CFB AM: ENMU players save man's life by lifting truck off his chest

Published Nov. 5, 2014 9:00 a.m. ET

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Teddy Mitrosilis

Eastern New Mexico defensive lineman Chevy Mikaele and linebacker Ben Langford were at church after practice last week when they heard a cry for help.

Across the street, John Reilly was in a dire position after his truck had rolled onto his chest. He said he was working on the vehicle when it switched gears, rolled backwards and pinned him.

Mikaele and Langford bolted from the church, with other parishioners behind, and came to the man’s rescue. They were able to lift the truck two feet in the air and get the man out.

“He wasn’t breathing at all,” pastor Johnny Pacheco told NBC affiliate KOB4. “We looked for a pulse, but there was no pulse that we could find.”

Reilly eventually began breathing and was taken to a hospital in Lubbock, New Mexico, where he’s being treated for a cracked spine and is in critical condition.

His wife, Mary, asks for prayers for a full recovery and recognized Mikaele and Langford for their courage to react immediately. “Thank God for these guys that were there,” she said.

The most eerie part of all: The players usually don’t go to church after practice and don’t know why they decided to go that night. “For some reason, we just came right after practice and we made it just in time," Mikaele said.

Here’s the video report from KOB4.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. The second College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night, and Oregon moved into the No. 4 spot as many anticipated. Alabama sits outside the playoff at No. 5, followed by TCU and Kansas State. This weekend we have four top-15 games – No. 6 TCU vs. No. 7 K-State; No. 8 Michigan State vs. No. 14 Ohio State; No. 9 ASU vs. No. 10 Notre Dame; No. 12 Baylor vs. No. 15 Oklahoma – and that’s before we get to No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 16 LSU. Such a fun weekend ahead.

Here are five takeaways from the new rankings by Stewart Mandel, including why the Spartans (and thus the Big Ten) are in a tough spot.

2. A simple public service announcement for those who care: Jameis Winston’s Florida State code of conduct hearing has been set for the week of Nov. 17. This is significant, obviously, because it comes in the middle of the season and while the Seminoles are trying to chase a second perfect season and national title. Remember, FSU isn’t trying to prove Winston committed a crime, but rather if he violated school policy, which is a much lower hurdle to clear. Worst-case scenario is Winston is found guilty of four different violations and expelled from school (which, of course, means his football career at FSU would be over immediately).

3. We had two MAC games Tuesday night. Bowling Green beat Akron on the road, 27-10, to move to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the MAC. Toledo also won on the road, beating Kent State, 30-20, to move to 5-0 in conference (6-3 overall). What do you really need to know from these two games? That you never want to run into this Kent State player alone:

We also have two more MAC games tonight – the conference really is too kind, thinking of us and our midweek struggles – with Northern Illinois at Ball State (8 ET) and Buffalo at Ohio (8 ET).

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

1. It’s that time of year: Mandel’s first bowl projections of the season came out on Tuesday. Now everyone don’t all rush at once to find your team and get angry about a total guess in early November regarding where you’ll focus your postseason attention.

2. We’re still a few weeks from the Egg Bowl, but Mississippi State released the uniforms it will be wearing for the game, via adidas, and they’re pretty sweet. Modern but clean, just how alternate uniforms should be. What do you guys think?

3. Bruce Feldman has one piece of evidence that suggests Notre Dame is in a lot of trouble this weekend at Arizona State, and it doesn’t have much to do with the Sun Devils.

Meanwhile, Irish coach Brian Kelly is doubling down on the strength of schedule argument by taking knocks at higher-ranked schools who have weak non-conference schedules. He’s not wrong, despite the fact Notre Dame doesn’t have one really impressive win on its schedule yet (ASU will be one if ND can win this week). I don’t like penalizing teams for things they can’t control, which is why I don’t knock the Irish’s schedule as much as others – many called it one of the nation’s toughest entering the year, and it’s not Notre Dame’s fault that a handful of those teams then went to hell – but it’s interesting that playoff committee chairman Jeff Long said “intent” of scheduling was not considered in committee discussions. Translation: Tough luck, Irish, that Michigan and Stanford aren’t good.

THREE THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW

1. An Alabama fan voted Amari Cooper for Alabama governor. If the goal is to create cohesion in a state, and thus increase the effectiveness of getting stuff done, this makes sense right? Nobody is going to agree on political candidates, but everyone in a state like Alabama can come together in support of a star football player. Cooper in 2015! Let’s do this!

2. This might be the best piece of Marshall propaganda yet, other than Rakeem Cato just being a phenomenal player: Highlights of running back Devon Johnson making big plays called by the one and only Jim Ross.

3. One of my favorite moments in sports is an entire crowd at an event singing the national anthem together. It’s impossible not to get chills. Mississippi State pulled that off before the Arkansas game last weekend (4:03 mark).

LASTLY

* Here’s a link to this week’s spot on 92.9 FM in Memphis, talking all things CFB and the incredible week ahead.

* Pete Thamel has an interesting piece on former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano and how he’s spending his year in transition after coaching the Tampa Bay Bucs.

* Aaron Brenner has a story on Clemson freshman CB Mackensie Alexander, who’s already established himself as a star in the making and his work ethic is why. Also impressive that he’s banned himself from doing interviews as a freshman until he “does something.”

* This might be the luckiest touchdown of the year, courtesy of a Division III team.

* I’m impressed by so much of the video and social media work being done by programs around the country now – some really smart and talented people promoting programs in ways we haven’t seen before. This isn’t anything transformative, but just a really good highlight package from the video folks at TCU covering the Horned Frogs’ last few games. Enjoy.

Have a great Wednesday, all.

Teddy Mitrosilis is an editor and writer for FOXSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.

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