Smoker Earns Old Job Back

Jeff Smoker quickly earned the starting quarterback job for Michigan State just one week after returning from a substance-abuse suspension.

Michigan State opens the season Aug. 30 at home against Western Michigan.

Smoker was suspended for the final five games of last season because of a substance-abuse problem. His family announced he was seeking treatment. Smoker has said he is not in an inpatient program, but added that his recovery is continuing and he has changed his lifestyle.

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Former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson has applied for admission at Tennessee State.

McPherson was sentenced to 30 months’ probation in early July after he pleaded no contest to gambling and theft charges in Tallahassee, Fla. He had faced up to 20 years in prison on charges stemming from allegations he stole a blank check and cashed it.

“A decision is pending on whether he will be able to enroll,” a school spokeswoman said Monday.

Last week, Athletic Director Teresa Phillips said the school would not allow McPherson to join the Tiger football program.

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Florida defensive end Steven Harris will go to trial Oct. 13 on charges that he beat up a man outside a nightclub.

Harris has pleaded not guilty to felony battery. Harris appeared before District Judge Larry Turner in Alachua County court on Monday. Harris was arrested in April outside a Gainesville nightclub the night after Florida’s spring game. According to an arrest report, Harris knocked Brian Assent unconscious.