CFB AM: Nebraska player attacked after attempting selfie with raccoon

Published Dec. 5, 2014 9:45 a.m. ET

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Teddy Mitrosilis

Ready for the weirdest story you’ve heard in a while?

Nebraska defensive end Jack Gangwish was driving near Lincoln on Wednesday when he spotted a raccoon on the side of the road.

“Hmmm,” Gangwish apparently thought. “I should get a picture with that raccoon.”

So he stopped his pickup truck on the side of the road and approached the raccoon. He wanted to -- get this -- take a selfie with the wild animal that could possibly have diseases.

As wild animals will do when randomly approached by massive defensive ends, the raccoon attacked Gangwish, biting him in the calf. “It was a raccoon selfie gone completely wrong,” Gangwish told journalstar.com.

Gangwish thought the raccoon might have rabies, so he got a tool out of his truck with the intent of "controlling" the animal so authorities could examine it later. If only the raccoon was so lucky.

“It was death by crescent wrench,” said Gangwish, who is recovering and might, himself, want to get checked for rabies.

And you thought the most interesting story in Nebraska today was going to be Mike Riley.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Thursday’s first piece of big news: Florida officially reached a deal with Colorado State’s Jim McElwain to become the Gators’ new head coach after there was a holdup regarding McElwain’s $7.5 million buyout. How it worked out: Florida will pay a total of $5 million -- $3 million over the next six years plus play Colorado State in a game between 2017-2020 that will net the Rams $2 million. On top of that, McElwain himself will pay CSU $2 million. He signed a six-year deal worth $3.5 million per year with the Gators. Between McElwain’s buyout and paying off former coach Will Muschamp, the Gators owe more than $13 million before they pay the first dollar of McElwain’s salary, which is partly why Stewart Mandel writes there is no time to waste for McElwain in Gainesville -- the heat is on.

"It's an honor to be a part of the one of most powerful brands in college athletics in the Florida Gators," McElwain said in a statement. "I'm humbled, yet very excited about the tremendous opportunity. I can't tell you how eager I am to get to Gainesville to set a course for who we are going to be and what we will be all about."

"Coach McElwain was someone we targeted from the beginning of the search," Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said. "The more we worked through the process and did our due diligence, coupled with our meeting and conversations with him and those around him, it was obvious he is the right person to lead the Florida Gator football program."

2. Thursday’s second piece of big news: Shortly after the McElwain-to-Florida news broke, Nebraska announced on Twitter it had hired Oregon State’s Mike Riley to replace Bo Pelini. Riley to Nebraska is a “wow” hire, writes the Omaha World Herald’s Tom Shatel.

"It is truly an honor to join the University of Nebraska family," Riley said in a statement. "Though we love Corvallis and Oregon State, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to coach at one of the nation's most storied football programs and I can't wait to get started."

"There was one coach who fit all the characteristics that I was seeking to lead our tradition-rich football program," Nebraska AD Shawn Eichorst said. "Mike Riley has a proven record of success, a sound approach to football and teaching, an understanding of the educational mission of our university and the integrity and values that we cherish at Nebraska. I have no doubt that Mike will assemble a tremendous staff and lead our student-athletes to win Big Ten titles and compete for national championships in the years ahead."

3. The Pac-12 title game is tonight – No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 7 Arizona (9 p.m. ET, FOX). I can’t wait. In the meantime, read Bruce Feldman’s piece on stud Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright, who is hellbent on proving every single one of his doubters wrong.

We also have the MAC title game between Northern Illinois and Bowling Green (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

1. ICYMI: UCF won a share of the American title by beating East Carolina on a last-second Hail Mary. The win moves UCF to 9-3 (7-1 ACC) and into a tie with Memphis and possibly Cincinnati, which can get there by beating Houston on Saturday. Here’s video of the Hail Mary:

2. Mandel has been on the road in Texas all week, traveling between Dallas, Waco and Fort Worth, and has a piece on the TCU-Baylor debate that will suck every second of blood it can from us until the playoff committee announces its final choices on Sunday. So, for readers: Is TCU or Baylor more deserving of the Big 12’s playoff bid?

3. Oregon’s Marcus Mariota is still the easy favorite in Las Vegas to win the Heisman Trophy. Melvin Gordon and Amari Cooper have had Heisman-worthy seasons, but they also have bad luck. I don’t see any way anyone other than Mariota wins this award, barring a no-touchdown, seven-interception game from him in a loss tonight against Arizona (just to be clear -- that ain’t happening).

THREE THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW

1. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this: Colorado State was so proud of the buyout it received from losing its head coach to Florida that it sent out a press release detailing how it’s the biggest buyout in college football history. Pretty funny.

2. Former Auburn Tigers Tre Mason and Greg Robinson had to pay up a rivalry bet.

3. Lloyd Carr fully endorses Jim Harbaugh for Michigan job.

LASTLY

* Spencer Hall kindly provides a Florida owner’s manual for Jim McElwain.

* Chip Kelly on why he wasn't interested in the Florida job: "I don't think our pro offense would work at the college level." Perfect. (BTW: That's a jab at everyone who said his Oregon offense wouldn't work in the NFL now that he's crushing it in the NFL.)

Have a great Friday, everybody, and enjoy Championship Weekend.

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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