The family of slain Miami Hurricanes player Bryan Pata will get $2 million from the insurance companies of the apartment complex where he was murdered, family attorneys said Wednesday. Pata was fatally shot outside The Colony Apartment in Kendall on Nov. 7. The apartment complex did not provide the 24-hour security it had advertised, and several outdoor lights were obscured or not working, particularly where the shooting took place, said the family's attorneys.

A jury on Friday found Tennessee cornerback Marsalous Johnson not guilty of assault, after an off-duty sheriff's deputy said Johnson waved a gun at him while driving on the interstate. When the deputy alerted on-duty officers and they pulled over Johnson's vehicle, they found a toy Uzi submachine gun under the passenger seat. Johnson's case was postponed several times since the incident last July and finally went to trial in Putnam County Circuit Court. A jury found Johnson not guilty of simple assault, court clerk Marcia Borys said.

The move to 12-game schedules in college football has revived a proposal that would extend player eligibility to five years. The NCAA football issues committee, led by Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson, has requested that the proposal be discussed at the spring meetings of Division I football-playing conferences. Even if the idea gains traction, it would have to go through several NCAA committees before a membership vote.

USC has landed another top quarterback. Mitch Mustain, who started eight games as a freshman for Arkansas last season, has transferred to USC, according to a newspaper report. Trojans coach Pete Carroll told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that Mustain has officially enrolled at the school. Mustain was 8-0 as a starter for Arkansas, which finished 11-3. The 6-3, 205-pounder passes for 10 touchdowns and almost 900 yards in an offense built around running back Darren McFadden, a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Don Bailey became Montana State's interim head football coach Sunday, two days after head coach Mike Kramer was fired following the latest in a string of arrests involving current and former players. Bailey was Kramer's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Athletic director Peter Fields planned to meet with the coaching staff Monday to discuss the program in the aftermath of Kramer's firing Friday. Fields dismissed him two days after former player Rick Gatewood was arrested on drug charges.

Montana State is in the hunt for a new football coach. Bobcats AD Peter Fields on Friday announced the university has exercised its option to terminate the contract of Mike Kramer, the school's coach for the last seven seasons. "Looking at the football program as a whole, and in light of the recent criminal activities of former student-athletes connected to it, I believe there is something broken with our football program, and we need to take decisive steps to fix it," said Fields, who announced the decision after meeting with university president Geoff Gamble and vice president of student affairs Allen Yarnell earlier in the day. Five former Montana State football players have run into trouble with the law in the last 12 months, and in 2003, former assistant coach Joe O'Brien was arrested for a drug-related incident.

Doug Flutie was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday in his first year of eligibility, joining Ahmad Rashad and Anthony Thompson in the newest class of players and coaches honored by the National Football Foundation. Flutie won the Heisman Trophy in 1984 as quarterback for Boston College, the same season he pulled off one of the most famous plays in college football history. His 48-yard touchdown pass to Gerard Phelan as time expired gave the Eagles a 47-45 victory over Miami. Flutie passed for 10,579 yards in his college career, and went on to play 13 seasons in the NFL and eight in the CFL. On Tuesday, Flutie became the first non-Canadian elected to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

Eleven Division I-A football programs will lose scholarships for falling short of academic standards, and more could be on the way in the future. The NCAA released its third-year Academic Progress Report (APR) and penalties for sports teams that fell below academic standards during the past year and issued public warning for teams that have underperformed over the last three. Florida International will lose nine football scholarships, two men's basketball scholarships and 1.17 baseball scholarships as a result. San Jose State football was the next hardest hit, losing seven scholarships.