CFB notebook: New SMU coach Dykes will coach bowl game

Dec 13, 2017 - 12:26 AM Sonny Dykes was introduced as SMU's new football head coach Tuesday, and he soon will be on the sideline.

Dykes, who replaces Chad Morris, who left after three seasons to become the head coach at Arkansas, will coach the Mustangs (7-5) when they play in the Frisco Bowl on Dec. 20 in Frisco, Texas.

"I have to hire a football staff. Try to get three or four coaches in here with some current staff members and go win a football game," Dykes said.

Dykes will be coaching against the school that that gave him his first college head coaching job -- Louisiana Tech. Dykes went 22-15 with the Bulldogs from 2010-12 before going 19-30 in four seasons at Cal, which fired him in January.

Dykes was an offensive analyst at TCU this season.



--Fear of losing its coach to a major school helped James Madison University decide to reward coach Mike Houston with a 10-year contract extension.

School officials announced the deal through 2027 four days before the undefeated Dukes host South Dakota State in the FCS semifinals.

Houston is 27-1 in two seasons at the school and guided James Madison to the 2016 FCS national championship.



--Josh Allen doesn't want to let a lingering shoulder injury dictate his chance to play one more game with Wyoming.

The Cowboys junior quarterback would like to play in Wyoming's upcoming bowl game, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise against Central Michigan, provided his sprained right shoulder is in good enough shape.

Allen sustained the injury in Wyoming's Nov. 11 game against Air Force and missed the final two games of the regular season.

One of the top-rated quarterbacks in the upcoming NFL Draft class, Allen could simply skip the bowl game to protect his professional stock -- but he said he doesn't want to do that if he's healthy enough to play.



--Former Iowa State starting quarterback Jacob Park requested his release from the school and intends to transfer.

Cyclones coach Matt Campbell indicated the request would be honored.

Park told the Des Moines Register on Monday that his suspension for the Oklahoma game in early October was due to a failed drug test for marijuana usage. The school announced at the time that Park took an indefinite leave to "work through some personal health issues."