Illinois

CHICAGO - Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich was arrested yesterday in what U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald called a "political corruption crime spree" that included alleged attempts to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were named in a federal criminal complaint that alleged a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy aimed at providing financial benefits to the governor, his political fund and his wife. Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his home in Chicago yesterday morning.

DEKALB, Ill. - Ricky Dobbs fumbled on his first snap from scrimmage and didn't throw a pass for nearly 23 minutes last night. But there wasn't a thing wrong with his legs. Making his first start for Navy, the sophomore quarterback rushed for 124 yards on 25 carries and scored a touchdown as the Midshipmen blanked Northern Illinois, 16-0, for their first shutout in five years. Navy (7-4) scored on its first two possessions and held the ball for more than 17 minutes in the first half. "I thought Ricky played solid," Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said.

The campaign for Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo to switch quarterbacks began nearly a month ago, when sophomore Ricky Dobbs came off the bench to replace injured senior Jarod Bryant against Southern Methodist and rushed for 224 yards and four touchdowns in a rout of the hapless Mustangs. Tonight, when Dobbs makes his first college start for Navy (6-4) at Northern Illinois (6-5), the campaign will turn into either a coming-out party for Dobbs or a continuation of the problems that troubled Bryant after he took over in August when Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada tore his hamstring.

Illinois vs. Missouri 8:30 p.m. [ESPN] This is pretty big for an opening college football weekend. No. 6 Mizzou, led by quarterback Chase Daniel, can entertain notions of landing in the national title game. But not if the Tigers stumble against the No. 20 Illini in the Arch Rivalry at St. Louis' Edward Jones Dome. Last season, Missouri just got by Illinois, 40-34, as the Illini nearly rallied from 24 points down.

WACO, Texas -- With four days to go before voters in Texas and Ohio could determine the fate of her presidential bid, Sen. Hillary Clinton all but declared Sen. Barack Obama unprepared to serve as commander in chief yesterday. She has stopped short of asserting outright that he is not qualified, lest it come back to haunt her and the Democratic Party. But she released an advertisement yesterday that used the symbolic "red phone" in the White House to cast doubt on his ability to respond to a crisis at 3 a.m. And she made a withering speech here in which she pronounced him "missing in action" when he had a chance to assert himself on international matters.

DEKALB, Ill. -- A former graduate student armed with a shotgun and two handguns opened fire yesterday afternoon in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University, killing five students and wounding 16 others before killing himself, authorities said. The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. during a geology class in a large lecture classroom in Cole Hall, authorities said. The gunman, dressed in black, entered through a back door and came through a curtain behind the stage before opening fire on the students.

CHICAGO -- When high school freshman Dawn Sherman learned that Illinois had a law requiring public schools to provide a moment of silence each day for "reflection and student prayer," she was outraged. Not because the law meant lost learning time in her honors math class - which would be 15 seconds shorter - but because "it was clear that we're supposed to sit and pray, or sit and watch other people pray," said Dawn, who is an atheist. Along with her father, Rob, the Buffalo Grove High School student has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law, which some Illinois school boards have raced to embrace and others have defied.

CHICAGO -- Just hours after Illinois won a national competition for a cutting-edge clean coal project, the Department of Energy cautioned yesterday that costs were getting out of hand and it wasn't ready to sign off on the $1.8 billion FutureGen power plant. "Projected cost overruns require a reassessment of FutureGen's design," read a statement from Energy Department official James Slutz. He said the department would provide more details next month on plans to restructure FutureGen. The downcast statement quickly soured the party atmosphere in Mattoon, Ill., which hours earlier had been picked by a consortium of utilities, coal companies and the Energy Department as the site for the plant designed to test whether abundant coal can be used to make power with little pollution.

COLLEGE PARK -- Last season, Maryland dealt Illinois its first nonconference home loss in 51 games. It's the sort of smackdown a team tends to remember. What better way to avenge such a loss than to defeat Maryland at Comcast Center, where the Terps had enjoyed nonconference success of their own - 42 wins in their past 43 games? Maryland vs. VCU Sunday, 7:30 p.m., Verizon Center, Washington, MASN, 1300 AM

The Navy defense had been pushed around all season, giving up points with abandon, including 209 in its past five games. But yesterday, with the Midshipmen's starting quarterback sidelined, the defense pushed back and anchored Navy's 35-24 victory over Northern Illinois. Navy vs. Army Dec. 1, noon, M&T Bank Stadium, chs. 13, 9, 1090 AM