Month: December 2019

Sam Ehlinger passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as Texas dominated No. 12 Utah 38-10 in the Alamo Bowl on Tuesday night.

SAN ANTONIO — Sam Ehlinger passed for three touchdowns and ran for another, and Texas excised the frustrations of a disappointing regular season with a dominant 38-10 win over No. 12 Utah in the Alamo Bowl on Tuesday night.

After a 10-win season in 2018 set up a Top 10 ranking to start 2019, Texas underwhelmed in a season the Longhorns expected to contend for the Big 12 title. Instead, they ended the year with both the offensive and defensive coordinators getting replaced.

For one game at least, Texas (8-5) wiped all that away with a bruising and convincing win over a Utah team that only a month ago was on the verge of making the College Football Playoff.

The Utes (11-3) didn’t get there after they were swamped in the Pac-12 title game by Oregon and perhaps struggled to shake off the heartbreak of what could have been.

Texas physically handled the Utes at the line of scrimmage. Longhorns linebacker Joseph Ossai had three sacks of quarterback Tyler Huntley and six total tackles for a loss.

Texas also pounded out 231 yards rushing against the nation’s No. 1 defense against the run, which had held 10 opponents under 70 yards. Texas’ biggest run came on a 31-yard burst by Ehlinger on third down on the drive that led to his 6-yard touchdown that made it 24-3 late in the third quarter. Keaontay Ingram later added a 49-yard TD burst on the sideline late in the fourth.

Ehlinger finished with 201 yards passing. His first touchdown went to Collin Johnson, who missed six games this season with a nagging hamstring injury. His last was to Devin Duvernay, who caught three passes for 92 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY

Utah: The Utes delivered a dud after a season that was so good until December. Coach Kyle Whittingham had talked about what a boost getting a 12th win would be, particularly against a name program like Texas. Now the Utes head into 2020 needing to replace nine senior starters, six on a defense that was among the best in the nation much of the season.

Texas: For the second straight year, Texas used a bowl win to pummel a team that just missed the national playoff. What it means for 2020, there’s no way to tell. Texas will have new offensive (Mike Yurcich) and defensive (Chris Ash) coordinators in what will be a pivotal year for coach Tom Herman. The Longhorns expect to return 15 starters.

UP NEXT

Utah plays BYU in Salt Lake City on Sept. 5.

Texas hosts South Florida on Sept. 5.

Kyle Connor had three goals for his first regular season hat trick to lead the Winnipeg Jets over the Colorado Avalanche 7-4

Jonathan Bernier makes 34 saves to secure the shutout

Dangers of calling a game from between the benches

Sam Ehlinger passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as Texas rolled over No. 12 Utah in the Alamo Bowl 38-10

Gallinari, Schroder score 20 each as Thunder beat Dallas

Florida A&M became the fourth 25-point underdog to win this season, stunning 25.5-point favorite Iowa State 70-68 on Tuesday night to snap a 0-106 winless streak against major conference teams.

Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson had surgery on a torn meniscus in October and has yet to make his regular season debut.

Zion Williamson may be getting closer to making his NBA regular season debut.

Williamson is reportedly expected to join the Pelicans in practice on Wednesday. Both New Orleans and the rookie are “hopeful” he will return to the court in January after recovering from surgery on a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee, according to Stadium’s Shams Charania.

“Williamson is expected to return to his first practice shortly after the New Year on Wednesday and I’m told both sides are hopeful of a January season debut for Williamson,” Charania said. 

Williamson underwent surgery on Oct. 21 before ever playing a regular season game once it was confirmed he tore his meniscus.

The Pelicans have been very cautious with Williamson during his recovery process. Last week, ESPN’s Jorge Sedano reported that his rehab process from surgery has entailed more than just the standard recovery procedure. The team is reportedly teaching Williamson how to walk and run differently to work “on the kinetic chain of his body.”

Sedano added that before Williamson makes his debut, the Pelicans would reportedly like him to complete two or three practices with the team.

New Orleans has struggled without Williamson. The team is 11–23 and sits in 14th place in the Western Conference.

Wyoming built a 14-point lead by halftime and racked up 524 total yards to beat Georgia State 38-17 in the Arizona Bowl on Saturday.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Xazavian Valladay ran for 204 yards and scored two touchdowns, quarterback Levi Williams accounted for four scores and Wyoming rolled over Georgia State 38-17 in the Arizona Bowl on Saturday.

Wyoming (8-5) started slow before scoring two quick touchdowns late in the first quarter and early in the second. G after being left out of the postseason last year.

Williams made his first career start after Tyler Vander Waal entered the transfer portal but remained with the team for bowl practices. The freshman was poised under the bowl spotlight, throwing for three touchdowns and running for another.

Valladay had three catches for 91 yards and a touchdowns.

Georgia State (7-6) jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter but had a hard time stopping the big-play Cowboys. The Panthers twice turned the ball over on downs deep in Wyoming’s end in the second half.

Dan Ellington, who played with a torn right ACL, threw for 156 yards and a TD, adding 70 yards and a score rushing.

The Panthers got off to a fast start, marching quickly for Ellington’s 4-yard TD run and going up 10-0 after a field goal.

The Cowboys took over from there, scoring two touchdowns in less than two minutes. Williams threw an 18-yard TD to Austin Conway and, following an interception thrown by Ellington, he found Valladay on an 8-yard score to put Wyoming up 17-7.

Early in the second quarter, Williams had an interception deep in Georgia State’s end on an ill-advised back-foot throw. He made a similar throw just before halftime, but that one turned into a 51-yard touchdown when Ayden Eberhardt broke two tackles, weaved through Georgia State’s secondary and broke another tackle diving into the end zone.

The Cowboys led 24-10 at halftime.

Williams and Valladay connected on a 63-yard pass to open the second half and Valladay scored on a 1-yard run the next play.

Georgia State responded quickly, pulling within 31-17 when Ellington hit Cornelius McCoy on a 44-yard TD.

Wyoming kept gouging the Panthers’ defense, though. Valladay broke two tackles on a 62-yard run, setting up Williams’ 6-yard TD run around the right end.

THE TAKEAWAY

Ellington put in a valiant effort while playing injured, but Georgia State’s defense gave up too many big-chunk plays.

Wyoming had a huge offensive day to cap a disappointing finish – 1-3 over its final four regular season games.

UP NEXT

Wyoming loses four starters to graduation on offense and five on defense. Williams is a freshman and Valladay is a sophomore, giving the Cowboys two key skill players coming back.

Georgia State loses just two starters on offense and one on defense, so the Panthers should be in good shape to possibly set another school record for wins.

Bijan Nichols kicked a 23-yard field goal with two seconds remaining and No. 21 Navy capitalized on a fourth-down gamble in the final minute to beat Kansas State 20-17 in the Liberty Bowl.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Bijan Nichols kicked a 23-yard field goal with two seconds remaining and No. 21 Navy capitalized on a fourth-down gamble in the final minute to beat Kansas State 20-17 in the Liberty Bowl on Tuesday.

A Navy team with the nation’s top-ranked rushing attack set up the winning score by completing a halfback option pass with less than 30 seconds left. The Midshipmen snapped the ball on fourth-and-3 from the Kansas State 46. Quarterback Malcolm Perry pitched to C.J. Williams, and he threw downfield to a wide-open Chance Warren for a 41-yard gain.

Perry, who rushed for 213 yards, spiked the ball with 5 seconds left to set up Nichols’ field goal. Nichols had missed a 38-yarder earlier in the fourth quarter.

The victory enabled Navy (11-2) to tie a program record for wins and ensured the Midshipmen will finish a season in the AP Top 25 for just the third time in the last 56 years. Navy finished 18th in 2015 – when it also won 11 games – and was 24th in 2004.

Navy went 3-10 last year and matched the second-biggest season-to-season improvement in win-loss record of any team in Football Bowl Subdivision history. Hawaii owns the record by going 9-4 in 1999 after finishing 0-12 in 1998.

The Mids made that dramatic turnaround thanks largely to Perry, who capped a brilliant senior season with 28 carries and a touchdown pass.

Perry ran for 2,017 yards this season to set a Football Bowl Subdivision record for yards rushing by quarterback. The record had been owned by Jordan Lynch, who ran for 1,920 yards for Northern Illinois in 2013.

Navy dominated much of the game but wasted a couple of opportunities to put it away. The Mids led 17-10 late in the third quarter when a holding penalty on Billy Honaker wiped out a 31-yard run by Perry that would have given them first-and-goal at the 2. Navy ended up punting.

Nichols then sent a 38-yard field goal attempt wide left with 8:26 left in the game. At that point, Navy was outgaining Kansas State 351-83 but only led 17-10.

Kansas State finally got its offense going at that point, as Skylar Thompson connected with Wykeen Gill on a 15-yard completion and a 42-yard pass on back-to-back plays. Those long gains set up Thompson’s 1-yard sneak that tied the game with 5:14 left.

THE TAKEAWAY

Navy: A vastly improved defense sparked Navy’s turnaround and held Kansas State in check for much of the day. Kansas State’s offense didn’t reach the end zone for the first 54 1/2 minutes of the game. The Wildcats’ first touchdown came on a 66-yard punt return by Phillip Brooks, who also dropped a potential TD pass on the opening series.

Kansas State: The Wildcats ranked fourth nationally in time of possession during the regular season but couldn’t keep their offense on the field Tuesday as Perry and the Mids controlled the clock. Kansas State still has reason to feel good about itself. Picked before the season to finish ninth out of 10 teams in the Big 12, the Wildcats instead won eight games and stunned eventual Big 12 champion Oklahoma in coach Chris Klieman’s debut season.

UP NEXT

Navy will head overseas to open the 2020 season Aug. 29 by facing Notre Dame at Dublin, Ireland. The Mids will have a tough time matching the quarterback production of Perry, who ended his college career Tuesday. Freshman Perry Olsen backed up Perry this season.

Kansas State opens its 2020 season Sept. 5 by hosting Buffalo. The Wildcats return Thompson and first-team all-Big 12 defensive end Wyatt Hubert but must replace graduate transfer running backs James Gilbert and Jordon Brown as well as their entire starting offensive line.