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COLLEGE FOOTBALL

42 A Big House Hush
Fifth-ranked Michigan and its fans were shocked in Ann Arbor when Division I-AA Appalachian State staged one of the biggest upsets in history
By Austin Murphy

NFL

46 It's Jay's Turn
No one is saying that Jay Cutler has to play like John Elway, but it would sure help the Broncos if he could come close
By Peter King

BASEBALL

50 How They Roll
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins leads the Phils
By Michael Bamberger

TRACK AND FIELD

54 Runaway Victory
The U.S. ruled the world championships
By Tim Layden

SOCCER

60 In Full Bloom
Kristine Lilly seeks her third Cup title
By Mark Bechtel

Hiding in Plain

SIGHT

Miami's search for a football coach ended with a man who'd been there all along: assistant Randy Shannon, a loner with a mysterious, tragic past
By Gary Smith • P. 64

Departments

12 Leading Off

21 Letters

23 Players
• A gambling scandal in tennis?
• First Person: Tom Zbikowski
• USA Basketball looks ahead
• Athletes' back-to-school memories

38 Faces in the Crowd

86 Life of Reilly
It's tough trying to hit Tim Wakefield's knuckler. Trying to catch it is worse by Rick Reilly

Inside...

76 College Football
• A shaky start for Virginia Tech

77 Tennis
• The underachieving Russians

78 The NFL
• A panicky move in Jacksonville?

79 High Schools
• The era of the speedy linebacker

82 NASCAR
• Engine failures doom Dale Jr.

Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY TONY DING/ ICON SMI

INSET PHOTO: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

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Fantasy Football '07

VINCENT JACKSON

CHARGERS WR

Is this his breakthrough year?

BEN ROETHLISBERGER

STEELERS QB

Will he bounce back?

BRANDON JACOBS

GIANTS RB

Can he shoulder the load?

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FEATURED COLUMN

PETER KING

› The End of The Line

I knew that if he didn't make the Redskins' 53-man roster, guard Ross Tucker would be the right guy to convey what a player goes through when he's cut.

› Read more of this column at SI.com/king.

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PHOTO

BOB MARTIN (TROTTER)

54 GRIST FROM THE WRIST Dee Dee Trotter, the lead runner on the U.S.'s gold-medal-winning 4 √ó 400-meter relay team, tried to raise antidoping awareness at the world championships in Osaka, Japan.

PHOTO

BOB ROSATO (SHANNON)

PHOTO

PETER READ MILLER (JACKSON)

PHOTO

AL TIELEMANS (ROETHLISBERGER)

PHOTO

DAVID BERGMAN (JACOBS)

PHOTO

SETH WENIG/AP (JACKSON)

PHOTO

TOM SZCZERBOWSKI/US PRESSWIRE (CHAMBERLAIN)

PHOTO

MEL LEVINE (KING)

PHOTO

GETTY IMAGES (TUCKER)

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