''He's smart. He's tough. He's strong,'' the coach said.

But Zook missed one adjective when describing Leman: ambitious.

Leman received his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois this week, and is working on a master's degree he plans to have by the time his two remaining seasons of eligibility with the Illini are through.

''I get two degrees out of a five-year scholarship. It's totally worth it,'' he said.

Leman - J is short for Jeremy - took a redshirt and didn't play his freshman season. But he hit the books, rarely - if ever - missing a class and taking more than most of his teammates.

Two years ago, after deciding he would take three sessions of summer school, Leman realized it would be possible to get his bachelor's in speech communication before he started his junior season on the football field. But it would take some extra work.

''This last semester, I had to take a stretch of 20 hours. One summer, I had to take 13 hours. It was like an extra semester of work,'' he said this week.

But he realized the book work would pay off. It would be possible to obtain a master's degree before using up his football eligibility and scholarship.

And he's not skating by, either. He made the Dean's List on four of the six fall and spring semesters since he entered Illinois in 2003, including this spring's 20-hour semester.

Auburn officials cleared

Auburn athletics officials were cleared of wrongdoing by a university probe of claims that athletes improperly boosted their grades with an easy independent study course.

Interim university president Ed Richardson said at a news conference Thursday that an internal investigation determined athletes were not steered to the courses of sociology professor Thomas Petee, who was accused by a colleague of helping football players stay eligible by offering classes that required little work or no work.

Petee and another professor, who also gave ''directed-reading'' courses, have resigned their administrative posts. Both professors have tenure at Auburn and will continue to be members of the faculty, Richardson said.

ABCs of sports broadcasting

ESPN will become the brand for all sports programming carried on ABC, starting with the debut of ABC's college football season on Sept. 2.

''ESPN on ABC'' will begin with the College Football Countdown, followed by regional college football games that day. The first prime-time college football series on broadcast television, ''Saturday Night Football,'' will debut at 8 p.m. with Notre Dame at Georgia Tech.

Another year

South Carolina tight end Andy Boyd was granted a sixth season of eligibility by the NCAA. He has played in only 12 games since 2003 because of injuries.

Does it look like a Duck?

If the Oregon Ducks mixed and matched the different components of their football uniforms, they could sport a different look in 48 games.

''There are enough uniform combinations now that I could coach for 10 more years and never see them all,'' coach Mike Bellotti joked.

The Ducks made a splash on the fashion scene a couple years back by wearing ''lightning'' yellow uniforms. One onlooker dubbed players the ''Human Highlighters.''

This season, Oregon is bucking tradition once more with redesigned pants and jerseys, and adding a more subtle color to their wardrobe: black. It joins white, dark green and the aforementioned bright yellow.

Oregon also expands its options in headgear, adding an all-white helmet to the green version the team has worn since 1999.

Other changes include the word ''Oregon'' emblazoned down the left leg of the pants, and reflective diamond-patterned reinforcement on the shoulders and knees.