AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State’s quarterback competition appears to be heating up after redshirt freshman Jared Barnett replaced struggling starter Steele Jantz in the last game.  Coach Paul Rhoads says he hasn’t lost confidence in Jantz, who has thrown eight interceptions and lost four fumbles this season.  But he indicated Barnett would get a closer look this week as the Cyclones prepare for Saturday’s home game with No. 17 Texas A&M.  Rhoads says he will decide at the end of the week which quarterback gives the team its best chance to win.  Jantz led Iowa State to come-from-behind victories in its first
three games. But the Cyclones have lost their last three and Barnett guided them to their only offensive touchdown in last Saturday’s 52-17 loss at Missouri.

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were expected to contend for a national championship, and both are certainly on pace to do that with perfect seasons intact. The surprise in the Big 12 has been Kansas State, which also hasn’t lost.  That gives the Big 12 three of the 10 undefeated teams left in major college football.  The SEC is the only other league with more than one undefeated team: top-ranked LSU and No. 2 Alabama.  The Sooners play Texas Tech on Saturday, while Oklahoma State gets Missouri and Kansas State faces Kansas in the annual Sunflower Showdown. So it’s quite possible the trio could still be undefeated next week, when the third-ranked Sooners visit the No. 12 Wildcats.  Oklahoma and Oklahoma State don’t meet until the final week of the regular season.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The struggling United Football League is cutting its season short, moving up its championship game to Friday.  UFL founder and owner Bill Hambrecht said in a statement Monday
that the league would turn its focus to “building a blueprint for the long-term success of the league” and that there were plans to expand from four to six teams in 2012.  Each team has played four of its six regular-season games in a league that has lost more than $100 million the last two years.  The Las Vegas Locos will visit the Virginia Destroyers in the championship game. The Sacramento Mountain Lions will visit the Omaha Nighthawks on Friday in what the league calls the consolation game.

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State running back Shontrelle Johnson may be gone for the rest of the season because of a neck injury. Johnson injured his neck in a loss to Texas on Oct. 1 and has missed the last two games. Coach Paul Rhoads said Monday that the medical staff hasn’t decided yet how to treat the injury. Johnson was the Cyclones’ leading rusher when he got hurt. The 5-foot-9, 187-pound sophomore has carried 51 times for 247 yards, an average of 4.8 yards a carry. Sophomore James White has played most of the time at running back since Johnson’s injury. White rushed for 148 yards at Baylor on Oct. 8 and had 61 yards in 14 carries at Missouri on Saturday.

3rd/4th Grade:

• Carroll Cardinals Red 6, Atlantic Steelers Black 0
• Carroll Cardinals Black 7, Atlantic Steelers White 0

5th Grade:

• Atlantic Steelers Black 7, Carroll Cardinals Red 6
• Carroll Cardinals White 7, Atlantic Steelers White 6

6th Grade:

• Carroll Panthers Blue 6, Atlantic Steelers Black 0
• Carroll Panthers White 25, Atlantic Steelers White 0