Third & Short

University of Colorado co-defensive coordinator Tom McMahon has died of cancer at the age of 53. McMahon was diagnosed with inoperable cancer in the spring of 2000 and given a 10 percent chance to survive. He continued to fight, likening it to the fight against an opposing offense. He also continued at Colorado for as long as he could. He joined Gary Barnett’s staff prior to the 1999 season, after four years as the secondary coach at Notre Dame. McMahon played at Montana as a receiver and earned a degree in 1971. He began his coaching career at Colorado State in 1973, and stayed for six years. His coaching career also included stops at Wyoming, New Mexico, South Carolina, East Carolina, Arizona State and Wisconsin. Former Nebraska Coach Jennings Dies Former Nebraska Head Coach Bill Jennings, an Oklahoma graduate who would later end his alma mater’s 74-game unbeaten streak, has dies