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...
Michigan up to No. 3 in AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll
Michigan jumped to No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll Monday as rival Michigan State and Iowa State both climbed into the top 10. No. 1 Purdue and No. 2 Arizona remained atop the rankings. The Boilermakers received 40 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel,...
Penguins prospect Will Horcoff named to United States’ preliminary roster for IIHF World Junior championship
Pittsburgh Penguins forward prospect Will Horcoff was named to the United States’ preliminary roster for the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) World Junior Championship tournament. USA Hockey announced the roster on Monday. The Penguins selected Horcoff (6-foot-5, 201 pounds) in the first round (No. 24 overall) of the NHL...
After Thanksgiving hangover, Steelers go back to drawing board to face Ravens
From viewing what he called a “poorer” week of practice to having at least one of his pass catchers apparently skip film study, Aaron Rodgers had several reasons to think the Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t properly focused Sunday when they played the Buffalo Bills in a pivotal AFC matchup at Acrisure...
Pittsburgh to host Riverhounds championship rally Downtown
Downtown Pittsburgh will host a celebration Thursday afternoon of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ championship title. Part of Grant Street will be closed to traffic from noon to 2 p.m. A rally will go from noon to 1 p.m., followed by a receiving line to meet the team and take photos with...
Analysis: Shortcomings in the trenches separated Pitt from its elite opponents
The first play of Pitt’s regular-
season finale versus Miami told the tale of why the Panthers entered December having fallen short of their goal to play in the ACC championship. It was a 10-yard sack of Mason Heintschel, one of four allowed to the Hurricanes in a 38-7 blowout that...
Mark Madden: The Steelers are broken, and it falls on Mike Tomlin
When Aaron Rodgers is hopped up on ayahuasca, or whatever truth serum he’s taking that enables him to play (not very well) with three fractures in his left wrist, it would be fun to ask him if the situation in Pittsburgh is what he’d hoped for. Here’s betting it’s not....
5 things we learned: TE Pat Freiermuth remains missing from Steelers’ game plan
Five things we learned from Bills 26, Steelers 7: 1. Missing man Forgive fans for thinking that Pat Freiermuth’s face has been plastered to the back of a milk carton. He still remains employed by the Steelers. It was just difficult to find him on the field Sunday. Freiermuth logged...
Penguins recall forwards Boko Imama, Rutger McGroarty from Wilkes-Barre/ScrantonVideo
The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled forwards Boko Imama and Rutger McGroarty from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) on Monday. These transactions were made in advance of a road contest against the rival Philadelphia Flyers on Monday evening. Imama has spent the entire regular season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. After clearing waivers...
‘It’s been a good run’: Terry Smith reflects on Penn State tenure as uncertainty now grows
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Penn State’s roller coaster regular season has reached its conclusion, with the Nittany Lions winning three straight to earn a bowl game. But now comes uncertainty. Penn State needs a new coach. Players will have the opportunity to enter the transfer portal shortly after. An entire coaching...
Kentucky fires SEC’s longest-tenured coach in Mark Stoops in his 13th season
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky has fired the Southeastern Conference’s longest-tenured coach, ending Mark Stoops’ tenure in his 13th season with the Wildcats after back-to-back losing records. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart said in a statement Monday morning that he informed Stoops they decided to go in a new direction and started...
First Call: James Cook’s blunt assessment of Steelers’ CBs; Aaron Rodgers bothered by postgame question; Pens vs. Flyers
Buffalo’s star running back tells the world why his team was able to exploit the Pittsburgh Steelers on the ground. Aaron Rodgers doesn’t like a question from the media. Linebacker Patrick Queen snaps at a former Steeler via social media. And the Penguins renew acquaintances with the Flyers in Philadelphia....
Steelers vs. Bills: What they’re saying in Buffalo after win
For the first time on Pittsburgh home turf, the Steelers’ defense gave up 249 rushing yards against the Bills — resulting in a definitive 26-7 win for Buffalo. It was the most rushing yards gained by an opposing team at Pittsburgh since the Bills rushed for 310 yards on Sept....
Madden Monday: There’s no nice way to put it — the Steelers are ‘gutless’
I’ll admit it. This is an oversimplification of how to critique the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 26-7 dud of an effort against Buffalo on Sunday, but I’m most disappointed in how the players played on defense, and I’m most disappointed in how the players were coached on offense. Sure, there is some...
Minor league report: Nailers’ winning streak snapped in overtimeVideo
Goaltender Jake Smith made 32 saves on 34 shots for the Wheeling Nailers in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Cincinnati Cyclones at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, W.Va., on Sunday. The result was the first loss of the season for Smith (7-0-1) and snapped a four-game winning streak for Wheeling...
Say it isn’t so: Steelers fans boo ‘Renegade’ in 4th quarter of loss to Bills
Steeler Nation has turned its back on “Renegade.” At least that was the appearance given when the popular Styx anthem was booed lustily by fans at Acrisure Stadium in the fourth quarter of the Steelers’ 26-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. The Steelers had just turned the ball...
Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers returns — but takes no snaps under center, then suffers bloodied nose
Aaron Rodgers didn’t like how he played during Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. He didn’t care much for how the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense did on whole, either. But whatever was wrong with Rodgers in particular or the Steelers in general had little if anything to do with the fracture...
Airing of Grievances: 3rd quarter catastrophe, run defense debacle lead to humiliating Steelers loss
Watching the Steelers on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills made me wonder if they all ate some Thanksgiving leftovers that had gone bad in the refrigerator. Because the entire team threw up all over itself during a 26-7 loss to fall to 6-6. The offense was bad. The defense was...
Steelers’ Cam Heyward ‘ticked off’ at Bills’ Josh Allen for ‘kneeing’ him in the midsection
A 15-yard taunting penalty assessed to the team that was just scored upon? It raised eyebrows. Pittsburgh Steelers co-captain Cameron Heyward, though, said he had good reason for mixing it up with Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen after an Allen touchdown pass during the third quarter of the Bills’ victory Sunday....
