Ben Mauk snapped his humerus, tore his labrum and dislocated his shoulder -- all in one game -- but the NCAA doesn't want to grant him an extra year of eligibility. Stan Liu/Icon SMI

By Jacob E. Osterhout

Welcome to this week's serving of the Dean's List, where the Olympics are out, Joe Biden is in and Avril Lavigne is too sexy for Malaysia.

Honor Roll

• They did it. They really did it. In a feat that's never been pulled off in the history of mankind, not even in China, Utah State won the State Truck Pull Championships for the third year in a row. In the 12-member division, a dozen Aggie offensive linemen pulled a 40,000 lb. truck 20 feet in 6.78 seconds, which was slower than the winning times for the last two years but still fast enough to bring home the gold. Utah State competed against local community groups, companies and law enforcement with all proceeds benefiting the Special Olympics. That's pretty awesome. No word yet on whether Logan, Utah, will wait until after the season to throw a ticker-tape parade and if Chris Cooley will be in attendance.

• Give former Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk credit. He's no quitter. If he doesn't play quarterback for the Bearcats this season, it won't be for lack of trying on his part. After filing a lawsuit and three earlier appeals, all of which were rejected, Mauk is appealing again to the NCAA for a medical hardship exception that would grant him an extra year of eligibility. Initially, the 2002 Ohio Mr. Football went to Wake Forest, where he was the quarterback for two seasons before having his humerus snapped, his labium torn and his shoulder dislocated in the first game of his junior season - an act his former coach called "the most courageous thing I have seen out of a quarterback, ever." With a titanium plate in his arm and three anchors (whatever those are) in his shoulder, Mauk then transferred to Cincinnati where he amazingly threw for 3,131 yards and 31 touchdowns. Now he's on a mission to make up for the season he lost to injury and play one more year of college football. The NCAA hasn't budged yet but it's quickly learning a valuable lesson: Never tell a guy who's had his arm ripped out of its socket and snapped like a baguette to give up and go home.

• In football, the whole point of the preseason is for a team to lose its best players to injury. (Go ahead, give me a better reason for the preseason...) So far this year Notre Dame lost its tight end, Purdue lost its running back, and Florida and Georgia practically lost half their teams to torn ACLs and broken bones. And that's just to name a few. While this is undoubtedly sad news, it also means that there are a few overlooked player out there who just got the opportunity of a lifetime to step into the limelight. Case in point, redshirt junior Kevin Craft, who due to the injury of both of the Bruins' quarterbacks, will take the snaps when UCLA plays its home opener against No. 18 Tennessee. It's been a long road to Los Angeles for Craft. He played for San Diego State back in 2006 before transferring to Mt. San Antonio Junior College, where he led the Mounties to the Southern California Junior College championship. From juco to the Pac-10 in a year -- now that's a big leap. Let's hope he stays healthy.

• If there's one thing the Dean's List understands, it's how hard it is to say you're sorry. That's why senior guard Andy Robinson made the Honor Roll this week even though he was suspended for the first three games of the season by the University of Buffalo. The Bull's leading scorer last season has apologized for placing an ad on Facebook offering $40 to anyone "who have read the book 'there are no children here' by Alex Kotlowitz" and "write a 3-4 page paper, on a couple questions which was assigned." Robinson immediately admitted the ad was his, wrote the paper on his own and took responsibility for his errors, all of which makes for a solid apology. But did it go far enough? The grammarians, for one, are still out for blood. Their question, and it's a legitimate one, is can we, in good conscience, forgive a man who fails to confess to mangling the subject-verb agreement?