“THE SCOREBOARD”
INDIANA BOYS BASKETBALL
| BATESVILLE | 83 | MILAN | 64 | |
| CENTERVILLE | 63 | HAGERSTOWN | 44 | |
| CHRISTEL HOUSE | 74 | KIPP INDY LEGACY | 71 | |
| CONCORD | 50 | MISHAWAKA | 48 | |
| EAST CHICAGO CENTRAL | 81 | MICHIGAN CITY | 74 | |
| ELWOOD | 41 | MUNCIE BURRIS | 29 | |
| MEDORA | 97 | SEVEN OAKS | 30 | |
| SOUTH CENTRAL (UNION MILLS) | 54 | JOHN GLENN | 40 | |
| WASHINGTON TWP. | 73 | WESTVILLE | 66 | OT |
INDIANA GIRLS BASKETBALL
| ANDERSON PREP | 62 | MADISON-GRANT | 52 | |
| ANGOLA | 70 | LAKELAND | 44 | |
| BARR-REEVE | 54 | LOOGOOTEE | 48 | |
| BEN DAVIS | 50 | ZIONSVILLE | 41 | |
| BLOOMINGTON SOUTH | 59 | BLOOMINGTON NORTH | 22 | |
| BOONVILLE | 50 | EVANSVILLE BOSSE | 31 | |
| BORDEN | 54 | JEFFERSONVILLE | 44 | |
| BREMEN | 70 | TRITON | 35 | |
| CASTLE | 52 | HENDERSON COUNTY (KY.) | 42 | |
| CASTON | 38 | FRONTIER | 29 | |
| COLUMBUS NORTH | 62 | COLUMBUS EAST | 33 | |
| EMINENCE | 74 | INDIANAPOLIS METROPOLITAN | 5 | |
| EVANSVILLE NORTH | 65 | EVANSVILLE HARRISON | 25 | |
| FAITH CHRISTIAN | 45 | NORTH WHITE | 41 | |
| FLOYD CENTRAL | 52 | SEYMOUR | 30 | |
| FORT WAYNE CONCORDIA | 53 | GARRETT | 31 | |
| FREMONT | 66 | WESTVIEW | 37 | |
| GIBSON SOUTHERN | 81 | PIKE CENTRAL | 33 | |
| HENRYVILLE | 48 | SHAWE MEMORIAL | 36 | |
| INDIANAPOLIS CHATARD | 64 | UNIVERSITY | 38 | |
| INDIANAPOLIS RITTER | 52 | INDIANAPOLIS HERRON | 49 | |
| INDIANAPOLIS SHORTRIDGE | 57 | INDIANAPOLIS WASHINGTON | 5 | |
| INDIANAPOLIS TINDLEY | 83 | MTI KNOWLEDGE | 16 | |
| JASPER | 41 | NORTHEAST DUBOIS | 27 | |
| JAY COUNTY | 64 | NEW CASTLE | 54 | OT |
| JENNINGS COUNTY | 64 | MADISON | 45 | |
| JOHN GLENN | 49 | ARGOS | 14 | |
| KIPP INDY LEGACY | 34 | CHRISTEL HOUSE | 14 | |
| LAKELAND CHRISTIAN | 49 | GRANGER CHRISTIAN | 34 | |
| LANESVILLE | 42 | CRAWFORD COUNTY | 30 | |
| LAPEL | 48 | MONROE CENTRAL | 39 | |
| MACONAQUAH | 64 | PERU | 43 | |
| MILAN | 33 | RISING SUN | 32 | |
| MORGAN TWP. | 34 | WHEELER | 29 | |
| NORTH HARRISON | 55 | SALEM | 23 | |
| NORTH JUDSON | 39 | CULVER | 34 | |
| NORTH KNOX | 57 | WOOD MEMORIAL | 43 | |
| NORTH POSEY | 64 | EVANSVILLE MATER DEI | 50 | |
| NORTHWOOD | 47 | JIMTOWN | 14 | |
| ORLEANS | 41 | PERRY CENTRAL | 30 | |
| PARKE HERITAGE | 45 | RIVERTON PARKE | 20 | |
| PENN | 76 | SOUTH BEND ADAMS | 35 | |
| ROCHESTER | 48 | NORTHWESTERN | 33 | |
| SCOTTSBURG | 56 | MITCHELL | 17 | |
| SHENANDOAH | 48 | DALEVILLE | 38 | |
| SOUTH KNOX | 67 | PRINCETON | 46 | |
| SOUTHWESTERN (HANOVER) | 57 | ROCK CREEK ACADEMY | 26 | |
| TELL CITY | 56 | TECUMSEH | 44 | |
| TERRE HAUTE NORTH | 53 | OWEN VALLEY | 48 | |
| TRITON CENTRAL | 69 | SPEEDWAY | 55 | |
| WAPAHANI | 60 | COWAN | 20 | |
| WASHINGTON | 81 | FOREST PARK | 30 | |
| WEST LAFAYETTE | 53 | LOGANSPORT | 36 | |
| WESTVILLE | 67 | WASHINGTON TWP. | 42 | |
| WHITE RIVER VALLEY | 60 | EASTERN GREENE | 33 | |
| WOODLAN | 61 | SOUTHERN WELLS | 53 |
INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING RESULTS
DUAL RESULTS: HTTPS://INDIANAMAT.COM/INDEX.PHP?/DUALRESULTS.HTML/BOYS-DUAL-RESULTS/
TOURNAMENT RESULTS: HTTPS://INDIANAMAT.COM/INDEX.PHP?/CURTOURNAMENTRESULTS.HTML/
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
TOP 25:
NO GAMES SCHEDULED
ELSEWHERE:
SOUTHERN INDIANA 77 TENNESSEE STATE 75
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
TOP 25:
#8 MARYLAND 107 WILLIAM & MARY 57
#2 SOUTH CAROLINA 82 CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 46
#15 MICHIGAN STATE 69 MONTANA 38
#21 NORTH CAROLINA STATE 61 JAMES MADISON 47
#5 LSU 91 ILLINOIS CHICAGO 73
ELSEWHERE
SOUTHERN INDIANA 74 TENNESSEE STATE 56
BALL STATE 112 ANDERSON 35
OREGON 71 UC IRVINE 43
NFL WEEK 16 SCHEDULE
LA CHARGERS 34 DENVER 27
SATURDAY, DEC. 21
HOUSTON TEXANS AT KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (1:00P NBC)
PITTSBURGH STEELERS AT BALTIMORE RAVENS (4:30P FOX)
SUNDAY, DEC. 22
CLEVELAND BROWNS AT CINCINNATI BENGALS 1:00P FOX)
NEW YORK GIANTS AT ATLANTA FALCONS (1:00P FOX)
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS AT BUFFALO BILLS (1:00P CBS)
ARIZONA CARDINALS AT CAROLINA PANTHERS (1:00P FOX)
DETROIT LIONS AT CHICAGO BEARS (1:00P FOX)
TENNESSEE TITANS AT INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (1:00P CBS)
LOS ANGELES RAMS AT NEW YORK JETS (1:00P CBS)
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AT WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (1:00P FOX)
MINNESOTA VIKINGS AT SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (4:05P FOX)
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS AT LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (4:25P CBS)
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS AT MIAMI DOLPHINS (4:25P CBS)
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS AT DALLAS COWBOYS (8:20P NBC)
MONDAY, DEC. 23
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS AT GREEN BAY PACKERS (8:15P ESPN)
NFL WEEK 17 SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 25 (CHRISTMAS)
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS AT PITTSBURGH STEELERS (1:00P NETFLIX)
BALTIMORE RAVENS AT HOUSTON TEXANS (4:30P NETFLIX)
THURSDAY, DEC. 26
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS AT CHICAGO BEARS (8:15P PRIME VIDEO)
SATURDAY, DEC. 28
TBD TBD (1:00P NFL NETWORK)
TBD TBD (4:30P NFL NETWORK)
TBD TBD (8:00P NFL NETWORK)
SATURDAY GAME POOL:
DENVER BRONCOS AT CINCINNATI BENGALS
ARIZONA CARDINALS AT LOS ANGELES RAMS
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS AT NEW YORK GIANTS
ATLANTA FALCONS AT WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
SUNDAY, DEC. 29
NEW YORK JETS AT BUFFALO BILLS (1:00P CBS)
TENNESSEE TITANS AT JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (1:00P CBS)
GREEN BAY PACKERS AT MINNESOTA VIKINGS (1:00P FOX)
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS AT NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (1:00P FOX)
CAROLINA PANTHERS AT TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (1:00P CBS)
DALLAS COWBOYS AT PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (4:25P FOX)
MIAMI DOLPHINS AT CLEVELAND BROWNS (8:20P NBC)
MONDAY, DEC. 30
DETROIT LIONS AT SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (8:15P ESPN/ABC)
NFL WEEK 18 SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, JAN. 4 OR SUNDAY, JAN. 5
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS AT ARIZONA CARDINALS
CAROLINA PANTHERS AT ATLANTA FALCONS
CLEVELAND BROWNS AT BALTIMORE RAVENS
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS AT DALLAS COWBOYS
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS AT DENVER BRONCOS
MINNESOTA VIKINGS AT DETROIT LIONS
CHICAGO BEARS AT GREEN BAY PACKERS
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS AT INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS AT LOS ANGELES RAMS
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS AT LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
BUFFALO BILLS AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
MIAMI DOLPHINS AT NEW YORK JETS
NEW YORK GIANTS AT PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
CINCINNATI BENGALS AT PITTSBURGH STEELERS
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS AT TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
HOUSTON TEXANS AT TENNESSEE TITANS
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
THURSDAY, DEC. 19
SAM HOUSTON STATE 31 GEORGIA SOUTHERN 26
FRIDAY, DEC. 20
OHIO VS. JACKSONVILLE STATE (CURE BOWL) | 12 P.M. | ESPN
FLORIDA VS. TULANE (GASPARILLA BOWL) | 3:30 P.M. | ESPN
NO. 8 INDIANA AT NO. 5 NOTRE DAME (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF FIRST ROUND) | 8 P.M. | ABC/ESPN
SATURDAY, DEC. 21
NO. 10 SMU AT NO. 4 PENN STATE (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF FIRST ROUND) | 12 P.M. | TNT/MAX
NORTH DAKOTA STATE VS. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (FCS SEMIFINALS) | 12 P.M. | ABC
VALDOSTA STATE VS. FERRIS STATE (DII CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN MCKINNEY, TEXAS) | 2 P.M. | ESPN2
MONTANA STATE VS. SOUTH DAKOTA (FCS SEMIFINALS) | 3:30 P.M. | ABC
NO. 16 CLEMSON AT NO. 3 TEXAS (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF FIRST ROUND) | 4 P.M. | TNT/MAX
NO. 7 TENNESSEE AT NO. 6 OHIO STATE (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF FIRST ROUND) | 8 P.M. | ABC/ESPN
NORTH CENTRAL (IL) VS. SUSQUEHANNA (DIII SEMIFINALS) | TBA | ESPN+
MOUNT UNION VS. JOHNS HOPKINS (DIII SEMIFINALS) | TBA | ESPN+
MONDAY, DEC. 23
COASTAL CAROLINA VS. UTSA (MYRTLE BEACH BOWL) | 11 A.M. | ESPN
NORTHERN ILLINOIS VS. FRESNO STATE (FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL) | 2:30 P.M. | ESPN
TUESDAY, DEC. 24
SOUTH FLORIDA VS. SAN JOSE STATE (HAWAI’I BOWL) | 8 P.M. | ESPN
THURSDAY, DEC. 26
PITT VS. TOLEDO (GAMEABOVE SPORTS BOWL) | 2 P.M. | ESPN
RUTGERS VS. KANSAS STATE (RATE BOWL) | 5:30 P.M. | ESPN
ARKANSAS STATE VS. BOWLING GREEN (68 VENTURES BOWL) | 9 P.M. | ESPN
FRIDAY, DEC. 27
NAVY VS. OKLAHOMA (ARMED FORCES BOWL) | 12 P.M. | ESPN
GEORGIA TECH VS. VANDERBILT (BIRMINGHAM BOWL) | 3:30 P.M. | ESPN
ARKANSAS VS. TEXAS TECH (LIBERTY BOWL) | 7 P.M. | ESPN
NO. 21 SYRACUSE VS. WASHINGTON STATE (HOLIDAY BOWL) | 8 P.M. | FOX
USC VS. TEXAS A&M (LAS VEGAS BOWL) | 10:30 P.M. | ESPN
SATURDAY, DEC. 28
UCONN VS. NORTH CAROLINA (FENWAY BOWL) | 11 A.M. | ESPN
BOSTON COLLEGE VS. NEBRASKA (PINSTRIPE BOWL) | 12 P.M. | ABC
TCU VS. LOUISIANA (NEW MEXICO BOWL) | 2:15 P.M. | ESPN
NO. 13 MIAMI (FLA.) VS. NO. 18 IOWA STATE (POP-TARTS BOWL) | 3:30 P.M. | ABC
COLORADO STATE VS. MIAMI (OHIO) (ARIZONA BOWL) | 4:30 P.M. | CW NETWORK
NC STATE VS. EAST CAROLINA (MILITARY BOWL) | 5:45 P.M. | ESPN
NO. 17 BYU VS. NO. 23 COLORADO (ALAMO BOWL) | 7:30 P.M. | ABC
NO. 22 ARMY VS. LOUISIANA TECH (INDEPENDENCE BOWL) | 9:15 P.M. | ESPN
MONDAY, DEC. 30
NO. 19 MISSOURI VS. IOWA (MUSIC CITY BOWL) | 2:30 P.M. | ESPN
TUESDAY, DEC. 31
NO. 11 ALABAMA VS. MICHIGAN (RELIAQUEST BOWL) | 12 P.M. | ESPN
LOUISVILLE VS. WASHINGTON (SUN BOWL) | 2 P.M. | CBS
NO. 15 SOUTH CAROLINA VS. NO. 20 ILLINOIS (CITRUS BOWL) | 3 P.M. | ABC
LSU VS. BAYLOR (TEXAS BOWL) | 3:30 P.M. | ESPN
NO. 9 BOISE STATE VS. TBD (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF QUARTERFINALS — FIESTA BOWL) | 7:30 P.M. | ESPN
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 1
NO. 12 ARIZONA STATE VS. TBD (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF QUARTERFINALS — PEACH BOWL) | 1 P.M. | ESPN
NO. 1 OREGON VS. TBD (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF QUARTERFINALS — ROSE BOWL) | 5 P.M. | ESPN
NO. 2 GEORGIA VS. TBD (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF QUARTERFINALS — SUGAR BOWL) | 8:45 P.M. | ESPN
THURSDAY, JAN. 2
NO. 14 OLE MISS VS. DUKE (GATOR BOWL) | 7:30 P.M. | ESPN
FRIDAY, JAN. 3
NORTH TEXAS VS. TEXAS STATE (FIRST RESPONDER BOWL) | 4 P.M. | ESPN
MINNESOTA VS. VIRGINIA TECH (DUKE’S MAYO BOWL) | 7:30 P.M. | ESPN
SATURDAY, JAN. 4
LIBERTY VS. BUFFALO (BAHAMAS BOWL) | 11 A.M. | ESPN2
SUNDAY, JAN. 5
TBD VS. TBD (DIII STAGG BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN HOUSTON, TEXAS) | TBA | ESPN
MONDAY, JAN. 6
TBD VS. TBD (FCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN FRISCO, TEXAS) | 7 P.M. | ESPN
THURSDAY, JAN. 9
TBD VS. TBD (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL GAME — ORANGE BOWL) | 7:30 P.M. | ESPN
FRIDAY, JAN. 10
TBD VS. TBD (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL GAME — COTTON BOWL) | 7:30 P.M. | ESPN
MONDAY, JAN. 20
TBD VS. TBD (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME — IN ATLANTA) | 7:30 P.M. | ESPN
NBA
UTAH 126 DETROIT 119
OKLAHOMA CITY 105 ORLANDO 99
WASHINGTON 123 CHARLOTTE 114
CHICAGO 117 BOSTON 108
BROOKLYN 101 TORONTO 94
MEMPHIS 144 GOLDEN STATE 93
HOUSTON 133 NEW ORLEANS 113
SAN ANTONIO 133 ATLANTA 126 OT
LA CLIPPERS 118 DALLAS 95
INDIANA 120 PHOENIX 111
NEW YORK 133 MINNESOTA 107
LA LAKERS 113 SACRAMENTO 100
PORTLAND 126 DENVER 124
NHL
TAMPA BAY 3 ST. LOUIS 1
COLUMBUS 4 NEW JERSEY 2
LOS ANGELES 7 PHILADELPHIA 3
PITTSBURGH 5 NASHVILLE 4 OT
CHICAGO 3 SEATTLE 1
EDMONTON 3 BOSTON 2 OT
OTTAWA 3 CALVARY 2 OT
VEGAS 3 VANCOUVER 1
COLORADO 4 SAN JOSE 2
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS
DECEMBER 19
LOUISVILLE 3 PITTSBURGH 1
PENN STATE 3 NEBRASKA 2
CHAMPIONSHIP-SUNDAY
PENN STATE VS. LOUISVILLE 3:00
TOP NATIONAL RELEASES/NEWS
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF GAME NOTES: CLEMSON VS. TEXAS
CLEMSON NOTES:
CLEMSON EMBARKS UPON SEVENTH CFP RUN SATURDAY AT TEXAS After three years away, Clemson will officially return to the College Football Playoff on Saturday, Dec. 21, when the 12th-seeded Tigers face the fifth-seeded Texas Longhorns in the first meeting in history between the two powerhouses. Kickoff at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT. This season, Clemson earned its seventh College Football Playoff berth since the format’s inception in 2014. Clemson’s seven berths trail only Alabama (eight) for the most in the nation. Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney’s seven CFP berths are the most of any active coach and one shy of Nick Saban (eight) for the most of any coach all-time. Clemson earned its berth after winning the 2024 ACC Championship Game and securing its 13th season with 10 or more wins in the last 14 years. The Tigers collected a dramatic 34-31 walk-off win in the ACC Championship Game to extend their FBS-record streak of consecutive years with a postseason win (conference championships and/or bowl/CFP games) to 14 seasons. After the first decade of the College Football Playoff featured every game being played at a neutral site, this year marks the first time that games will be played on campus sites. During the regular season, Clemson recorded a perfect record in true road games for the 10th time in program history (1900, 1917, 1948, 1981, 1995, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019). The Tigers are one of eight FBS teams with a perfect record in true road games this season, alongside Oregon, Notre Dame, Army, Penn State, SMU, Louisiana and Texas. Though the game features two high-profile quarterbacks, the matchup will also feature two of the game’s emerging young stars on defense. Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons (12.5) and Clemson linebacker Sammy Brown (10.5) rank first and second in the nation, respectively, in tackles for loss by freshmen this season.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK – Clemson (seven) entering the game as one of only two teams ever to earn seven College Football Playoff berths since the institution of the postseason format in 2014 (Alabama, 8). – Head Coach Dabo Swinney (6-4) attempting to join Nick Saban (9-5) as the only coaches ever to win at least seven College Football Playoff games. – Clemson entering the game having won at least one postseason game (conference championship, bowl game and/or national championship game) in 14 consecutive seasons. Clemson’s current 14-year streak is the longest streak on record in major college football history. – Clemson attempting to win multiple postseason games (conference championship, bowl game and/or national championship game) in a single season for the fifth time in school history (two in 2015, three in 2016, three in 2018 and two in 2019). – Clemson attempting to produce its 12th 11-win season in program history, joining the 1948, 1978, 1981, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022 seasons. It would be Clemson’s ninth season of 11-plus wins under Head Coach Dabo Swinney. – Clemson attempting to win an 11th game this season to tie for the seventh-most wins in a season in school history. – Clemson attempting to improve to 28-23 all-time in bowl/CFP play. – Clemson facing Texas for the first time in program history. – Clemson playing consecutive games in a single season against opponents it had never previously faced for the first time since 1952, a year in which the Tigers made their series debuts against Villanova and Maryland in consecutive weeks. – Clemson facing its 110th different opponent in program history. Clemson is 67-38-4 all-time in its first meeting with its 109 existing opponents, including an 18-1 mark in first meetings since 2003. Clemson has won 20 of its last 22 games when making its all-time debut against a new opponent. – Texas becoming the 22nd opponent Clemson faced for the first time in postseason play, joining Boston College (1939), Missouri (1948), Colorado (1956), LSU (1958), TCU (1959), Pitt (1977), Ohio State (1978), Baylor (1979), Nebraska (1981), Minnesota (1985), Stanford (1986), Penn State (1987), West Virginia (1989), Illinois (1990), Cal (1991), Syracuse (1995), Louisiana Tech (2001), Texas Tech (2002), South Florida (2010), Iowa State (2021) and SMU (2024). – Clemson playing multiple games against teams from Texas in a single season for the first time in school history. – Clemson attempting to improve to 8-6 all-time in games played in Texas. – Clemson attempting to improve to 4-0 all-time in postseason games in the state of Texas. Clemson previously won bowl games in Texas in the 1939 (Cotton Bowl vs. Boston College), 1959 (Bluebonnet Bowl vs. TCU) and 2018 (Cotton Bowl vs. Notre Dame) seasons. – Clemson attempting to earn its highest-ranked road win in school history. To date, Clemson’s 21 highest ranked wins in school history have come in 15 neutral site games and six home games. A win against AP No. 3 Texas would surpass Clemson’s wins against eighth ranked North Carolina in 1981 and eighth-ranked Miami (Fla.) in 2009 as the Tigers’ highest-ranked road win according to AP Poll rankings. – Clemson attempting to earn its 32nd all-time victory against an AP Top 10 opponent. – Clemson attempting to improve to 19-1 in December games since 2011. Among teams that have been at the FBS level in that entire time span, Clemson’s current .947 December winning percentage is the second highest in the nation behind Alabama (15-0, 1.000). – Clemson attempting to improve to 31-14 all-time in games played in the month of December. – Head Coach Dabo Swinney (180-46) entering the game as one of seven coaches in FBS history to win 180 games within the first 20 seasons of a head coaching career. In only his 17th season (and 16th full season), Swinney (180) trails only Tom Osborne (195), Nick Saban (191), Bob Stoops (191), Joe Paterno (187), Urban Meyer (187) and LaVell Edwards (183) in that category. (Note: Stoops and Meyer are not credited on the NCAA’s official list of most wins through 20 seasons since they did not coach 20 years.) – Swinney adding to his ACC record for most bowl/CFP games coached (21, including Saturday’s game). A win would push him to 13-8 in bowl/CFP play and add to his current record for the most bowl victories by an ACC head coach. – Clemson attempting to improve to 41-27 under Swinney against AP Top 25 teams. – Clemson attempting to improve to 35-19 under Swinney in games in which both teams rank in the AP Top 25. – Swinney attempting to improve to 20-13 against AP Top 10 teams. – Clemson attempting to improve to 170-74-3 alltime (and 53-8 since 2011) when facing a coach for the first time. – Clemson (462) needing 38 points to record the eighth 500-point season in school history. It would be Clemson’s first 500-point season since 2020 (522). – Clemson entering the game ranked in the Top 20 nationally in both total offense (12th, 454.9 yards per game) and scoring offense (tied for 16th, 35.5 points per game). – Clemson entering the game alongside Louisville as one of only two teams in the nation to average both 270 passing yards per game (274.1) and 180 rushing yards per game (180.9). – Clemson (5,914) needing 86 yards of offense to produce the 10th 6,000-yard season in school history. It would be Clemson’s first 6,000-yard season since.
2020 (6,028). – Clemson (3,563) sitting 437 passing yards shy of recording the eighth 4,000-yard passing season in team history. – Clemson (939) needing 61 offensive plays to reach 1,000 in a season for the 10th time in school history. – Clemson attempting to record a fourth 50-point performance in a season for the sixth time in school history (seven in 2019, five in 2013, four in 2016, four in 2006 and four in 2018). – Clemson attempting to produce a seventh 40-point game in a season for the eighth time in school history (10 in 2019, nine in 2018, eight in 2020, eight in 2013, eight in 2012, seven in 2015 and seven in 2016). – Clemson attempting to score 28 or more points in a quarter for the fourth time this season to match the school record set in 2012 (four). So far this season, Clemson has recorded a 35-point first quarter against Appalachian State, a 28-point first quarter against NC State and a 28-point second quarter against Wake Forest. – Clemson attempting to record a seventh 500-yard game in a single season for the first time since 2019 (10). – Clemson attempting to reach both 200 passing yards and 200 rushing yards in a game for the seventh time this season. Clemson (six) is tied with Penn State and Tennessee for the national lead in this category in 2024. – Clemson attempting to record its first season with at least seven games with both 200 rushing yards and 200 passing yards since 2019. It would be Clemson’s fourth such season in school history (10 in 2019, eight in 2015, seven in 2018). – Clemson (six) attempting to post seven 200-yard rushing games in a single season for the first time since 2019 (10). – Clemson (two) attempting to produce a 300-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver in three games in a single season for the first time in school history. – Clemson entering the game having scored at least one rushing touchdown in a national-best 87 of its 95 games since the start of the 2018 season. Clemson has also rushed for multiple touchdowns in a national-best 72 games in that span. – Clemson entering the game +16 in turnover margin, the eighth-best margin in school history. Clemson is tied for second nationally and one off the national lead (+17, James Madison). – Clemson attempting to win the turnover margin for a sixth straight game. It would be Clemson’s first time winning the turnover margin in six straight contests since a nine-game streak in 2019. – Clemson attempting to finish even or better in the turnover margin in a 13th straight game for the first time since a 17-game streak across the 1989-90 seasons. Dating to last season, Clemson has lost the turnover margin only once in its last 18 games. – Clemson attempting to record multiple takeaways in six straight games for the first time since the first six games of the 2013 season. – Clemson (nine) entering the game as one of only 14 teams with single-digit giveaways this season. – Clemson attempting to play back-to-back games without a giveaway for the second time this season (at Florida State and at Wake Forest). – Clemson attempting to play a sixth game without a giveaway in a single season for the first time since 2019 (six). – Clemson attempting to play back-to-back penalty-free games for the first time on record. – Safety Khalil Barnes attempting to record an
interception in three straight games for the first time in his career. The last time a Clemson player recorded a pick in three straight contests was 2009, when both DeAndre McDaniel (first three games of the season) and Rashard Hall (four straight contests across games 5-8) accomplished the feat. – Barnes (four) attempting to add to his single-season career high in interceptions. – Barnes (four) attempting to produce the first fiveinterception season by a Clemson player since Jadar Johnson picked off five passes in 2016. – Barnes (seven from 2023-24) attempting to become the first Clemson player with eight or more interceptions across freshman and sophomore seasons since Rashard Hall recorded eight in his first two years across the 2009- 10 seasons. – Tight end Jake Briningstool (123) entering the game as the Clemson record holder for career receptions by a tight end. – Briningstool (123) needing two more receptions to become the ninth tight end in ACC history to record 125 career receptions. – Briningstool (45) needing five receptions to match his single-season career high set last year (50). His 50 receptions a year ago tied Dwayne Allen’s 50 catches in 2011 for the Clemson record for receptions by a tight end in a single season. – Briningstool (461) needing 38 receiving yards to break his single-season career high of 498, set in 2023. – Briningstool (461) needing 39 receiving yards to post the sixth 500-yard receiving season by a tight end in Clemson history. – Briningstool (17) needing one touchdown catch to tie or two touchdown catches to break Jordan Leggett’s school record for career receiving touchdowns by a tight end (18 from 2013-16). – Briningstool (17) needing one touchdown catch to tie or two touchdown catches to pass Clemson’s Jordan Leggett (18 from 2013-16) and Louisville’s Marshon Ford (2018-22) for the fourth-most career receiving touchdowns by a tight end in ACC history. – Briningstool (seven) needing one touchdown to tie or two touchdowns to break the Clemson single-season record for touchdown receptions by a tight end. The record of eight is shared presently by Jordan Leggett (2015), Brandon Ford (2012) and Dwayne Allen (2011). – Briningstool seeking to add to his school records for 100-yard receiving games by a tight end in a season (two) and career (three). – Briningstool (two touchdowns vs. both Appalachian State and SMU) attempting to become the first Clemson tight end to catch multiple touchdowns in three games in a single season. – Linebacker Sammy Brown (10.5) entering bowl season ranked second nationally in tackles for loss among freshmen. – Brown (10.5) chasing the school record for tackles for loss by a true freshman. He presently trails T.J. Parker (12.5 in 2023), Myles Murphy (12.0 in 2020) and Anthony Simmons (11.0 in 1995). – Brown (5.0) chasing Dexter Lawrence (7.0 in 2016), Tyler Davis (6.5 in 2019) and T.J. Parker (5.5 in 2023) on Clemson’s all-time leaderboard for sacks by a true freshman. – Cornerback Ashton Hampton (one) and defensive tackle Payton Page (one) each attempting to join Arlington Nunn (three in 1990) and Dorian O’Daniel (two in 2017) as the only Clemson players since 1950 to record multiple interception returns for touchdowns in a season. – Kicker Nolan Hauser (17-of-23) needing two more field goals to tie or three more field goals to break Chris Gardocki’s school record for field goals made by a true freshman (19 in 1988). – Hauser (107), who already owns the Clemson record for points by a true freshman, needing four more points to enter the Top 10 in school history in points scored in a single season by a player of any classification. – Hauser (107) entering the game ranked tied for 10th in school history in kicking points scored in a single season. He needs eight points to become the fourth player in school history to reach 115 points via kick in a single season, joining Greg Huegel (137 in 2015), Chandler Catanzaro (118 in 2011) and B.T. Potter (118 in 2019 and 115 in 2020). – Quarterback Cade Klubnik (19-8) attempting to become the 11th Clemson player to win 20 games as a starting quarterback since World War II, joining Trevor Lawrence (34-2), Deshaun Watson (32-3), Tajh Boyd (32- 8), Rodney Williams (32-10-2), Charlie Whitehurst (25- 15), Nealon Greene (24-16), Homer Jordan (22-6-1), DJ Uiagalelei (22-6), Mike Eppley (21-5-1) and Steve Fuller (21-11-3). – Klubnik attempting to become the first Clemson quarterback to throw four touchdown passes in consecutive games since Deshaun Watson accomplished the feat against Louisville and Boston College in 2016. – Klubnik (three) attempting to tie Tajh Boyd’s team record for most four-touchdown passing games in a season (four in 2013). – Klubnik (33) entering the game third in the nation in passing touchdowns. – Klubnik (33) entering the game tied for sixth in team history in passing touchdowns in a single season. He is within three touchdowns of second place, trailing a 34-touchdown season by Tajh Boyd (2014) for fifth, a 35-touchdown season by Deshaun Watson (2015) for fourth, and 36-touchdown seasons by Boyd (2012) and Trevor Lawrence (2019) for second. – Klubnik entering the game ranked third in the nation in touchdowns responsible for (40 — 33 passing, seven rushing). – Klubnik (67) needing two combined rushing or passing touchdowns to pass Woodrow Dantzler (68 from 1998-2001) for fifth on Clemson’s all-time leaderboard for career touchdown responsibility. – Klubnik (40) chasing No. 6 Tajh Boyd (44 in 2011) and No. 4 Trevor Lawrence (45 in 2019) on Clemson’s all-time leaderboard for touchdown responsibility in a single season. – Klubnik (3,303) chasing No. 7 Charlie Whitehurst (3,561 in 2003) and No. 6 Trevor Lawrence (3,665 in 2019) on Clemson’s all-time leaderboard for passing yards in a single season. – Klubnik (3,761) needing 239 combined rushing and passing yards to post the seventh individual season with 4,000 yards of total offense in school history. That feat has only been accomplished by Tajh Boyd (three times), Deshaun Watson (twice) and Trevor Lawrence (once). – Klubnik (3,761) chasing No. 6 Tajh Boyd (4,046 in 2011) and No. 5 Trevor Lawrence (4,228 in 2019) on Clemson’s all-time leaderboard for total offense yards in a single season. He is also 490 yards shy of Boyd (4,251 in 2013) for fourth. – Klubnik (282) needing nine completions to set a new single-season career high and surpass his 290 in 2023. – Klubnik (seven) attempting to add to his career high in rushing touchdowns. – Klubnik (13) chasing No. 7 DJ Uiagalelei (15 from 2020-22) and No. 6 Kelly Bryant (16 from 2015-18) on Clemson’s all-time leaderboard for career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. – Klubnik (seven) needing three rushing touchdowns to become the first Clemson quarterback to record double digit rushing touchdowns in a season since Kelly Bryan in 2017 (11). – Klubnik (two) attempting to become the first Clemson player with three touchdown runs of 50 or more yards in a single season since Travis Etienne (four) in 2018. – Running back Phil Mafah (career-high 1,106) entering the game having posted the 24th 1,000-yard rushing season in Clemson history. He has already become the 18th player in Clemson annals to record at least one 1,000-yard rushing season, joining Travis Etienne, Wayne Gallman, Raymond Priester, James Davis, Andre Ellington, Woodrow Dantzler, Terrence Flagler, C.J. Spiller, Kenny Flowers, Terry Allen, Will Shipley, Deshaun Watson, Cliff Austin, Buddy Gore, Travis Zachery, Roderick McDowell and Lester Brown. – Mafah (1,106) needing 81 rushing yards to enter the Top 10 in school history in rushing yards in a single season. – Mafah (1,106) needing 94 rushing yards to record the ninth 1,200-yard rushing season in school history. – Mafah (1,106) entering the game 106 rushing yards shy of his position coach C.J. Spiller’s career high (1,212 in 2009, seventh in school history). – Mafah (six) attempting to add to his single-season career high in 100-yard rushing games. – Mafah (six) attempting to tie Kenny Flowers (seven in 1985) and Raymond Priester (seven in 1996) for the fourth-most 100-yard rushing games in a season in Clemson history. – Mafah (2,878) needing 37 rushing yards to pass No. 8 Kenny Flowers (2,914 from 1987-89) on Clemson’s all-time leaderboard for career rushing yards. – Mafah (2,878) needing 122 more rushing yards this season to become the eighth player in school history to record 3,000 career rushing yards. – Mafah (28) chasing Fred Cone (29, ninth), Lester Brown and Will Shipley (31 each, tied for seventh), and C.J. Spiller (32, sixth) on Clemson’s all-time leaderboard for career rushing touchdowns. – Mafah (28) needing two rushing touchdowns to become the ninth player in school history to score 30 career rushing touchdowns. – Mafah (eight) needing two more rushing touchdowns this season to join Travis Etienne (four straight from 2017-20), James Davis (three straight from 2006-08), Will Shipley (2021-22), Wayne Gallman (2015-16), Tajh Boyd (2012-13), Andre Ellington (2010-11), Woodrow Dantzler (2000-01), Travis Zachery (1999-2000) and Terry Allen (1988-89) as the 10th Clemson player since 1960 to post back-to-back seasons with double-digit rushing touchdowns. – Mafah (eight) needing two rushing touchdowns to extend Clemson’s streak of consecutive years with at least one player with 10 or more rushing touchdowns to 10 straight years. Clemson’s current nine-year streak is the longest active streak in the nation. – Defensive end T.J. Parker (career-high 11.0) needing one sack to become the first Clemson player to record at least 12 sacks in a season since Shaq Lawson (12.5) and Kevin Dodd (12.0) in 2015. – Parker (11.0) entering the game ranked ninth in sacks in a single season in Clemson history. He needs 1.5 sacks to enter the Top 5 in school history, as Gaines Adams (12.5 in 2006) and Shaq Lawson (12.5 in 2015) are presently tied for fourth. – Parker (19.0) needing one tackle for loss to become the first Clemson player to reach 20.0 tackles for loss in a season since both Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd accomplished the feat in 2015. – Parker (six) entering the game holding the Clemson record for forced fumbles in a single season. He is tied for the national lead in that category in 2024.
TEXAS NOTES:
• No. 3 and fifth-seed Texas Football will be hosting No. 16 and 12th-seeded Clemson in the 2024 College Football Playoff first round at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, Dec. 21, inside Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The game will broadcast on TNT/Max with Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (analyst), Taylor McGregor (reporter) and Laura Rutledge on the call. • Texas is making its second College Football Playoff appearance in as many years after earning the three seed in the 2023 College Football Playoff, making a semifinal appearance against the No. 2 Washington Huskies at the Allstate Sugar Bowl. • The Longhorns have 11-consecutive top-10 CFP rankings, dating back to Oct. 31, 2023. Texas debuted at No. 5 in the first CFP rankings on Nov. 5 this season – which doubled as the program’s highest-ever spot in the first week of CFP rankings. Texas has been in the top-25 in each of the last 15 rankings and has 27 overall appearances in the rankings with its highest being No. 2. UT checked in at No. 4 in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls that were updated on Dec. 8. • The Longhorns are 12-1 at home over the last two seasons. • Dec. 21 will mark the first-ever matchup between Texas and Clemson. The first round winner will advance to the CFP Quarterfinal at the 57th Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and face the Big 12 Champion and No. 4 seed Arizona State at Noon C.T. on Jan. 1, 2025, in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The game will air on an ABC/ESPN platform. • The Longhorns are 12-2 overall coming off an SEC Championship game berth in their first season as conference members. • Head coach Steve Sarkisian has now led his programs to eight postseason appearances in his 11 seasons as a head coach. He led Washington to four-straight bowl games following the 2010-13 seasons and guided USC to the Holiday Bowl in 2014. His Washington team played in the 2013 Fight Hunger Bowl, a game he did not coach in after taking over the Trojans’ program. Sarkisian was the head coach for the Huskies’ Alamo Bowl appearance against Baylor in 2011. • Texas finishes the 2024 regular season as the only SEC team with one loss. • Last time out, Texas lost 22-19 (OT) in the 2024 SEC Championship game versus Georgia on Dec. 7 in Atlanta. It was the first-ever OT forced in the SEC Championship game. • Of the six non-original members of the SEC (Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Texas A&M), Texas is the only program to clinch an SEC Championship game berth in its first season as a league member. • Texas is one of two teams in the nation with eight wins vs. bowl eligible opponents. Syracuse is the other. • Texas is among five teams that have at four wins vs. opponents ranked in the AP Top 25 at the time of game. Georgia, South Carolina, Arizona State and Notre Dame are the other four teams. • In its first season as an SEC member, Texas has clinched conference championship game berths in backto-back seasons after winning the Big 12 Championship in 2023. • Texas’ 11-consecutive true road wins (not including neutral site contests) is the longest streak for the Horns since winning 15-straight road games from 2003-06. It also doubles as the longest active streak in the FBS. • The Longhorns have held 10 of 13 opponents to 17 points or less this season. • UT boasts the fourth-most wins (959) in NCAA history. Texas holds an all-time record of 959-394-33. The Longhorns’ 959 wins are the second most by an SEC program following Alabama’s 974 victories. • Texas has back-to-back 11-win seasons for the first time since 2008-09 (2008: 12-1 overall, 2009: 13-1 overall). • Following Texas’ 56-7 win over UTSA on Sept. 14, Texas moved to No. 1 in the AP Poll for the first time since Oct. at No. 1 and have have 49 overall appearances at No. 1 in the AP Poll. SERIES HISTORY • Texas and Clemson meet for the first time in history on Saturday. • Texas (959) and Clemson (808) have combined for 1,767 all-time victories, and both rank among the Top 13 in FBS history in victories. • Clemson is the first ACC team Texas has faced since the Horns defeated North Carolina, 52-21, on Sept. 14, 2002. • Texas and Clemson had one mutual opponent this season: Georgia. The Tigers opened the season with a 34-3 loss to the Bulldogs on Aug. 31. A TEXAS WIN WOULD … • Advance UT to the CFP Quarterfinal, the 57th annual Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Big 12 Champion Arizona State on Jan. 1, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. • The Horns are vying to be the fifth team in program history to compile 12 or more wins in a single season. • Clinch back-to-back 12-win seasons for the first time since 2008-2009. • Move UT to 1-0 all-time against Clemson. • The Horns will boast a 7-1 record when playing at DKRTexas Memorial Stadium this season. • Be Texas’ 960th all-time victory, the fourth-winningest program in college football history. • Give Steve Sarkisian his 84th victory as a head coach and 37th at Texas in his 134th career game as a head coach. YEAR FOUR OF THE SARKISIAN ERA • Texas Football Head Coach Steve Sarkisian is in his fourth season at the helm of the Longhorns and his 11th season as a head coach overall. • Texas is making its third-consecutive postseason appearance under fourth-year head coach Steve Sarkisian, including its second-straight CFP appearance. • Sarkisian was named to the Dodd Trophy Midseason watch list (Oct. 17) and the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year watch list (Oct. 16). • Sarkisian and the Longhorns turned in a historic season in 2023 with a 12-2 record, a Big 12 Championship, No. 3 final ranking and College Football Playoff semifinal appearance. He has also compiled top-5 recruiting classes over the past three years. • Sarkisian was named a finalist for the Bear Bryant, George Munger and Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year awards after leading Texas to its first Big 12 Championship since 2009, winning 12 games for the first time since that season and reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history. • The 2023 Longhorns became just the fourth team in program history to amass 12 or more victories in a single season after going 12-2. • Last season, the Texas offense ranked 15th in the nation and third in the conference averaging 35.8 points per game, the fifth-straight top-25 scoring output for a Sarkisian-led offense. • The Longhorns were one of only five Power-5 programs that ranked among the top 15 in scoring offense (35.8 ppg) and scoring defense (18.9 ppg), finishing 15th nationally in both. • The offensive showing also marked the ninth top-25 scoring offense in Sarkisian’s career. • Last season marked the eighth time a Sarkisian offense averaged at least 34 points per game. • RB Jonathon Brooks rushed for 1,139 yards in 2023 marking the 12th consecutive year a Sarkisian offense has had a 1,000-yard rusher.
SARK’S STAMPEDE • Under head coach Steve Sarkisian, the Longhorns are 25-5 in their last 30 games with their only five losses coming against top-12 teams. • Texas sports a +27.8 PPG at home over the last two seasons, the third-best rate in the FBS. • In Sarkisian’s first 22 games as head coach at Texas, UT went 11-11. • Since the start of the 2023 season UT is 23-4 with the only three losses against AP top-12 ranked foes. • Following the 31-14 win vs. Kentucky in UT’s home regular season finale on Nov. 23, Texas is 17-3 at home over the last three seasons with its only three losses to top-5 ranked foes (No. 5/4 Georgia on Oct. 19, No. 1/1 Alabama in 2022 and No. 4/4 TCU in 2022). • Texas has won 13 of its last 15 conference matchups. SEC NATION IN THE HOUSE • For the the second time this season, SEC Nation will be airing live on game day from Austin. • SEC Nation last aired live from the University of Texas campus on Nov. 23 when the Longhorns hosted Kentucky. • SEC Nation will air live from Hook ‘Em Hangout in Winship Circle from 9-11 a.m. CT (free admission). • Laura Rutledge hosts SEC Nation, her eighth season in the host’s chair and her ninth on the show overall, joined by Paul Finebaum, Roman Harper, Jordan Rodgers and Tim Tebow for a weekly breakdown of the SEC football in the College Football Playoff. HORNS STREAKS • Texas has forced at least one turnover in 21-consecutive games. UT has forced multiple turnovers in eight-straight games entering Saturday vs. Clemson. • Texas has won 11+ games in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2008-09. The Horns had nine consecutive 10-win seasons from 2001-09. • 2024 marked the second-straight season in which UT played in a conference championship game. • The Texas defense has given up just four passing touchdowns through 13 games this season – the fewest in program history since giving up four in 1972 (10 games). It also doubles as the fewest by an FBS team this season (tied with Ohio State). • Texas led Texas A&M 17-0 at halftime on Nov. 30 and has posted first-half shutouts in three of its last four games. • Texas has recorded 11-straight road wins – the most since 2003-2006. • The Longhorns started the season 6-0 for the first time since 2009. • Texas’ point differential (+221) through six games was its best since 1915 (+288). • Texas’ 259 points through six games were its most since 2005 (274). • The Longhorns are 17-3 at home over the last three seasons with their only three losses being to No. 1 Alabama (20-19) in 2021, No. 4/4 TCU in 2022 and No. 5/4 Georgia on Oct. 12. • The Horns have earned a Top-10 ranking for 30 weeks in a row.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF GAME NOTES: TENNESSEE AT OHIO STATE
TENNESSEE NOTES:
nCFP FIRST ROUND PRIMETIME: No. 9 seed Tennessee makes its first College Football Playoff appearance as it travels to meet No. 8 seed Ohio State at 8 p.m. ET Saturday live on ABC and ESPN. ESPN College GameDay will also be on hand. It will be Vols’ first game in the state of Ohio and only the second meeting between the two historic programs. The winner advances to the Rose Bowl Game to take on top seed Oregon at 5 p.m. ET on New Year’s Day. Tennessee has played in only two Rose Bowls (1940, ’45). The Vols were one of three SEC teams to make the fi eld, joining No. 2 seed Georgia and No. 5 seed Texas. Tennessee is the fifth program all-time to make a CFP appearance as a member of the SEC, joining Alabama (8), Georgia (4), LSU (1) and Texas (1). Oklahoma made four appearances as a member of the Big 12, and Texas’ 2023 berth was as a member of the Big 12. Ohio State finished fourth in the Big Ten this season. The matchup will feature two of the nation’s top fi ve total (UT 4, OSU 1) and scoring defenses (UT 4, OSU 1) . n2024 SEASON RECAP: Tennessee won 10 regular season games for the second time in three years. After being picked seventh by the media at SEC Media Days, the Vols finished tied for second in the SEC (+5) with Georgia at 6-2. UT has finished above where the media picked them in three of four seasons under Josh Heupel. Tennessee has produced at least a .500 record in SEC play in all four seasons under Heupel with 6-2 marks in two out of the last three seasons. The Vols rallied from a 14-0 first-quarter deficit to defeat Vanderbilt in the finale that was UT’s 30th victory since the start of the 2022 season. It’s the winningest three-year stretch for the program since claiming 30 victories from 1998-2000. UT defeated rivals Florida and Alabama, and both of the Vols’ losses came on the road at night in games that were decided in the fourth quarter (Arkansas, Georgia). RB Dylan Sampson was named SEC Offensive Player of the Year by the AP and Coaches after breaking fi ve single-season school records. CB Jermod McCoy, who tied for second in the SEC in interceptions with five, was voted AP first-team All-SEC and a second-team All-American. C Cooper Mays was a Rimington Trophy finalist, an AP and Coaches first-team All-SEC recipient and a first team All-American by Sports Illustrated and USA Today. DC Tim Banks was a Broyles Award finalist. nHEUPEL ERA: Josh Heupel, the 2022 AP SEC Coach of the Year, is in his fourth season at UT. Since taking over a program that was 3-7 prior to his arrival, Heupel owns a 37-14 record and is 30-8 since the start of the 2022 season. The 30 wins since the start of 2022 are third-most in the SEC. Since 2018, he ranks fifth nationally among active FBS head coaches in victories with 65. Heupel became the third coach in UT history with multiple 10-win regular seasons, joining Phillip Fulmer (5x in 17 years) and Gen. Robert Neyland (5x in 21 years). Heupel has led the Vols to three straight seasons of at least nine wins for the first time since Fulmer did it in five straight seasons from 1995-99. Heupel, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer are the only active SEC coaches with a three-or-more-year streak secured so far this season. nTOP 10 IN THE FBS: Tennessee heads into the CFP ranked in the FBS top 10 in 12 major categories: fourth down defense (1st – 28.6), scoring defense (4th – 13.9), third-down defense (5th – 29.5), yards per play allowed (4th – 4.33), total defense (4th – 278.3), tackles for loss (7th – 7.8), total offense (8th – 462.9), rushing defense (8th – 99.6), punt return average (8th – 15.7), scoring offense (8th – 37.3), rushing offense (9th – 232.0) and team passing efficiency defense (9th – 110.51). UT led the SEC in rushing for the second straight season. Tennessee is the only team in the nation with a top 10 rushing offense and rushing defense. The Vols have issued the third-fewest offensive touchdowns in the FBS this season with 18.
NOTING THE TENNESSEE-OHIO STATE SERIES • Tennessee and Ohio State are meeting for only the second time and the first time since New Year’s Day 1996 when the Vols defeated the Buckeyes, 20-14, in the Citrus Bowl. • It’s been nearly 29 years since the two programs last met. • This is the Vols’ first game in the state of Ohio. Tennessee has now played in 26 states. The Vols have never played a game in: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. • Tennessee is 1-1 vs. Big Ten opponents in the Josh Heupel era, and it’s the second straight season that the Vols face a Big Ten foe in the postseason. Tennessee blanked Big Ten West champion Iowa, 35-0, in the 2024 Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day. The lone loss was a 48-45 overtime shootout to Purdue in the 2021 Music City Bowl in Heupel’s first season. • This is the first time since the Big Ten formed in 1896 that Tennessee will play a road game vs. a team who is a member of the Big Ten at the time of the meeting. The Vols’ other Big Ten matchups occurred at bowl games, regular season home games or neutral site games. • Tennessee is just the fourth team to play a game at Ohio Stadium as a member of the SEC and first since Ohio State rallied from a 13-point deficit in the final two minutes to defeat LSU, 36-33, on Sept. 24, 1988. The Buckeyes own wins over Vanderbilt (1933) and Kentucky (1935) at home. First SEC football season was 1933. • Josh Heupel has never faced Ohio State as a player, assistant coach or head coach. • Tennessee R-Jr. safety Andre Turrentine originally signed with Ohio State as one of the top 10 safety prospects in the Class of 2021. He played in four games for the Buckeyes in 2021 as a true freshman, including the Rose Bowl vs. Utah, before transferring to Tennessee in the spring of 2022. • This will be the 10th time DC Tim Banks has faced Ohio State. He played them five times as the Co-DC at Penn State (2016-20) and four times as the DC at Illinois (2012- 15). • A total of 360 miles separate the two campuses (approx. five hours).
OHIO STATE NOTES:
Ohio State University, the No. 6 ranked team in the nation by the Associated Press and AFCA Coaches and the No. 8 seed in the 2024 College Football Playoffs, hosts the Tennessee Volunteers, ranked 7th in both polls and the No. 9 seed in the CFP, in an 8:10 p.m., first-round CFP game Saturday at Ohio Stadium. The winner advances to play No. 1 and undefeated Oregon Jan. 1 at 5:10 EST at the Rose Bowl in the CFP quarterfinals. This first game at Ohio Stadium in the month of December for Ohio State is the last of the four CFP first-round games after Indiana at Notre Dame (Friday at 8 p.m.) and the Saturday afternoon games featuring SMU at Penn State (noon) and Clemson at Texas (4 p.m.). ESPN/ABC will be back in Columbus broadcasting nationally for the first time since the 2022 season when the network carried Ohio State wins over Notre Dame and Wisconsin. This is only the second meeting on the gridiron between the two schools. Tennessee defeated Ohio State, 20-14, at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando following the 1995 regular season. Please dress warmly. The forecast calls for a BY THE NUMBERS game-day high of 28 degrees and a low of 20.
OHIO STATE vs. TENNESSEE The only time these two teams have played was at the 1996 Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando on a 70-degree, gray day that had bouts of heavy rain. Tennessee won, 20-14, behind two fourth quarter field goals and the rushing of Jay Graham, the game’s MVP with 154 yards and one touchdown. Stars were everywhere: Peyton Manning, Eddie George, Mike Vrabel, Shawn Springs, Antoine Winfield, Terry Glenn and Ricky Dudley to name a few.
Ohio State has a 42-20 all-time record playing at a College GameDay locale. Ohio State is No. 1 in GameDay appearances (Saturday will be its 63rd), wins and times hosting (25).
Ohio State is playing in the College Football Playoffs for a sixth time since the start of the CFP era in 2014 and is the only school to appear in four of the last six CFPs. Ohio State is No. 3 all-time in CFP appearances, trailing only Alabama (eight appearances) and Clemson (seven). Georgia and Oklahoma round out the Top 5 with four appearances apiece. Texas, the Southeastern Conference runner-up which hosts Clemson in a first round game Saturday, is the only team from last year’s CFP to make this year’s field. Ohio State won the inaugural College Football Playoffs in 2014 and is 3-4 all-time in CFP games. Ohio State CFP Results: 2014 Season – Defeated No. 1 Alabama, 42-35, in CFP semifinal at the Sugar Bowl; Defeated No. 2 Oregon, 42-20, in CFP National Championship game at Arlington, Texas 2016 Season – Lost to No. 2 Clemson, 31-0, in CFP semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl 2019 Season – Lost to No. 3 Clemson, 29- 23, in CFP semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl 2020 Season – Defeated No. 2 Clemson, 49-28, in CFP semifinal at the Sugar Bowl; Lost to No. 1 Alabama, 52-24, in CFP National Championship game at Miami, Fla. 2021 Season – Lost to No. 1 Georgia, 42-41, in CFP Semifinals at the Peach Bowl.
Ohio State went 10-2 in the regular season, highlighted by wins over CFP-bound teams Penn State (20-13 in State College, Pa.) and Indiana (38-15 in Columbus). The Buckeyes have been led by one of the nation’s top defenses as Jim Knowles’ unit ranks No. 1 in total defense (241.1 yards allowed per game), No. 1 in scoring defense (10.9 points allowed per game), No. 7 in rushing defense (96.8 yards allowed per game) and No. 2 in passing defense (144.3 yards allowed per game). Over the second half of the season, Ohio State allowed just five total touchdowns with none of them coming via the pass. The Buckeyes’ average of 4.10 yards allowed per play is second only to Texas (4.00). LBs Sonny Styles (76) and Cody Simon (74) lead the Buckeyes in tackles with SAFs Caleb Downs (62) and Lathan Ransom (57) right behind.
A few more defensive notes: the teams rank fourth and fifth, nationally, in rushing yards per carry with Tennessee allowing just 2.83 yards per carry and Ohio State allowing just 2.85. Both teams have surrendered only nine rushing touchdowns. On the flip side, Tennessee is ninth nationally averaging 232.0 rushing yards per game and has scored 32 rushing touchdowns. In Ohio State’s two losses this season, Oregon and Michigan had the top two rushing games against Ohio State all year with 155 yards and 172, respectively
On offense, quarterback Will Howard is fourth nationally in completion percentage (72.3) and has 27 touchdown passes to go along with eight interceptions. His top targets have been Emeka Egbuka (60 receptions, 743 yards, nine TDs), Jeremiah Smith (57 receptions, 934 yards, 10 TDs) and Carnell Tate (41 receptions, 583 yards, four TDs). On the ground, running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins have combined for 1,556 yards and 14 touchdowns. The offensive line has had two senior starters, each with more than 30 starts, lost for the season with injuries – LT Josh Simmons in the Oregon game and All-American center Seth McLaughlin the week of the Indiana game – and has had four different line-up changes and eight different starters.
Ohio State and Tennessee have no common opponents. What they do have in common are routs over their non-conference foes. Tennessee outscored Chattanooga, North Carolina State, Kent and UTEP by a 247-13 margin in its four wins while Ohio State outscored Akron, Western Michigan and Marshall, 157-20, in the three victories.
Quinshon Judkins (team-leading 805 rushing yards) and TreVeyon Henderson (751 rushing yards) are combining for 129.7 rushing yards per game and a fine 6.1 yards per carry average with 14 touchdowns. The pair rank eighth and ninth among active Power 4 running backs with 3,530 career rushing yards (Judkins) and 3,496 (Henderson). The duo is in a tie for sixth among active players with 43 touchdowns scored apiece with 39 rushing and four receiving for Judkins and 38 rushing and five receiving for Henderson.
SEC teams that have played in Ohio Stadium are 0-3. LSU, the last SEC school to come to Columbus to play, lost to Ohio State, 36-33, in 1988. Ohio State defeated Kentucky in Ohio Stadium, 19-6, in 1935 in the Wildcats third season as a SEC member institution, and the Buckeyes defeated Vanderbilt, 75-0, in 1933, Vanderbilt’s first season in the SEC.
Ryan Day’s Ohio State teams are 4-4 in post-regular season games: 2-0 in Big Ten championship games and 2-4 in CFP and bowl games. CB Denzel Burke has passed William White for the most starts among secondary players in school history: 47. Caleb Downs had eight solo tackles and nine total tackles for Alabama last season in a win over Tennessee.
Mississippi did not play Tennessee in either 2022 or 2023 so former Rebels CB Davison Igbinosun and RB Quinshon Judkins have not played against the Volunteers. Ohio State is 25-20-3 all-time against current members of the SEC. In Ohio State’s two losses this season: the team had a combined 5.0 TFLs for minus-7 yards and no sacks. Ohio State’s streak of 47 consecutive wins when forcing two-or-more opponent turnovers ended vs. Michigan. WR Emeka Egbuka has caught a pass in 37 consecutive games. Ohio State has scored more than once in the first quarter only once in 12 games (three TDs vs. Western Michigan). The Buckeyes have outscored their opponents in the second and third quarters by a substantial 285 to 62. Four Buckeyes have at least four quarterback sacks: JT Tuimoloau (6.0), Cody Simon (5.0), Jack Sawyer (4.5) and Sonny Styles (4.). Ohio State’s 211 punt return yards (109 for Brandon Inniss; 102 for Caleb Downs) are the most in nine years (392 in 2015). Will Howard is sixth nationally among active players with 102 TDs responsible for: 75 TD passes, 26 rushing TDs and 1 receiving TD. Howard’s seven rushing TDs are the most by a Buckeye QB in six seasons, or since Justin Fields had 10 in 2019. Cody Simon, 221 career tackles, and Lathan Ransom (209) lead all Buckeyes in tackles. The team’s leading disruptors: Lathan Ransom (12 takeaways/forced turnovers: 3 INT/6 FF/3 FR), Jack Sawyer (8; 5 FF/2 FR/ INT), Jordan Hancock (6; 2 INT/2 FF/2 FR), Denzel Burke (5; 4 INT/1 FF), JT Tuimoloau (5; 1 INT/2 FF/2FR). This will be Ryan Day’s 77th game coached as Ohio State head coach and the 66th game with his team being ranked in the Top 5 nationally. Day’s teams are 20-9 vs. nationally ranked teams, including 11-8 vs. Top 10 teams. Ohio State football was one of just two programs nationwide with an Academic Progress Rate score of 1,000 (Harvard). The APR accounts for academic eligibility, retention and graduation.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF GAME NOTES: SMU VS. PENN STATE
SMU NOTES:
SETTING THE SCENE • Eleventh-seeded SMU is set to make its College Football Playoff debut when it faces six-seed Penn State at Beaver Stadium on Saturday at 11 a.m. on TNT. • The Mustangs earned their first ever bid to the CFP by earning an at-large selection and the 11th seed during the playoff’s first year with a 12-team format. • SMU enters the contest at 11-2 and ranked No. 10 in the nation. The Mustangs have rose as high as seventh this season, the program’s highest ranking since 1985. • SMU has won its last 10 road games, second-longest active streak in all of the FBS behind only fifth-seeded Texas. • The Mustangs have forced at least one turnover in nine of the past 12 games and in 19 of the past 23 contests. • SMU orchestrated a furious fourth-quarter comeback during the ACC Championship versus Clemson to tie the game with under a minute remaining in the game. However, the Tigers nailed an ACC Championship Game-record 56-yard field goal as time expired to take the conference crown. • SMU’s 8-0 season in conference play is a first for a team jumping into a Power-4/5 conference from a Group of Five in their first season since 1978. Of those teams, only Louisville (2014) finished with a winning conference record, going 5-3 in ACC play. QUICK HITS • SMU’s defense has continued to force turnovers this year, ranking 26th in the country with 21 turnovers gained, along with being fifth in defensive touchdowns with four. • The Mustangs have had at least seven receivers catch a pass in 27 of the past 30 games. • Brashard Smith has made an impact in 2024, ranking eighth in all-purpose yards per game with 139.54 and 11th in total touchdowns (18), resulting in being named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award. Smith has also scored 112 points this season, which ranks 15th in the nation. The senior is just 29 yards shy of breaking the SMU single-season all-purpose yards record. • Collin Rogers has tallied 23 field goals this season, which is third in the nation. He leads the nation in made field goals over 50 yards with seven, one shy of the NCAA single season record of eight set by Tennessee’s Fuad Reveiz in 1982, leading to being selected as a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, he also was named a First Team All-America by Sports Illustrated. • Kevin Jennings sits 10th nationally in passing yards per attempt (8.87) and 13th in passing efficiency (156.9). • Jennings has the highest passer efficiency rating in conference games only in the ACC at 171.5. • SMU’s 54 wins in the last six years are the most by any FBS Texas team. In addition, the Mustangs have won 24 of those on the road, tops for any team in the state since 2019. • The Mustangs are 20-3 in their last 23 games, and 19-2 in their last 21 regular-season contests. • Rhett Lashlee boasts a 21-3 conference record in his career. His 21-3 record in his first 24 league games on the Hilltop is the best in SMU history. • SMU has posted a record of 26-2 during Lashlee’s three seasons in charge when they score 30 or more points in a game. THE SERIES • This is the third meeting all time, with Penn State holding a 1-0-1 advantage in the series. • Penn State took the matchup in 1978 at home, while the two programs tied 13-13 in the 1947 Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
ABOUT THE nittany lions • Penn State enters the game at 11-2 overall and 8-1 in the Big 10. • The Nittany Lions’ comeback fell short during the Big 10 Championship against top-ranked Oregon, losing 45-37. • PSU is 1-2 against ranked opponents this season, with the win coming over No. 19 Illinois in Happy Valley on Sept. 28. THE COACHES • Rhett Lashlee is in his third season as the head coach at SMU and has a 29-10 career record. Lashlee, who served as offensive coordinator for the Mustangs for two seasons (2018-19), also served as the offensive coordinator at Miami in 2020 and 2021. A one-time finalist (2013) and two-time semifinalist (2019, 2020) for the Broyles Award, Lashlee has the distinction of being the only coach ever nominated for the Broyles Award four different times at four different schools (Arkansas State, Auburn, SMU, Miami). • Lashlee was named a finalist last season for the prestigious Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award, handed out the nation’s top coach as voted on by the National Sports Media Association, the Bryant Awards’ Executive Leadership Team, and the Bryant Family. The Arkansas native was also named Co-Coach of the Year by the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football publication, a finalist of the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, and a semi-finalist for Coach of the Year Award by the Maxwell Football Club for the job he did in 2023. • Lashlee signed a contract extension with SMU on Nov. 22, 2024. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. • James Franklin, a 29-year football coaching veteran, was appointed Penn State’s 16th head football coach on January 11, 2014, and enters his 14th season as a collegiate head coach. Franklin’s career head coaching record is 123-56 and is one of five active FBS coaches with a 66-plus winning percentage and 13-plus years coaching experience. MUSTANG CAPTAINS • Kevin Jennings, Jonathan McGill, Justin Osborne, Elijah Roberts, Preston Stone and Kobe Wilson were voted captains for the 2024 season. SOMETHING SPECIAL GOING ON HERE • The Mustangs have been a force in conference play over the last three seasons. • SMU has posted an 21-3 record against conference opponents since 2022, highlighted by the current 17-game winning streak. • The 17 straight conference wins breaks the program record set back from 1981 to 1982. • The winning streak is the longest active streak in the nation.
LEVELED UP • The Mustangs continue to be a dominant force in conference games for a second straight season. • SMU won conference games by a score of 37.62-18.25, an average of 19.37. • The 19.37 average margin of victory is the third highest for any P4 team in the country, behind Indiana (23.11) and Oregon (20.0) • Only the Ducks and the Mustangs went unbeaten in conference play amongst P4 teams in 2024. SAME PONY, NEW EXPRESS • The Mustangs have put together one of the best two-seasons run in the program’s history in 2023 and 2024. • For the first time ever, the Mustangs have put together back-to-back seasons with at least 11 wins. • During the run, SMU went a perfect 16-0 in conference play in two different conferences (AAC in 2023 and ACC in 2024). PLAYOFFS, WE’RE TALKING PLAYOFFS • SMU made its debut in the first set of the 2024 CFP rankings on Nov. 6, coming in at No. 13. • The Mustangs were ranked 10th in the final edition of the CFP rankings, good enough to earn an at-large bid to mark the program’s first ever appearance in the CFP.
SMITH ARMY KNIFE • Running back Brashard Smith has been a weapon in multiple offensive facets so far this season, helping him being named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award. • The Richmond Heights, Florida, native has racked up 1,270 yards on the ground along with 303 yards receiving, making him one of just two FBS players with 1,200+ rushing and 300+ receiving yards on the season. • Smith also has 243 kickoff return yards, making him the only player in the FBS with 1,100+ rushing, 250+ receiving and 200+ kickoff return yards this year. • Smith has posted a 90.4 offensive grade by PFF on the season, the 12th highest by any offensive player amongst all Power conference teams (70 teams) (Min 200 snaps). • Smith has 1,814 all-purpose yards on the year, which rank second most in a single season in program history. He is just 29 yards shy of breaking the SMU single-season all-purpose yards record. • Thanks to his success this season, Smith has been named an All-American for all purpose by the AP and AFCA, along with being named First Team All-ACC as a running back. • Smith eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards on the season against Boston College, making him the 12th player in program history to rush for 1,000 in a single season.
Back to the future • SMU has posted back-to-back double-digit win seasons for the first time since the 1983 (10-2) and 1984 (10-2) seasons. • The result has led to being getting up to eighth and seventh in the AP and Coaches Polls, the highest since 1985, which leads to some interesting tidbits. • The last time the Mustangs were in the top 10 of the AP poll, the no. 1 song in America was the “Miami Vice” theme. • The cost for a gallon of gas was 83 cents. • The No. 1 movie at the time in November was Rocky IV. • Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States. HIGH ACCOLADES FOR THE HEAD MAN • Head coach Rhett Lashlee has led the Mustangs to new heights this season and has picked up accolades in the process. • Lashlee was named ACC Coach of the Year after leading SMU to the conference championship game in its first season in the conference. • He also was named the DCTF Coach of the Year, and a finalist Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
PENN STATE NOTES:
NO. 6 SEED PENN STATE MEETS NO. 11 SEED SMU IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF FIRST ROUND • OPENING KICK: No. 6 seed Penn State takes on No. 11 seed SMU in a College Football Playoff First Round game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, December 21. Kickoff is set for noon on TNT/MAX. • SERIES HISTORY: Penn State meets SMU for the third time in program history and the second time in a postseason game. The Nittany Lions and Mustangs tied 13-13 in the 1948 Cotton Bowl. In the last matchup, in 1978, Penn State won 26-21. Matt Bahr hit four field goals, all in the first half, while Scott Fitzkee scored on a 16-yard reception and Matt Suhey found the end zone on a 3-yard run. • CARTER, WARREN COLLECT ALL-AMERICA HONORS: Defensive end Abdul Carter and tight end Tyler Warren became Penn State’s 103rd and 104th players to selected as a first-team All-American by an NCAA-recognized outlet. With first-team honors by the AFCA, Associated Press and Walter Camp Football Foundation, Carter has qualified to be Penn State’s 45th consensus All-American. Warren earned secondteam accolades by the AFCA, AP and Walter Camp Football Foundation. Under head coach James Franklin, PSU has earned 18 All-American selections by 16 players and has multiple All-American selections in each of the last four seasons. • WARREN WINS MACKEY AWARD: Tyler Warren was announced as the John Mackey Award winner, the first Nittany Lion to ever win the award. The Mackey Award recognizes the top tight end in college football. Among FBS tight ends in 2024, Warren is tied for first in total touchdowns (10; 1st in Power Four) and ranks second in receiving yards (1,062; 1st), receiving yards per game (81.7; 1st) and yards per reception (12.1; 1st, min. 70 catches) and third in receptions (88; 1st). He owns PSU tight end career records for receptions (137), receiving yards (1,668), receiving touchdowns (17) and 100-yard receiving games (5) and PSU and Big Ten tight end season records for receptions (88) and receiving yards (1,062). • THE OPPOSITION: SMU enters the College Football Playoff as the No. 11 seed with an 11-2 overall record. The Mustangs went 8-0 in the ACC and fell 34-31 against Clemson in the ACC Championship. Kevin Jennings threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns, while adding a rushing touchdown. Brashard Smith added 113 rushing yards.
RECENT SUCCESS Since 2016, Penn State holds a .746 winning percentage, with a record of 85-29, the eighth-best winning percentage among Power Four programs. Penn State has won at least nine games in six of the last eight seasons and has 10 wins in each of the last three seasons. ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE A total of 650 of Penn State football student-athletes have earned Academic All-Big Ten honors since 1993 for owning at least a 3.0 grade point average and being a letterwinner. ONE OF NATION’S TOUGHEST HOME VENUES Penn State owns a superlative 322-82 (.797) record inside Beaver Stadium, the nation’s second-largest facility, which opened in 1960 and has a capacity of 106,572. The Nittany Lions are 51-10 in Beaver Stadium since 2016, an .836 winning percentage, the eighth-best home record among Power Four teams.
HEAD COACH RHETT LASHLEE • Rhett Lashlee is in his third season as head coach at SMU. • He owns a 29-11 record at SMU and was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2024. • In his first two seasons at SMU, Lashlee led the Mustangs to the New Mexico Bowl in 2022 and the Fenway Bowl in 2023. • In 2023, SMU went 11-3, including an 8-0 mark in the AAC. • Lashlee served as offensive coordinator at Miami in 2020 and 2021 and was offensive coordinator at SMU in 2018 and 2019. • Prior to becoming a head coach, Lashlee was a Broyles Award nominee at Arkansas State, Auburn, Miami and SMU. SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS • SMU is 11-2 overall and went 8-0 in the ACC. • In their first season as a member of the ACC, the Mustangs reached the conference championship game, falling 34-31 against Clemson. • SMU rallied back from a 24-7 halftime deficit to tie the game at 31-31 with 16 seconds left. • Kevin Jennings threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns, while adding a rushing touchdown. • SMU ranks sixth in the country in scoring offense (38.5) and 20th in total offense (443.1). • Jennings has completed 66 percent of his passes for 3,050 yards and 22 touchdowns, while adding five rushing scores. • RB Brashard Smith, an AFCA All-America second-team and All-ACC first-team selection, owns 1,270 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. • The Mustangs rank 28th in the country in scoring defense (20.8), 28th in total defense (326.1) and fourth in rushing defense (93.4). • They are also fifth in the nation with five defensive touchdowns and 11th in sacks per game (3.08). • DT Jared Harrison-Hunte and S Isaiah Nwokobia were tabbed first team All-ACC. • Harrison-Hunte owns eight tackles for loss and six sacks this season. • Nwokobia has tallied 96 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions and three pass breakups. • LB Kobe Wilson leads the team with 110 tackles to go with six tackles for loss and three sacks.
PENN STATE EARNS 54TH POSTSEASON APPEARANCE • Penn State is making its 54th postseason appearance, including bowl and playoff appearances, tied-ninth all-time. • Head Coach James Franklin has guided his teams to a postseason appearance 13 times (3 at Vanderbilt; 10 at Penn State). • Penn State’s 31 bowl victories are tied-fourth nationally and lead all Big Ten schools. • The Nittany Lions’ 60.4 winning percentage in bowl games (31- 20-2 record) is No. 9 nationally among teams with at least 20 bowl appearances. • Penn State has played in 16 different bowl games and has played in each of the New Year’s Six bowls. • Penn State made its first postseason appearance in 1923 when it traveled across the country to face USC in the Rose Bowl Game to cap off the 1922 season. ABOUT THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF • Penn State will make its first ever appearance in the College Football Playoff. • The Nittany Lions are the No. 6 seed, set to host No. 11 seed SMU. • This is the first year of the 12-team playoff after being a four team playoff since 2014. • Penn State joins Texas, Notre Dame and Ohio State as hosts in the first round. • The winner of the Penn State-SMU game will advance to play No. 3 seed Boise State in the CFP quarterfinal played as the Fiesta Bowl.
LAST MEETING: 1978
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State needed two second-half touchdowns to overcome stubborn Southern Methodist, 26-21, at Beaver Stadium. Mike Ford’s first-half passing and Dave Hill’s interception return for a score early in the third quarter lifted the Mustangs to a 21-12 lead three minutes into the second half. The Lions then drove 69 yards in nine plays with Chuck Fusina passing 16 yards to Scott Fitzee for the touchdown to narrow the deficit to 21-19. Fusina completed three passes in three attempts for 51 yards on the drive. After SMU was forced to punt on its next possession, Penn State marched 73 yards on 12 plays to win the game. Fusina completed two third-down passes to Brad Scovill to keep the drive alive. Joel Coles’ 12-yard run and Booker Moore’s 15-yarder gave the Lions first-and-goal at the 3. Matt Suhey scored the winning points with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter. Penn State’s first-half scoring was all Matt Bahr. The Lion placekicker was successful on all four field goal attempts, tying the NCAA record with four field goals in a half.
12-TEAM COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF ARRIVES AFTER 100 YEARS, A FEW BILLION DOLLARS AND MANY DETOURS
It took more than 100 years, a few billion dollars and the cold, hard realization that you can’t fight progress forever. And now, finally, college football has what the rest of sports have — a legitimate postseason tournament.
The first 12-team College Football Playoff kicks off Friday and Saturday with four first-round games on campuses steeped in gridiron tradition: Texas (hosting Clemson), Penn State (SMU), Notre Dame (Indiana) and Ohio State (Tennessee).
The winners advance to play over the New Year’s holiday — Arizona State, Boise State, Georgia and Oregon are waiting — and the tournament concludes Jan. 20 with the national title game in Atlanta.
The concept of a postseason tournament is old hat for virtually every other major sport in the United States (including the lower levels of college football), but this postseason is a novel one for the top level of the game. Not surprisingly for an endeavor that took a century to create, it is teeming with prickly details that will ultimately shape the future of the playoff itself.
Can the college game compete with the NFL?
A deal struck decades ago as part of the NFL’s anti-trust exemption deems Saturdays as college territory, prohibiting the league from televising games on college football’s biggest day. But that ban is only in effect through mid-December, which is when the NFL jumps in.
On Saturday, it has a pair of standout games: Texans-Chiefs on NBC and Steelers-Ravens on Fox. The CFP has chosen to counterprogram those games with SMU-Penn State and Clemson-Texas, both of which were sublicensed to TNT as part of ESPN’s original deal to broadcast the playoff.
How will this go? College football’s most-watched game this season grabbed 16.6 million viewers, while last year’s title game, when the playoff only consisted of four teams, drew 25 million.
A regular-season NFL game between the Bills and Rams earlier this month drew 24 million viewers and the NFL averaged around 38.5 million viewers for its first round of playoff games last season.
Does it matter? ESPN is signed to the deal (topping out at $1.3 billion a year) through 2031, though if the ratings tank, it might be compelled to look for friendlier TV windows and avoid the ratings behemoth that is the NFL.
“I think it’s important for them to get a reasonable rating,” said Dan Durbin, the director of the Institute of Sports, Media and Society at USC. “I don’t think beating the NFL really even counts.”
Why did this take 100 years?
We can trace it back to the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Organizers of the annual parade wanted a way to pay for all those flower-covered floats cruising down Colorado Boulevard.
In 1902, they invited Michigan and Stanford to play (the Wolverines won 49-0). In 1916, it was Washington State and Brown, and from there, the game became an annual affair.
Other cities followed suit, mostly in warm-weather areas. By 1937, the Rose, Orange (Miami), Sugar (New Orleans) and Cotton (Dallas) were annual bowls, By the 1940s and ‘50s, the games had contractual tie-ins with conferences, which pledged to send their teams there.
The games entrenched themselves in the local tourism economy and, so, also became dug into the fabric of college football itself. While virtually all sports had moved toward some sort of playoff tournament by the 1960s, college football stood pat and the bowl games served as its postseason.
AP and other polls declared national champions for decades
The Associated Press started its poll of sports writers in 1936 and began awarding its national championship to whoever was ranked first at the end of each season. In 1968, the AP moved its final poll to after the bowls were over.
Other polls followed — more than 20 different systems or rankings have come and gone since the late 1800s — and for decades, those organizations crowned national champions. They often differed, including 11 seasons where AP and the coaches/UPI polls declared different champions.
Because the bowl games were locked into inviting teams from certain conferences, the top two teams in the sport often never played each other.
“In college football, you had so many teams, so many conferences that it’s just been unwieldy to try to create a real postseason,” Durbin said.
The alphabet soup of determining a champion
That remains true to this day, even with the expanded playoffs.
The seeds of change were planted after back-to-back seasons with split titles in 1990 and 1991 made it clear something needed to be done. Over the ensuing 35 years, a cocktail of conference realignment, ever-growing TV contracts and, most recently, the financial realities of a sport that will soon share millions with its players spawned new ways for the sport to tackle its playoff problem.
In the 1990s, a two-decade period of systems — the Bowl Alliance, Bowl Coalition and Bowl Championship Series — tried to pair the two best teams in the country to play for the title. Rankings were based on a combination of polls, computer rankings and strength of schedule — a formula that has been tweaked many times but remains a sore spot to this day.
The beginnings of a ‘real’ playoff
The BCS turned into the College Football Playoff in 2014 with a four-team postseason that felt like progress.
One problem was that the gap grew even wider between what mattered and what didn’t — three playoff games vs. dozens of bowl games that looked more and more like exhibitions, especially if players with NFL prospects opted out.
Another was the selection process. The March Madness selection committee in college basketball isn’t truly in jeopardy of sidelining the eventual national champion if it makes a bad choice for, say, the last two teams in a 68-team field.
Not so in football, where the field is smaller, every game means more and the financial stakes are higher. The SEC and Big Ten, for instance, receive around $22 million in playoff TV money before a single game is played. There is a pool of about $115 million available to the conferences based on the results of the playoff.
Last year, when the football committee chose one-loss Alabama over undefeated Florida State for the fourth and final spot, it triggered investigations and threats.
The road to 12 teams was already paved by then, but it has been equally as fraught. Some reveled in the fact that the first team out of the bracket this time was the very Alabama program that was chosen a year earlier.
Will this work, and what might change soon?
There is also the issue of automatic bids that go to conference winners, which have not only put Boise State and Arizona State (teams ranked eighth and 10th in the latest AP Top 25) into the tournament but given them two of the four first-round byes.
There is the issue of travel — how many fans can afford to go to three neutral-site games to watch their team chase a championship? With scant time to prepare, can the schools and the CFP pull off campus games without a hitch? Oh, what about the lack of students on campus this week?
The eventual champion will also end up playing 16, maybe 17, games, carving into classroom time that’s supposed to still mean something at the college level.
Within a year or two, this tournament will likely expand to 14 teams. The issue of “access” — which conferences get in and how many teams they are allowed — will top that debate. There is also growing separation between the SEC and Big Ten and the rest of college football that makes many in the sport uneasy.
Before all that, it’s time to buckle up. College football’s first wild ride through the playoffs will last a full month.
NFL NEWS
5-TIME DEFENDING AFC EAST CHAMPION BILLS FACE PATS IN 1ST MEETING OF SEASON BETWEEN DIVISION RIVALS
New England (3-11) at Buffalo (11-3)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, CBS
BetMGM NFL odds: Bills by 14.
Series record: Patriots lead 78-50-1.
Against the spread: Patriots 5-8-1, Bills 9-5.
Last meeting: Bills beat Patriots 27-21 on Dec. 31 at Orchard Park, New York.
Last week: Patriots lost to Cardinals 30-17; Bills beat Lions 48-42.
Patriots offense: overall (30), rush (14), pass (32), scoring (31).
Patriots defense: overall (21t), rush (21), pass (16t), scoring (23).
Bills offense: overall (7), rush (9), pass (7), scoring (2).
Bills defense: overall (23), rush (14), pass (25), scoring (12).
Turnover differential: Patriots minus-7; Bills plus-18
Patriots player to watch
QB Drake Maye. The rookie first-round pick is coming off his second straight game in which he completed 80% of his passes after going 19 of 23 for 202 yards (82.6%) in last week’s loss at Arizona. Maye has a 68.5% completion rate on the season. The highest completion rate for an NFL rookie quarterback was 67.8% by Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott in 2016.
Bills player to watch
QB Josh Allen. What will the Bills starter do next following a three-game run in which he’s combined for seven passing TDs, six rushing TDs and caught his own pass for a receiving TD? With two touchdowns passing and two more rushing against Detroit, Allen became the NFL’s first player to score two or more of each in consecutive games, and doing so for a third time this season.
Key matchup
Bills pass rush vs. Patriots O-line. Relying mostly on a four-man pass rush, Buffalo ranks 25th in the NFL in sacks per passing play, and faces an opponent that ranks 28th by allowing a sack for nearly every seven drop-backs. New England has allowed a combined 13 sacks in losing its past four outings.
Key injuries
Patriots safety Kyle Dugger (ankle, illness), running back JaMycal Hasty (ankle) and cornerback Marcus Jones (hip) all sat out the first practice of the week. … Buffalo might play it safe with LB Matt Milano, who sustained a groin injury last week in his third game after missing nearly 14 months with a broken leg and torn left biceps. The status of the Bills banged-up secondary bears watching with CB Rasul Douglas (knee), S Damar Hamlin (rib) and S Taylor Rapp (neck) limited in practice Wednesday after not playing against Detroit.
Series notes
The Bills are 7-2 in their past nine meetings, including playoffs, in a stretch that coincides with Tom Brady leaving New England for Tampa Bay following the 2019 season. The Patriots, under Brady, had essentially owned Buffalo in going 34-4 during his 19-year tenure as starter. … Buffalo is 4-1 at home against New England since 2020, including a 49-17 win in a 2021 wild-card playoff meeting.
Stats and stuff
This marks Buffalo’s first meeting against New England since coach Jerod Mayo replaced Bill Belichick as Patriots coach this offseason. The teams meet again in two weeks to close the season at New England. … The Patriots haven’t closed a season with three or fewer wins since a 2-14 finish in 1992. … The Patriots rank 30th in the NFL, scoring a touchdown on only 46.3% (19 of 41) of their trips inside the red zone. … Patriots TE Hunter Henry enters this week with a team-leading 62 receptions for 635 yards. The 62 catches is single-season career high. He can surpass his career mark for yards (652 with Chargers in 2019) with 18 against the Bills. Henry has a streak of 17 consecutive games with at least one reception. … RB Rhamondre Stevenson (3,005 career yards rushing) needs 176 yards over the final three games to move past Corey Dillon (3,180) into eighth place on the team’s Patriots’ career list. … Deatrich Wise has five sacks on the season enters the week 2 1/2 shy of tying his career best of 7 1/2 set during the 2022 season. … CB Marcus Jones is second in the NFL with a 14.8-yard punt return average (26 returns for 386 yards). … The Bills are 11-3 or better through 14 games for just the seventh time in team history, and third time since 2020. … Buffalo has scored 30 or more points in eight straight outings, matching the NFL single-season record achieved four previous times, and most recently by Denver in 2013. … Allen last weekend joined Russell Wilson (2019) in becoming the NFL’s second player to top 350 yards passing with two TDs and 50 yards rushing with two TDs in a single game. … Allen’s 74 regular-season wins are tied for second with Patrick Mahomes for most in a quarterback’s first seven seasons — and one behind Wilson. … Allen has not turned over the ball in three straight outings, and eight times this season. … RB James Cook’s 13 TDs rushing are tied for second in the NFL, and the most since LeSean McCoy had that many in 2016. The Bills single-season record is 16, set in 1975 by O.J. Simpson in a 14-game season. … Buffalo’s 28 TDs rushing are the most through 14 games, and one short of the single-season record set in 2016. … With a forced fumble against Detroit, the Bills have forced a takeaway in all but one game this season. … Buffalo allowed a franchise-worst 494 yards passing to Lions QB Jared Goff last weekend. Goff’s five TDs passing were the most given up by Buffalo since Drew Brees had five in the Saints 35-17 win on Oct. 27, 2013.
Fantasy tip
Cook. In what Buffalo likes calling an “everybody eats” approach in sharing the offensive production, the third-year running back appears to have the biggest plate at the table. Cook is coming off his third 100-yard-rushing outing of the season, and second in three weeks, and his fourth two-TD outing of the season. He’s scored in all but four games this season.
FALCONS TURN TO ROOKIE QB MICHAEL PENIX JR. FOR KEY GAME VS GIANTS
New York Giants (2-12) at Atlanta (7-7)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, Fox
BetMGM NFL Odds: Falcons by 8 1/2.
Against the spread: Giants 4-10; Falcons 6-8.
Series record: Falcons lead 14-12.
Last meeting: Falcons beat the Giants 17-14 on Sept. 26, 2021, in East Rutherford, N.J.
Last week: Giants lost to the Ravens 35-14; Falcons beat the Raiders 15-9.
Giants offense: overall (29), rush (18), pass (30), scoring (32)
Giants defense: overall (T21), rush (31), pass (7), scoring (20)
Falcons: overall (9), rush (12), pass (6), scoring (20)
Falcons defense: overall (20), rush (13), pass (24), scoring (20)
Turnover differential: Giants minus-8; Falcons minus-7.
Giants player to watch
WR Malik Nabers had his third double-digit catch game of the season against the Ravens and joined Odell Beckham Jr., Jaylen Waddle and Brock Bowers as the only rookies in NFL history with three games of 10-or-more receptions. The No. 6 overall pick in the draft, Nabers has 90 catches for 901 yards and is two shy of breaking the Giants rookie record of 91 held by Beckham (2014) and Saquon Barkley (2018).
Falcons player to watch
QB Michael Penix Jr. will make his first career start after the Falcons benched 13-year veteran Kirk Cousins. Penix, the Heisman Trophy runner-up at Washington in 2023, was the No. 8 pick in this year’s draft but wasn’t expected to land the starting job so soon. The timetable ramped up dramatically when Cousins threw nine interceptions and just one touchdown over the past five games. After pulling out an ugly 15-9 win at Las Vegas, where it became clear that the Falcons had lost confidence in their passing game, the decision was made to switch to Penix.
Key matchup
Atlanta’s defensive front vs. Giants offensive line. After managing a league-low 10 sacks through their first 11 games, the Falcons have turned up the pressure with 13 sacks in three games since their bye week. Eight players have notched sacks during that span, led by OLB Kaden Elliss and DE Arnold Ebiketie with three apiece. With Drew Lock set to return as New York’s quarterback after missing last week with a heel injury, the Falcons will be looking to bring the heat against a team that has allowed 45 sacks, tied for seventh most in the NFL.
Key injuries
Giants: QB Tommy DeVito, who started last week in place of Lock, was in the concussion protocol. If he’s cleared to play, he’ll return to the backup role behind Lock. … G Aaron Stinnie also is recovering from a concussion. … LB Patrick Johnson (knee) is not expected to play Sunday. … OLB Brian Burns (ankle/neck), ILB Bobby Okereke (knee) and CB Greg Stroman (shoulder/shin) are hurting. … The Giants are hopeful that CB Deonte Banks (ribs) will be able to return after sitting out the loss to Baltimore.
Falcons: K Younghoe Koo was placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed issue, knocking him out for the rest of the regular season and putting his future with the team in doubt. Koo had been one of the league’s most reliable kickers, but he has missed a career-high nine field-goal attempts this season. … The Falcons brought in Riley Patterson to take Koo’s spot.
Series notes
The Falcons have won three straight in the series. … New York’s most recent win over the Falcons was a 30-20 triumph in 2014. … The Giants’ most recent win in Atlanta was a 31-10 blowout in 2007. … The teams have met once in the playoffs, with New York rolling to a 24-2 wild-card win during the 2008 season. … The first win in Falcons’ history was a 27-16 victory over the Giants at Yankee Stadium during Atlanta’s inaugural season in 1966.
Stats and stuff
The Giants tied their franchise record for consecutive losses at nine last weekend. They have done it three times in their 100-year history, the most recent time in 2019. … Lock passed for 313 yards, threw two TDs and ran for one for Denver in 2020 in his only career start against the Falcons. … RB Tyrone Tracy ranks second among rookies with 695 yards rushing. He has scored a TD in his past three road games. … WR Wan’Dale Robinson has a career-high 71 receptions. .. Burns has his eighth sack of the season last week and became the sixth player since 2000 with at least 7 1/2 sacks in each of his first six seasons. He had two sacks in his most recent game against the Falcons, playing for the Panthers in 2023. … ILB Micah McFadden has a career-high 102 tackles. … Penix was among a record-tying six QBs taken in the first round of the 2024 draft. He is the fifth member of that group to earn a start, ahead of only Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy, who won’t play until 2025 because of a knee injury. … Falcons RB Bijan Robinson rushed for a career-high 125 yards on 22 carries against Las Vegas. That gave the second-year back the first 1,000-yard season of his young career, pushing him to 1,102 yards. … Robinson has topped 100 yards in three of the past five games, and he has at least 20 carries in four of the past five games as the Falcons turned away from their passing game amid Cousins’ struggles. … Elliss has a career-high 124 tackles after making 11 stops at Las Vegas. … OLB DeAngelo Malone has his first two sacks of the season against the Raiders. … P Bradley Pinion had four punts downed inside the 10, including two inside the 5, in the Monday night win.
Fantasy tip
Robinson is a good bet to keep getting plenty of carries and rushing yards, especially with the Falcons breaking in a new quarterback. He’s also an option in the passing game, providing a safe outlet for short-to-medium passes that would further lessen the burden on Penix.
BAKER MAYFIELD AND THE BUCS TAKE A 4-GAME WINNING STREAK INTO A MEETING WITH COWBOYS
Tampa Bay (8-6) at Dallas (6-8)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. EST, NBC
BetMGM NFL Odds: Buccaneers by 4 1/2.
Against the spread: Buccaneers 9-5; Cowboys 5-9.
Series record: Cowboys lead 16-6.
Last meeting: Cowboys beat Buccaneers 31-14 in wild-card playoff on Jan. 16, 2023, at Tampa, Florida.
Last week: Buccaneers beat Chargers 40-17; Cowboys beat Panthers 30-14.
Buccaneers offense: overall (3), rush (4), pass (4), scoring (4).
Buccaneers defense: overall (27), rush (11), pass (30), scoring (19).
Cowboys offense: overall (17), rush (27), pass (12), scoring (19).
Cowboys defense: overall (26), rush (29), pass (21), scoring (30).
Turnover differential: Buccaneers minus-2; Cowboys minus-5.
Buccaneers player to watch
WR Mike Evans leads the list of playmakers for QB Baker Mayfield in one of the NFL’s most productive offenses. Evans had nine catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers. Despite missing three games and part of a fourth, he’s tied for fourth in the NFL with nine TDs receiving. The Bucs are 8-3 when he plays and 8-1 when Mayfield targets him five or more times. In six games vs. Dallas, Evans has 32 receptions for 444 yards and two TDs.
Cowboys player to watch
Star edge rusher Micah Parsons has been promising he would make it to 10 sacks for the fourth time in his four seasons despite missing four games with a high ankle sprain. Parsons had just one sack when he returned for the ninth game of the season, and had two against Jalen Hurts and the Eagles. The two-time All-Pro has 7 1/2 sacks in six games since returning, including a trio of two-sack showings. Parsons is at 8 1/2 for the season, looking to become the fifth player to record double-digit sacks in each of his first four years. The other four are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Key matchup
Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle vs. Bucs run defense. The first three 100-yard outings of Dowdle’s career have come the past three weeks, capped by his best of 149 yards against the Panthers. Tampa Bay just held the Chargers to a season-low 32 yards rushing.
Key injuries
Bucs S Antoine Winfield Jr. (knee) sat out last week against the Chargers and is expected to miss at least one more game. The status of LB K.J. Britt (ankle) and S Mike Edwards (hamstring) will be evaluated as the week progresses. … Cowboys rookie C Cooper Beebe could clear concussion protocol after missing last week’s game. The outlook is less clear for CB Jourdan Lewis (elbow) and RG T.J. Bass (thigh), who was forced into the lineup when Brock Hoffman had to fill Beebe’s spot. Hoffman was the replacement for seven-time All-Pro RG Zack Martin, out for the season with an ankle injury. … Hope seems to be fading for DE DeMarcus Lawrence’s return this season. He hasn’t played since Week 4 because of a foot injury and isn’t expected to be available this week.
Series notes
Tampa Bay’s 19-3 win in the 2022 season opener was just the second for the Bucs at Dallas. The Cowboys are 12-2 at home against the Bucs.
Stats and stuff
The Bucs are 8-1 in December/January regular-season games going back to last winter. They’re 20-5 in such games going back to 2020, the first of Tom Brady’s three seasons with Tampa Bay. … Mayfield threw four TD passes vs. the Chargers, increasing his season total to a career-best 32. It was his seventh game with at least three TDs passing. Only Joe Burrow (eight) has done it more times this season. … Evans needs eight catches for 251 yards over the next three games to extend his streak with at least 60 catches and 1,000 yards receiving to 11 consecutive seasons. … With rookie RB Bucky Irving (117 yards, 15 carries) leading the way, the Bucs ran for 223 yards against the Chargers, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. They have rushed for 100-plus yards in 11 of 14 games after doing it just nine times over 34 games the past two seasons. … Tampa Bay’s defense has allowed a league-low 15 points per game during the four-game winning streak that has the Bucs back to the top of the NFC South standings. … Cowboys QB Cooper Rush had a career-high three TD passes against Carolina. … The Dallas offense has been among the worst in touchdown percentage inside the 20 this season, but all three of Rush’s TD tosses helped the Cowboys convert three of four red zone chances. His lost fumble was the only failure. … Dowdle needs 120 yards rushing for a 1,000-yard season. He already has his first 1,000-yard showing in scrimmage yards (1,085). Three of his four touchdowns are receiving scores. … The Cowboys have 24 sacks in the six games since Parsons returned. That’s the most in the NFL in that stretch. … DT Osa Odighizuwa has four sacks, tied for his career high.
Fantasy tip
Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb is on a pretty good roll in prime time. He has three receiving TDs in his past three prime-time games and is looking for a fourth in a row with at least six catches for 90 yards.
STEELERS GO FOR A SEASON SWEEP OF BALTIMORE AMID INJURY CONCERNS FOR PITTSBURGH LB T.J. WATT
Pittsburgh (10-4) at Baltimore (9-5)
Saturday, 4:30 p.m., EST, FOX.
BetMGM NFL Odds: Ravens by 6 1/2.
Against the spread: Steelers 10-4; Ravens 7-6-1.
Series record: Steelers lead 36-25.
Last meeting: Steelers beat Ravens 18-16 on Nov. 17, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
Last week: Steelers lost to Eagles 27-13; Ravens beat Giants 35-14.
Steelers offense: overall (18), rush (10), pass (24), scoring (10).
Steelers defense: overall (9), rush (4), pass (22), scoring (6).
Ravens offense: overall (1), rush (2), pass (3), scoring (3).
Ravens defense: overall (17), rush (1), pass (31), scoring (22).
Turnover differential: Steelers plus-18; Ravens plus-2.
Steelers player to watch
LB Patrick Queen. The former Raven is making his first appearance in Baltimore since signing a three-year contract with the Steelers in March. The 25-year-old Queen was excellent in the teams’ first meeting last month, finishing with 10 tackles and forcing a fumble as part of a defense that held the Ravens to a season-low 329 yards.
Ravens player to watch
QB Lamar Jackson. He’s putting up numbers worthy of another MVP award, but Baltimore’s inability to take control of the division race is working against him. Jackson has endured plenty of frustration against the Steelers in his career, but he’s only faced them at home once, in front of a limited crowd in 2020.
Key matchup
Pittsburgh’s linebackers against Baltimore’s balanced offense. Jackson and Ravens RB Derrick Henry never totally imposed their will in the first meeting this season, in part because the Ravens turned the ball over three times. Queen and Nick Herbig forced fumbles, and fellow linebacker Payton Wilson had an interception.
Key injuries
Steelers: LB T.J. Watt (ankle), WR George Pickens (hamstring), S DeShon Elliott (hamstring) and DT Larry Ogunjobi (groin) were limited in practice during the week.
Ravens: WR Nelson Agholor (concussion) and CB Jalyn Armour-Davis (hamstring) missed practice time.
Series notes
The Steelers have dominated one of the NFL’s most heated rivalries of late, winning eight of their past nine matchups with the Ravens, including each of the past four meetings in Baltimore. Jackson, now in his seventh season in the NFL, has only started five games against Pittsburgh but he’s 1-4 in those. … The past nine matchups in the series — and 27 of the past 33 — have been one-score games. … Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and Ravens coach John Harbaugh are meeting for the 37th time. Only George Halas and Curly Lambeau (49) faced off more often.
Stats and stuff
Pittsburgh earned a playoff berth last week and can clinch its first AFC North title since 2020 with a victory over Baltimore. The Steelers are 6-1 under Tomlin in games where a win would wrap up the division title. … The Steelers are 38-29 all time in games played on Saturday, including a win on the road at Baltimore in the 2023 season finale that helped them earn a playoff berth. Pittsburgh is also 63-55-1 when playing on five days’ rest. … The Steelers’ offense has hit a rough spot without Pickens, who will likely miss his third straight game with a hamstring injury. Russell Wilson has averaged just 143 yards through the air with Pickens watching from the sideline. Wilson averaged 271 yards passing in his first six starts with Pickens in the lineup. … The one bright spot of late for the Steelers has been TE Pat Freiermuth, who has a touchdown reception in three straight games, tied for the third-longest scoring streak by a tight end in team history. … How vital is Watt to the Steelers? Pittsburgh is 79-37-2 when he plays, 1-10 when he doesn’t since he was drafted in 2017. … The Steelers lead the league with 30 takeaways and are tied with Buffalo for first in turnover margin. … Jackson has thrown five TDs against eight interceptions in seven appearances against Pittsburgh. … Pittsburgh DT Cam Heyward is thriving in his 14th season. Heyward leads all NFL defensive tackles in tackles (60) and his eight sacks are second among interior defensive linemen behind Dexter Lawrence of the New York Giants. … Jackson leads the league in passer rating (120.7), yards per pass attempt (8.9), touchdown-to-interception differential (31) and yards passing plus rushing (4,323). … Baltimore’s defense has had its issues this season, but in the past four games the Ravens have allowed the NFL’s fewest net yards per game (269). … Jackson needs 109 yards rushing to pass Michael Vick atop the NFL’s career list for quarterbacks. … Henry has 15 touchdowns, tied with Ray Rice and Mark Ingram II for the Ravens’ single-season record. … Baltimore has 70 plays of at least 20 yards on offense, the most in the NFL. The Ravens have also scored touchdowns on a league-best 74.1% of their red zone trips.
Fantasy tip
In what could be another tight, low-scoring game, Steelers kicker Chris Boswell probably deserves a start. He accounted for all of Pittsburgh’s 18 points in the first meeting and leads the NFL in scoring (144 points).
RAMS WILL TRY TO EXTEND THEIR 3-GAME WINNING STREAK VS. JETS AND KEEP THEIR LEAD ATOP THE NFC WEST
Los Angeles Rams (8-6) at New York Jets (4-10)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS.
BetMGM NFL odds: Rams by 3 1/2.
Against the spread: Rams 7-7; Jets 5-9.
Series record: Rams lead 10-5.
Last meeting: Jets beat Rams 23-20 on Dec. 20, 2020, in Inglewood, California.
Last week: Rams beat 49ers 12-6; Jets beat Jaguars 32-25.
Rams offense: overall (13), rush (22t), pass (9), scoring (17t).
Rams defense: overall (25), rush (28), pass (19t), scoring (23t).
Jets offense: overall (24), rush (31), pass (18), scoring (22).
Jets defense: overall (7), rush (16), pass (5), scoring (18).
Turnover differential: Rams plus-4; Jets minus-1.
Rams player to watch
TE Tyler Higbee. He’s set to make his season debut after injuring a knee in the NFC wild-card loss at Detroit. Higbee, 31, has been a reliable part of the Rams’ offense by creating movement in the run game and averaging 59 catches, 586 yards and four touchdowns over the past five seasons. The presence of Higbee occupying defenders between the numbers can only make the WR tandem of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua that much more dangerous.
Jets player to watch
QB Aaron Rodgers. The 41-year-old quarterback has played well the past two weeks, a late-season resurgence that has some believing Rodgers still has plenty left. He’s 43 of 69 for 628 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in his past two games. Rodgers also reestablished his connection with buddy Davante Adams, who had nine catches for 198 yards and two TDs last week.
Key matchup
Rams WRs Kupp and Nacua vs. Jets CBs Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed. Matthew Stafford’s favorite targets are having solid seasons again as perhaps the best wide receiver duo in the league. But Kupp is coming off a game in which he was held to no catches on three targets in the Rams’ win over the 49ers. New York’s secondary should get a boost with Reed on track to return from a groin injury and join Gardner, who had his first interception in two years last week after missing a game with a tweaked hamstring.
Key injuries
The Rams could have their top cornerback available this week with CB Cobie Durant practicing on a limited basis after a chest injury kept him out against the 49ers. … Jets DT Quinnen Williams is dealing with a hamstring injury that kept him out of practice early in the week. … S Jalen Mills was placed on IR after breaking his collarbone on an interception last Sunday.
Series notes
The Jets have won three of the past four meetings. … New York got its first win of the 2020 season after starting 0-13 the previous time the teams met, when the Jets won 23-20. Sam Darnold had a touchdown pass and Frank Gore ran for a score and Sam Ficken kicked three field goals. The Jets finished 2-14 that season and Adam Gase was fired as coach. … The Rams won seven in a row against the Jets before New York ended the skid with a 47-3 victory in 2008 behind three TD runs by Thomas Jones and Brett Favre at quarterback. … The Jets won the first meeting between the teams 31-20 in 1970.
Stats and stuff
The Rams have won three in a row and four of five, and look to maintain their place atop the NFC West standings. They’re tied with Seattle, which hosts Minnesota on Sunday, but currently hold the tiebreaker after a 26-20 overtime win on Nov. 3. Los Angeles hosts Seattle in the regular-season finale. … Stafford hasn’t turned the ball over in the past five games, his longest streak in 16 years as an NFL QB. … The Rams are 4-2 when totaling under 200 net yards passing this season, including both victories over the 49ers. They were 3-13 when failing to gain 200 net yards in the previous three seasons. … RB Kyren Williams has consecutive games with 29 carries, the two highest tallies of his career. He also has 31 total touches in both games, Williams’ second-heaviest workloads as a professional. He had 27 carries and five receptions against Washington on Dec. 17, 2023. … DT Kobie Turner had two sacks of San Francisco’s Brock Purdy. It was his second two-sack game of the season and fourth of Turner’s bright brief career. … Los Angeles had 14 first downs against San Francisco, its fewest in a win since notching 13 in a 17-7 triumph over Chicago on Nov. 17, 2019. … The Jets snapped a four-game skid with their win at Jacksonville. They look to win consecutive games for only the second time this season. … New York scored a touchdown on its opening drive for the first time this season on Rodgers’ touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson. … Rodgers has passed for 3,225 yards, the 14th time in his career he has reached the 3,000-yard milestone. He joined Tom Brady as the only QBs to do so in their 20th NFL season. … Rodgers ran for a team-leading 45 yards on six carries last week, his most yards rushing since 2019 and the seventh most of his career. It was also the second-most yards rushing by a player 40 years old or older since the 1970 merger, trailing only Doug Flutie’s 53 for the Chargers in 2003. … Adams had two TD catches last week, giving him 101 for his career. He’s the 12th player to reach 100 TD receptions. … Adams had 135 yards receiving in the final four minutes of regulation, the most by any player in that timeframe in this century, according to ESPN Research. He finished with nine catches for 198 yards. … Rodgers and Adams have combined for 81 touchdown passes, the fourth most in NFL history. They are one behind Miami’s Dan Marino and Mark Clayton for third. … Wilson has 84 catches for 933 yards this season to join Odell Beckham, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Michael Thomas as the only players with 80-plus catches and 900-plus yards receiving in each of their first three seasons. … DL Quinnen Williams has 45 pressures as an interior pass rusher this season, second to Denver’s Zach Allen (51), according to Next Gen Stats. His 39 career sacks are the most by an interior D-lineman in franchise history. … S Ashtyn Davis had a 21-yard run on a fake punt last week, his third such conversion of his career.
Fantasy tip
If you have Kupp and are still alive in the playoffs, you were fortunately able to overcome his shutout last week. He’s still a must-start, even though the Rams face a solid Jets secondary. Kupp has great value in the red zone, where he could snag a TD.
EAGLES RIDE FRANCHISE-BEST 10-GAME WINNING STREAK INTO GAME AT COMMANDERS WITH PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS
Philadelphia (12-2) at Washington (9-5)
Sunday, 1 p.m., EST, Fox
BetMGM NFL odds: Eagles by 3 1/2
Against the spread: Eagles 9-5; Commanders 8-6
Series record: Washington leads 89-85-5.
Last meeting: Eagles beat Commanders 26-18 on Nov. 14.
Last week: Eagles beat Steelers 27-13; Commanders beat Saints 20-19.
Eagles offense: overall (6), rush (1), pass (28), scoring (T-9)
Eagles defense: overall (1), rush (7), pass (1), scoring (T-1)
Commanders offense: overall (5), rush (3), pass (16), scoring (6)
Commanders defense: overall (11), rush (25), pass (4), scoring (16)
Turnover differential: Eagles plus-3; Commanders plus-5
Eagles player to watch
WRs A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith made a combined 19 catches for 219 yards and two touchdowns against Pittsburgh after plenty of off-field drama about who QB Jalen Hurts was throwing the ball to and how often. One will be defended by four-time Pro Bowl CB Marshon Lattimore, who was targeted zero times in coverage on 31 passing attempts in his Commanders debut at New Orleans. The other will face Benjamin St-Juste or rookie Mike Sainristil, which is no easy task, either.
Commanders player to watch
QB Jayden Daniels has completed nearly 82% of his passes over the past two games, up from 61% in his previous five coming back from a rib injury. The rookie was also sacked eight times by the Saints, and he took some responsibility for that. Daniels is a threat to run, too, and was Washington’s leading rusher against the Saints with 66 yards on 11 carries.
Key matchup
Commanders RB Brian Robinson Jr. vs. Eagles rushing defense. Philadelphia limited Pittsburgh’s Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren to a total of 26 yards on 10 carries, and Robinson is coming off averaging just 3.1 yards a carry at New Orleans. Robinson getting going opens up the offense for Daniels to mix and match, and the Eagles can force opponents to be one-dimensional by shutting down the run almost entirely.
Key injuries
Eagles: RB Saquon Barkley shook off a hit to his right knee and a hard landing on his right shoulder against Pittsburgh. … DE Bryce Huff is eligible to come off injured reserve after missing the past four games following surgery on his left wrist. … S Sydney Brown was concussed against the Steelers.
Commanders: TE Zach Ertz and S Jeremy Chinn are progressing through concussion protocol after each left the Saints game. … C Tyler Biadasz is expected to play after being a late scratch last week because of illness.
Series notes
Philadelphia is already playoff-bound and can clinch the NFC East title and one of the conference’s top two seeds with a victory. The Eagles are on a franchise-record 10-game winning streak and last lost Sept. 29 at Tampa Bay. … Washington can clinch a playoff spot with a win, an Atlanta loss or tie and either a loss or tie by Seattle or the Los Angeles Rams. The Commanders can also get in with a tie and several other results around the NFL going their way. … The Eagles have won their past three games at Washington.
Stats and stuff
Hurts with 14 rushing touchdowns are one away from tying the record for the most by a QB in a season. He and Buffalo’s Josh Allen each had 15 last season. Hurts said he is playing with broken finger on his left, nonthrowing hand. … Barkley leads the league with 1,688 yards rushing and 1,964 from scrimmage. He had 146 yards on the ground and 52 receiving against the Commanders last month. … Brown and Washington WR Terry McLaurin are the only two players with five-plus games of 100 or more yards receiving this season. … Smith’s 11 catches against Pittsburgh are a career high. … The Eagles have allowed no more than 20 points on defense in 10 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the league. … LB Zack Baun ranks third among all players with a career-high 133 tackles. … LB Josh Sweat leads the team with eight sacks. … S Reed Blankenship had 10 tackles and intercepted Daniels in Week 11. … Daniels is the fourth rookie with 3,000-plus yards passing and 500-plus rushing. With 44 more rushing, he would join Robert Griffin III and Cam Newton as the only rookies with 700 yards. … McLaurin led the Commanders with 73 yards and had two TD receptions at New Orleans. He’s 31 yards receiving away from reaching 1,000 for a fifth consecutive season. … LB Bobby Wagner has eclipsed 100 tackles in each of his 13 professional seasons. He is one of just four players to have five or more in all 14 games this season. … LB Frankie Luvu had 10 tackles and sacked Hurts twice in the teams’ game last month. … Sainristil had his second career interception last week. He’s tied for the most passes defensed by a rookie with 11.
Fantasy tip
Robinson should not only get plenty of carries, but more specifically more chances near the goal line after being kept out of the end zone by the Saints. Coach Dan Quinn wants to be more efficient running the ball in the red zone, and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has not hesitated to keep his unit as balanced as possible all season.
TEXANS VISIT THE CHIEFS FOR SATURDAY MATINEE WITH ALL EYES ON KC QB PATRICK MAHOMES’ ANKLE INJURY
Houston (9-5) at Kansas City (13-1)
Saturday, 1 p.m. EST, NBC/Peacock
BetMGM NFL Odds: Chiefs by 3.
Against the spread: Texans 6-6-2, Chiefs 6-8.
Series record: Chiefs lead 9-5.
Last meeting: Chiefs beat Texans 30-24 in OT on Dec. 18, 2022, in Houston.
Last week: Texans beat Dolphins 20-12; Chiefs beat Browns 21-7.
Texans offense: overall (19), rush (17), pass (19), scoring (13).
Texans defense: overall (4), rush (10), pass (6), scoring (10).
Chiefs offense: overall (14), rush (16), pass (13), scoring (12).
Chiefs defense: overall (5), rush (3), pass (13), scoring (5).
Turnover differential: Texans plus-13, Chiefs plus-2.
Texans player to watch
Derek Stingley had two interceptions and two tackles for loss Sunday, becoming the first cornerback in NFL history with two of each in a game. Both interceptions came in the fourth quarter, including one with less than two minutes remaining that secured Houston’s victory. Stingley, the third overall pick in the 2022 draft, has started each game this season after being slowed by injuries in this first two years. He has four interceptions in the past four games and is second in the NFL with 17 passes defended.
Chiefs players to watch
Whomever is playing quarterback. The eyes all week have been on two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes, who sustained a high-ankle sprain late in last week’s win in Cleveland. Carson Wentz finished that game, and while it appears that Mahomes will be able to start Saturday, the Chiefs feel confident in the veteran backup’s ability to win a game should Mahomes be unable to play. Wentz completed his only two passes for 20 yards against the Browns, helping to run out the clock on the 21-7 victory.
Key matchup
The Texans defense against the Chiefs defense. There are stars galore on the other side of the ball — Mahomes and C.J. Stroud, Travis Kelce and Joe Mixon, DeAndre Hopkins and Nico Collins. Yet both teams have relied heavily on their defenses to clinch division titles. Houston has the league’s fourth ranked overall and is No. 6 against the pass, while Kansas City is at No. 5 overall and No. 3 against the run. Both are in the top 10 in scoring.
Key injuries
Texans TE Cade Stover could miss a second straight game after having an emergency appendectomy last Saturday night. DT Foley Fatukasi (ankle) and WR John Metchie (shoulder) missed practice this week. … Along with Mahomes’ sore ankle, Chiefs CB Chamarri Conner (concussion) and LT D.J. Humphries (hamstring) missed practice this week.
Series notes
The Chiefs have won the past three meetings, beginning with a 51-31 win in the divisional round of the playoffs in the 2019 season. Houston has not beaten the Chiefs since a 31-24 victory at Arrowhead Stadium on Oct. 13, 2019. The teams also met in a wild-card playoff game in the 2015 season that Kansas City won 30-0.
Stats and stuff
Houston clinched its second straight division title and eighth in franchise history last week. … Texans QB C.J. Stroud needs 252 yards passing to become the ninth quarterback in NFL history with at least 3,500 yards passing in each of his first two seasons. … Houston RB Joe Mixon has had at least 100 yards rushing and a TD in each of his six road games this season. He had a TD reception against the Chiefs last season while with Cincinnati. He also needs 90 yards rushing for his fifth 1,000-yard season. … Texans WR Nico Collins had two TD catches last week and ranks second in the NFL with 94.3 yards receiving per game this season. … Houston TE Dalton Schultz has had five or more catches in his past two road games. … DE Danielle Hunter had 1½ sacks for Houston last week to give him 12 this season, which ranks second in the NFL. … Texans DE Will Anderson Jr. had a sack and his first career forced fumble last week. He has a career-high 10½ sacks this season. … The Chiefs need one win to match the best regular-season total in franchise history, set in 2020 and matched two years ago. … Mahomes needs one TD pass to pass Dan Marino (241) for the second-most TD passes in a player’s first eight seasons. Mahomes only played in one game his rookie year. … TE Travis Kelce needs one TD reception to pass Tony Gonzalez (76) for the most in Chiefs history. Kelce has 79 total TDs, four shy of Priest Holmes’ franchise record. … Kelce has 89 catches of 25 yards or more in his career. He needs 10 more to break Rob Gronkowski’s record for a tight end. … DT Chris Jones needs six sacks to pass Neil Smith (85 1/2) for the third most in Chiefs history. … Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie had his first NFL interception last week against Cleveland. It came in his 48th game.
Fantasy tip
The Chiefs have shared carries between Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt since the former’s return from an injury. That is unlikely to change Saturday. But given the uncertainty at quarterback for Kansas City, expect both of them to get more work, and perhaps find the end zone once or twice against the Texans.
CHARGERS OVERTAKE BRONCOS, INCH CLOSER TO PLAYOFF BERTH
Justin Herbert passed for 284 yards and two touchdowns, Gus Edwards ran for two scores and the Los Angeles Chargers closed in on a playoff spot by rallying for a 34-27 victory over the Denver Broncos on Thursday in Inglewood, Calif.
Ladd McConkey had six receptions for 87 yards and Cameron Dicker made two field goals, including a rare fair-catch free-kick boot to end the first half as the Chargers ended a two-game losing streak.
Los Angeles can clinch a postseason spot Sunday if both the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts lose or tie.
Bo Nix had 263 yards passing and two TDs for the Broncos, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end. Audric Estime had 48 yards rushing and a touchdown for Denver, which would have clinched the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2015 with a victory.
Nix orchestrated consecutive touchdown drives of 72, 70 and 70 yards to open the game and give the Broncos a 21-10 lead. Two of the TDs came on Nix passes to Michael Burton (1 yard) and Devaughn Vele (6 yards).
The Chargers appeared to build momentum on a rare play to end the first half. An untimed free-kick field goal by Dicker from 57 yards pulled Los Angeles within 21-13. The kick was earned after a fair catch from Derius Davis and a 15-yard fair-catch interference penalty.
It was the first successful kick of its kind in the NFL since 1976.
After the Broncos took a 24-13 lead with 8:31 remaining in the third quarter, the Chargers’ defense took over, allowing the Los Angeles offense to flourish.
A 5-yard TD run from Edwards with 2:58 remaining in the third quarter got the Chargers within 24-19 after the two-point conversion attempt failed. Davis caught a 19-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, and Joshua Palmer caught a two-point conversion pass as Los Angeles took its first lead of the game at 27-24.
The Chargers took a 34-24 lead when Hassan Haskins capped a six-play, 90-yard drive with a 34-yard TD reception off a shovel pass from Herbert with 2:27 left.
Denver got a 55-yard field goal from Wil Lutz with under a minute remaining but failed to recover the ensuing onside kick.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
WOMEN’S TOP 25 ROUNDUP: NO. 2 SOUTH CAROLINA BEATS ICY SHOOTING START
Joyce Edwards came off the bench to net 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting as No. 2 South Carolina overcame a cold first quarter to beat visiting Charleston Southern 82-46 on Thursday in Columbia, S.C.
South Carolina (11-1) shot 2-for-14 from the field in the first quarter and let the Buccaneers take a 15-11 lead after the first 10 minutes. The Gamecocks flipped it to a 34-26 lead at halftime and broke away for good with an 18-4 run to end the third quarter.
Eight other players scored between six and nine points for South Carolina, which outshot Charleston Southern (4-9) 46 percent to 30 percent from the field and 33.3 percent to 17.6 percent from the 3-point arc.
Catherine Alben led the Buccaneers with 14 points and five rebounds.
No. 8 Maryland 107, William & Mary 57
Kaylene Smikle scored a game-high 21 points and Christina Dalce and Allie Kubek added double-doubles as the Terrapins remained undefeated by pasting the visiting Tribe in College Park, Md.
Dalce had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Kubek added 15 points and 11 boards. Saylor Poffenbarger collected a season-high 15 rebounds as Maryland (11-0) dominated the battle on the boards 62-28. The Terps turned 26 offensive rebounds into 39 second-chance points.
Bella Nascimento paced William & Mary (3-8) with 16 points and Jana Sallman added 11 points and a team-leading five rebounds.
No. 15 Michigan State 69, Montana 38
Julia Ayrault led four Spartans in double figures with 15 points in a rout of the Lady Griz as part of the West Palm Beach Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Ines Sotelo shot 6-of-8 to score 13 points, Theryn Hallock added 11 points and Grace VanSlooten had 10 for Michigan State (11-0), which continued its strong start and will meet Alabama on Friday in Florida before a Big Ten trip to Maryland on Dec. 29.
Adria Lincoln had a team-high seven points for Montana (4-6), which was held to 16-for-49 shooting from the field (32.7 percent) and lost 30 turnovers that Michigan State turned into 43 points.
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL SEMI-FINALS
CARDS HEAD TO NCAA FINALS WITH 3-1 WIN OVER PITTSBURGH
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 1-seeded University of Louisville volleyball team advanced to its second-ever NCAA National Championship appearance after besting Atlantic Coast Conference foe and No. 1 overall seed Pittsburgh in four sets Thursday night in the KFC Yum! Center. UofL secured its bid for the final after winning 21-25, 25-23, 29-27, 25-17. The victory marks Louisville’s 30th win of 2024, making it the seventh 30+ win season in school history.
“Incredible match tonight. Pitt’s an exceptional team, and they have players that you can do everything right and they still can take over the game,” said head coach Dani Busboom Kelly. “I was just so proud of the way our team played and battled and stuck with what we’d worked on this entire week, Just the amount of trust we showed, not only in the team, but in ourselves, was pretty incredible.”
Louisville hit .320 on the match off of 65 kills, 54 digs, 12.0 total blocks, and eight service aces. Three players recorded 14 kills on the night, all outside hitters Anna DeBeer, Charitie Luper, and Sofia Maldonado Diaz. Each player also had at least one block, with DeBeer stuffing three and Maldonado Diaz and Luper both posting one.
A couple of freshmen shined for Louisville in the match. Setter and ACC Freshman of the Year Nayelis Cabello recorded 44 assists, eight digs, and two aces; outside hitter Payton Petersen came in to post two kills, four digs, and two aces. Libero and ACC Defensive Player of the Year Elena Scott tallied 14 digs of the Cards’ 54. Middle blockers Cara Cresse and Phekran Kong both added at least four blocks and seven kills, with Cresse putting up six blocks and nine kills and Kong stuffing four blocks and adding seven kills.
ACC Player of the Year and AVCA Player of the Year Olivia Babcock led the way for Pitt with a career-high 33 kills on 65 attacks, two blocks, and five digs. Torrey Stafford recorded a double-double, recording 18 kills and 15 digs with a solo block. The Panthers hit a .316 clip with 70 kills, 64 digs, 4.0 total blocks, and two aces.
“It just felt like everybody was so dialed in, we could have put anybody in and had the same outcome,” said Busboom Kelly. “Super proud and a really unbelievable performance against maybe the best team in the country.”
The 17 points scored by Pitt in the fourth set marks the lowest amount the team has scored in a set all season. The previous low was 18 against Georgia Tech on Nov. 30.
With this win, Louisville advances to the National Championship match on Dec. 22 at 3 p.m. in the Yum! Center to face the winner of Penn State/Nebraska. The championship match can be viewed on ABC. The Cards are in the hunt for their first NCAA title in program history.
Set 1: Louisville 21, Pittsburgh 25
Louisville got the scoring started, going up 2-0 after an attack error from Pitt and a kill from Luper. The points that followed kept the set tight, with neither team getting a lead bigger than two. Through 26 points, there were nine ties and six different Cards that recorded kills in Reese Robins, Cresse, Luper, Kong, Maldonado Diaz, and DeBeer. The Panthers took one of their biggest leads at 13-11, but kills from Luper and DeBeer tied it back up at 14-all. Pittsburgh scored the next point to take the lead 15-14 at the media timeout. Out of the timeout, Pitt took control, pulling ahead 20-16, after only DeBeer and Cresse tallied kills for the Cards. UofL used its first timeout, after which the Panthers got out to a 22-16 lead on a 4-0 run that saw Louisville take its second timeout. Pitt added one more kill, but Robins ended the 5-0 run on a kill. Set point came for Pittsburgh after a kill, but UofL held off four set points on kills from Robins and Kong, a block from Kong and Maldonado Diaz, and an ace from Cabello to bring the score to 24-21. At the fifth set point, the Panthers took the win 25-21 on a kill. Pitt posted a .373 hitting percentage on 22 kills with 24 digs; Louisville hit for .298 on 17 kills, 21 digs, and an ace.
Set 2: Louisville 25, Pittsburgh 23
Pitt got out to a quick 4-0 lead off of Babcock’s 10th kill, a service ace, a block, and an error from the Cards. The 4-0 run ended on a service error from the Panthers before Elena Scott served an ace to put the score at 4-2. Pittsburgh went on a 3-0 run to lead 7-2 into the Louisville timeout. After the timeout, Kong ended the run on a kill as the Cards started climbing back. UofL got the closest they had been all set after a kill from DeBeer made the score 9-6. Pitt added another kill before a service error and Cresse notched a kill to bring Louisville within two at 10-8. The Panthers killed one more before the Cards went on a 5-0 run to lead 13-11 for the first time in the set. The 5-0 run was highlighted by blocks from the duos of Cresse and Maldonado Diaz followed by Cresse and Luper. Pitt took its first timeout of the set and came out to end the run and tie the score at 13. Points continued to go back and forth as Babcock led the way for the Panthers and Kong, Maldonado Diaz, and DeBeer racked up more kills and blocks for the Cards. There were nine more ties throughout the end of the set, before Louisville took its first timeout down 22-21 with Pitt on a 3-0 run. Cresse knocked down a kill to even the score at 22, but the Panthers responded with a kill. Luper killed two more balls to put UofL at set point and force Pitt’s second timeout. Luper’s eighth kill locked down the set win 25-23 for the Cards. In the second set, Kong hit a perfect 1.000 clip with five kills on five attempts.
Set 3: Louisville 29, Pittsburgh 27
Pittsburgh were awarded the first two points after errors from the Cards, until Maldonado Diaz got Louisville on the board with a kill. Pitt got out 5-1 off of a kill from Babcock, an ace from Valeria Vazquez Gomez, and an error by UofL. Points bounced around as Louisville slowly got back into the mix, getting within two ar 8-6 after kills from DeBeer and a solo block from Cresse. Pitt’s Babcock recorded her 20th to give the Panthers a 9-6 lead, and Cresse answered with a kill of her own. Babcock tallied one more before the Cards went on 5-0 run following kills from Robins, DeBeer, and Luper to take the lead 12-10. Out of the timeout, Pitt knotted the score at 12, but Luper answered with two points on her 10th kill and an ace. The Panthers tied the score again at 14 a piece, but DeBeer answered with her 10th kill of the match. Pittsburgh went on a fast 3-0 run to pull ahead 17-15, but DeBeer had another answer and ended the run on a solo block. Louisville eventually went down 20-17 and took its first timeout of the set after two kills from Pitt. The Cards recorded an error following the timeout and Pitt added one of its own as points went back and forth, until the Panthers eventually led 23-19 and Louisville burned its first timeout. UofL answered with two points after the timeout, which caused Pitt to use its second timeout of the set. After that timeout, the Cards extended to a 4-0 run and tied the score at 23 off kills from Maldonado Diaz and a block from Kong and DeBeer. An attack error from Louisville saw Pitt get to the first set point at 24-23, but a kill from DeBeer saw the set being extended. The Panthers added another kill to earn the second set point at 25-24, but DeBeer answered again with a kill. A block from Pittsburgh got them third set point at 26-25 and DeBeer responded with yet another kill. Pitt took fourth set point at 27-26 on a kill, before Louisville went on a 3-0 run to tie, lead, and win the set. Luper tied the set with a kill, Kamden Schrand served an ace to lead, and Kong and Maldonado Diaz teamed up for a block to win the set 29-27.
Set 4: Louisville 25, Pittsburgh 17
A kill from Kong and a solo block from DeBeer marked the first two points in favor of the Cards. With Louisville leading 2-0, DeBeer went down with an injury during the third point and did not return to the match; the point was replayed and freshman outside hitter Payton Petersen replaced DeBeer for the remainder of the set. Pitt answered with a kill before Maldonado Diaz added her eighth kill of the set. The Panthers added a point, but Cresse responded with a kill and Maldonado Diaz served an ace to put Louisville up 5-2. Pittsburgh tallied one more kill before the Louisville defense posted two blocks from Cresse/Petersen and Cresse/Cabello to go up 7-3. Pitt used its first timeout of the set, but Petersen kept the scoring going for the Cards with two straight aces, which had the Panthers calling their second timeout down 9-3. A kill from Pittsburgh ended the 4-0 UofL run, and Pitt went on a short 3-0 run of their own to pull them within three at 9-6. At 10-7, Louisville started another 4-0 run after kills from Luper, Maldonado Diaz, and Petersen and Cabello’s second ace of the game. The Panthers’ Babcock recorded her 30th kill to end the run, but Maldonado Diaz responded quickly. Points were traded as the Cards continued to extend their lead, going up by eight points four different times. Cresse stuffed a solo block and knocked down three kills, while Maldonado Diaz and Luper both continued to add to the kill column. The first set point came for UofL at 24-16 after Maldonao Diaz’s 14th kill of the match. Pitt added one more kill, but Petersen sealed Louisville’s second-ever NCAA Championship Finals appearance on a kill.
NO. 2 PENN STATE HEADED TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER REVERSE SWEEP OF NO. 3 NEBRASKA
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Penn State Women’s Volleyball is headed to the National Championship match for the 11th time in program history after pulling off a dramatic reverse-sweep comeback over third-ranked and second overall seed Nebraska on Thursday night at Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center. The 3-2 (23-25, 18-25, 25-23, 28-26, 15-13) win, which wrapped up at nearly 1 a.m. ET, was the Nittany Lions first reverse sweep in the NCAA Tournament since coming back to beat Texas for the 2009 National Championship. The match was played in front of an NCAA Tournament record crowd of 21,726 fans.
Jess Mruzik caught fire over the final three sets and finished with a match-high 26 kills on .300 hitting and added 12 digs for her 13th double-double of the season. She was dominant in the fifth set with six kill kills on eight swings while willing Penn State to the win, keeping both the Nittany Lions season and her collegiate career alive for one more match. She also reached a major career milestone as her kill that put the Nittany Lions up 12-8 was the 2,000th of her illustrious career.
While it was Mruzik that took over late, it was redshirt freshman Caroline Jurevicius that had a career night – again – against Nebraska. Less than a month ago she recorded a career-high 18 kills on .414 hitting to help Penn State clinch a share of the Big Ten title with a 3-1 win over Nebraska at Rec Hall. She topped that in the latest win over the Huskers, hitting .286 with 20 kills and four blocks. The Nittany Lions improved to 34-2 overall with the victory.
Setter Izzy Starck, who was recently named the AVCA National Freshman of the Year, registered her 17th double-double of the season with 56 assists and 11 digs. Junior libero Gillian Grimes just missed a double-double with a match-high 25 digs in addition to nine assists. Other notable performances included Camryn Hannah with 16 kills and five digs and Taylor Trammell with five kills and five block. Jordan Hopp, who came off the bench in the second set, went on to contribute four blocks. Ava Falduto had two of the team’s seven aces, while Mruzik, Hannah, Starck, Grimes, and Quinn Menger each chipped in with one.
The teams switched sides in the final set with Penn State holding an 8-5 lead, but Nebraska battled back to get within one at 9-8. The Nittany Lions responded with a 3-0 run that included two kills by Mruzik and a block by Hopp and Jurevicius to go up 12-8. The Huskers fought back again to get within one at 14-13. Penn State avoided extra points as Starck found Hannah for the match-clinching kill.
Nebraska received a huge match from Andi Jackson with 19 kills on .630 hitting in addition to her five blocks. Harper Murray led the team with 20 kills, while Rebekah Allick led all players with 10 blocks.
Penn State now turns its attention to third-ranked and fourth-overall seed Louisville. The teams will meet for the National Championship on Sunday at 3 p.m. in a match that will air live on ABC. The Nittany Lions will look to win the eighth National Title in program history.
NBA NEWS
NBA ROUNDUP: GRIZZLIES HAND WARRIORS 51-POINT LOSS
Santi Aldama scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Memphis Grizzlies, who drained a franchise-best 27 3-pointers to overwhelm the visiting Golden State Warriors 144-93 on Thursday.
It was the second-biggest win in terms of margin in Grizzlies history, trailing only a 152-79 rout of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 2, 2021. The Warriors matched the fourth-worst defeat in franchise history.
Brandin Podziemski had a season-high 21 points to lead the Warriors. Stephen Curry was held to two points, the lowest single-game output of his career in contests when he played at least 12 minutes. He missed each of his seven field-goal attempts, six of them from 3-point range.
Golden State’s Draymond Green registered no points, no rebounds and no assists in 19 minutes.
Trail Blazers 126, Nuggets 124
Anfernee Simons made a driving layup at the buzzer to lead Portland to a nail-biting win over visiting Denver.
Simons produced 28 points and 10 assists, Shaedon Sharpe had 27 points and Deni Avdija contributed 19 in 21 minutes off the bench as the Trail Blazers snapped a six-game losing streak.
Nikola Jokic led Denver with 34 points and added eight assists. Jamal Murray had 24 points and nine assists for the Nuggets, who trailed by 17 points in the fourth quarter before taking the lead in the final minute.
Pacers 120, Suns 111
Pascal Siakam recorded 25 points and a season-best 18 rebounds to lead Indiana over host Phoenix.
Myles Turner and Andrew Nembhard added 19 points apiece for Indiana, which has matched its season best with a three-game winning streak. Bennedict Mathurin scored 16 points.
Kevin Durant put up a season-best 37 points, matched his season high of 10 rebounds and also dished six assists for the Suns, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Devin Booker left due to groin tightness in the third quarter after scoring 17 points.
Clippers 118, Mavericks 95
Norman Powell scored 29 points, Ivica Zubac posted 21 points and 15 rebounds, and visiting Los Angeles raced past injury-depleted Dallas.
James Harden finished with 24 points and five rebounds to go with his team-high seven assists. Thirty of the Clippers’ 44 made field goals were assisted, including six assists from Kris Dunn and five each from Powell and Zubac.
Klay Thompson led the Mavericks with 22 points. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 19 points and dished seven assists for Dallas, which was missing without Luka Doncic (heel) and Kyrie Irving (shoulder).
Knicks 133, Timberwolves 107
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 32 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in a triumphant return to Minneapolis, and New York pulled away for a win over Minnesota.
Towns made 10 of 12 shots from the field and drained all five of his 3-point attempts. He added six assists for New York, which improved to 2-0 on its three-game road trip. Mikal Bridges added 29 points.
Julius Randle scored 24 points for Minnesota, which lost on its home court for the first time since Nov. 27. Anthony Edwards finished with 17 points and a team-high seven assists.
Bulls 117, Celtics 108
Zach LaVine tossed in a game-high 36 points and Nikola Vucevic added 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead visiting Chicago past Boston.
Chicago outscored Boston 35-22 in the fourth quarter, when technical fouls were called on Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla and Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Celtics wanted a foul called on the Bulls during a loose-ball scramble. The Bulls extended their winning streak to three games.
Tatum had 31 points and 10 rebounds for Boston. Kristaps Porzingis finished with 20 points and eight boards, and Derrick White had 16 points and eight rebounds. Boston was 14 of 56 (25 percent) from the 3-point arc.
Lakers 113, Kings 100
Austin Reaves poured in a team-high 25 points, Anthony Davis anchored a double-double with 19 rebounds and visiting Los Angeles opened a two-game sequence in Sacramento on a winning note.
Davis attached 21 points, four assists, three steals and six blocks to his rebound total and LeBron James chipped in with 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Lakers, who won their second game in a row.
De’Aaron Fox scored a game-high 26 points and Domantas Sabonis accumulated 18 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists for the Kings, who lost their second straight. The clubs will meet in a rematch on Saturday.
Thunder 105, Magic 99
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 of his game-high 35 points in the first half, helping guide visiting Oklahoma City past Orlando.
Isaiah Hartenstein chipped in 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder, who won their sixth straight. (The NBA Cup final loss to the Milwaukee Bucks does not count in the regular-season standings). Jalen Williams, Aaron Wiggins and Alex Caruso each added 11 points.
Anthony Black led Orlando with 23 points off the bench, while Tristan da Silva and Goga Bitadze each added 15. Bitadze had 10 rebounds, while Wendell Carter Jr. tallied 10 points and 13 boards for the Magic, who lost their third in a row.
Rockets 133, Pelicans 113
Jalen Green scored 22 of his game-high 34 points in the third quarter as host Houston beat New Orleans.
Dillon Brooks scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half for the Rockets, while Alperen Sengun finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Houston shot 57.5 percent for the game and went 17 of 39 (43.6 percent) on 3-point attempts.
Trey Murphy III paced the Pelicans with 28 points, while Herbert Jones added 20 and CJ McCollum 18. New Orleans has lost 14 of its past 15 games.
Wizards 123, Hornets 114
Malcolm Brogdon scored 25 points in his return from injury as host Washington defeated Charlotte for just its second win in the past 21 games.
Brogdon, who also had six assists in 27 minutes off the bench, had missed the last four games with a strained hamstring. Jordan Poole led Washington with 27 points. No. 1 overall pick Alexandre Sarr drained a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the final 3 1/2 minutes and finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.
LaMelo Ball finished with 34 points and 13 assists to lead the Hornets, but he shot just 11-for-32. Charlotte, which got 16 points and eight rebounds apiece from Miles Bridges and Mark Williams, has lost 11 of its past 12.
Jazz 126, Pistons 119
Collin Sexton scored a season-high 30 points and visiting Utah snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Detroit.
Keyonte George tallied 28 points, while Lauri Markkanen supplied 27 points and 14 rebounds. John Collins chipped in 16 points and nine rebounds. Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 33 points and seven assists. Malik Beasley added 26 points.
Utah’s Jordan Clarkson and Detroit’s Ronald Holland II were ejected for an altercation late in the third quarter.
Spurs 133, Hawks 126 (OT)
Victor Wembanyama racked up 42 points and Chris Paul had a key four-point play late in regulation and a decisive 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in overtime as San Antonio outlasted visiting Atlanta.
Devin Vassell added 23 points while Jeremy Sochan had 20 as the Spurs earned their third win in the past four games.
De’Andre Hunter scored 27 points to lead Atlanta, which took its third defeat in four games. Trae Young added 23 points and 16 assists.
Nets 101, Raptors 94
Cameron Johnson had 33 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as visiting Brooklyn came back to defeat Toronto.
Johnson scored 13 points in the final 2:24 to help the Nets end a three-game losing streak and extend Toronto’s losses to six straight. The Raptors had led by 10 points in the third quarter. Brooklyn’s Ben Simmons finished with 12 points and a game-high seven assists.
Ochai Agbaji scored 20 points for the Raptors. Gradey Dick added 19 points, and Scottie Barnes amassed 16 points and six assists.
NHL NEWS
NHL ROUNDUP: OILERS RALLY FOR OT WIN OVER BRUINS
Mattias Ekholm scored at 1:04 of overtime as the Edmonton Oilers completed a two-goal comeback to defeat the visiting Boston Bruins 3-2 on Thursday night.
Ekholm snapped off the deciding goal as the trailer on the rush. He received a feed from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who picked the puck off Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman’s pads and dished a pass back.
The Oilers, who have won six of their last seven games, erased a 2-0 deficit with goals in the second and third periods. Zach Hyman had a goal and an assist, scoring Edmonton’s first before setting up Connor McDavid’s tying tally with 2:21 left. Leon Draisaitl had three assists and Stuart Skinner made 24 saves for the Oilers. Draisaitl and McDavid have seven-game point streaks.
Boston had a 2-0 lead after one period, as Elias Lindholm scored 1:07 in and Mark Kastelic doubled the score with 2:25 left before intermission. Swayman stopped 23 shots for the Bruins, who completed a 2-2-1 road trip against Western Conference teams.
Avalanche 4, Sharks 2
Joel Kiviranta scored two third-period goals to help visiting Colorado come back to beat San Jose.
Valeri Nichushkin scored the first of Colorado’s three goals in the final period. Mikko Rantanen also scored, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar had two assists each and Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves for Colorado, which has won five of seven.
Carl Grundstrom and William Eklund scored second-period goals, Luke Kunin assisted on both markers and Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves for the Sharks, who have dropped six of their past seven. Georgiev was traded from the Avalanche to the Sharks on Dec. 9 in exchange for Blackwood.
Penguins 5, Predators 4 (OT)
Bryan Rust scored his second goal of the night 1:07 into overtime to cap a four-point night, Sidney Crosby had a goal with three assists, and Pittsburgh edged host Nashville.
The OT tally gave the Penguins their first lead and their eighth win in 11 games (8-2-1). Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson each had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, which has played three straight overtime contests, winning twice.
Brady Skjei had a goal and an assist and Filip Forsberg added two assists for Nashville, which has five points in four games following its 0-5-3 slide.
Lightning 3, Blues 1
Nikita Kucherov extended his points streak to nine games, Gage Goncalves scored his first goal and Tampa Bay earned a season-high fourth straight win by beating visiting St. Louis.
Kucherov posted two second-period assists to give him 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in nine outings. Goncalves notched his first goal in his 20th NHL game. Anthony Cirelli and Nick Perbix tallied as the Lightning won for the sixth time in seven December games (6-1-0). Andrei Vasilevskiy denied 31 shots.
St. Louis’ Pavel Buchnevich scored, giving him points in 10 of his past 11 games (four goals, six assists). Jordan Binnington surrendered three goals on 11 shots before being lifted. Joel Hofer stopped all seven shots in relief.
Kings 7, Flyers 3
Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala each scored twice and Los Angeles tallied four goals in the third period in a victory over host Philadelphia.
Warren Foegele added a goal and an assist for Los Angeles, which improved to 3-1-1 on its season-long seven-game road trip. Tanner Jeannott and Quinton Byfield also scored, and Alex Laferriere, Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence each chipped in a pair of assists.
Tyson Foerster notched two goals and an assist for Philadelphia, which has dropped six of its last eight games (2-5-1). Aleksei Kolosov surrendered six goals on 26 shots for the Flyers, while Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves.
Blackhawks 3, Kraken 1
Ilya Mikheyev scored twice and Teuvo Teravainen had two assists to back a 27-save effort from Arvid Soderblom as Chicago topped visiting Seattle for a season-best third win in a row.
Nolan Allan also scored for Chicago. Mikheyev has scored four goals in the past three games after notching just two in the first 28 games.
Ryker Evans scored for Seattle, and Joey Daccord stopped 21 shots. Kaapo Kakko made his Seattle debut after he arrived via a trade Wednesday with the New York Rangers. He had two shots on goal in 13:15 of ice time.
Blue Jackets 4, Devils 2
Elvis Merzlikins made 40 saves as Columbus doubled up visiting New Jersey to snap a five-game losing streak (0-3-2).
Sean Monahan had two goals and an assist, Ivan Provorov and Zach Werenski added goals, and Kirill Marchenko had two assists for the Blue Jackets.
Luke Hughes had a goal and an assist and Timo Meier also scored as the Devils tried to come back from a 3-0 deficit but fell short. Jake Allen made 16 saves for New Jersey, which had won three straight.
Senators 3, Flames 2 (OT)
Brady Tkachuk scored 55 seconds into overtime and visiting Ottawa edged Calgary for its fifth straight win.
The game ended with a series of end-to-end rushes. After Senators goalie Linus Ullmark made a save on Jonathan Huberdeau, he sent an outlet pass to Tim Stutzle. Dan Vladar made the save, but Tkachuk knocked in the rebound for his 16th goal of the season and Ullmark’s first assist of the campaign.
Nick Cousins and Ridly Greig also scored for the Senators, who own the NHL’s longest current winning streak. Ullmark made 29 saves. Blake Coleman and Huberdeau scored for the Flames, who have lost three of four (1-2-2). Matt Coronato had two assists, and Vladar made 26 saves.
Golden Knights 3, Canucks 1
William Karlsson netted the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Vegas scored three consecutive times to pull out the win over Vancouver in Las Vegas.
It was the third game-winning goal of the season for Karlsson. Brett Howden had a goal and an assist and Alex Pietrangelo also scored for Vegas, which improved to 6-1-0 in December and 17-3-2 against Western Conference opponents. Adin Hill made 19 saves.
Teddy Blueger scored for Vancouver, which lost its second straight game (0-1-1) and fell for the fifth time in seven games (2-3-2). Kevin Lankinen, making his first start since Dec. 12 after missing three games with the flu, finished with 18 saves.
BASEBALL NEWS
SAMMY SOSA OWNS UP TO ‘MISTAKES’ DURING CAREER
Chicago Cubs legend Sammy Sosa admitted to making “mistakes” during his career after years of widespread speculation that he used performance-enhancing drugs.
“I understand why some players in my era don’t always get the recognition that our stats deserve,” Sosa said Thursday in a statement. “There were times I did whatever I could to recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength up to perform over 162 games. I never broke any laws, but in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.”
One of the faces of the “Steroids Era,” Sosa was the subject of PED allegations but has never publicly admitted to using any banned substances.
Cubs owner Tom Ricketts acknowledged that Sosa’s apology is an important step in mending the relationship between the former player and team.
“We appreciate Sammy releasing his statement and for reaching out,” Rickets said in a press release. “No one played harder or wanted to win more. Nobody’s perfect, but we never doubted his passion for the game and the Cubs. It is an understatement to say that Sammy is a fan favorite.
“We plan on inviting him to the 2025 Cubs Convention and, while it is short notice, we hope that he can attend. We are all ready to move forward together.”
Sosa spent 13 seasons with the Cubs from 1992-2004, amassing 545 home runs en route to becoming a seven-time All-Star and the 1998 NL MVP. The 56-year-old played 18 MLB campaigns, and sits in ninth on the all-time homer list with 609.
NHL NEWS
NHL BEGINS PRODUCTION ON A 2ND SEASON OF THE LEAGUE’S ALL-ACCESS ‘FACEOFF’ DOCUSERIES
NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL has begun production on the second season of an all-access, behind-the-scenes show with the makers of the popular “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series.
The league, in announcing the continuation of the show Thursday, said Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk is the first player confirmed to be involved in Season 2 of “Faceoff: Inside the NHL,” premiering sometime in 2025. Tkachuk made an appearance in the first season along with members of his family.
The docuseries made by Box To Box and NHL Productions in the first season involved six episodes telling the story of the 2024 playoffs by featuring the likes of Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Tkachuk’s brother, Stanley Cup-winning Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk. It was released on Amazon Prime Video in October.
“With more all-access footage than ever, we’re taking fans deeper into the lives of our players and their families. We can’t wait to do it again,” said Steve Mayer, the NHL’s president of content and events. ”From intense drama to moments that will make you laugh, cry, and everything in between, this season will only be better.”
GOLF NEWS
NICK DUNLAP NAMED PGA TOUR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Nick Dunlap has earned the Arnold Palmer Award as the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year for 2024.
Dunlap became the first player in Tour history to win as an amateur and a professional in the same season.
At 20 years old, the Alabama native is alo the youngest rookie award winner since Jordan Spieth in 2013.
“Nick carved out his place in the PGA Tour record book,” commissioner Jay Monahan said in a news release on Thursday. “To begin 2024 as a collegiate golfer and end it with two PGA Tour victories and among the top-50 players in the FedExCup is truly impressive.”
The award is voted on by PGA Tour members who played in at least 15 events during the 2024 season. Dunlap received 57 percent to finish ahead of fellow nominees Max Greyserman, Jake Knapp and Matthieu Pavon.
As a sophomore at the University of Alabama, Dunlap won The American Express in January to become the first amateur winner on tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991. He turned professional four days after the victory.
Dunlap added to his historic season with a victory at the Barracuda Championship in July.
He finished No. 49 in the FedExCup standings, qualifying him for the Tour’s Signature Events in 2025 by virtue of finishing among the top 50.
Dunlap ended his amateur career as the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He won the 2021 U.S. Junior Amateur and the 2023 U.S. Amateur, joining Tiger Woods as the only players to win each title.
TOP INDIANA SPORTS RELEASES/NEWS
INDIANA PACERS
GAME REWIND: PACERS 120, SUNS 111
The Indiana Pacers entered Phoenix’s Footprint Center carrying a two game winning streak and seeking a third consecutive victory, but so did the Suns. Indiana left the building with another mark in the win column as the Pacers defeated the Suns, 120-111.
The momentum was with Phoenix early as a close-out foul by Bennedict Mathurin was upgraded to a flagrant-1 foul after review in the first quarter, giving Devin Booker three free throws and awarding Phoenix possession of the ball. Booker converted two of his chances from the charity stripe, and Tyus Jones sank a jump shot to complete a 4-point possession for the Suns.
The Suns turned the 4-point possession into an 11-3 run that gave them a 7-point lead with over seven minutes left to play in the first quarter.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Mathurin and Myles Turner helped Indiana recapture the game’s momentum, down just one point midway through the first quarter. Another 3-point make by Tyrese Haliburton powered the Pacers back in front, and a layup from Andrew Nembhard forced the Suns to call a timeout as they forfeited the lead and an 11-0 run to Indiana, 21-17.
The Pacers led at the end of the first frame, 32-27.
Fifteen of the Pacers’ 19 made field goals in the first half were assisted, and they committed just four turnovers in the first half of action as they led at halftime by one point, 60-59.
The Pacers jumped out to an 11-point lead halfway through the third quarter after Haliburton and Nembhard hit back-to-back threes amid a 12-4 scoring run. They were critical in a dominant performance by Indiana’s starters – each of the first five notched double-digit scoring totals, and Siakam and Haliburton both recorded double-doubles.
Indiana built that third quarter run to a 19-6 tsunami as the Pacers pushed their way to a 16-point lead. An 11-point, six rebound quarter from Siakam helped Indiana to a lead at the end of the third, 97-83.
Booker was ruled out for the remainder of the game in the third quarter, shifting Phoenix’s offensive burden to Durant. Durant notched 11 points in the third as he tested a stout Indiana defense.
Mathurin ensured Indiana stayed on pace in the fourth quarter as he stole a pass by Jusuf Nurkic and took it the length of the floor before slamming it home to give the Pacers a 19-point lead with nearly 10 minutes to play.
Phoenix responded with a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 11 points with seven minutes remaining in the contest, and continued to surge as they cut the lead back to single digits with two minutes to go. The Pacers held off the surging Suns to win their third straight, and third consecutive road game, 120-111.
Ben Sheppard returned to the lineup for Indiana after a 14-game absence due to injury. He scored two points off the bench in his return, but added a block, a steal, and two rebounds in his limited 16 minutes.
Nembhard recorded a second consecutive season-high scoring total as he tallied 19 points and contributed four assists in the Pacers’ win, and Obi Toppin continued his run of strong performances off the bench for Indiana as he recorded 13 points and eight rebounds in the outing.
Siakam led Indiana’s scorers with his 25 points, and was just one rebound shy of his career high as he grabbed 18 rebounds. Haliburton also recorded a double-double with 13 points, 12 assists, and four rebounds. Durant led Phoenix with 37 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, but couldn’t overcome Indiana’s strong showing.
The increased defensive intensity from Indiana created 16 Phoenix turnovers that led to 29 points. The Pacers committed just nine of their own turnovers – only the third time this season that they’ve held their own turnover numbers in the single digits.
“I thought we had a lot of guys that played really well,” Carlisle said postgame. “…The thing that we’re doing better is taking care of the ball…We’ve got to continue in that vein, and it’s a big part of improved defense as well.”
The Pacers extended their winning streak to three games with the win in Phoenix, and look ahead to Sunday’s matchup with the Kings in Sacramento as they seek to extend it to four.
Inside the Numbers
The Pacers committed just nine turnovers that led to 10 Phoenix points, but forced the Suns into 16 turnovers that led to 29 points.
Indiana won the rebounding battle, 44-47. Forty-seven is the second-most rebounds Indiana has grabbed in a game this season.
Indiana recorded 30 assists on 39 made field goals. Over 76% of the Pacers’ made baskets were assisted.
The Pacers recorded a season-high for free throws made as they sank 26 of their 31 attempts from the stripe.
You Can Quote Me on That
“Obi’s taken his game to another level. More physical defense and rebounding, really tremendous. Offensively he’s getting a rhythm, he’s one of our important weapons. When he defends and rebounds the way he has in recent games, it’s a really important factor for us.” – Carlisle on Obi Toppin
“Pascal showed his versatility tonight in a big way. Defense, rebounding, scoring. There was a fair amount of playmaking there too, he had a big blocked shot at the end. He just has so many tools, and he’s having such a great year, so he was great tonight.” – Carlisle on Pascal Siakam
“Defensively we did some very good things…We had a good second half…We were able to survive nine minutes of bonus in the fourth quarter by getting stops without fouling.” – Carlisle on Defense
“We’ve just been connected. The energy has been right, I think we’ve just been really connected. These last couple weeks of having time to practice together and all those things, that really helped.” – Tyrese Haliburton on the winning streak
Stat of the Night
Pascal Siakam’s 18 rebounds are the most in a game by any Pacer this season. He was just one rebound shy of his career-high 19 rebounds.
Noteworthy
Ben Sheppard returned to play on Thursday despite playing under a minutes restriction after missing 14 games due to injury.
The Pacers are now on a three-game winning streak.
Indiana split the season series with the Suns last season, 1-1.
Up Next
The Pacers travel to Sacramento for a matchup with Domantas Sabonis and the Kings on Sunday, Dec. 22nd at 6:00 PM ET.
POST GAME: https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/game-rewind-pacers-120-suns-111
INDY FUEL
FUEL HEAD TO FORT WAYNE FOR FIRST MATCHUP THIS SEASON
INDIANAPOLIS – The Fuel travel to Fort Wayne to play the Komets on Friday night for the first time this season. Indy hopes to have a strong night on the score sheet as the Komets enter this game with a win against Allen last weekend.
LAST TIME OUT
The Fuel and Komets are meeting for the first time this season, after Indy went 7-3-2-0 against them last season. Fort Wayne is 2nd in the central division, above the Fuel who are currently in 4th. The Fuel hope to open the season series with a win.
SCOUTING REPORT
The Fuel need to watch out for the Komets’ forward Odeen Tufto, who has 21 points in 18 games. Indy’s penalty kill needs to be sharp, as Tufto leads the team with 4 power-play goals. The Fuel will have some reprieve as they get Cam Hausinger back from the Chicago Wolves. Before being called up, Hausinger left the Fuel tied for the team lead in points.
INDIANA MEN’S BASKETBALL
INDIANA BASKETBALL GAME NOTES – GAME 12 VS. CHATTANOOGA
Opening Tip
• Indiana University will return to non-conference play in its 125th season of competition in men’s basketball against Chattanooga on Saturday, Dec. 21, at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The game will be broadcast on BTN with Wayne Randazzo (pxp) and Stephen Bardo (analyst) on the call.
• The Mocs enter the game with a record of 8-4 under third-year head coach Dan Earl. Chattanooga receives double figure scoring from a trio of guards: senior Trey Bonham (13.8 points per game), junior Honor Huff (12.5), and fifth-year Bash Wieland (11.6). The Mocs make 9.2 3-pointers per contest and shoot the long ball at 31.3% aa a team.
Game Information
Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024 • Noon ET
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) • Bloomington, Ind.
TV: BTN (Wayne Randazzo, Stephen Bardo)
Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, John Herrick)
Series History: Indiana leads, 3-0
Last Meeting: IU 99, UTC 74 on March 17, 2016, in Des Moines
Series History
• Indiana has won all three previous matchups against Chattanooga, including a 99-74 result in the opening round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Kevin ‘Yogi’ Ferrell led the Hoosier attack with 20 points and 10 assists. Future NBA players OG Anunoby (14 points), Thomas Bryant (13), and Troy Williams (12) all scored in double figures.
• Current IU Team & Recruiting Coordinator Jordan Hulls knocked down 6-of-9 shot behind the 3-point line to lead Indiana to a 78-53 victory over the Mocs on Nov. 13, 2011. Current Philadelphia 76er Eric Gordon scored 33 points in his collegiate debut in a 99-79 win over Chattanooga on Nov. 12, 2007.
Last Time Out
• Redshirt sophomore Myles Rice scored 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor to go along with three rebounds and four steals in an 85-68 loss at Nebraska on Friday, Dec. 13. Junior forward Malik Reneau added 12 points and fifth-year senior guard Trey Galloway chipped in 10 points.
• Senior forward Luke Goode connected on a 3-pointer to cut the Cornhusker lead to 68-67 with 6:51 remaining in the game. Nebraska went on to close the contest on a 17-1 run.
Going the Extra Myles
• Redshirt sophomore guard Myles Rice averages 14.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game against conference opponents during his college career.
• The Washington State transfer has scored in double figures 16 times in 22 career games in conference, has posted five 20-point games, and scored a career-high 35 points at Stanford on Jan. 18, 2024.
• Over his last four games, Rice is averaging 14.5 points on 66.7% (24-of-36) shooting from the floor. He has scored 15-plus points in three of the four games.
Big Fella Ballo
• Sixth-year senior center Oumar Ballo is averaging 9.3 rebounds per game, the third-most among Big Ten players and 24th nationally. Ballo has strung together five games with double-digit boards, including a season-high 18 against Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 6.
• Ballo scored a season-best 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the floor against No. 3/4 Gonzaga on day two of the Battle 4 Atlantis. He is the first IU player to finish the game shooting at least 80% from the floor on 10-or-more made field goals since Kel’el Ware vs. Wisconsin on Feb. 27, 2024 (91.7%, 11-12).
• He became the third IU player in the last 30 years (Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jared Jeffries) to record 10+ points, 15+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in a game after producing 14 points, 18 boards, and six assists against Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 6.
• The former Gonzaga Bulldog and Arizona Wildcat holds a career winning percentage of 83.9% in 143 career games. Ballo has played in 119 straight games and has not missed a start over the last three seasons (82 games).
Reneau for Two
• Junior forward Malik Reneau is averaging a team-best 15.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. The Miami, Fla., native is shooting 59.4% (63-of-106) from the floor and 82.6% (38-of-46) from the free throw line in 27.3 minutes per game.
• He is one of two high-major players (Chance McMillian, Texas Tech) to average at least 15.0 points per game while shooting 55.0% from the floor and 80.0% from the charity stripe.
• Reneau has tallied 15-plus points 26 times in his career, including seven games this season, and topped the 20-point threshold nine times. IU holds a record of 18-8 in games Reneau scores at least 15 points throughout his career.
Ballo, Bench Lift Hoosiers Over Gophers
• Sixth-year senior Oumar Ballo posted 18 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor, seven rebounds, two assists, and one block in his Big Ten Conference debut to help Indiana to an 82-67 victory over Minnesota on Monday, Dec. 9 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
• The Hoosier bench, led by freshman wing Bryson Tucker (16 points) and sophomore guard Kanaan Carlyle (14) outscored the Gophers by a final tally of 32-14.
• Junior forward Malik Reneau added 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, while sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako chipped in 13 points. IU improved to 4-0 in Big Ten home openers under head coach Mike Woodson.
INDIANA/NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL
NOTRE DAME-INDIANA PLAYOFF GAME A TWIST FOR THOSE WITH DUAL LOYALTIES IN THE HOOSIER STATE
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jim O’Donnell’s legacy will be felt inside Notre Dame Stadium on Friday night.
His son, Jim, will attend the first playoff game in major college football to ever be played at a campus site, dressed in the cream-and-crimson color garb of his dad’s alma mater, Indiana. The younger O’Donnell’s son, Dylan, will don the Fighting Irish “Rudy” jacket his grandfather wrapped his frail body in as he be battled dementia.
The man whose split loyalties were legendary to friends and family certainly will be there in spirit as his two beloved college teams — seventh-seeded Notre Dame and the 10th-seeded Indiana — kick off the College Football Playoff against each other in South Bend. He was one of the many fervent football fans in Indiana and would have loved this clash.
It’s a gift from heaven for the O’Donnells.
“What would he think of this matchup? To tell you the truth, he’d root for Notre Dame in a heartbeat,” said Carri O’Donnell, who read Blue and Gold Illustrated to her father-in-law two days before he died in September at age 89. “But anybody at IU who asked him, he would lie to them and say he rooted for IU — and then he would wink at you.”
In many ways, O’Donnell typified what this rare in-state, non-rivalry is all about — pride, passion and pleasantries.
He grew up in the state’s northwest corner, Irish Catholic, the son of a man who schooled him well in the Notre Dame lore that makes the program a global love for so many. Still, O’Donnell was so determined to become a Hoosier that he hitchhiked his way 200 miles to the Bloomington campus.
After graduating, O’Donnell returned to East Chicago, or what many call “The Region,” where his dual rooting interests showed up like so many other people in Indiana.
He was a Notre Dame season-ticket holder from the 1950s through the 2000s. He met every Irish coach from Dan Devine to Charlie Weis. And O’Donnell never allowed his Hoosier ties to clash with his Irish roots.
Instead, those rooting interests merged.
“It’s funny when you look at the state of Indiana, you’ve got your Purdue fans, your IU fans and your Notre Dame fans, but there’s a lot of people that are Notre Dame football and IU basketball,” said Irish linebacker Jack Kiser, who grew up in tiny Royal Center, population 800. “Historically, those have been the (state’s) really good programs.”
Friendlies, not rivals
Because the twain rarely met, fans embraced the best of both worlds.
Yes, Indiana has five national championship banners hanging from the rafters inside its basketball arena, but the football program’s claim to fame until this season had been that it lost more games than any other Bowl Subdivision program.
Notre Dame, meanwhile, owns the second-most national championships in college football’s poll era (nine) and has seven Heisman Trophy winners but made its only appearance in the men’s Final Four in 1978; the women’s program has two national titles.
For years, the Irish and Hoosiers met annually on the basketball court when coaches Digger Phelps and Bob Knight were on the sideline. Those basketball games, though, were more friendlies than rivalries and the same is true in a football series Notre Dame has dominated, 23-5-1.
The Hoosiers last made the 200-mile trek to South Bend in 1991 only to get walloped 49-27. That was the first contest between the schools since 1958. Indiana hasn’t won since 1950, and with so few matchups there’s little spite.
“When Bob Knight came to town, there certainly was a fair number of Notre Dame football fans who became IU basketball fans and showed their true colors with red sweaters, probably close to 50-50 in the arena actually,” former South Bend Tribune sports editor Bill Bilinski said. “It always seemed like a lot of South Benders had two sports wardrobes — one for fall and one for winter.”
O’Donnell and longtime South Bend resident Alan Bell both fit Bilinski’s description.
Bell’s father, Ed, grew up in Chicago and was recruited for football by Notre Dame and Indiana. He wound up playing for Hoosiers coach Bo McMillin in the 1940s before spending four pro seasons, three with the Green Bay Packers.
The Bells moved to South Bend in 1960, where Alan grew up a Notre Dame football fan even though he and most of his family members graduated from Indiana. He and his son Chris, also an Indiana alum, plan to dress accordingly Friday night.
“I will be wearing spirit wear from both schools — some visible and some underneath,” Alan Bell said. “Either way, my heart is with both schools and supporting each program.”
Cheering section
For the O’Donnells, Friday night is a more than a game; it seems like destiny.
Jim O’Donnell died the day before Notre Dame’s home opener, the stunning 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois. The Irish won their next 10 to make the playoff and chase their first national championship since 1988.
Carri O’Donnell says she shelled out hundreds for tickets to send her husband and son from Indianapolis to college football’s mecca so the family could celebrate the family patriarch by cheering once more for old Notre Dame — and Indiana.
“He was a (school) principal and when he retired, they gave him the jacket from the movie ‘Rudy,’” she said while sitting in a room with an Indiana lamp on one side and a Notre Dame lamp on the other. “He wore it all the time. In the last two years, he would wear his Notre Dame Rudy jacket and then he cover up with his really heavy IU blanket. But he would never go a day without having something IU or Notre Dame on.”
PURDUE FOOTBALL
ODOM TABS DARIN HINSHAW AS QUARTERBACKS COACH
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Darin Hinshaw, who spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UCF, will join Purdue Football as the program’s QB coach, head coach Barry Odom announced Thursday (Dec. 19). Hinshaw arrives in West Lafayette with 26 years of experience at the collegiate level, including 12 seasons as an offensive coordinator.
“Darin’s approach to developing quarterbacks, along with his offensive philosophy, makes him one of the elite minds in the college game,” said Odom. “I have competed against his teams over the years; he always had answers, and his guys played so well. He is also a relentless recruiter, and I am excited to have him join our staff.”
A native of Punta Gorda, Florida, Hinshaw has served as an offensive coordinator in five different conferences during his 26-year coaching tenure. His offenses have set numerous school records, helped win conference championships, earned 10-win seasons and garnered multiple all-conference and All-America honors. Hinshaw’s offensive units have finished among the nation’s top 10 in passing, rushing and total offense—including both total offense and rushing in 2023.
This year, Hinshaw’s UCF offense ranked second in the Big 12 and 16th nationally in total offense (447.8 ypg) while averaging 30.4 points per game. With the help of Hinshaw’s playcalling, running back RJ Harvey led the conference in rushing yards (1,577) and rushing touchdowns (22), while ranking fourth nationally in both categories. Harvey earned AP Third Team All-America and First Team All-Big 12 honors, while wide receiver Kobe Hudson and offensive lineman Amari Knight were named all-conference honorable mention.
Hinshaw’s initial season as UCF’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach featured one of the most productive offenses and rushing attacks in the nation. The 2023 Knights ranked eighth in total offense at 487.0 yards per contest and fourth in rushing at 228.2 yards per game (third-highest in UCF history). Both figures ranked second in the Big 12. UCF’s offense was directed by veteran quarterback John Rhys Plumlee, who threw for 2,271 yards and 15 touchdowns and ran for 505 yards and five scores to claim Honorable Mention All-Big 12 honors.
Hinshaw also directed offensive standouts Javon Baker (First Team All-Big 12 receiver), plus offensive honorable mention all-league picks Tylan Grable at tackle, Lokahi Pauole at guard and center, Harvey at running back, Hudson at receiver and Plumlee at QB. Tight end Randy Pittman received votes as offensive freshman of the year to also merit honorable mention status.
Hinshaw returned to UCF after spending the 2022 season at UAB as offensive coordinator, where the Blazers set program records for total yards (5,697), rushing yards (3,063), yards per game (438.2) and rushing yards per game (235.6). Under his direction, UAB running back DeWayne McBride turned in the most decorated season in school history, finishing the 2022 regular season as the nation’s leading rusher with 1,713 yards. McBride earned Walter Camp Second Team All-America honors, as well as being named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-Conference USA selection.
In 2021, as an analyst with the Knights, he helped UCF win six of its final seven games to compile an overall 9-4 mark capped by a 29-17 Gasparilla Bowl triumph over Florida and a perfect 7-0 home record.
Hinshaw spent five years at Kentucky (2016-20) as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. The Wildcats’ offense generated 2,000 rushing yards and 2,000 passing yards three times (2016, 2017 and 2018) during Hinshaw’s tenure, the first time in school history Kentucky accomplished that in three straight seasons.
Hinshaw helped wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. transition to quarterback, a position he had not played since high school. Bowden excelled under Hinshaw’s guidance and earned First Team All-America and All-SEC honors as an all-purpose player. He also won the Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile athlete.
In 2018, Hinshaw’s offense led Kentucky to its first 10-win season since 1977, and its 5-3 record in the SEC was the first winning record in conference play since that same year. Additionally, the Wildcats finished with the highest final ranking (No. 11) since 1977.
Prior to his time at Kentucky, Hinshaw served on the Cincinnati coaching staff (2013-15) as the passing game coordinator. In those three seasons under head coach Tommy Tuberville, Hinshaw helped guide the Bearcats to a bowl game each year, with Cincinnati collecting 25 combined wins. In 2013, the Bearcats led the American Athletic Conference in total offense (472.1) and rushing offense (168.3). Those marks were surpassed in 2015—as Cincinnati amassed 537.8 yards per game. The Bearcats ranked sixth in the nation in passing offense (359.9) and total offense in 2015.
The 2014 Cincinnati squad won a share of the AAC championship along with UCF and Memphis each with 7-1 records against league opponents.
Hinshaw coached three seasons at Tennessee (2010-12), working as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator in 2012, with Rivals.com ranking him as one of the top 10 recruiters in college football. He helped direct the 2012 Tennessee offense to 5,711 yards, second most in school history. His star wide receiver, Cordarrelle Patterson, a First Team All-SEC selection, set Tennessee’s single-season record with 1,858 all-purpose yards.
From 2007-09, Hinshaw spent three seasons at Memphis as the wide receivers coach. He joined the Tigers’ staff after serving one season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Georgia Southern in 2006.
He worked at Middle Tennessee for five seasons (2001-05), where he was the running backs coach his first two seasons before being elevated to co-offensive coordinator in February 2003.
Hinshaw began his coaching career at his alma mater, UCF, where head coach Mike Kruczek hired him as a graduate assistant in 1999 and named him quarterbacks coach in 2000.
As a player, Hinshaw set numerous school records for the Knights, finishing as the career leader in every major passing category, including yards (9,000 on 614-of-1,112 throwing), passing TDs (82) and overall TDs responsible for (93). He was a four-year (1991-94) starter at quarterback, throwing for a then-UCF record 437 yards as a junior versus Valdosta State in 1993 and later that season tossing six TD passes in a game against Liberty.
During his time under center, UCF had a combined 28-16 record, including a 9-3 mark in 1993 that resulted in a berth in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. Hinshaw was named to UCF’s 25th Anniversary Team in 2004.
Hinshaw also played for the UCF basketball team in 1993-94, helping the Knights to the NCAA Tournament, the Atlantic Sun Tournament title and a 21-9 record that year.
Following his playing days at UCF, Hinshaw began a career in pro football. After a brief stint with the Cleveland Browns, he spent two years with the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League.
Hinshaw earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from UCF in 1993 and added a master’s in business administration (MBA) from UCF in 1996.
NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL
WATTS EARNS CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA HONORS, FIRST TWO-TIME IRISH CONSENSUS HONOREE SINCE 1993
One of the most decorated Notre Dame football players in program history, graduate safety Xavier Watts has been named a consensus First-Team All-American for his performance in the 2024 season, following up a 2023 unanimous All-America showing. Watts becomes one of just 17 Irish players all-time to be a two-time consensus honoree, and the first to do so since 1993.
Watts is one of two repeat consensus All-Americans across the FBS in 2024, joining Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.
Watts earns Notre Dame its 111th consensus All-America selection. He joins an illustrious list of fellow Notre Dame two-time consensus All-America selections:
Frank Carideo, back (1929, 1930)
Marchy Schwartz, back (1930, 1931)
Bob Dove, end (1941, 1942)
George Connor, tackle (1946, 1947)
John Lujack, back (1946, 1947)
Bill Fischer, guard (1947, 1948)
Leon Hart, end (1948, 1949)
Emil Sitko, back (1948, 1949)
John Lattner, back (1952, 1953)
Ross Browner, defensive end (1976, 1977)
Ken MacAfee, tight end (1976, 1977)
Bob Crable, linebacker (1980, 1981)
Michael Stonebreaker, linebacker (1988, 1990)
Todd Lyght, defensive back (1989, 1990)
Chris Zorich, defensive line (1989, 1990)
Aaron Taylor, offensive line (1992, 1993)
A 2024 Team Captain, Watts was named a 2024 First-Team All-American for the second-consecutive season by the Associated Press, Walter Camp, The Sporting News and the AFCA, earning second-team honors from the FWAA in 2024.
Watts has also been named a First-Team All-American by The Athletic, USA TODAY, Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Focus and Bleacher Report. Watts was named a First-Team Midseason All-American by Associated Press, The Sporting News, PFF, Athlon Sports, The Athletic and CBS Sports.
Watts earned Notre Dame’s program Defensive Player of the Year award in 2024, and he was named a semifinalist for the 2024 Walter Camp Player of the Year, the Bednarik Award, the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award and the Lott IMPACT Trophy.
Watts has totaled 12-career interceptions, the most by a Notre Dame player since 1996. He is the 19th Notre Dame player to intercept 10 or more passes and is tied for eighth on the all-time list for career interceptions in program history.
Watts ranks third in the nation in total interceptions (5), fourth in the nation in interceptions per game (0.4), and 12th in the country in passes defended (1.2 per game).
Notre Dame has gained 28 turnovers this season (tied for first in the nation). Watts is responsible for six of them (five interceptions, one fumble recovery).
The Irish defense is one of the most complete defenses in the country, ranking among the FBS’ top teams. At the end of the regular season, Notre Dame was first in team passing efficiency defense (94.10), first in turnovers gained (28), first in defensive touchdowns (6), third in scoring defense (13.6), fourth in passing yards allowed (157.9), fourth in interceptions (17), seventh in fumbles recovered (11), ninth in red zone defense (0.733), 10th in total defense (296.8) and 10th in first downs defense (197).
NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S SOCCER
IZZY ENGLE NAMED TOPDRAWERSOCCER FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Freshman phenom Izzy Engle was named the TopDrawerSoccer Freshman of the Year, the organization announced. Engle continues to tally up accolades following an historic freshman campaign.
Her 19 goals on the season were tied for the second-most in the country this past season and were the most by a freshman since 2014. The Edina, Minnesota native also earned first-team honors after posting 39 points on the season, the second most in the conference and sixth-most nationally.
Engle ended the season on a hot streak, scoring nine goals in the final nine games. Her play down the stretch led the Irish during its postseason run.
Fellow freshmen Grace Restovich and Abigail Mills both secured spots on the Freshman First-Team. Restovich’s 11 assists were a team-high while Mills started 19 games on the backline and netted one goal and one assist.
TopDrawerSoccer Postseason Awards
Player of the Year: Kate Faasse, North Carolina
Freshman of the Year: Izzy Engle, Notre Dame
Coach of the Year: Damon Nahas, North Carolina
Best XI Teams
First Team
F: Kate Faasse (North Carolina), Caiya Hanks (Wake Forest), Izzy Engle (Notre Dame)
M: Taylor Huff (Florida State), Maggie Graham (Duke), Helena Sampaio (USC), Macey Hodge (Mississippi State)
D: Lilly Reale (UCLA), Macy Blackburn (Texas Tech), Brooklyn Courtnall (USC)
GK: Leah Freeman (Duke)
Freshman Best XI Teams
First Team
F: Amalia Villarreal (Texas), Katie Shea Collins (South Carolina), Ginny Lackey (James Madison)
M: Linda Ullmark (North Carolina), Charlotte Kohler (Stanford), Grace Restovich (Notre Dame), Nalani Damacion (Hawaii)
D: Abigail Mills (Notre Dame), Nicola (Nicki) Fraser (UCLA), Julia Belli (Michigan State)
GK: Keegan Smith (Arkansas)
IU INDY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TRAVELS TO FORT MYERS FOR FGCU HOLIDAY CLASSIC
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The IU Indy women’s basketball team will travel to Fort Myers, Florida for the FGCU Holiday Classic this weekend. During the quick trip, the Jags will face East Tennessee State on Friday (December 20) and North Carolina A&T on Saturday (December 21). Both games are set for a 1:00 PM tipoff.
IU Indy’s previous match up came against Purdue Fort Wayne. The IU Indianapolis women’s basketball team came up short in a hard-fought contest on Wednesday, December 11, falling 79-71. The Jaguars held the lead for the majority of the game, but the Mastodons mounted a strong fourth-quarter rally to close out the victory.
The Jaguars started the season off hot at the three-point line, totaling 13 threes in the season opener against Evansville, two more than the season high during the 2023-24 season. Six different Jags recorded a three in the win with newcomer Nevaeh Foster leading
the way, shooting 5-for-7 from behind the arc. Sophomore Shania Nichols-Vannett added three three-pointers. The Jaguars’ three ball dipped in the following games until Wednesday’s loss to the Mastodons. IU Indy shot .531 percent from beyond the arc, totaling 11 three-pointers, led by Nichols-Vannett shooting 6-for-7.
While the Jags are averaging 63.0 points per game, newcomer Shania Nichols-Vannett leads the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game. The sophomore totaled a career-high 37 points in the loss against Southern Illinois which puts her at the top in the Horizon League for total points scored by a player in a single game this season. Faith Stinson follows with 9.9 points per game.
Head coach Kate Bruce returns to her alma mater, Florida Gulf Coast, where she was inducted into the FGCU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023. During her two years as a student-athlete at FGCU, Bruce earned honorable mention All-American honors after a 2006-07 season after she led FGCU in scoring (15.1 points per game) and rebounding (7.2 rebounds per game). She scored 20 or more points in nine games and had seven games with at least 10 rebounds. Bruce’s 453 points scored in 2006-07 was the second-highest single-season total at the time at FGCU, and her 215 rebounds are the third most in a season.
East Tennessee State earned wins over Gardner-Webb, Tennessee Tech, Presbyterian, Memphis, UVA Wise, Radford and UNC Asheville for a 7-5 overall record. North Carolina A&T enters the weekend 2-6 overall with wins over Winton-Salem State and North Carolina Central. This will be the first time the Jags have faced either team in program history.
IU Indy will tip off against ETSU at 1:00 PM on Friday, December 20 then finish out the trip with a 1:00 PM tip on Saturday, December 21 against North Carolina A&T.
IU INDY MEN’S BASKETBALL
JAGUARS HEAD TO SOUTH BEACH TO FACE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
MIAMI – The IU Indianapolis men’s basketball team will take on Florida International on Saturday (Dec. 21) at 6:00 p.m. inside Ocean Bank Convocation Center on ESPN+. The Jaguars come in looking to snap a three-game skid after dropping a non-conference tilt at Lindenwood a week prior.
The Jaguars remain among the nation’s best three-point shooting teams, having made 10.5 per game to rank No. 23 in the country, doing so at a 37 percent clip. The Jags have made double-digit threes in five of the past six games, including tying the school record with 19 makes against Trinity Christian on Nov. 30.
Graduate Paul Zilinskas has made a team-high 42 while Jarvis Walker has 23 and Alec Millender has hit 22. Zilinskas continues to lead the team in scoring at 18.8 points per game and is shooting 46.2 percent from three. Walker is tallying 16.1 points per game and junior Sean Craig owns four double-doubles while averaging 9.8 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game. Millender has taken over the point guard role and is averaging 7.7 points and 3.5 assists per game with a 2.56 assist-to-turnover ratio.
The frontcourt has primarily been manned by true freshmen DeSean Goode (5.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Keenan Garner (4.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg) to start the season, but received reinforcements recently as graduate Julian Steinfeld returned from injury. Steinfeld is coming off an eight-rebound performance at Lindenwood a week ago.
In addition to their three-point prowess, the Jaguars also rank No. 28 in the country in free throw shooting at 77.7 percent. Zilinskas (89.8%), Walker (82.1%) and Goode (80.8%) are all hitting better than 80 percent on the season.
Saturday’s game marks the Jaguars first game in the Sunshine State since winning at South Florida on Nov. 13, 2019.
SCOUTING FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
FIU is 4-7 on the season and 2-2 on their home floor. The Panthers are outscoring opponents by nearly three points per game and outrebounding foes by a board per game. Jayden Brewer leads FIU in scoring (15.4 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg) while Jonathan Aybar checks in at 10.4 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game. Four other regulars are averaging better than seven points per game, including Vianney Salatchoum, who also has a team-high 22 blocked shots and is shooting better than 60 percent from the floor.
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday’s meeting marks the first-ever matchup between the two teams.
UP NEXT
The Jaguars will return to Horizon League play on Sunday, Dec. 29 when they take on league leader Milwaukee at 2:00 p.m. CST in Milwaukee.
BALL STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL
CARDINALS HOST EVANSVILLE SATURDAY IN RETURN TO WORTHEN ARENA
The Ball State men’s basketball team returns home for its first game at Worthen Arena in a month to host Evansville at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Mick Tidrow and David Eha on the call, while Mark Foerster and Scot Bunnell handle the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM – 92.5FM.
Evansville leads the all-time series between the two programs 40-17 but only hold a 16-14 edge in games played in Muncie. The Purple Aces topped the Cardinals 74-50 in Evansville on Nov. 18, 2023 in the most recent meeting.
Ball State (4-6) won 86-82 at Bellarmine last Saturday thanks to a Mid-American Conference Player of the Week performance from Juanse Gorosito and clutch free throw shooting by Mickey Pearson Jr. The Cardinals shot 54.2 percent from the field including 52.6 percent from distance as a team to hold off the Knights in Louisville.
Evansville (3-8) fell 80-54 at UT-Arlington on Wednesday night in its fourth straight setback. This will be the first Mid-American Conference opponent of the year for the Aces and the first Missouri Valley Conference opponent for the Cardinals during the regular season.
The Cardinals wrap up 2024 with a 2 p.m. game with Anderson on New Year’s Eve.
SCOUTING EVANSVILLE: The Purple Aces are in their third season with head coach David Ragland at the helm. Evansville was picked ninth in the 12-team MVC preseason poll.
Evansville paces the Missouri Valley in blocks per game (4.5) while ranking third in 3-point attempts per game (26.9).
Senior guard Tanner Cuff’s 4.5 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the MVC and ranks sixth nationally. Junior forward Connor Turnbull is second in the conference in both blocks per game (1.45) and total blocks (16).
MICKEY MONEY FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE: Mickey Pearson Jr. went 12-for-12 at the free throw line in Ball State’s win at Bellarmine on Saturday including sinking two foul shots with six seconds to play to secure the 86-82 decision.
Pearson’s 12 free throws made were the most by a Ball State player since Taylor Persons also sunk a dozen on Nov. 18, 2018 vs App State. Pearson is the only Cardinal with multiple career games making at least 10 free throws without a miss in the last 10 seasons (10-for-10 vs Central Michigan on Jan. 6, 2024).
GORO-THREE-TO: Junior guard Juanse Gorosito was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week after hitting seven 3-pointers for 21 and adding four assists and three steals on Saturday at Bellarmine. The Argentina native has made at least three 3-pointers in each of the last six games, going 27-for-45 (60 percent) from distance in that time to increase his season shooting percentage to 50 percent (34-68).
Gorosito is second in the conference in 3-pointers made and leads the league while ranking No. 10 in NCAA Division I in shooting percentage from distance.
MILESTONE WATCH: Payton Sparks (962 points), Jeremiah Hernandez (887) and Pearson Jr. (843) are each closing in on scoring 1,000 points in his Division I career.
Ethan Brittain-Watts recently made his 100th career 3-pointer, while Sparks (577 rebounds) needs only eight more boards to move into the Top-20 in Ball State program history for a career.
KEEPING UP WITH KENTUCKY SCHOOLS: Saturday’s win at Bellarmine moved the Cardinals to 2-0 this year against teams from the Bluegrass State.
The Cardinals defeated Eastern Kentucky 63-61 on Nov. 25 in the first game of the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla.
TOP OF THE HILL: Junior Jermahri Hill was named the Mid-American Conference Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 2 after averaging 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in three games at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Hill had assists on three-point plays to Mickey Pearson Jr. and Payton Sparks in the final minute of the 63-61 win over Eastern Kentucky in the opener on Nov. 25. The guard paces the MAC in free throw attempts (64) and makes (42) while ranking seventh at 16.0 points per game on the year.
I REMEMBER YOU: Ball State has played seven different players this season who were on MAC rosters during the 2023-24 season. SIUE’s Darrion Baker (from Akron) was the seventh. The full list is below.
Darrion Baker (Akron to SIUE)
Legend Geeter (Eastern Michigan to Detroit Mercy)
Markus Harding (Central Michigan to Indiana State)
Orlando Lovejoy (Eastern Michigan to Detroit Mercy)
Cyril Martynov (Eastern Michigan to Eastern Kentucky)
Zarique Nutter (Northern Illinois to Georgia State)
B. Artis White (Western Michigan to Richmond)
GETTING TO THE LINE: The Cardinals paced the Mid-American Conference in both free throw attempts per game (26.5) and free throws made per game (18.4) through the season’s first 10 games.
Ball State ranks No. 9 and No. 26 in those categories in NCAA Division I, respectively. The total tallies outpace the next-closest MAC team (Toledo) by 42 attempts and (Ohio) by 19 makes.
FAMILIAR FOES: Ball State’s matchup with Evansville will be its fifth of five games this season against nonconference opponents that the Cardinals also faced last year.
Ball State also played Indiana State (Nov. 16), Detroit Mercy (Nov. 20), SIUE (Dec. 8) and Bellarmine (Dec. 14).
SLAM JAM: Hill’s one-hand slam dunk for an and-one at the end of the first half on Nov. 13 at Dayton was the No. 1 play on SportsCenter’s Top 10 list.
Hill led the Cardinals with 25 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the game.
WE’LL PLAY ANYWHERE: The Cardinals played in a fifth different state away from home when they took on Bellarmine last Saturday in Louisville, Ky. It was be the final road game on the nonconference schedule.
Ball State played at Georgia State in the season opener, at Dayton in the third game of the year, in Florida for the Gulf Coast Showcase in late November, and Dec. 8 at SIUE in Illinois.
IN-STATE BATTLES: Ball State is set to host Franklin (Nov. 8), Indiana State (Nov. 16), Evansville (Dec. 21) and Anderson (Dec. 31) for a quartet of in-state rivalries this season.
The men’s basketball program hasn’t hosted at least four teams from the state of Indiana since 2013-14 when that team played Taylor, Butler, Valparaiso and Oakland City at Worthen Arena.
PEARSON POUNDING THE GLASS: Mickey Pearson Jr. tied his career-best with 13 rebounds in the season opener at Georgia State before grabbing 11 against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 20.
The forward also notched 13 boards on Nov. 7, 2022 against Earlham at Worthen Arena. Pearson Jr. ranks sixth in the MAC in both total rebounds (65) and rebounds per game (6.5).
HOME STATE HEROES: Brittain-Watts (2019), Zane Doughty, Joey Hart and Jones (2023) were each named Indiana High School All-Stars, while three more Cardinals also had ties to the state before arriving in Muncie.
Ball State has the second-most players from Indiana high schools among Indiana-based Division I teams behind Purdue.
WORLD FLYERS: The 2024-25 Ball State roster consists of student-athletes from three different countries in addition to the United States of America.
Juanse Gorosito (Argentina), Hendriks (Canada) and Jurica Zagorsak (Croatia) are international Cardinals this season. Interestingly, Juanse, Ben and Jurica were born on different continents, so Ball State has student-athletes from North America, South America and Europe on the team.
TRANSFERS FROM ALL OVER: Each of Ball State’s seven student-athletes who have transferred into the program have come from different college basketball conferences.
The list includes Brittain-Watts (Patriot League, Boston), Gorosito (West Coast Conference, Portland), Hart (SEC, Kentucky), Hernandez (Ohio Valley Conference, USI), Pearson Jr. (Big 12, TCU), Sparks (Big Ten, Indiana) and Hill who played junior college ball at South Plains in Levelland, Texas.
BALL STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
WBB CLOSES NON-CONFERENCE ACTION WITH 100+ POINT VICTORY OVER ANDERSON
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State women’s basketball team turned in an impressive performance to close out the non-conference season as the Cardinals wrapped up the 2024 year with an awe-inspiring 112-35 victory over Anderson University Thursday night in Worthen Arena.
The win over the Ravens (5-6) marked Ball State’s eighth victory of the season as the Cardinals close out non-conference play with an 8-4 ledger. The 112 points was also a program record for the largest margin of victory. The old record was 61 points against Taylor with Ball State winning that contest 106-45 on Jan. 28, 1975.
The Cardinals put on an impressive defensive display in the opening 10 minutes of action. Ball State held Anderson scoreless up until the 5:04 mark. The Cardinals were able to score 30 points in the first quarter to take a 21-point (30-9) advantage over the Ravens with Elise Stuck leading the squad with 12.
Ball State’s offense continued to thrive in the second quarter as the team tacked on another 30 points onto the scoreboard to take a 60-19 lead over Anderson at intermission.
At the half, Stuck remained the top scorer with 14 points while the true freshmen Grace Kingery and Zuri Ransom each had scored 10.
In the second half, the Cardinals continued their fast-paced offense as head coach Brady Sallee continued to utilize the Cardinals’ bench. Fresh legs helped Ball State to keep up its strong defense throughout the remainder of the contest.
All-in-all it was an overall team effort as 11 different Cardinals saw playing time during the 40-minute duration of tonight’s contest with 10 of those players scoring eight or more points.
For the game, Ball State shot a whopping 62 percent (47-76) from the field, saw 64 points scored from its bench while scoring 82 points in the paint and 38 off fast break layups.
The Cardinals were led in scoring by Stuck with 16. Both Maliyah “MJ’ Johnson and Zuri Ransom tallied 14 points while Grace Kingery finished the contest with 13. Ally Becki registered an 11-point performance. Hailey Smith and Sydney Bolden each scored 10 a piece to round out the double figure scoring.
The Ball State women’s basketball team will open Mid-American Conference action on Wednesday, Jan. 1 at Miami. Tipoff is at 1 pm ET in Millett
INDIANA STATE BASEBALL
ARCHULETA, SYCAMORES ANNOUNCE 2025 INDIANA STATE BASEBALL SCHEDULE
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State head baseball coach Tracy Archuleta announced the 2025 baseball schedule on Thursday afternoon as the Sycamores released the full slate of games for the upcoming season.
Highlighting the schedule includes 18 home contests featuring non-conference contests against Indiana (Mar. 11), Pacific University (Mar. 14-16), and Illinois (Apr. 22). The conference schedule features weekend series against Valparaiso (Mar. 21-23), Southern Illinois (Apr. 11-13), Murray State (Apr. 25-27), and Illinois State (May 15-17).
The road schedule features non-conference games against Wagner, Florida Gulf Coast, Northeastern, Bethune-Cookman, SEMO, East Carolina, SIUE, and Tennessee, while also including MVC trips to UIC, Belmont, Evansville, Bradley, and Missouri State.
Indiana State opens the 2025 season over the February 14-16 weekend as the Sycamores take on Wagner in a three-game series held in Gastonia, N.C. played at Caromont Health Park, home of the Gastonia Ghost Peppers. From there, the Sycamores will continue their opening road trip over February 18-19 as Indiana State will take on Florida Gulf Coast with a pair of games played at CoolToday Park in North Port, Fla.
Indiana State continues the Florida swing with a pair of games against Northeastern in Port Charlotte, Fla. over February 22-23. A midweek game at Bethune-Cookman on February 25 leads to the Sycamores heading back to the Carolinas for the LeClair Classic over February 28-March 2 held at East Carolina in Greenville, N.C.
The Sycamores make their 2025 home debut on March 4 against Purdue, before continuing non-conference play over March 7-9 in Cape Girardeau, Mo. against Southeast Missouri State. Indiana State returns to Bob Warn Field on March 11 against Indiana and welcomes Pacific University for the final non-conference weekend series over March 14-16.
After a midweek road game in Champaign, Ill. at Illinois on March 18, the Sycamores open up Missouri Valley play at home as the back-to-back regular season champions host Valparaiso over March 21-23. Indiana State closes out the month in Valley play with a three-game series at UIC over March 28-30.
The road trip continues on April 1 with a road contest at SIUE, before the Sycamores head to Nashville for a three-game series at Belmont over April 4-6. Indiana State closes out the eight-game swing with a midweek contest at Purdue on April 8.
The Sycamores are back to The Bob over April 11-13 welcoming Southern Illinois, before heading back on the road the next week with trips to Indiana (April 15) and Evansville (April 17-19). Indiana State is back home on April 22 against Illinois, before welcoming Murray State to Terre Haute over April 25-27. The final game of the month is back in Nashville as the Sycamores travel to a Tuesday night contest at Vanderbilt (April 29).
The Vanderbilt road game starts another eight-game road trip that features a three-game series against Bradley (May 2-4 in Normal, Ill. at The Corn Crib), a midweek at 2024 NCAA National Champion Tennessee (May 6), and a three-game series at Missouri State (May 9-11).
The Sycamores close out the 2025 regular season at home with Senior Weekend against Illinois State over May 15-17.
The 2025 MVC Baseball Championships will be held in Normal, Ill. on the campus of Illinois State University over May 21-25 at Duffy Bass Field.
PURDUE FT. WAYNE MEN’S BASKETBALL
UGLY SWEATER GAME SET FOR FRIDAY VS. DEFIANCE AT 5:30 PM
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Mastodons host Defiance on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. Note the new start time, moved up an hour and a half. Fans can receive a free general admission ticket to the game if they wear an ugly sweater.
Game Day Information
Who: Purdue Fort Wayne (8-4) vs. Defiance (3-9)
When: Friday, Dec. 20 | 5:30 p.m.
Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. | Gates Sports Center
Live Stats: Link
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: 1380 AM
Tickets:Link
Series History: Defiance leads 2-1 with wins in 1977 and 1978. The ‘Dons defeated Defiance in 2017.
Game Notes (PDF): Purdue Fort Wayne | Defiance
// On the Mastodons’ 20 3-pointers at Eastern Michigan (Dec. 15):
– Venue record for EMU’s George Gervin GameAbove Center for 3-pointers in a game
– Tied for 4th in program history for 3-pointers in a game
– Tied for 2nd in program history for 3-pointers against a Division I team (21 at Eastern Illinois, Nov. 28, 2018)
– Tied for most in a game this season between two Division I teams (Kansas State made 21 vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff)
– Most by a Horizon League team this season
// Since 2018-19 season, the ‘Dons have four total games of 24 or more made free throws and three have come this season. The 26 the ‘Dons made against Bethune-Cookman and Robert Morris are tied for the seventh most in the Division I era of the program for made free throws in a game.
// Eric Mulder is 20th in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (3.50).
// Eric Mulder is number one in the nation in offensive rating, per Ken Pom. Mulder has a 157.3 rating. Per Ken Pom: “offensive rating is a measure of an individual player’s efficiency. In its simplest form, it’s points produced divided by possessions used.” Additionally, Mulder is third in the nation in 2-point percentage (46-of-55), per Ken Pom. Ken Pom only takes into account games against Division I opponents.
// In the nation the Mastodons are 17th in turnover margin (5.3).
// The ‘Dons are averaging a Horizon League best 83.1 points per game, 66th in the nation.
// Multiple ‘Dons are shooting better than 40 percent from three this year:
– Maximus Nelson – 42.0 percent (29-of-69)
– Rasheed Bello – 42.6 percent (26-of-61)
– Corey Hadnot II – 46.2 percent (18-of-39)
// Seven times this year have the ‘Dons committed single-digit turnovers in a game. Their season low is five in a win over Drexel.
// Rasheed Bello earned his second career Horizon League Player of the Week accolade on Nov. 18, averaging 24.5 points, 2.5 steals, 2.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds in wins over Bethune-Cookman and Southern Indiana. He had a career-high 31 points vs. Bethune-Cookman.
// Jalen Jackson leads the Horizon League and ranks 23rd in the nation in made free throws with 60. He is 20th in the nation with 79 free throw attempts, also best in the league.
// Jalen Jackson is averaging 6.8 fouls drawn per 40 minutes, 35th in the nation per Ken Pom.
// Another Ken Pom stat, the ‘Dons lead the nation in minutes continuity at 76.6 percent. Ken Pom describes the stat as “determining what percentage of a team’s minutes are played by the same player from last season to this season.” The current national average is 34.2 percent.
// Eric Mulder has recorded just four turnovers in 309 minutes.
// Corey Hadnot II has seven double-digit scoring games this season after five his entire freshman season last year. This year includes a career-high 20 points with five 3-pointers at Penn State.
// Across the board, Corey Hadnot II’s shooting percentages are up this year from his freshman season last year. Field goal (from 40.9 % to 53.2 %), 3-point (from 25.0 % to 46.2 %) and free throw (from 68.8 percent to 77.3 percent). It has led him to average 11.3 points per game, up from 6.2 last year.
// Jalen Jackson has reached double-figures in every game this season and 20 points four times.
// The ‘Dons have won 23 straight regular season home games against non-league opponents, a streak that started on Nov. 16, 2019 vs. Stetson.
// A few ‘Dons who recently hit career scoring marks:
– Rasheed Bello scored his 1,500th career point vs. Eastern Michigan (Dec. 15). He now has 1,509 points, including 718 as a Mastodon.
– Jalen Jackson scored his 1,000th NCAA career point vs. Eastern Michigan (Dec. 16). He now has 790 points as a Mastodon.
// A few ‘Dons nearing scoring marks:
– Quinton Morton-Robertson has 948 career points, needing 52 to reach 1,000 (Purdue Fort Wayne and Radford combined).
– Maximus Nelson has scored 468 career points, needing 32 to reach 500 for his career (Purdue Fort Wayne and Valparaiso combined).
– Eric Mulder has scored 431 career points, needing 69 to reach 500 for his career.
SOUTHERN INDIANA SOFTBALL
USI SOFTBALL RELEASES 2025 SCHEDULE
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball has set its 2025 schedule, opening the new season at the Hawaii Paradise Classic February 6-8.
The 2025 schedule features 47 games, including 16 home games at USI Softball Field. USI will play five Ohio Valley Conference series and one non-conference game at home.
Southern Indiana’s opening week at the Hawaii Paradise Classic is highlighted by matchups against Saint Louis University, Santa Clara University, and host University of Hawaii. Following a round-robin format, two tournament bracket games conclude the event.
USI stays close to home the following weekend, February 15-16, at the Evansville Softball Classic hosted by the University of Evansville. In addition to Evansville, USI faces Butler University and the University of Wisconsin Green Bay.
The Screaming Eagles travel to Birmingham, Alabama the third weekend of the season to the University of Alabama Birmingham Green and Gold Classic. Between February 21-23, USI competes against Samford University, host UAB, Belmont University, and Purdue University, who will be USI’s first test against a Big Ten Conference team in the D-I era for the program.
The main portion of the non-conference schedule wraps up at the Winthrop University Coach Cooke Memorial Tournament between February 28 and March 2. USI plays five games against Marist College, host Winthrop, University of South Carolina Upstate, St. Bonaventure University, and Youngstown State University.
The Eagles open Ohio Valley Conference action March 8-9 at USI Softball Field with a series against Western Illinois University, kicking off a 27-game conference schedule.
A couple of highlighted OVC series include a visit to Charleston, Illinois against reigning OVC regular-season champions Eastern Illinois University on April 12-13 and a trip to reigning OVC tournament champions Southeast Missouri State University on April 26-27.
USI Softball also has three non-conference single games scattered in the middle of the regular season schedule. Southern Indiana travels to Indiana University on March 12 for its second Big Ten Conference opponent of the season. USI hosts Austin Peay State University on March 19 at USI Softball Field. The Eagles see Butler for the second time during the season on the road on April 21 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Southern Indiana finishes the 2025 home and regular-season schedule May 3-4 against Lindenwood University from USI Softball Field.
The 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament returns to the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, Illinois for the second consecutive season May 7-10.
The upcoming 2025 championship season will be USI’s third season at the NCAA Division I level and in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southern Indiana won 25 games last spring and finished fourth in the OVC to earn a second consecutive OVC Tournament berth. The Screaming Eagles came within a game of making an appearance in the championship round.
Further information regarding game broadcasts, tickets, and more will become available at a later date. Game dates and times are subject to change.
VALPO FOOTBALL
JOHNSON NAMED PHIL STEELE PFL SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR, LEADS NINE BEACONS WITH PHIL STEELE ALL-PFL STATUS
Valparaiso University football redshirt senior Sam Johnson (Birmingham, Ala. / Oak Mountain [Jackson State / Alabama]) added to his long list of honors on Thursday as he was named the Phil Steele Pioneer Football League Special Teams Player of the Year, in addition to joining junior defensive lineman Onye Nwosisi (Indianapolis, Ind. / Cardinal Ridge [Muskingum]) as two Valpo players on the Phil Steele All-PFL First Team.
Eight other Beacons received recognition from the publication, including redshirt senior defensive lineman Sam Hafner (Green Bay, Wis. / De Pere) and redshirt junior defensive lineman Kevin Spelman (New Lenox, Ill. / Providence Catholic) on the Second Team.
Redshirt senior running back Michael Mansaray (Columbus, Ohio / Westerville South [South Dakota]), redshirt junior kicker Ryan Hawk (Columbus, Ohio / Bishop Hartley) and junior kicker returner Jeffery Vercher (Nashville, Tenn. / Franklin Road Academy) were named to the Third Team, while redshirt junior linebacker Jake Birmingham (River Forest, Ill. / Oak Park and River Forest) and senior punter returner Colin Graves (Seattle, Wash. / Bishop Blanchet) earned Fourth Team status.
Johnson finished with a season punting average of 47.13, shattering the previous program and PFL record of 43.68 that had stood for 14 years since it was established by Greg Wood in 2010. Johnson had 24 punts of 50 yards or more and pinned the opposition inside the 20 on 19 occasions. He ranked third nationally in FCS in punting average and second among those with at least 50 attempts. This marked the latest on a list of postseason honors for Johnson, who was tabbed the Pioneer Football League Special Teams Player of the Year, a member of the All-PFL First Team, an FCS National Punter of the Year Semifinalist and a Stats Perform FCS Second Team All-American.
Nwosisi, named to the league’s All-PFL Second Team, finished the season as one of 22 FCS players nationally with multiple blocked kicks, turning away field-goal tries on Oct. 5 vs. Drake and Nov. 9 vs. Butler. He had 39 tackles including 19 solos, 5.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks this season while also hurrying the quarterback nine times and recovering a fumble despite missing two games due to injury. His season-high eight tackles came on Sept. 14 vs. Indiana Wesleyan.
Also a member of the league’s All-PFL Second Team and Academic All-PFL First Team, Hafner finished the season with 52 tackles including 21 solos and a team-high six tackles for loss. He notched 1.5 sacks and hurried the quarterback on three occasions. The team captain added to his long list of honors that also includes 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Nominee, 2024 Campbell Trophy Semifinalist, 2023 All-PFL First Team, 2023 Academic All-PFL First Team, 2023 Phil Steele All-PFL First Team, 2023 Team Defensive Player of the Year, 2023 CSC Academic All-District, 2022 Academic All-PFL First Team, 2022 All-PFL Second Team, 2022 CSC Academic All-District and 2022 Phil Steele All-PFL Third Team. This marked his third straight season earning first or second team all-conference accolades. Hafner had a season-high eight tackles on Nov. 9 vs. Butler and matched that total the following week at Dayton. He recorded seven tackles or more in each of the final three games of the season.
Spelman’s four sacks led the team while he totaled six tackles for loss, 33 tackles (13 solos), six QB hurries and a fumble recovery. He earned All-PFL Honorable Mention at long snapper last season after garnering All-PFL Honorable Mention at both defensive line and long snapper in 2022, when he was a Phil Steele All-PFL Third Team honoree and a member of the Jerry Rice FCS Freshman of the Year Award Watch List. His season-high eight tackles came on Oct. 26 at Marist. He was also named to the league’s All-PFL Second Team this year.
Mansaray, also named to the league’s All-PFL Second Team, ranked seventh in the PFL with 58.36 rushing yards per game. His 4.52 yards per rush ranked sixth in the league, while his nine rushing touchdowns were tied for fourth and his 642 total rushing yards ranked seventh. He was one rushing score away from becoming just the eighth player in program history with double-figure rushing touchdowns in a single season. Mansaray had a season-best 135 rushing yards on Oct. 26 at Marist, narrowly ahead of his 132 on Sept. 21 vs. Roosevelt.
Birmingham, who was named All-PFL Honorable Mention, totaled 82 tackles (36 solos) in just nine games to lead the team by a wide margin despite being sidelined for two contests. He also recovered a fumble, forced a fumble, had two sacks and notched four tackles for loss. He ranked fourth in the PFL at 9.11 tackles per game, had seven or more in each of his final eight games and posted double-figure tackle totals in four of his final five and each of his last three including a career-high 15 on Nov. 16 at Dayton.
An All-PFL Honorable Mention choice, Hawk went 11-of-15 on field-goal tries with two makes from 50+ yards including a long of 51. He booted 21 of his 38 kickoffs for touchbacks while finishing tied for fifth in program history for made field goals in a single season with 11 and going 16-for-16 on PATs.
Graves returned 13 punts for 117 yards, averaging 9.0 yards per return with a long of 23. Vercher returned 17 kickoffs for 432 yards, averaging 25.41 yards per return with a long of 47.
VALPO WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL WELCOMES DETROIT MERCY FOR CHRISTMAS PARTY AT THE ARC SATURDAY
Valparaiso (4-6, 0-0 MVC)
Game #11 – December 21, 2024 – 1 p.m.
Detroit Mercy (7-2, 2-0 Horizon)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) – Valparaiso, Ind.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The final tuneup prior to the start of Missouri Valley Conference play for the Valpo women’s basketball team comes on Saturday afternoon, as the Beacons host former Horizon League rival Detroit Mercy for a Christmas Party at the ARC.
Previously: Returning to game action for the first time in two weeks, Nevaeh Jackson smashed her previous career high with a game-high 26 points and Valpo held the lead entering the fourth quarter Wednesday at Saint Louis, but the host Billikens outscored the Beacons by 13 in the final 10 minutes to claim a 69-59 win.
Following Valpo Basketball: Video: ESPN+
Links for live coverage: Available via ValpoAthletics.com
Head Coach Mary Evans: Mary Evans is in her seventh year at the helm of the program in 2024-25 and owns a record of 64-122. Evans’ first six seasons at the helm have seen Valpo’s six of the top-eight single-season 3-pointers made marks, including each of the top five, while defensively, her teams have racked up steals at a high rate, averaging at least 7.7 steals/game in five of her six seasons. Under her guidance, Valpo players have earned an MVC Sixth Player of the Year honor, five All-Conference accolades, three All-Freshman/Newcomer Team awards and three All-Defensive Team honors.
Series Notes: The Titans hold a 16-13 advantage in the all-time series between the former league foes, including a slim 7-6 edge in games played at the ARC. Valpo has claimed the last three matchups, however, including a 69-57 home win three years ago to the day of Saturday’s game in the last meeting between the two programs. The Beacons hit 14 3-pointers in that win, four of which came in the fourth quarter as they pulled away for the victory. Grace White had a game-high 19 points, while Leah Earnest – the lone player who played in the game still on either roster – came off the bench for nine points and eight rebounds.
@ValpoWBB…
…and @ValleyHoops
– Valpo was picked to finish in eighth place in the MVC preseason poll, totaling 193 points to edge out Indiana State.
– The eighth-place projection is two spots ahead of the Beacons’ regular-season finish last year.
– Valpo is in its eighth season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
– The Valley was ranked 13th in conference NET last season. In Valpo’s time in the MVC, the conference has been ranked as high as seventh in NET (2020-21).
…looking back at last year
– Valpo finished last season with a 5-25 overall record and finished at 4-16 in MVC play, good for 10th in the Valley standings.
– Leah Earnest was a Second Team All-MVC honoree.
– Valpo won three consecutive road games in Valley play, the second straight year the Beacons have accomplished that – prior to that, the program had last accomplished that feat against three different opponents since 2007.
…at Saint Louis
– Valpo jumped out to a quick start, scoring the opening eight points in just over two minutes to force an early SLU timeout. While the Billikens got within two points multiple times later in the frame, the Beacons kept them at bay and held a 20-16 lead at the end of the first.
– The second quarter was tightly contested, featuring three ties and six lead changes as it was played almost entirely with no team holding more than a one-possession edge. A 3-pointer by Nevaeh Jackson with 1:15 to play in the half capped a 17-point half for the sophomore and proved to be the difference at intermission, as the Beacons headed into the locker room with a 32-29 lead.
– Saint Louis scored the first basket of the second half to briefly tie the game, but Valpo responded with 11 points in a row — a 3-pointer by Maci Rhoades, a layup from Raeven Raye-Redmond and back-to-back Jackson triples — to earn its largest lead at 43-32 with 5:06 to play in the period and force a SLU timeout.
– Right out of the stoppage, the Billikens turned the tables with 11 points of their own in a row over the next four-plus minutes to tie the game with less than a minute to play in the quarter. Katie Beyer hit from deep in the final seconds of the period to give Valpo the lead back with 10 minutes to play, 46-43.
– After the teams traded baskets to open the fourth quarter, SLU scored nine points over four possessions while keeping the Beacons off the board to pull ahead, 54-48, and force a Valpo timeout with 7:03 to play. Layla Gold drove and finished on Valpo’s first possession after the timeout to cut its deficit to four, but that was as close as the Beacons would get the rest of the way.
– Wednesday’s loss came against a Saint Louis program which won the 2024 WNIT and the 2023 A-10 Tournament, advancing to the NCAA Tournament in the latter year.
– Jackson’s performance was the highlight of the evening for the Beacons. The sophomore, who entered the game with a career high of 20 points accomplished twice this season, soared past that with a game-high 26 points, including a 6-of-11 mark from 3-point range to match her career best for triples made. Jackson also set a career best with nine field goals made.
– Maci Rhoades reached double figures in scoring for the fourth time this season as she scored 11 points, hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
– The Beacons enjoyed their best shooting game of the year from the perimeter, finishing 12-of-25 from downtown, but were limited to 9-of-36 shooting from inside the arc. Valpo was outscored 40-16 in the paint by SLU.
– The Beacons did continue to force turnovers at a high rate, as the Billikens coughed the ball up 19 times, but Valpo committed 16 turnovers as well and SLU actually held a slight 21-17 edge in points off turnovers.
…versus Western Michigan
– Valpo opened the game on a 9-2 run over the first four minutes, and then bookended the first quarter with a 10-2 run to lead 21-8 at the end of the first quarter.
– Leah Earnest hit a 3-pointer on Valpo’s first possession of the second quarter to extend the advantage to 16 points, but WMU scored seven straight to force a Beacon timeout with 6:57 to play in the half and the lead cut to 24-15.
– The Broncos got no closer than nine in the second quarter, however, and a steal and buzzer-beating layup from Nevaeh Jackson heading into halftime gave the Beacons a 34-20 lead.
– A trifecta from Maci Rhoades on the opening trip of the third quarter gave Valpo its largest lead of the game at 17. WMU came back with a 12-3 run over the next four-plus minutes, cutting its deficit to 40-32 halfway through the period.
– 3-pointers on consecutive possessions by Kayla Preston and Earnest staved off that Bronco threat, and the Beacons’ advantage was 51-36 with 10 minutes to play.
– WMU pulled back to within eight as it scored eight points in less than two minutes to open the fourth quarter, making it a 52-44 game.
– Valpo kept the Broncos off the board on their next four possessions and took advantage on the offensive end, as Lexi Castator hit a pair of free throws and Jackson and Rhoades converted layups to push the lead back to 58-44 with five minutes to play. WMU got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
-Valpo extended its home winning streak to three straight games with the win.
– The victory was just the second for Valpo in seven meetings with WMU over the last 13 seasons.
– The Beacons enjoyed their second-best shooting game of the season, as they hit 50% (22-of-44) from the field and 40% (8-of-20) from 3-point range — numbers outdone only by their performance in the North Dakota win.
– Earnest paced the Beacons’ offense with 23 points (6-of-10 FG), the 12th game of her career with 20 or more points. Earnest tallied 10 rebounds as well as she registered her second straight double-double and the 18th of her career.
– Jackson continued her consistent year with a 14-point night, going 5-of-9 from the field as she scored in double figures for the seventh time this season. The sophomore added three steals as well to match her season best.
– Rhoades tied her career high with 12 points, going 5-of-9 from the field and hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
– Layla Gold handed out a team-high four assists to set a career high and matched her career best with four steals.
– Raeven Raye-Redmond filled up the stat sheet with four points, four rebounds, three assists and six steals — the latter mark the second-highest single-game total of her career.
…looking ahead
– On the other side of Christmas is the start of MVC play, as the Beacons kick off Valley action Sunday, Dec. 29 against Southern Illinois at the ARC.
– A home game in the first half of Valley action this season is a rarity for Valpo, however, as after the conference opener, the Beacons spend four straight games on the road, starting with a trip to UNI and Drake.
…at the ARC
– Saturday’s game is the fifth of 15 home games this season for the Beacons, as Valpo will host five nonconference games and 10 MVC games.
– Valpo is 3-1 at the ARC this season and went 2-10 at home last season.
@Detroit_WBB
– Detroit Mercy enters Saturday’s game at 7-2 overall this year and 2-0 in Horizon League play.
– The Titans’ lone setbacks have come against Michigan and Michigan State.
– Last season, UDM went 17-16, a 12-win improvement over the previous season.
– Aaliyah McQueen leads the Titans, averaging 15.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, while Emaia O’Brien scores 14.1 points/game and hits at a 41.9% clip from 3-point range.
Familiar Foes
– Saturday marks the last of three games in nonconference action which sees the Beacons take on a former conference opponent.
– Valpo’s third game of the season saw the Beacons face off with Milwaukee for the first time since the former departed the Horizon League. The two programs paired up in conference play in 1993-94 in the Mid-Continent Conference and then from 2007-08 through 2016-17 in the Horizon League.
– Valpo renewed acquaintances with Loyola five days later – those two programs were both members of the Horizon League from 2007-08 through 2012-13 and then the Missouri Valley Conference from 2017-18 through 2021-22.
– The Beacons close nonconference play Saturday against Detroit Mercy, who they took on for the entirety of their decade in the Horizon League.
Ms. Jackson is For Real
– There has been no sophomore slump for Nevaeh Jackson so far this season.
– Through 10 games, Jackson is averaging 15.1 points/game – more than double her average from last season – on 47.5% shooting from the field and 38.2% shooting from deep.
– Jackson currently ranks third in the MVC with 2.6 3-pointers/game and seventh with 1.9 steals/game.
– After having a scoring high of 19 points as a rookie, Jackson already has three 20+ point games this season, highlighted by her 26-point effort last time out at Saint Louis, when she knocked down six 3-pointers;
Forcing Miscues
– Through 10 games this year, Valpo is averaging 20.0 turnovers forced/game, easily the most in the MVC.
– The Beacons have forced more turnovers than they’ve committed in eight of 10 games and rank third in the Valley with a +2.60 turnover margin.
– Valpo has forced at least 20 turnovers in five games so far, highlighted by back-to-back games forcing 26 miscues in wins over Goshen and North Dakota.
– Against Goshen, the Beacons racked up 15 steals, a season high and the team’s highest total in exactly one calendar year. The Beacons matched that mark in the win over Western Michigan as well.
– In the win over North Dakota, Valpo turned the Fighting Hawks’ 26 turnovers into 33 points and held a massive 33-9 edge in points off turnovers. It was the program’s greatest number of points off turnovers and the highest edge in the category since a Feb. 22, 2020 win at Loyola, when Valpo forced 31 turnovers and owns a 38-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
Hitting From Deep
– Valpo enjoyed its best game of the season from the 3-point line last time out, hitting a season-high 12 3-pointers and connecting at a season-best 48% clip from deep against Saint Louis.
– Per HerHoopStats.com, it was the first time Valpo had hit at least 45% from 3-point range against a nonconference opponent since going 11-for-23 from deep Nov. 17, 2018 in a win over St. Francis Brooklyn – in between, Valpo hit 45% or better from deep 15 times against conference opponents.
– The Beacons have connected on at least 10 triples three times this season.
– After averaging 7.3 3-pointers/game on .310 shooting from deep over the season’s first six games, Valpo is averaging 9 3-pointers/game on .404 shooting over the last four games.
Gold Standard
– Heading into the Western Michigan game, sophomore Layla Gold had tallied just 28 assists through the first 36 games of her career, with a career best of three helpers set in last year’s MVC Tournament game versus UIC.
– Gold has outdone that mark in each of the last two games, however, as she handed out four assists in the win over WMU and then outdid herself Wednesday night with six assists at Saint Louis.
– Even more notably, Gold racked up those assist numbers without committing a turnover in either contest – since coughing the ball up in the opening seconds against North Dakota, Gold has played 123 minutes without committing a turnover.
– Per HerHoopStats.com, Gold is the only MVC player this season with multiple games with at least four assists and no turnovers, and is the first Valpo player with at least four assists and no turnovers in consecutive games since Hannah Schaub at Illinois and at Morehead State in November 2018.
20/20/20/20 Vision
– Ten games into the season, and Valpo already has four different players with six combined 20-point games under their belt.
– That is already more than last year’s team, which featured just two different players with at least one 20-point effort.
– Most recently, Nevaeh Jackson zoomed past her previous career high with 26 points last time out at Saint Louis; this coming after 20-point performances earlier this year in the win over Goshen and against Purdue Fort Wayne.
– Leah Earnest hit the 20-point mark for the 11th time with the second-highest scoring output of her career, finishing with 29 points at Lehigh, and followed the very next outing with 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the win over Western Michigan.
– Sophomore Layla Gold shattered her previous career high of 11 points with a 23-point night – which included five 3-pointers – at Milwaukee.
– Against Trinity Christian, Kayla Preston smashed her previous best, going for 20 points on 7-10 FG and 6-8 FT.
All-Tournament Honors
– Valpo had a pair of players recognized as All-Tournament Team honorees following the conclusion of the Christmas City Classic.
– Leah Earnest averaged 23.5 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game over the Beacons’ two contests.
– Katie Beyer earned her selection by virtue of a strong 16-point performance, surpassing her career high, in the win over North Dakota.
Zooming Up the Charts
– It took Leah Earnest just 26 hours to leapfrog from 13th to ninth on Valpo’s career scoring chart over the Beacons’ two games at the Christmas City Classic.
– Earnest enters Saturday’s game with 1,262 career points, two shy of eighth, 11 shy of seventh and 14 shy of sixth in program history.
– Earnest sits in fifth place in program history in career rebounding with 720 boards, just three shy of fourth.
– The grad student is also tied for third all-time at Valpo with 123 games played, sixth with 273 free throws made and ninth with 455 field goals made.
– Earnest impacted the program’s single-game record book as well at the Christmas City Classic as she went 12-for-12 at the foul line against Lehigh. She is one of just 12 players to hit 100% from the foul line in a game (minimum 10 attempts) and one of just four to do so on at least 12 tries.
Career Highs
– Five of Valpo’s seven returnees have set career bests in the scoring column this season – the only returnees who haven’t are Saniya Jackson, who is out for the season, and Earnest.
– Joining the trio who had their first career 20-point efforts are senior Katie Beyer and sophomore Raeven Raye-Redmond.
– Raye-Redmond smashed past her previous best of nine with a 15-point night on 6-of-9 shooting at Milwaukee.
– Beyer hit three 3-pointers on her way to a 14-point game in the season opener versus Liberty, and then against North Dakota, surpassed that again with a 16-point effort.
Notables From Goshen
– Goshen’s high scorer had nine points – it was the first time a Valpo opponent has failed to have a double-digit scorer since Jan. 20, 2019 against Evansville.
– With 26 turnovers, the Maple Leafs were the first Valpo opponent with 25 or more miscues since March 11, 2021 against Evansville at the MVC Tournament.
– Goshen hit just 1-of-14 from 3-point range, the first time since Jan. 2, 2022 at Missouri State a Valpo opponent has shot under 10% from the 3-point line.
Notables From Trinity Christian
– Valpo surrendered just 40 points to Trinity Christian, the lowest mark by a Valpo team since giving up just 37 in a win over UIC Dec. 15, 2019.
– The 41-point margin of victory (81-40) was the program’s largest since a 95-49 win over Chicago State Dec. 28, 2019.
– The Beacons dished out 25 assists on 29 made field goals, the program’s highest single-game assist total since a 26-assist performance against Purdue Calumet Dec. 9, 1998.
– Valpo’s 43 rebounds was the highest team single-game total since grabbing 44 against UAB Nov. 21, 2022.
MARIAN MEN’S BASKETBALL
IU-COLUMBUS CLIPS MARIAN 83-77
INDIANAPOLIS – The Marian basketball team dropped their second consecutive game on Thursday night in the PE Center, as IU-Columbus upset the Knights with an 83-77 victory. The Knights fall to 6-6 on the year after the loss.
After a quick score for both IU-Columbus and Marian on their opening possessions, the Knights fell into a drought from the field, as the Crimson Pride began to grow a lead. IU-Columbus jumped in front 10-4 through the first five minutes of play, and expanded their advantage to nine over the next two minutes as Ben Sylva and Owen Law heated up from the field.
The Knights would find themselves trailing by as many as 14 points as the clock rolled under 12 minutes to play in the opening half. Slowly, Marian brought themselves back into the game, with buckets from Elhadj Diallo and Dylan Moles cutting the deficit to eight. IU-Columbus would lead for the remainder of the half, but with 5:36 to play the Knights found a spark from a Hayden Nahra second chance basket.
Nahra’s basket ignited a 14-4 run over the final five minutes, as timely stops and scores from Noah Lovan and Moles helped cut the deficit to four. Two free throws from Lovan in the final 20 seconds brought the score to a 35-31 mark, which stood entering the break as the Knights trailed by four.
IU-Columbus scored four quick points to start the second half, increasing their lead to eight and further putting the Knights out of reach. Marian held the difference on the board to three scores, and fought all the way back within one point, as Diallo caught fire with a series of baskets. A jumper from Hayden Nahra off a Reis Butcher pass made the score 46-45 in favor of the visitors with 13:42 to play in the game, but it was not enough to get Marian over the hump, as the Crimson Pride pushed their lead back to six points over the next two minutes.
Marian continued to fight and try to take their first lead of the night, as a pair of three’s from Diallo kept them in striking distance as the clock ticked past the midway point of the second period. Despite their best efforts, IU-Columbus found scores at the right time to quiet Marian’s runs, as they extended their lead back to 12 points, leading 71-59 with 4:49 to play in the game. After the final media timeout Marian made their final push to get back into the game, getting back-to-back three’s from Dylan Moles and Ehladj Diallo to cut the score to six, while a free throw from Josiah Gustin with 2:33 remaining made it a five-point game.
The 7-0 run would be answered by Columbus’ Owen Law who scored a driving layup, and after a missed putback opportunity, the Pride scored on two possessions in a row to regain a double-figure lead with less than 90 seconds to play, sealing the game. Lovan and Moles would score down the stretch as they kept fighting, but with the deficit too great, Marian would fall 83-77.
The Knights never led on Thursday night, and shot 40 percent from the field for the game, a 12-percent increase from their first half in which they made just 28 percent of their shots. Diallo ended the game as Marian’s leading scorer, scoring a career-high 23 points off the bench. Lovan finished the game with 18 points, and Moles scored 13. Hayden Nahra finished two rebounds shy of a double-double scoring 10 while collecting eight boards. Lovan also had eight rebounds, and led the team in steals with three.
Marian will turn around and go on the road this Saturday, traveling to Saint Mary of the Woods to take on the Pomeroys at 1:00 p.m.
INDIANA SMALL COLLEGE WEB SITES
INDIANA WESLEYAN ATHLETICS: https://iwuwildcats.com/
EARLHAM ATHLETICS: https://goearlham.com/
WABASH ATHLETICS: https://sports.wabash.edu/
FRANKLIN ATHLETICS: https://franklingrizzlies.com/
ROSE-HULMAN ATHLETICS: https://athletics.rose-hulman.edu/
ANDERSON ATHLETICS: https://athletics.anderson.edu/landing/index
TRINE ATHLETICS: https://trinethunder.com/landing/index
BETHEL ATHLETICS: https://bupilots.com/
DEPAUW ATHLETICS: https://depauwtigers.com/
HANOVER ATHLETICS: https://athletics.hanover.edu/
MANCHESTER ATHLETICS: https://muspartans.com/
HUNTINGTON ATHLETICS: https://www.huathletics.com/
OAKLAND CITY ATHLETICS: https://gomightyoaks.com/index.aspx
ST. FRANCIS ATHLETICS: https://www.saintfranciscougars.com/landing/index
IU KOKOMO ATHLETICS: https://iukcougars.com/
IU EAST ATHLETICS: https://www.iueredwolves.com/
IU SOUTH BEND ATHLETICS: https://iusbtitans.com/
PURDUE NORTHWEST ATHLETICS: https://pnwathletics.com/
INDIANA TECH ATHLETICS: https://indianatechwarriors.com/index.aspx
GRACE COLLEGE ATHLETICS: https://gclancers.com/
ST. MARY OF THE WOODS ATHLETICS: https://smwcathletics.com/
GOSHEN COLLEGE ATHLETICS: https://goleafs.net/
HOLY CROSS ATHLETICS: https://www.hcsaints.com/index.php
TAYLOR ATHLETICS: https://www.taylortrojans.com/
VINCENNES ATHLETICS: https://govutrailblazers.com/landing/index
“SPORTS EXTRA”
FOOTBALL HISTORY
The 1925 NFL Title Saga
December 20, 1925 – The NFL Title is Stripped from its top Team
The Chicago Cardinals with an 11-2-1 record win an extremely controversial National Football League Championship Title. Boy does this story get deep in a hurry. On December 6, 1925 the Chicago Cardinals faced the other top tier team in the NFL that season, the Pottsville Maroons. Pottsville is a small town about 85 miles Northwest of Philadelphia. The first year in the League, Maroons were on fire in the NFL boasting a 9-2 record going into the Cardinal match up. The Pottsville eleven were a gritty bunch made up of mostly coal miners around the area who had dominated the regional coal football leagues referred to as the Anthracite League. In 1924 a local Pottsville business owner, John Striegel, sponsored the team. According to a Penn State Library story on the Maroons, just before the first game of the 1924 season in the Anthracite League, owner John Striegel decided the team needed new jerseys and quickly ordered 25 from a local sporting goods store. Striegel told the store owner that the color was not important. The team was sent 25 maroon colored jerseys, and they became known as the Pottsville Maroons immediately thereafter. The Maroons applied to play in the NFL for 1925 and the community footed the entry fee as they raised money for the NFL franchise costs.
The Maroons were in for some stiff competition on December 6, as the Chicago Cardinals themselves entered the December 6 game posting a respectable 9-1-1 record themselves. This game was billed as the NFL championship of sorts when the top two teams squared off so late in the season and remember there was no formal title game in the League then, it was the team with the best winning percentage who claimed the title. Pottsville soundly defeated the Cardinals in the game by the score of 21-7 and then won their final game to end the season with an 11-2 record. That should be the end of the story right? Pottsville wins the 1925 Championship. Unfortunately in the drama that was the early NFL that was not the case as controversy was brewing nearby. The Penn State site tells the story well;
“The Frankford Yellow Jackets were, in 1925, the top professional football attraction in Philadelphia. Frankford is about 7 miles Northeast of downtown Philly. Earlier in the season, the Yellow Jackets had upset the Pottsville Maroons at home by a score of 20-0. Believing they were the inevitable 1925 champions, the Frankford team signed a contract with a Philadelphia promoter that allowed the best NFL team in Pennsylvania, whoever it might be, to play a non-league game against a team of former Notre Dame stars. The game would assuredly draw a large crowd and would generate plenty of ticket revenue for the NFL champion. After the Yellow Jackets were beaten by Pottsville later in the season, they lost the right to play the Notre Dame stars. When the Pottsville Maroons clinched the NFL title, they were eager to cash in on the exhibition game against the Notre Dame team. Instead of playing at the Maroons’ tiny home of Minersville Park, the game was scheduled at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Pottsville expected a large turnout and wanted a full house in a large stadium. There, after a hard-fought and extremely tight game, Pottsville held on to beat the Notre Dame stars by a score of 9-7.”
The Frankford franchise was miffed and probably a bit embarrassed and jealous that they were not the ones to play the Irish stars and pocket the extra cash. Frankford protested to the NFL that the maroons had violated the territorial rights of the Yellow Jackets by playing the game so close and at the same time that Frankford was playing a game only a few minutes away. The Jackets claimed it took spectators away from their home game. NFL Commissioner Joseph Carr agreed with Frankford and their protest. Allegedly Carr warned Pottsville 3 times prior to the game at Shibe Park with Notre Dame not to play the game. Since in Carr’s eyes they ignored his direction the Pottsville Maroons NFL rights were suspended, they were fined $500 and stripped of their title after playing the unsanctioned game. With Pottsville being eliminated in the standings the Cardinals end up having the highest winning percentage. Chicago, however, refused to accept the title stating that without winning it on the field they did not want it. The NFL however recognizes the Chicago Cardinals as the 1925 champs.
December 20, 1980 – NBC broadcasted a game with no announcers as they tried to be different. ESPN.com shares the story that in fact they only sounds that the TV audience would hear were the same sounds that were heard by fans in the stadium, the public address announcer, the cheers of the fans and maybe , just maybe a hotdog vendor or two. In the meaningless game the 4-12 New York Jets defeated the 8-8 Miami Dolphins, 24-17.
December 20, 1985 – Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires from television sports with ABC. On August 23, 1984 it was reported that Cosell had relinquished his job of broadcasting Monday Night Football. The New York Times article on the subject tells how Cosell would still be the host of an ABC Sports program called “SportsBeat.” Reports said that Howard was what he described as “disenchanted with the football mentality.” In an SI.com article it was reported that Howard Cosell fulfilled his contract with ABC to be a part of the MLB broadcasts, and he allegedly did so reluctantly. On December 20, 1985 Cosell formally retired with ABC, of whom he worked with for 20 years and relegated himself to radio only broadcasts the rest of his working days.
December 21, 1997 – Detroit Lions Running back Barry Sanders becomes just the player in NFL history to gain 200 yards or more in a season. Barry accomplished the milestone when he ran for 184 yards against the New York Jets and the Lions used Barry’s offense to spark a 13-10 Detroit victory. Sanders finished the season with 2053 yards which was second only to Eric Dickerson’s 1984 mark of 2105 yards.
December 20, 1928 – Sublette, Kansas – The stalwart safety from Colorado State, Jack Christiansen was born. According to the profootballhof.com site, Jack had an awesome 8 year career in the pros with the Detroit Lions as not only a defensive back but also as a respected return man. Christiansen was voted as All-NFL in six straight seasons, played in five Pro Bowls and was even the top player in League interceptions in two seasons. At the 1970 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony, Jack Christiansen was one of the players that received a Gold Jacket.
December 20, 1942 – Bob Hayes the talented speedster wide out from Florida A&M came into this world. The Dallas Cowboys used a futures pick in the 1964 NFL Draft to select Hayes but the Denver Broncos in the AFL did the same per the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s website bio. Bob was given the title of the “World’s Fastest Human” when at the 1964 Olympics he took home two Gold Medals in track. Bob chose to play with the Cowboys and he was voted as an All-NFL performer on either the first or second teams in four of his eleven seasons in the League. For his career Hayes had 71 touchdowns scored with 7414 yards receiving. In 2009 Bullet Bob Hayes was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
December 20, 1965 – Seattle , Washington – Mike Utley the guard from Washington State University was born. Mike was a consensus First Team All-America selection in 1988 and according to footballfoundation.org is the most decorated player ever for the Cougars. Mike Utley was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame by NFF voters in 2016.
TODAY IN SPORTS
Dec. 20
1921 — Baseball Commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis casts the deciding vote to return to best-of-seven World Series from the best-of-nine format. The American League votes to return to best-of-seven World Series, while National League votes for the best-of-nine format. The a best-of-nine series was used in 1903 and 1919 through 1921.
1966 — The NBA grants a franchise to Seattle, expanding the league to 11 teams for the 1967-68 season.
1973 — Henri Richard of the Montreal Canadiens scores his 1,000th point, getting an assist in a 2-2 tie with the Buffalo Sabres.
1980 — NBC experiments by not providing commentators for the national broadcast of the game between New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. The Jets win 24-17.
1981 — Winnipeg’s Doug Smail scores a goal five seconds into the game to set a NHL record for fastest goal from the start of a game. The Jets beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4.
1983 — Montreal’s Guy Lafleur scores his 500th goal as the Canadiens beat the New Jersey Devils 6-0. Lafleur scores the milestone goal at 8:34 of the third, beating Glenn Resch with a rising 30-footer.
1985 — North Carolina sets an NCAA record with 18 blocked shots in an 87-55 rout of Stanford.
1998 — Green Bay’s Brett Favre becomes the first NFL player to throw for more than 30 touchdowns in five different seasons. Favre connects three times with Antonio Freeman in the first half of a 30-22 win over Tennessee to break a tie with Dan Marino.
2003 — St. John’s provides a perfect ending for coach John Gagliardi’s record-breaking season, snapping Mount Union’s NCAA-record 55-game winning streak with a 24-6 victory in the Division III championship game.
2005 — Kobe Bryant scores a career-high 62 points and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Dallas 112-90. Bryant scores a franchise-record 30 points in the third quarter and sits out the fourth after outscoring the Mavericks 62-61 over the three quarters.
2006 — Bode Miller wins the super-giant slalom in Hinterstoder, Austria, 90 minutes after Lindsey Kildow and Julia Mancuso finish 1-2 in a downhill at Val d’Isere, France. Those successes give the U.S. team five wins and an unprecedented nine podium results over six days. It’s the most impressive streak for the American team since 1983.
2009 — Ben Roethlisberger completes 29 of 46 passes with three TDs and 503 yards, becoming the first Pittsburgh quarterback to throw for 500 yards in a game during a 37-36 win over Green Bay. He hits rookie Mike Wallace for a 19-yard touchdown on the final play.
2009 — Cleveland’s Jerome Harrison scores his third touchdown with 44 seconds left for the winning points and rushes for a team-record 286 yards in a 41-34 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Joshua Cribbs of the Browns has two kickoff returns for touchdowns.
2014 — No. 1 Kentucky scores the game’s first 24 points in an 83-44 victory over UCLA. The Wildcats lead 41-7 at the intermission. It’s the lowest point total in a half for UCLA and the fewest by a Kentucky opponent since December 1943.
2015 — New England improve to 12-2 with a 33-16 win over Tennessee, and becomes the second team in NFL history with at least 12 regular-season wins in six consecutive seasons.
2017 — Fletcher Magee scores 27 points to help Wofford stun No. 5 North Carolina 79-75, snapping the reigning national champion’s 23-game home winning streak.
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Dec. 21
1891 — Dr. James Naismith introduces the first game of basketball. Based on 13 rules created by Naismith, the game is tested by 18 students at the School for Christian Workers in Springfield, Massachusetts. Using a soccer ball, two peach baskets and two teams of nine players each, the objective is to throw a round ball into a round basket attached to a balcony 10 feet above the floor.
1941 — The Chicago Bears win the NFL championship with a 37-9 rout of the New York Giants.
1975 — The Buffalo Sabres score eight goals in the third period of a 14-2 victory over the Washington Capitals. Rick Martin scores four goals and Fred Stanfield gets three for Buffalo. The Sabres, who lead 6-2 after two periods, outshoot the Capitals 22-3 in the final period.
1981 — Doug Schloerner’s 15-foot jump shot with 1 second remaining in the seventh overtime gives Cincinnati a 75-73 victory over Bradley. The seven overtimes set an NCAA record.
1991 — Buffalo’s Alexander Mogilny matches an NHL record by scoring five seconds into the game as the Sabres beat Toronto 4-1.
1997 — Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions becomes the third player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season when he gains 184 in a 13-10 win over the New York Jets. Sanders finishes with 2,053 yards, second to Eric Dickerson’s 2,105 in 1984.
2001 — Dwayne DeRosario scores six minutes into overtime as the San Jose Earthquakes beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 to win their first MLS Cup.
2008 — Detroit becomes the first 0-15 team when it’s routed 42-7 by the New Orleans Saints. The Lions also break NFL records by being outscored by a combined 176 points at home and by an average of 22 points.
2008 — Cleveland’s Jamal Lewis becomes the 24th player in NFL history to rush for 10,000 career yards in the Browns’ 14-0 loss to Cincinnati.
2008 — San Francisco’s Isaac Bruce becomes the fifth player to reach 1,000 catches on a 3-yard touchdown grab in the 49ers’ 17-16 win at St. Louis.
2009 — Martin Brodeur surpasses Terry Sawchuk’s 40-year-old NHL record with his 104th career shutout, leading New Jersey to a 4-0 victory over Pittsburgh.
2010 — The No. 1-ranked Connecticut women’s basketball team tops the 88-game winning streak by John Wooden’s UCLA men’s team from 1971-74, beating No. 22 Florida State 93-62. Maya Moore has a double-double with a career-high 41 points and 10 rebounds and Bria Hartley adds 21 points for the Huskies, who hold the record for the longest winning streak in all of college basketball history.
2013 — Jared Roberts makes a 41-yard field goal as time expires and Colorado State overcomes a 22-point deficit to beat Washington State 48-45 in the New Mexico Bowl.
2014 — Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson has six receptions for 65 yards in the Texans’ 25-13 win against Baltimore to become the 10th player in NFL history to reach 1,000 career catches.
2015 — Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini are each banned for eight years by the FIFA ethics committee in a stunning removal of world soccer’s most powerful leaders. FIFA President Blatter and his one-time protege Platini are kicked out of the sport for conflict of interest and disloyalty to FIFA in a $2 million payment deal that is also the subject of a criminal investigation in Switzerland.
2018 – Tennis Australia announces a 10-point tie break to be implemented in Australian Open when deciding set reaches 6-6; takes place of 2-game advantage final sets.
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Dec. 22
1894 — The United States Golf Association is founded, becoming the governing body for the game in the country.
1915 — The Federal League folds. Owners of the American and National Leagues buy out half of the owners (Pittsburgh, Newark, Buffalo, and Brooklyn) of the Federal League teams. Phil Ball, owner of the St. Louis Terriers, is allowed to buy the St. Louis Browns of the AL, and Charles Weeghman, owner of the Chicago Whales, buys out the Chicago Cubs of the NL.
1924 — Babe Dye of the Toronto St. Patricks scores five goals in a 10-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.
1946 — The Cleveland Browns beat the New York Yankees 14-9 in the first AAFC championship game.
1969 — Pete Maravich sets an NCAA record by hitting 30 of 31 foul shots, and scores 46 points to lead LSU to a 98-89 victory over Georgia.
1974 — Boston’s Phil Esposito scores two goals, including his 500th goal, to lead the Bruins to a 5-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Boston Garden.
1990 — Paul Coffey becomes the second NHL defenseman to record 1000 points. Coffey reaches the milestone with an assist on Kevin Stevens’ goal in second-period of a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders.
1996 — Brett Hull becomes the 24th player in NHL history to score 500 goals, with a hat trick in the St. Louis Blues’ 7-4 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Brett and his father, Bobby Hull, are the first father-son tandem to each score 500 goals.
2003 — Brett Favre passes for 399 yards and four touchdowns a day after his father dies, moving into second place in NFL history for career TD passes while leading the Green Bay Packers to a 41-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Favre passes Fran Tarkenton on the NFL’s career list with his 343rd career TD throw.
2005 — Reggie Campbell of Navy ties the NCAA bowl record with five touchdowns and had 290 all-purpose yards, leading the Midshipmen to a 51-30 win over Colorado State in the Poinsettia Bowl.
2006 — Peter Bondra scores his 500th NHL goal early in the third period to snap a 1-all tie and lead Chicago past Toronto 3-1.
2007 — Eathyn Manumaleuna blocks a field goal as time expires to give BYU a 17-16 victory over UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl.
2009 — Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh becomes the first defensive player voted The Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, winning the award after his dominant performance against Texas in the Big 12 title game.
2013 — Peyton Manning finishes 32 for 51 for 400 yards and four touchdown passes to set the single season touchdown mark in Denver’s 37-13 win over Houston. Manning, with 51 touchdown passes, passes Tom Brady (50 in 2007) for the most in a single season in NFL history.
2013 — Tom Brady leads the Patriots to a 41-7 win at Baltimore as New England clinches the AFC East. It’s the 11th division title for Brady, the most by a starting quarterback in NFL history.
2016 — Matt Linehan throws for 381 yards and four touchdowns and runs for a another score to help Idaho beat Colorado State 61-50 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. It’s the third-highest scoring game in bowl history. Idaho (9-4) matches its highest victory total since moving to FBS in 1996.
2020 – Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi scores his 644th goal for FC Barcelona during 3-0 win over Real Valladolid to break Pele’s record for most goals for one club; Pele, 643 goals for Santos 1956-74
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Dec. 23
1933 — Montreal’s Howie Morenz scores his 251st goal to become the NHL’s career goal-scoring leader. Morenz’s goal caps the Canadiens’ 3-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
1951 — Norm Van Brocklin’s 73-yard touchdown pass to Tom Fears in the fourth quarter gives the Los Angeles Rams a 24-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns for the NFL title.
1962 — Tommy Brooker kicks a 25-yard field goal 17:54 into overtime, giving the Dallas Texans a 20-17 victory over Houston for the AFL title.
1972 — The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders 13-7 on Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception,” in an AFC Divisional playoff game. On 4th-and-10 on their own 40-yard line with 22 seconds remaining and no time outs. Terry Bradshaw, under pressure, throws a pass over the middle to Oakland’s 35-yard line which is deflected by Oakland’s Jack Tatum. Running back Franco Harris catches the deflection at the Raiders’ 43-yard line and runs down the left sideline for a touchdown.
1978 — Bryan Trottier has five goals and three assists to lead the New York Islanders to a 9-4 victory over the Rangers. Trottier sets an NHL record with three goals and three assists in the second period.
1982 — Chaminade, an NAIA school, beats top-ranked Virginia and 7-foot-4 center Ralph Sampson, 77-72, for one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history. The game is played at Honolulu’s International Center in front of 3,383 fans.
1996 — Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions rushes for 175 yards in a 24-14 loss to San Francisco to finish with 1,553 yards for the season. It’s Sanders’ third straight season with at least 1,500 yards rushing, a first in the NFL.
2007 — The New England Patriots set an NFL record with their 15th win, the best start in league history, with a 28-7 victory over the Miami Dolphins 28-7.
2007 — Chris Johnson sets an NCAA bowl record with 408 all-purpose yards, and Ben Hartman kicks a 34-yard field goal as time expires to give East Carolina a 41-38 victory over No. 24 Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl.
2008 — The Boston Celtics set a franchise record with their 19th consecutive victory, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 110-91. The Celtics improve to 27-2 — the best start for a two-loss team in NBA history. The 19-game winning streak breaks the Celtics record set in 1981-82.
2012 — New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees passes for 446 yards and three touchdowns in the Saints’ 34-31 overtime win at Dallas. Brees, with 4,781 passing yards, becomes the first player in NFL history to record at least 4,500 yards in three consecutive seasons.
2013 — Andrew Luck throws for 205 yards to break a single-season rookie record, and his touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne late in the fourth quarter puts Indianapolis in the playoffs with a 20-13 win over Kansas City. Luck, with 4,183 yards, surpasses Cam Newton’s year-old record of 4,051 yards passing by a rookie in the second quarter.
2022 — Washington Capitals center Alex Ovechkin scores two goals to move past Gordie Howe on most NHL career goals list in 4-1 win over visiting Winnipeg Jets.
Dec. 24
1950 — Cleveland’s Otto Graham throws four touchdown passes, despite icy footing in Municipal Stadium, and Lou Groza kicks a 16-yard field goal with 28 seconds left to give the Browns a 30-28 victory over the Los Angeles Rams and the NFL title in their first year in the league.
1961 — George Blanda’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Billy Cannon gives the Houston Oilers a 10-3 victory over the San Diego Chargers for their second AFL title.
1967 — New York’s Joe Namath becomes the first player to throw for 4,000 yards in a season. Namath passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Jets to a 42-31 win at San Diego. Namath finishes the year with 4,007 yards.
1997 — In one of the biggest upsets in college basketball, Division II American-Puerto defeats the No. 12 Arkansas Razorbacks 64-59 in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.
2000 — Marshall Faulk breaks Emmitt Smith’s NFL record for touchdowns, scoring three times to give him 26 for the St. Louis Rams. Faulk’s three touchdowns and 220 yards fuels a 26-21 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
2003 — Steven Jackson ties a bowl game record with five touchdowns, and Oregon State’s defense overwhelms mistake-plagued New Mexico in a 55-14 win at the Las Vegas Bowl.
2006 — Colt Brennan sets the NCAA single-season record for touchdown passes at 58, throwing five in the second half to lead Hawaii to a 41-24 victory over Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl. Brennan, 33-of-42 for 559 yards, breaks the previous mark of 54 set by Houston’s David Klingler in 1990.
2011 — David Akers kicks his way into the NFL record book and the San Francisco 49ers hold off Seattle for a 19-17 win. Akers makes four field goals to give him 42 this season, breaking the NFL mark of 40 set by Neil Rackers in 2005 with Arizona.
2014 — Western Kentucky holds on to defeat Central Michigan 49-48 in a wild inaugural Bahamas Bowl. Central Michigan trails 49-14 entering the fourth quarter before Cooper Rush engineers a comeback. He throws four touchdown passes in the final minutes, and the Chippewas get the ball back at their own 25 with one second remaining. Rush completes a pass to Jesse Kroll, and the ball is lateraled three times before Titus Davis dove into the pylon for a touchdown with no time remaining. CMU elects to go for two, only to have the pass drop incomplete.
2016 — With a 41-3 rout of the New York Jets, Bill Belichick earns his 200th regular-season victory in New England, making him the fifth coach in NFL history to reach the milestone with one team.
2016 — Cleveland survives a last-second field-goal attempt and gets its first victory after 14 losses by beating the San Diego Chargers 20-17. When San Diego’s Josh Lambo misses a 45-yard field-goal attempt as time expires, the Browns (1-14) win for the first time in 377 days.
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Dec. 25
1956 — Corky Devlin of Fort Wayne goes 0-for-15 from the field against the Minneapolis Lakers to tie an NBA record.
1971 — Garo Yepremian’s 37-yard field goal at 7:40 of the second overtime gives the Miami Dolphins a 27-24 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the AFC playoffs. At 82:40, it’s the longest game in NFL history.
1984 — Bernard King of the New York Knicks scores 60 points in a 120-114 loss to the New Jersey Nets.
1995 — Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys scores his 25th touchdown of the season in a 37-13 win over Arizona, breaking the record for most TDs in a season. Smith passes John Riggins of Washington, who scored 24 in 1983.
1999 — Hawaii beats Oregon 23-17 in the Oahu Bowl to cap a remarkable turnaround for the Rainbow Warriors. Hawaii improves from 0-12 in 1998 to 9-4 — the greatest single-season improvement in NCAA history.
2002 — Katie Hnida becomes the first woman to play in a Division I football game when she attempts an extra point following a New Mexico touchdown in the Las Vegas Bowl. Hnida, a walk-on junior, has her kick blocked in the 27-13 loss to UCLA.
2008 — New Orleans guard Chris Paul has his NBA-record steals streak end at 108 games in the Hornets’ 88-68 loss to Orlando.
2012 — The Los Angeles Clippers extend their franchise-record winning streak to 14 games with a 112-100 win over the Denver Nuggets. The Clippers claim the NBA’s best record at 22-6 in the finale of a Christmas Day doubleheader at Staples Center. In the first game, Kobe Bryant scores 34 points in his NBA-record 15th Christmas Day game to lead the Lakers to a 100-94 win over the New York Knicks 100-94.
2016 — Ben Roethlisberger shakes off a pair of interceptions to throw two late touchdowns, including a 4-yard strike to Antonio Brown with 9 seconds remaining to lift the Steelers to a 31-27 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. The win is the 600th regular-season victory in franchise history. Roethlisberger also becomes the 10th player in NFL history to throw for at least 300 career touchdowns.
2020 — New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara equals Ernie Nevers 1929 NFL record of 6 touchdowns in a match in the Saints’ 52-33 win over the Minnesota Vikings at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
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Dec. 26
1908 — Jack Johnson becomes the first black man to win the world heavyweight boxing title, with a 14th-round knockout of Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia.
1917 — Toronto’s Harry Cameron becomes the first defenseman to score four goals in a game as the Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens 7-5.
1919 — Yankees and Boston Red Sox reach agreement to move future Baseball Hall of Fame pitching slugger Babe Ruth to New York.
1943 — Sid Luckman throws five touchdown passes to lead the Chicago Bears to a 41-21 victory over the Washington Redskins for the NFL championship.
1946 — The United States wins the Davis Cup with a 5-0 sweep of Australia, the worst defeat for a defending champion.
1954 — Otto Graham scores three touchdowns and passes for three more to lead the Cleveland Browns to a 56-10 rout of the Detroit Lions for the NFL title.
1955 — The Cleveland Browns intercept six passes, one of which is returned 65 yards for a touchdown by Don Paul, in a 38-14 victory over the Los Angeles Rams for the NFL championship.
1960 — The Philadelphia Eagles come from behind twice on a 35-yard pass to Tommy McDonald from Norm Van Brocklin and a 5-yard run by Ted Dean to beat the Green Bay Packers 17-13 for the NFL title.
1964 — Wray Carlton and Jack Kemp each score touchdowns and Pete Gogolak kicks two field goals to give the Buffalo Bills a 20-7 victory over the San Diego Chargers in the AFL championship.
1965 — The Buffalo Bills win their second straight AFL championship with a 27-0 victory over the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers are able to get inside Buffalo’s 25-yard line only once.
1971 — Muhammad Ali finishes off German Jürgen Blin with a thundering right cross for a 7th-round knockout in a non-title heavyweight boxing contest in Zurich, Switzerland.
1986 — Center Doug Jarvis of the Hartford Whalers plays his 915th consecutive game, setting an NHL record.
1992 – The NHL’s San Jose Sharks end a 13-game losing streak with a 7-2 win over the LA Kings, albeit allowing 59 shots, the most in team history; Jeff Hacket makes 57 saves
1999 — Mike Vanderjagt’s 21-yard field goal with four seconds left gives the Indianapolis Colts a 29-28 win over the Cleveland Browns. Indianapolis, which went 3-13 in 1998, makes NFL history by winning 10 more games than they did the previous season.
2001 — Colorado’s Patrick Roy becomes the first NHL goalie to win 500 games as he records his seventh shutout of the season, a 2-0 win over Dallas.
2004 — Peyton Manning breaks Dan Marino’s single-season touchdown pass record when he throws his 48th and 49th of the season, rallying Indianapolis from a 31-16 fourth-quarter deficit to win 34-31 in overtime over San Diego.
2007 — Chris Summers kicks a 40-yard field goal as time expired in the Motor City Bowl, lifting Purdue to a 51-48 win over Central Michigan. The 99 points ties the second-highest total in a bowl game that ended in regulation, trailing only the 2003 Insight Bowl, where California beat Virginia Tech 52-49.
2011 — Drew Brees sets the NFL record for yards passing in a season, breaking a mark that Dan Marino had held since 1984, and the New Orleans Saints clinch the NFC South title with a 45-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. Brees throws for 307 yards and four touchdown passes, the last a 9-yard strike to Darren Sproles that set the record with 2:51 to go. It was Brees’ final pass of the game and it gave him 5,087 yards passing, to break the record by three yards.
2023 — The Detroit Pistons suffer a 118-112 loss to the Brooklyn Nets at home to set an NBA single-season record with their 27th straight defeat.