Niners’ comeback is another step for QB Hill

Shaun Hill walked into the San Francisco locker room Monday triumphantly sporting the shaky beginnings of a mustache, joining his offensive line in a pact to grow facial hair appropriate for the 49ers’ throwback uniforms.

It’s not the growth on Hill’s upper lip that has coach Mike Singletary excited, however.

Hill’s evolution as a capable NFL quarterback advanced yet another step in the fourth quarter of the 49ers’ stunning 17-16 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. After floundering through the first 53 minutes, Hill talked Singletary out of a benching before finishing with a 10-of-15, 127-yard performance that included two lengthy scoring drives and a spectacular winning touchdown pass to rookie Josh Morgan in the fourth quarter.

With an interim head coach and a fan base that’s restless for change, Hill knows he might not be the 49ers’ (6-9) quarterback for long, even though nearly every game in his 4-3 stint as their starter has suggested he could do the job in 2009.

But Hill won’t let the uncertainty of his future interfere with his enjoyment of the present. The laid-back veteran from Kansas even came up an appropriate simile for his travails in St. Louis.

“I started thinking about it, and it’s a lot like bass fishing,” Hill said, itching the burgeoning toothbrush under his nose. “You go out there and you think it’s going to be a perfect day, and you’re throwing what you think is right. You know this is supposed to be catching them, but this isn’t catching them. You’re out there for three or four hours, and you haven’t caught a fish, and then all of a sudden, the big one hits.”

In a 161-second span, Hill threw a short TD pass to Isaac Bruce - the 1,000th catch of his career - and an improbable 48-yard scoring heave to Morgan, who made a daredevil catch with 1:22 left.

“I’d say the first one was probably a nice 4-pound bass,” Hill said, comparing his TD throws. “The last one was a whopper. The last one was one you put on your wall - 8-pound in Missouri, 11 out here.”

Singletary had an eye-poppingly animated discussion with Hill on the sideline in the third quarter, even benching Hill for about 20 seconds before the quarterback won the argument. The interim coach saw something in Hill’s eyes that he recognized from his own playing days.

“He didn’t show me anything that I didn’t feel was there,” Singletary said. “I was not surprised one bit. … With him doing what he did in the fourth quarter, coming back and showing the leadership, keeping the guys focused and being able to create those plays, that’s the guy that I always believe he is.”

After Hill and his receivers stole a victory, the quarterback briefly got to celebrate it with more than 40 friends and family members in attendance from Kansas and Missouri. He wouldn’t blame the contingent for his mostly terrible play, but Hill had never before felt the weight of such expectations during his first 6 1/2 NFL seasons spent mostly as a backup.

“I’d never got to play near my hometown at all, in college or the NFL,” said Hill, who was born and raised in Parsons, Kan., and now lives in Missouri. “That was the first time I was playing in front of a lot of my friends and my family. I’ve had people come to one or two games, but this was the first time that I was really that amped up for it.”

Hill’s day might have been considerably less bright without a spectacular play by Morgan, the rookie who missed the 49ers’ previous five games after tearing a muscle in his groin on a late hit during San Francisco’s loss at Arizona on Nov. 10.

Morgan seemed to be on the way to a breakthrough season before his injury, which cost him a starting job and several weeks of valuable practice time. Even though he still only feels “about 70, 75 percent” and has trouble making cuts because of his injury, he wasn’t willing to sit out another week.

But Morgan had just one catch for 7 yards against the Rams before he streaked downfield and leaped past three defenders and teammate Jason Hill for a graceful grab. Shaun Hill insisted he was throwing to Morgan on the play, and Morgan confirmed it Monday, saying Jason Hill accidentally overran his route by several yards.

“They always say you’re only as good as your last game, so I definitely wanted to show the coaches how good I am,” said Morgan, whose 15.8 yards-per-catch average and three TD receptions are both second on the Niners’ roster. “It’s like an alley-oop in basketball. You go up, and you slam it down.”

RB Frank Gore plans to return to practice this week with hopes on playing in Sunday’s season finale. Gore is acutely aware he’s just 22 yards shy of becoming the first running back in 49ers history with three straight 1,000-yard seasons. … The 49ers won’t practice on Christmas, instead pushing back their normal preparation schedule one day.

Bears lose Mike Brown to calf injury

Bears safety Mike Brown left Monday’s game against the Green Bay Packers with a calf injury, leaving Chicago’s defense without one of its leaders.

It was not clear when Brown was injured.

The Bears had possession to start the third quarter and the offense was still on the field when the announcement was made.

Chicago also lost running back Kevin Jones to a hamstring injury.

Florida Newton arrested, charged with burglary.

Florida Newton arrested, charged with burglary.
Florida backup quarterback Cameron Newton was charged with stealing another student’s laptop computer after being arrested Friday.

Newton was suspended from the team, spokesman Steve McClain said, and was being held in the Alachua County jail. He has been charged with felony counts of burglary, larceny and obstructing justice.

According to the University Police Department, Newton stole the laptop worth $1,700 and threw it out his dormitory window Friday when officers arrived to investigate the theft.

A student reported the computer stolen Oct. 16, according to the police report, and an investigation linked the laptop to Newton five days later when he allegedly used the machine to access the school’s network. The school identified the user name as “cnewton,” police said.

University police went to Newton’s dorm Friday, were invited inside and noticed the laptop on Newton’s desk. Officers left the room to confirm that the computer matched the serial code of the laptop reported stolen, according to the report. When they returned, it was gone.

According to police, the laptop had been painted black on the top and had “Cam Newton” written on the top in white paint. Officers found the computer behind a trash bin outside the dorm and learned that “Mr. Newton threw the computer out of his bedroom window,” the report said.

Newton, a sophomore from College Park, Ga., passed for 40 yards as Tim Tebow’s backup last year. He has been slowed by injuries this season - he sprained an ankle early in the season and injured his neck in a car accident earlier this month.

He has appeared in one game this season, completing one pass for 14 yards and rushing for 10 yards on five carries against Hawaii on Aug. 30.

Newton is the second Florida player with legal troubles this season. Backup cornerback Jacques Rickerson was kicked off the team two weeks after he was arrested and accused of slapping his girlfriend, choking her and then covering her face with a pillow. He was charged with felony battery.

No 25 Tar Heels, Wolfpack meet in instate rivalry.

No 25 Tar Heels, Wolfpack meet in instate rivalry. It hasn’t taken long for Butch Davis to get into North Carolina’s rivalry with North Carolina State.

“The fans are right on top of each other,” the second-year coach said. “I was mad at some people dressed in red at the (grocery store) last night.”

About a half-hour east on Interstate 40, N.C. State running back Andre Brown can feel it, too.

“You can just see it that even after the whistle’s blown how people are still driving and still trying to physically beat the guy down,” Brown said.

The angst that comes with the latest meeting of longtime instate rivals offers a simple motivation heading Saturday. It sure beats dwelling on the big picture, whether it’s the 25th-ranked Tar Heels’ chances of somehow winning the Atlantic Coast Conference’s muddled Coastal Division race or the Wolfpack’s need to win its last two games to become bowl eligible.

North Carolina (7-3, 3-3 ACC) controlled its own fate in the division before last weekend’s 17-15 loss at Maryland. The Tar Heels got a boost with Miami’s loss to Georgia Tech on Thursday night, but they still need Virginia and Virginia Tech to lose at least once. Both the Cavaliers and Hokies are 3-3 in the league, but they have beaten the Tar Heels to earn the head-to-head tiebreakers.

Ask Davis anything about that scenario and his answer usually falls into the “one game at a time” category.

“You don’t look at the landscape,” he said. “I don’t follow all the other schools. We can’t control anybody else. We worry about how we play and how we prepare and if we do like we’re supposed to, the future will take care of itself.”

That leaves the Tar Heels to focus on regrouping from the disappointing loss to the Terrapins in which they missed a 28-yard field goal and went 1-for-11 on third-down conversions. They’ve managed to bounce back after their close losses to Virginia Tech and Virginia, getting solid performances from one-time third-stringer Cameron Sexton at quarterback.

But after Sexton’s shaky day at Maryland, Davis opened the competition between Sexton and T.J. Yates, the starter who went down with an ankle injury against the Hokies. Davis said it likely would be a gametime decision.

Sexton had won four of six starts since Yates’ injury.

“I think it’s a great problem to have two starting quarterbacks, that either one can go in and the team’s going to back either one 100 percent,” fullback Bobby Rome said. “It’s pretty much who gives us the best chance to win and that’s what the coaching staff is going to do. I’m backing whoever goes out there.”

The Wolfpack (4-6, 2-4) has no such uncertainty at quarterback. Redshirt freshman Russell Wilson has given N.C. State a mobile passer who can extend plays with his feet and has avoided crushing mistakes. He has thrown for nine touchdowns and no interceptions in the past five games, leading N.C. State to wins against Duke and Wake Forest in the past two weeks.

N.C. State has also improved as it got healthier. Linebacker Nate Irving has returned after missing almost four games and had 11 tackles last week to lead the defense. In addition, Brown and Jamelle Eugene - who missed the first three games - have formed a solid 1-2 rushing attack.

The Wolfpack won last year’s game, which was the first meeting of Davis and N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien at the rival programs. They both took over in late 2006, and last year’s game came down to the Wolfpack making a fourth-and-goal stop in the final seconds of a 31-27 win. Eugene ran for a career-high 159 yards and three touchdowns in the game, including the winning score with 1:41 left.

Just as last year, the Wolfpack know a loss will end its bowl hopes.

“It’s UNC and it’s a big rivalry,” defensive end Markus Kuhn said. “But we also play each and every week for having an extra game, and that’s the bowl game. We want to keep on winning and at the end of the season be 6-6, and we hope we’re going to make it to a bowl.”

That said, N.C. State fans might be able to stomach missing a bowl if the Wolfpack beats the Davis and the Tar Heels again.

“It’s exciting to play in (rivalry) games because it’s so important to the community and the school,” O’Brien said. “Certainly, that’s all the players hear about all week whether they be in class or in town or whatever. … I mean, that’s all you ever hear about.”

Rotten Apple Cup arrives for Cougars and Huskies.

Rotten Apple Cup arrives for Cougars and Huskies. No matter how many lousy seasons have befallen the two major college football programs in the state of Washington, there’s one stigma they’ve managed to avoid for 110 years:

Winless.

Bad years? Plenty. A slump of a few seasons? Absolutely. But after Washington State posted a 0-0-1 record in 1898, neither the Cougars nor Huskies have ever gone winless.

That brings us to Saturday’s Apple Cup between Washington (0-10, 0-7 Pac-10) and Washington State (1-10, 0-8) that provides what could be the final opportunity for the Huskies to avoid a giant zero blemishing the history of its program.

“I think more than anything it hurts the players because we’ve put in that work every day,” Washington linebacker Donald Butler said.

“To go out on Saturday and not get it done, it’s damaging. It hurts.”

The 101st meeting between Washington and Washington State is already rotten enough to sicken most fans that have watched this season play out. Both teams are undeniably among the worst in the country, and the contest is the first matchup of 10-loss teams in Pac-10 Conference history.

The Cougars’ only win was an early season rout of a 3-7 Football Championships Subdivision team - Portland State. WSU is on pace to break the NCAA record for most points allowed in a single season. During a stretch of three losses to Oregon State, USC and Stanford, the Cougars were outscored 169-0 over a span of 10 quarters.

They’ve gone through a series of quarterbacks as injuries piled up, and struggled in adjusting to the style and system of new coach Paul Wulff. A win Saturday would help temper some of the Cougars’ struggles and provide a boost heading into Wulff’s first full offseason in Pullman.

“We want to win it. It’ll help with some of the sting of the season, obviously,” Wulff said. “I think that’s important that we have an opportunity to do that and go into the offseason feeling a little better about yourself.”

Despite all of WSU’s struggles and failures in Wulff’s first season, the Cougars have a win, no matter how unimpressive it may be. And with the Huskies still facing a finale in two weeks at California, their best opportunity at avoiding the winless tag comes against their cross-state rivals.

“You don’t want to send the young guys out with a bad taste for the next few years. And for us older guys we definitely don’t want to leave with (zero) wins our last year,” Washington’s Johnie Kirton said.

The Apple Cup is also a test for outgoing Washington coach Tyrone Willingham to see if he can motivate a team that has seemed lethargic and willing to give up easily over the last month. Willingham is already headed for unemployment after the California game, and his assistants are telling players that their efforts in the closing weeks are auditions for a new coaching staff.

Willingham believes the rivalry itself should produce enough emotion to ignite his team. But when Washington opened the season at Oregon - a rival some believe is on par with the Cougars - the Huskies endured a 44-10 rout, setting the tone for their entire season.

“I think there is a natural energy around this game and everyone is affected by (it),” Willingham said. “Everyone is drawn to it. You know there is something different about this week. … Our guys will feel that and sense that.”

Should the Huskies fail in their final two games, they would become the 15th FBS team to go winless in the last 10 years, and only the third program from a Bowl Championship Series conference. Duke of the Atlantic Coast Conference went winless in 2006, 2001 and 2000, while South Carolina of the Southeastern Conference went 0-11 back in 1999.

Losses by the Cougars in their final two games would produce their first season with just one victory since 1970.

“It’s embarrassing both of us are doing so bad right now,” Kirton said. “But at the same time there is always a hard time for a program and there is always a way up.”

Top 25 Capsules.

Top 25 Capsules.
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands -Kemba Walker scored 23 points and Jeff Adrien added 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead No. 2 Connecticut to a hard-fought 89-81 victory over La Salle on Friday in the Paradise Jam.

The Huskies (3-0) trailed in the early minutes, but were up 46-40 at halftime under the leadership of guard A.J. Price. They never trailed in the second half, leading by as many as 10 points.

Rodney Green had a game-high 25 points for La Salle (1-2). Ruben Guillandeaux and Yves Mekongo Mbala each had 13 points.

No. 4 UCLA 77, Southern Illinois 60

NEW YORK - Alfred Aboya scored 22 points and Darren Collison had 17, helping the Bruins rebound from a disheartening loss to beat Southern Illinois in the consolation game of the 2K Sports Classic.

The Bruins (3-1) struggled in a semifinal loss to Michigan, turning the ball over 17 times and showing very little patience against the Wolverines’ zone defense.

They had their own problems with Southern Illinois, a team known for its gritty defense, before a 20-2 run covering more than 6 minutes late in the game made it much more comfortable.

Freshman guard Kevin Dillard scored 14 for the Salukis (2-2).

No. 6 Pittsburgh 86, Akron 67

PITTSBURGH - Sam Young gave Akron problems no matter where he was on the floor, scoring 26 points and taking control during a Pittsburgh surge late in the first half that carried the Panthers.

Levance Fields had 19 points and seven assists and DeJuan Blair added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Panthers (3-0). Young scored 11 of Pitt’s final 15 points in the first half as the Panthers doubled their lead from 28-19 to 45-27.

Brett McKnight had 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, but Akron (2-1) lost its 20th consecutive game against a Top 25 opponent.

No. 10 Duke 71, Michigan 56

NEW YORK - Kyle Singler showed up from the start this time, scoring 15 points and leading Duke over surprising Michigan in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic.

Nolan Smith added 16 points and Gerald Henderson had 12 for the Blue Devils, who won their four games in the 2K Sports Classic by an average of 28.5 points. Duke has won seven straight in-season tournament games after sweeping through the Maui Invitational last season.

Manny Harris scored 25 points to lead Michigan (3-1), which will get another crack at the Blue Devils (5-0) when they visit Ann Arbor on Dec. 6. DeShawn Sims added 10 points off the bench.

No. 17 Miami 70, Southern Miss 60

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands - Dwayne Collins scored 14 points to lead Miami over Southern Mississippi in the Paradise Jam opener.

The junior forward also had nine rebounds for the Hurricanes (2-0). Jack McClinton and Lance Hurdle added 13 points apiece, with Hurdle hitting a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer to give Miami a 36-24 lead.

Junior guard Jeremy Wise led Southern Mississippi (2-1) with 21 points. Courtney Beasley added 14 points for the Golden Eagles, who shot 39 percent.

No. 19 Southern Cal 73, Chattanooga 46

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Taj Gibson scored 17 points to lead Southern Cal over Chattanooga in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Gibson also grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked five shots for the Trojans (3-1), who played a strong second half to claim the win.

Dwight Lewis scored 16 points, DeMar DeRozan added 13 and Daniel Hackett had 10 points and nine assists.

Nicchaeus Doaks led the Mocs (0-4) with 14 points, 15 rebounds and three assists.

No. 21 Davidson 97, Winthrop 70

DAVIDSON, N.C. - Stephen Curry turned in another dazzling performance with 30 points and a career-high 13 assists, Andrew Lovedale dominated the inside and Davidson wore down Winthrop in the second half.

Three days after Curry scored a career-high 44 points in a loss at No. 12 Oklahoma, the nation’s leading scorer drilled five 3-pointers and continued his seamless transition to point guard, committing only three turnovers.

But he got plenty of help from Lovedale, who keyed Davidson’s comeback from a six-point first-half deficit. The senior had a career-high 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, helping the Wildcats (3-1) to their 18th straight win at home.

Cameron Stanley scored 13 of his career-high 20 points in the first half for the Eagles (1-3), who went cold from the field in the second half and lost their third straight game.

NC State PG out up to 2 weeks with knee tendinitis.

NC State PG out up to 2 weeks with knee tendinitis. North Carolina State point guard Farnold Degand has tendinitis in his left knee and may be sidelined two weeks.

Degand developed tendinitis in the knee that was surgically repaired last season, coach Sidney Lowe said Friday.

Degand missed the final 2 1/2 months after tearing a ligament last December. Lowe said Degand likely had tendinitis before, but his recovery from surgery may have worsened it.

Degand started and played 13 minutes in last week’s opener at New Orleans.

Sophomore Javier Gonzalez likely will start in his place Saturday against High Point.

Anthony Mason Jr out for season.

Anthony Mason Jr out for season. St. John’s senior swingman Anthony Mason Jr. will miss the rest of the season because of a torn peroneal tendon in his right foot.

“We are all disappointed and feel for Anthony,” coach Norm Roberts said. “This is an unfortunate situation, but it is part of the game. We believe that Mase will come back from this, a stronger player and a stronger person.”

Mason was hurt earlier in the week and an MRI and ultrasound on Friday afternoon revealed the extent of the injury.

Mason averaged 18.0 points for the Red Storm (2-1) in the games against Cornell and Boston College in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

He averaged a team-best 14.0 points in 22 games last season.

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North Carolina’s Hansbrough makes season debut.

Tyler Hansbrough made his season debut for North Carolina on Friday night, joining the top-ranked Tar Heels’ starting lineup against UC Santa Barbara.

Hansbrough missed the first two games for Carolina (2-0) because of a stress reaction in his right shin. Last season’s national player of the year had been held out of practice and exhibition games since the injury was diagnosed in October.

Hansbrough had played in all 108 games in his first three years for Carolina before missing the first two this season.