December 25, 2024 6:34 am
No. 8 and third-seeded Boise State is preparing for its third trip to the Fiesta Bowl. This time it’s in a playoff quarterfinal against No. 5 and sixth-seeded Penn State on New Year’s Eve. Boise State’s first appearance on the national stage was in a memorable victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2007. But former coach Chris Petersen said the victory in that bowl three years later over TCU was even more meaningful for the program.
December 24, 2024 4:44 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is back in elite company and this time it’s alongside his Hall of Fame former teammate. Crosby tied Mario Lemieux’s franchise record for most assists in team history during the first period of Monday’s 7-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Philip Tomasino finished Crosby’s backhand pass for a power-play goal at 17:44 of the first period, giving Pittsburgh a 4-1 lead and equaling Lemieux’s mark. “I was just trying to take it to the net,” Crosby said. “At the last second, I saw he was on the back door.” Crosby and Lemieux both have 1,033 assists, which ranks 12th all-time in NHL history. Only three players in league history have more assists with a single team than Lemieux and Crosby. “I didn’t ever think about that,” Crosby said. “I dreamed of playing in the NHL and I’m grateful for that for all these years, but I don’t think about where I’m at on the list. To be with Mario, though, that’s pretty cool. I never would have expected that. So, that’s just a bonus.” Crosby scored an empty-net goal in the third period and also assisted on goals by Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust in the first period to give him four points. It’s Crosby’s 42nd four-point game of his career — and second in three games. Crosby has 10 goals and 39 points in 36 games this season. “Mario’s one of the greatest players of all time, as is Sid,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “There’s very few players in the history of the game that have reached the milestones that Mario and Sid have reached.” Lemieux, who finished his Hall of Fame career with 1,723 points, led Pittsburgh to its first two Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992 as a player and owned the team when Crosby captained the Penguins to championships in 2009, 2016 and 2017.
December 24, 2024 4:38 am
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Josh Jacobs gained 107 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown for a sixth straight game as the Green Bay Packers clinched a playoff berth while producing the first shutout of the NFL season, 34-0 over the hapless New Orleans Saints. Green Bay improved to 11-4 and earned its fifth postseason appearance in six years. New Orleans played without injured quarterback Derek Carr and running back Alvin Kamara. Rookie Spencer Rattler started and went 15 of 30 for 153 yards with an interception and a fumble. The Packers have won nine of their last 11 games.
December 24, 2024 2:20 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Andrew McCutchen is sticking around to see if the Pittsburgh Pirates can finish the climb back to contention. The five-time All-Star outfielder-turned-designated hitter has agreed to a one-year, $5-million deal with the club, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal was not official. The 38-year-old McCutchen hit .232 with 20 home runs and 53 RBIs in 120 games this season with Pittsburgh, which finished 76-86 for a second consecutive year.
December 23, 2024 4:36 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The wiggle room the Pittsburgh Steelers once enjoyed atop the AFC North is gone. The Steelers have dropped two straight to fall to 10-5 after a 34-17 loss to Baltimore, which is now tied with Pittsburgh for the division lead. The Steelers can still earn their first AFC North title in four years by winning their final two games. It won’t be easy. Pittsburgh finishes with home games against Kansas City and Cincinnati. The banged-up Steelers defense has struggled of late, giving up more than 400 yards while falling to the Eagles and Ravens.
December 23, 2024 4:34 am
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Jayden Daniels threw his fifth touchdown pass of the game with 6 seconds left to give the Washington Commanders a 36-33 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles’ winning streak ended at 10 and they lost starting quarterback Jalen Hurts to a concussion early. Daniels led a 57-yard touchdown drive in the final 1:58 to move the Commanders to the verge of making the playoffs and prevent the Eagles from clinching the NFC East title and one of the conference’s top two seeds.
December 23, 2024 4:37 am
The average final score over the first week of the College Football Playoffs: Winners 36, Losers 17. This bold, new experiment was supposed to bring more programs from more parts of the country into the loop of a largely regional sport that had been dominated by about a half-dozen teams for the last decade. Instead, it will take another 10 days to find out if “more” really means more — or if more just means more blowouts before arriving at what we had before — a group of four contenders battling it out for a title that only they had any realistic chance to win.
December 23, 2024 4:39 am
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jess Mruzik made 29 kills with a .315 hitting percentage, and Katie Schumacher-Cawley became the first female coach to win a NCAA volleyball championship as Penn State defeated Louisville 3-1 in the final. The Nittany Lions (35-2) earned their record eighth national championship and first since 2014 under the third-year coach, who has led the team while undergoing treatment for breast cancer that was diagnosed in September. Schumacher-Cawley has nonetheless conducted practices between treatments, a determined and emotional journey that provided a rallying point for players and garnered widespread support. Penn State completed its mission by winning 25-23, 32-34, 25-20 and 25-17.
December 23, 2024 5:07 am
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Baseball Hall of Famer and stolen base king Rickey Henderson has died. He was 65. Known as baseball’s “Man of Steal,” Henderson had a lengthy list of accolades and accomplishments over his nomadic 25-year career. He was an MVP, 10-time All-Star selection, two-time World Series champion and Gold Glove winner. But it was stealing bases where Henderson made his name. He broke Lou Brock’s single-season record of 118 by stealing 130 bases in 1982 and led the league in steals for seven straight seasons and 12 overall. He broke Brock’s career record when he stole his 939th base on May 1, 1991. Henderson finished his career with 1,406 steals.
December 22, 2024 4:39 pm
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Dominic DeLuca and Tony Rojas returned interceptions for touchdowns and Penn State toyed with mistake-prone SMU in a 38-10 victory in the opening round of the College Football Playoff. The sixth-seeded Nittany Lions (12-2) advanced to face third-seeded Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve with the win. Penn State hounded SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings into three first-half turnovers, including a pair of ill-advised throws in the first half that DeLuca and Rojas converted into Pick-6s to give the Nittany Lions a lead they never came close to squandering. Penn State will have some history on its side when it faces Boise State. The Nittany Lions are 7-0 all-time in the Fiesta Bowl.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Jaydon Blue ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns, the last a 77-yard burst in the fourth quarter, and Texas beat Clemson 38-24 on Saturday in the first round of the expanded College Football Playoff. Blue’s fourth-quarter touchdown came after Clemson rallied from down 31-10 to 31-24 on Cade Klubnik’s third touchdown pass. Texas (12-2) advanced to the Jan. 1 Peach bowl to play Big 12 champion Arizona State. Blue also scored on 38-yard cut-and-dash burst in the second quarter. On his second, he dove into the line, shook a tackler, and then outraced three more to the end zone with just 11 minutes left. Klubnik, who grew up in Austin, passed for 336 yards for the Tigers (10-4).
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Will Howard threw two touchdown passes to freshman Jeremiah Smith and Ohio State routed Tennessee 42-17 on Saturday night in a first-round College Football Playoff game, setting up a New Year’s Day rematch with No. 1 Oregon at the Rose Bowl. Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson rushed for two touchdowns apiece as the Buckeyes (11-2) gave their fans an early Christmas present that should quiet some of the outcry following the devastating fourth straight loss to Michigan three weeks ago. Howard finished 24 for 29 for 311 yards, his second 300-yard game of the season. Smith had six catches for 103 yards.
