he said. “There’s not a day I can watch NFL football and not think I should be out there somewhere.

“Whether it’s me playing, or just thinking about the team or thinking about my favorite NFL team – every day I think about it.”

He still sees a comeback as a possibility. He said it could be “a couple more years down the road,” and that he would need one more surgery to possibly eliminate setbacks he’s had in the past.

“I do think I can be as effective as I used to,” he said. “I may not be as fast, and I may not be as quick, but I still have that same mentality and that same heart that I had when I played.

“Whether it’s NFL, whether it’s European league, or whether it’s Canadian league, arena football, Arena2, I still feel like one day I’m going to be able to come back and be entertaining like I used to.”

Prothro plans on attending the Florida game Saturday, saying it would bring back many more good memories than the one bad. He will remember more vividly his 87-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, his early third-quarter score that put the Tide up 31-3 and even his punt return touchdown that was called back because of a penalty more than he will remember the play that ended his career.

“[At the time of the injury], I did catch myself wondering, ‘Why have me up so high in a game, and then bring me down so low in the same game?’” he said. “But, it’s one of those things where you can’t question God’s authority. As much as I love football, you can’t sit back and question.

“It could have happened to anybody. It just happened to me.”