December 13, 2022 3:54 am
Mississippi State says football coach Mike Leach has died following complications from a heart condition at the age of 61. The pioneering coach helped revolutionize the college football passing game with the Air Raid offense. A third-year coach at Mississippi State, Leach had been hospitalized over the weekend and had a bout of pneumonia late this season. In 21 seasons as a head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State, Leach went 158-107. Six of the 20 best passing seasons in major college football history were by quarterbacks who played for Leach, including four of the top six.
December 13, 2022 3:53 am
DOHA, Qatar (AP) – Tears are flowing from soccer’s biggest superstars as they make emotional exits from what might be their last World Cup. First it was Neymar, then it was Cristiano Ronaldo and it could be Lionel Messi next. Momentum is building behind Messi’s push to cap his one-of-a-kind career by winning the World Cup for the first time. The 35-year-old Argentina playmaker has carried his team to the semifinals almost in the same way Diego Maradona led the South American nation to the title in 1986. Now in Argentina’s way is Croatia. The 2018 runner-up is establishing a reputation as the most stubborn and durable of opponents and boasts one of soccer’s most graceful players in Luka Modric.
December 13, 2022 3:52 am
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Mac Jones threw for 235 yards, Raekwon McMillan had a crucial fumble return for a touchdown and the New England Patriots earned a 27-13 win on Monday night over the Arizona Cardinals, who lost starting quarterback Kyler Murray in the first quarter to a potentially serious knee injury. New England trailed 13-10 at the break but tied the game at 13-all early in the third quarter after a short field goal. The Patriots got their game-changing play and a 20-13 lead later in the third when McMillan scooped up a fumble and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown. Murray was hurt on the third play of the game, immediately changing the complexion of the evening.
December 12, 2022 3:55 am
Paul Silas, a member of three NBA championship teams and LeBron James’ first coach in the league, has died at the age of 79. Silas’ family announced his death on Sunday. The family revealed the death through the Houston Rockets, for whom Silas’ son, Stephen, is a second-generation head coach. Silas’ daughter, Paula Silas-Guy, told The New York Times that her father died Saturday night of cardiac arrest. Paul Silas won exactly 400 games as a coach, including playoffs. He played for two championship teams in Boston and another in Seattle. He was a head coach in San Diego, Charlotte, New Orleans and Cleveland.
December 12, 2022 3:53 am
CINCINNATI (AP) – Joe Burrow shook off a sloppy start to throw two touchdown passes and the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns 23-10. The Bengals ended a five-game skid to their Ohio rivals. Cincinnati has won five straight and nine of 11 and kept pace with Baltimore in the AFC North. Burrow picked up his first win in five starts against the Browns, whose playoff hopes are now all but nonexistent. Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson was sharper than in his debut with the team last week and threw his first touchdown pass in 707 days, a 13-yarder to David Njoku in the third quarter.
December 12, 2022 3:50 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he didn’t know “the details regarding the sequence” that led to rookie quarterback Kenny Picket initially being cleared to play before being put into concussion protocol during a 16-14 loss to Baltimore. Pickett was shaken up after getting sacked by Baltimore linebacker Roquan Smith at the end of Pittsburgh’s first drive. He was evaluated by medical personnel and cleared to return, playing one more series before being ruled out for the remainder of the game and replaced by Mitch Trubisky. Tomlin said Pickett was pulled after he became symptomatic.
December 12, 2022 3:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – J.K. Dobbins ran for 120 yards and a touchdown in his return from a knee injury, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome the loss of backup quarterback Tyler Huntley to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-14. Huntley filled in for injured star Lamar Jackson but entered concussion protocol in the second half. He was replaced by undrafted rookie free agent Anthony Brown. Justin Tucker kicked three field goals to help Baltimore end a four-game losing streak to the Steelers.
December 11, 2022 7:56 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Navy’s Anton Hall Jr. fumbled at the goal line in the second overtime and that helped set up Quinn Maretzki’s 39-yard winning field goal as Army beat The Midshipmen 20-17 in the first OT game in 123 games of the rivalry series. There wasn’t much offense throughout the game until the waning moments of regulation when Maretzki kicked a 37-yarder with 1:53 left to tie the game at 10-all. Navy leads the series against Army 62-54-7. The Black Knights have won five of the last seven meetings.
December 11, 2022 7:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nelly Cummings scored a season-high 24 points, Federiko Federiko and Blake Hinson had double-doubles and Pittsburgh pulled away in the second half to beat Sacred Heart 91-66. Cummings buried 6 of 12 shots from 3-point range and added six rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Panthers (7-4). Hinson finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds and has scored in double figures in every game for Pitt this season. Federiko, a sophomore, pitched in with 17 points and 14 rebounds — both career highs — for his first double-double. Greg Elliott hit three 3-pointers and scored 18. Cummings had 10 points in the first half and the Panthers’ starters accounted for all but two points in taking a 41-36 lead at halftime. Raheem Solomon totaled 18 points and six rebounds for Sacred Heart (5-6).
December 11, 2022 7:53 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored two goals, defenseman Kris Letang returned 12 days after the second stroke of his career and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-1. Rickard Rakell also scored to help the Penguins win their fifth straight and improve to 12-2-2 in their last 16 games. Casey DeSmith, making his first start in six games, stopped 37 shots as Pittsburgh completed a sweep of the home-and-home series after also winning 4-3 in overtime at Buffalo on Friday night. Peyton Krebs scored for the Sabres, who lost for the third time in five games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen finished with 28 saves.
