Projected college football rankings after Alabama holds off A&M, Wazzu upset
Alabama overcame mistakes to defeat Texas A&M, while UCLA handed Washington State their first loss. Here's how these results could affect the AP Top 25 rankings.
2023-10-08 08:15
Is there a 2-minute warning in college football games?
Football fans are well familiar with the 2-minute warning, but some are wondering if the stoppage at the end of halves is a thing in college football.
2023-10-08 07:46
Jude Bellingham the best in world? It’s not a stupid question – Gareth Southgate
England boss Gareth Southgate says it is “not a stupid question” to ask whether Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham is the best player in the world right now. Having impressed at Birmingham and flourished at Borussia Dortmund, the 20-year-old midfielder has gone up another level since his big-money switch to Spain. Bellingham has immediately established himself as one of Madrid’s main men and has scored 10 goals in 10 matches since moving to the Bernabeu for an initial £88.5million fee. The midfielder scored a brace in Saturday’s 4-0 win against Osasuna, which will only increase talk of the midfielder being the world’s top player at the moment. Asked if Bellingham was the best in the world right now, Southgate – speaking before the Real star’s two-goal showing on Saturday – said: “I wondered if you might say that! “No, it’s not a stupid question. I haven’t seen everybody and studied everybody playing. “All I can say is he’s at one of the biggest clubs in the world, arguably the biggest, and he’s playing exceptionally well and he’s currently the match-winner for them so he’s in a brilliant place.” He’s been the match-winner for Real Madrid and the start for him has been absolutely phenomenal. I’m chuffed to bits for him. Gareth Southgate on Jude Bellingham Bellingham has quickly established himself as a fan favourite at the Bernabeu, where he has added more goals to his game playing in a more advanced position. The 20-year-old scored a solo stunner in Tuesday’s 3-2 Champions League win at Napoli, with Spanish media comparing him to Diego Maradona and Alfredo Di Stefano. “He’s playing higher,” Southgate said. “We played him higher against Scotland, he had that freedom in the Ukraine game as well, we didn’t use the game well enough in the final third. “But he’s always looked dangerous and had an impact around the opposing box with Dortmund and with us, without looking quite as calm as he has this season in front of goal. “It’s brilliant to have people who can win games. “He’s been the match-winner for Real Madrid and the start for him has been absolutely phenomenal. I’m chuffed to bits for him.” Asked if Bellingham is a number 10 who could play up top on his own without a number nine, the England boss said: “Well, there are lots of different number 10s, aren’t there? “The 10s I played against, (Dennis) Bergkamp, (Gianfranco) Zola probably were forwards that dropped deeper rather than the other way round. “Jude is a more powerful player than those, slightly different. More of a midfield player, who’s going to make midfield runs. That doesn’t mean he’s any less effective, as we’ve seen. “Their team have found a nice balance with the athletic midfield they have behind and, having lost (Karim) Benzema as they did and lost Vinicius (to injury) as they did, they have been adapting. “He’s been defending on the left wing in a couple of games and I can just imagine the reaction from all and sundry if I asked him to do that! “So, look, he’s doing brilliantly well and that’s the beauty of some of the options we’ve got. We can play players in different positions. They’re good players so they can adapt.” Bellingham will now join up with England for a Wembley double-header, with Friday’s friendly against Australia followed by a Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy. Southgate largely stuck with the tried and tested with his selection for October’s fixtures, meaning vice-captain Jordan Henderson kept his place after his controversial move to Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia. “His physical data is fine,” Southgate said of the former Liverpool skipper. “The games are not at the same intensity as the games here. The heat is part of that. “There are two or three drinks breaks per game, which is an indication of the climate, and that his having an impact on how teams play. “It is a situation that we are tracking closely. I will go out and watch games. But we get all his games the same way we get everybody else’s. “That’s a longer trip and in these first couple of months we’ve felt it more important to see as many games live as we can, as quickly as possible, by getting around our country more. “But as time moves on, we’ll get to more of the Milans, the Madrids and the Bayern Munichs, as well as out to see Hendo.” Read More Pep Guardiola says he learned ‘a lot’ from Mikel Arteta ahead of Sunday reunion Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff should push for England call-up – Eddie Howe Steve Cooper hails Nottingham Forest’s ‘upward trajectory’ despite stalemate Owen Farrell relieved his shot clock blunder did not cost England victory Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest play out goalless draw at Selhurst Park Jonathan Taylor ends speculation over his future by committing to the Colts
2023-10-08 06:21
Pep Guardiola says he learned ‘a lot’ from Mikel Arteta ahead of Sunday reunion
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola distanced himself from Mikel Arteta’s success at Arsenal, insisting he learned just as much from his fellow Spaniard as opposed to the other way around. The narrative of Sunday’s skirmish between two sides tipped to be vying for the Premier League title at the end of the season centres on Guardiola the master going up against Arteta the protege. Arteta was one of Guardiola’s assistants for three years before leaving for Arsenal in December 2019, making gradual strides to the point where they were City’s closest top-flight challengers last season. Any notion Guardiola is indirectly responsible for Arsenal’s resurgence was rubbished by the former Barcelona manager, who believes he had a reciprocal arrangement with Arteta during their time at City. Asked if he sees a lot of his characteristics in Arteta, Guardiola said with a smile: “Zero. He has a completely different father and mother and he has his own personality. “All the success he has belongs absolutely to Mikel and his people at Arsenal, not me. People say ‘he was with Pep and learned a lot’. I learned a lot from him. “People say always I have to teach my assistant coaches; I bring the assistant coaches here to teach me. I am here, the figure in front of the microphone but I learn like the players. “People believe we teach the players but we learn off them to take the decisions many times. All of the good things about Mikel belong to him, his genetics his mum and dad are giving to him. Not me.” All the success he has belongs absolutely to Mikel and his people at Arsenal, not me. People say ‘he was with Pep and learned a lot’. I learned a lot from him Pep Guardiola En route to a historic treble last season, City collected a third successive league title as they finished five points ahead of Arsenal, who claimed a top-four spot for the first time since 2016. Guardiola thinks Arteta can bring back the glory days at Arsenal, who signed England midfielder Declan Rice for a club record £100million, plus £5m in add-ons, in July after City dropped out of the race. Guardiola said: “Everybody knows that we wanted him. In the end, Arsenal pushed more and wanted him more. Maybe Mikel was more convincing than me. We could afford it maybe less, that’s why.” Arsenal, who are unbeaten after seven league games and lie just one point City in the table, also paid more than £60m for Kai Havertz and their spending power suggests they will be challengers for a while. Guardiola added: “Normally when Manchester City spent this amount of money it’s crazy, when it’s the other ones how smart they are. “I’m not denying that everyone can do whatever they want and never judge the other one. We have been judged all the time but it’s fine. “When we were in the middle of the table it never happened (like) that, it was not a problem, we were not under scrutiny from the rest. “At the moment Arsenal’s recruitment is really good. They have a young squad for many, many years. “The perspective for many is the fact that they will be there many times and, of course, Declan Rice is an exceptional, exceptional holding midfielder with the national team. He is an exceptional player.” Read More Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff should push for England call-up – Eddie Howe Steve Cooper hails Nottingham Forest’s ‘upward trajectory’ despite stalemate Owen Farrell relieved his shot clock blunder did not cost England victory Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest play out goalless draw at Selhurst Park Jonathan Taylor ends speculation over his future by committing to the Colts Andoni Iraola admits he has to prove his reputation as Bournemouth struggle
2023-10-08 05:58
Is Oklahoma a College Football Playoff contender after knocking off Texas
With the Red River win over Texas, many people are calling Oklahoma a College Football Playoff contender going forward. How legit is the Sooners' case now?
2023-10-08 05:53
Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff should push for England call-up – Eddie Howe
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has encouraged home-grown midfielder Sean Longstaff to set his sights on an England call-up after shining on the European stage. The 25-year-old’s career, which looked to have stalled under Steve Bruce, has been resurrected since Howe took over in November 2021 and he played a key role in Wednesday night’s 4-1 Champions League victory over Paris St Germain with a tireless display capped with the third goal. Longstaff has been a key figure in the side which has gone six games undefeated and conceded just a single goal ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to West Ham, and while the Magpies’ head coach studiously avoids trying to pick Gareth Southgate’s squad for him, he insists the Academy graduate has what it takes to play international football. Howe said: “I haven’t spoken with Sean in any great detail about the England squad or his dreams and aims, but I’d encourage it for him because I think he is good enough. “I think he’s got everything depending on what system you want to play but for us, he perfectly fits the number eight role that we’re using him in. “I’d love to see him score more goals and get in more goalscoring positions because I think he is a very good finisher – you saw the other night with a really good goal – so hopefully there’s more to come from him. “But he’s certainly done very well at the start of this season.” He enjoys defending, he wants to defend Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe on Dan Burn North Shields-born Longstaff’s re-emergence has ensured a Geordie presence in Howe’s increasingly-cosmopolitan starting XI and he is not alone with Blyth native Dan Burn having made the left-back spot his own since his £13million arrival from Brighton in January last year. At 6ft 6in, the 31-year-old – who also scored against PSG – does not fit the usual profile for a full-back, but having played the role earlier in his career, has adapted admirably to what he has been asked to do. Howe said: “He’s been magnificent. He’s unusual. There are not many Dan Burn-type players playing football. “He’s done so well to adapt to the position, but it’s a position he’s played before, so it’s not new to him. It’s just new to him for us, but technically he’s been very good. “Defensively, he’s got a brilliant mindset to defending. He enjoys defending, he wants to defend. “You can see in the last two games, the amount of good decisions he’s made against very good opponents, whether that’s a fast tricky winger or someone who is good positionally. “He finds a way to react really well in-game to make adjustments to deal with his opponent.” Read More Pep Guardiola says he learned ‘a lot’ from Mikel Arteta ahead of Sunday reunion Steve Cooper hails Nottingham Forest’s ‘upward trajectory’ despite stalemate Owen Farrell relieved his shot clock blunder did not cost England victory Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest play out goalless draw at Selhurst Park Jonathan Taylor ends speculation over his future by committing to the Colts Andoni Iraola admits he has to prove his reputation as Bournemouth struggle
2023-10-08 05:49
Can Texas still make the College Football Playoff after Oklahoma loss?
With the No. 3 Texas Longhorns falling to the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners at Red River, can Steve Sarkisian's team still make the College Football Playoff?
2023-10-08 05:18
Oklahoma fans troll Texas for woe-filled Red River Showdown loss
Oklahoma defeated Texas in the 2023 edition of the Red River Rivalry 34-30, and Sooners fans took pride in letting the Longhorns know that they're not back.
2023-10-08 04:57
Steve Cooper hails Nottingham Forest’s ‘upward trajectory’ despite stalemate
Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper believes his side are heading in the right direction despite their trip to Crystal Palace ending in a “disappointing” goalless draw. Cooper’s men had their chances at Selhurst Park, where Morgan Gibbs-White saw a shot come back off a post and a sprightly Murillo was denied more than once by Eagles goalkeeper Sam Johnstone. In the end, it was a closer result than some had perhaps expected from a Palace squad that, already mired in an injury crisis, saw both Jeffrey Schlupp and Jairo Riedewald forced off either side of half-time. Cooper said: “We’re definitely the team that, if anyone deserved to win it was us. That was clear, with the chances in the game, so there’s a little feeling of disappointment in the dressing room for sure, but also knowing that performances and results like this last year were so hard to come by. “So the fact that we looked like that tonight and the way we have played means that beyond the small disappointment of not winning, we see a team that’s growing and hopefully on an upward trajectory. “I have to bear that in mind. We want to be winning games, especially when we have chances like we did tonight, how we played in the first half and how we ended the game. “But I think we’ve also got to respect that we kept a clean sheet, and for us to play like that I think is something that overall will be a real positive.” Roy Hodgson, who managed his 400th Premier League contest on Saturday, admitted he has rarely, if ever, experienced an injury crisis quite like the one plaguing the Eagles. Having already been forced to make three changes to his line-up from Palace’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United due to injuries to Eberechi Eze, Joel Ward and Cheick Doucoure, the 76-year-old was forced into two more on Saturday evening. As Schlupp hobbled off the pitch, Hodgson elected to bring on 21-year-old Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who before the Forest encounter had played just nine Premier League minutes for Palace. Rak-Sakyi, who had a disappointing Carabao Cup outing at Old Trafford last week, was a silver lining for Palace and received a warm reception from the home support after he delivered dangerous crosses into the area and tried twice to hand his side an opener. Ultimately neither side could take advantage of what few chances they had created, but the Palace boss was full of praise for his young substitute, who returned from a loan spell at Charlton at the end of last season. Hodgson, who compared Rak-Sakyi to the injured Michael Olise, said: “I was delighted for him. There were a lot of clubs interested in taking him again. “I had to fight with him a little bit to persuade him that if he really wants to be a Premier League player he is in the best place and chances will come, and today he got that chance and I think he took it extremely well. “He didn’t just do well on the ball, he also did his defensive work. Of course when you’ve got wingers, talented wingers, that is one of the things you ask questions about: is he going to be good on the ball for those few moments he’s got it, but also what is he going to be like when we’re working hard to stop them doing something with it?” Read More Owen Farrell relieved his shot clock blunder did not cost England victory Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest play out goalless draw at Selhurst Park Jonathan Taylor ends speculation over his future by committing to the Colts Andoni Iraola admits he has to prove his reputation as Bournemouth struggle Erik ten Hag wants Man Utd late show to be ‘a turning point’ Marco Silva hails ‘class’ Willian after Fulham beat Sheffield United
2023-10-08 04:48
Oregon gets brutal injury update that could hinder offense
Dan Lanning reveals bad news for the Oregon Ducks as running back Noah Whittington is expected to miss the rest of the season.
2023-10-08 04:26
Projected college football rankings after Oklahoma downs Texas, Ohio State runs away
Texas got clipped by rival Oklahoma in the Red River Showdown, Ohio State survived an early Maryland upset bid and we have our projected college football rankings.
2023-10-08 04:17
Alabama vs. Texas A&M rivalry history: Last A&M win, records, streaks, more
Who holds the advantage in the head-to-head series between Alabama and Texas A&M? Let's take a look at the history when the Crimson Tide and Aggies met up.
2023-10-08 03:28