COLLEGE FOOTBALL REPORT / WEEKDAY UPDATE : AROUND THE NATION : LSU Coach Archer to Call It Quits

Louisiana State Coach Mike Archer, in a teary farewell, said Thursday he will resign at the end of the season.

The Tigers (4-5) play at Mississippi State on Saturday before meeting Tulane on Nov. 24 in their traditional season finale.

“What I did is in the best interest of the football team,� Archer, 37, said during a news conference. “It’s in my best interest. I need to get on with my life. They need to get on with theirs.�

The youngest Division I-A football coach when he was hired four years ago, Archer has a 26-17-1 record in his first head coaching job.

Fired football coach Dick Crum will be on the sidelines Saturday for Kent’s final game of the season against Eastern Michigan, but the university hopes to name a replacement soon after, a school spokesperson said Thursday.

Crum has a 6-26 record in three seasons at Kent. The Golden Flashes are 1-9 this season.

Crum began his head coaching career at Miami of Ohio, where he compiled a 34-10-1 record from 1974-77. He was the winningest football coach in North Carolina history, compiling a 72-41 record from 1978-87.

Six Texas A&M; football players and a former player have been charged with illegally using telephone charge cards. But Coach R.C. Slocum said the allegations won’t keep the players out of Saturday’s game against Arkansas.

Slocum told the Bryan-College Station Eagle and the Texas A&M; student newspaper, the Battalion, that he will not take any disciplinary action against the athletes unless they are found guilty. Those charged are Derek Ware, 23; Jason Medlock, 19; Felton Ransby, 22; Derrick Frazier, 20; Marlin Haynes, 20; Kary Vincent, 20; and Derick Richey, 22, who played last year.