Notre Dame senior tackle Christian Lombard, seen as a probable third-day draft pick, has a career-ending back injury.
Irishillustrated.com, a Notre Dame-centric website, reported the news Saturday.
A source tells Irish Illustrated that Christian Lombard will miss the Music City Bowl with a career-ending back injury (bulging disc).
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The match itself did not mean all that much — though Pitt did become bowl-eligible by defeating Miami 35-23 — but running backs for each team set remarkable school records.
Pitt sophomore James Conner ran for 2 touchdowns, giving him 24 for the season. The record of 22 have been held by Tony Dorsett, when he was a senior as well as the Heisman winner in 1976. Additionally, Conner raised his ACC single-season touchdown record.
Conner also rushed for 75 yards, giving him 1,675 for the season, which leads the ACC.
Meanwhile, Miami junior Duke Johnson ran for 89 yards, pushing his season total to 1,520 and his career total to a school-record 3,387 yards. The previous record holder was Ottis Anderson, who totaled 3,331 from 1975 78. Johnson has rushed for at least 88 yards in every single match this season and has had six 100-yard games.
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Judy Battista emphasizes the storylines and elements to pay attention to in Week 10, beginning with Large Ben’s recent offensive explosion and continuing below with 10 more items to observe.
Only before training camp started this summer, Ben Roethlisberger spoke up within an offensive assembly. The Pittsburgh Steelers were understood for his or her vaunted defense for such a long time, he started. But, he asked those around him, why can not the Steelers be understood for offense, also?
It hit some in attendance as a curious second in Roethlisberger’s career, the day that — even with two Super Bowl titles already to his name — he began to take a more vocal part together with the offense and started chiseling a fresh identity because of his team.
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Ohio State sophomore defensive end Joey Bosa recorded two sacks Saturday to get to be the very first Big Ten player this season with 10 sacks as the Buckeyes tuned up for next week’s showdown with Michigan State by hammering Illinois, 55-14.
Ohio State’s single-season sack record is 14, by Vernon Gholston in 2007.
Bosa (6-foot-5, 278 pounds) had sacks in the first and third quarters and now has 18.5 in his 22-game school career. He’s 6.5 sacks in the previous three matches, and his one on one matchup with Michigan State left tackle Jack Conklin next week will be possibly the most interesting individual challenge of the match.
Illinois came in having permitted a league-high 25 sacks. Michigan State has allowed a league-low five.
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PITTSBURGH — They are not prone to displays of emotion, these guys.
They do not talk about feelings or throw around mushy sentiments and they strive, Dick LeBeau and James Harrison both, to describe their football partnership in exact impassionate words.
So good. Leave the emotion outside. And only inquire James Harrison if he believes his profession would’ve taken an alternate shape had he played not in Dick LeBeau’s defense, but in another guy’s.
"I do not understand," he says, "if I would’ve had a profession."
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Nevada senior quarterback Cody Fajardo is going to join an NCAA fraternity so exclusive that it just has one other member.
» Bowl projections: Nevada to Potato Bowl?
As Well As another member is the San Francisco 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick, whom Fajardo succeeded as Nevada’s quarterback.
Fajardo (6-foot-2, 215 pounds) has 3,021 career rushing yards and is 25 yards shy of 9,000 career passing yards; the only quarterback in FBS history to have the 3,000/9,000 double is Kaepernick, who passed for 10,098 yards and rushed for 4,112 yards at Nevada from 200710.
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A search conducted by the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force yielded 112 grams of marijuana and $4,661 in cash in the dorm room of Alabama reserve tight end Kurt Freitag, but Freitag apparently was not charged.
A court record filed Monday indicates the task force witnessed Freitag as part of a drug transaction last week, but according to al.com, there is no record of a legal charge against Freitag. The agents approached Freitag and read him his rights, and Freitag consented to a search of his residence at Bryant Hall that turned up the drugs and cash, which were seized. A confidential informant had previously alerted the task force to the drug deal. A spokesperson for the task force declined to comment, and an Alabama spokesperson said the matter is being looked into.
A third-year sophomore, Freitag has seen limited playing time in his career and was passed on the depth chart by a younger tight end last year in O.J. Howard.
Alabama plays host to Texas A&M on Saturday.
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An investigation into whether a college football player accepted money in exchange for autographs has already thrown the career of the Heisman front-runner, Todd Gurley, into jeopardy this season, and a similar probe might yet trip up the remaining eligibility of the Heisman’s reigning winner.
The Florida State compliance department has begun to look into how a large number of Jameis Winston autographs were authenticated and whether he accepted any money as a result, according to a report on ESPN.com.
A source told ESPN that head coach Jimbo Fisher asked Winston if he ever accepted money for autographs after Saturday’s win over Syracuse, and Winston responded that he did not. However, the James Spence Authentication company certified more than 340 autographs from Winston.
"The items that I’ve seen signed by Todd Gurley and Jameis Winston, which have been authenticated by JSA, look like they came from an autograph signing," Martin Buckley, co-owner of Palm Beach Autographs in Florida told the site. "This is based on the items themselves being similar, the quantities of those items, the consistency of signature as well as similar spots in which they signed."
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Notre Dame’s Everett Golson threw for 300 yards for the second time in three weeks to lead the Irish to a wild 50-43 win over North Carolina.
The win sets up a gigantic game for the Irish next week at Florida State.
Golson was 21-of-38 and threw three TD passes as the Irish hit the 50-point mark for the first time since the 2012 opener (50-10 over Navy). It was his third career 300-yard outing, and he also ran for 71 yards. Golson has attempted at least 34 passes in each of the past five games and at least 38 in four consecutive games.
» What you need to know from Week 7 in CFB
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A pair of amazing, athletic catches headlined Week 5’s Top 10 "Performance Moments of the Week" presented by Bridgestone. But there could only be one.
No other touchdown in Travis Benjamin‘s short career meant as much as the 4-yarder he hauled in Sunday. The Cleveland Browns, down 28-3 at one point to the Tennesee Titans, posted a furious comeback in the second half. Benjamin’s grab from Brian Hoyer completed the biggest road comeback in NFL history.
At No. 2, Cowboys stud wide receiver Dez Bryant takes home the honors of the No. 1 spot. After a missed Dan Bailey field goal in regulation and a stop against Houston’s defense, Dallas needed just a field goal to win its fourth straight game. Enter Bryant, taking Texans cornerback Jonathan Joseph one-on-one down the left sideline. Though Tony Romo was wallopped by D.J. Swearinger, he managed to toss a powerful enough ball to Bryant. It looks great each time we watch it.
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Arizona Cardinals quarterback Drew Stanton left Sunday’s game against the Broncos to be evaluated for a possible concussion. Third-string passer Logan Thomas came in to replace Stanton under center.
Thomas threw his first career touchdown pass in the third quarter, an 81-yard catch-and-run to Andre Ellington.
With Carson Palmer inactive as he deals with a lingering nerve issue in his shoulder, Thomas is the only signal-caller left on the Cards’ roster.
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Peyton Manning made history — again.
The Denver Broncos star connected with Julius Thomas for his 500th career touchdown pass in Sunday’s game against the Cardinals.
Manning is just the second QB ever to accomplish the feat, joining Brett Favre (508). Barring injury, Manning is on pace to break the record at some point this season.
Dan Marino, Drew Brees and Tom Brady round out the top five for the category.
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Jameis Winston threw for 297 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a score Saturday as Florida State coasted past Wake Forest 43-3.
Winston has thrown a TD pass in every game of his career, but he didn’t connect for a score in this game until there was 9:40 remaining. That score gave the Seminoles a 40-3 lead.
Florida State (5-0) led just 13-3 at halftime before awakening in the second half.
Winston was 23-of-39; that’s the second-most attempts in a game in his career, and the top three have come this season (40 in the opener against Oklahoma State and 38 last week against North Carolina State). Winston also threw an interception, giving him five for the season in four games; he threw 10 in 14 games last season.
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Bryan Cox Jr. picked quite a day to play a lot like his father did during his NFL career.
The son of former All-Pro linebacker Bryan Cox came up with three sacks to lead a 10-9 win in a road game at rival Tennessee that threatened to send the Florida Gators’ season into an early tailspin.
Bryan Cox Sr., of course, had an impressive 12-year NFL career playing for the Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears and New York Jets, among others. The three-time All-Pro, currently the Atlanta Falcons‘ defensive line coach, amassed 51.5 career sacks, but as a college player at Western Illinois and a fifth-round draft pick, he never found himself on the center of a stage quite like his son was on Saturday.
Bryan Cox Jr.’s first sack of the season came at a big third-down moment, as he dropped Volunteers quarterback Justin Worley for a loss of 13 to force a punt in the second quarter. Cox, a redshirt sophomore who had two career sacks entering the game, sacked Worley again on third down in the third quarter to force a field goal attempt, and his third sack set up a 3rd-and-9 and helped force one of eight Tennessee punts.
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It’s well established that a quarterback doesn’t need to be from a major college program to find success in the NFL.
The list of QBs that rose from outside college football’s power conferences — or even Division I in some cases — within the past decade or so includes Joe Flacco (Delaware), Colin Kaepernick (Nevada), Ben Roethlisberger (Miami Ohio) and Tony Romo (Eastern Illinois). The latest signal-caller trying to follow their lead is New England Patriots rookie Jimmy Garoppolo (Eastern Illinois), a second-round pick earlier this year who threw his first career touchdown pass Monday night in relief of Tom Brady.
Who could be next in the pipeline from the less-heralded ranks?
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Another week, another 200-yard game for Nebraska senior tailback Ameer Abdullah.
Abdullah ran for 208 yards and three TDs on 22 carries — his second 200-yard game in a row and his third of the season — as the Huskers smashed host Illinois 45-14.
Abdullah helped Nebraska — which plays at Michigan State next week — rush for 458 yards and roll up 624 complete yards. He’s got a state-top 833 rushing yards this year, to go with eight rushing TDs.
Abdullah started the season using a 232-yard performance against Florida Atlantic, subsequently rushed for 229 yards last week in a win over Miami. He now has four 200-yard games in his career, including two against Illinois; he rambled for 225 against the Illini last season.
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As if there was not already enough heat on Michigan coach Brady Hoke, he’s hearing criticism for his handling of quarterback Shane Morris in the Wolverines’ loss to Minnesota.
Morris, who made his second career start Saturday, left the field on a cart following the match. He received a big hit — which appeared to be a hit to the head but was not called — after a pass effort early in the fourth quarter. He seemed to be somewhat dazed and undoubtedly was hobbling following the play. However he stayed in the match for another pass effort before he was replaced by Devin Gardner.
A few plays later, Morris went back to the match after Gardner lost his helmet on a run. He given away, then came off the field once and for all.
Hoke was inquired in his postgame news conference why Morris stayed in the match after he seemed to be damage.
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Georgia running back Todd Gurley set an emphatic stamp on his location as college football’s top running back Saturday with a commanding performance against competing Tennessee in a 35-32 Bulldogs win.
He rushed to get a career-high 208 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. But just as significant as his stat totals was this: when the Bulldogs wanted him most, with Tennessee within three points in the fourth quarter, Gurley was at his absolute finest.
The UGA coaching staff rested Gurley commonly in the middle portion of the sport, giving freshman Sony Michel activity in the very first half and another freshman, Nick Chubb, wide-ranging amount of time in the 2nd half after Michel went out with the injury. The effect was a Gurley who seemed just as unique in the fourth quarter as he did in the very first.
And that is exactly what a fresh Gurley looked like using the match still in doubt:
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., and EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — As Derek Jeter sits at his locker in a visiting clubhouse, he’s mired in an 0-for-24 slump that will contain four more hitless at bats before it finishes. The shortstop/captain’s New York Yankees career, spanning two decades and including five World Series championships, will finish before October.
One day before, Eli Manning had thrown two interceptions as the New York Giants lost their second straight match to open the season, 25-14 to the Arizona Cardinals, rekindling memories of an 0-6 beginning a year ago. One on-line headline asked: "Is (the) curtain close on Eli Manning’s career?"
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When presented with this — the general notion of Manning and his legion of doubters — Jeter shakes his head, provides a small chuckle.
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South Carolina wide receiver Pharoh Cooper demonstrated why he is among the very versatile athletes in the SEC in leading the Gamecocks to a 48-34 win Saturday at Vanderbilt.
The sophomore led all receivers with 10 catches for 114 yards, and added another 74 yards in the ground on only two carries. His 188 total yards signified his most productive game of the season. It ended up being a breakout performance, and College Football 24/7 called Cooper would be a breakout player in the SEC this season.
His 10 catches were a career high. Cooper now leads the Gamecocks in receptions with 21 for 244 yards.
Gamecocks quarterback Dylan Thompson completed 22 of 34 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns, though star running back Mike Davis was held to less than 100 yards again (17 rushes for 84 yards). Opposing defenses have keyed on Davis greatly this season, and if this continues, Cooper’s chance for huge plays should come with this.
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