College football notes: Fans remember Katrina's victims

By Seattle Times news services

Hurricane Katrina's wrath was felt throughout the college-football mad Southeast as well as the rest of the country.

In Starkville, Miss., the game between Mississippi State and Murray State had a somber tone: Instead of running onto the field, coach Sylvester Croom and the Bulldogs walked solemnly to the sideline, with their helmets under their right arms, and the scoreboard showed a tribute to Katrina's victims. - College Football -

Mississippi State officials said about 2,000 evacuees claimed free tickets to the game.

Some Alabama fans stayed home to give at least 300 refugees from Hurricane Katrina a chance to see a Crimson Tide game.

For the past several days Alabama fans have been dropping off their tickets to the Middle Tennessee-Alabama game at a Red Cross shelter at the university's recreation center, which has been home to about 500 refugees. - College Football -

"This will give them four or five hours to get their minds off what they've been doing and keep them from thinking about where their relatives are," said Pat Plott, a Red Cross volunteer at the shelter who helped organize the ticket drive.

At games across the country, fans contributed money to help victims of the hurricane.

Fans at Wisconsin's 56-42 season-opening win against Bowling Green filled American Red Cross collection canisters, and there was a moment of silence before the Michigan-Northern Illinois game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle encouraged Badgers fans to be generous in their support. - College Football -

"If the 80,000 fans who attend Saturday's game all give just one dollar, we will raise $80,000 from Wisconsin to help them recover from this tragedy," Doyle said.

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