College Football

Getty Images Tensions ran high following South Alabama’s 59-10 win over Eastern Michigan the 68 Ventures Bowl Saturday when a postgame fight erupted after a sucker punch was thrown.  Eastern Michigan defensive back Korey Hernandez rushed to South Alabama’s side of the field while the team was facing the marching band and singing the school’s alma mater. To the shock …

Alex Grinch is no longer employed by USC. He will not coach another game at USC, including the upcoming Holiday Bowl against Louisville. He no longer has anything to do with USC football, and yet his overall Trojan track record took one last night on Saturday night. Even though Grinch wasn’t coaching on Saturday night — he might have been …

The Florida Gators have lost one of its best offensive weapons to its most bitter in-conference rival. Former UF running back Trevor Etienne announced his commitment to the University of Georgia on Christmas Eve through On3 Sports’ Hayes Fawcett. Rumors of Etienne picking Florida’s most-hated SEC rival began almost immediately after he hit the portal, but there was some hope …

The Utah Utes were playing shorthanded all season long, primarily at quarterback. Cam Rising never took the field for Kyle Whittingham’s team, leaving Bryson Barnes and Nate Johnson — mostly Barnes — to handle the offense. One of the things which attracted USC to new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn is that when Lynn’s UCLA defense went up against Utah’s limited …

Dec. 24—Parity reigned on the area football scene this fall. More than in recent memory. But a familiar program — Unity — tops The News-Gazette’s final Top 10 poll of the 2023 season. Sports Editor Matt Daniels with the full breakdown: 1. Unity Record: * 9-3 What worked: Some midseason adjustments propelled the Rockets to a strong finish and a …

The Sugar Bowl is just over a week away, and we still have plenty of questions about the matchup. It is perhaps the most unpredictable game Texas will have played since the Oklahoma game which stands as cause for concern. 365 Sports has questions of its own about the matchup. Host Paul Catalina addressed some of the questions that will …

Dec. 24—Why Ryan Jefferson is the Coach of the Year Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond didn’t take a step back following the graduation of current Illinois running back Kaden Feagin. Rather, the Knights improved upon 2022’s 8-3 mark and claimed their first undefeated regular season since 2004, when it competed as Arthur-Lovington. Jefferson’s Knights won the 10-team Lincoln Prairie Conference championship thanks in part …

Ben Bryant passed for 222 yards and found Bryce Kirtz in the corner of the end zone midway through the fourth quarter, helping Northwestern beat Utah 14-7 Saturday night in the Las Vegas Bowl. Bryant went 22 for 34 with two touchdowns as Northwestern (8-5) closed out its season with a fourth straight win. The Wildcats limited Utah (8-5) to …

We all have had some fun watching former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly struggle in his time at LSU, and adding insult to injury with the Irish stealing back his offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock. All of this is probably giving Kelly some regrets about leaving South Bend, and now there is a rumor that he could be heading back …

The early signing period, particularly the first day is an exciting day for high school football prospects as they get to sign with their college of choice. But the day is also exciting for coaches. FSU quarterbacks coach Tony Tokarz could not stop smiling when he talked to local media Wednesday after the Seminoles announced their 2024 recruiting class. Tokarz …

Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com. Letters are lightly edited for clarity. To the editor: As a proud Syracuse graduate and die-hard sports fan, I want to thank Ryan Day for buckling under the pressure of being the OSU football coach and losing to Michigan. As one of the worst teams in the ACC, the Syracuse Orange just …

The early signing period has come and gone and the Ohio State football program put together another fantastic class, what almost all recruiting services have as the top-rated class in the Big Ten. But the Buckeyes weren’t the only Big Ten program to bring in some really good prospects. Oregon had a very fine day, as did Penn State, and …

Now that the early signing period has come and gone, the Iowa Hawkeyes have inked their 2024 class in large part. There might be a final name or two to add to the Hawkeyes’ current list of 21 signees in the spring, but, for now, Iowa’s 2024 class is more or less in tow. After months and in many cases years …

STILLWATER — When LD Brown met his new running backs coach, he had a natural bit of skepticism. Brown had just arrived at Oklahoma State for his freshman season when he was introduced to running backs coach John Wozniak, who had been hired to replace Marcus Arroyo — the coach who recruited Brown out of DeSoto, Texas. “What am I …

The Oklahoma Sooners released the depth chart for the 2023 Valero Alamo Bowl matchup with the Arizona Wildcats. The depth chart is one of the more intriguing storylines, considering the opt-outs and the transfer departures, in particular on the offensive side of the ball. Oklahoma will be breaking in a new starting quarterback and multiple offensive linemen when they take …