Sports
Jaxson Dart, elite defense lead No. 5 Ole Miss vs. Georgia Southern
Sep 14, 2024; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons linebacker Aiden Hall (39) upends Mississippi Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) during the first half at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Ole Miss Heisman Trophy candidate Jaxson Dart and his 11 total touchdowns created many of the headlines during a 3-0 start, but the team’s defensive showing has produced the Southeastern Conference school’s best stat.
Off to an outstanding start in a less-than-challenging nonconference schedule, the No. 5-ranked Rebels will host the Georgia Southern Eagles in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday night in their final game before eight straight SEC matchups.
And when the opposition has had the ball against Ole Miss in 2024, it has been lights out play by the Rebels’ defense.
In three victories and 180 minutes of football, defensive coordinator Pete Golding’s unit has not allowed one opponent to cross the goal line as the squad has dominated the other side on the scoreboard by a 168-9 margin.
No TDs surrendered. No garbage score late in one of the three blowouts, no freak play like a tipped ball or player slipping, no broken coverage or backups wearing unfamiliar numbers showing why they are where they are down the depth chart.
It’s the first time since 1961 that an Ole Miss squad has done that.
The Landshark defense is tied with Ohio State in scoring defense (3.0 points per game), leads in rushing defense (33.3 yards) and is tied for third in tackles for loss (10.0).
Linebacker TJ Dottery said the success stems from stopping the run.
“Our D line. Our backers and even our safeties have been coming down, hitting and being physical,” said Dottery, a sophomore who played for Clemson in 2022. “We say it a lot, ‘On our road games, we pack our defense and our run game.’ It’s really hard to win without running the ball.”
Coach Lane Kiffin said the current defensive front is a major upgrade.
“(This group) is completely different than any time we’ve been here. Since the Georgia game, that was a priority,” the coach said, citing the Bulldogs’ 52-17 home rout of the then-8-1 Rebels last Nov. 11.
Transfer linebacker Chris Paul Jr., who played for Arkansas last year, tops the team with 19 tackles and shares the lead for tackles for loss (4) with defensive tackle JJ Pegues. Safety Trey Washington has a unit-best three pass breakups.
After this Saturday, the Rebels’ attention will turn to the conference opener at home against Kentucky.
First, the Sun Belt Conference’s Eagles (2-1) have next in the Grove.
After losing a home-opening 56-45 shootout with Boise State, coach Clay Helton’s group has rallied with wins over Nevada (20-17) and South Carolina State (42-14).
Against the latter, running back OJ Arnold ran for a score and caught a TD pass while fellow backfield mate Jalen White rushed for a pair.
A fifth-year senior from Daleville, Ala., White is a reliable workhorse for Helton, who is in his third season as head coach in Statesboro, Ga.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound running back has carried the ball 31 times for a team-high 97 yards and five touchdowns.
Helton considers White his most reliable option in short-yardage situations.
“Just a warrior, and he’s not 100 percent,” the former Southern Cal coach said. “We need him, and you see what he brings to the table – not only in tough running but in goal-line runs where you’re always one short.
“I’ll bet my whole life on 25 (White) when it’s one-on-one.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Joey Logano fastest to finish in first North Wilkesboro points race since '96
Jul 19, 2026; North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA; Team Penske driver Joey Logano (22) takes the second stage during the Window World 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Joey Logano dominated by leading a career-high 323 laps as NASCAR welcomed historic North Wilkesboro Speedway back to the Cup Series’ regular-season points schedule for the first time since 1996 in Sunday night’s Window World 450 in North Wilkesboro, N.C.
Winless since early May of last season at Texas Motor Speedway, the three-time Cup Series champion notched his 38th career victory in 16 seasons by topping Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota over the final half of the race, beating the points leader by 0.859 seconds in a long stretch of green-flag racing.
Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs and Shane van Gisbergen finished as the top five.
Sixth-place Bubba Wallace was the final car on the lead lap.
After three cleanly-raced support events over the weekend, Ryan Blaney was slotted first after qualifying was washed out Saturday, but his No. 12 Ford team had to fix a power steering issue that sent him to the back of the 37-car field.
That gave the point to Gibbs, who took them to green in a points race for the first time since polesitter Ted Musgrave did so on Sept. 29, 1996, before a nearly three-decade-long shutdown of the 0.625-mile short track.
Gibbs led the first 40 circuits until John Hunter Nemechek spun after contact with Zane Smith, and the first caution period ended with Hamlin taking two tires to claim the lead on the restart.
Gibbs hustled back in his No. 54 Toyota and narrowly beat van Gisbergen to win Stage 1, which consisted of 80 laps. Logano, Hamlin and Carson Hocevar were the next three finishers.
Logano, the 2024 winner of the All-Star Race at NWS, took the lead from van Gisbergen on Lap 113 in Turn 4 in the 185 laps that made up Stage 2.
The No. 22 Team Penske driver increased his advantage over second-place Chase Elliott to 3 1/2 seconds by Lap 150 and soon lapped Gibbs (speeding penalty), but Hamlin found his way to move by Elliott in the first long green-flag run on the short track.
On Lap 183, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman wrecked coming off Turn 2 and slid onto the pit-road entrance for the third caution, putting William Byron and Elliott two laps down after their green-flag stop.
Logano captured Stage 2 for his first segment win this season, and Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Wallace and van Gisbergen earned top-five bonus points.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Royals RHP Stephen Kolek (flexor) hurt on rehab assignment, placed on IL
Kansas City Royals pitcher Stephen Kolek (32) pitches in the third inning between the Kansas City Royals and Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. The Kansas City Royals placed right-hander Stephen Kolek on the 15-day injured list on Sunday after he strained his right flexor during a rehab start.
Kolek was injured on Saturday while pitching for Triple-A Omaha to get him ready to return to the major league squad as soon as this week after an extended absence on the family medical emergency list.
He was scheduled for four innings or 65 pitches but made it through only 51 pitches (30 strikes) over 2 2/3 innings against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs before he exited in the third inning with the Omaha Storm Chasers’ trainer.
Kolek allowed two runs on six hits with a hit batter, no walks and three strikeouts.
“He said he didn’t feel great playing catch, but then as he got on the mound, he felt better,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said Sunday. “The first couple of innings were pretty good. In the third inning, he felt more aggressive discomfort. They thought it was best to get him out of there.”
Kolek, 29, is scheduled to get imaging done on Monday.
He last pitched in a major league game on July 2, allowing three runs on four hits in two innings of a 5-2 home loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Kolek has been away from the team since before the birth of his daughter, Faye, who was born seven weeks premature on June 25, MLB.com reported. He has been in the hospital with his wife, Jessica, and their baby, leaving only for that July 2 start. The Royals placed him on the family emergency medical list three times and the paternity list twice as well as the restricted list on July 11, according to MLB.com.
With his child making progress, Kolek planned to return to the Royals, including Saturday’s rehab start. Major League Baseball gave the Royals permission for Kolek to have a rehab assignment, which is not the norm for players on the restricted list.
Kolek is 4-3 with one shutout, a 4.50 ERA, 12 walks and 34 strikeouts in 54 innings over 10 starts this season.
He is a career 12-10 with a 4.13 ERA, 55 walks and 150 strikeouts in 213 1/3 innings over 71 games (29 starts) for the San Diego Padres (2024-25) and Royals (2025-present). The Padres traded Kolek and right-hander Ryan Bergert to the Royals for catcher Freddy Fermin on July 31, 2025.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Injury-riddled Wings and Liberty tip Monday in rescheduled game
Jul 7, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Dallas Wings forward Jessica Shepard (32) and New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones (35) at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The Dallas Wings will be chasing their seventh straight win when they host the slumping New York Liberty on Monday in Arlington, Texas, but they likely will be without the services of star guard Paige Bueckers.
Bueckers spent the final minutes of Sunday’s 90-82 home win over the Los Angeles Spark in the locker room after suffering an apparent head injury late in the fourth quarter.
With 3:33 remaining in the game, Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike was dribbling down the court, got tripped up by Dallas rookie Azzi Fudd and lost her balance. She tumbled into the legs of Bueckers and the second-year player fell straight back, landing on her back.
The back of Bueckers’ head appeared to hit the floor when she fell and the 24-year-old immediately grabbed her head.
Bueckers walked off the court on her own but with members of the Wings’ staff flanking her as she continued to hold her head and had a slight limp.
Bueckers had amassed a game-high 25 points before being forced from the game. Arike Ogunbowale scored six of her 20 points in the victory over the final 2:36 while Jessica Shepard totaled 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Fudd also scored 11 points in win.
“We worked hard for this win, and when Paige went down, it was all about the rest of us stepping up,” Ogunbowale said after the victory over Los Angeles.
Wings coach Jose Fernandez had no detailed update on Bueckers’ status in his postgame press conference but said Bueckers was in good spirits. Her availability for Monday’s game is yet to be determined.
“She’s upset at Azzi because she said Azzi tripped her (Ogwumike) and took away P’s charge,” Fernandez said lightheartedly.
Monday’s game was rescheduled from July 16 because of travel difficulties for the Liberty, creating a home back-to-back for Dallas.
The Wings (17-8) enter Monday’s game carrying their longest winning streak in 11 years. Dallas has captured six straight games for the first time since the 2015 campaign when the franchise was in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In that season, the Wings (then known as the Shock) won eight straight outings early in the year and then six in a row before bowing out against the Phoenix Mercury in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Liberty (13-12) limp into Arlington on the heels of a 108-88 loss in Indianapolis to the Fever on Saturday. Breanna Stewart led the way with 26 points and eight boards for New York, while Jonquel Jones netted 13 points and Marine Johannes and Sabrina Ionescu each added 12.
Johannes suffered a left ankle injury in the game and is questionable to compete on Monday.
The Liberty jumped out to an 11-point, first-quarter lead and were up by four at halftime before succumbing in the second half. New York’s 17 turnovers which led to 30 Fever points had plenty to do with the loss.
“We don’t like where we’re at right now, but (here) we are,” Stewart said after the loss. “(We’re) playing with that, realizing that we’re in it. We’re in the trenches, and we can either keep sinking or we can dig ourselves out.”
New York has dropped six of its past seven games and eight of its last 10. The Liberty have trailed by at least 13 points at some juncture in six of their past eight games and has lost all six of those contests.
“We’re really mature about it,” Ionescu said. “It really hasn’t been too frustrating. Every team goes through it. During the process, kind of when you’re in it, it sucks, but I think everyone has a really good mindset of knowing it’ll pay off for us in the long run.”
Key New York players Satou Sabally (concussion protocol) and Leonie Fiebich (foot) have been ruled out for the game.
It is the teams’ third and final meeting of the season. Dallas took the first two matchups, both in Brooklyn, including an 88-77 decision on July 7 that started the Liberty’s current four-game losing streak.
–Field Level Media
Joey Logano fastest to finish in first North Wilkesboro points race since '96
Royals RHP Stephen Kolek (flexor) hurt on rehab assignment, placed on IL
