Sports
No. 21 Clemson has goal of ACC title, but NC State stands in way
Sept 7, 2024; Clemson, SC, USA; The Clemson Tigers played the Appalachian State Mountaineers in college football Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) after his touchdown play. Mandatory Credit: Alex Hicks Jr./USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images Clemson has experienced a full range of emotions across its opening two games of 2024.
Now comes the start of a major aspect to the season as the No. 21 Tigers launch into their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule by taking on North Carolina State on Saturday at Clemson, S.C.
“It all about getting to Charlotte (for the ACC championship game),” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “It’s all about winning your league. We can’t waste an opportunity.”
The game is the ACC opener for both teams, with Clemson coming off a bye.
Awareness of the conference component is probably more heightened than in recent years for the Tigers (1-1). They won six consecutive ACC title games before failing to qualify for the title game in two of the past three years.
NC State (2-1) will be in its first true road game. Two weeks ago, a neutral-site 51-10 setback to then-No. 14 Tennessee put an early blemish on the record, though the Wolfpack rallied from 11 points down to defeat Louisiana Tech last week.
Clemson stumbled through a dismal offensive performance in the opener against then-No. 1 Georgia, falling 34-3. The Tigers rebounded with an impressive offensive display in blowing out Appalachian State 66-20.
“Now that we know we can do it, let’s go do it every week,” Tigers receiver Antonio Williams said. “Keep the momentum going.”
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnick is eighth in the ACC in passing, averaging 260 yards per game.
The Wolfpack will have freshman quarterback CJ Bailey making his first collegiate start. He came in to replace Grayson McCall, who exited with a game-ending injury in the second quarter last week against Louisiana Tech.
“CJ is going to run the show until Grayson is healthy,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “I’m excited to see what CJ can do.”
There will be plenty of areas for the Wolfpack to address while using a quarterback short on experience. Practice this week has included artificial crowd noise in an attempt to simulate the expected atmosphere.
“It’s going to be a loud environment,” Doeren said. “They’re coming off a game when they looked unstoppable.”
The Wolfpack will want to make Bailey as comfortable as possible.
“Schematically, (we’ll do) the things he’s best at, and letting him play ball,” Doeren said. “He’s a football player. That kid understands the game.”
Swinney is concerned about how the Wolfpack might use receiver Kevin “KC” Concepcion, particularly if NC State revamps schemes with Bailey as the starter. Concepcion has 22 receptions for 199 yards and three touchdowns on the young season.
“He really hurt us last year,” Swinney said of Concepcion, who had five catches for 83 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-17 Wolfpack win.
Doeren hasn’t provided any information on the nature of McCall’s injury, other than to refer to his playing status as day-to-day.
Doeren isn’t overwhelmed by taking his young quarterback into Clemson.
“We know that we can beat them,” Doeren said. “We also know they’re a really good team, and playing them at home, they’re an even better team.”
This is the fourth time in Doeren’s 12 seasons that NC State’s ACC opener comes vs. Clemson. The Wolfpack have won two of the past three meetings overall, both times at home. NC State hasn’t won at Clemson since 2002.
“We need to get the job done down there,” Doeren said. “That’s something we haven’t done. We’ve been close. Close doesn’t get it done.”
— Field Level Media
Sports
Spirit, MOUZ reach BLAST Bounty Summer grand final
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Team Spirit and MOUZ will meet in Sunday’s best-of-five grand final at the BLAST Bounty Summer 2026 tournament in Attard, Malta.
Team Spirit outlasted FaZe Clan 2-1 and MOUZ rallied past Astralis to win by the same score in Saturday’s semifinals of the Counter-Strike 2 competition.
The eight teams reached the bracket-style finals advanced from a pool of 32 clubs in a closed qualifier. Of the $740,000 prize pool, $410,000 was awarded to participants in the closed qualifier. The champion will also earn three BLAST Frequent Flyer Tokens, while the other seven teams will collect one.
Team Spirit sandwiched a 13-6 win on Dust II and a 13-11 victory on Anubis around a 13-9 loss to FaZe Clan on Cache. Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov of Russia led Team Spirit with 49 kills and a 1.24 match rating.
After Astralis opened with a 13-6 win on Ancient, MOUZ responded with back-to-back 13-9 triumphs on Mirage and Dust II. Adam “torzsi” Torzsas of Hungary paced MOUZ with 54 kills and a 1.29 match rating.
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026 prize pool (player prize, team share)
1. TBD
2. TBD
3-4. FaZe Clan ($28,125, $40,000), Astralis ($28,125, $40,000)
5-8. Team Liquid ($41,250, $40,000); 3DMAX ($21,250, $40,000); The MongolZ ($11,250, $40,000); paiN Gaming ($11,250, $40,000)
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mariners place OF Luke Raley (forearm) on 10-day IL
Jul 3, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners right fielder Luke Raley (20) takes a swing during an at-bat against the Toronto Blue Jays at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images The Seattle Mariners placed outfielder Luke Raley on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a left forearm strain, while outfielder Stuart Fairchild was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma.
Raley’s move was retroactive to Friday, when he was out of the lineup with continued discomfort from a forearm flexor tendon injury.
Raley, 31, is batting .225 with 15 home runs and 39 RBIs in 95 games this season. He is a career .230 hitter with 63 home runs and 173 RBIs in 478 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2021), Tampa Bay Rays (2022-23) and Mariners.
Fairchild, 30, was batting .158 over 14 games with the Cleveland Guardians this season before he was designated for assignment in June. He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners on July 5.
Fairchild is a career .221 hitter with 18 home runs and 69 RBIs in 291 games for six different clubs, including three games for the Mariners in 2022.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sydney Taylor's trey in final second lifts Sky past Aces
Aug 1, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky guard Sydney Taylor (12) celebrates with guard Natasha Cloud (9) after scoring a game winning three-pointer against the Las Vegas Aces during the second half of a WNBA game at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Rookie Sydney Taylor drained a 3-pointer Saturday with 0.9 seconds left and the Chicago Sky rallied to nip the visiting Las Vegas Aces 84-83.
A’ja Wilson drove for a layup with 3.2 seconds remaining that gave Las Vegas (20-9) a two-point lead. After a timeout, Taylor slipped around a screen and got off a clean look from the left wing for the last three of her team-high 29 points.
Natasha Cloud added 11 points for Chicago (11-18), which improved to 6-1 in its last seven home games and won for the first time in five games decided by three or fewer points. DiJonai Carrington came off the bench for 10, including a pair of foul shots that tied the game at 81 with 43.9 seconds on the clock.
Wilson starred in defeat for the Aces with a game-high 36 points and 12 rebounds. Jackie Young added 18 points and 11 boards, while NaLyssa Smith contributed 17 points.
The Sky, who outscored Las Vegas 29-18 in the fourth quarter, won despite making only 40.3% of their field goals.
The pregame storylines centered around the beginning of a five-game road trip for Las Vegas, while Chicago was hoping to carry over some momentum from a fourth-quarter comeback in its Thursday night home win over Connecticut.
Young got the Aces off the mark early with 10 first quarter points, helping them establish an 18-11 lead after draining a 3-pointer at the 2:15 mark. They took a 20-16 edge to the second period.
The Sky fought back in the second quarter to tie the game at 24 on Cloud’s 3-pointer with 6:26 remaining. However, Las Vegas was able to restore a five-point lead before Taylor’s floater with 1.5 seconds left sliced its lead to 40-37 at halftime.
Young’s 3-point play at the 1:58 mark of the third quarter gave the Aces their largest lead at 61-48. Even after Courtney Vandersloot played beat the buzzer with a jumper, Las Vegas still owned a 65-55 margin going to the fourth period.
Chicago’s Kamilla Cardoso tied Wilson for game-high rebounding honors with a dozen.
Las Vegas’ Chelsea Gray led all players with nine assists.
–Field Level Media
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Spirit, MOUZ reach BLAST Bounty Summer grand final
