The old saying goes, When you score a touchdown, act like youve been there before.A few college football players took the nonchalant approach too far when entering the end zone the last couple weekends, casually dropping the ball right before crossing the goal line. It cost Clemson and California touchdowns and should have taken six off the board for Oklahoma, too. With goal-line brain freezes seemingly spreading, some coaches are taking action to keep such case of the dropsies from becoming an outbreak.Its something that doesnt need to happen, I can tell you that, South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said. Weve had a hard time getting (to the end zone). We dang sure dont want to drop it before.The madness started this season with the Gamecocks in-state rivals. Clemsons Ray-Ray McCloud cost himself a punt return TD two weeks ago against Troy when he dropped the ball a stride short of pay dirt . McCloud got chewed out by coach Dabo Swinney but was allowed to keep playing and has been a productive player since.After the play, I just told him, first of all, what a great play. What an awesome run. Tremendous, Swinney said. Now, secondly, you are going to be on SportsCenter for the rest of your life because you didnt hand the ball to the ref. How many times do I have to tell you to hand the ball to the ref?Not everybody has learned from McClouds mistake.Oklahomas Joe Mixon and Californias Vic Enwere made similar moves last Saturday. Officials did not catch Mixons and the long TD stood. Enwere lucked out in that officials ruled that no effort was made by Texas to recover his fumble. The whistle was blown and the Bears retained the ball at the 1 and ran out the clock on a victory.Enweres gaffe prompted Cal coach Sonny Dykes to implement a new rule when the team met Sunday. Cal players must hand the ball to an official after scoring.Its really a strange phenomenon, Dykes told USA Today Sports . I dont understand it. But I can assure you it wont ever happen to us again. Well get it fixed.Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said its not just near the goal line that he see players being too quick to discard the football. He still uses a message to players that he took from his former running backs coach, Jemal Singleton.He said any time a ball carrier has the ball in his hands, its a fumble unless its handed to the official, Bielema said. We had a flare-up in our first game where some guys were dropping the ball on the ground, or they were flipping the ball out. For the most part, youll see our offensive players, if theres a referee or anybody in sight, hand the ball to the official -- especially on scoring plays. Its the easiest way to take away from any type of celebration, anything along that lines.Bielema said a clip of Enweres drop will likely make its way into Arkansas film study this week to reinforce the point.Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez already has a rule in place about handing the ball back to officials on every play, mostly so the offense can move at a quick pace.We call it the Kansas City rule, Rodriguez said. I think 15 years ago, (offensive coordinator Calvin Magee) and I heard about the Chiefs doing it, making it mandatory for all their ball carriers.And what would the punishment be for breaking the Kansas City rule while cruising into the end zone?Well, the things I would like to do I cant say, Rodriguez said.These goofy goal-line giveaways are not a new phenomenon.Former Cal receiver DeSean Jackson might be patient zero when it comes to toss-back-a-touchdown disease. Hes done it twice in the NFL with two teams and also did it in a high school all-star game while front flipping into the end zone.Nobodys flub was more costly than Kaelin Clays in 2014. Instead of scoring a long touchdown for Utah, an Oregon defensive player alertly picked up the ball before it was ruled dead and returned it 99 yards for a flip-six.A word of caution before branding this apathetic approach to reaching the end zone another example of widespread millennial entitlement: Plenty of college football players are taking a traditional approach when scoring that would make low-key Hall of Famer Barry Sanders proud.I either run all the way to the end of the end zone and then celebrate, or I just dont do anything at all, Iowa State running back Mike Warren said. Thats just how I am.---AP Sports Writers Pete Iacobelli in Columbia, South Carolina; John Marshall in Tucson, Arizona; Kurt Voigt in Fayeteville, Arkansas; and Luke Meredith in Ames, Iowa, contributed to this report.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at
www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and the APs college football site at
http://collegefootball.ap.org . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U. . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. Patience is a virtue few teenagers possess, and Jared Donaldson -- while already exceptional on a tennis court -- is no exception.Yeah, he said Tuesday from Chengdu, China, its nearly impossible to be patient. Might be impossible. Obviously Im not satisfied with where I am. I think I can do better, and thats the type of thinking that drives you to work as hard as you can to improve.The biggest challenge every player faces is when you have success. Youre less likely to make certain changes in your game that need to be made.Taylor Dent, who was once a 19-year-old whiz kid himself, repeats a lot of the things his father, Phil, a distinguished professional, told him growing up.Its a marathon not a sprint, said Taylor, who along with his dad coaches Donaldson. Youre not going to win every battle. When youre a kid, you want everything now. A lot of my time is spent keeping Jareds focus on the bigger picture. Its better to lose doing the right things than win doing them wrong.Lately, Donaldson has been doing a lot right.At No. 99, hes one of four teenagers ranked among the ATP World Tours top 100, joined by No. 27 Alexander Zverev, No. 42 Borna Coric and fellow American Taylor Fritz (No. 58). After the US Open, Donaldson and Fritz were the first pair of U.S. teenagers to appear in the top 100 since Andy Roddick and Robby Ginepri did it in 2002.They are part of a larger, distinguished group of 19 players who are 21 and under and ranked in the top 200 that the ATP has taken to calling the #NextGen on social media.Donaldson, who will be the first of the teenagers to turn 20, on Oct. 9, grew up in Rhode Island but now calls Irvine, California, home. Hell be celebrating his birthday in Asia. Like a lot of guys his age at his level, he could be playing Challengers in the comfort and safety of the United States but, typically, hes chosen a more difficult path.Hell try to qualify his way into the main draws next week at Tokyo and then the Shanghai Rolex Masters.You can improve exponentially by playing the best competition available, Donaldson said. The best players are playing in Asia right now.The learning curve continued on Saturday in China, when Donaldson -- the top-seeded player in the qualifying draw -- lost his first match to Marinko Matosevic 7-5, 6-4.But just as a college student can often learn more outside of the classroom, Donaldson is going to school on all the small details that make a successful professional player. When does that nagging pain in your knee warrant a visit to the physio? Where do you find food in a foreign country that is safe and nutritious? How much time should be devoted to practice versus weight training? How much sleep is appropriate? Whats the best string tension for a windy day in southwest China?And so, the education of Jared Donaldson continues.Admittedly it was a tough year for Donaldson before he caught fire this summer. The 6-foot-2, 165-pound athlete played some Challengers and tried to qualify for a number of ATP-level events. He reached the main draws in Memphis and Miami but lost his first match both times. After losing in the final round of the Savannah Challenger to Bjorn Fratangelo, Donaldson lost two of three matches in Tallahassee and Bordeaux before falling in the third round of qualifying at Roland Garros.And then shoulder and knee injuries forced him to sit out for more than a month.Playing before a hometown crowd on the grass at Newport, Rhode Island,, Donaldson lost his first match back in straight sets to Donald Young.ddddddddddddIt was a predictable result, coming off those injuries and considering Donaldsons best surfaces are hard courts and clay.The biggest trick, Dent said, is not to get too up after good weeks and too down after bad weeks. Good can be just as bad -- or worse.Newport was the last surface he was going to feel comfortable on. It was fine because Jared believed in what he was working on, the direction he was going.That was evident a week later when he qualified in Washington, D.C. (beating Matosevic) and his first-round win against Vincent Millot. Then Donaldson won four matches, two of them in qualifying, in Torontos Rogers Cup, including a victory over No. 33-ranked Fabio Fognini.Before the US Open, Donaldson fell to Milos Raonic, Nick Kyrgios, Stan Wawrinka and Julien Benneteau in various events, but there was incremental progress across the board.The key to Donaldsons game, he says, is taking time away from opponents by being aggressive and hitting the ball early. To do this requires quickness and strength that isnt typically found in teenagers.Earlier this year I was trying to do it but, quite honestly, wasnt very good at it. When I got injured, I got stronger and things started to click. I started moving better, getting a better base, got behind the ball quicker. I was staying in points longer and hitting good quality shots.It all came together at the US Open. After failing to land a USTA wild card, Donaldson won three qualifying matches to reach the main draw. He produced a surprising first-round upset win against No. 14 David Goffin, then took out No. 32-ranked Viktor Troicki before losing to Ivo Karlovic.Dent, who was a terrific server in his day, has been working diligently with Donaldson on his delivery. He and his father will open the Dent Tennis Academy in Keller, Texas, next month. Theyll further work on Donaldsons game and fitness.Hes 165 pounds soaking wet, Dent said. Hes giving up 20 pounds of muscle to the other men on tour. Thats a huge percentage of strength and power. It wont come super quickly, but it will come.Confidence, as Wawrinka will tell you, can be just as valuable as a gorgeous one-handed backhand or a booming serve. After losing the first set of the US Open final against No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic, Wawrinka found a way to rally and win the final three sets.Back in late August, Donaldson had a similar experience.In a second-round match at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Donaldson found himself playing Wawrinka, then a two-time Grand Slam singles champion.I wasnt nervous, Donaldson said, but concerned that my normal level wasnt going to be good enough. In the first game, I stood too far back when he was serving. I was giving him too much credit and me not enough. I played the first game really poorlyRain intervened and the players were sent to the locker room. Donaldson told his team that he just needed to play his game to keep it close.He came out swinging and won the first set before falling 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. In retrospect, he took a set from one of the worlds best players -- just like Djokovic a few weeks later in New York.I gave a good account of myself, Donaldson said. It confirmed all the things Im working on and showed me I was on the right path. ' ' '
