Ole Miss loses coach, but moves up a spot in College Football Playoff rankings; Ohio St. still No. 1
Ole Miss lost a coach but gained in the College Football Rankings released Tuesday, moving up a spot to No. 6 despite the sudden departure of Lane Kiffin to LSU. Undefeated Ohio State and Indiana remained at 1 and 2 in the rankings, while Georgia moved to third and Texas...
Bowl projections: Where and when will Penn State play now that it has earned its 6th win?
Penn State is going bowling for the fourth straight season. Though the campaign went differently than anyone had hoped a few months ago, credit is due to interim coach Terry Smith for rallying his team to three straight wins to finish the season. And though there’s widespread uncertainty about who...
Pitt’s Kyle Louis, Rasheem Biles, Trey Butkowski earn All-ACC honors
Three Pitt players — linebackers Kyle Louis and Rasheem Biles and kicker Trey Butkowski — earned second-team All-ACC honors Tuesday afternoon. Eight additional Panthers were honorable mentions: receiver Kenny Johnson, offensive linemen Ryan Baer and B.J. Williams, defensive tackle Francis Brewu, linebacker Braylan Lovelace, cornerback Shawn Lee, safety Cruce Brookins...
Steelers claim 35-year-old WR Adam Thielen off waivers from Vikings
The Pittsburgh Steelers added an aging and recently released wide receiver to their position group. Adam Thielen, 35, was claimed off waivers by the Steelers on Tuesday, a day after he was released following a second tour with the Minnesota Vikings. Thielen had requested his release so he could finish...
Steelers cut ties with CB Darius Slay, sign Asante Samuel Jr. to 53-man roster
The Darius Slay experiment as a starting cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers ended a few weeks ago. His time with the organization ended Tuesday. Slay, who started the first nine games after signing a one-year, $10 million deal with the Steelers in free agency, was waived, enabling the Steelers to...
Mike Tomlin understands frustrations of Steelers fans, shares dissatisfaction with recent losing stretch
Mike Tomlin doesn’t think he should be fired, contrary to the outpouring of emotions Sunday night at Acrisure Stadium when angry fans chanted for his dismissal late in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 26-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Steelers lost a second consecutive game and for the fourth time this...
Serena Williams has taken the 1st step toward a comeback to tennis by registering for drug tests
Serena Williams has taken the first step that would be required ahead of a comeback to tennis, registering with the sport’s drug-testing body, a spokesman for the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said Tuesday. The 23-time Grand Slam champion, one of the greats of the game, has not competed since...
Mike Tomlin declares rookie DT Derrick Harmon out for 1st-place matchup against RavensVideo
Derrick Harmon was drafted in the first round so the Pittsburgh Steelers could address their run-defense deficiencies that cropped up in December and January against the Baltimore Ravens. It was one of the changes the organization made after the Ravens rushed for 299 yards in the wild-card playoff round, which...
Penguins prospect Will Horcoff is enjoying a big season at MichiganVideo
Like any teenager, Will Horcoff is still growing. And at 6-foot-5 and 201 pounds, the Pittsburgh Penguins forward prospect has the appetite to match his size. “One thing we love to do at our house is go to Whole Foods and get the steaks going at night,” said Horcoff, currently...
First Call: James Harrison says Mike Tomlin isn’t ‘a great coach’; Flyer says team was ‘flat’ vs. Penguins
Tuesday’s “First Call” has some grumbling reaction from Philadelphia after the Flyers’ loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. James Harrison pans Mike Tomlin. We get injury updates from Baltimore on a few players as the Ravens prepare to host the Steelers. And we preview snowy college basketball showdowns for Pitt and...
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport: ‘Even discussing firing Mike Tomlin is completely ridiculous’
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, despite noticeable crowd unrest at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers are not entertaining the idea of firing head coach Mike Tomlin. “Even discussing firing Mike Tomlin is completely ridiculous,” Rapoport said during “NFL Gameday Kickoff” on Monday. “I don’t see any...
Tim Benz: 66,068 people heard ‘Fire Tomlin’ chants at Steelers game. Well, 66,067 anyway
There were 66,068 people at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the Buffalo Bills. They all heard the “Fi-re Tom-lin” chants and the boos for “Renegade.” Actually, I should say only 66,067 people. Because we all know Steelers owner Art Rooney II didn’t hear them. He...
Patriots blow past Giants to become 1st NFL team to 11 wins
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Drake Maye passed for two touchdowns, Marcus Jones had a 94-yard punt return for a TD and the New England Patriots became the first NFL team to reach 11 wins this season, beating the New York Giants, 33-15, on Monday night. It was the 10th straight win...
Duquesne storms back from behind to take lead but ultimately loses to William & Mary
The hole was too deep. The road was too long. Duquesne’s furious comeback wasn’t enough. But almost. “I’ll commend my guys on their fight. I do believe we showed some of that,” Dukes coach Dru Joyce III said. “We weren’t able to pull it out. We had an opportunity to...
Sidney Crosby, Penguins’ power play pound Flyers
Having stumbled through November with a 4-5-3 mark, the Pittsburgh Penguins needed to change something to open December. They tried to effect change Monday morning by recalling forwards Boko Imama and Rutger McGroarty from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League in advance of that evening’s game, a road contest against...
Chargers QB Justin Herbert has surgery on non-throwing hand, playing status to be determined
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert’s availability to play will be determined later this week after he had surgery on his non-throwing hand Monday. Herbert is day-to-day, the team said in a statement, after he broke a bone in his left hand in the first quarter...
Browns’ Maliek Collins to miss rest of season with quad injury
CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Maliek Collins will miss the rest of the season after suffering a quad injury in Sunday’s 26-8 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Coach Kevin Stefanski made the announcement Monday that Collins will have to undergo season-ending surgery. The 10-year veteran defensive lineman suffered...
Browns coach Stefanski still isn’t ready to announce Sanders as his starting QB for rest of season
Coach Kevin Stefanski continues to take Shedeur Sanders’ status as the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback on a week-by-week basis. The Browns’ 26-8 loss to San Francisco assured their 23rd losing season since 1999. Sanders struggled in the second half, but finished 16 of 25 passing for 149 yards with a...
Michigan State hires ex-Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald after firing Jonathan Smith
Michigan State has hired former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald to lead its football program. The announcement on Monday comes a day after the Spartans fired Jonathan Smith two seasons into his seven-year contract. “Pat Fitzgerald is widely recognized as an exceptional football coach, whose teams play with extreme toughness and...
Steelers notes: ILB Malik Harrison looking forward to facing old team, the rival Ravens
The game is for first place, and it’s always a highlight of any Pittsburgh Steelers season. But Sunday’s annual matchup on the road against the Baltimore Ravens means even more to Steelers inside linebacker Malik Harrison. Harrison spent his first five NFL seasons with the Ravens before signing a two-year...
Denny Hamlin breaks down in tears as the first witness testifying at NASCAR antitrust trial
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The landmark federal antitrust trial against NASCAR opened Monday with three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin breaking down in tears minutes into his testimony as the first witness in a case that could upend the venerable stock car series. Hamlin’s 23XI Racing, which he co-owns with Michael...
Eagles coach’s house vandalized after Bears loss
Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has been the subject of scrutiny all season long. But on Saturday morning, that scrutiny turned criminal. Patullo’s house in New Jersey was vandalized early Saturday morning, according to a report from The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff Neiburg. The Moorestown Police Department confirmed to the...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Franklin Regional grad Aris Lamanna wraps up strong season for Coastal Carolina women’s soccer
Goalkeeper Aris Lamanna played the entire women’s soccer season for Coastal Carolina — all 1,440 minutes — with a torn labrum. The former Franklin Regional standout put off surgery until mid-November, and she announced the procedure went well. If she had any discomfort or restraints this fall, she didn’t show...
The ACC is trying to spark men’s basketball; a better showing in the ACC/SEC Challenge would help
The ACC and SEC are southern-footprint neighbors best known for different long-running strengths: the ACC with rich men’s basketball tradition, the SEC in football. These days, the SEC has veered into the ACC’s lane. As the third ACC/SEC Challenge begins Tuesday, the SEC is coming off a year with a...
In 1st NFL game in 14 months, CB Asante Samuel passes test in Steelers debut
Seventeen days after joining the Pittsburgh Steelers, Asante Samuel Jr. was informed he would be in uniform for an NFL game for the first time in 427 days. “They told me (Saturday),” Samuel said of Steelers management revealing he would play Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. “They said, ‘Stay ready...
