December 8, 2024 12:05 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dillon Gabriel threw four touchdown passes and No. 1 Oregon outlasted No. 3 Penn State 45-37 on Saturday night in the Big Ten championship, giving the Ducks a first-round bye and almost certainly the top seed in the College Football Playoff. The Ducks (13-0, No. 1 CFP) nearly blew a 15-point lead in the final four minutes, ending the Nittany Lions’ last gasp by picking off Drew Allar’s pass with 1:54 left. Jordan James ran for for two scores to help Oregon win its first league title since 2020 in the Pac-12, this one coming in its first year in the Big Ten. Penn State (11-2, No. 3 CFP) also is expected to make the playoff field.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Oregon and Penn State piled up seven touchdowns, 537 yards, 28 first downs and 55 points in the Big Ten title game. That was in the first half. The top-ranked Ducks headed into halftime with a 31-24 lead. The 55 points broke a first-half scoring record for the title game that had belonged to Nebraska and Wisconsin, who combined for 52 points in 2012.
December 8, 2024 12:01 am
CALIFORNIA (Dec. 7) – The third-seeded Vulcans were unable to overcome a 21-point halftime deficit on Saturday afternoon while suffering a 31-13 loss to fourth-seeded Slippery Rock at Adamson Stadium in the Super Region One Championship as part of the NCAA Playoffs. With the loss, the No. 20 California (PA) football team finishes the season with a 10-3 overall record with all three losses being to nationally-ranked teams. The Vulcans advanced to the regional championship of the NCAA Playoffs for the fifth time in program history, all since 2007. Meanwhile, No. 11 The Rock improves to 12-1 this season and travels to face No. 2 Ferris State (Mich.) from Super Region Three in the national semifinals. Slippery Rock totaled 245 rushing yards on 40 attempts and quarterback Brayden Long, a two-time national finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy, threw three touchdown passes in the victory. Sophomore defensive back Khalil Taylor led the team with 11 tackles (10 solo) with 2.0 TFL, while fellow sophomores Samuel Hobbs and Julien Laventure both tallied six stops on Saturday. Sophomore running back Bobby Boyd, Jr. led the team with 99 rushing yards and one touchdown on 13 attempts. He finished the year with 938 rushing yards on 194 carries with seven touchdowns in his first year as a starter. Boyd totaled the most rushing yards this fall since Nelson Brown eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019.
December 8, 2024 12:02 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Michael Bunting scored a third-period power-play goal that gave the Pittsburgh Penguins the lead for good in a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Rickard Rakell also scored a power-play goal while Bryan Rust had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh. Blake Lizotte and Kris Letang added short-handed empty-net goals in the final minute. Letang now has the 23rd-most points among defensemen in NHL history. Sidney Crosby finished with an assist and tied Gordie Howe for fifth-most assists with one franchise in league history. Tristan Jarry stopped 25 shots for his fourth straight win. William Nylander and Mitch Marner scored for Toronto.
December 7, 2024 4:04 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Reilly Smith scored the go-ahead goal and Artemi Panarin scored twice as the New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2. Smith put New York ahead with his fourth goal this season at 9:53 of the third period in a game played hours after the Rangers traded their captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks. New York responded by winning on home ice as goaltender Igor Shesterkin snapped a personal five-game losing streak with 20 saves. Vincent Trocheck also scored for the Rangers and had two assists. Alexis Lafreniere had two assists.
December 7, 2024 4:07 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brent Strom has been hired as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ assistant pitching coach. The 76-year-old will work with Oscar Marin, the team’s pitching coach since 2020. A big league pitcher from 1972-77, Strom was pitching coach of Houston in 1996 and from 2014-21, Kansas City from 2000 through 2001 and Arizona from 2022 through 2024. He reached the World Series with the 2017, ’19 and ’21 Astros and the 2023 Diamondbacks.
December 7, 2024 4:10 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens is adding a little fuel to his team’s rematch with Cleveland. Pickens says he “doesn’t even know” who Browns defensive back Greg Newsome II is even though the two spent the final play of Cleveland’s win last month tangling with each other in the snow. Newsome called Pickens a “fake tough guy” in the aftermath. The dustup with Newsome was just the latest in a series of run-ins between Pickens and opposing defenders this season. Pickens says he doesn’t do anything different than any other receiver and hinted he may be getting targeted by NFL officials.
December 7, 2024 4:08 am
CLEVELAND (AP) — The NFL has closed an investigation into sexual assault allegations against Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. The league has been reviewing the case for months, trying to determine whether Watson should be punished. League spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email that “there was insufficient evidence to support a finding of a violation of the personal conduct policy.” Watson, who served an 11-game suspension in 2022, was accused of assault by a woman in September. She was seeking more than $1 million in damage before the sides reached a confidential settlement. Watson has played in just 19 games over three seasons for the Browns.
December 6, 2024 3:57 am
Detroit (AP)- Dan Campbell’s gambles paid off. Detroit went for it on fourth down for a fifth time to set up Jake Bates’ 35-yard field goal as time expired, Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes and the Lions clinched a playoff spot with a 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. The NFC-best Lions (12-1) broke a franchise record with their 11th straight win-including two over the Packers (9-4) to stay ahead of Minnesota (10-2) in the highly competitive NFC North.
December 6, 2024 3:40 am
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 17 points, Freddie Dilione V added 14 and Penn State pulled away from No. 8 Purdue for an 81-70 victory in the Big Ten opener for both teams. Puff Johnson had 13 and four steals, and Nick Kern Jr. had 12 points and three steals off the bench for the Nittany Lions (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten). Penn State led by as many as 27 to earn its first win over an AP Top 10 team since 2019. Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer each had 15 for the Boilermakers (7-2, 0-1).
December 6, 2024 3:43 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns will meet for the second time in 17 days when the Browns visit Acrisure Stadium on Sunday. Cleveland pulled out a 24-19 win over the Steelers on Nov. 21. That put the Browns in position to sweep the season series from their rivals for the first time since 1988. Pittsburgh bounced back from the loss by beating Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in a shootout to take a 1 1/2 game lead over Baltimore in the AFC North. The Browns are 3-9 but their offense has been better with Jameis Winston at quarterback.
