COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - John Gagliardi became college football's career victory leader when St. John's rallied to beat Bethel 29-26 on Saturday.
Gagliardi, in his 55th season and 51st at the Division III liberal arts school in central Minnesota, got his 409th victory. He passed Eddie Robinson, who retired in 1997 after winning 408 with I-AA Grambling State.
"I guess it's better than being at the bottom," Gagliardi said.
Ryan Keating's fourth TD pass, a 10-yard toss to Josh Nelson, gave the Johnnies the lead with 2:03 remaining. St. John's also clinched the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title, its 10th in the past 13 years.
An estimated 13,107 clogged the stands and surrounding snow-covered hills at Clemens Stadium, the largest crowd to see a St. John's game.
Gagliardi, 77, has won three national titles at St. John's, which gained an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs, its sixth straight appearance.
"I still don't know (what the milestone means)," Gagliardi said. "I think maybe my wife likes me a little better. ... But I bet Peggy will still make me take out the garbage."
Gagliardi is best known for his list of "Nos" - things he hated as a player that he vowed never to make his players endure. Practices are short and devoid of tackling, conditioning and yelling. And nobody gets cut.
"We hope nobody does it the way we do," Gagliardi said. "We're happy with what we're doing. We're not looking for converts, not looking to change the world. We've got this little spot here, and we like it."
MICHIGAN STATE: Offensive tackle Stefon Wheeler was regaining feeling after hitting his head in the third quarter of a 33-23 loss at Ohio State. Wheeler, a 6-foot-5, 319-pound sophomore, hit his head on a player or the ground as Spartans quarterback Jeff Smoker kept the ball on a third-and-short situation. Tests did not reveal any broken bones in his neck or back.
"By the time he got to the hospital, he had tingling in his fingers and his feet," team doctor Randy Pearson said. "He is in stable condition."
MISSISSIPPI: A probe into a recent automobile purchase by suspended tailback Ronald McClendon is apparently the second such investigation, according to published reports. Ole Miss and the NCAA are looking into how McClendon paid for a 1999 GMC Yukon Denali.
The NCAA and compliance officials at Tulane questioned McClendon in the spring of 2000 about a 1999 Ford Explorer he bought around the time he signed a letter of intent to play for the Green Wave. McClendon, who was a senior blue chip prospect at Ponchatoula (La.) High, was at the center of a joint investigation into alleged recruiting violations.
McClendon told the Times-Picayune Feb.17, 2000, he thought the charges were made by his former high school coach and a Tulane assistant who moved on to Clemson. The newspaper reported a month later Tulane officials found no evidence of major or secondary NCAA violations.
TEXAS TECH: Wes Welker set the NCAA career record for punt return yardage with a 22-yard return at Baylor. Welker has 1,714 career return yards, topping the 54-year-old record of Lee Nalley, who had 1,695 yards at Vanderbilt (1947-49). A week ago, Welker set another NCAA record with his eighth career punt return for a touchdown.
